But this is all happening to fulfill the words of the prophets as recorded in the Scriptures." At that point, all the disciples deserted him and fled. -- Matthew 26: 56 (NLT)
At that point, all the disciples deserted him and fled. One of the saddest sentences in the entire Bible. I am so glad today that the God I serve has gone through everything I might have to face in this life. We do not serve a God who does not completely understand our pain. Our mourning. Our feelings. Positive and negative. Friendship and betrayal. God knows and He understands. There is still too much hurt and pain within the church. Too much spiritual abuse. Too many sheep being allowed to leave; never to be seen again. Sometimes we can spend and invest our lives in a church only to find when we leave the friendships we thought we had forged had foundations no deeper than that of the building we met in. At that point, all the disciples deserted him and fled.
At what point? This Scripture comes from the point of the arrest of Jesus. The point of His greatest human need. The point where He wanted to know He had some friends at least. But when He looked they were gone. One betrayed Him. One would deny even knowing Him. But the other ten also ran for their lives instead of standing by their friend. Remember by this time, Jesus had called them friend:
There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn't confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn't choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other. -- John 15: 13-17 (NLT)
The sad truth is we have a hard time doing even that. Loving each other. We may pay lip service to it. We may know all the right Bible verses and talk about the love Christians are supposed to have but where the rubber meets the road? Maybe if it is expedient for us. Maybe if it fits into our schedule. But if not -- we can scatter like the disciples that day in Gethsemane. Here one second and gone the next. Jesus talks here about laying down one's life for one's friends. No greater love and He would know because this was the beginning of the end for His time on earth. He would soon be laying down His life for His friends. And for you and me. Sometimes we can have a hard time laying down our schedule for our friends. Or our blackberrys. Our relationship with each other was supposed to mean more than this.
Next in the key verse we see that all of them fled. Not even one remained. Jesus understands us when we feel alone beloved. He understands when we feel as if no one stood by us. He understands when we feel abandoned. I think the modern church has gotten some things confused. There sometimes can be more concern over the building than the relationships inside the building. But what did Jesus tell us?
Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means "rock'), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. -- Matthew 16: 18 (NLT)
This verse does not say you are building the church. It does not say the saints have to build it. It does not even say the leadership has to build it. It says that HE will build HIS church. This is why He does not need any theories of church growth that minimize His Gospel. Look at the biblical model from the original church:
All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord's Supper), and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity-- all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. -- Acts 2: 42-47 (NLT)
What did the believers devote themselves to? Was it ministries and leadership skills training? Was it small groups and social outings? No. They worshipped together and they prayed together. They learned about Jesus together and they fellowshipped together. And who added to the fellowship those who were being saved? God did! Who built the church? God did! The church of Jesus Christ is not a building. It is each and every one of us -- together. It is only as strong as the friendships and relationships that we develop with each other. The foundation of such has to run deeper than the foundation of the building we might happen to meet in otherwise when we find our backs against the wall we will flee like the disciples before us. The hard truth for us today is that God does not need us to build the church -- He wants us to be the church. Being the church always starts and ends with who we are to each other. Not inside the building either. Who we are when we are in the hospital. Who we are when we are down and out. Who we are even when we move on from the building. When my Christian brother is suffering in Indonesia; that should bother me because he is part of the same body. When my Christian sister is persecuted in China; that should affect me because she is part of the same body.
Indonesia and China? We sometimes cannot seem to
stay true to people when they move down the street. There is an old expression
that Christians like to bury their wounded. I have seen it happen to frequently
to deny it. The key verses ends with the sad sad statement that they all
deserted Him and fled. They left Jesus at his weakest and neediest human
moment. Remember, He was 100% God and 100% man at the same time. When they
mocked Him and spat upon Him -- there were no friendly faces there at all. Peter
would soon call curses down upon himself in his staunch denial of even knowing
Him. Lord let us not do the same thing today when we deal with each other. Is
life busy? Sure but who we spend time with is always a choice. No one is that
busy. Who we choose to edify is a choice. Who we choose to love as a brother
and sister in Christ is always a choice. God forbid that we think we have
become so busy building the building that we end up tearing down the kingdom.
Rev. Anthony
