At one level, there is a lot we think we know. These things are our creed—the things we say we believe. However, if we can be honest, we know there is a danger that those stated beliefs could go without expression. Let’s call that danger sleep.  Work with me.

In Gethsemane, as Jesus enters into the first stages of the agony of His cross, the disciples were nodding off. Mark says that Jesus went “a little ahead, falling to the ground praying for a way out: “Father, you can—can’t you—get me out of this? Take this cup away from me. But please, not what I want—what do you want.” (Mark 14:35-36 MSG) While He was going into shock, sweating blood, the disciples were going into REM sleep.

 He came back and found them sound asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, you went to sleep on me? Can’t you stick it out with me a single hour? Stay alert, be in prayer, so you don’t enter the danger zone without even knowing it. Don’t be naive. Part of you is eager, ready for anything in God; but another part is as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.” (Need I say this was from The Message 14:37-38)

Surely, you would think, a direct word from God would have enough effect on one to keep him awake a bit longer. But no…

 Jesus then went back and prayed the same prayer. Returning, he again found them sound asleep. They simply couldn’t keep their eyes open, and they didn’t have a plausible excuse. (Mark 14:39-40 MSG)

The disciples know, on one level, that Jesus is going to be betrayed. (He just told them in the Upper Room.) At one level, they know He is the Messiah. At some level, they honor Him as such and know that He loves them. They were all unified (less Judas) in their creed and declared that they were prepared even to die with Him if it came to that. We know that as the cock crowed, their beliefs had gone without expression. They had entered the danger zone without even knowing it.

Paul recognized the danger of sleep as well. Keying off of Isaiah (60:1), he says:

 Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall make the day dawn upon you and give you light. (Ephesians 5:14)

Isaiah actually goes a bit further than just saying, “Wake up” …

 Arise from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you–rise to a new life! Be radiant with the glory of the Lord, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!  For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and dense darkness all peoples, but the Lord shall arise upon you, and His glory shall be seen on you.  And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. (Isaiah 60″1-3 AMP)

While Isaiah the prophet may be more dramatic, Paul the teacher is more explicit and specific in his wake up call to us. Before I relate the council of this true apostolic heart, please understand the kingdom-inheritance motivation of an apostle’s heart.

Paul knew what the Lord had suffered. In fact he was privileged to even have shares in some of the sufferings of Christ. He was keen that both God and the saints realize their inheritance—not someday, but in everyone’s today. An important backdrop to anything said in scripture is that God’s inheritance is the saints themselves and, if the saints can wake up and grasp it, God Himself is theirs. Paul does not teach a passive, God-will-work-it-out (in spite of us) kind of life. He teaches that it is our job to wake up and live thoughtfuly and intentionally (in active participation) in Christ.

Paul’s specifics include the wisdom that says, “Be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15) No doubt, the Psalmist’s counsel had influenced him: “Teach me to number my days that I may present to Thee a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)

Paul was consistently prodding us out of our sleep so that we can actively enjoy our inheritance and God can enjoy His – the fruit of His Spirit (aka His nature), reproduced in our lives. When we hear him say, “Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord,” we hear God (via Paul) inviting us into an experiential interaction with His Spirit which will result in a visible, glorious display of God’s life in this earth.

The tides of war will have shifted when the nations begin coming to the Church to see our light, and kings to the brightness of His rising. But perhaps we should not fast forward quite so far. For the sake of an immediate hope and personal application, let’s say we shall see our victory when we have awakened, when we see the light shining on us, when our neighbors (those who live along side us) see that we’ve awakened from our slumber and the light of Christ shines upon us.

Another wake up-word from Paul involves our heart’s orientation to our circumstances:  He specifically instructs us to replace our coarse language with the language of gratitude: “There must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.” (Ephesians 5:4)

Intentionally voicing our gratitude to God and to each other prevents us from having some flimsy creed about God’s goodness and sovereignty that never finds expression. Giving of thanks enables us to begin receiving our kingdom-inheritance. And, when our hearts are made joyful (and therefore strong), God’s will is going to be done on earth as it is in heaven. We must be clear that if we are grumbling verbally or inwardly we are living in creed-only and little (if any) light is being emitted.

The New Testament narrative in its entirety might be said to be the active waking-vision of our salvation, but here is one last specific wake up-word from Paul from Ephesians 5:

Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. (vs. 21)

Those next to us are not there by happenstance. They are the appointed and specific recipients of those good works that were prepared beforehand that we should walk in. These very people are holy elements of God’s inheritance (and kingdom strategy) and whether we are awake to the fact or not, we are joined to them for eternal reasons that God wants us to be awakened to. With God, the bottom line is—always love. I can hear Jesus saying even now: “Are you going to sleep all night? No—you’ve slept long enough. Time’s up. Get up. Let’s get going.” I can also hear Paul say (in the present tense):

 Be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. (Ephesians 5:1)

Father, expose our flimsy excuses and hollow creeds. Awaken us to the glory round about us. May our spirits fully awaken to who You are and what You are doing in our lives right now. Teach us to stay alert in prayer that we would not enter that arena of tempting slumber. Father, You who never slumber and never sleep, teach us to imitate You, living intentionally with our eyes wide open. Help us to convert our creeds into action, with our wise choices, making investments in that realm where moth and rust do not destroy. In the darkness that deepens, may the contrasting light of Christ be seen and draw many to you. Amen.

 

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