Awake in Advent…1 – 25 November 2016

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; the night is far gone, the day is near. 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. [Romans 13:11-14]

Paul doesn’t mince words… Let’s do a bit of housekeeping first.  For instance, there is the fact that our brothers and sisters of the 1^st century church assumed they were in apocalyptic times.  The end of the world was nigh.  It generally meant the expectation that Jesus would return.  This is fringe belief now, despite earthquakes, cyclones, tsunamis and wars, because we know a lot more about history and human behaviour, about geology, seismology and meteorology.  But back then, Paul, writing to the church at Rome, which he has not yet met, warns them they had better wake up and be ready.

Secondly, we need always to qualify what Paul means by “the flesh”.  In English “flesh” is a rather loaded word, but for Paul “flesh” means self at the centre rather than God.  It is what is often now meant by Ego... priority for self, and the illusion of control of life and events.  It is the opposite of what Paul calls living by the Spirit, a radically different way of living … in which we draw, derive, expect our life from God.  Life in the flesh, as Paul sees it, is typified by revelling and drunkenness, debauchery and licentiousness, quarrelling and jealousy… and in many ways, in NZ society of the 21^st century, that is not far wide of the mark.  So when he says, make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires, he means for instance that it’s possible to celebrate without getting legless.  It is possible to live without feuds, enemies and strife – not in quarrelling and jealousy – that too is “flesh” because of its concern with self.  Life in the flesh, Paul sees, is largely a matter of trying to find happiness in all the wrong places.

You know what time it is, says Paul.  There’s that Greek word kairos again – the time of God’s challenge and call, the time of hearing a word to us, the time of God’s opening door of faith and change – wake up time.  For Jesus’s disciple it is always God’s time.  In God’s time it’s best to be awake.  You can sleep-walk through a life of self; all you have ever to decide is what you want or what you like or how you feel. 

He advocates laying aside the works of darkness, living in the light – that is, openly, transparently… honourably, he says, as in the day…  Paul was well aware that Romans and other Gentiles, non-Jews, were joining the company of Christ.  Paul had been largely responsible for that.  The infant church was changing.  So you can imagine conflicts between believers who came from a somewhat austere Jewish background, and others who came from a culture where, in Kipling’s words, there ain’t no ten commandments, and a man can raise a thirst.

Of course, as we well know, anyone who seems even mildly critical of the prevailing hedonism, the assumption that we can and will please ourselves, gets labelled a party-pooper, a kill-joy.  But there are big issues here…  We will mention them during Advent.  The first step is to take on board those basic words:  Awake… Come from darkness into the light…  Live in the Spirit…  Know what kairos, what time it is.