Awake - A Sermon For Sunday July 9 2023

Gospel: Matthew 11:16–19, 25–30

The holy gospel according to St. Matthew, the 11th chapter.

Glory to you, O Lord.

Jesus chides people who find fault with both his ministry and that of John the Baptist. He thanks God that wisdom and intelligence are not needed to receive what God has to offer.

16But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,

17'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

we wailed, and you did not mourn.'

  18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon';  19the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."

25At that time Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants;  26yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.  27All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

28Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

The gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

What keeps you awake at night?

If we were to do an honest poll of this room

with that question,

we’d have a long laundry list of worriments

that keep us awake at night.

Broken relationships

Failing health

Finances

fear

death

Stress

depression

Anxiety

Addiction

Politics

Children

I’m sure there are others.

What keeps you awake at night?

It’s a good question.

We ought to acknowledge the difficulties

that keep us awake,

to name them in honesty.

Perhaps we can even offer a listening ear

to others who worry and struggle.

Asking what keeps you awake at night

invades personal space,

it challenges us,

It shows us what might scare us deep inside

and might even open the door

to some kind of movement

to address our worries.

And we don’t really like the question,

because we don’t like lying awake at night.

Those who lose sleep might rather have

some kind of sleep aid

that just knocks us out,

than to ask the question:

What keeps you awake at night?

The things that keep you awake at night

are the things that really matter to you,

things that are difficult to deal with

things that maybe you don’t want to deal with.

So what do you do

with this list of things

that keep you awake at night?

Here are 4 easy steps:

First - Pray about it.  Ask God for help.

2nd - Search the Internet for sleeping tips.

3rd - find out they aren’t a magical fix

4th - pray about it.

The truth is that there are no 4 easy steps.

Prayer is essential, no doubt about it.

When you are hurting, tired,

anxious, worried, stressed:

pray about it.

God hears you!

But sometimes,

it just feels like our prayers are not answered,

and, as ridiculous as it sounds,

sometimes the worries of our lives

seem too big to trust God with.

And we are back to lying awake at night.

Yet it is quite normal to lose sleep,

to not be able to fall asleep immediately

or to have some awake time through the night.

We have an expectation,

an entitlement,

to being able to fall asleep and stay asleep,

but according to neuroscientist Roxanne Prichard,

it’s just not biologically supported.

(https://apple.news/AqfzVT5Z8ReG8AirFRCEelA)

Brain activity needs to slow down,

light and sound and temperature makes a difference,

But ultimately, to sleep,

you need to feel physically and psychologically safe

in order to sleep.

Enter worry, stress, anxiety, depression, and the like,

which make us feel anything but safe.

The best thing to do when you’re lying awake

wanting to be asleep,

is to limit the time you spend fretting

about lack of sleep.

You’re better off to just get up,

go somewhere dark or dim,

do something boring,

and try again.

And pray.

The worst thing to do is to keep ruminating,

to keep fixating on the worry.

So when you lie awake at night,

trust that you are not alone.

Consider Psalm 121:

My eyes look up to the hills,

from where shall my help come from?

(Sounds like me when I’m lying awake)

My help comes from the Lord,

the maker of heaven and earth.

The Lord will not let your foot be moved

nor will the one who watches over you fall asleep.

Behold, the keeper of Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

To put it another way:

Our God, the Creator, our Helper,

lies awake at night too.

So what keeps God awake at night?

Poverty

injustice

war

the environment

discrimination

Oppression

women being trafficked in our own back yard

The thoughts of the homeless person

struggling for sleep under a tree

The prayers of the family whose child has gone missing

The fear of the farming family devastated

by their flooded basement

and uninsured belongings.

Us. Our worries.

We keep God awake at night.

But God staying awake is a little different

than when we lie awake.

You and I, when we lose sleep about things,

sometimes, often times,

we can actually do something about it.

We can try and mend broken relationships,

but it may take time.

We can try and mend our financial woes,

but it may take time.

And there are some things

we can’t really do much about.

Those we entrust to God,

even if our mind tells us

it’s too big of an issue

to trust God with.

For example,

When our health starts failing,

we can try and eat better,

stay fit,

or trust in our physicians,

but often health is really out of our control.

Personally,

I lose sleep over stuff that I absolutely can control.

If I have to wake up two hours earlier than normal,

whether its for work or for a golf game,

I will lay awake making sure that

I don’t sleep through my alarm.

It’s silly,

the only time I slept through my alarm

was over 20 years ago,

and I had a great sleep

and was only 5 minutes late for work.

anyways…

Sometimes we have to laugh at ourselves

with the silly things that keep us awake,

things that are not worth the worry.

Yet even the silly things expose

what truly matters to us, deep down.

Really, none of it is silly.

Many of us need to recognize

that we have serious

Stress, anxiety, worry, fear, or whatever

that keeps us awake,

and we need to do something about it.

Remember grace - God’s grace.

One way to define God’s grace

is God’s radical acceptance of us,

no matter how we’ve sinned,

or our faithfulness

no matter what,

in all circumstances,

God accepts you and loves you

just as you are.

God is awake comforting you,

listening to you,

and, in God’s way and time,

responding.

So when it comes to our stresses and worries,

we can take a page our of God’s book

and have radical acceptance

and unconditional love:

for ourselves,

for our circumstances,

for others.

We can do our best,

which means being honest about

what our best looks like that day.

Our best will vary from day to day.

We can decide not to take

the words or actions of others personally,

nor to assume what others think of us.

And with all those things that keep us awake

we can turn to the God who hears us.

We can discern what God’s Spirit is saying to us,

because God is responding to your prayers,

somehow, someway -

God is listening and God is responding.

Sometimes we need to pray

until we become the answer to our prayers.

If we lie awake thinking about a broken relationship,

maybe we need to do something to reconcile it.

If we lie awake thinking about finances,

take the ego-hit,

and make some changes to our spending.

But even beyond our actions when we pray,

Recognize that God is the One

who is at work in your life. 

When you recognize that God is at work in your life, 

You can begin to let go of that worry.

You can pray, and let God worry.

God can handle what you are going through.

Take comfort that God is doing something

about that laundry list of terrible things

that keep God awake,

and that laundry list of things that keep us awake.

Our God is alive and at work in the world,

calling God’s children,

giving us passions and abilities

to make a difference.

For some, to comfort those who are mourning,

Or to support those devastated by fire or tornado,

or to journey with that homeless person

or to expose human trafficking in our city,

or to fight the discrimination in our hearts,

or to call for ethical resource extraction,

or to seek for peace,

justice and equity.

God is up to something in our hearts and in our world

and God is using people like us.

Take hope, I will deliver you;

God declares.

With whatever it is that keeps you up at night:

Jesus declares: 28Come to me,

all you that are weary

and are carrying heavy burdens,

and I will give you rest.

29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me;

for I am gentle and humble in heart,

and you will find rest for your souls.

30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

This is not to say that with Jesus,

all your burdens will disappear.

You will still have your pain,

your grief, hurt, and anxiety;

But you will be yoked to Jesus,

like two oxen held together by a hunk of wood.

Jesus’ yoke is kind,

it is good,

and it is useful.

Jesus is pulling the load,

carrying the burden with you.

When your burdens,

your worries,

your troubles

are too much for you to bear:

Jesus bears them with you.

When you’re lying awake at night thinking of them,

remember that Jesus lies awake with you

and hears your thoughts and prayers.

Take heart,

with Jesus at your side,

eventually,

you might just fall asleep,

Yet even if you don’t

your load,

your burden,

will feel much lighter.

May we take some personal inventory

of those things that keep us awake

and listen for God’s voice.

May we take on Grace,

radical acceptance,

unconditional love,

for ourselves,

our situations,

and others.

May we share the yoke with Jesus,

who helps us bear the burden,

and will give us rest.

Thanks be to God. Amen.