1.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly
Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Amen. The message from God’s Word
in our Advent Midweek series, “Behold the
Light!” is taken from Romans 13:11-14, which says, “Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake
from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The
night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of
darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime,
not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in
quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no
provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” It’s entitled, Put on the Light,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
What is your family’s Christmas preparation traditions? Maybe for years your family has enjoyed the
adventure of going to a tree farm to get a pine tree to stand in your home as your
Christmas tree. Just thinking about it can bring you countless memories of the
aromas and visions of the different Christmas trees you’ve had over the years. But,
after hauling the perfect tree from the tree farm, loading it in the vehicle,
and muscling it into the house, there’s still much more to do. There’s putting
it in the stand and straightening it this way and that, and then turning and
turning until you have the best-looking side to the front. Once the tree positioning is accomplished,
everyone exhales and steps back just to admire the aroma and beauty of the
Christmas tree. At least for a few moments. For now, comes the time to put on
the lights. It seems interesting that we look at the tree without lights and we
see beauty—beauty, but, shrouded by darkness. Because then how anxious we all
become to, Put On the Lights so we
can see the real beauty of the tree and finish with the tree ornaments and
garland.
3.
In one form or another, you and most Christians are
going through this same routine during the Advent season. You are readying your
home with lights and decorations all with a purpose: to celebrate that Christ has come as the light of the world, to shine
through the darkness of sin and death.
4.
In our text from Romans 13:11-14, Paul also speaks of a
routine as we prepare for Christ, the light of the world. But, the day that St.
Paul encourages us to be prepared and ready isn’t Christmas. We don’t need to
prepare for what has already happened, but rather for the day that’s still to
come. Paul isn’t concerned with trees, decorations, or even our sort of lights.
Instead, he desires to make sure we’re prepared spiritually for Christ’s second
coming, just as the angels, Mary, and Joseph were for His first coming as the
baby who would be the Savior of the world. Paul doesn’t want us to continue
standing in front of the unlit tree and admiring that which we really don’t
want to see—darkness. Nor does he want us to be filled with fear, but rather
with joy and excitement, filled with the hope of the transformation from this
earthly life to holiness and eternal life in heaven. This is the day for which
we prepare, the day when Christ comes in all His power and glory, with all the
heavenly angels, banishing the darkness with His victorious light. Such
anticipation is filled with the delight that God loved each and every one of us
to the extent that He sent His only Son, Jesus, into this world of darkness to
be our hope and light of eternal joy.
5.
Unfortunately, too many people have become confused
about God’s genuine love for us. Quite often people believe and teach that God
loves us because He has strong feelings or loving emotions toward His creation.
It’s true, feelings and emotions are involved in love, but the greatest part of
love is the action. Love is an action that one does rather than what one feels.
Far too many marriages are dissolving in this world because individual feelings
are valued more highly than the individual’s actions toward the other. It’s far
too common for a person to say that he or she doesn’t “feel” the love they once had for the other.
6.
Imagine if God the Father decided that His love for man
had changed, that He fell out of love with man after all. Since the fall of
Adam and Eve into sin, generation after generation has turned their back and
sinned against God. Or imagine Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, looking up
into heaven and saying, “Father, I hate
this feeling, and I don’t feel like going through all this suffering and
death.” The good news is Jesus resisted those feelings and fought back even
though He prayed 3 times to have the cup of suffering removed. His love for us
was demonstrated in action—dying on the cross—that shines and enlightens our
lives as we strive to love one another as He has loved us. For Romans 5:8
reminds us, “God shows his love for us in
that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).
7.
Earlier in his Letter to the Romans, Paul emphasizes
that there’s not one person who is righteous by his or her own merits (cf Rom
3:10–12). We’re sinners, and by nature we love the darkness. Why else would we
stand in front of an unlit and undecorated Christmas tree, gazing into its
darkness and taking in its aroma? I’m sure you’d agree that nothing good
happens in the darkness of the world. Common sense, isn’t it? So many of the
sins we get ourselves into happen in the dark, don’t they? A time and a place
when no one else can see them.
8.
And so it is that Paul encourages us to put away the
works that need to be hidden by darkness, such as sexual immorality,
drunkenness, quarreling, and jealousy: “Let
us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in
sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy” (v 13).
9.
Even as God’s dearly-loved children who have been called
to be His own and set apart from the world, it’s so difficult to live as we
should, for the world of darkness bears a sense of beauty that charms our
sinful flesh to be captivated by its intrigue. We’re drawn to live in the darkness,
mesmerized and avoiding the true light.
10.
In the verses preceding our text from Romans 13, St. Paul
speaks to us about loving one another, for the entire Law of God can be summed
up in one simple statement: “Love your
neighbor as yourself” (Rom 13:9). Through God’s Law, we know our sinfulness.
But His love is the fulfillment of the Law in and through the birth of his Son,
Jesus, to be the Savior of all the nations. Jesus was born to pierce the
darkness, and under the darkened afternoon sky on Good Friday, He did. Jesus’
death is the ultimate glorious light of God’s love.
11.
And God’s love for us didn’t end when Christ died on the
cross. His love continued to shine through Christ as He gave us His Holy
Spirit, in Word and Sacrament, to bring us the gift of saving faith. Faith that
clings to the blood and righteousness of Jesus that covers our sinful lives and
unites us as believers. As sinners who have received this righteousness of
Christ, we live lives redeemed out of the darkness, not by anything we’ve done,
but purely by God’s free and loving gift, which cleanses us from all our sins
and enables us to love as He has loved us. And this is what we do, as those who’ve
been called out of the darkness and into His marvelous light. We desire to
follow in the way of Christ, obedient and loving, not out of fear but because
of His love for us first.
12.
After the positioning of the Christmas tree is completed
and the brief moments of admiring the aroma and beauty have passed, we come to
the realization that it’s time to put on the lights so the real beauty may
shine through the darkened tree. “Let us
cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Rom. 13:12b).
13.
Through God’s Law, we know our sinfulness and our
inability to escape the captivity of sin’s darkness. Through God’s grace, we
know we’ve been forgiven and empowered to live in the righteous life of Christ.
It’s in this grace that we’re enabled to put on the armor of light so we may
openly and honestly love our neighbors; live a joy-filled life; enjoy peace in
our families; have patience with our children; express kindness, goodness, and
gentleness with those who hurt us; and have more self-control with those who
differ with us. Truly, this armor of light is by far brighter and stronger than
any light man can imagine, for it’s the true light of Jesus Himself. And so, we
put on Jesus as our armor of light to protect us from the darkness of this
world and the temptations of the devil. Let us put on the belt of truth, the
breastplate of righteousness, the sandals of readiness, the shield of faith,
the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit as Eph 6:13–17 tells us.
Strengthened, daily, by the power of Christ’s Word and Sacraments to live and radiate
his armor of light, adorned with his glory, we stand ready for his second and
final coming.
14.
It’s an exciting time! “The hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer
to us now than when we first believed” (Rom. 13:11). Christ is coming, and
we eagerly wait in anticipation. Through the gracious love of our heavenly
Father, who sent His only Son to be born and suffer death for us, we’ve been
called out of the darkness of sin and into the marvelous light of Christ. “The night is far gone; the day is at hand”
(Rom. 13:12a). Put on the light of Christ and shine in His glory as we joyously
await His second coming. Then He will take us from this world of darkness to
live with Him in heaven—where His light of grace and glory will shine for
eternity. Amen.
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