Wake Up, Wake Up!

Sleepy Christians: inactive

The third obvious description of sleepy Christians is inactivity. When we are asleep, we are doing nothing. Just lying there, breathing slowly. Have you ever seen Christians like that? Saying they believe, but not actively serving God – sort of breathing slowly, but doing nothing for God or for His Kingdom? Fully awake Christians, by contrast, are active – they choose to spend time doing things for God and His Kingdom, both inside the church and outside the church as a representative (ambassador would be the Scriptural word for it) of the Kingdom of God.

Asleep or Awake?

I’m sure there are more characteristics of sleepy Christians than being unaware of God, not living in reality, and being inactive. But that is, I think, enough of a start to help us ask and answer that original question: are you a sleepy Christian or a fully awake Christian?

Isaiah 52:1-3:

I wanted to share a fascinating conversation between God and His people in the book of Isaiah, chapters 51 and 52, one I think that might be helpful for us today, but I’ve abbreviated down to 3 verses. It is bold, almost reckless; it is vast and grounded; it is full of hope and promise and action. What is most fascinating to me is the back-and-forth between God and His people. The prophet begins with pleading with the people and reminding them of God’s promises and faithfulness, then God speaks words of hope, and then the people say to God Wake up, wake up, O Lord! Clothe yourself with strength! Flex your mighty right arm! Rouse yourself as in the days of old. (Is 51:9). That is pretty bold, almost reckless. Telling God to wake up! But I understand the cry of the people; maybe that is your cry this morning also, sometimes it is mine as well. And God’s response is gentle. He turns the call to wake up back on His people, twice actually, but I am only going to read the second one:

1Wake up, wake up, O Zion!

Clothe yourself with strength.

Put on your beautiful clothes, O holy city of Jerusalem,

for unclean and godless people will enter your gates no longer.

2 Rise from the dust, O Jerusalem.

Sit in a place of honor.

Remove the chains of slavery from your neck,

O captive daughter of Zion.

3 For this is what the Lord says:

When I sold you into exile,

I received no payment.

Now I can redeem you

without having to pay for you.

It is a call to wake up and get ready. At this point in time, the people are still slaves in exile. The city is not rebuilt, life is still a mess, the deliverance and salvation promised in the rest of the dialogue has not yet happened. The party is still a promise, the celebration is still at some time in the future. The first reality is that the people are still slaves in exile.

But that is when God commands them – us – to wake up, get dressed up in our finest, to rise from the dust, and to remove the chains of slavery.

Because here is the second reality: God is awake. God is on the move. God is powerful. The promises of salvation and deliverance and power are true and real and they are coming. If we are asleep we will miss them. Sorry if that is harsh, but it is true. Sleepy Christians will miss it. God will be at work all around and we’ll be snoring in a corner.