Sermonstudio

David was a young man in his early 30s and seemed to have
everything going his way. He was a successful businessman. He
owned a sales and service-oriented business. He owned an
entertainment business and he owned an apartment complex.
Besides being successful in business, he was happily married.
He had a wife, two children and a big Irish setter that had its
own pet chicken. Wherever that Irish setter went, you would see
people stop and stare because there would be a Rhode Island Red
riding on his back.
David seemed to have it made in life. He was successful in
business. He had a happy family life. He had everything going his
way. Then, a routine medical examination turned up something very
serious -- a brain tumor.
I went to the hospital to see him shortly before his surgery.
We talked about the things you would expect a young man to be
concerned about just prior to undergoing surgery to remove a
brain tumor. We talked about his family. We talked about his wife
and two chidlren. We talked about his fear of dying.
As we sat there in that hospital room and talked, David stared
out the window and looked at the skyline of the city

off in the distance. Occasionally, he would use a kleenex to wipe
the tears as they trickled down his cheeks. Then, in a voice that
was choked with emotion, he looked back toward me and said, "I've
never felt this way before. It just seems that life is closing in
on me."
Jesus must have felt that life was closing in on him on that
Thursday of his final week. The triumphant welcome he had
received on Sunday and his angry outburst on Monday driving the
money-changers out of the temple had caused the religious leaders
to begin plotting how to dispose of Jesus. The teachings and
attitude of Jesus made him dangerous to the religious leaders.
There is nothing that is as cold and intolerant of the opinions
of others as the mindset of fanatical religious leaders who feel
they must protect their faith from the heresy of a different
opinion.
In this modern era, we have the equivalent of the narrow
minded, fanatical Pharisees. They are prevalent in every religion
and they can clearly be seen in the current controversy
surrounding the book, The Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie.
Those who close their minds and seek the death of another are not
pious examples of faith, but evil incarnate.
The religious leaders plotting and planning the death of Jesus
were not doing the work of God. They were lost, confused souls
who were trying to protect their comfortable existence from the
threat of One who seemed to be closer to God than they were. He
was a threat and they would have to have him killed.
Jesus did not have his head buried in the sand. He knew that
life was closing in on him. He was aware of the dangers and the
confrontations which were only a few hours away. Jesus longed for
more time. There were many things he still wanted to teach. There
were many things he still wanted to do. But time had run out and
life was closing in on him.
At one time or another, life closes in on all of us and the
experience is especially difficult. Perhaps someone is terribly
ill, and we do everything we can for them. We hope and pray that
person will get well, but he does not. And it seems like life
closes in on us.

There may come a time when it seems like our world comes to an
end. Something we hoped and prayed would never happen becomes a
reality and it feels like life is closing in on us. Perhaps,
someone we love very much no longer loves us. This feels like
death and it is -- the death of a relationship. It hurts! It hurts
deeply and it feels like life is closing in on us. Perhaps, our
sins and our guilt begin eating away at our insides. No one else
may know about our sins and failures, but we know and we feel
unworthy, sick and lost. Our life on the inside of our hearts and
minds is a mess of guilt and shame and it seems like life is
closing in on us with a vice-grip. What do we do when this
happens? When life closes in, what do we do? Do we fight back? Do
we throw up our hands and quit? What do we do when life closes in
on us?
When we look at Thursday during the last week for Jesus, life
was definitely closing in on him. Today, I want to suggest some
steps you can take when life seems to be closing in on you. The
ideas I suggest are really the steps Jesus took.

I. When Life Was Closing In, Jesus
Sought Fellowship With His Friends.
In that hour when doubts and fears were crowding in on Jesus,
he sought some quiet fellowship with his disciples as they
celebrated the Feast of the Passover. They were aware of the
dangers in Jerusalem, but it was important to celebrate the
Passover in the Holy City. Quietly, probably walking in groups of
two or three so as not to draw attention to their gathering, they
walked along the cobblestone streets to a house with an upper
room where they would share a meal. It was here in this intimate
fellowship with his disciples that Jesus sought some peace and
comfort when life was closing in on him.
This is a reaction which seems to make sense. When we are
desperate and life seems to be getting us down, we like to be
with people with whom we are comfortable, with whom

we love and with whom we care about. When life seems to be
closing in, we can find some comfort and peace in fellowship with
our friends. People do not have to say much in these moments,
they just need to be people we care about and who care about us.
There is nothing more reassuring than being with people we care
about when life is closing in on us.
A few years ago, a couple invited me out to lunch. I knew them
as a couple who attended our church, but I did not know them very
well. As we were eating lunch, they told me that they were going
to get married and wanted to know if I would officiate at the
wedding ceremony.
I told them I would. They were a delightful couple and I asked
them how they met. "We met at the Special Olympics," the woman
said.
Intrigued at where they met, I asked them to tell me about the
Special Olympics. They spoke with a great deal of tenderness
about helping young athletes struggle to do things that you and I
do without a second thought. Things like jumping, throwing a ball
or running took a great deal of effort on the part of these young
people who had special handicaps. The reward for these young
people was not in winning, but in participating.
I looked at the woman and asked, "What is your most memorable
experience in working with the Special Olympics?"
She smiled and said, "It was the finals in the 100-yard dash.
Most of the other events were over and everyone was watching this
event. The athletes were crouched in the starting position
waiting for the starter's gun. With the sound of the gun, the
athletes were off with their eyes fixed on the finish line.
However, about 50 yards down the track, one runner stumbled and
fell. The three other runners stopped and went back to help the
fourth. They helped him up. They brushed the gravel and dirt from
his scraped and bleeding knees and then walking four abreast,
with their arms around each other, they walked to the finish line
together."
We often find ourselves battered and bruised in life and lying
flat on the ground. We are wounded. We are facing a

dark period in life. Doubt and fear seem to be overwhelming us.
Life is closing in on us and we don't know where to turn or what
to do.
If we follow the example of Jesus, we will seek fellowship
with our friends. They may not make our problems disappear, but
we will discover a comfort and a peace growing in our hearts and
our lives because we know that someone cares.
Do you feel like life is closing in on you?
Do you feel like you are facing some kind of crisis in your
life because everything seems to be so overwhelming?
Do you feel like life has knocked you down and left you
battered and bruised?
Then look at what Jesus did! He was running out of time. He
was facing the cross of Calvary. He felt life was closing in on
him. And he sought the fellowship of his friends. So can you!

II. When Life Was Closing In,
Jesus Sought Fellowship With God.
Catch the setting in your mind. Jesus and his disciples had
just celebrated the last supper in the upper room. Judas had
slipped off to betray Jesus for only 30 pieces of silver. Jesus
knew what was lying ahead. Life was closing in on him and he
wanted to go to the Garden of Gethsemane. Quietly, they slipped
out of the Upper Room. It was almost midnight as they walked past
the lower pool and through the fountain gate. They moved up the
hill toward the garden. Jesus turned and looked back toward the
city. A few lights twinkled across the city that was mostly
asleep, the spire of the temple, tipped with gold was glistening
in the moonlight. In the distance, Jesus could hear a Roman
sentry calling his watch. Jesus walked on a little way in the
darkness alone. He wanted to be alone where he could pray and
seek fellowship with God. Life was closing in on him and he knelt
in prayer.

The scriptures tell us that Jesus, "... being in agony ...
prayed most earnestly, and his sweat become like great drops of
blood falling down upon the ground." Jesus knew what was before
him. He knew that the hatred of men and women was about to nail
him to a cross. He was grappling with fear in that garden as he
prayed: "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me."
I am firmly convinced that Jesus knew what was before him as
he prayed in the garden. He knew that life was closing in and he
was reaching out his hand for the hand of God. He was seeking
fellowship with God and the darkness could not overwhelm him.
Helen Steiner Rice used an old Danish fable to write a poem
she titled: "The Legend of the Spider and Silken Thread Held in
God's Hand." It is a good poem and it makes a good point. She
wrote:

There's an old Danish Legend
with a lesson for us all,
Of an ambitious spider
and his rise and fall.
Who wove his sheer web
with intricate care
As it hung suspended
somewhere in mid-air.
Then in soft, idle luxury
he feasted each day
On the small, foolish insects
he enticed as his prey.
Growing ever more arrogant
and smug all the while
He lived like a "king"
in self-satisfied style.
And gazing one day
at the sheer strand suspended.
He said, "I don't need this,"
so he recklessly rended
The strand that had held
his web in its place.

And with sudden swiftness
that web crumbled in space --
And that was the end
of the spider who grew
So arrogantly proud
that he no longer knew
That it was the strand
that reached down from above
Like the chord of God's grace
and his infinite love
That links our lives
to the great unknown.
For a man cannot live
or exist on his own --
And this old legend
with simplicity told
Is a moral as true
as the legend is old. --
Don't sever the "lifeline"
that links you to
The Father in Heaven
who cares about you.

When life is closing in on you, reach out your hand to the
hand of God. When you are linked to the "Father in Heaven," when
you are in fellowship with God, you will discover the strength
and the faith to face whatever comes your way in life.
Are you reaching out your hand to God? God is already reaching
out to you. Will you reach out to him?

Prayer: O God, as life closes in on us, give us the wisdom to
reach out to God who is already reaching out to us. In Jesus'
name. Amen.