Title: Being a Forces for Good and God
Text: Romans 13:11-14
Thesis: In the Season of Advent, we are wakened to be forces for God and good.
Context:
Romans 13 is a chapter in which the Apostle Paul instructs us on how to live as Christians in light of the imminent return of Jesus Christ.
In Romans 13:1-7, he instructs us on how we are to live in relationship with the government. In Romans 13:8-10, he instructs us on how we are to live in relationship with one another and our neighbors. Then in Romans 13:11-14 he says, “Here is another reason to live right. Time is running out, for the coming of our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
In other words he is saying, Christians do not have time to be squabbling with the state, each other, or their neighbors. They must instead be witnesses of what God is doing. (Homiletics, December 2007, p 49)
Introduction
The Associated Press reported a story from Russia where twenty-nine members of a doomsday cult have barricaded themselves and are living in a cave in a forested area near the Volga River about 400 miles southeast of Moscow. They have apparently stockpiled food and other supplies sufficient to last them until the end of the world, which they predict will be May of 2008.
(http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=bizarre&id=5765505&ft=print)
One high ranking Russian Orthodox Church official told Russian television, “What we’re seeing in Penze right now is a most vivid example of what could happen to a society, if this society is deprived of proper religious education.”(http://edition.cnn.com/207/WORLD/europe/11/15/doomsday.cult/index.html)
Paul does not want Christians to be deprived of a proper religious education. Paul would have us know that a proper and biblical understanding of the end times is not to retreat from the world into a cave, but to “wake up” and live as people of God in the world.
1. Wake up
Wake up, for the coming of our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. Romans 13:11-12
The term, wake up, suggests this is a matter of urgency. Commentator, William Barclay speaks of the second coming of Christ as a “crisis moment” in the history of the world. The expectation of the early church was that Christ could and would come at any moment.
When we think of urgency the word “imminence” comes to mind: something impending, ready to take place, or hanging threateningly over one’s head.
Jesus taught in Matthew 24 regarding the unfolding of the signs that will indicate the return of Christ and the end of time as we know it. Jesus said, “And then at last, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among the nations of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man arrive on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send forth his angels with the sound of a mighty trumpet blast and they will gather together his chosen ones from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven, however no one knows the day or the hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the father knows.” Matthew 24:30-36
In Matthew 25 Jesus told the story of the Ten Bridesmaids, who waited for the arrival of the bridegroom. The bridegroom was delayed, so they all went to sleep. When the bridegroom arrived at midnight, they woke and prepared their lamps to go out and meet him. In the meantime, five of the bridesmaids had run out of oil, so they went to buy more oil, but upon returning, the bridegroom had already arrived and they were shut out. Jesus said, “So stay awake and be prepared, because you never know the day or the hour of my return.” Matthew 25:13
In the letter to the Thessalonians Paul wrote, “The day of the Lord will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night… So be on your guard, not asleep.“ I Thessalonians 5:2-6
I have never liked alarm clocks. They are not conducive to pleasant waking. The old time clocks rattled and jangled violently on the night stand requiring the sleeper to fumble around for the button to turn it off. They were effective because by the time you found the button you were wide awake. Less primitive alarms have a snooze button. The thing about a snooze button is that it lets you get a few more minutes of dozing, but when the alarm goes off again and each subsequent time you have hit the snooze button, you know that the time you need to be at work is nearer than it was the time before.
The bible says, “Wake up, the day of the Lord is nearer than it was yesterday.” In lieu of the nearing of the day of our salvation, we are urged to live in the light.
2. Live in the light.
So, don’t live in darkness. Get rid of evil deeds. Shed them like dirty clothes. Clothe yourselves with the armor of right living, as those who live in the light. Romans 13:12
In his letter to the Philippian Church, Paul contrasts the way believers and non-believers live. He speaks of those whose conduct shows they are enemies of the cross of Christ. He says, “Their future is eternal destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and all they think about is this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. We are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.” Philippians 3:18-20
The contrast between those who live in darkness and those who live in the light is not only that one group believes and receives Christ as their Lord and Savior, while the other does not. The contrast is most noticeable in the way each group lives… in other words their faith or lack of it is discernable by the way they live. One groups conduct is marked by evil deeds and the others, by good behavior.
The way a person lives marks that person… his practices mark him like the clothing he wears. Our actions, deeds, and conduct are what we wear. Our conduct is like a uniform that identifies who we are and what we do. If our actions are less than Christ honoring, we are instructed to “get rid of that uniform.” We are instructed to strip them off like dirty clothes.”
The Discovery Channel airs an interesting program called, Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe. At the beginning of each episode Mike Rowe introduces himself, "My name is Mike Rowe, and this is my job: I explore the country looking for people who aren’t afraid to get dirty—hard-working men and women who earn an honest living doing the kinds of jobs that make civilized life possible for the rest of us. Now... get ready, to get dirty."
Each week, he introduces viewers to a hardworking group of men and women, and then assumes the duties of the job, working alongside rattlesnake catchers, fish processors, bee removers and other professionals performing the vital occupations that simply must get done. Rowe knows that whether it’s serving slop to pigs in Iowa, or picking up road kill, it’s all part of an honest day’s work. One thing is certain after nearly every episode… Mike Rowe cannot wait to shed himself of his filthy, stinking clothes and get a shower.
Paul says that we should look at our lives in a similar way, and when we see that our lives are soiled by bad attitudes and actions, we are to strip them off like dirty clothes, shower, and get dressed in ways of thinking and acting. But what does the armor of right living look like or what do these new clean clothes look like?
3. Be decent and true.
Be decent and true in everything we do, so that everyone can approve of our behavior. Don’t participate in wild parties (revelry), getting drunk, adultery and immoral living, or in fighting and jealousy. Romans 13:13
Though not a comprehensive list, a number of behavioral practices are highlighted as not being consistent with decent behavior. Paul cites:
• Revelry or wild parties referred to celebrants who partied with a victor in an athletic contest. It’s something like what fans do when their team wins the SuperBowl or the World Series. It later came to mean a rowdy bunch of partiers who carouse the city streets at night behaving badly, creating a disturbance, and generally being a nuisance to other people.
The Denver Post recently printed a story about a couple who are die-hard Bronco fans. They have wired six electric car horns together and each time the Broncos score, they blow the horns for each point scored. In other words, for a field goal there are three blasts of the horns and for a touchdown and extra point, they blast the horns seven times. On Sunday, November 25, they blew the horn thirty-four times in the Broncos loss to the Chicago Bears. They blew the horn despite having been ticketed by the Adam’s Country Sheriff’s Department for disorderly conduct / unreasonable noise after a neighbor complained. The offender is quoted as saying, “We kinda aimed it at his house.” (Mike McPhee, Broncos Horn Blowers Appear in Court, The DenverPost, 11/26/2007)
I guess one could say that this is the kind of stuff Paul is hoping the Christians living in Rome would avoid doing. Christians do not need to be provoking their neighbors by being nuisances.
• Drunkenness. The Roman culture was a wine drinking culture but even in a pagan culture it was thought not only personally embarrassing but despicable to be inebriated in public.
• Immorality referred to the forbidden bed, so to speak. Though infidelity may have been a badge of honor in the Roman culture, among Christians marital fidelity was and is the moral expectation.
• Shamelessness describes a person who believes and behaves badly and doesn’t care. This person has lost his shame. Not only does he not try to hide his behavior, he flaunts it.
• Fighting or contention describes the behavior of a person who has an uncontrollable urge to be first. The contentious person wants the place of power. In plain language, it describes an argumentative and combative disposition. Contentiousness does not look nice on anyone and it is especially not to be in a Christian’s wardrobe.
• Jealousy or strife or envy describes a person who has a begrudging attitude toward others in regard to who they are and/or what they have. It describes a person who cannot be content and who looks with a jealous eye upon what is good in the lives of others.
The idea is that the Christian who is living in anticipation of the return of Christ and in the meantime, living as a citizen of heaven is seen as a person of transparent integrity. The Christian is a decent person and his or her life is seen as becoming or as the text says, “everyone approves of our behavior.” But how do we do that? We are able to strip off old ways of living and put on new ways of living by letting Christ take control of our lives.
4. Let Christ take control.
But rather, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, let the Lord Jesus Christ take control of you, and don’t think of ways to indulge your evil desires. Romans 13:14
In verse 14 the garment is personalized. We are encouraged to “put on Christ.” The language is that of “an appropriation or a deliberate, conscious acceptance of the lordship of Jesus Christ so that all is under his control, including our motives, desires, and deeds.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Romans, p143) The bible says that Christ is more than just an example to follow. “He is to be taken into our lives, and our lives are taken up into his in such a way that his fullness makes good all our shortcomings and failures.” (The Interpreter’s Bible, Romans, p 611)
The implication is that when we put on Christ, we put on the uniform of Christ and when others see us clothed in Christ, they see Christ in us.
This business of letting Christ take control of our lives is really a matter of our own choosing. The text instructs us to “put on the Lord Jesus” and to “make no provision for the flesh by thinking of ways to indulge our evil desires.”
In Romans 6 Paul says, “Don’t you realize that whatever you choose to obey becomes your master? You can choose to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God and receive his approval.” Romans 6:16
On Wednesday morning, Howard and I went to breakfast together. The traffic was terrible. The light snow fall during the night had left some slick patches and people were exercising extraordinary care in their driving… for the most part. So it was bumper to bumper and slow going. At one place on Wadsworth the lanes narrowed to two lanes and almost everyone was being polite and considerate. But you notice I said “almost” everyone. There are always those who speed past all the drivers who have courteously gotten into the proper traffic lane, coming from far back in the pack, passing everyone on the outside lane and going directly to the front of the line where they crowd in as though their time is more precious than that of the others who have been patient and considerate of others.
Every incident in life presents choices… the choices in traffic are: Will I be a jerk and pass everyone and force my way into the line ahead of everyone else because I’m smarter or more important or later for work than all the nice people who are being courteous, or will I merge into the line and be patient with the process? Should I be a jerk and forge ahead and not let the line-crashing schmuck in, or should I choose to be a gracious person? Should I let the peace of Christ rule in my life at this moment or should I indulge my natural desire to protect myself and teach the other guy a lesson.
Conclusion
Jerry Falwell used to tell the story about Robert King Creasy, who years ago, was the custodian of the church. He said that Robert had a key chain with almost 100 keys on it, a key for every door in the church before they purchased a master lock and key system. He lived in the church, knew everything that was going on in church, and kept it spotlessly clean. Every once in awhile when Robert would catch children or young people where they shouldn’t be or doing things they shouldn’t do, he’d jingle his keys to let them know he was coming. That way the kids could straighten up before he got there. The Season of Advent is sort of like Jesus jingling his keys to let us know that He is coming so we can straighten up before he gets here.
This, the first Sunday of Advent, serves to remind us of our hope of Christ’s return and to be living in anticipation of the return of Jesus Christ by waking up and being people who are living for God and for good as we wait.
