Thy will be done

Sermon for Holy Monday

+  Mark 14-15  +

Thy will be done. That’s how Jesus ended His three prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane. But it wasn’t how Jesus began His prayers, was it? He began His prayers being “troubled, distressed, and exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.” He began His prayers, pleading for the watchfulness and encouragement of His friends. He began His prayers earnestly begging His Almighty Father to “take this cup” from Him, to make a different way for the human race to be redeemed—a way that didn’t involve the great agony that He knew awaited Him. He dreaded the cup that was being poured out for Him. He wasn’t eager to drink it. It wasn’t easy for Him to pray, “Thy will be done.”

What’s more, He had a choice, unlike us. We don’t always have a choice whether or not to suffer; we’re all subject to various kinds of suffering in this world, because we’re sinners; we’re subject to the curse. But Jesus wasn’t. As we heard yesterday in St. Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus told Peter, He could have asked His Father, and His Father would have sent twelve legions of angels to prevent Jesus’ arrest and His eventual crucifixion. He had a choice, because an innocent man, a sinless man, never has to suffer, never has to die. He is protected by God’s own Law, and God would have to deny Himself before He could force a sinless man to suffer and die.

So Jesus had a choice. Which would He choose? To avoid the suffering He didn’t deserve, or to drink the cup of suffering that mankind does deserve? In the end, He chose to leave the decision up to His dear Father. Thy will be done. “More than anything Father, I want to do what You know is best. I suffer willingly whatever You would have Me suffer.” And clearly there was no other way to redeem the fallen human race, or else the Father would never have willed for His Son to drink that terrible cup.

You know how hard it is to pray, “Thy will be done.” You know how hard it is to set aside your own desires, your own wishes, your own control over your own life. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. We’re prone to complain when we suffer. We’re prone to choose a sinful path, or the path of least resistance, rather than the path that honors God. And some people fall into such despair and unbelief that they choose to end their suffering—to end their life—rather than to submit to the Father’s will, rather than to pray, “Thy will be done.”

So let the perfect example of Jesus first bring you to repentance for the desire that lives at the bottom of your heart to have your will trump God’s will. And above all, trust in the One who became obedient to death, because His submission covers your complaining. His trust in His’s Father’s will earned a pardon for all your distrust.

Give thanks to God and learn from Jesus to pray, “Thy will be done,” even when it’s hard, even when it hurts. Be ready to drink whatever cup the Father pours for you, because you know that God’s will is truly best. It meant great suffering for Jesus, but in the end, it was good. It was right. It purchased the kingdom of heaven for us. God’s will may allow pain and suffering, which may be to discipline us, or which may be, as in the case of Jesus, to accomplish an even greater purpose. Learn to trust, like Jesus did. Learn to pray, “Thy will be done,” in every prayer, in every circumstance, and then, like Jesus, embrace His will. Your God will not abandon you. Amen.