Facing the Millenium: The Secret of Getting out of Bed
January 30, 2000
In a certain morning show, there is often a box in the lower left hand corner with the picture and a pole they have conducted. A while ago the editors had asked a number of people what the most important element in starting the day is. The answers range from a good night’s sleep, seeing a smiling face, a hearty breakfast. As they read the responses, I thought to myself. This will preach (you can see I do extensive research for my sermons). I wrote a note myself to ask the congregation what gets you up in the morning? What gets you out of bed? Are you the type that reluctantly opens your eyes or are you the type that makes plans and things to do and people to see? Maybe I ought to start off by rephrasing the question when the alarm rings on the dog barks do you say good morning Lord or do you say good Lord it’s morning.
Our epistle this morning comes from the hand of Paul who I’m sure wrestled the same type of question. In his letter to the philippians we learned that he is sitting in the early morning. I suppose he’s feeling a sense of burnout. After all he’s had some very difficult days, months and years period he’s been travelling all over the known world, preaching his heart out, starting new churches often facing hostile crowds. Just reading his itinerary is enough to put his back in bed. He goes to Corinth, to Athens, to philippi, to Rome and then back to ephesus bouncing from place to place with a schedule that would put manyin a rest home.
It takes a lot of energy just to keep this type of scheme going. So many souls to convert, so many church fights to resolve, in so little time period preaching, teaching, writing letters, raising money and advising church officials just to feel that every working moment. Along the way he also found time to make a few tents just to keep food on the table.
There must have been times particularly when he was thrown into prison, that he found it difficult to get out of bed in the morning. Times when he must have felt that for all the good he was doing, life could have been a little kinder and gentler. Times that God may have blessed his efforts with a gift at least a knowledge of a gold pinching, a decent House plan, and a little more status in this rotten world.
Instead he tells us in other writings he’s been imprisoned and beaten to the brink of death. Five times he was given to the traditional 40 lashes last 1-3 times he was beaten with rods once the object of stoning and he was also shipwrecked. We also read the idea been robbed run out of town by angry mobs and an often been hungry thirsty and without shelter at night. Inall not a very impressive resume
Yet Paul sat, pen in hand, having just awakened in prison for the 8th time and he proceeded to write to the people saying I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger abundance and want
So what gets you out of bed? What gets you up when your world seems to be crashing. What makes you cry out good morning Lord instead of good Lord it’s morning what is your secret for facing abundance and want
Have you ever considered that just getting out of bed in the morning is really making a powerful philosophical statement? When we’re able to drag ourselves out of bed, go to work, write letters, see friends and give encouragement to people around us we need something more than willpower we need some more to feel that we’re not doing it alone
the difficulty for many is just that. They feel they are getting by themselves they don’t realize that there is another present to what Paul saw so vividly. Namely, that God is present in the midst of life and that God is awake in the midst of hard times as well as good times then God was beside me as I arose from sleep
this was Paul’s secret. It’s not complicated. Like most secrets it’s really it lies in one’s view of the relationship of God to each and everyone is God present or is he absent? Does God care or is he indifferent? If we separate ourselves from God we are left alone, alone to make it out of bed. But if you, like Paul finds God in the worst of times then you can take heart and even a sense of joy as you raise from sleep
our challenge then is to recognize that God gets up in the morning with us and is there when we go to sleep God in the midst of all our lives.
One offer, was a French layman named brother Lawrence. Brother Lawrence turn within the kitchen of a carmelite monastery to practice the presence of God. He wasn’t a super scholar nor an outstanding achiever. He lived out his days as a cook in the kitchen that produced the simplest of foods
the only extraordinary thing about brother Lawrence was the way he related all of his life to God. Like a musician practicing, the art of piano he constantly practiced the art of being aware of God’s presence throughout the day umm was his secret of how he found joy in the monastery kitchen. It is the secret of every person goes beyond one difficulties and gets out of bed in the worst of times
I come back to where we started. In the morning good morning Lord or is it good Lord it’s morning. The answer to that question will tell you a great deal about your religion, and the rest of your day Amen