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Romans 13:11–14 NIV

11 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. 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 carousing 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 flesh.

How might your life change if you knew when or even approximately when your earthly life would come to an end? How’s that for an opening question in a sermon? Have you ever thought about that question? Sometimes people do have some sense of when their life is coming to an end. I’m thinking especially of people who are in palliative or hospice care.

I remember visiting a gentleman once, who’s life was coming to an end due to terminal cancer. As I was entering his hospital room, one of his children was there with his children. And this gentleman was sharing some last words with his grandchildren. I waited at the door and quietly listened. It was a truly precious moment. This man knew his time was coming to an end and he wanted to make sure he made the most of his remaining time and pass the torch of faith to his children and grandchildren.

Sometimes there are people who have a terminal illness but they are told that statistically speaking they may have 5 or 10 or maybe 15 years at best to live. Imagine if your 40 or 50 when you get that news. How does that change your life? How does that make you reflect on the time that you’re living in?

I learned recently about a watch that you can buy which has a countdown clock on it. It’s called the Tikker watch. Here’s what they say about it...

The Tikker is a wristwatch that counts down your life so you can make every second count. The Tikker allows you to watch as a dot-matrix screen displays the seconds you have left on earth as they disappear down a black hole. Your estimated time of death is, of course, just that—an estimate. Tikker uses an algorithm like the one used by the federal government to figure a person's life expectancy and then converts that into a countdown of the years, months, days, minutes, and seconds you have left on this earth. The effect is sobering, a sort of incessant grim reaper reminding you that time is running out.

Tikker's inventor is a Swede named Fredrik Colting. He says he invented the gadget not as a morbid novelty item, but as an earnest attempt to change his own thinking. Colting, a former gravedigger, said, "The occurrence of death is no surprise to anyone, but in our modern society we rarely talk about it. I think that if we were more aware of our own expiration I'm sure we'd make better choices while we are alive." That's why I call Tikker "the happiness watch." I believe that watching your life slip away will remind you to savor life while you have it.” (Fredrik Colting) https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2014/may/5052614.html

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It does seem like a bit of a morbid thing to wear on your wrist, doesn’t it? If you did wear a watch like that, it would certainly make you think twice before telling your wife, “honey, I’m running out of time.”

Now, you might be asking…why all this talk about time?… Well our text begins with Paul reminding us of what time we are living in.

“Do this” he says, “understanding the present time”....

First we might ask, what is “this” that he is referring to? Well it certainly is referring to what he has just written about the need for us to love our neighbour as we love our self....but it actually is more than that....In fact, we are in a section that goes back to 12:1.

live as members of one body the church, where each of us is using gifts and abilities to serve one another and build each other up

he calls us to put love into action....being patient, being generous, being prayerful, being hospitable, loving our enemies, feeding the hungry

he calls us to honour governments, pay taxes

and over all these things put on love....

DO THIS UNDERSTANDING THE PRESENT TIME....

And Paul says that because he genuinely believes that when we as Christians fully appreciate the time we are living in, our lives will be affected and transformed.

Now, I thought it might be helpful to use a very simple diagram to show the “present time” we are living in. (Now some of you are looking at this and saying, did he get one of his grandchildren to draw that for him?)..... for some of you this is very familiar, but not for all of you....

[Explain diagram....connect to 1 Thess. 5....day will come like a thief, but because we are not in darkness, that day will not surprise us like a thief.....don’t be fixated on dates and times.....just live with the certainty that that day is coming.

[Smaller diagram]

Romans 12:1–2 (NIV)

1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, AGE, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.]

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So now, you might be asking, HOW does an understanding of the present time motivate us to live the life of love? HOW does it motivate us to live the way Paul is calling us to live??

Well, the first thing Paul wants to do is tell us about a new awareness that we have been given....you could say it’s a whole new way of looking at history and at looking at your own life. He describes it like waking up to a new day!

Romans 13:11–12 (NIV)

11......The hour has already 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....

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Living with a profound awareness that you are always getting closer to the fulness of joy that is a result of our salvation…living with a forward facing faith....fullness of peace, joy, life, is closer today than it was yesterday....

But also living with a sense that the night is nearly over....this is intended to fill us with a profound sense of hope… even in circumstances that may be most difficult.

[Display picture of Gandalf and Frodo]

“I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish that none of this had happened.” said Frodo. “So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces in this world besides that of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the ring. In which case you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.”

(Gandalf to Frodo, LOTR Film 1.)

This exchange occurs in Book I, Chapter 2, as Gandalf explains the history of the Ring to Frodo. The “it” to which Frodo refers is the finding of the Ring by Gollum, as well as the return of Sauron.

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Now for the rest of our text Paul tells us about how we are to live in the tension of the already but not yet.

In a way, he says the same thing in three different ways.

Romans 13:12–14 (NIV)

12 ...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 carousing 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 flesh.

Paul is echoing something that Isaiah writes in:

Isaiah 52:1 NIV

1 Awake, awake, Zion, clothe yourself with strength! Put on your garments of splendor, Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again.

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Sleepwalking metaphor...... glitzy, entertainment, pleasure seeking lifestyle...

sleepwalking, not awake, but doing stuff...

Ad executive Douglas Atkin notes that a transformation has taken place in what's expected of the typical ad executive at a major corporation. Rather than being responsible for design, packaging, and promotion, the brand manager is now asked "to create … a meaning system for people through which they get identity and an understanding of the world.” Advertising is asked to induce devotion by investing products with transcendence.

So, Atkin asked himself, “What makes people exhibit cult-like devotion?” He thus undertook a study of cults precisely in order to figure out how brands could induce "loyalty beyond reason." When he heard people rhapsodize about sneakers or paper plates in terms that he described as "evangelical,” he realized that people join brands for the same reasons they join cults and religions: to belong and to make meaning. They ceased being merely customers and now identified themselves as disciples, as "members of the tribe" whether that tribe be VW owners, Starbucks drinkers, or Mac users. The advertisements for these products do not convey information about them; rather, they tell stories—they picture worlds of meaning and invite us to see ourselves within them.

The goal of such marketing, this (very secular) documentary concludes, is "to fill the empty places where non-commercial institutions like schools and churches might have once done the job." They amount to "an invitation to a longed-for lifestyle.”

Source:

James K.A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom (Baker Academic, 2009), p. 102

Put on Christ....clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ…

One writer says, Jesus Christ should be as close to you as the shirt on your back..... (Piper)

[make practical: ask yourself the question, “how often do I think about Christ and his Kingdom”]

Christmas calls Christians to embody this hope as well. Just as Christ came to dwell among us, we are called to bring His light to others. Amid conflict and sorrow, Christmas invites us to trust God’s promise of restoration and to become agents of His healing.

As the Arabic hymn declares: “When we offer a thirsty soul a cup of water, we dwell in the spirit of Christmas. When we clothe the naked in garments of love, we embody the essence of Christmas. When we wipe tears from weary eyes, we walk the path of Christmas. When we fill hearts with hope, we live the truth of Christmas.” Laylat el Milad / هبه طوجي - ليلة الميلاد

[1] https://abtslebanon.org/2024/12/19/christmas-reflections/#_ftn1

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Fredrik Colting invented the Tikker watch so that people would live more purposely and treasure the moments that they have in this life.

This morning Paul wants to fill us with a profound awareness of the time that we live in, so that we can live as children of the Light and embody the essence of Christmas in the way we live out our daily lives.