It’s been said that the most fervent prayers are those that are prayed at the bedside, especially at the beside of those who are dying. I’m not sure that’s entirely accurate, because often the bedside prayers for those who are dying, at least in my ministry, are about being okay to let go, and praying for a peaceful transition, and praying into the unknown. They are often more praying for God’s peace, not necessarily for a changed situation. I certainly know of some that do, but more fervent are those with an accident or sudden illness or terrible diagnosis. Prayers when things are totally unknown, or when the outcome might be known, but dreaded. Or simply about our greatest fears. As I said before, at another church one woman whose son was deployed in the bomb squad in Afghanistan told me she now knew what Paul meant when he said to pray without ceasing. Those are prayers of fervency. An impassioned prayer to God, for answers or for a change of potential outcome, a prayer of deep intensity, of profound emotion, or zealousness. These are prayers that are markedly different than the normal prayers we offer, and so as we look at traveling the prayer path of Jesus, of learning to pray like Jesus, we have a fervent prayer being offered in the Garden of Gethsemane.
But, before we look at that prayer, we should notice that Jesus goes off by himself to offer this prayer. First he leaves most of the disciples behind, taking only Peter, James and John and then leaves even them behind and pray by himself. And so this is a reminder that the first way we follow Jesus’ prayer paths is to go off in quiet to be in prayer by ourselves. In Luke’s version of this story, he says that Jesus went out to the Mount of Olives, “as was his custom.” And so to be engaged in reconnecting with God through prayer, we need to take time to be by ourselves in prayer. One of the other instructions that Jesus gives to the disciples in the passage is that they are to pray, although it doesn’t appear that they do. And, if you remember, they had the same problem in the story of the healing of the boy with epilepsy, that they tried to heal him, but weren’t able to, but Jesus des, and when they ask what the difference was, Jesus says that it could only be done through prayer. And so our second step was to engage in prayer throughout our day, especially in praying for others, and then in praying for God’s help in accomplishing the things that we think are impossible. And we’ll come back to that story in a little bit, so keep it in mind. And then last week we looked at what comes immediately before Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane, which is the last supper, and the fact that even in the midst of what was going on, of Jesus’ proclamation that Judas would betray him and Peter would deny him, that he stops and gives thanks to God. And so it was a reminder to us to always be practicing prayers of thanksgiving, even in the worst circumstances in our lives, and to give thanks not for the situation, but in the situation, but also recognizing how difficult that can be. But in giving thanks, it reminds us that we are never alone, never abandoned, never lost, for God is always with us and God’s love and blessings are forever with us.
And so then we encounter Jesus’ prayer in what is commonly referred to as the Garden of Gethsemane, although we should note that Mark and Matthew say Jesus went to Gethsemane, and John says that Jesus went to a garden, and so we’ve combined those things together. And as we just noted, Luke says that Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives. But regardless of where he is, Jesus goes off to pray by himself, and his prayer is deep and troubled. We are told that he is deeply grieved, and after going out farther by himself, he throws himself on the ground. Have you ever prayed with such fervency or such urgency or such desire or such grief, that you’ve thrown yourself on the ground? I’m sure that come of you have. I’ve certainly gone to my knees in prayer, but I don’t think I’ve ever thrown myself down. But this is a reminder that prayers can and should involve our whole bodies. Our spirit and our bodies are connected. And so I know that some people are uncomfortable when we do the hand gestures during communion, and that’s okay, but we are called to embody our faith and embody our prayers, and so just as we don’t really think anything of clasping our hands and bowing our heads, which is just embodying our prayers, that we can do that in other ways as well. Whether it’s lifting up our hands and faces, or bowing our heads, or moving during prayer, falling to our knees and even throwing ourselves to the ground, or lots of other ways, those are all ways that we embody ourselves, and connect what we are saying with what we are doing. So in traveling the prayer path of Jesus, it’s okay to act out our prayers, and if someone says “well that’s not we do,” you can say, “But Jesus did it, so I’m going to too, so there.”
But that then leads us to the heart of this prayer, and that is Jesus saying “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet not what I want, but what you want.” Now there is no punctuation on Greek, and so translators have to guess and make decisions about where punctuation should go, and I think they’ve made a mistake here. Because the way the story seems to be told, it seems as if Jesus goes off and prayers this and then immediately comes back to the disciples. But what does Jesus find Peter, James and John doing when comes back? They’re sleeping. Now I suppose it’s possible that they are all really exhausted and so have fallen immediately to sleep, but that doesn’t seem likely. Instead I think that Jesus has been gone for a while and that the prayer should say, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me and then there should be an ellipses, and then I imagine that Jesus sits in silence and that too is a prayer. He asks for God to change the situation, and remembering back again to the story of the boy with epilepsy, the father says “If you are able to heal my son,” and Jesus “If I am able, all things are possible for those who believe.” And so Jesus is echoing his own beliefs, and then after sitting in silence, waiting for the answer, Jesus then prays “yet not what I want, but what you want.” Which of course is also contained in the Lord’s Prayer as we call for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. And then Jesus gets up to go see the disciples.
So this is not a quick prayer, this is a long, drawn out prayer, that is much more about listening than it is about speaking. And, so as we said when we talked about going away to a quiet place, prayer is a conversation and so we talk and we also listen. It’s also entirely possible that Jesus kept repeating the same phrase over and over again, sort of like a mantra, and that too can be a form of prayer, like I am one with the force and the force is with me, although that joke doesn’t work when there is no one here to laugh it at. And then we have to know that it’s okay to ask God for things. Take your needs and concerns to God, and even when Jesus doesn’t appear to get a response, what does he do? He keeps at it. Three times he appears to make this same prayer. And he’s not just asking, besides his fervency, Jesus is working at this, he is praying so hard he’s sweating, and Luke tells us that the drops of sweat are like drops of blood, and please notice that he says like, it’s an analogy, it does not say that he was actually sweating blood. Now other than when it’s been hot, I’ve never sweated during a prayer, but in Jesus’ anguish, in the intensity of his prayer; it is like labor for him. He’s working at this, and I think the message is that there are times when we need to know that it’s okay to pray with everything we have, mind, body, soul, that we hold nothing back in that moment, that the very effort of praying takes everything we have and exhausts us. And to know in that moment that God hears our cries.
And then at the end, Jesus gets up and says to the disciples, “get up, let us be going.” Jesus has made his passionate plea that the cup by taking from him, and then he goes out to face the future. And so then we have to deal with the question of whether if a prayer that we request doesn’t seem to be answered, or things don’t go the way we want them to, if that means that whatever happens is the will of God? And the simple answer, for a much longer message, is no. The first funeral I ever did, just three months into my first appointment, was for a 13 month old. I know that his parents prayed some fervent prayers for Ethan, but he was not healed, or better he did not receive a cure, and he died. But I cannot accept that Ethan’s death was the will of God. Instead I see it for what caused it, which was a genetic accident, and that God cried for Ethan and his family that day just as much as we all did. Jesus tells us that God does indeed answer every prayer, and it’s not that the answer is yes, no or wait, but that every prayer is answered with the giving of the Holy Spirit to remind us that we are not alone, and that somethings are not the will of God, but happen because we live in a broken world, and we yearn for the completion of the creation as we see at the end of Revelation.
So our prayers need to connect body, mind and spirit and to express the full range of emotions that we are feeling. They can be hands and face lifted up in prayers of celebration and joy, and they can be cries of anguish and grief and distress where we throw ourselves onto the ground, and they can be prayers of fervency seeking something different, some different answer, some different outcome, and they can even be prayers were we don’t even have the words to express, but where, as Paul says, the Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And then having the strength to get back up with only the knowledge that God is with us, that our cries have not gone unheard or unheeded, that we are not abandoned, for God answers all prayers with God’s presence. And so as we journey this life, and follow the prayer paths of Jesus, we know that there are times that we will fall to our knees because we have nowhere else to go and we don’t have the strength to stand any more, and when we hit that point that we lift up our prayers our petitions to God with the fervency that they need, and that we also listen for God’s response, and God’s gift of the Spirit, and the Spirit’s movement and power in our lives to tell us that we are not alone. That God is there, and that God uses us to be there for others too. I pray that it will be so my brothers and sisters. Amen.
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