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『你們坐在這裏，等我到那邊去禱告。』（太二十六章三十六節）
在一個危急的時候，被遺留在後面，是一件非常難堪的事情。在客西馬尼園，十一個門徒裏面，有八個被留在後面不作甚麼。主耶穌往前去禱告；彼得、雅各、約翰在中間儆醒，其餘的在後面等候。照我想來，在後面的門徒必定會抱怨。他們雖在花園裏面卻不過只在花園裏面罷了；他們對於花園裏面花草的耕種無分無關。那時正是一個危急的時候，一個緊要的關頭；可是他們又不能擅自妄動。
你和我也常有這種經歷、這種失望。可能現在正有很多機會給基督人工作。有的弟兄姊妹已經到中間去了。只有我們仍留在後方伏著。或者因著疾病；或者因著缺乏；或者因著誹謗；無論因著甚麼，我們受到攔阻，心中非常悲痛。我們不明白為甚麼我們不能有分於主的工作。這似乎是一件非常不公平的事情 ── 既然允許我們進了花園，又不在花園裡分派我們工作。
我的魂哪應當安靜，事情並不照你所想的那樣悲痛！你並不是無分於主的工作。你想主的花園裏只有走的地方、立的地方麼？不，裏面還有一個地方，是專為那些不得不坐的人預備的。
一個『動』字，有三個位格（Voices）－－施事格（Active），受事格（Passive），不及物格（Neuter），為基督活著的『活』字，也有三個位格。施事格－－往前方去奮鬥。受事格－－站在中間報告前方戰事的進展。不及物格－－既不能打仗，又不能看仗。只能伏在後方。
如果今天你正伏在後方的話，請你記得，對你說：『你坐在這裏』的，是主。你所坐的地方並不是『摔跤處』，也不是『儆醒處』，乃是『等候處』，有很多人，神把他們放在世上，並不是要他們成就偉大的事業，也不是要他們背負重大的擔子，乃是要他們單單活著；他們是不及物動字。他們是沒有使命的花。他們用不著包紮花圈：他們用不著點綴食桌。他們雖然沒有被彼得、雅各、約翰看見，他們卻已經叫耶穌喜悅了。他們的香氣，他們的美麗，已夠叫主喜樂了。親愛的。如果你正是這樣一朵花，請你不要抱怨！
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“Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder.” (Matt. 26:36.)
It is a hard thing to be kept in the background at a time of crisis. In the Garden of Gethsemane eight of the eleven disciples were left to do nothing. Jesus went to the front to pray; Peter, James and Johan went to the middle to watch; the rest sat down in the rear to wait. Methinks that party in the rear must have murmured. They were in the garden, but that was all; they had no share in the cultivation of its flowers. It was a time of crisis, a time of storm and stress; and yet they were not suffered to work.
You and I have often felt that experience, that disappointment. There has arisen, mayhap a great opportunity for Christian service. Some are sent to the front; some are sent to the middle. But we are made to lie down in the rear. Perhaps sickness has come; perhaps poverty has come; perhaps obloquy has come; in any case we are hindered and we feel sore. We do not see why we should be excluded from a part in the Christian life. It seems like an unjust thing that, seeing we have been allowed to enter the garden, no path should be assigned to us there.
Be still, my soul, it is not as thou deemest! Thou art not excluded from a part of the Christian life. Thinkest thou that the garden of the Lord has only a place for those who walk and for those who stand! Nay, it has a spot consecrated to those who are compelled to sit. There are three voices in a verb-active, passive and neuter. So, too, there are three voices in Christ’s verb “to live.” There are the active, watching souls, who go to the front, and struggle till the breaking of the day. There are the passive, watching souls, who stand in the middle, and report to others the progress of the fight. But there are also the neuter souls-those who can neither fight, nor be spectators of the fight, but have simply to lie down.
When that experience comes to thee, remember, thou are not shunted. Remember it is Christ that says, “Sit ye here.” Thy spot in the garden has also been consecrated. It has a special name. It is not “the place of wrestling,” nor “the place of watching,” but “the place of waiting.” There are lives that come into this world neither to do great work nor to bear great burdens, but simply to be; they are the neuter verbs. They are the flowers of the garden which have had no active mission. They have wreathed no chaplet; they have graced no table; they have escaped the eye of Peter and James and John. But they have gladdened the sight of Jesus. But their mere perfume, by their mere beauty, they have brought Him joy; by the very preservation of their loveliness in the valley they have lifted the Master’s heart. Thou needst not murmur shouldst thou be one of these flowers! ---Selected.
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