Tuesday, 15 April 2014

Let's Pray!

On Palm Sunday (13th April), the Anglia Youth Band led the meetings at Stowmarket Corps. This post, and the one that will follow tomorrow, contain the message I gave at the two meetings.

After telling this story, Jesus went on toward Jerusalem, walking ahead of his disciples. As he came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead. “Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
So they went and found the colt, just as Jesus had said. And sure enough, as they were untying it, the owners asked them, “Why are you untying that colt?”
And the disciples simply replied, “The Lord needs it.” So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride on.
Luke 19:28-35 (NLT)

This may seem an unusual passage for talking about prayer, but hopefully I can uncover some new truths in a passage I am sure you have heard many times before.

In the passage, Jesus directs two of the disciples to go and fetch the colt for his ride into Jerusalem. This is not an unusual request by Jesus – he often asked the disciples to undertake strange tasks for him (e.g. casting fishing nets on a different side of the boat, feeding 5000 people with a packed lunch, etc.), and in verse 32 we see the disciples obeying this instruction. They go to the village, untie the colt and answer the owners as directed.

This immediate and obedient response from the disciples is a little out of character. Looking at just two other examples of Jesus’ requests to the disciples, you can see what I mean.

In Luke 5:4-5, we see Jesus instruct the disciples to throw their nets to the other side to catch fish, but Simon Peter’s response is “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again” – not exactly enthusiastic! It almost appears as if Simon Peter is just humouring Jesus at this point, not obeying out of faith.

Then in Luke 9:13, Jesus has just instructed the disciples to feed the 5000 men, not including women and children. What is their response? “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?” Again, a mix of sarcasm and not much obedience!

I’m sure you can think of more times where Jesus gave instructions and the disciples were less than enthusiastic, or times where they missed the point of Jesus’ ministry.

In this passage, there is no record of what the two disciples said to Jesus after receiving their instructions. We are not even told which 2 disciples he sent, and therefore are unable to think of a possible response based on our knowledge of their personalities based on other passages. All that we have is simple obedience. Given the honest recording of the other incidents, maybe this time they really did just get on with it instead of talking back. After all, by this point, they had spent 3 years with Jesus. Their faith would have grown, as seen by this obedience.

But what about us?
How do we react to Jesus’ instructions?
How do we receive his instructions?
Are we like the disciples in this passage, or the other times?

As Christians, we are to follow Christ’s directions just as much as the disciples did. When we pray, when we read our Bibles, when we attend church services, we should be coming with hearts open to hearing God’s directions. And once we hear them, we should step out in faith like the disciples.

But this wasn’t an immediate faith and belief the disciples had. It was developed over time. We too must develop our faith by spending time with God. We can do this through our prayers, Bible reading, and sharing in fellowship with other Christians.

Pray, and step out in faith, like the disciples this Easter. And if you don't yet have that faith, spend more time with him and ask for your faith to be increased.

No comments:

Post a Comment