“Are Ye Able”

Scripture: Deuteronomy 5:28-33, Mark 10:35-40, John 12:23-26

As we continue in our Lenten series with the hymns of Easter, in our hymn for today, “Are Ye Able”, we will consider the depth and commitment of our faith, and whether we are fully prepared to enter eternity with our Lord. Some may think that the test is whether we have made all of our preparations or not, while the truth is that Jesus has already done all that is necessary for us, and our responsibility is to accept “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6-7, John 8:31-36) that is only found in him.

The hymn asks us if we are able to follow the Lord to our own Calvary; if we are able to remember and live in all that forgiveness can bring to us and others; if we are able to accept the fact that earthly death must never be the final answer to our life; if we are able to trust in the glory that was made available to the earliest disciples - the same glory that is also offered to each and every one of us by faith in Jesus.

The response in the hymn is, of course, “Lord, we are able, our spirits are thine.” It continues in asking for God’s remolding, his guidance, and that he might bathe us in his glorious light. But what does this mean for the life we live?

Read Deuteronomy 5:28-33

Moses has just presented the 10 Commandments to the people, and Israel has boldly proclaimed that not only do they accept the word that God has handed down, but that they now know that they can actually hear the voice of God without fear of being struck down dead. And in our text, we read that the Lord is pleased with the people’s words of commitment to his way, but there seems to be some doubt that they will actually follow through on their words. The people were considering the implication that the word – God’s laws – would have on their lives, and they thought that they could follow those rules. However, that was never what the Lord was asking of them – he wanted to know if the people would love the way he had laid out for them, whether they would put their heart and soul, not just their minds, into living the kind of life that he was describing. The Lord doesn’t desire rigid obedience to his commandments – he wants a heartfelt love for the way they create, and from that, to follow him into the glory of Almighty God.

We are being called to “Walk in all the way …” that God has described - without hesitation, without contradiction, without fear of what that way may entail! Back to our hymn – this may bring hatred and condemnation and conflict to our lives by those who oppose God’s ways. It will require that we give up some precious attitudes and life styles that have always been an enjoyable and special part of our existence. It will demand that our faith never waiver – not in times of adversity, not in times of denial, not in times of death and darkness. And it most certainly will require the Lord’s remaking of our lives – to destroy the image that the world has imposed upon us, and to restore us to the image and glory of God that was inherit in our creation.

And the instructions conclude with the thought that this is the way that we must take, if we fully desire to live and prosper, through all time, in the presence and life of our Lord and Savior.

Read Mark 10:35-40

James and John, two of Jesus’ foremost disciples, ask that Jesus allow them to sit on either side him in eternity, that he would grant them divine authority at the coming Judgment. The question is beyond bold – it borders on indecency, on rudeness! But Jesus tells them that to grant them Godly authority, is not his decision to make. And quite honestly, that position should never be our goal – that faithful service is what we should be focused on. That is what Jesus is telling them when he asks them “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”

The cup that Jesus would drink was the mission that would lead him to Calvary – a mission that was centered in his love for the lost people of earth, a mission that would break the bonds of sin that hold us in its death grip, a mission that he had to live and suffer through - alone.
The baptism that was demanded was not only one of water, but also one of fire. His baptism, when accepted, was a deep and abiding commitment to stay true to the mission, regardless of what might come against him, regardless of what will come to interrupt and distract him from its completion. It sustained him during his wilderness days when Satan offered him the easy, but un-Godly way, that would let him sidestep his Father’s “Cup”; when others denied his divinity; when others expressed hatred for the words he spoke; when others offered false testimony against him; when he was flogged within an inch of his life; when he was subjected to the most cruel death that man has ever devised.

And even though the two brothers didn’t fully understand what they had just asked for, Jesus tells them that while he couldn’t promise them the seats of glory, he could promise that his Cup of mission, and his Baptism of conflict, would indeed be theirs in the days and years to come. James would be put to death by King Herod (Acts 12:1-2), and John would be exiled for life to the Island of Patmos (Revelation 1:9), both because of the Cup and the Baptism they had accepted as disciples of Jesus Christ.

And the truth is that every follower of Jesus is invited to receive his baptism, and to drink of his cup, and to receive it is a decision that each and every one of us must make – no one is forced to accept them! Will we accept the call to mission that God places on our lives, and will we drink deeply within that mission, regardless of all that may come? Will we claim the baptism of commitment that must be a vital part of showing our love and dedication to Jesus, in a way that the world can never miss?

Read John 12:23-26

Jesus tells us that human death is inevitable, even for him, but that his will be part of the mission, the “Cup”, that he has accepted. Christ’s death on the cross is the very act that will free humanity from the bonds of sin – the bond that demands allegiance to the ways of earth, the sin that demands denial of Godly ways. Christ, the sinless Man, had to die as a man in sacrifice for the wayward ways of sinful men and women. Humanity has lived in sin, therefore a Man has to die as a penalty for that sin. But only God can forgive sin, therefore the Fully Man must also be Fully God.

The sinlessness of Jesus also demands that even his humanity can never be held in the throes of death. His human, his bodily resurrection, also a vital part of his “Cup”, is the great guarantee that in him and in his way, life that overcomes death is a possibility for even the likes of me and you.

Jesus had to die, and to be raised to new life, so that others would believe that they, too, could be healed and forgiven for their sin, and could be led to faith in the First Fruit of Salvation – the source and way of eternal life. Of course there is a caveat – if we love the life we live here, this life that is based in the world, eternal life will be beyond our reach, but if we reject the ways of this life, and give our focus to the life that Jesus offers, eternity will be ours.

And verse 26 is an especially poignant addition for me. About 15 years ago, I was invited to join a group called Kairos. Kairos is an international and highly successful prison ministry, and a new program was being developed for the Pennsylvania State Prison in Waymart, PA. Now please understand that I had spent my entire life trying to stay out of prison, and now I was being asked to voluntarily go in for 3 ½ days to share the love of Christ with men who had done despicable things. Not in my plans, to say the least!
I asked Ed if I could have a couple weeks to pray about it, which he agreed to. So for about 10 days, I prayed – but the prayer was more like “Lord, how do I get out of this?” As you might imagine, I never got an answer. But on a Tuesday morning, following a meeting with my prayer group in which we were discussing the call of our discipleship, as well as those times we had denied Christ’s call to discipleship. I was on my way to work, when I heard the Lord tell me “If you want to be my disciple, you have to be where I am.” Not exactly the answer that I was looking for!

But I called Ed that night, and told him that I would join the team, and that I would go to prison with him and the others. And in my obedience to the Lord’s call, I discovered that anywhere Jesus and his Holy Spirit are, is the best place that I, or any of us for that matter, can ever be. What a blessing those next ten years were, and on one of the weekends, I accepted the Lord’s call into pastoral ministry! Go Figure!

“Are Ye Able” to follow me, to serve me, to glorify me, to suffer for me, to give up the world for me, to put your whole trust in me, to know me, to truly and fully love me?

Our answer must always be “Yes, Lord, by your grace!”