Part 2 Holding, Looking In, Lifting and Drinking My Cup Matthew 20:20-23 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him. 21 And He said to her, What do you wish? She said * to Him, Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left. 22 But Jesus answered, You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink? They said * to Him, We are able. 23 He said * to them, My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father. Review.. I. In the physical action of drinking the cup there are three aspects: Holding the Cup while Looking Into It Drinking the Cup There was protocol / rules associated with having wine on the table Holding the Cup while Looking Into It 1. Grandfather or Father poured the wine. 2. You never poured your own. 3. The glass was poured to half full. 4. No one ever drank from his glass until our glasses were raised. 5. With glasses raised Father would look at each one sitting at the table, speak a word of welcome and talk about the uniqueness of the occasion. 6. Then his glass would touch my mother s glass and the glasses of those present. Drinking the Cup 7. No gulping, sipping only. 8. No one ever drank too much. 9. You never asked for more wine, it is the duty of the host to offer you more. II. III. IV. Holding The Cup One thing I learned was that drinking wine was much more than drinking. You have to know what you are drinking. My cup is: My Destiny Looking Into the Cup Sorrows / Joy / Blessing Thus we lift our cup as a fearless gesture, proclaiming that we will support each other in our common journey. ----------------------------------------------------------- 1
Part 2 V. Drinking The Cup A. Why Drink? In whatever country you find yourself, having a drink together (water, tea, coke, wine) is a sign of friendship, intimacy and peace. We drink to: Break the ice Enter into conversation Show good intentions Express friendship and goodwill To set the stage for a memorable moment To be open Vulnerable Accessible. It is no surprise that people that are angry with us will refuse a drink from us. They will say, I really need to run. I ll come straight to the point. No thanks, I won t be here long. Refusing to drink is avoiding intimacy. w/ people w/ God B. Drinking the cup of life makes us own everything we are living. Often we protest the cup that was poured for us Instead of drinking our cup we want to pour it out and get another. Drinking our cup is God confident living it is hope and trust pursuing our destiny facing reality with a heart of faith Often we comfort people by saying Well, it is sad this has happened to you, but try to make the best of it. But making the best of it is not what drinking the cup is about. Drinking our cup is not simply adapting ourselves to a bad situation and trying to use it as best as we can. Drinking our cup is a: Hopeful, Courageous, God confident, way of living. 2
It is standing in the world with our head held high, solidly rooted in the knowledge of who we are, facing the reality that surrounds us and responding to it from the Word of God. Jesus was a carpenter s son, born in Nazareth People would say, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? John 1:44-46 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found * Nathanael and said * to him, We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 46 Nathanael said to him, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said * to him, Come and see. Jesus drank His cup to the bitter end. All His disciples did too. Spiritual greatness has nothing to do with being greater than others. It has everything to do with obedience and fulfilling your destiny. History is full of people who were born nobody s, but when they drank their cup in its fullness they became great. C. Drinking fully from the cup results in fruitfulness. To the degree that we are willing to drink our cup we will bear fruit Matt 13:3 And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. 8 And others fell on the good soil and yielded * a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear. Fruitfulness rating. 30 / 60 / 100 fold D. Drinking the cup the Lord gives us sets us free from: Addictions alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex, these and more trap us and put us in their prison cell. Compulsions - we can feel compelled to think, act and speak in one way without being able to chose any other way. Obsessions an idea, a plan, a hobby can obsess us to such a degree that we become it s slave. These 3 things hinder us from fulfilling our destiny. 3
Addictions, Compulsions and Obsessions reveal our entrapments. Sin makes us want to live our own lives according to our wishes and desires, ignoring the cup that was given us. Failure to drink our cup makes us Self-indulgent. Galatians 5:18-21 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Drinking our cup, the way Jesus did is the way out of the trap Unless we are willing to drink our cup real freedom will elude us. E. The Cup of Meditation 2 Cor 10:5,6 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, 6 and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete. Whenever your obedience is complete drinking your cup Taking thoughts captive facing something that is hard to face and declaring it under your feet. Some things are hard to face. So, instead of facing them we look for things that will keep our minds occupied, so we do not have to face it. This is entertainment. Entertainment is often good for us. It can give us an evening away from our worries and fears. But when we start living life as entertainment, we lose touch with our souls. VI. Action Drinking our cup involves choosing those actions that lead us toward fulfillment of our destiny. Actions that lead to overwork, exhaustion and burnout can t glorify God. What God calls us to do we can do and do well. 4
When we hold our thoughts captive and share our lives (cup) with others we will know what we are called to do and do it with a grateful heart. Summary LOOKING in our Cup. In the midst of sorrows is consolation. In the midst of darkness is light. In despair we find hope. In the midst of an army of demons we encounter the Power of the Holy Spirit. The cup of Sorrows is also the cup of Joy It is only when we can see this in our cup that we can consider drinking it. LIFTING our Cup. When each of us can hold our cup, with its many sorrows and joys, claiming it as our unique life, then too, we can lift it up for others to see and encourage them to lift up their lives as well. In doing so, we lift our cup as a fearless gesture, proclaiming that we will support each other in our common journey. This, is celebrating community. Community is a fellowship of people who do not hide their joys and sorrows but make them visible to each other in a gesture of hope. Living in community we say, Life is full of gains and losses, joys and sorrows, ups and downs, but we do not have to live it alone. DRINKING our Cup. We want to drink our cup together and celebrate the truth that the wounds of our individual lives, which seem intolerable when lived alone, become sources of healing when we live them as part of a fellowship of mutual care. To the degree that we are willing to drink our cup we will bear fruit Drinking our cup is God confident living it is hope and trust pursuing our destiny facing reality with a heart of faith Drinking our cup is a: Hopeful, Courageous, God confident, way of living. 5