Romans 13:8-14 “Waking Up to the Light”  9/7/08

Owe no one anything except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.  9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not covet; and any other commandment are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.  11 Besides this, 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;  12 the night is far gone, the day is near.  Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; 13 let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness , not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy.  14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
            In the book, “The Two Towers” by J.R.R. Tolkien, some of the heroes get lost in some very scary, dark woods.  They are climbing a tree when the tree suddenly awakes and starts talking.  It is as if the tree has been asleep for hundreds of years and was waiting for just the right moment to wake up and do something about the evil that was enclosing around both the heroes and the woods.  The trees (or ents-tree herders- as they are called) go to war against the powers of darkness.  Tolkien gets a lot of his imagery from the Bible. 
            In our passage Paul seems to indicate that before we were Christians we were in a state of hibernation or animation.  Life was happening, but not as it should be.  (Verse 11). Then we were made awake to God and we changed the way we did things.  After Pearl Harbor, one of the famous quotes by the Japanese high admiral when his underlings tried to congratulate him on his tremendous success, was “I am afraid we have only awakened a sleeping giant.” 
There is talk about sleeper cells for terror in our day.  Paul is saying we are in effect sleeper cells for good, and it is time to wake up and do something for God- being salt and light, proclaiming, witnessing, bringing hope, kindness, and love.
            Paul is basically saying here that the Lord’s coming is nearer now than it used to be.  Some say that is deceptive.  Jesus did not come back during Paul’s lifetime.  Paul, however, never promised Christ would come back in his lifetime.  Some scholars read into his hope as if it were a promise.   What he said was true that it is time to wake up for God.  God had given the people of the early church a special opportunity to do something for him, the door was open.  For the most part the early church did wake up.  They lived their lives as if Jesus were coming back, and the world was indeed changed for the better.  The early church lived during morally evil times.  Their light showed even brighter in the darkness.
            I believe we live in tough times.  I heard a piece on international radio that what people perceive about America is what they see in our movies, on our television soap operas, entertainment weekly gossiping about the evil of Hollywood, and the rampant sexual immorality we hold up.  They said that there is a new slang for immorality- it is “American.”  What a terrible pity.  We have fallen from a city shining brightly from God on a hill, to a city full of immorality.  The phrase I heard was, “How lewd, how immoral, how American!”  That is so sad to me. I can point to much good in our country, but I can also point to how we have used our great freedom in bad ways.   I remember when we have travelled in other parts of the world they ask that our women be more covered than they are.  For example, in Jerusalem, you cannot go up on the temple mount without a woman’s shoulder’s covered.  We do not see baring shoulders as something wrong, but maybe it is because we have seen much worse.  Even in church we are debating sexual morality as if the Bible has not already made some things clear.  At some point we have to ask ourselves is there any such thing as disobedience to God’s Word?  We should also ask ourselves are there any consequences to this disobedience?  In dark times, and I believe we are in them, the light has a great opportunity to shine- if we would just not put our light under the bushel, and if we would not conform to the world- but seek to transform the world.
            In Chapin last week, there was another drive by shooting.  No one was hurt- but it is another dent put in our community’s honor.  A lawyer in our community told me that there was nothing anyone can do about drugs and violence.  I really disagree.  God can change people.  He changed me.  Coming out of the Chapin football game Thursday night there were many deputies.  I talked to one of them and he said they were there because of some of the problems we had been having.  He was obviously nervous.  Last week a lady came into our church looking for assistance and stole Jane’s wallet.  I would have probably given her assistance if she had just asked.    Neo-nazis threatened to walk in our community with their message of hate and division- making a bad situation even worse, trying to divide us even more.  
            It is time for the church to wake up and say, “Enough!” Let me say something practical. Next Sunday September 14 at 2:00 at Mt. Zion Baptist (behind the Food Lion) there will be a community meeting, and I invite you to come and pray for our community. 
            My favorite meal of the day is breakfast.  It gets me going, gives me energy and helps me get awake.  Communion in some ways is a breakfast meal.  It is a reminder that we are strengthened with the forgiveness of Christ to go out and try to do something for Him.  It might be more like a pre-game meal.  Last Thursday our church hosted the Chapin High football team with a pre-game meal that was to give them energy, and inspiration to play.   We are strengthened and nurtured by His bread His cup so that we remember God has provided for us.  It is a reminder than even in the worst darkness- the darkness of the crucifixion of our Lord, there is the hope of the power of God in the resurrection.  This is the power that wakes us up to the abundant life,  a life of hope, and a life that can change the world.