In the famous Riverside Church in New York City are two stained-glass windows with scenes from the Gospel accounts of Jesus in Gethsemane. The first is the famous scene of Jesus in prayer beside a rock. He is alone in the garden, pouring out his anguish to the Father in Heaven.
In a second window, however, there is another view of the Son of Man in prayer that same night.
In it one sees not only Jesus but his disciples. They are sound asleep! Jesus is destined for Golgotha in a matter of ten to twelve hours. He is in such anguish that sweat is rolling off his body as if he were already gashed and bleeding. Having asked his closest friends and companions to remain with him and pray, they sleep.
The disciples dozed off. They napped. They took care of themselves in a time when they could have ministered to their Lord in his time of great need. They weren’t “bad” men – just dull and unresponsive when Jesus needed them.
I’ve wondered how much like those men I am at critical times. Jesus is intense and passionate, and I nod off. He wants someone affirmed, loved, and reached with the gospel, and I take no notice of her. He wants someone fed or a despondent soul encouraged, and I’m absorbed with my own needs.
You and I don’t have to be bad people to be sleepy disciples. We certainly aren’t hostile toward Jesus! After all, we wear his name and think of ourselves as Christian (i.e., Christ-following) people. But Jesus isn’t always the functional master and sovereign of our lives. He isn’t always a participant in our decisions about work or money, vacation or friends. We sometimes don’t think about his reaction when we dismiss someone as worthless or undeserving of our attention. He isn’t close enough to keep us from nodding off when we could be partnered with him.
Again, though, it isn’t that we hate Jesus. It’s just that we have domesticated him to the church building and “private time” – when he wants to be Lord of everything. Trust me, Jesus would prefer that you curse him than tolerate him as a vague Sunday presence and a Monday-through-Saturday irrelevance.
Let’s be serious about practicing his presence through a conscious effort to think his thoughts, see others through his eyes, use his vocabulary, and treat people as he did. He has asked us to be his companions in prayer, holiness, and service.
He’ll be back someday. In the meanwhile, rather than getting sluggish and dozing off, here is good counsel: “Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24 NLT).