How alone and abandoned Jesus must have felt.  Just a few hours earlier he had shared dinner with his closest followers and disciples.  He had told them that he no longer called them servants because a servant does not know his master’s business.  “Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made know to you.”  He had prepared them to be his successors in the family business.

Yet, when a mob with clubs, swords and torches in the dark of night struck terror in their hearts, Mark reports, “Everyone deserted him and fled.” (Mark 14:50)  Fear had seized them.  They may have thought that their spirit was willing as evidenced by Peter’s proclamation that he would go to prison or death for Jesus, but the flesh yielded to the terror of the night.

Fear was everywhere that evening.  The mob was gripped with fear, for they armed themselves with swords and clubs.  Jesus, too, experienced fear as he sweated blood and asked the Father to take “this cup.”  The disciples ran out of fear.

When my son, Stephen, turned 12, the two of us went on an overnight camping trip into the Shenandoah Mountains in Virginia.  After we had retired to bed down for the evening, we heard something moving outside our tent.  In the dark of night we were gripped with fear.  After fumbling around one of our back packs I found a flashlight, and cautiously peaked outside the tent to discover a deer tasting the nearby fauna.  How much more terror I would have felt if I had seen a mob approaching with torches, clubs and swords!  We should not be too harsh in our judgment of the disciples.

Fear is one of Satan’s greatest weapons which he uses to steer us away from God and his will.  Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of what people think, fear of rejection, fear of the boss, fear of the next medical test – all become obstacles for us to live the life to which God has called us.  John says perfect love casts out all fear. (1John 4:18)

When motivated to act out of fear, stop!  Remember the love God has for you as evidenced by his willingness to become one of us and die for us.  Remember your love of God and ask what he wants you to do.

After Jesus told the disciples at the Last Supper that all of them would fall away, Peter proclaimed, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”  Jesus responds, “Tonight – before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times. Peter continues to protest, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” (Mark 14:29, 31)

Later that evening after Jesus is arrested and is being questioned at the house of the High Priest, Peter is outside in the courtyard warming himself by the fire with some guards and servants.  A servant girl accuses him of being a follower of Jesus. Peter denies that he knows Jesus.  After the third accusation and denial, a rooster crows a second time and Peter remembers Jesus’ words.  “Then Peter broke down and wept.” (Mark 14:72)

Falling into wrongful conduct is so easy. We encounter an unexpected circumstance and react out of fear, anger, lust, greed or one of our other emotions, and in a twinkling of an eye, we do something we regret.  We sin; we hurt a loved one; we hurt ourselves.

How often have I reacted in anger with an indifferent store clerk or a person serving on the help desk of a computer company who is unable to remedy a technical problem!  How often have I been tempted to tell a boss or person of influence what he or she wants to hear rather than the truth!  How often have I refrained from offering to pray with someone in need or speak about Jesus out of fear of what people might think!

Peter no doubt considered himself stronger than the rest of the disciples and his pride could not imagine any circumstance that would have him denying that he knew the Lord. Yet in a moment of confusion when his paradigm of Jesus was being shattered before his eyes, fear reigned and he did the unthinkable.

Similarly, my pride causes me to stumble time after time.  Recently, an organization denied a “Seal of Approval” to a book I have written because it was not considered in sufficient alignment with the characteristics of the organization’s constituency.  My pride prompted me to write an immediate rebuttal with copies to those making the evaluation.  The rebuttal did not persuade them; it only angered them and opened me to charges of being uncharitable and unprofessional.  Like Peter, I was humiliated.

Has your pride caused you to stumble?  Regardless of what you have done, God is always willing to forgive a repentant heart.  We should be encouraged by Peter’s example. Though he faltered in his commitment to the Lord, he regretted his actions; the Lord forgave him, and strengthened him through the Holy Spirit to become the first leader of Christianity – pride’s lament.

Jesus has just finished praying in the Mount of Olives when a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests came to arrest him.  Luke reports, “And one of them [a disciple] struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.   But Jesus answered, ‘No more of this!’  And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.” (Luke 22:50-51) The Gospel of John says that the servant’s name is Malchus.

Imagine if you are Malchus.  You have accompanied a group of soldiers, probably at the request of your master, the high priest.  You come in the dark of night across the Kidron Valley separating Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives with torches and weapons to arrest Jesus whom you have been told is an enemy of the Jewish religion and Israel.  One of Jesus’ followers attacks you with his sword, cutting off your ear.

Then this Jesus, your supposed enemy, reaches out and touches your ear and it is fully healed.  One moment it is hanging there, bleeding, about to fall off, and the next moment it is completely restored.  One moment your adversaries are acting as you would expect adversaries to act, and the next moment Jesus, the object of your arrest, is reaching out to you, not to do you harm, but to undo the harm done by one of his followers.

How can Malchus not be affected?  It had to be life changing.  Since John identifies him by name in his Gospel, it is likely that Malchus became a follower of Jesus and was familiar to John and the people for whom he wrote his Gospel.

As with Malchus, Jesus is always ready to reach out to us.  In the most unlikely of circumstances, he is there, always inviting, ready to heal or respond to a need we have not anticipated.  In the ordinary and extraordinary, he is there.  Whether it is to open our life to him for the first time, or to go deeper in our relationship with him, he is present.

Like Malchus, I had an unexpected encounter with Jesus many years ago on a country gravel road south of Kansas City, Missouri on the way to my wife’s grandmother’s farm.  I asked him if he would take away some disorder in my life and he did.  As a result, I invited him into all areas of my life, including my professional life, and my life has never been the same.  If you ask my wife, she will tell you that from that point forward, my priorities began to change, as I sought God’s will in each area of my life as a husband, father and an attorney for a large international oil company.

Are you willing to be surprised by an unexpected encounter with Jesus?

Ask someone how they are doing, and they will likely tell you how busy they are.  We seem to be always busy – demanding jobs and active families with children involved in numerous activities often results in our rushing from one place to another.

The Gospel of Mark reports that as Jesus, his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar beside the road, heard that it was Jesus who was passing by and he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  Those standing nearby rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the louder, “Son of David have mercy on me!”

Above the din of the crowd Jesus hears this man call out to him as the heir to King David.  Ironically, Bartimaeus, the beggar, may have known who Jesus was better than the disciples and the crowd following him – “King of kings, Lord of lords, Sovereign of the universe,” titles attributed to Jesus in Isaiah 9:6-7. Bartimaeus is appealing to the King, and the King has stopped to hear his plea.

Jesus responds by asking, “What do you want me to do for you?”  Bartimeaus says, “Rabbi, I want to see.”  Jesus says, “Go, your faith has healed you.  Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Are you willing to stop what you are doing to respond to someone in need?  Sometimes I have stopped; sometimes I have passed by.

One evening when I was driving to a meeting, I came upon a man who had just been hit by a pick-up truck as he was crossing the road with a grocery cart.  The man was on the street in front of the truck and the grocery cart was under the truck.  As one of the first on the scene, I immediately pulled into an adjacent parking lot and ran to him.  I kneeled down to see how he was.  As the sound of sirens approached, he asked me if he was going to die.  I said, “No, you are not going to die,” and started praying with him as a crowd gathered around.  The rescue squad arrived and pushed me aside.  They put him on a board and took him to a nearby hospital.  I inquired of the hospital, but since I didn’t know his name, was never able to learn whether he lived or died.

In reflecting on the moment, I came to understand that I was the King’s delegate that evening and the King wanted me to stop and let the man know that whatever his physical condition, he wasn’t going to die, but would live for eternity.

There is blessing in stopping. Are you willing to listen above the din of the crowd and resist the pace of the moment to stop – and respond to the need of another on behalf of the King?

How frightening it is for us to give up control, living by faith instead of by our own wits!  But that was God’s desire for Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Jesus is praying, realizing that he might soon be seized by guards, arrested, subjected to false accusations and an unjust trial, torture and death.  He may have also been feeling the heavy weight of rejection, sin and wickedness in the world that was about to overtake him in spite all of his teaching, miracles and good works.

He said to his disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” He then prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.  Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:38-39)

Jesus reveals to us the fullness of his humanity by asking the Father three times to take this cup of anguish and free him from this hour.  But then he yields to the will of the Father, giving up control and submitting to his sorrow, anxiety, rejection and every imaginable human emotion of fear and doubt. It was God’s desire for Jesus to accept the cup in order to carry out God’s saving plan for human kind. Jesus was free to reject or accept the cup. Fortunately for us and the history of the world, he accepted it.

Like Jesus, we too, may be given cups that are bitter to drink.  Seven years ago, I was diagnosed with an advanced and aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread outside the prostate to at least one lymph node.  It was a cup filled with the initial shock of the diagnosis, a gauntlet of consultations, evaluations of the various treatment options and their varied side effects, the actual surgery, the recovery process and follow-up hormone therapy for three and half years.

The Gospel of Luke reports that after Jesus submitted to God’s will, an angel appeared to him and strengthened him.  I too, was attended by angels. My wife was always at my side.  Two daughters, who lived in another state, left their families to spend successive weekends with me. Another daughter encouraged me with scripture (Sirach 38:1-13).  A good friend who had cancer that made it difficult for him to even walk, showed up in a snow storm to pray with me in the pre-op, leading the attending nurses and surgeons in prayer for what they were about to do.  My fellow board members of Christians in Commerce prayed and fasted for 24 hours for me at a meeting just prior to my surgery.  Through God’s grace and the expertise he has given my doctors, my PSA has been undetectable for over seven years.

In looking back, I believe that I have rarely experienced God’s love more than during this time through the prayer and actions of my wife, children, extended family, friends from Christians in Commerce, the People of Praise, St. Mark’s Catholic Church and former colleagues from Mobil Corporation.

It is not unusual for most of us to want to be in control, managing and manipulating the events of our lives.  However, God does not always give us a road map to our journey of life.  If he did, we would likely try to take control, and mess it up. Jesus gives us a better example – seeking the Father’s will in all things.

As we begin the Lenten Season, we might ask ourselves, how much of my following Jesus is at a distance? After Jesus’ arrest, we read in the Gospel of Mark, “Peter followed at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest.  There he sat with the guards and warmed himself by the fire.” (Mark 14:54)

Like Peter, we may profess our allegiance to Jesus that “even if all fall away, I will not,” or we may recite the Creed every Sunday in our church declaring that we believe in “God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only son.”

Yet, we keep our distance from Jesus, failing to keep our appointment with him each day in prayer or putting a higher priority on our comfort as Peter did when he sat with the guards and warmed himself by the fire.

Like Peter, we may be thrust into circumstances where we are reluctant to be identified with Jesus.  In Peter’s case, it was the guards, the elders, and the mob.  For us, it may be a boss who has disdain for God, or social friends who consider any reference to Jesus as foolishness or it may be our yielding to that little temptation that never seems to go completely away.

Early in my career when I would attend a company meeting followed by cocktails and dinner, the conduct could sometimes get a bit macho and boisterous. It was not unusual for the conversation to involve exaggerated exploits, the building up of self and the putting down of others, off-color stories, gossip, and the fawning over whoever might be the most senior person present. At some point I began to realize that when I engaged in this kind of conduct I was distancing myself from Jesus. It was so easy to go with the flow and so tempting to want to be a part of the group. It required a decision on my part not to participate.

Just as Peter’s faith was tested, so may our faith be tested.  The world inclines us to keep our distance from Jesus, while Jesus bids us to draw near.  He says, come to me all who are burdened from the cares of this world and I will give you rest.  Come to me all who are thirsty for meaning in life and I will give you understanding.  Do not fear those who do not follow me for I have overcome this world. Step across the distance that separates us, and you will experience my love, my strength and my peace.

Do your daily choices distance you from Jesus?  How can you shorten the distance?

“Is that your boy?” asked the salty 82 year old owner of the marina as we backed the boat into the slip, with my son, Steve and son-in-law, Greg handling the lines.  “Yes,” I answered, “He’s my son,” and then pointing to Greg, “and he’s my son-in-law.”

We were on a three day boat trip down the Potomac River, across the Chesapeake Bay to Tangier Island, then up the St. Mary’s River and finally back to Occoquan, south of Washington.  It was early October and God had blessed us with absolutely beautiful weather – warm sunshine days and cool nights – picturesque sunrises and artistic sunsets.  We had lunch at various crab houses along the way and anchored out each evening with one of the boys cooking dinner on the boat.  We were all easy to be with.

Tangier Island is like stepping into a time warp, discovered by Captain John Smith in 1608, a population of 569 who still speak with a trace of Elizabethan accent; all connected either directly or indirectly with the crabbing industry.  No cars, only golf carts and walking paths populated with houses and front yards filled with gravestones of preceding generations; lots of docks, marshes and crab boats.

It may sound like a small thing, but for the owner of the marina to see enough resemblance to ask the question, “Is that your boy?” made me feel kind of proud.  Forty-three years separate my son, Stephen and me.  He is 30 and vigorous.  I have white hair and am not quite so vigorous.

In today’s society, families tend to get so disbursed that we can easily lose our sense of family and identity from generation to generation.  We go our separate ways, life full of work, children activities and busyness; seldom doing things together, living far apart, seeing each other only on an occasional holiday.  In prior generations, like Tangier Island, families tended to live together more, or at least in closer proximity, sons worked with their fathers and were a continuation of the father in both work and life.

Tradition tells us that Jesus initially took on the work of his earthly father, Joseph, working as a carpenter before he began his public life. “Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.  And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” (Luke 2:51-52) In his public life he also took on the work of his heavenly Father, becoming his presence in human form in the family business of salvation, offering the fullness of life from God, the Father to all people.

This is the natural order established by God – man, woman, family cooperating with God’s creative act to fill the earth and to work and take care of the garden of creation, extending God’s plan and leading each generation to God, so that God may one day be “all in all.” (1Cor. 15:28)  Let us pray that God may be as proud of us, his extension in this world, as I am of my son, Stephen, son-in-law, Greg, and all my children, their spouses and families, who are an extension of our family and heritage.

In a 2011 Gallup poll, 92% of Americans said they believed in God.  While this widespread belief in God may seem remarkable given what we see in much of our pop culture, a more telling question might be how much confidence do we have in God with respect to our day-to-day actions?  Do we seek his guidance for both large and small decisions?  Do we tell the boss what he or she wants to hear or speak the truth? Do we correct a teenage child even though it may provoke an extreme reaction?  Do we offer to pray with a co-worker who has just learned that he or she has been diagnosed with cancer?

God asked Gideon to lead the Israelites against the Midianites who had been raiding their lands.  Gideon believed in God, but as the footnote in the Community Christian Bible suggests, his confidence in God appeared to be a bit shaky since he asked for a sign not only once but twice.  He said, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor.  If there is only dew on the fleece and the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand.” (Judges 6:36-37)  God gave him this sign, but then Gideon wanted more assurance and asked that the reverse happen with the dew being on the ground, but not the fleece.  God provided this additional assurance and then Gideon, with God’s assistance,  went on to defeat Midian.

In Hope for the Workplace – Christ in You, there is the story of Dr. Sheri Donaldson, a physical therapist whose co-worker, Ashley, was scheduled for an MRI to check on a piece of brain tumor that could not be removed from a prior surgery. Every time Ashley would have an MRI to check on the status of the tumor, she would get very anxious.  It just so happened that Sheri was able to see Ashley right before she was leaving for her appointment. Sheri sensed that the Lord wanted her to pray with Ashley that this time the MRI would show that the tumor was gone.  While Sheri had reservations about whether she should follow what she deemed a prompting from the Holy Spirit, she nevertheless placed her hand on Ashley’s forehead and prayed in the name of Jesus that the tumor would be gone.

Sheri reports, “The next time we saw each other, I was walking down the hallway past Ashley’s office and she yelled, ‘Sheri, THE TUMOR IS GONE!’ Not a trace of it on the MRI, even though it had been present on every MRI for several years.”

We see in Sheri’s story someone who not only believes in God, but also has the confidence in God to step out and boldly offer to pray with her friend that God would heal her and take away all trace of the remaining piece of brain tumor.

In John 14:12, Jesus says, “Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.  He will do even greater things than these…and I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.”

The Bible has hundreds of promises like this one.  How much confidence do you have in them?

One characteristic common to all living things is that they eventually die.  People, animals, birds, microbes, plants, even the giant redwoods that can live a thousand years, die at some point.  The cycle of birth, life and death may vary, but the sequence remains the same for all. Three score and ten has been consigned to human life for much of history, although the Psalmist says, “You have made my days a mere handbreadth.” (Psalm 39:5)

But then Jesus says, “He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25, 26)  This, of course, runs counter to what we experience in being born into this physical world, living the life we see, hear and touch.

Many years ago a secretary with whom I worked was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer.  Her name was Rita.  She went through multiple surgeries and treatments.  I watched her as she went from this vibrant woman in her prime, full of life, grace and happiness, literally shrink physically before my eyes as the cancer and treatments sapped the life from her.  In visiting her a few days before she died, I was shocked at her physically deteriorated state.

That evening, while reflecting on her condition, the thought came to me that while the cancer was destroying her physical body, it could not destroy her because who she was, included so much more than her physical body.  Yes, her physical nature had a part in defining who she was, but the most important part of her was her personality, her gracious and loving manner, her kindness, her willingness to listen to a co-worker with a problem, her diligence in her work, her quiet peace and joy when our office was experiencing a chaotic moment, her inclination to love no matter who was standing in front of her.

These non-physical characteristics of Rita were what really made her who she was.  They would not die with her body.  They would live on.  As physical beings we struggle with defining the non-physical.  We use words like soul and spirit that have the potential to transcend the physical realm. The writer of Ecclesiastes observes, “He has set eternity into the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from the beginning to the end.” (Eccl. 33:11)

Job asks, “If a man dies will he live again?” (Job 14:14) Jesus answers the question.  We die to this physical world in the current age, but if we believe in him, the best part of us lives on, soul and spirit. Furthermore, just as God raised Jesus to new life with a different kind of body after he was nailed to the cross, he promises to do the same for those who believe.  “For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.  Where, O death is your victory? Where, O death is your sting?’” (1 Cor. 15:53-55)

We live in a fast-food, express lane world. We have instant cash machines in grocery stores, drive-through banking, one hour cleaning, jiffy lubrication for our cars and overnight delivery of mail. We seem to be in a constant rush. The virtue of patience and waiting holds little value, considered more a distraction than an attribute.

In the Exodus 23, God is giving instructions to the Israelites about how he is going to help them overcome the people who occupy the land he has prepared for them. He says he is not going to drive out the occupiers in a single year. “Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.” He explains that if he drove them out immediately, the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for the Israelites to handle.

God designed us to grow little by little from infancy to childhood, from childhood to puberty, from puberty to adulthood, from early adulthood to maturity. Shortening the process will not lead to the desired outcome of maturity and wisdom. How often have we seen the fame accompanying a child actress or the instant wealth accruing to a gifted collegiate athlete gone professional lead to a disastrous result?

Our daughter Emily was born with Down syndrome. One of the characteristics of children with Down syndrome is that they experience delays in their development. That first step takes a little longer. First words come a little slower and physical coordination can take time, but each milestone is accompanied with much rejoicing and a sure sense of achievement.

Ironically the Lord calls each of us to seek him eagerly, but then often has us wait to see the fruit. St. Paul acknowledges that even “creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed” so that “it [creation] may be liberated from the bondage of decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Romans 8:19, 21)

We who accept God’s offer to dwell in us are the sons and daughters of God being revealed generation upon generation to liberate this created world from its bondage to sin and decay. It is a long term process, but the benefits can last an eternity — for us, our families, our colleagues, our workplaces and the world around us. It is noteworthy that of the fifteen characteristics St. Paul uses to define love in 1 Corinthians 13, the first is patience. He says, “Love is patient, love is kind…”

The question is can we abide by God’s timing of what he wants to accomplish through us? While we are looking for instant success, God realizes that we often need preparation to do what he has put before us. “Little by little” he prepares us, or the hearts of the people he wants us to reach, so we need to be patient with God to provide the circumstances for us to act.

Several years ago, one of my daughters made a plaque with beautiful calligraphy for my den. It reads, “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) I gaze on it each morning while I meet Jesus for coffee and wait on the quiet whisper of his will.