Monday 2 December: week 1 Romans 13: 12b-14 Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. The alarm clock has done its job: we have woken from sleep and have managed to climb out of bed. What do we do now? Paul’s answer is obvious: we lay aside our night clothes and we get dressed. We need to be appropriately attired for the tasks at hand and anyway, we would look pretty silly wandering down the street in our pyjamas. Our clothes and our conduct should reflect the new reality we are part of – we have been called into the life of the risen Christ, and we wait for the day of Christ’s return. Our faith is a future-oriented one, so it makes sense when our actions conform to that future, to the day of the Lord, and not to the night which is now behind us. And the idea is that our clothing reflects that: we ‘put on the Lord Jesus Christ’. There’s more than a hint of baptismal imagery there, of the white robes of the newly-baptised, and of our awareness that it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us. And then there’s the challenge, to make sure that our conduct actually fits what we say about ourselves. Revelling and drunkenness, debauchery and licentiousness sound like a bad office Christmas function, or any number of random parties at this or any time of the year. But those who don’t tend to drink to excess can hardly feel superior, since quarrelling and jealousy are up there too in the list of things not to do if we’re trying to live the Jesus life. Maybe that’s something to remember in these early days of Advent: that picking fights or holding on to grudges are about as inappropriate, and as noticeable to others, as wearing night-shirts on the bus into town. God of the new day, help us to clothe ourselves with Christ, that our lives may speak of the reality of his presence within us. May our actions ever proclaim the hope that calls us onward. Amen.
Posted on: Sun, 01 Dec 2013 11:33:53 +0000
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