Spiritual Somnambulism Or Living On Tiptoe?



Sermon: "Living on Tiptoe" Rev. Anderson

Mark 13:32-27 1 Thes. 5:1-11

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The King is Coming! Here again the words of

the coming King: “What I say to you, I say to

everyone: ’Watch!’" (Mark 13:37 NIV)

I’m about to say a word, and I want you to

see if you know what it means. The word is

Somnambulism. Somnambulism... do you know

what it means? -~->

For those of you having difficulty, let me

tell you about Sam-- a somnambulist.

Sam suddenly gets out of his bed, it’s three

o’clock in the morning. Sam’s eyes are wide

open, but he doesn’t record what he sees.

He places on a robe and walks down the stairs

narrowly missing Susie’s skate and a tumble

to the first floor.

Sam unlocks the front door, walks out into

the yard leaving the door unlocked and open.

The automatic watering system splashes him

with water, but he doesn’t notice.

Sam walks down the sidewalk until he reaches

main street. Even at this early hour cars

and trucks are in a frenzy on Main Street.

Sam doesn’t see their lights or hear their

horns as he walks directly out into the

street as cars and truck veer to the side to

avoid hitting him.

Sam walks by a street person--poor and hungry

who begs for a crumb to calm his aching,

empty stomach, but Sam records no sights and

sounds of poverty.

He walks by a church where bells are ringing

the 4:00 hour, but he does not hear the wake-

up call, or heed the warning that time is

passing.

Sam’s wife discovers he is gone. She rouses

her children and finds her husband on Main

Street. She pleads with him to come home as

the children cry and pull at the sleeve on

his robe, but he is unaware of their

attention, and their need for his.

Sam is a somnambulist-- a sleepwalker. In

the deepest recesses of sleep, he can walk,

open doors, and move about, but he records

nothing which will benefit him, or benefit

others. As bad as this is, it gets worse...

he endangers his life, and the life of

others.

If you wanted to hire a watch-guard, would

you hire a somnambulist--one who looks awake

but is dead to the world, or would you seek

to enlist someone energetic, vital, posed on

tiptoes-- looking out from the gate?

Jesus is speaking to His disciples as he

prepares to die, rise, and ascend into

heaven. He is the Master of the parable who

leaves the house in the charge of his

servants.

He is standing outside of the temple after

telling His disciples something remarkable--

all the stones of the temple will be

displaced and the temple will be destroyed.

The disciples want to know when this will

take place? His answer is profoundly bigger

than their question. He transports them

beyond the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.,

pointing to the destruction of the heavens

and earth.

It’s as if the disciples are asking Jesus

when the tree will shed its leaves, and Jesus

answers by telling them when the tree will

lose its trunk.

They are like frisky children tucked into bed

asking when the lights must be turned out,

and Jesus answers by telling them of the hour

when stars, and suns and moons will plummet

as nature falls into complete darkness.

The disciples show our own dim reflection in

a mirror. We, with them, would play through

the seasons from dusk to dawn forgetting that

a midnight hour comes when time stops,

seasons end, and stars fall.

AND WHAT IS IT THAT JESUS WANTS US TO DO?

Stay awake! STAY AWAKE!!! I ask myself and

each of us today, are we awake, or are we

spiritual somnambulists? Are we letting the

significance of life sweep by us unnoticed,

or are we standing on tiptoes, waiting and

working for the King’s return?

As the Lord Jesus begins to share His

parable, he says, in the Greek, “blepo”-- the

act of the eye which sees. It means "Heh!

Look at this! Pay attention!"

But I wonder if after Jesus said "blepo" He

looked at the disciples’ faces and they said

back to Him, ’What are you talking about, we

are awake.’

And so the great I AM says-- with emphasis--

"KEEP ALERT!”

As if to say, “You act as if I am preparing

you for when the lamp runs out of oil, but I

am telling you to prepare for when the

heavens lose their stars!”

“You think of worldly matters and would use

me to keep your lamp in oil. I am telling

you of eternal things-- matters of life and

death-- physical and spiritual.”

To make His point Jesus tells them and us a