Sermon - Romans 13:11-14 Putting On Christ

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Sermon - Romans 13:11-14 Putting On Christ

December 1, 2013

This is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is a time of waiting. We are waiting for our savior to come. While we do this, we remember what God has done in the past, what he is doing now, and anticipate what he will be doing in the future. We hear from the prophets with the expectation of Jesus coming again. We await his coming anticipating the fulfillment of biblical prophesy. And we consider God's overall plan for salvation. This all starts for us this morning by just waking up and getting dressed. We will get to all this, but first let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Romans 13:11-14 ¹¹ And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹² The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. ¹⁴ Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

The Apostle Paul has used what we do every day as a metaphor for coming to faith. Just as God makes the sun rise` every day covering the world in light so too does God make the light of faith shine in our hearts. Faith comes to us as a gift from God. We don't earn it or even make it happen. Faith rises in our hearts just as the sun rises each day. Every morning we respond to the rising of the sun by waking up. We get out bed and begin our day. Likewise when we experience the light of faith coming into our hearts we wake up from a long night of unbelief into the glorious dawn of belief in Jesus Christ. And every morning when we wake up we get out of bed and get dressed. So too when the light of faith wakes us up into belief we get dressed with the Spirit of Jesus Christ. This begins the process, with the Spirit's help, of our becoming more and more like Christ leaving behind our old lives of sin.

Let me tell you a story about a man who woke up to belief in Jesus and got dressed with the Spirit.

Last Sunday I told you about a bishop living at the end of the 4^th and early 5^th centuries after Christ. His name was Augustine. Augustine's mother was Christian and tried to raise him as a good and faithful boy. But Augustine had other ideas. He was bad kid. He didn't want to go to school. He didn't want to do his homework. He stole things from his parents. He read immoral books and saw immoral shows. He called people names. And he was a petty thief.

As Augustine grew older he was sent away to school. His mother wanted him to marry hoping that this would help him settle down. He was engaged to a young women, but had to wait two years for her to be old enough to marry. Augustine's lusts were so great he couldn't wait for marriage, so he lived with another women and she gave him a son.

Augustine found his life spinning out of control. He turned to other religions and philosophies, but never found anything that could help. He was descending further and further into darkness. He was a slave to sin, and there was nothing he could do about it. Augustine was miserable. One evening Augustine's misery turned into despair. He didn't know where to turn or what to do. And there was no one to help. He cried out to the God of his mother, “How long, how long? Tomorrow and tomorrow? Why not now? Why not this very hour an end to my uncleanness?”¹

It was then that Augustine heard a voice. It sounded like a child's voice coming from a neighboring house. It said over and over, “Take up and read”. Augustine knew that this was the voice of God commanding him to open a Bible and read the first thing he saw. He opened his Bible and his eyes rested on these words from Romans 13, “Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” Upon reading these words Augustine knew that they were true. He said it was like “a peaceful light streaming into my heart, all the dark shadows of doubt passed away”.

This is what we are waiting for in Advent. We are waiting for the light of Christ to enter our hearts, dispelling the darkness of our lives. Just as we wake up when God makes the sun rise each day, so too does your spirit wake up when the light of Christ enters your heart.

The light of Christ entered Augustine's heart that day. He went to visit his mother to tell her the good news. She was overjoyed because all of her tearful prayers had been answered. Her mourning turned in joy. Augustine left his old life behind and traveled to Milan where he was baptized and nurtured by Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan. Eventually Augustine sold all of his possessions and entered the priesthood. He sailed to North Africa to serve the church in Hippo.

What Augustine realized was the light of Christ was a free gift from God. There was nothing he had done or could do that would earn him this light. He had received the light by God's grace. Just as the light of the sun comes to us each morning with no effort our part so too does the light of Christ come to us. The light of Christ does two things for us. First, all of the sin we have participated in is forgiven. And second, we are empowered to live lives pleasing to God. We do this by “putting on Christ”, living as Christ would have us live.

Immediately after Augustine experienced his conversion he opened his Bible a second time and placed his finger on the first scripture he saw and made a note of it. Later that day he visited his best friend who saw that something had changed. Augustine told him about his experience of hearing God and what the Bible said when he opened it. And when Augustine got to the part of opening the Bible a second time Alypius asked him what it said. Augustine read the following to him ^NIV Romans 14:1 Accept him whose faith is weak. When Alypius heard this he realized that the Bible was speaking to him too and he too came to faith.

So when we experience that light of Christ coming into our lives when we wake up and get dressed in the Spirit then we need to share our faith with others. And all it takes is a prayer, or kind act, or scripture verse to kindle the light of Christ in someone's heart. And another believer is born.

On Wednesday nights during Advent we will have a communion vesper service at Pitts Creek. It begins at 7pm. During these vespers we will experience simplicity and silence. There will be a sense of timelessness. We will empty our minds of distractions and feel the presence of God. Our goal is to experience the light of Christ coming into our lives just as Augustine had experienced it. This will cause us to wake up into belief and we will put on the Spirit of Christ. My prayer today is that you will experience the light of Christ yourselves. I hope you will experience God's forgiveness. And I hope that you will put on Christ and live the life you were created to live. Let us pray.

Father in heaven we ask that you send the light of Christ into our hearts this Advent. Help us to wake up from unbelief into the dawn of faith. Help us to get dressed with the Spirit of Christ so that we leave our sinful lives behind and our more able to share our faith with others. This we pray in your son's name. Amen.

1St. Augustine, The Confessions of Saint Augustine (image Books), Image ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Image, 1960),  202.