The other day we were working on a new recipe for dinner. It was zucchini and penne pasta with ricotta cheese. As we went down the list of ingredients we found we didn’t have some and we considered how we might substitute. It took me back to an evening many years earlier. It was 1966. My girlfriend (and future wife) was hosting a slumber party for her friend who was going away to college. And I decided it would be a good idea to raid it. (Give me a break; I was 19.) I recruited two friends who also knew most of the girls at the party and we made our plans.

We started at the home of one of my fellow raiders to bake a cake for the celebration. I wanted a two layer cake but only had mix for a single layer. No problem, just add flour to make up the difference. We’ll throw in some sugar for good measure. Not much sugar available, so we can substitute salt.

Time for the mixer. This was the first time I had used a hand held mixer but how hard could it be. Whirr! The mix is looking pretty good. Whirr! I guess I’ll pull the mixer out and check it. Whirr! I guess I should have turned the mixer off before lifting it out!

Into the pans. Into the oven. Hum? Not raising like I’m used to seeing with my mother’s cakes. Are they supposed to be thin on one side and thick on the other? Oh well, nothing a little frosting can’t cure… or maybe a lot of frosting. The cake was out of the pans and hard as a brick. This is not going well. We let them cool and started frosting. We wanted candles but the only thing we had was a 12” taper. The cake was so hard that we had to hold the candle up with string. And a taste of one corner told us if we were expected to eat it we were in trouble. We cut a corner off and implanted a cupcake so at least we could cut that portion if needed.

Finally we were ready, a bit behind schedule but on our way. We were each dressed in black from black shoes, black slacks and shirt, and black watch cap. A regular cat burglar outfit. I had warned my girlfriend’s dad what we had planned so he would stay up and make sure everyone was modestly attired. He was also to leave the back door unlocked so we could come in without being observed. Unfortunately, someone took out the trash, locking the door behind them. Compounding the problem, her dad fell asleep on the sofa and no amount of tapping on the window would rouse him.

We retreated to a street corner down the block to discuss an alternate strategy when we saw two police cars coming slowly up the street with lights flashing and spotlights scanning. Apparently someone in the neighborhood didn’t like three cat burglars lurking on their street corner. I said, “That’s it. We go in now!” We ran across the street, up the side of the house and into the back yard. “Surprise!!” Fortunately the girls let us in and we didn’t have to explain to the police what we were doing.

A fun story but are their spiritual lessons to be learned? I think so.

1. Raiding a slumber party might not have been such a good idea, but maybe the idea of a slumber party has its faults. Proverbs 6:10-11 (NLT) warns, “A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.” The devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1Peter 5:8 ESV) Our defense depends on our being sober-minded and alert. Jesus is coming again. Am I ready? Luke 12:40 (NIV) says, “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
2. What kind of friend encourages you to raid a girls’ slumber party? Yea, they were 19 too. We need others in our lives. More importantly we need the right others in our lives. Lazarus came staggering out wrapped in grave clothes. His friends’ reaction could have been, “Where do you think you’re going? I’ve known you since you were a corpse. You’ll never change. Now get back in there.” Do you have friends like that? Proverbs 27:17 (NLT) teaches, “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” We need those who will encourage, challenge and work to reveal the new man. We need the Barnabas, the mentor who guides, instructs and corrects. We need the Aquila, the companion, the coworker. We need the Timothy, the next generation who we can pour our lives into. And most importantly, do I see myself as God’s friend or am I so wrapped up in guilt and shame that I can’t see beyond it? In John 15:15 Jesus says, “I call you friends.” Let that soak in.
3. Have the Right Recipe. If I don’t put in the right ingredients I can’t expect the right end product. Do I try to substitute popularity or pleasure in place of passion for God? Drugs for dedication? Alcohol for accountability? Respect of others for righteousness before God? Culture for the Cross?
4. Follow directions. As a man, I hate to stop and ask for directions. I’d rather drive around an extra half hour than admit to a stranger that I’m lost. I use a technique on the computer called “poking around”. My wife asks for help on a problem with a computer program and after a bit I show her what to do. “How did you figure that out?’ “I poked around!” “Grrrr.” We have the directions for a successful life, but are we willing to read and obey? I want to lean on my own understanding, my own ability but I’m sure somewhere in the instructions it said to shut off the mixer before lifting it out. Proverbs 3:5-6 promises, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Let’s be willing to ask for and follow the directions.
5. Frosting may do the job of covering mistakes on a cake, but what will cover the blackness in my life? God gives us the key to His frosting: Love. 1Peter 4:8b says love covers a multitude of sins. It’s better than frosting. 1Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV) describes love: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” It’s the best kind of frosting.
6. It can take many forms: anger, unforgiveness, pride, even indifference. It can result from betrayal, grief, disappointment. Whatever the form, it prevents God’s truth from penetrating and changing us on the inside. In Jesus’s Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13) the hardness of the wayside is one type of soil. It prevents the seed from taking root. So hardness of heart prevents the Word from penetrating and taking root in our soul.
7. We embedded a cupcake in one corner. Did that make the whole cake edible? If I go to church on Sunday does that mean the rest of my week will be blessed? Psalm 34:8 (NIV) says, “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” He is a feast every day of the week. 1Peter 2:2 (ESV) encourages us to “like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.”
8. My girlfriend’s dad slept through the whole thing. Not helpful. Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel (1Kings 18). He accused their god of being asleep, but when he called on the Lord, the answer was immediate. No sleeping there. Psalm 121:3-4 (NIV) promises, “He will not let your foot slip, he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” We are in good hands.
9. Dressed in black, we wanted to blend into the darkness. Today I want to shine a light. Darkness brings bondage; light brings freedom. John 3:20 NLT “All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.” Those police officers used a spotlight to penetrate the dark corners of that block. May my light shine in such a way to illuminate the dark corners of this fallen world. In that I want to have the right motives. How often am I saying, “To God be the glory” but internally I’m crying out, “Notice me, affirm me.”? Something to think about.
10. Finally, God isn’t surprised. We are bound in this dimension called time. He is boundless. Jesus wasn’t surprised by Judas’s betrayal or Peter’s denial. John 10:18 (GWT) “No one takes my life from me. I give my life of my own free will.” God has never looked at what we have done and said, “Whoa, I didn’t see that coming!” On the other hand, we are in for a surprise. 1Corinthians 2:9 (NKJV) “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” Isaiah 43:19a (NKJV) declares, “Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth.” Surprise!

He is my Rock and I want to build my life on that Rock. Psalm 18:2 (NIV) says, “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” He knows me. He knows my weaknesses, my failings, my fears, my darkest shameful secrets. In spite of that He calls me His beloved. He welcomes me to come boldly before Him. He embraces me as His son.

My objective is to point you to the Bible. It is the recipe for a successful life. In this book are the ingredients for spiritual fruit (love, joy, peace… Galatians 5;22), for our thought life (true, noble, right, pure… Philippians 4:8), for prayer (Lord’s Prayer Matthew 6:9-13), for living godly (faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control… 2Peter 1:5-8), for spiritual protection (armor of God Ephesians 6:10-17). Joshua 1:8 (NKJV) says, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” For a generous serving of success, we go to God’s Word.

Slumber Party: I think that is an oxymoron, you know, like jumbo shrimp or hot chili?     Slumber zzzz  Party Yea  Slumber zzzz  Party Whoopi.  Now is not the time to slumber or to party. We have work to do. It’s time to get out the recipe and follow the directions. His Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105).