Advent 1 A
You Know the Time
Romans 13:8-14
1 December 2013 – Redeemer
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“You know the time,” writes Saint Paul. How many calendars fill your life? How many clocks in your house? How important is your alarm clock? This past Thursday it was important to know the time – what time is the meal? That was important for the cooks and the guests. For some of us it was important to know – what time were the sales? If there is one season of the church year that is completely about time it is Advent. A new church year begins today and over the next four Sundays we will focus on the time of Christ’s coming – the time when He came in the flesh, the time now when He comes in Word and Sacrament, and the time to come when He will come again.
“You know the time,” writes Saint Paul. So how would you describe the time in which we live? These are dark days – over half of all children born in the United States are born outside of marriage, marriage no longer means marriage, secularists and evolutionists are attempting to erase God from our minds and hearts, like the days of the OT judges it appears that everyone is doing what is right in his own eyes without any regard for anyone else.
It is very easy as a preacher and a congregation to lament that darkness that is out there. After all I’m not the cause of the darkness – my children were born to a mother and father committed to them and each other in marriage. I stand opposed to all the unnatural redefinitions of marriage, and I certainly proclaim God’s place at the head of our lives, but St. Paul in this text isn’t telling me to look out there at the darkness and lament the world.
He’s calling me away from the darkness that is here, in my heart. He holds the mirror of God’s Law before me as I consider the time – You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet. All of these are summed up in one little word that damns me for the darkness in me – “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Think of the time since you awoke this morning. Did you love your neighbor as yourself? Did you honor your father and mother by willingly getting out of bed? Did you love your children by speaking positively about church and Sunday school? Men, have you lusted after someone else’s wife this morning? Women have you coveted a different family? Have you looked upon anyone with prejudice or racism? Are you concerned about the length of the service because it’s cutting into your plans? You adulterer. You murderer. You thief and swindler. The darkness out there is caused by the darkness in here.
The night of sin and death is your night. You bought these troubles with your sins. Saint Paul says that this is the paycheck for sin. You own the night. Our adulterous hearts lead to the horrors of “unwanted children” and “unplanned pregnancies.” Our covetousness leads to marriage being redefined to fit any desire or lust you have. The fact that God is so easily erased from our hearts and lives is due to the fact that our hearts are so filled with me there is little room for Him.
What shall we do in these dark days caused by our dark deeds flowing from our sin-blackened hearts? Saint Paul says, “Wake up.” “Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand.”
The night is far gone. How can that be? You see darkness all around and you see it within your heart. The night is far gone because Jesus Christ has come into this world – God of God, light of light, very God of very God. The night is far gone because Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem as the promised Son of David. The night is far gone because He came to answer the “Hosanna” prayers of the crowds – “Hosanna” save us Jesus, save us now. The night is far gone because this King of Kings will die for His subjects. The night is far gone because Jesus became sin for you. The night of sin and death ended on Good Friday. Why do you think it was so dark that day? Because sin and hell and death were being visited upon the only Son of God. It was dark because God the Father turned His back on God the Son and when God turns His back on you then there is only darkness, only damnation, only night.
You know the time. The night is far gone. The day is at hand. You know the time. Three days after Jesus died, early in the morning, as the sun was rising on the third day, some women went to the tomb and saw light in the darkness. Gleaming angels from heaven proclaiming the forgiveness of sins – Christ is not here He is risen as he said. Mary Magdalene knew the time. The night of her life had been a dark and decadent one – possessed by seven demons, hers was a life used and abused, and the risen Lord appeared to her first. The light began with His Word – her name, “Mary.”
You know the time. The night is far gone. The day is at hand. Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. He was crucified under Pontius Pilate and three days later He rose again. That means the night is far gone – your sin is forgiven. As far as the east is from the west so far has God removed your sin from you. Even as you struggle with sin and some days you know you’re a worse sinner than you used to be – do not despair. You are forgiven. Your sinfulness is coming to an end. Your nights as a dying sinner are numbered. You’re closer to salvation now then when you first believed because Christ is closer to returning now than He was yesterday.
You live by faith in the light of this day. You know the time. The day is at hand. Christ’s day is dawning even though it looks very dark outside (and inside). You are a baptized child of God. You are forgiven. You are living forever. Your aching joints and dimming eyes are eagerly anticipating the resurrection of the body. Your sinful heart looks with joy to its glorification and being freed to love your neighbor fully and freely.
You know the time. The night is far gone. The day is at hand… So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor or light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. Think how odd we Christians should look to the world – husbands loving their wives as Christ loved the church, wives submitting to their husbands as to the Lord, children being born to mothers and fathers in marriage and being raised in the household of faith, sharing from our abundance with those in need, loving the least among us, greeting the bitter with a smile and offering a hand to the downcast. You don’t have to claw and grab for every last pleasure and possession before all the lights go out. You know the time – the day has dawned for Christ has come. By His forgiveness you are already living forever and the night is almost over. Soon Christ will come – His final advent and then we will have day without night, souls without sin, bodies without death, life without end. Because we know the time let us walk properly as in the daytime. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm
30 November 2013 anno Domini