A Total Lack of Courage

Mark 14:66-72

Peter had sworn that he would never deny Jesus, no matter what. But according to our reading from Mark this morning that’s exactly what Peter did. Bless Peter’s heart, though. The first two times he denied knowing Jesus were not to a person of power or authority, but to a servant girl (Mark 14:67-69). Apparently all of Peter’s courage was gone as was his promise to remain loyal to Jesus.

I’m not making light of Peter’s actions. I can’t honestly say I would have done any better—I don’t know because by God’s grace I’ve never been in that situation. And that’s the warning I take from this account. Words are easy, promises are cheap, but actions are sometimes very difficult. On the other hand, Jesus seems to have known Peter better than Peter knew himself because Jesus had predicted the denial. And ironically there is the good news that all of us need to hear: Jesus knows each of us better than we know ourselves and yet Jesus is willing to die for us, just as he was willing to die for Peter. The disciple may have lacked courage, but the teacher did not, and in the end God’s grace was made clear in the resurrection.

Spiritually we may each be lacking, but God’s love is powerful enough to call us, to claim us, to heal us, to hold us, to save us, and to send us. This we know because Jesus died for Peter…and for you and me.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when our courage fails or when we do not live up to our promises. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Hardest Prayer to Pray

Mark 14:27-42

Jesus’ prayer in the garden is, as far as I’m concerned, the most difficult prayer to offer. According to Mark Jesus prayed, “…Yet, not what I want, but what you want” (Mark 14:36b). The depth of obedience, the amount of faith required to utter such words–and to mean them–is staggering. Jesus, grieved almost to death, had already expressed a desire to avoid the passion that awaited him. Then he said, “Yet…,” and with that one word Jesus was able to dismiss his own desires and to embrace God’s will. “Not what I want, but what you want.”

“Yet” is the key to this prayer and the source of the difficulty. It reflects the other path that one would prefer while at the same time resigning oneself to go where God sends. “Yet” is about letting go of who we are and wrapping ourselves in the identity that God holds out to us. “Yet” means turning away from the culture and the society while grasping the cross of discipleship. “Yet” is a word that Peter would not be able to utter that night, for he would ultimately cling to his own view of things. “Yet” should probably be the way we begin all our prayers, but in truth it figures into very few of them.

I wish I was able to pray the word “yet” and to mean it. I wish my faith was that strong and my obedience that total. Meanwhile I take comfort in what Jesus was able to do for, letting go in order to accept the “yet” that God was holding out to him.

Prayer: Lord, help me to be more faithful and more obedient to you that I might accept your will for me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Extravagant Love

Mark 14:1-11

In today’s gospel reading Mark tells us the story of the woman who anointed Jesus with a costly ointment. Some who witnessed the event complained that the ointment could have been sold for 300 denarii and the money given to the poor (Mark 14:4-5). If that is the case then the woman herself must have had considerable means, for presumably she had bought the ointment to begin with. Her gesture, then, is a demonstration of her extravagant love for Jesus.

How would I rate my love for God through Jesus Christ, as extravagant or as miserly, as generous or as tightfisted? There are times when I feel like I am doing what God expects of me—at least to some extent. But most of the time I know that I have fallen far short of God’s will. And even when I get close to where God would like me to be, I can hardly call my offering extravagant. And if I do love the Lord with heart, mind, soul, and strength is that really a profound gift, or simply the way it should be? What would I be willing to give up for the sake of my faith, what offering would I make?

I’m not sure how to answer questions like these. But I do know this, that even when my gift to God is nowhere near what it should be, God’s gift to me in Jesus Christ is far and away more than I deserve and something I can never repay. The woman with the jar of ointment showed what was possible, but Jesus did what was necessary to forgive the sins of the world. And love like that is truly extravagant.

Prayer: Lord forgive us when we do not love you fully, nor show love for one another. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Believer's Cry

Romans 7:13-25

There are passages of scripture that I find particularly poignant due to their truthful display of human frailty. Peter’s realization that he has indeed betrayed Jesus is one of them (Mark 14:72); Jeremiah, weeping for the people of Judah (Jeremiah 8:18-9:1) is, too; and the father who cries out in anguish, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) is another. Paul is also capable of honest emotion. “Wretched man that I am!” he writes. “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24).

I once heard a minister lament, “It isn’t as if I didn’t want to believe what I say…” He left the comment hanging, but those of us who heard him knew what he meant. There are times when we simply do not have it within us to believe, to live in faith, to trust in God. At the bedside of a dying friend, in the wake of a natural catastrophe, at the end of a long and frustrating day we may find ourselves cloaked in doubt and despair. Who will rescue us from these circumstances?

If nothing else, we must recognize that the journey of God’s people has passed this way before. Peter, Jeremiah, the unnamed father, Paul, all of them have cried out in pain, and all of them have been heard. They and countless others have reached a limit in what they could do only to find God’s grace waiting for them. I know that when I am most challenged it is my own strength that fails me. But I also know that God remains active in my life and in yours. The honesty of scripture gives me the hope that soon I will join Paul in affirming, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25a). And then I will continue my journey by God’s grace.

Prayer: Lord, I believe; help my unbelief. Amen.