HoHum:
I have 4 teenage sons, two sets of twins, ages 17 and 13. When I ministered at a church in Indiana, every other month we had a worship service at the local nursing home. The worship consisted of singing favorite hymns of the residents and then I would preach. Well, one lady always wanted us to sing, “In the Garden.” After the worship my sons would always be sarcastic about the woman who requested this song. Now, boys, I love this hymn, it is one of my favorites. (Give some lyrics from the hymn if needed)
The inspiration for this hymn comes from John 20:1-18
C. Austin Miles (186801946) imagined the vision of Mary Magdalene meeting the risen Christ in the garden (John 20) and wrote this hymn as an interpretation of that encounter. Mr. Miles wrote, “ It was though I was in a trance, as I read it that day, I seemed to be part of the scene. I became a silent witness to that dramatic moment in Mary’s life, when she knelt before her Lord and cried, “Rabboni”. I rested my hands on the open Bible, as I stared at the light blue wall. As the light faded, I seemed to be standing at the entrance of a garden, looking down a gently winding path, shaded by olive branches. A woman in white, with head bowed, hand clasping her throat, as if to choke back her sobs, walked slowly into the shadows. It was Mary. As she came unto the tomb, upon which she placed her hand, she bent over to look in, and ran away.
John, in a flowing robe, appeared looking at the tomb. Then came Peter, who entered the tomb, followed slowly by John. As they departed, Mary reappeared leaning her head upon her arm at the tomb, she wept. Turning herself, she saw Jesus standing there, so did I. I knew it was He. She knelt before Him, with arms outstretched, and looking into His face cried, “Rabboni”.
I awakened in sunlight, gripping my Bible with my muscles tense, and nerves vibrating. I wrote as quickly as the words could be formed the lyrics exactly as it is sung today."
WBTU:
We come this morning to celebrate and acknowledge the foundation of our faith: the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is historically reliable. Sources outside of the Bible tell us that something happened on that Sunday morning. Many of those sources are unwilling to admit the resurrection, but they admit something happened on that day that changed the world. Because of the resurrection, the church came into existence and the church turned that world upside down.
I am a hospice chaplain here in Cincinnati. When people here about what I do they respond to me in one of two ways: 1) You are a super saint 2) I don’t know how you do that?
I do have struggles. Many times my struggle is insomnia. This problem came long before I worked in hospice. I go to bed, fall asleep, wake up at 3 am and there I am, wide awake. There are few options at 3 am. I used to watch TV. Bad idea! I used to get on the computer, even worse idea. I used to walk the halls but this would make it harder to go back to sleep and I might even wake up the other 5 people in my house. I used to get up and read. That was alright but if I didn’t turn on the light I strained my eyes, if I did turn on the light, that was a sure fire way not to go back to sleep and again I might wake up someone else. Why make other people miserable? What to do, what to do? I need sleep, why am I awake? Try counting sheep, but that will wake up my wife. After many attempts, I think I have found a couple of things that help.
First, we have to change our mind about sleeplessness. The hymn, “In the Garden”, helps. I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses- that is definitely what is happening to me. At 3 am the dew is on the roses.
“And the voice I hear, falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses.” Maybe, just maybe, the Lord is waking me up. Why would the Lord be waking me up? To spend time with him. Whether it is the Lord or my tortured soul, the change in mindset helps me. Let me say this, no one ever died from failing to get 8 hours of sleep. Many tell us that we need 8 hours of sleep but we can carry on even if we fail to get 8 hours of sleep. One of the biggest factors that keeps people awake is worrying about being awake. I need sleep, I need sleep and we watch the clock and think, oh no, I only got 4 hours of sleep last night. I have found that one can survive with minimal sleep. I don’t encourage it but it can be done. This change in mindset helped me.
Thesis: Even with a better attitude, what can we do when we suffer insomnia?
For instances:
1. Pray
Now all of these involve spending time with the Lord but since we wake up with things on our mind, let’s pray about them. Ephesians 6:18- “pray in the Spirit on all occasions”
I used to think that to properly pray, I had to be focused, no wandering, no chasing rabbits. I think that is good for public prayer, but in our private prayers, I think some wandering is good. Think about the conversations that we have throughout the day. There are times that we have to be to the point. However, there are other times that we wander in our conversations. If we are friends, we should be able to wander in our conversations. If I call the lunch delivery and tell them what I want and hang up, that is fine. If I do the same thing to my wife, that's a different story. We should be able to express ourselves freely and have some leeway for creativity and to explore topics that we normally would not. Since we do this with friends and family members, who says that we cannot do this with the Lord?
To help me to be focused in my prayers, I would pray audibly. I still think this is good but in the middle of the night I will wake up my wife or children, so what can I do? I stay in the bed and pray silently, in my mind. The Bible records some people who prayed in their hearts and not with their voices. The servant that Abraham sent to find a wife for his son Isaac said in Genesis 24:45 that he was praying in his heart and after his voiceless prayer, the answer to his prayer came with the appearance of Rebekah. In 1 Samuel Hannah went to the tabernacle. The high priest Eli observed Hannah praying in her heart. Her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. The Lord answered her prayer by giving her a child, Samuel.
As we consider this, the Lord already knows what we are thinking anyway. Why not just give our thoughts to the Lord in prayer? Psalm 19:14- May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
There is a problem with submitting our anxieties to the Lord- we keep worrying about these things. Probably what has gotten us up in the middle of the night are our worries. We start praying and, instead of relieving our souls, our worries multiply. Reminds me of another hymn- Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. But how do we do that?
Philippians 4:6- Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. We often focus on our concerns and leave off thanksgiving. After we have given our petitions, we need to offer thanks.
2. Meditate on Scripture
Many times, in the middle of the night, after I have given my petitions and given thanks, I meditate on Scriptures that I studied during the day. This is why it is important to stay in the Word every day. I chew the cud.
Psalm 63:6- On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Psalm 119:148- My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.
In connection with this, from these Scriptures, Christian songs come to my mind. Psalm 42:8- By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me.
Notice the hymn- “He speaks, and the sound of His voice (the Lord speaks to us through His Word the Bible) Is so sweet the birds hush their singing, and the melody that He gave to me within my heart is ringing.” I often want to sing in the middle of the night. Because it's the middle of the night, I don't, but it fills my heart with joy.
3. Enjoy the quiet
Philippians 4:6-7- Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Isaiah 26:3- You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Notice the hymn- “And he walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own.” It’s all gonna be alright because I am a child of God
Psalm 46:10- “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Only able to be still when have peace in our souls.
From this many times I go back to sleep. Psalm 4:8- In peace I will lie down and sleep.
So what?
Not saying we need to throw away our sleeping pills and just pray and read our Bibles to get good sleep. If insomnia is a chronic problem there might be a medical reason so see a doctor.
However, many times the root problem of troubled sleeping is a troubled soul. Minirth and Meier- “The primary cause of over 90 percent of insomnia and 90 percent of depressions is repressed anger or repressed guilt (anger at self).” What we need is peace with God, peace with ourselves and peace with others. Need to start with peace with God. How?
Romans 5:1- Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Justification is a legal term that means, No Penalty for You! The price has already been paid. Who paid the price and how? Romans 4:25- He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Romans 5:1 says through faith. Faith talked about is belief, repentance, confession, and baptism.
Then through our faith, times with the Lord are described here: “And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever know.” Joy now, joy even in the middle of the night, and joy forevermore.
