Wake up, it’s time to make the donuts!
I can remember one time some friends and I went to watch the new Batman movie. They couldn’t believe that I fell asleep sitting in the front row. Oh well, little did I know this was gonna be a struggle, or blessing depending on how you look at it, for the rest of my life.
Matthew 26: 36- 46 reads, “Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless[a] I drink it, Your will be done.” And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”
On the night Jesus was to be betrayed, as they reached the garden in that place, Jesus took Peter and the two others with him to pray. Jesus told them about how distressed and sorrowful he was and asked the men to stay awake with Him. Having just been told a little earlier all the things that Jesus was going to have to endure, it seems like the task of staying awake with Him would be manageable. Especially considering Peter, and the earlier revelation of his denials that would take place that night. However, as we read on into the passage we see that the men couldn’t even stay awake one hour. Jesus told them again, “stay awake, and pray so you won’t enter into temptation.” Sometime after, he found them asleep again for a second time. Again, he told the men to stay awake and pray, only to come back a third time and find them sleeping.
Today, the problem still remains. I’m not talking about the folks that have been guilty of nodding off during church on occasion. I’ve failed there myself. I’m speaking of a spiritual sleep that The Church has fallen into. The sleep, that maybe even just for a moment, causes us to grow numb or careless about what’s going on around us. The sleep that causes us to consider less the consequences of sin. So we become disobedient to God. We are fools if we think that our disobedience only affects us. When we fail to consider the consequences of sin, others suffer, and even worse, perish. The Church needs to wake up. Another hour is at hand, not for extended suffering of Christ, but for the return of Christ. If he returns today, don’t be caught sleeping. Be Blessed.