His army lie asleep under the stars. The moon had long set and the only light present was the thin light provided by those cold stars – Orion walked high in the west. It was cold at that altitude – frost was on the ground. A gentle sound of snoring was all around. No fires were lit – that might betray the presence of the army to the Enemy.
And then, in the east, a bit of gray began to chase away the blackness. The sun was still an hour or so away, but now there was a bit, just a bit of light. And a bird chirped a few times.
“Wake up!” a sergeant began walking among the sleeping bodies. “Wake up and put your body armor on.” And gradually, throughout the camp, men and women began to rouse, putting on vests of Kevlar that would stop a bullet or flying shrapnel. Helmets were buckled in place, many put on Kevlar thigh, knee and shin guards. Boot laces were checked, weapons were checked, and within fifteen minutes, the company was ready to move out. No breakfast for this army today. They were ready for another day of fighting.
The long fight might be over today – if the unit stayed together and each member did his or her job. This might indeed be the day the reinforcements arrived, the day the choppers and the planes brought in overwhelming firepower to destroy the enemy – or it might be another day of tough fighting. The only thing they were sure of was that the choppers would always be able to come and evacuate them if things went wrong. They had confidence in the chain of command. They always knew their commander would come for them.
And so it is with us who fight for the King of Glory. We have survived days and nights of evil, with attacks coming any minute from any direction. We have survived attacks by the Enemy and we have survived episodes where we turned on ourselves, shooting ourselves in the foot, doing stupid, foolish things that hurt us and our friends and family, dragging each other down because of our fears. Yet we fight in a spiritual war for the eternal souls of the people around us, people who may not even realize there is a war going on, people who aren’t sure which side is good and which side is evil, people who are so spiritually lost they might as well be sleeping through Pearl Harbor.
But now, awakened to the idea that there is a battle going on around us, awakened by our King’s messengers, we Christians stand up and put on the armor of light, as Paul said:
"And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 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. "
The Apostle Paul wrote this passage while in Corinth in Greece to a group of believers at Rome, sometime between 40 and 50 AD. Paul was planning on visiting Rome; he was writing to this group of believers so that they would be ready to receive him, and so they would understand the message of hope that he was bringing them. Just 15 years or so after the Resurrection, they were well established already – there were no less than three house churches already meeting in Rome. Priscilla and Aquila, Paul’s fellow tent-making co-workers from Corinth had gone to Rome and established one of those churches. A famous gladiator was on the list of believers in Chapter 16 of the Letter to the Romans; servants in the Emperor’s household were on the list. Several of Paul’s friends from his days in Antioch and Macedonia were already in Rome. The letter was carried by the Deaconess Phoebe, who served a church six miles from Corinth, which shows that churches were quickly being planted. Even in Corinth this early, the Way of Jesus of Nazareth was spreading fast.
And Paul says, “The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.”
It is time to put on the armor of light and prepare for a spiritual battle.
This is how we begin this new Christian year. Today is the first Sunday of Advent, the time of preparation for Christ’s arrival. But this year, unlike most years, we will not focus upon the arrival of the Christ child. We will focus upon the soon arrival of the Son of God in all His glory and power.
In many ways, we act like we are spiritually asleep, like we are wearing soft, cozy flannel underwear with footies, the type of nightclothes we might get toddlers, the type of nightwear that keeps us warm and protected and snuggly and drowns out the sounds of the outside world as we sleep the day away.
This is how we begin this new Christian year. Today is the first Sunday of Advent, the time of preparation for Christ’s arrival. But this year, unlike most years, we will not focus upon the arrival of the Christ child. We will focus upon the soon arrival of the Son of God in all His glory and power.
In many ways, we act like we are spiritually asleep, like we are wearing soft, cozy flannel underwear with footies, the type of nightclothes we might get toddlers, the type of nightwear that keeps us warm and protected and snuggly and drowns out the sounds of the outside world as we sleep the day away.
There are two holidays called Christmas, you see. One is loud and boisterous, busy and frenzied, filled with shopping and cooking and decorating and lights and noise. It is what the world calls "Christmastime", a continuous party and preparation for a party which exhausts us and gives us a hangover of debit.
The other Christmas is quiet, peaceful, like the quiet noises that snow makes when it lands in your backyard or the gentle sigh of a newborn baby as it settles off to sleep. This Christmas is filled with candles and a small fire in the fireplace and a bit of hot tea drunk as one particular story found in the beginning of the Gospel of Luke is reread and remembered, perhaps with bread and with a bit of wine or grape juice.
Which one do you celebrate?
Our world around us is controlled by the Satan, the deceiver, who the Bible says is the prince of this world. Our world would have us to sleep, assuming that the Return of Christ will be hundreds of years in the future. Our world would have us to focus upon the really “important” things in life, like whether or not we could get a good deal on a 4k ultra curved 60 inch television set, or a new Playstation or a new smart phone. Our world would like us to think that the holidays are about friends and family, about traditions and coziness, about shiny ornaments for the tree, the happy cries of children as they unwrap presents, and the approving looks from the family as they see what we’ve prepared for Christmas dinner. Diamonds from Jared, watches from Wal-mart, clothes from Kohl’s, cars from Kia. And don’t forget the television specials, the football playoffs, the basketball games, and the constant news shows about the aftermath of the election. These are the things the world distracts us with this time of year. And we go along, occasionally protesting about the cost or the time or the effort.
Or we get sucked into the culture wars. Every year, there are the stories of the manger scenes not allowed, the Christmas plays that are censored, the coffee cups that don’t carry the right symbols, and we get outraged and post on Facebook and argue and fight and complain and where is the peace of Christ in all this?
Instead, do we stop during this Advent season to sit with our children and grandchildren and our neighbor’s children and read to them from the beginning chapters of Luke and Matthew? Do we decide to stay home instead of shop and read for ourselves an entire Gospel book of the Bible this time of year? Do we ever just build a fire, cover up with a blanket, and read a chapter from a New Testament epistle to the other person in the house, and then talk about what Paul or Peter or John meant when they wrote those words so long ago?
Do we have friends over to talk about the Gospel and our church? When was the last time we invited that young girl with her three kids who lives down the street over? What about next Saturday? We could cook hot dogs and macaroni and cheese and bake some biscuits and then we could direct the conversation toward the Pioneer Clubs and how our kids turned out reasonably well despite all the struggles in high school and that might give her an evening to relax. Yes, we could make some time, we could cut back on all the loud Christmastime stuff and focus on becoming Jesus to that family this year. After all, do we really need a new television? Do our kids and grandkids really need to be spoiled like we’ve spoiled them or maybe we could redirect some of those gifts to that young girl and her family because our kids are doing well, but I noticed her car was broke down for a week last month.
Maybe we could invite that old man who lives alone over for Christmas dinner. Maybe we could make friends with that struggling waitress at Denny’s and find out what her kids need and give her a giftcard for Christmas to Wal-mart. Maybe we could just leave a fifty or a hundred dollar tip for her? And there is that nice guy at the Mexican restaurant who seems to be so lost – what could we do for him?
Our homes are filled with things and our lives are full of time-wasting chores we put onto ourselves. Paul asked us to “put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing 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 flesh.” That’s what Paul wrote…
Now I don’t think many of you spend time in carousing and drunkenness nor in sexual immorality. But we do have a tendency to indulge in our self this time of the year. We drink deeply of the intoxicating liquor of selfishness. We need to put down that cup and move onto the next level in our Christianity. Do you understand what I mean by that? Let me explain…
The natural person is by nature selfish. We want to gratify our desires first and foremost. And so everything is about my wants and my needs, my problems and my successes. As we take on Christ, we should be able to shed those night clothes that are designed for our comfort and our coziness, and put on our daytime work clothes, worrying about others.
The beginning Christian begins to do things for the people closest to him or her. We begin to worry now about our families, our wives or husbands, our children, perhaps even our nieces and nephews, our brothers and sisters. We have begun to shed those cozy night clothes and put on our work clothes.
But at the next level, we begin to look outside our family and our house. We recognize when our nest is warm and cozy enough and we look to see if there are people near us whom we can help, our friends, our neighbors, our church family. And so we share with the people we know.
Our world around us is controlled by the Satan, the deceiver, who the Bible says is the prince of this world. Our world would have us to sleep, assuming that the Return of Christ will be hundreds of years in the future. Our world would have us to focus upon the really “important” things in life, like whether or not we could get a good deal on a 4k ultra curved 60 inch television set, or a new Playstation or a new smart phone. Our world would like us to think that the holidays are about friends and family, about traditions and coziness, about shiny ornaments for the tree, the happy cries of children as they unwrap presents, and the approving looks from the family as they see what we’ve prepared for Christmas dinner. Diamonds from Jared, watches from Wal-mart, clothes from Kohl’s, cars from Kia. And don’t forget the television specials, the football playoffs, the basketball games, and the constant news shows about the aftermath of the election. These are the things the world distracts us with this time of year. And we go along, occasionally protesting about the cost or the time or the effort.
Or we get sucked into the culture wars. Every year, there are the stories of the manger scenes not allowed, the Christmas plays that are censored, the coffee cups that don’t carry the right symbols, and we get outraged and post on Facebook and argue and fight and complain and where is the peace of Christ in all this?
Instead, do we stop during this Advent season to sit with our children and grandchildren and our neighbor’s children and read to them from the beginning chapters of Luke and Matthew? Do we decide to stay home instead of shop and read for ourselves an entire Gospel book of the Bible this time of year? Do we ever just build a fire, cover up with a blanket, and read a chapter from a New Testament epistle to the other person in the house, and then talk about what Paul or Peter or John meant when they wrote those words so long ago?
Do we have friends over to talk about the Gospel and our church? When was the last time we invited that young girl with her three kids who lives down the street over? What about next Saturday? We could cook hot dogs and macaroni and cheese and bake some biscuits and then we could direct the conversation toward the Pioneer Clubs and how our kids turned out reasonably well despite all the struggles in high school and that might give her an evening to relax. Yes, we could make some time, we could cut back on all the loud Christmastime stuff and focus on becoming Jesus to that family this year. After all, do we really need a new television? Do our kids and grandkids really need to be spoiled like we’ve spoiled them or maybe we could redirect some of those gifts to that young girl and her family because our kids are doing well, but I noticed her car was broke down for a week last month.
Maybe we could invite that old man who lives alone over for Christmas dinner. Maybe we could make friends with that struggling waitress at Denny’s and find out what her kids need and give her a giftcard for Christmas to Wal-mart. Maybe we could just leave a fifty or a hundred dollar tip for her? And there is that nice guy at the Mexican restaurant who seems to be so lost – what could we do for him?
Our homes are filled with things and our lives are full of time-wasting chores we put onto ourselves. Paul asked us to “put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing 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 flesh.” That’s what Paul wrote…
Now I don’t think many of you spend time in carousing and drunkenness nor in sexual immorality. But we do have a tendency to indulge in our self this time of the year. We drink deeply of the intoxicating liquor of selfishness. We need to put down that cup and move onto the next level in our Christianity. Do you understand what I mean by that? Let me explain…
The natural person is by nature selfish. We want to gratify our desires first and foremost. And so everything is about my wants and my needs, my problems and my successes. As we take on Christ, we should be able to shed those night clothes that are designed for our comfort and our coziness, and put on our daytime work clothes, worrying about others.
The beginning Christian begins to do things for the people closest to him or her. We begin to worry now about our families, our wives or husbands, our children, perhaps even our nieces and nephews, our brothers and sisters. We have begun to shed those cozy night clothes and put on our work clothes.
But at the next level, we begin to look outside our family and our house. We recognize when our nest is warm and cozy enough and we look to see if there are people near us whom we can help, our friends, our neighbors, our church family. And so we share with the people we know.
Perhaps we even get involved with organized ministries, like the shoeboxes or the Angel Trees or the donations that our church takes up. We give money - we even shop for other people - and then we hand over the money or the gifts to someone else to give to people who are in need.
But there is another level. That is when we begin to actively look for new people we can help, strangers, people who we don’t know, the woman crying in the card aisle at Krogers, the man walking beside the road, the waitress who is clearly having a rough time, the man at the checkout counter who is obviously buying a simple meal for himself because he is alone. Maybe we even go to work at the Salvation Army or the food pantry so we can meet people who need help and then we become friends and we treat them as our neighbors and family. We go beyond giving and find the person who needs and soon we find we have hundreds of new friends.
But there is another level. That is when we begin to actively look for new people we can help, strangers, people who we don’t know, the woman crying in the card aisle at Krogers, the man walking beside the road, the waitress who is clearly having a rough time, the man at the checkout counter who is obviously buying a simple meal for himself because he is alone. Maybe we even go to work at the Salvation Army or the food pantry so we can meet people who need help and then we become friends and we treat them as our neighbors and family. We go beyond giving and find the person who needs and soon we find we have hundreds of new friends.
You tell me stories. You tell me stories of people you once knew who were filled with the Holy Spirit, people who were godly, people who were so good and kind and generous! But there is a part to the story which I haven't heard recently. I used to hear this story earlier in my life. Someone would talk about that godly man or woman in wonderful terms and then say, "And I want to become just like him (or her) someday! I'm working to learn all I can to become just like her (or him)! Will you help me?"
I haven't heard that part of the story in a long time...
Imagine, if you will, that you put on armor when you get out of bed in the morning. It is an invisible armor, but that armor protects you from every flaming arrow that Satan and his friends can send your way. But there is a catch, a magical thing about this armor. It is totally useless and doesn’t help us at all until we charge it with goodness. And that armor begins to work and glows with light as we listen to the Holy Spirit and do good.
So as we work to get out of our comfortable cozy night clothes, we find that we are putting on an armor that serves us well when the enemy attacks us in our lives, for that armor of light is recharged every time we do something kind for someone else just because they are an image of God, another portrait of God from a different angle, just as we are. That armor of light begins to glow around us and nothing the enemy can do will take us down, for we know now that we are worthy, we know that we have a purpose in life, we know that we are doing good and we know that we are powerful, strong, and part of a victorious army because we know, deep down, we know to the depths of our heart that it is only because of Jesus Christ that we can even wear that armor. Every time we do something for someone else we remember what Christ did for us when we were needy, when we were struggling, when we were standing at the edge of the cliff, not sure if we would make it or not. We saw someone who was wearing Jesus’ armor of light and it lit up our lives! And now we have a set of the very same armor that fits us because we have decided to follow Jesus.
And so, my friends, put on the armor of light and charge it up by doing good works this season. Walk in that tremendously safe and joyous space, that space between Jesus and the people who need to meet Jesus, connecting Jesus and them together through your acts of kindness and charity. Let others fight the battles of Walmart and the shopping mall. You fight the important battle, the battle for people’s souls that may end this day, or this week, or this month or in a thousand years when Christ returns to earth.
While we wait for His return, we are to be wearing that armor of light, fighting the battle. Have you ever met a Christian who glowed? Of course you have! Have you ever met a man or a woman who was so calm, so peaceful, yet so passionate about saving people’s souls that there was almost a real glow to their eyes and their face when they spoke? They are rare and hard to find, but you can become one of those glowing Christians. You can be one of them, because Christ has already destroyed your sins and left you free to do good. Pick up the set of armor that He has given you! All we need to do, Paul says, is to "clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh."
Jesus said in Matthew 6 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? … Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all these things will be given unto you as well.”
Let Matthew 6:33 guide you this Christian year. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness And all these things will be given unto you as well.” And wear the glowing armor of light that Jesus has given you as you go through every day doing good, changing the world, bringing people to know and understand the love of Christ.
We are the army of Christ. We are His soldiers, we are His warriors, we are the people who fight in the spiritual war. While we are free because of Jesus, millions of other people are still under the control of the Enemy. How can we leave them doomed to eternal death, the real death, eternity apart from God?
Imagine, if you will, that you put on armor when you get out of bed in the morning. It is an invisible armor, but that armor protects you from every flaming arrow that Satan and his friends can send your way. But there is a catch, a magical thing about this armor. It is totally useless and doesn’t help us at all until we charge it with goodness. And that armor begins to work and glows with light as we listen to the Holy Spirit and do good.
So as we work to get out of our comfortable cozy night clothes, we find that we are putting on an armor that serves us well when the enemy attacks us in our lives, for that armor of light is recharged every time we do something kind for someone else just because they are an image of God, another portrait of God from a different angle, just as we are. That armor of light begins to glow around us and nothing the enemy can do will take us down, for we know now that we are worthy, we know that we have a purpose in life, we know that we are doing good and we know that we are powerful, strong, and part of a victorious army because we know, deep down, we know to the depths of our heart that it is only because of Jesus Christ that we can even wear that armor. Every time we do something for someone else we remember what Christ did for us when we were needy, when we were struggling, when we were standing at the edge of the cliff, not sure if we would make it or not. We saw someone who was wearing Jesus’ armor of light and it lit up our lives! And now we have a set of the very same armor that fits us because we have decided to follow Jesus.
And so, my friends, put on the armor of light and charge it up by doing good works this season. Walk in that tremendously safe and joyous space, that space between Jesus and the people who need to meet Jesus, connecting Jesus and them together through your acts of kindness and charity. Let others fight the battles of Walmart and the shopping mall. You fight the important battle, the battle for people’s souls that may end this day, or this week, or this month or in a thousand years when Christ returns to earth.
While we wait for His return, we are to be wearing that armor of light, fighting the battle. Have you ever met a Christian who glowed? Of course you have! Have you ever met a man or a woman who was so calm, so peaceful, yet so passionate about saving people’s souls that there was almost a real glow to their eyes and their face when they spoke? They are rare and hard to find, but you can become one of those glowing Christians. You can be one of them, because Christ has already destroyed your sins and left you free to do good. Pick up the set of armor that He has given you! All we need to do, Paul says, is to "clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh."
Jesus said in Matthew 6 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? … Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all these things will be given unto you as well.”
Let Matthew 6:33 guide you this Christian year. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness And all these things will be given unto you as well.” And wear the glowing armor of light that Jesus has given you as you go through every day doing good, changing the world, bringing people to know and understand the love of Christ.
We are the army of Christ. We are His soldiers, we are His warriors, we are the people who fight in the spiritual war. While we are free because of Jesus, millions of other people are still under the control of the Enemy. How can we leave them doomed to eternal death, the real death, eternity apart from God?
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