Year A. 1st Sunday of Advent - December 2nd, 2001 Romans 13: 11-14
Title: “Awareness of Christ’s internal presence removes the urgency of His second coming.”
Beginning with chapter twelve, we are in the practical, exhortatory section of Paul’s letter. He has spoken of the different ways the one Spirit of Christ manifests himself for the good of his “body,” the church. He has given examples of what the one reality-Christian love- looks like and acts like in different circumstances, including a Christian’s relationship to a pagan government, maintaining that Christian love fulfills all the requirements of the old law and then some.
In today’s reading, Paul tells his readers why it is so important for them- individually and communally- to do these things, that is, to live a life of love, and to do them enthusiastically. It is because the Parousia is nearer than ever. Paul no longer believes the Parousia, Christ’s full and final return, will happen in his lifetime, before he physically dies, as he wrote in 1Thes 4: 15-17. He has come to realize that he and all Christians will “meet Christ,” in that dramatic and visible way at the time of personal physical death Phil 1: 21-23. But he also realizes that these two “ages”- the old and the new- have already “met,” in Christ. Paul tells us that we as Christians are already living in the end, the new age, and the new creation and that the Parousia has a dual character to it. It is “not yet,” in the chronological future. Yet, it is “already,” present in the ontological sense. In our text he will fluctuate between these two dimensions, using earthbound words to express heavenly realities, stretching their meaning to the point of seeming absurd and illogical to an unbeliever.
Verse eleven, and do this because you know the time: The word for “time,” here is kairos in Greek, not chronos. “Chronos,” time, chronology, is earthbound, tick-tock time, historical time, that relentless undulation of one minute into the next. Paul is not talking about the Parousia, the full and final coming and presence of Christ at the end of some time frame. He uses kairos, opportune time, opportunity time, decision time, carpe diem time. If chronos is “time,” kairos is “timing.”When announcing the kingdom’s coming Jesus used this word when he said “The time is near.” Paul has the inner experience of this presence of Christ already being within him and all Christians. The awareness of this presence removes none of the urgency he spoke of in his earlier writings. It translates it into a higher key, one of enthusiasm and energetic purposefulness. One’s chronological time is, in fact, short by any calculation, but one’s “opportunity time,” is better described as “ripe,” ready to be tapped, picked or whatever metaphor one finds compelling.
It is the hour now: “Hour” is John’s favorite word to point out the “timing,” of Christ’s death. Paul may be using the word in the same sense here. The translation has “now,” but the Greek has “already.” The sense would be that the “hour,” the time of Christ’s death, has already occurred, giving Christians the opportunity, timing time, to act with that power and in the light of that accomplished fact.
To awake from sleep: While this is a frequently used metaphor in apocalyptic literature and there is a relatively mild apocalyptic tone here, Paul uses it, as does Jesus, in an ethical sense. The eschatological, or eternal, perspective has been translated into an ethical one in the light of the obvious delay of Christ’s physical return. Christians are to retain all the urgency of the expectation of the Parousia, second coming, but are now to use that awareness to maintain enthusiasm, energy, dynamism for the living and spread of the gospel. “Awaking from sleep,” means being aware of what others are not- the hidden but real presence of Christ in and among them- and of living out that truth. Christians are not to lie down, become passive, awaiting the Second Coming of Christ in the clouds.
For our salvation is nearer than when we first believed: Paul uses the word “salvation,” as both a chronologically present and a chronologically future reality. However, on the ontological plane it is but one timeless reality. Some take its meaning here to be a synonym for Christ’s Parousia, second coming, our full and final experience of salvation. But this would give it too much of a chronological sense. Certainly, when Paul “first believed,” when he converted, he believed his full salvation was quite close in chronological terms. Then he realized that Christ might not, physically and visibly, come again in his earthly lifetime. So, chronologically speaking, he would consider “salvation,” to be further away that when he, “first believed.” That is clearly not the sense of the term as used here. The meaning is more like this: There is less a difference, less a gap, between “first salvation,” salvation at first, salvation at Baptism, and “final salvation,” salvation at the Parousia, than Paul first believed. He understands it as one continuous reality. The “new age,” is already inaugurated. It will not begin at the Parousia, but merely continue in an even fuller way and indeed in a different dimension. Because of this one can easily become inured of the great mystery of salvation, take it for granted, ignore it or “fall asleep,” so to speak, right in its, Christ’s, presence. Hence the need for constant reminding, constant exhorting, constant refreshing.
In verses twelve to fourteen, this is a pep talk, quite similar to what a coach would say to a team about to take on a great challenge. Paul tells his readers not so much what time of day it is, chronologically, but uses “day,” and “night,” metaphorically to capture that it is time to decide, to get going, to make a difference, to tackle the problems of the day with an enthusiasm and energy appropriate to the presence of Christ already within them and the fuller flowering of that presence which they will experience again and again each time they “live,” Christ, “live in Christ,” “love Christ by loving others.” He uses day and night slogans and clothing slogans, put on and put off, armor, to illustrate his exhortations. Finally he speaks of the ways of the “flesh,” living life on one’s own power, by one’s own lights, one’s own preferences and compares these to deeds done in the dark. This contrasts with deeds done in the day, deeds done by “putting on,” Christ. “Putting on,” can refer to the idea of putting on a light or putting on armor or clothing. At Baptism a new Christian would “put off,” the deeds of darkness, symbolized by disrobing, and “put on,” the deeds of light, symbolized by putting on a white garment. In 1Thes 5: 8 where Paul speaks enthusiastically of the Parousia, second coming, “armor,” is specified as faith and love; in Eph 6: 13-14 as truth, righteousness and peace. Awareness of the end result, Parousia, need not be a cause for panic or a life lived in the state of emergency. Rather, it is a stimulus for living life in Christ here and now in a state of increasing fidelity. The more aware and faithful we are to Christ in us, the “nearer,” both in the sense of “closer,” and in the sense of “fuller,” is our experience of “salvation.”
Sermon
Paul never actually taught that Christ would return to earth in a visible, physical way on a certain or uncertain, chronological day. He hoped it, but never taught it. When he was baptized Christ entered into his being and into his life, as he does us. However, Paul, as do we, needed to reflect on the impact and import of that fantastic event and fact. He, as do we, had to apply that fundamental, eternal, truth to every situation of his life. It is important for us to see his thought develop in his writings, lest we falsely think that the mere fact of Christ’s existence within us makes us omniscient and infallible. Paul had to think, to re-think, to study and learn. So do we. Now that he was Christian he did all his thinking, studying, learning, seeing and doing in the encompassing context of prayer, union with Christ, aware of the eternal dimension in, to and through all reality. And that made the difference.
So, Paul had to re-think this Parousia, second coming of Christ, business. The Old Testament writers and extra-biblical apocalyptic literature seemed to be telling him the “Day of the Lord,’ would be a day, or occur on a given day, that is, a chronological twenty-four hour, or less, space of time during which everything would change “in an instant.” Paul thought about it in prayer, in union with and awareness of Christ, and realized that would not necessarily be what God means. He could, of course, do it all in a day or an instant, but, then again, the words leave open another interpretation. The same is true with the “appearance,” or coming of Christ a second time, that is, the Parousia. The words of revelation used to describe the truth of the full and final coming of Christ or the “Day of the Lord,” need not be understood so literalistically. They could be metaphors used to describe the truth of the various ways Christ is present already and will be present in the future, rather than some prediction of an upcoming dramatic event to take place, duly noted on God’s calendar, yet unknown to humans. Of course, Christ can come back to earth, though he never really went away, in some emphatic and dramatic way on some given day or in an instant, if he so chose. That is not the question at all. The real question is what do all these “Parousia sayings,” mean for a Christian’s daily life, long before the end of it. So, Paul grew in his understanding of the Parousia and we are privileged to learn of that growth as we read his letters in chronological order. We get to see how any Christian should grow in understanding what he or she already believes by grace. In the end, Paul was content to take the advice of Jesus and leave the details to God.
This open-minded position freed him to ponder the more personal meanings of the Parousia. Christ never really went away. He gave us himself in giving us his Spirit, Baptism and the Eucharist. He is present in the Word, in other Christians, in the world and every atom of the world. So, if he never went away, in what sense will he return?
Paul, like all Christians, must, temporarily, juggle his consciousness between two dimensions, that is, between time and eternity. He must find words and use words of the temporal order in such a way as to convey an eternal truth. No easy task. All Christians have to get used to having “double vision,” and, like physical double vision, must choose which visual image is the real one of the two. Oddly, it is not as difficult as with physical double vision because there the two visions are the same, so it is hard, when driving a car, for instance, to tell which is which. In the case of Christian double vision the two pictures are not the same. The false one, the wrong one, the evil one will have the characteristics, traits, trappings of darkness, like orgies, drunkenness, promiscuity, licentiousness, rivalry and jealousy, to name but a few. It is not so much a matter of discerning the true from the false as it is a matter of strength to overcome the lure of the false. The more we do this the “closer,” we come to the full, fuller, fullest presence, Parousia, of Christ. As we become more and more progressively aware of Christ’s presence, our, Christian, identity blends with his and we withdraw more and more from the very realm of sin. Thus, the Parousia, the full and final presence of Christ, may be an instantaneous event from God’s point of view, but is a progressive one from our, earthly, vantage point. Both perspectives- the instantaneous and the progressive- are true. On the ontological level they are the same. On the functional level they may be experienced as different and separate, but our Christian “double vision,” teaches us that they are not. So, we look forward to the Parousia as a truth already present in our lives, our inner selves, and a truth that is progressively becoming more obvious, even to earthly eyes. Whenever and however Christ comes again in finality at the end of time and the world as we know it, he is constantly coming into our lives, becoming gradually more apparent to us the more we consciously live in him, see with his eyes and love with his heart.
“Parousia,” has more to do with our consciousness of Christ than with where Christ physically is at any given moment. When we are “unconscious” of Christ “asleep,” we will be more influenced by the presence of evil and temptation, “darkness,” than by the presence of good, “light”.
Waking up: When a person wants to describe an experience wherein he or she suddenly realizes something he or she had previously been unaware of, he or she will use the metaphor of “waking up,” or “dawning.” Coming into awareness of truth previously hidden, previously unknown, or previously unnoticed is like waking up from sleep. We have many terms for this “awakening,” like “an eye-opening experience,” “a flash of lightning,” a bolt from the blue,” etc. This awakening can happen “in an instant,” or it can gradually emerge over time. Often, it is both an instantaneous event and also a developing one. We might, for instance, be in a conversation with someone and “all of a sudden” realize an underlying truth about either the topic or the speaker. All of a sudden a flash bulb goes off in our consciousness and we catch the deer in the dark unawares, frightened by the light, frozen in time by it. Later on, after the bolt from the blue, we ponder the insight and begin to realize its further implications and ramifications. We see the same truth come alive in many other contexts. This profound spiritual “Parousia,” actually mimics what we do quite naturally every day. When we wake up from physical sleep and open our eyes or, if necessary, turn on a light, it is like a “bolt from the blue,” the difference between day and night. That’s challenge number one, waking up. Challenge number two is staying awake and not falling right back to sleep. Thank God for snooze alarms!. As Christians the first thing we do when we wake up is to say “good morning,” to the Lord and thank him for waking up in the first place. Although if we woke up in eternity that would be even better. Beginning the first moment of consciousness in union with, conscious of, Christ sets the tone and sets our priorities for the whole day. We are consciously choosing which “eye,” we will see out of, which “vision,” we will trust. The next challenge is to say focused on that perspective. To do that we will need the spiritual equivalent of many “snooze alarms,” strategically placed throughout our typical day. In our mind, we set up “stations,” where we stop and rest in the Lord’s presence. This keeps us from falling back to sleep and falling into the pit of only one vision and version of reality, namely evil’s. As we go through a typical day conscious of the Lords’ being with us and within us, we are able to see things differently, interpret things from the eternal vision and respond accordingly. Over days and even years of doing this we realize that the “Parousia,” of Christ is simply getting to know him, being with him constantly, seeing things through his eyes, a gradual unfolding of a napkin that was always there in its fullness but not in my awareness. Christ never went away; it is I who go away from his presence or fall asleep in it. The day I arrive at full awareness of Christ’s full presence is the day I die to this world and enter the world my other eye has shown me is the one to be preferred, the really real one. I will no longer have “double vision,” no longer have to choose, be tempted, confused or conflicted. It is I who will have arrived, rather than Christ who will have returned. “Waking up” means doing what is necessary to keep our awareness of these truths in the forefront of our minds and behaving in a way consistent with them.
Putting on the Lord Jesus Christ: “Putting on,” can mean duping, as in “You are putting me on.” It is possible to “put on,” Christ in this duplicitous sense. However, that is not what Paul means by it. He means “wearing,” Christ. He means that “bearing the cross of Christ,” in our hearts empowers us to behave like him in our lives. We could never do it naked, that is, without grace, the covering of God. Grace covers our sins, colors all our behavior and protects us against the evil elements. Amen.
