Ah, the thanklessness of it,
the ugliness, the evil by Alexander Smiley from On the Secret Place
1907 Then he returned to his disciples
and found them sleeping. Could you not keep watch with
me for one hour? He asked. Matthew chapter 26
verse 40. Every word is incisive. Every
syllable is an arrow whose point has been dipped in yearning and
wounded love. One, the sleep is inexcusable
because of the indebtedness of the disciple. Could you not keep
watch? asks Christ, and the you is emphatic,
you who have heard my teachings, you who have witnessed my miracles,
you who have known the allurement of my life, you whom I have crowned
with my special favor, you who have sworn your fidelity so often
and so recently. Such things he has done for me
as well, such blessings he has bestowed, such pains he has undergone. And shall I be negligent towards
him? Ah, the thanklessness of it,
the ugliness, the evil! 2. And the sleep is inexcusable. Because of the modesty of the
Lord's demand, he asked, Could you not keep watch? Now let me
lay the stress on the verb watch. He might have bidden me to drink
the wormwood and the gall with him, climb the hill of shame
by his side, die as he died of a broken heart, but the cross
and the curse are for himself alone, and from me he seeks simply
the open eye and the consecrated mind and the obedient spirit. He does not call me to exile,
or prison, or martyrdom, but to guard myself, to repel the
advance of temptation, to cultivate holiness and obedience. It seems
unpardonable that Christ's friend should deny Him a gift so small. 3. And the sleep is inexcusable,
because of the measurelessness of the Saviour's deserts. Could
you not keep watch with me? What poignancy and pathos dwell
in the last words? He is my Healer, my Teacher,
my King, my God, my Saviour. The earth moves at His command,
the beasts are governed by His sceptre, and the birds sing His
praise. High in the ranks of creation,
the angels are flames of fire, and speed at His requests. All
creation does His will. But he blesses me, as he has
blessed none of them. They do not know my motives to
spend and be spent for him. To support me he became man. To bless me with eternal glory
he emptied himself and was numbered with the transgressors. Shall
I forget him? 4. And the sleep is inexcusable
because of the brevity of the vigilance. Could you not keep
watch with me for one hour? How quickly one hour runs out
to its final second! Many a night, from sunset to
sunrise, he spent pleading for me, the morning star, finding
him where the evening star had left him. He devoted a whole
eternity, ageless and endless, to the devising and accomplishing
of my salvation, and shall I grudge him my fast fleeting days? His grace towards me has neither
commencement nor close, and how can I rob him of those few fragments
of time which remain to me? Nay, this very moment let me
arise. Sleeping disciples, I wonder
whether I am among them. you