Advent As Echo Chamber II--Romans 13:8-14

Our English translations don't bring out the force of the Greek in v. 11, which literally says: "the hour already (is) for you to be awakened from sleep." The notion of the hour already being upon us ("the hour is already") should trigger memories of this phrase or idea in Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4. After Jesus has said his arresting line that "salvation is from the Jews" (4:22), he continues, "But the hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth" (4:23). The Samaritan woman raises a question about the coming of the Messiah, to which Jesus tersely responds, "I am he, the one speaking to you" (4:26). In other words, the emphasis on the hour being present, the time "already" being here triggered the revelation of Jesus' Messiahship.

Advent means that the hour is here--for something. It is the time for the revelation of the Christ, to be sure, but it also, as a sort of heightened time of sense-awareness, might be the time for something else--for decisions, for recommitment, for service, for learning, for love discovered, for some kind of grace to touch us in yet unexperienced ways. For what thing is the time "already" here for you and others you serve?

V. The Day Has Arrived (v. 13)

I can barely get past these words. It isn't often that one Greek word can stop us in our tracks, but one little word in v. 13 ought to do that for us. It is the perfect tense of the verb to come--and is pronounced engiken. The perfect tense in the Greek suggests an action that has begun in past but has present effects or culmination. Thus, a fuller translation of the phrase would be the "day has already begun to dawn."

But the trigger that this word pulls takes us back to the first words of Mark's Gospel. Jesus appears and speaks:

"Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news,'" Mark 1:14-15.

The word engiken is here translated "has come near" in v. 15. In other words, this word was on the lips of Jesus in the first sentence he uttered, according to Mark. The Kingdom of God has come near; the day is dawning. We can already see the "rosy-fingered dawn," as the epic writer Homer would say. There is so much anticipation, so much compressed and suppressed anticipation and joy in the coming of Jesus that we miss it if we simply go through the Advent motions with our poinsettias and mistletoe. Something explosively wonderful (and, I hasten to add, difficult) is presaged in Christ's appearance. So, returning now to Romans 13, we understand Paul's sense of urgency now that the day is beginning to dawn. The same journey of faith, discovery and suffering which Jesus inaugurated when he said that the Kingdom of heaven had come near, is now taken up by Paul with respect to the coming of Christ. And, even if we today have a more "relaxed" view of the parousia of Christ, we still believe that the time of Advent is not only valuable but is fraught, even "over-fraught," if I may coin a new term, with meaning. One of the reasons for it is that something special has drawn very near. Can you hear it?

VI. The Armor of Light (v. 12)

This is a most unusual phrase. Normally we think of the full armor of God, as the Apostle speaks about later in Eph. 6. But we have here the "armor of light," with which we are supposed to clothe ourselves. I think the Apostle Paul has a special place in his heart for the notion and word "light." Perhaps it was the Damascus road vision, where his sight was temporarily taken from him. In the home of Ananias and subsequently during his life this memory may have provided him many occasions to think about the concept of light and how God is, as the Psalms suggest, our "light and our salvation." But Paul has the tendency to want not only to bring every thought captive to Christ, but to place the interpretive film of Christ over his life's experiences.

The most memoriable passage in Paul where the image of light emerges is in II Cor. 4. He says:

"5 For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. 6 For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

So, when we arm ourselves with the "armor of light," we should also be drawn in mind to Paul's experience with light. And then, of course, there is the image of armor, which I will only point you to in Eph. 6, because you undoubtedly are familiar with it.

"Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm."

By urging us to put on the "armor of light," Paul has, perhaps unwittingly, triggered rich biblical cadences which are suggestive for us today.

VII. Clothing Ourselves with Christ (v. 14)

The last word-picture that I want to mention is the image of clothing ourselves with Christ. The verb behind the image is the usual word in Greek for putting on clothes (enduo) , and it appears many times in the NT. Even though such an authority as the Oxford English Dictionary, on "endue," only lists the Latin roots, it is aware that "the word was associated with the nearly synonymous Latin induere to put on (a garment).." I wonder if the Latin is simply a translation/transliteration of the Greek word, which appears in our passage.

Whatever the etymological story, the theological point is clear. Christ is to be placed around us as a garment, a garment which prohibits us from engaging in activities foreign to the meaning and spirit of Christ. But this image of clothing ourselves in Christ is also present in another Pauline letter--Colossians. There he says:

"As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience," Col 3:12.

Conclusion

Though these essays were rather long today, they could have been made yet longer by focusing on some of the Greek philosophical terminology which Paul takes over and "Christianizes" here. Suffice it to say that Paul has heightened our senses by appealing to language richly imbued with theological significance. He may be talking about the (Second) Coming of Christ, but he does so in ways that stimulate our senses and kindle our hopes. Advent, truly is the "sense chamber" of life, where all our senses are aroused to a greater awareness. May it result in blessedness for you and your people this Advent season.

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