Romans 13:11-14
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 armor of light; 13let us live honorably as in the day, not in
reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in
quarreling and jealousy. 14Instead, put on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
When I was a teen, my Sunday school class/youth group was asked to
design an altar hanging for Advent. It
ended up being very simple: large dark golden letters spelled out “Sleepers,
awake” with a Chi Rho against a purple background. This thing could easily be
read from the back of the nave, and captured the main idea: that Advent is
often described as a time of watchfulness, of anticipation, or preparation. It
is a time of waking up and preparing for the coming of Christ.
Our reading from Romans also reminds us to get up and clothe ourselves in
the armor of light rather than build up the works of darkness described in
verse 13 (reveling, drunkenness, debauchery, licentiousness, quarreling,
jealousy). That armor is actually to clothe ourselves in Jesus, to center our
thoughts on true discipleship and obedience rather than self-gratification (v.
14).
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