Concordia Lutheran Church
1st Sunday of Advent, November 29,2009
Advent is like a….Alarm Clock?
Salvation is Near!
Romans 13:11-14
† In Immanu-El’s Name †
To all here today, the beloved of God, called to be saints. Grace to you and peace!!, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ!
The temptation to hit snore
Advent is like… and alarm clock
It was a few minutes after nine, that the alarm clock went off. I imagine its owner rolled over, and hit the snooze button – at least once. With a stomach still full of turkey, and stuffing, and incredible apple pie, the idea of getting up was not a pleasing thought. At nine fifteen, having squelched the alarm clock a couple of times, its owner got up and staggered into the shower, got dressed, and headed out into the darkness to get in the car, accompanied by his son…
Wait – nine o’clock and its dark out? Yes, for in this case, the man and his son where heading to Fry’s Electronics. Their mission was to camp in line for the Black Friday sales that would begin at dawn. Visions of electronic gadgets for sale for 99 cents, some 80 dollars lower than the price on Wednesday. A computer for 150 dollars, and a hi definition handheld device to play video and music caused some excitement. For the dad, the toys are cool, but the time to spend with his son, was probably the greater treasure.
And no, it wasn’t William and I. He is still a little young to do something that adventurous. Maybe next year…
It may be a silly metaphor, but Advent is like that annoying alarm clock.
Like an alarm clock blaring to awaken its owner to a great opportunity, Advent serves a special role in the church year. Its purpose is to wake us from the more glorious event, the most incredible gift, the return of Christ, for His people. Advent awakens us, that we can live in His peace even as eagerly anticipate His return, even as people once awaited His first advent.
Understanding that- hear again Paul’s words to the church in Rome…
Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you bto wake from sleep. cFor salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 dThe night is far gone; the day is at hand.
Your salvation, your being delivered into the presence of God, is near… so… wake up, get rid of the sin that clothes your life, and get dressed in Christ!
1. Get up!
a. Literally Arise!
Have you ever lain in bed, under a nice heavy comforter, and wondered why in the world would anyone ever get out of bed? You lie there, warm and comfy, half in your dreams, and seeming to be at peace? You want there, to ignore the world, and let it ignore you! There are no phone calls, no emails, no chores, no work. There is nothing else, just you, your pillow, and the warm blankets. Ahh… the illusion of peace…the illusion of “living”.
It is but an illusion, for sooner or later, you will realize that your digestive system has still been working all through the night! Yet you lie there, not even realizing how many times you are hitting the snooze bar! You might not even have the ability to consciously decide to hit the snooze bar! You just do it.
Sin can be like that – it almost anesthetizes us from the world, as it takes our focus off of life, off of relationships, and encourage us to simply dwell in focusing on our own pleasure, our own comfort, our own “identity”.
The sinner inside us convinces us that those thoughts aren’t that bad, or come on, could expressing myself that way be all so bad, or come on – everybody does this,…
And we hit the moral snooze bar, and sink back into our personal comfort zone of sin.
No wonder why the word in Greek for “awake” is also translated – “Stand Up”, “arise”, or simply “Get up”! Get those feet to hit the cold tile floor, turn the shower on. Paul is telling the church here in Rome, in the same way he told Ephesus and Thessalonika – get moving – stop dwelling in the sin that has you in its grasp!
2. Cast off your pajamas and Get Dressed!?
As Paul encourages the church to spiritually wake up – he tells them as well- get out of that flannel underwear! He does you know – hear how its translated,
12 dThe night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us ecast off fthe works of darkness and gput on the armor of light
Let’s say you decide to hang out in your nice warm flannel pajamas. And you go to the kitchen and make breakfast, and get some nice warm pancakes and maple flavored sausages in you. How great is the temptation to want to head back to bed? Or at least move onto the comfortable couch, and maybe put your head down for a moment?
Sin is like that as well – the closer we stay to it, the more it exerts the power of temptation over us. Maybe we won’t head back to the bedroom, but instead lie on the couch. Maybe I won’t in my actions, but we will convince ourselves that “surely just thinking about it” can’t be that bad?
Paul tells the church – no – wake up! Get those feet down on the cold tile and realize the difference between half-sleep and being awake! If you have to, turn the shower to cold and jump in! Realize the difference between living paralyzed by sin, and truly living in Grace. Realize the incredible difference between living in darkness, and living in the light!
3. Don’t get distracted
a. The works that put us …spiritually to sleep
That Is the point that Paul makes in listing the sins that are of darkness. Most of us easily recognize the first few as being horrible sins. I mean, I think, well I hope that most of us didn’t engage in the first three in the last week. Yet jealousy and quarrelling are there equally captivating and put us to sleep spiritually. As we engage in any of them, there is that ignorance of all else that is going on, there is that surrender of self-control, whether in though word or deed.
That is the danger – according to scripture. Spend time in sin, and you will forget your relationship with your friends, your co-workers, your family, and even God. We will become so focused on self-comfort and pleasure, that the pleasure and self-comfort is all that matters.
4. Realize you are Dressed!
a. Live in Christ- Live with Christ – that close…
b. and don’t look back
In advent, we are called to wake up – to remember that Christ is coming back, that the glorious morning is soon upon us. It’s a time to be shaken from our complacency, from our near hypnotic form of living in sin, and to realize that there is so much more to life, than the illusion of the comfort and pleasure of sin.
Paul says it this way,
But kput on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, lto gratify its desires..
We are to avoid making provision – making plans to fulfill those sinful desires. In “making provision” we move from being tempted, to sinning in our thoughts, or sinning in word and finally to sinning in deed. It’s like that thought – well, I can lay down for just 5 minutes, then I will be up, and start my day!
Instead, we are clothed with Christ – to have Him closer to us than our sin. To realize that in our baptism we were clothed with Christ, and the darkness of sin was washed away. Paul mentioned that to the church in Rome 7 chapters before the one we look at this morning. He says there,
Ro 6:3 (ESV) Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
That is why Luther advised us each morning to remember our baptism – to wake up to the reality that though we may still sin, that we don’t dwell paralyzed by it. To help us realize that we live in Christ Jesus, that we find life abundant and full as wel walk through each day, realizing the blessings He gives us.
That is the call of advent – the message to wake up! To realize the power of Christ in us, that delivers us from sin, to the presence of God. That cleanses us to live as His children. The message that He will return, and He will deliver us into the presence of the Father where we will behold His glory. Trusting in that, we live, not half asleep, but we live in true peace. A peace that will surpass our understanding, and guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. AMEN?
