Christmas always kills children because the darkness is terrified of the light. It happened today, it happened at Sandyhook and it happened 2,000 years ago by order of King Herod in Bethlehem. We are not making light of this situation, we are simply saying, Come Lord Jesus. Here is a brief devotional for Stay Awake from Sundays Anchored in Joy Next Steps: (Next Step from Two Days Ago) We are not happy idiots. We are joyful fools. Foolish to watch and pray. Foolish to long for another Advent. Faith like a child means staying up all night on Christmas Eve just to get a glimpse of Christmas magic. This week I commit to loosing sleep over the coming of Christ, both now at Christmas, and his Second Advent. All of the Christian life is a paradox. The first will be last, the poor will be rich, the slave will be the master, and the way up is the way down. When it comes to the paradox of rest and vigil there is, again, tension. The life of Christ is all about Sabbath. Taking that day to rest from work and gather with other saints to worship and commune with God at his table. However the other six days are for work in his field, on his mission field that is our homes and work. When Christ commands us to rest he means it and when he commands us to stay awake he means it. So which one can it be? What are we to do? There are times in our life when we reject what our body is crying out for us to do and we stay awake. When we reject our body and our spirit and we stay awake with worry, fear, and dread or even worse intentional sinful patterns, we lose the rest offered us and our salvation begins to taste bland. When we sleep however, and rest when the Rome is Burning if you will, then we also find no flavor in our salvation. Take today as an example, the news comes out that 130 children have been killed by the Taliban in a school shooting that shatters any records of death in American schools. This hits us right in the stomach and when we have grown tired of the news or tired of the hurt, we will grow despondent and our sense of justice fades into the overwhelming cloud of media tragedies. This then makes us useless for we are desensitized to the death of children. Christmas always kills children because the darkness is terrified of the light. It happened today, it happened at Sandyhook and it happened 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem. We are not making light of this situation, we are simply saying, Come Lord Jesus. The question becomes, what will I lose sleep over? What is the most redemptive way to keep vigil? Can I pick and choose the tragedies and sorrows in which I will consciously stay awake and keep vigil? Who do I pray with? What keeps Christ awake? When the Spirit nudges to stay awake obey first and keep these things in mind: 1. Is there an opportunity to pray evangelistically for those in crisis? Does this crisis leave space for their turning to God and if so I will pray for that. 2. Is there an opportunity in the current situation for the Holy Spirit to give comfort to the victims and their families? In staying awake tonight I will pray for the comfort of the victims and for he Holy Spirit to convict the abusers. 3. Is there an hour in my night to pray for Christs immediate return? To close the doors to my room and plead with God on behalf of the broken world that he might return and set all things right. That he would return and execute justice and vindicate the poor in spirit with the promise of the in-breaking kingdom. 4. That at the end of my vigil - I would rest. You cannot keep vigil if you have not been resting throughout the week and you cannot stay awake if there is not a promise of rest. We are finite creatures who live in the tension of Christs commands to both sleep and stay awake. Choose wisely by asking the Spirit of God to choose for you the things that you can sleep through and the things that demand the prayers of the saints. Prayer: Lord God keep me awake for the things that matter and help me to sleep through the rest. Amen.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 17:37:58 +0000
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