The High Cost of Staying Awake

Luke's Gospel, remember, was written to the Jewish Christians who had recently been tossed out of the Jewish faith.  The temple had been destroyed, most of the priests murdered, and so the newly appointed leaders (a group of Pharisees) were trying to figure out a way forward.

"How do we bring everyone together when the Temple (the glue that once held us together) is gone?"

One of the first things they decided to do was rid the faith of Jewish sects who believed the Messiah had already come and since the Jewish Christians believed that Jesus was their Messiah, they were one of the first groups to get kicked to the curb.

Disillusioned and left to move forward without the support of their Mother Faith, the Jewish Christians felt alone, outcast, and abandoned by the faith (and those who were part of it - family, friends, etc.) that brought them to life.

Luke’s Gospel was written to these people - to encourage them and inspire them to keep moving forward in the Way of Christ.

Towards the end of his Gospel Luke tells us the story of the disciples who "fell asleep" while Jesus was praying prior to his arrest and then the story of Peter who denied Jesus 3 times only to "remember" how Jesus had told him just a few hours earlier that he would deny him 3 times before the day was over. 

In many ways the story of the disciples "sleeping" is a picture of what happened to Peter on the inside.

Right?

Overcome by fear.

Overcome by grief.

Overcome by worry.

Over come by doubt.

... Peter fell asleep to his responsibility of following Christ, of fearlessly stating that he was a disciples, a follower of the Way; and it wasn't until (Luke says) Jesus "turned and looked at Peter" that Peter woke up from his slumber and "remembered".

In his book "Radical Transformation", Alexander John Shaia wonders if Luke included this story and told it in this way because he knew "how easy it would be for his readers to also 'fall asleep' to their faith - especially if the slumbered maintained their place in the community, their jobs, their homes."

"Who, me? No way, I'm not one of those Jewish Christians."

"Me? I don't believe that Jesus is the Messiah."

"I've never associated with that group before."

I imagine it would have been all too easy for them to deny the Christ they had come to follow so that their livelihood would remain intact ...

Their friends.

Their families.

Their jobs.

... And they wouldn't be kicked to the curb with the rest of their newly formed (and very small) community of Jesus followers.

Luke was, in essence, encouraging his readers to stay awake and to say alert, to keep their eyes locked on Christ, to remain awake as they traveled through the ever-changing landscape of their times.

I find it pretty easy to fall asleep these days too, don't you?

When I started down the path of "deconstruction" and "rethinking my faith", I very much so felt kicked to the curb by my Mother Faith. I've had family members say terrible things about me, long-time professors call my motives and faith into question, friends ghost me, ex-church-family say the most terrible things to me.

It's been a hard, painful journey.

And on more than one occasion I've wondered if the loss and grief was worth it. "If this is the cost of speaking my truth", I thought, "maybe it's a price that's too high for me to pay."

In other words ...

Maybe it's easier to go back to church.

Maybe it's easier to preach all the Evangelical stuff I know like the back of my hand.

Maybe it's easier to go through the motions.

Maybe it's easier to toe the line.

Maybe it's easier to tell people what they want to hear.

... Maybe it's easier to go to sleep, to deny the path that I've been on - "yeah, I had some questions and doubts, but I'm good now. That Alisa Childers book and that John Cooper rant really got through to me and brought me home, praise be to God."

What I'm trying to say is that there's a cost to staying awake, isn't there?

I know how hard it is, my friends. I know how lonely and scary and grief-filled these seasons can be; but I dropped in today to tell you that you aren't alone, you aren't crazy, and as much as you may want to go to sleep and forget about all the pain and heartache so that things can roll back to the way they were ... the world needs your voice.

There will always be a high cost to speaking your truth in the midst of others who are speaking their truth that looks drastically different than your own.

Luke would encourage you speak it anyways, and I do too.

Much love,

Glenn Siepert