1st Sunday in Advent
November 28, 2004
Romans 13:11-14
13:11Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; 12the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; 13let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. 14Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (NRS).
Time to Get Up and Get Ready!
Today is the first day in Advent. Advent is a Latin word that means ‘coming'. This season celebrates and marks the coming of Jesus the Christ into the world. The Advent season is a time of preparation, a time to get things in order. Much of the world is counting down the shopping days left and the days until Santa appears. Certain preparations must be made so that we have gifts ready to give at Christmas. But inside the church, Advent is a time of spiritual preparation. The people of God prepare themselves spiritually for the high feast of Christmas. And so this text from Paul's letter to the Romans exhorts us to get up and get ready.
Now on the one hand, we are getting ready for Christmas. We want to celebrate Jesus' birthday, even if December 25th isn't the right day. We want to celebrate the fact that the saviour promised to Adam and Eve finally came into the world. We want to celebrate all that he has did while in the world, how he proclaimed the Gospel that he was the Saviour; how he did all kinds of miracles to prove it; how he went to the cross to take away our sin; how he rose from the dead in great power; and how he ascended into heaven in great glory. We want to celebrate all those great things about Jesus. We prepare for that in these four weeks leading up to Christmas.
But there is more. All those things are themselves preparation for another, greater event, Jesus' second coming. That is the Advent we're really waiting for. That is the Advent of which Paul speaks when he says, Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers. If we did not have the promise of Jesus' Second Advent, perhaps we would not even celebrate Christmas. After all, our salvation from sin death and the devil is not complete in the fact that Jesus was born long ago in Bethlehem. It's not complete even in the fact that he died and rose from the dead. It's complete or will be complete, when he returns to raise you and me from the dead and transform our mortal bodies into immortal, glorious, heavenly bodies. That's what we wait for now. Our whole life now is a time of preparation and waiting, not for Jesus' birth, but for his return. So we celebrate his birth as a guarantee of his return. We celebrate Christmas in anticipation of Jesus' Second Advent.
It is now the moment for you to wake from sleep; the night is far gone, the day is near. An awesome even fearful event is looming on the horizon. Jesus is coming to judge the living and the dead, to punish the wicked and give eternal life to the faithful. That's not a ho-hum event. It's not something which when it happens one will say, "Oh that's nice." Jesus' Advent is the most important moment human history will ever know. And it is near.
But you say, it's been 2000 years and may yet be a long time! That's true. Nevertheless, Jesus' Advent is immanent for we are in the "last days." You see, Pentecost marked the beginning of the end, the last days. History's supreme events have taken place in the ministry, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. The only thing left is for him to return. There is no other event in history for which we wait. When the full number of the elect has been gathered, when the Gospel has been preached to all nations—things which only God can know—then Jesus will come. It could be today, it could be tomorrow. We can't know when. So his Advent is and has always been immanent. Every day it is closer. So it's time for all of us to get up and get ready!
The question then is "How do we get ready?" This way: Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Paul mentions to ways to prepare for Jesus' Advent. The first is to lay aside the works of darkness and cut off the desires of the flesh. We might compare it to the Jewish preparation for Passover.
A few days - in many cases weeks or months - before the Passover holiday begins, observant Jews clean their households of any trace of fermented grain products and chametz . . . Chametz means "leaven" in Hebrew. . . . Therefore, all grain products such as breads, cereals and other breakfast foods, grain alcohol, grain vinegar and malts, are forbidden during Passover. Why do this? In Exodus 12:15 of the Torah, it states that no leavened bread (chametz) must be eaten during the Passover holiday. . . . So what do observant Jews do? Observant Jews will kosherize the household for Passover by cleaning the household from top to bottom of chametz or leaven. This process may begin anywhere from days to weeks before Passover begins, depending on the size of the household and the amount to be cleaned.
That cleaning is more than just a spring cleaning! Yeast represented Egypt, slavery, idolatry and sin. As they remove any trace of yeast, they are focused on removing anything contrary to their walk with God. That command to rid the home of yeast for Passover was written for our instruction. So elsewhere Paul exhorts Christians to Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, as you really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).
We need such a spiritual cleaning in preparation for Christmas. Like the dirt or laundry in our house, the works of darkness collect and happen all by themselves. It's kind of like what we do when we return home from work or church. We immediately shed our good clothes or work clothes and get into something more comfortable. We immediately think of food and drink and relaxation. We cater to the flesh, to the gratification of its desires. Our flesh, that is our corrupt nature inherited from Adam, naturally lives in opposition to God. We don't have to encourage the sins Paul mentions, revelling and drunkenness, debauchery and licentiousness, quarrelling and jealousy. We, and others, are always ready to get in on such activities; we're always faced with quarrelling and jealousy and a host of other evils.
But all these things God says to lay aside. Just as you take off your muddy shoes or boots when you go in the house, so take off anything that has to do with the sinful nature. Like a Jew clearing his house of leaven in preparation for Passover, prepare for Jesus' Advent by getting rid of every work of darkness and every evil desire of the sinful nature. Don't prepare to out drink everyone else at the office Christmas party. Rather prepare yourself even there to celebrate Jesus. It's time to get up and get ready!
The second way to prepare for Jesus' Advent is to live honourably as in the day; put on the armour of light; and put on the Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn't take any effort at all to sin and little to satisfy the desires of the flesh. But it does take an effort to live a holy life. In fact, without God's power, we can't do it. That's why we must put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
That means to put on Jesus' righteousness and to cling to him in faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (Galatians 3:27). Righteousness, the state of being acceptable to God, isn't something we can buy or make for ourselves. Righteousness is God's gift through faith in Christ. It's his gift to us at Baptism. Jesus makes us righteous and nothing else. Through Baptism and faith we have put on Christ. Don't take him off. Cling to Christ and to your Baptism. Continue to put your trust in God and what he has done. Then you will be righteous and do what is righteous.
Paul also says to put on the armour of light. He explains that in a couple other letters. To the Thessalonians he says, But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. (1 Thessalonians 5:8). There really is no difference between putting on Christ and this armour of light. Our armour is faith, love and hope, all of which are wrapped up in Christ.
Putting on the Lord Jesus Christ also means to imitate him. To the Colossians Paul wrote, As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. (Colossians 3:12-14).
It is not the goal of the Christian faith for us to be baptized and then go on as we were. The goal of the Christian faith is holiness, the imitation of Christ. The basic orientation of our life must be to promote the things of Christ and not the desires of our flesh. That is not to say that we must not give attention to the physical needs of our bodies and families. Nor does it mean that we can't make Christmas cookies! That's not Paul's point. Rather, as Jesus himself said, strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33).
Having put on the Lord Jesus Christ we live as in the day. That is, we live in the shadow of Christ's return. That day is immanent; it conditions the whole of life not just Sunday morning. Since we do not know the moment of Jesus' Advent, we stay prepared just as we would for some other big event like, like soldiers waiting for an inspection they know will come but don't know when.
One small warning: constant cleaning and preparation are tiring and can wear you out. So don't give in to some sort of perfectionism. That always ends up being your own effort. You will eventually succumb to a sort of spiritual fatigue and give up the faith. Simply do what Paul says. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and his armour of light. Then let the Holy Spirit take over!
Today we begin Advent. Christmas is only four weeks away. You surely have many things to prepare and do. But don't forget to prepare your soul. Lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. Amen!