Trinity 24
Matthew 9:18-26
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
As a child, the prayer I was taught to pray before bed went like this,
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my Soul to keep[;]
But if I die before I 'wake,
I pray the Lord my Soul to take.
This prayer was created by the English theologian George Wheeler in the seventeenth century. It’s simple, short, and sweet, making it easy for a child to learn and take to heart.
But what does it mean to lie down to sleep?
This is a question we will wrestle with this morning.
In the Gospel today, it said,
While [Jesus] was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”
But notice how Jesus responds to the ruler,
And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him.
As an aside, it was tradition to hire musicians and wailing women to be present in the home of a mourning family after a death. For one, the music and loud weeping made a family’s grief known to the community around.
But here, Jesus says, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.”
Not only is He instructing the professional mourners to hit the road, but His words raise the question, was the girl dead? Had she ceased to exist? Had the blood in her veins stopped pumping? Or was she simply sleeping?
The answer to these questions is yes.
Numerous times throughout Scripture, death is called a sleep.
In Deuteronomy it says,
And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. (Deuteronomy 31:16)
It’s recorded in First Kings, “Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David.” (1 Kings 2:10)
In St. John, it’s written, “After saying these things, [Jesus] said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”
And again, as we heard today, “for the girl is not dead but sleeping.”
So, what does it mean for death to be a manner of sleeping?
Well, the Church Fathers wrote numerous things regarding this matter.
St. Hillary wrote, “For the death of God’s saints, death is but a sleep, and sleep is a picture of death, the bed an image of the tomb and grave.” (St. Hillary)
The Church Father, the Venerable Bede wrote, “It is common Christian custom to call the dead sleeping, for they will undoubtedly rise again.”
And this is the great evangelical news of the Church: those who die and sleep in Christian hope and faith will hear the voice of their Savior, be awakened from their deathly slumber, and rise again.
And this should bring comfort to your troubled hearts.
For this reason, every night you lay down for bed, you rehearse and prepare for the day that is to come, when each of you will, as the headstone used to read, “Requiescat in pace,” or as we translate it, “Rest in Peace.”
And what allows you to rest in peace?
The Psalmist wrote,
In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. (Psalm 4:8 )
What a comforting Psalm to hear,
In peace I will both lie down and sleep;
for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. (Psalm 4:8 )
This is an important Psalm for anyone who has thought about the action of sleeping.
For one, when you sleep, you are as vulnerable as you could be.
There is nothing you can do to defend yourself, all tucked into your blankets while you snuggle up with your teddy bear or squishamellow. This is why soldiers take turns sleeping, so someone is always awake and on guard for the enemy.
However, this is not how you operate in your homes, is it?
No, the act of sleeping is the Christian exercise of complete dependence and faith in God to care for you, body and soul.
Reflect on this bedtime prayer from Martin Luther; he pinned,
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
This prayer is a petition for forgiveness and a right mind as you enter your beds. It commits body and soul to the Lord’s care and requests that the heavenly soldiers guard and protect you through the darkness of night.
Why?
Because as the sun rises, the body is aroused from its sleep and given life again.
Just as sleep is “The refresher of bodies, the restorer of powers, the improver of sickness, the soother of works, the healer of hardships.” (Tertullian)
The sleep of death now prepares the Christian for the joys of resurrection and new life in the world to come.
No more is the brokenness of the body; no more are the ailments of this life, and no more does sadness and grief cause your hearts to fear.
Why?
Because just as the crucified body of your Savior was laid in the tomb for you, He hallowed the graves of all who believe in Him to be a place of holy sleep so that just as He was raised from the dead, so you will also be raised to new life.
Take comfort in these words from the Apostle Paul as he wrote to the Thessalonians,
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. (1 Thessalonians 4:13)
Today, Jesus does this for the ruler’s daughter: He sends away the mourners, teaches us not to grieve as others do, raises the sleeping girl, and then brings her to new life.
My friends, approach your life and death in like manner.
Do not embrace or run towards death, but also, do not grieve this life as others do; you have a Savior who is Christ the Lord, and He brings with Him all who have fallen asleep in Him.
For this reason, do not approach your beds each night carelessly.
But like the ruler who prays for his daughter's life, learn to pray again for your eternal life.
Whether you use the simple prayer I was taught as a child or commit yourself to learning Luther’s bedtime prayer, ask God to forgive you your sin, send His holy angels to watch over you, and ultimately care for you throughout the hours and darkness of this life.
Then go confidently to bed, knowing that just as the sun will rise again in the morning, the Son of Man will come again, and He will raise you, body and soul, to new life. +INJ+
Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Tomah, WI
