On Thursday of this past week I had a lovely surprise. I’d gone into the parish office to do some errands and catch up with team and I found a parcel in my in tray. It was quite a bulky parcel but didn’t weigh very much. I was intrigued, as I didn’t remember ordering anything and Natalie and Jackie didn’t know what it was or where it had come from. I opened the package and there was this Christmas jumper and a little note that said. “Happy Advent. A new Christmas Jumper for you.” But no name – so where it came from is still a mystery, but I was really touched.
There is a bit of a back story to this gift though. Those of you who have been around for a while might be aware that I am not one to buy a new Christmas jumper every year. In fact, I’ve been wearing the same Christmas jumper for some years now, and last year it was becoming a bit bobbly and perhaps past it’s best. So I was really touched that someone had remembered that from last year and gone to the trouble of getting me a new one. As I said, a lovely surprise.
That’s all very nice, you might be thinking, but has it got anything to do with today’s reading or theme?
Well, there is the obvious – that on this first Sunday of Advent I want to say “Happy Advent” to everybody, and the fact that this advent gift is linked to Christmas – to being ready and equipped to celebrate Jesus’ coming to earth for the first time, as we also look forward to his return to earth at the end of time.
But there is something a bit less obvious, and we’ll come to that in a little while, as we have a look at this short excerpt from Paul’s letter to the Christians living in Rome. The first section of this letter sets out Paul’s doctrine – what he believed and taught about Jesus, and why he believed it. The second section is focussed on what it means to live in the light of that belief. Paul, following Jesus’ example, was a great one for the practical implications of faith, knowing that what we do matters.
In this little section Paul is using the illustration of night and day, of light and darkness to help us think about this. I wonder how are you are about getting up in the morning. Are you a night owl or an early bird?
Do you burn the candle at both ends, or are you an early to bed, late to rise kind of person?
In Paul’s time the division of night and day would have been much more definite than it is today. With no electricity, and the only light coming from candles or oil lamps most people would have gone to bed with the sun and risen with the sun. Imagine a world with no alarm clocks. In fact, imagine a world with no clocks, no wrist watches. The only way most people had of telling the time was by the sun’s passage across the sky. In towns and cities there may have been watchmen calling the hours, and the occasional sun dial or water clock, that that was about it.
Nevertheless, people knew when to get up, when to wake from sleep, because the sun was rising, the first glimmers of dawn were visible on the horizon – the night is far gone, the day is at hand. So it’s time to get up and be ready for the work of the day.
Paul says that for us, spiritually, this means to cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light. This it what how we are to get ready for the new day of Christ’s return. We don’t know when that will be, but the season of Advent is all about reminding us that it could be today, it could be tomorrow, so we need to ready every day. Every day, as the sun rises and we get ready for our day it is good to remember and to choose again to set aside the works of darkness and to put on the armour of light.
So, if we’re going to do that, we need to know what they are, and helpfully Paul expands on what he means, here and elsewhere.
“not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy.”
This is one of a number of lists of sins in Paul’s letters. There is some overlap between many of them, but they are not exhaustive. It seems to me that when we read them they fall into three categories.
The first is the ones that don’t apply to me.
The second is the ones that apply to someone else.
The third is made of the ones that do apply to me.
As well as these categories, there is our attitude, which seems to me can be described as one of pride or humility.
When I read the sins that don’t believe apply to me, am I proud of that, a bit smug about it, or am I grateful and humble that by the grace of God I’ve not been tempted in that way, or been in a position where I might succumb to that temptation?
When I read the sins that I think apply to someone I know, do I, in pride, look down on them, condemn them, or do I pray for them or in humility come along side them to encourage them in their battle against that sin?
When I read of the sins that I am guilty of, does my pride make excuses, minimise the impact, try to wriggle away from it, or in humility to I come to Jesus in repentance and sorrow for those sins, asking for strength to resist them in the future?
In the Christian year Lent is often seen as a season of penitence, when we think about our own shortcomings and failings, so that we can gain a deeper appreciation of Jesus’ work on the cross and in his resurrection.
It seems to me, though, that Advent also has an element of this, as we focus on what it means to be ready for Jesus’ return.
So, if that’s some of the practical implications of casting off the works of darkness, but what about what we are to do instead, to put on the armour of light?
Well, Paul expands on this when he says, “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” And it’s important to realise that when Paul says “put on”, he means it in the same sense as putting on the armour of light, or putting on a jumper. As some modern translations have it, “clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.”
But what does that mean?
It seems to me that there are two ways of approaching this.
One is to think about the closeness of clothing. It is like a second skin – it goes with us everywhere, it informs how people experience us, how they see us, it communicates something about us. As followers of Jesus, we want Jesus to be as close to us as our clothing.
The other is to think about the daily nature of getting dressed. For most people getting dressed is something we do every morning. We decide what we’re going to put on. Are we as deliberate every day about choosing to clothe ourselves in Jesus as we are about getting physically dressed?
As far as what the armour of light, or the clothing of Jesus looks like, there are two key passages that we can look at, both also written by Paul. In his letter to the Christians living in Colossae, in Colossians chapter 3 he writes:
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Then in his letter to the church in Ephesus, Ephesians chapter 6, he writes about the armour of God, referring to the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the sandals of the readiness to share the good news of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.
Each of those is a sermon, or a sermon series, of its own, and they give a good indication of the kinds of things that we choose to put on as we follow Jesus. You might like to spend some of your time in Advent reflecting on these, perhaps taking one of the items of the armour for each week of advent.
So, this Advent, let’s get rid of the old bobbly Christmas jumper of the works of darkness and put on the new and fresh Christmas jumper of the armour of light, of Jesus himself, as we prepare to celebrate Jesus coming to earth as a baby, and as we prepare ourselves for his return when the sunlight of his kingdom will finally banish all of the darkness of the world.
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