“It May Cost Something” 2014
Matthew 26:36-44 Philippians 1:20-29

Matthew 26:36-44
Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.” And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again he went away for the second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words.

Philippians 1:20-29
It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in any way, but that by my speaking with all boldness, Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again. Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well—

To me, one of the most powerful
and thought provoking scenes in Scripture, is when
Jesus prayed that night in the garden of Gethsemane.
Gethsemane means “the olive press”, which matches the situation.

When I was in Israel,
we saw a demonstration of how an ancient olive press worked.
In those days,
heavy cloth bags of olives were piled into a stone cylinder,
that had a slot on the side for the olive oil to flow out.

Then a large rock was placed on the bags of olives, then another,
to gradually press down and crush the oil from the olives …
… and I suspect we’ve all had days when we could identify
with the olives being pressed down and mercilessly crushed.

The Gospels make it very clear
that at Gethsemane, Jesus knew full well what was coming next:
betrayal, his arrest and the disciples all running away,
the trials, scourging, crucifixion and his death.

It is not real shocking
that he would prefer not to endure that suffering, vs. 38~39
Then he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, … and going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.”

The power of that scene is that even more than wanting to avoid,
Jesus trusts and has confidence in God’s will and purpose,
placing that about his own… even the terrible suffering…

… meaning that for us, Christ-like discipleship is to place
God’s will and purpose, ahead of our own wants and desires,
for our relationship with the Lord to matter
more to us than any of the stuff of this world,
even though, to be faithful may come at a cost.

That is also the message and truth of the Philippians passage.
Philippians is one of the most joyful letters Paul wrote,
and you can’t miss the love he felt for that congregation.

The remarkable thing is that he wrote it from a Roman prison,
probably during
the intense and brutal persecution of Christians by Nero.

Despite his dire circumstances and suffering,
Paul can’t get past God’s steadfast gracious love,
and that changes the way he see everything else.

Paul’s chief concern was not the discomfort of his imprisonment
nor even the likelihood of torture and his execution.
The Apostle had a longer – larger, eternal perspective,
that could see past his present situation in life,
so for him, dying meant the joy of being with Christ.

Above all he wanted his life to count for Christ,
so everything he was, everything he did was about Christ,
and his focus was on how Jesus might be exalted,
specifically by Paul speaking boldly at his trial …
… so he writes vs. 20~21
It is my eager expectation and hope that … by my speaking with all boldness, Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.

The story behind the story is that there were deep divisions
in the Church between Jews and gentiles over the question
of following the rituals and traditions of Judaism…
… or as Paul believed and taught (e.g. Romans 4:22)
… the righteousness of God (comes) through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction.

Seeking and hoping for reconciliation, Paul went to Jerusalem,
where he was caught up in a riot at the Temple and arrested.
When he refused to pay a bribe to corrupt officials,
he ended up unjustly imprisoned in Rome, facing death.

Paul was doing his best to obey and serve the Lord faithfully,
yet it seemed that everything was turning against him,
and surely he had cause to be a bit upset and complain.

But he had an entirely different perspective.
Trusting God completely,
he’s OK with faithfulness to God costing something,
because he is sure that whatever the outcome,
God always has something better …
… so it’s not what I want,
but what best serves the will and purpose of the Lord.

So Paul was able to write, vs. 21-23,27a
For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
The popular movie, "Saving Private Ryan", was set during WW II.
A family had four sons all serving in the military.
Three of the sons had been killed on the battlefield;
and the fourth was serving in a front-line unit in France.

The government didn't want this family to lose all four sons,
and so a special team of soldiers was sent out
to find & retrieve that last son away from the fighting -
-- and along the way, trying to locate and bring him back,
a number of the would-be rescue soldiers are killed.

In fact, by the end, the entire team has been wiped out,
but they do find and save this Private Ryan.
And as the last soldier of this special rescue team is dying,
he says to young Private Ryan, "Earn this"…
* … live your life worthy of the sacrifice we've made for you.

That is precisely what Paul is urging the Philippian Christians.
vs. 27 Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

So how do we live this out in our world and context?

Wesley Britt was such a good offensive lineman in college,
that he was selected for the Playboy All-American team.

But as a committed Christian,
he didn’t want to be associated with that magazine,
so he declined the honor, despite the ridicule of others…
… he stood up to his critics, because as he explained it,
it was inconsistent with who he wanted to be,
with who he believes God created him to become,
and above all, he wants his life to please the Lord.

This young man is trying to follow the example of Jesus and Paul,
not what I want but your will be done,
for me, living is Christ and dying is gain
live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
He understands what matters in life, and how to meet a challenge.

A few weeks ago, my day was shattered by another challenge,
that came about a week after Rev. Blevins died.

Rev. Hawkins came by to explain
that he needed to move to California to care for his family,
to leave, right after worship on World Communion Sunday.

We’ve known for a while that the grant to start Iglesia del Pueblo
would run out of funds at the end of this year,
but now we only had until October 5th to work out a plan…

… to figure out how
the ministry and mission of the Hispanic congregation
could continue to serve without their pastor.

I was with Rev. Hawkins in worship the next Sunday
when he told his congregation how soon he would be leaving,
I saw the disappointment and concern on their faces,
and heard their commitment to continue that ministry.

Wayne had asked me
to be in their worship when he told them what was happening,
because he wanted and hoped I could assure them,
that if they wanted to continue as a congregation,
then this church and I would do what we could
to help them, and walk with them on their journey.

I only know enough Spanish to order my meal “extra spicy”, este picante
and this change in Rev. Hawkins plans came so quickly
that I had no idea what we could do and felt overwhelmed.
* My instinct was to complain that God was demanding too much.

I was still troubled and grappling with the situation,
when I started studying this Philippians passage,
… and I was stuck by what Paul had written: (vs. 21, 27, 29)

* For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.
* I know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated
* And this is God’s doing. For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well—

Since then, I have
been meeting and praying with folks from that congregation,
and some wonderful ideas and plans are coming together…
** … and we are seeing the hand of God at work.

Instead of seeing a hopeless challenge or a nearly lost cause,
~ I am seeing an amazing and wonderful opportunity for growth,

~ to draw nearer to the Lord
and for redemptive transformation to take place,

~ to serve our Lord in creative and meaningful new ways
by helping to spread the Good News about Jesus
with new partners into places we have never gone before,

* ~ and to make a real difference
in our community for the glory and pleasure of God.

There are churches and pastors all over America
aware of the changing demographics of our country,
trying to make some connect into the Hispanic community,
and finding that mission very difficult to get started…

… most have still not been able to figure out and make happen
the gift and opportunity that has been entrusted to our care.

When our Session met with Rev. Hawkins earlier this week,
the meeting was a bit longer than usual,
with most the time spent discussing how our church
and the Hispanic congregation can come together;
worship and serve the Lord better together,
and yet retain our uniqueness
and who God has call us each to be…
** … and how our Session
can lead to faithfully fulfill our responsibilities.

These are wonderful and exciting times,
as we discover the will and workings of our Lord.
We are still working out ideas and plans
for Iglesia del Pueblo to continue their worship,
their service and outreach into the Hispanic community,
** while strengthening the ties we share,
and their connections with First Presbyterian Church.

All summer the sermons I preached were about spiritual gifts,
God’s purpose and plan of helping each of us
discover and use life ---- our gifts and blessings well,
to become the disciples we were each created to be.
One of the ways God does that, can be through circumstances,
by the challenges and opportunities we encounter,
and by the decisions and choices we make in life.

Since first learning about Rev. Hawkins needing to leave,
I have shifted from feeling troubled and overwhelmed,
toward hope and anticipation for the adventure ahead…

… and though change and growth almost always costs something,
clearly God is up to something new here at 1st Presbyterian,
and I don’t want anybody to miss out on
any of the fun and excitement God intends for us!

There are countless ways and opportunities
for all of us to serve the Lord well and usefully,
for our faith to grow by making a real difference.

I encourage all of us to serve joyfully wherever we can,
to pray, to send encouraging – affirming notes to others,
and to look for ways of living out our call to discipleship…

… and let us celebrate the truth proclaimed by Jeremiah 29:11-13
For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me if you seek me with all your heart.