I often come home at night and look up at the beautiful moon that hovers over the magnificent trees in my back yard. And I think to myself, wouldn’t it be lovely to sit out here with someone and stare at the moon. And I step out onto my back step on an absolutely glorious day and ponder taking a long walk with a friend that I love, speaking of all the things that are in our hearts. And yet I do not watch with HIM one hour.
The reference above, from both Matthew and Mark’s gospels, is speaking of the disciples who were in the Garden of Gethsemane with Christ the night before He went to the cross. He was asking them to just BE with them. And they were not. How many times do we do this to our own friends? Talking on the phone with them and all the while doing the dishes or on the computer or multi-tasking in a dozen other ways. Sitting at a table sharing a meal while texting another friend or checking our twitter account. We rarely just choose to BE with someone. We are consumed with ourselves.
But this was their Savior and their King and still they did not see the value of those moments in the garden. Here were the disciples with the ONE who had called them forth from their mundane existence and asked them to go on a bold adventure. He has drawn them close and taught them and poured little pieces of heaven into them. And they could not even watch with Him one hour.
Imagine the garden in a different light. Imagine that they waited while Jesus prayed. Imagine that they prayed along with Him. It would not have changed the destiny of the Son of Man. He would still have shed His blood on the cross for their sins. But imagine for just a moment…
Jesus comes back and finds them praying. He sits on the grass next to them and they look into His eyes. (all cell phones on silent and tucked away in their garments) He makes a reference about “remember when…” and they all nod in agreement. And then they begin to share stories of their times together, of their hopes for the future. And they laugh. They weep. And together they find the strength to make it through the night. Imagine.
I have lost loved ones. I have had the chance to sit by some and sing hymns of comfort as they passed from this life to the next. I have been sitting at the computer frantically trying to find a plane ticket to get to my mom when the call came that it was too late. Too late to have those last moments together. I sat at the table late into the night reminiscing with my brother, never knowing that in the morning he would be gone. Oh, how I cherish those moments we had.
I talk a lot about making moments count. I often ask the people I am with to put down their phones at the table. And yet I see the moon above my house and I long for the one that is not there. I look to the very heavens where I long to go and yet I set aside the One who made it possible for me to get there.
The disciples didn’t fully understand. I get that. But what if? Just what if they had taken the time to truly BE with Him in those final moments? Don’t you think it would have been just like the woman’s broken alabaster box to Jesus’ soul? Don’t you think that the hearts of the disciples would have had a little something more to hold on to? He goes on to say “watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” They lost their faith in the moments that followed. If only they had looked into His eyes one more time that night.
And I am the same. I lose my strength when I am not spending time with Him. What if I put down my fleshly longings and turned my face to Jesus. What if I grabbed the bottle of perfume and sat under the moon ministering to the One who loved me back from death? And letting Him minister to me? Can I not watch with Him just one hour?