July 14, 2021

July 14, 2021

Written by David Petty

For you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.  So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.
—First Thessalonians 5:5-6

For everything that becomes visible is light.  Therefore it says, “Sleeper awake!  Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you,” —Ephesians 5:14

Images of light and dark are used often in the Bible.  Occasionally this is taken a step further to talk about sleep and wakefulness.  In Ephesians Paul quotes what is probably an early Christians hymn; it might refer to baptism, but he uses it for a different purpose: to elaborate the idea he used much earlier in First Thessalonians.  Jesus says something similar in Mark 13:33-36.

One way to think of the past year is as a sort of sleep. Now, I hope, we are coming out of that.  We know that sleep can be healthy, and it gives us an opportunity to dream.  I don’t see anything wrong with that.  The Lenten season can function somewhat the same way.

When you first wake up, there’s often a brief bit of confusion.  Perhaps we are passing through that now, and that’s alright too.  But it’s getting to be time to focus on waking up. 

Two things about wakefulness might be worth recalling.  First, to be awake means to have all our faculties engaged.  All of us have limited gifts, but to the extent that we do have abilities we should be prepared to use them right away.

Second, to be awake means to be aware of our surroundings.  It’s easy for me to think of religion as just something between God and myself.  That won’t do.  Christianity in a vacuum isn’t Christianity.  It has to be practiced in relation to others, both inside and outside our church family.

Gracefully submitted,
David Petty