Wake Up!

Romans 13:11-14 If you attend the adult bible class you can almost count on the fact that sometime during that hour, a timeline will be drawn on the dry erase board.  It reaches back to Adam and Eve and stretches forward to Christ’s second coming with the cross in the middle.  We find our own lives on that timeline somewhere between Christ’s first and second coming—each day moving us closer to his return in glory. 

That progression of salvation history to the second coming of Christ is what Paul is talking when he says that:  The hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

Because Jesus will once again enter directly into human history at his return in glory on the last day, we understand that his return grows ever closer with each passing day.  Christ’s return is closer than it ever has been!  But why does Paul when he says that salvation is nearer to us now than it was in the past?  Aren’t we saved right now?

Yes we are!  But there is still more good news to come with our Lord’s return.  Right now, we have forgiveness for our sins and the strength to resist the devil and the promise that when we die our souls will go to be with the Lord.  We are saved!

But we also know about ourselves that:  our faith is not all that it should be.  We give in to temptation.  Our bodies die.  We live in a world broken by sin.  We have to walk by faith-- not by sight.

  But there is a day to come when the fullness of Christ’s redeeming work will be ours.  We will lay aside our sinful flesh forever.  Our bodies will rise from the grave never to die again.  Evil will be punished- the devil will be cast into the lake of eternal fire- and there will be a new heaven and a new earth unstained by sin just like there was in the beginning where God and man will enjoy perfect fellowship forever. 

This is Christ’s salvation that Paul is talking about that is getting closer and closer and we need to be ready and awake and prepared to meet that new, eternal day.  And so Paul says:  the hour has come for you to wake up from sleep. 

Paul used the word “sleep” to describe spiritual complacency.  We’re unaware of what’s going on around us—we’re cozy and comfortable with the way things are—we’d just as soon stay where we are right now.

The consequences of hitting the snooze alarm and going back to sleep may not be all that big a deal when it comes to our earthly responsibilities--but when it comes to our spiritual life and eternity:  the world is going to end- and spiritual complacency is deadly- and so we need to wake up because Paul says:  The night is far gone; the day is at hand.

For all who have come to faith in Jesus Christ, the dark night of sin and unbelief has come to an end--and so it is time for us to wake up, get out of our comfort zone, and get to work preparing to meet the Lord when he comes again. 

The rest of this lesson from the Bible deals with that very thing—what the “work-day” of the Christian looks like as we prepare to meet the Lord.  Paul says:  Let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Paul’s message is exactly the same as that of John the Baptist and of Jesus and the other apostles and the whole Christian church down to this day and this pastor:  to prepare for the day of the Lord we need to repent of our sins and be renewed in our faith in Jesus—casting off the works of darkness and putting on the armor of light.

We are going to look at some of those works of darkness that we are to cast off in more detail in just a few moments-- but suffice to say, works of darkness include everything that flows from our sinful nature as it is tempted by the world and the devil.

These works are not “freedom”—they are not legitimate lifestyle choices—they are not things about which Christians may agree to disagree.  They are darkness—that is, they flow from spiritual darkness and need to be confessed as such and repented of. 

As we cast off the works of darkness we are to put on the armor of light.  Throughout his letters Paul uses the image of armor so that his readers could visualize the spiritual equipping the Holy Spirit does for those who are Jesus’ disciples. 

There is the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness and the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. 

Just as the works of darkness much be cast off again and again, so the spiritual armor of light must be put on again and again as we hear God’s Word and receive his sacraments and are renewed in our faith by the power of the Spirit.

We would not be ready to meet the Lord when he comes if the Holy Spirit did not equip us for the spiritual battles we face as we wait for that day.  We are fighting against spiritual forces of darkness and evil in which we are to have no part.  Paul says:

Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.

            Each of the sins mentioned by Paul—which are representative rather than exhaustive of spiritual darkness—were prevalent in his day—they were part of the culture and Christians were forbidden from taking part in them.  They are still part of the world in our day and Christians are still forbidden from taking part in sin.      

            Paul puts orgies and drunkenness together because both are representative of sinful excess and extravagance.  It is not so much the sexual element of an ancient orgy that Paul is thinking about (which was certainly there and will be examined in more detail later) but about the excessive eating and drinking and carousing that went on—all of it offered up as worship to some pagan god.

Now this may seem far removed from our place and time—but is it?  When people are mauled by an crazed mob of shoppers trying to get some bargain—when holy days like Easter and Christmas and Thanksgiving can only be celebrated by many of our fellow citizens with shopping baskets filled with cases of beer—when we entertain ourselves with filth on TV—we should have no doubt that there is a god who is being worshipped with this sinful excess and extravagance-- and it is not the true God.

The same is true when it comes to the sexual morals of our nation and its citizens.  Divorce, children born out of wedlock, couples living together, and pornography have risen dramatically over the last several decades.  The culture around us is saturated by sexual images produced to sell some product. 

And it’s not only the actions of so many in our nation that have become corrupt—it’s their attitudes—hearts filled with quarreling and jealousy.  Politicians try to gain the upper hand over their opponent by stirring up class warfare.  Marketers make it their goal to instill in us envy for that which is new and improved.  And our common life is marked more and more by rudeness and hatefulness and coarseness.

The words that Paul writes to us are not ancient history—they perfectly describe our culture and in contrast to the prevailing custom—Paul says that we are to walk properly as in daytime. 

The word that is translated as “properly” means dignified and decorous.  In other words, just because we live in a culture that is filled with moral filth does not mean that we have to wallow around in it.  We are to have nothing to do with the spiritual darkness of the world around us but we are to live our lives in the light of Jesus Christ. 

It doesn’t mean that the Christian has to be stiff or uptight or a prude—but it does mean that our lives as Christians are to be demonstrably different than the unbelieving world around us--shaped by the Holy Spirit rather than the world around us.  

Paul says that we are to:  Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.  When we were baptized, we were clothed in the righteousness of Christ—his death became our own and we were raised in the power of his resurrection so that we could walk in newness of life. 

We are baptized just once—but the power of God’s promise made to us in baptism goes on and on throughout our lives so that we can put Christ on again and again, laying hold of his righteousness by faith and turning away from sin and praying for the help of the Holy Spirit so that we make no provision or place for sin in our lives.

This may mean that we have to abstain from alcohol—it may mean that we have to avoid some TV or movie that would incite lust—it may mean that we have to get a new set of friends who will encourage us to live as Christians—it may mean that we have to cut up the credit cards so that we are not constantly overspending—but whatever the sacrifice—what is it, compared to being prepared and ready to meet the Lord when he comes again?

As we wait for that day, God calls us to wake up from spiritual complacency, put off the works of darkness, and walk in the light of Christ.  Amen.