Chasing Midnight
When Was It Written
This article was written for the Sunday, October 7th worship guide as we prepared for a 10-week series in worship & LifeGroups called Chasing Daylight. Chasing Daylight is a book by Erwin McManus based on the life of Jonathan, highlighting the way Jonathan was willing to live boldly for the mission of God.
Who Wrote It
Kevin Wood, Pastor
CHASING MIDNIGHT
My wife will tell you I am not a morning person. So will many of the people here at church. My birth certificate verifies the facts. I was born about an hour short of midnight in a New Jersey hospital, with Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show playing in the background. Ever since that first night in this world I am more likely to spend time with Jay Leno’s Tonight Show than I am with Good Morning America. The simple truth is this: I am more prone to chasing midnight than I am to chasing daylight. It’s been this way my whole life.
I remember chasing midnight at four years old. My mom had already made three secret deliveries of water at my request. When I requested a fourth she put her foot down and said, “Go to sleep!” I tried to obey but sleep never came. Instead of sleeping, I slipped out of bed, grabbed a good book and headed for the nightlight in the corner. The book of choice that night was The Little Red Caboose, the saga of an undersized, underappreciated train car that ends up a hero in the end because he refused to give up. I wanted to be like that caboose – never giving up.
I remember chasing midnight at twelve years old. I had a flashlight in one hand and a good book in the other – To Kill a Mockingbird. I poured through those pages as I read the story of one man’s quest for justice in a small Southern town rife with strife and racism. I was moved by the story, but moved even more by the stand made by the man and his family. I wanted to be like that man – Atticus Finch – and stand for what’s right even when the world says “you’re wrong.”
I remember chasing midnight at 25 years old. I was a first time father and a sixth semester seminary student. I had Graham in one hand and a good book on biblical Hebrew in the other. I remember thinking how young and alive my newborn son was in my left hand and how ancient and alive the Hebrew text was in my right. I remember thinking the book in my right hand will help me teach the boy in my left hand how to know God better and love God better.
But more than any of those books listed above, and more than any of those moments I’ve just retold, I remember chasing midnight on countless occasions reading nothing but the Bible. No babies. No textbooks. Just the quiet of night and the good book ‘neath a dim splash of light. I’ve read through Romans and poured through Peter. I devoured Deuteronomy and Daniel. I sung silently with the Psalms and wept woefully with Job. But my favorite late night stories always come from the chronicles of Christ – the Gospels. I read how he taught, how he loved, how he lived – how he died and lived again. I soak in the stories as though reading them for the first time. And night after late night, page after long page, I am reminded of the goodness of His Word and the greatness of our God.
So whether you’re prone to chasing daylight or chasing midnight, the purpose of this article is to just say, “Chase the Light”. Whether it’s sipping a cup of coffee as the sun breaks the horizon, read the Word. If you’re a night owl like me, and find studying easier when dogs are barking at the moon, then the instruction is the same – read the Word. Just chase the light – at midnight or at morn.
-Kevin 10/06/07