Wake up, O sleeper!
Posted by:
SeLahGirl on
August 25, 2008 at
12:22PM EST
Wake up, O sleeper!
Lately God keeps speaking
about Light shining into the darkness. It is an image I cannot get out
of my thoughts and every time I turn around something else is happening
to emphasize it. The depth of that darkness, the very face of evil, the
removing of the mask and the bone chilling reality of how real and
active our Enemy is. We are not warring against people... it is a
spiritual creature that stalks us and reaches thru our weak places to
wound and attack and devour one another.
... but then the
Light shines into that darkness, revealing Truth and restoring Hope and
bringing Healing on the wings of the morning. What beauty in the Word
of God revealed... Jesus, Light of the World, our Hope, our Salvation.
Malachi 4
1For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the
proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day
that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall
leave them neither root nor branch.
2But unto you that fear
my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings;
and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
3And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the
soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of
hosts.
4Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I
commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and
judgments.
5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
6And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the
heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth
with a curse.
There is just too much to explain or
express in that passage. A word for the future, a word for the past, a
word for the here and now. God is unchanging and his word and character
remain faithful to every generation.
Two weeks ago our
Sunday School class was discussing how long Noah and his family were on
the ark before he finally sent out the dove and the raven. I woke up
the next morning and turned on the TV to watch the news with my coffee,
and it was unbelievable what appeared on the screen the second that
that TV clicked on. It was a show depicting the old testament, the
scene where Noah first opens the window to send out the birds.
The light flooded thru the window and the eight passengers on board
crowded around that little window in awe of something as simple as
sunlight. The show went on to focus on the sending of the birds and
exiting the ark, but that image seemed burned in my thoughts. I thought
about it as I went thru my morning routine, talking to the Lord and
pondering it all. And it occurred to me how long they had spent in the
darkness... living by torches and firelight for a year or so or however
long it was. Their hope lay in the promise that God would bring them
thru that dark time. They knew the Light, they had seen it, and they
waited in that place of darkness trusting God...
Then when
that window opened for the first time after so very long... what must
it have felt like. That Hope fulfilled, the simplicity of it all, the
warmth on their skin, the chemicals that began to stir to minister to
them physically.... the Light, how they missed it... how beautiful it
was in stark comparison to the dull substitutes they lived with for so
long... I can only imagine how real that moment will be for us when we
see him with our own eyes and feel the warmth of his presence on our
own skin. There will be a day and it will be overwhelming and truly
awesome.
So much more happened in the weeks that followed,
but I want to get to the other moment of that Light piercing the
darkness that just shook me so deeply...
My teens have been
listening to Showbread's new cd series Anorexia and Nervosa. Their
music is already pretty edgey, but this new material seemed over the
edge at first listen. But we love this band and really trust that they
are sold out to Christ, so we made a great effort trying to understand
what and why they were presenting such a dark piece of art. They are
ministry minded artists, so what is it they were trying to say....
Musically the albums are incredible.
My teens went to a summer camp/festival for a week called Cornerstone.
Showbread was performing this new material... and my daughter came back
absolutely undone by the experience. She said they came out all in
white with black gunk smeared all over themselves. The place was
darkened and two large screens were flashing videos and pics thru the
performance. It was pretty intense and caused her to feel somewhat
uncertain... but suddenly, near the end, there was a video of a girl in
a field. The lead singer began to sing a beautiful hymn, the girl
looked up and a light shined down upon her. And that scene took the
performance out.
She bought both cds, deeply moved, but
still holding them at arms length because they seemed so dark in a
sense... she was trying to understand what God was stirring in her
heart concerning it all. It turns out that the albums are a story line.
They are like an opera of sorts... you are instructed to sit in a
darkened room and to read the story thru as you listen to the albums.
The story is a tale of two sisters that live a very dark and evil
life... along the feel of LORD OF THE FLIES or something worse. One
sister embraces the evil and has relations with a pig and the story is
intensely evil as she marries herself to the darkness. The other sister
lives a similar life but in the end is changed and freed from the
darkness.
This is a very very intense piece of artistic
expression (parents need to be available if your teens have questions
as they try to wrap their mind around the message presented)... but the
impact is staggering.
Our family thought on it for some
time. And just this Sunday, I felt I understood a new aspect of the
effect of this story project. It came back to the Light shining in the
darkness... I love what Showbread has done, whether this was their
intent or not. This album is a must-experience experience for church
kids. What is does is so affective. It shocks them but not in a way to
entertain them or to feed some eccentric fetish... it shocks them and
opens their eyes to the depth of the evil of a very real enemy. It
effectively rips the mask off of the darkness that reaches out to them
and taunts them.
It takes the listener on a journey thru
the life of the unsaved as viewed spiritually... darkness, the evil,
the absolute vileness... so that they almost smell the stench of the
enemy's breath in their face... it exposes the lie... it allows them to
see the loss, the utter emptiness and bondage and filth of sin... and
yet it allows them to see the beauty of the Light of the world. Not
just in words, not so that they must play in the filth of the world to
taste it. But rather it reveals the Truth of the darkness and the power
of the Light... of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the World, Prince of Peace,
Giver of Hope.
what it is to be clean.
Just as
the Light flooded thru that window and affected Noah and his family in
the darkness of that ark... Light and understanding floods the mind and
heart of the listener who is truly listening for the voice of God. The
difference lies in the fact that Christians, the people of God, know
that the Light is there as they persevere and wait for the revealing of
it... as they live in this cursed and putrid world... telling everyone
about the Light that is coming again, as they reflect him and testify
of his beauty and his goodness.
On the other hand, the lost
have no idea what they are missing. They are content in the misery of
that darkness. They have never heard or seen or experienced that Light.
The darkness is their reality, the filth, forever stained and married
to the darkness. They live in such pain and suffering because they know
no other way. They are seduced and deceived. Until someone tells them
the Truth... until they encounter Jesus Christ... until they feel the
warmth on their skin and the stirring in their heart...
and they are overwhelmed.
Acts 26
15"Then I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?'
" 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied. 16'Now get
up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a
servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will
show you. 17I will rescue you from your own people and from the
Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18to open their eyes and turn them
from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that
they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are
sanctified by faith in me.'
Matthew 4
16the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned."
17From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
Ephesians 5
1Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2and live a
life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a
fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3But among you
there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of
impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy
people. 4Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking,
which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5For of this you can
be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things
God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7Therefore do not be
partners with them.
8For you were once darkness, but now
you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of
the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10and find
out what pleases the Lord. 11Have nothing to do with the fruitless
deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12For it is shameful even to
mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13But everything exposed by
the light becomes visible, 14for it is light that makes everything
visible. This is why it is said:
"Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you."
15Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,
16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.
And even now as I write this and refer to that Light... it brings me
unexpectedly back to the passage that God spoke to me during my prayer
time recently in Ephesians 5. The word that jumps out at me is
idolatry... that word also came up this past Sunday... perhaps that is
something the Lord is wanting to address among the church in the
current hour.
Perhaps that greed of so many who are
currently corrupting the church and the people of God is about to be
revealed for what it is... perhaps God is about to deal with those who
walk in such idolatry. It is a time to pray for repentance and for the
mercy of God. Once again God is dealing with the spots and wrinkles
because he is preparing a bride... and the wedding day is approaching
so quickly while so many continue to sleep.
Wake up, O sleeper!
