Rev. Rob Henderson
Shelby Wesleyan Church
https://www.angelfire.com/mi2/robhenderson/
robnaomi@oceana.net
Luke 22:41-44
August 6, 2000 am
Several years ago we took a few teens from our youth group to visit Southern Wesleyan University. What a great trip! I love to travel anyway so the two days down and two days back was a blast. On our way back though, Naomi had finally had enough. She had tolerated all that she was going to tolerate and was not going to put up with it any longer. Now, you need to understand, my wife is very patient and kind. She has put up with my nonsense for years but there are times when enough is enough!
After hitting nothing but fast food restaurants going and coming she laid the law down as we drove into an Arby’s near Knoxville, Tennessee. “Tomorrow morning, we will eat at a restaurant that uses real plates and real silverware. And I don’t want to drink any more coffee out of styrofoam. I want a real cup of coffee.”
Nobody dared say anything. We ate at Stuckey’s in Kentucky the next day.
Now I like my coffee. I need a cup of joe just to get going in the morning. And it doesn’t need to be regular- decaf will do just fine. (I suppose I just need the psychology.) I am not too choosy about my cup when on the road but I must admit, I do prefer a ceramic mug to styrofoam. And when I am at home, in confines of my dwelling place, I not only drink out of mug but I have a favorite mug for my coffee.
I do have two favorite mugs. One, I received a few years ago from one of my basketball players. It says “To One Terrific Coach” and he had put a bag of nuts inside. This mug reminds me of the enjoyments of life and it’s just a fun cup to drink out of. My other favorite cup is one Ellen Hardy gave to me: It says “Time and Tide wait for no one.” A great quote that reminds us of the value of today. So I must acknowledge that today the tide will come in and go out, and time will keeping ticking away.
I also found someone’s favorite mug yesterday at our church picnic. It just simply says “Cubs.” I’ll bet we have a Chicago Cubs fan in our midst. I’ll also bet that this is Alice Tennant’s favorite mug.
Which cup is yours? When we consider favorite cups in light of the cup that Jesus referred to we must ask ourselves which cup is ours.
You see, our lives will reflect the cup that we are willing to drink from. We want a cup that gives us the sweetness of life, of prosperity, of good times. But fill our cup with bitter trouble and we cry out to God: “Why me?”
(“If God has made your cup sweet, drink it with grace. If God has made your cup bitter, drink it in communion with Him.” -Oswald Chambers)
The cup that Jesus drank from was a cup of death. Death to himself and death to even death itself. I propose to you this morning that Jesus Christ died in the garden of Gethsemane. His death on the cross was merely the execution of His willingness to drink from the cup that the Father had set before Him.. As He fell to His knees He knew that He had to lay His body down. He knew that a sacrifice had to be made.
My experience in my own journey with the Lord reflects that quote by Thomas A Kempis who said “Many follow Jesus to the breaking of bread but few to the drinking of the cup.”
How very true. We love the good times, the easy prosperity, the blessings of the Spirit-filled life. But are willing to drink from the cup- His cup- the cup of death.
In one final battle, he made one final decision during His final hour of life. And that decision was to suffer and die under Pontius Pilate. To drink deeply from the cup that would bring the salvation of mankind.
Which cup has God presented to us to drink from? Prosperity or adversity? Sorrow or gladness? Suffering or healing? To drink the cup of Christ’s sufferings indicates a willingness for the Christian to step forward and die- die to self.
Paul tells the Philippians that “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings and somehow to relate to the resurrection of the dead”
Paul’s desire was that of someone who wanted so much to be like Christ that the only way he saw this happening was to know Him as intimately as possible. And as he becomes more intimate with Jesus he will begin to see the sufferings that Jesus endured.
You see, we cannot truly understand what it means to follow Christ unless we are willing to drink from his cup of sufferings.
I heard the story of missionaries who were preparing to embark on a trip to bring the gospel to a dangerous country. Someone said to them before they left, “You could die over there.” Came the simple reply, “We already have.”
Sure, we might die over there but we already have; we have surrendered ourselves to God’s will. “Not my will but thine.”
When Jesus surrendered the very last part of His humanity- that desire to survive and fight for life- He became a dying man. When He sweat blood-drops of grief he was a dying man. When He stood before Pilate, Herod, and the Sanhedrin He was a dying man. When Jesus was nailed to the cross his death sentence had been sealed the night before. And when he cried “It is finished” his mission of a lifetime was complete. His death brought to us victory and freedom from the penalty of sin.
There are three points that I would like to make prior to our partaking of communion this morning.
1. Jesus committed Himself to a total surrender.
He could have called a legion of angels to destroy the world and set him free. He could have forsaken us for the sake of himself. He could have excaped but dared not because the love he had for mankind was so out of this world. Jesus drank from the cup because he loved us so. He was completely surrendered to the will of God.
We are to do the same.
During the American Civil War Ulysses Simpson Grant rose to the forefront for the Union as not only a great general but one who also played no games with the enemy. He was referred to at times as U.S. Grant- with the U.S. standing for unconditional surrender. To him, it was vitally important that when the enemy surrendered that they surrendered totally and completely- no strings attached so that they might fight another day.
And we need to surrender likewise. A complete surrender to God’s will with no strings attached and no desire to fight another day. A total relinquishment of all of our rights and privileges- to be handed over to the Father to do with us as He sees fit.
2. Jesus set the example of attitude in times of suffering.
“Father, if it is your will take this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.” Before the foundations of the world Christ was chosen for this moment. For such a time as this and at just the right time Jesus was to lay down his life. And now the time had come. The time had come for Him to suffer and die in the hands of sinful man.
When we hurt and suffer, we want the Father to take this cup from us. And that is only natural. We hate pain, we hate suffering. And yet, in his darkest hour, on the verge of being made to suffer for our own guilt Jesu says “Not my will but yours be done.”
Jesus understood that despite the unfairness of a fallen world, God holds all in His hands. He is still in control notwithstanding the attacks of the enemy on our souls. When we hurt we must be willing to say as Jesus said “Not my will but yours be done.”
3. Jesus dedicated Himself to the cross.
His mission was to be complete. He would die for you and me so that we might have a relationship with God.
And you see, this is what it’s all about. Me having a relationship with God. Jesus commitment to the cross makes this possible. He did so, willingly. Like a lamb led to the slaughter, Jesus died for you and me.
As we partake of the elements of communion let us do so remembering the cup from which Jesus drank. Jesus drank from a bitter cup: a cup of suffering and death.
Throughout church history many men and women have died for the sake of the gospel. They preached in jungles and forests, in snow capped mountains and along trails and byways. They strived to be the people of God. And they died doing so. They drank from the cup of Christ.
The Apostle James was the first apostle to drink from the cup. Stephen drank from this cup. And millions of Christians followed. They all drank deeply and willingly from the cup of Christ.
We live in a peaceful nation. We are not persecuted for what we believe- at least not with death. As we see these flags all over the walls here in the front of the church I am reminded that there are many Christians today who are drinking from this bitter cup. And some will be going home to glory as martyrs. How do we drink from the cup in such a nation as ours?
Surrender yourself, your will, your way, and all that matters most to God. Be His and be faithful to Him.
