Sunday, December 2, 2007
Romans 13:11-14
Senior Pastor
I read over this text several times looking for the place that it intersected with our lives here in Enid. Before I found what might be the message worthy of sharing with you, something strange struck me. Why is Paul writing to a group of Christians about reveling and drunkenness and jealousy and quarreling and the like?
Paul is writing to this group of early Christians in Rome and sharing, what most consider, his greatest work, and in this 13th chapter he begins to caution them against what he calls the works of darkness. (v. 12) If these early Roman Christians are mature enough to receive Paul’s greatest theological work, does it not seem strange that he also cautions those same folks to stay away from drunkenness and debauchery? It seems that way to me.
But perhaps Paul simply understood the complexities of the human species and knew that we are always a mix of good and evil, that one can rise to such great heights and yet within the same person can dwell these works of darkness as well. A few years ago I was at a holiday party and witnessed this first hand.
It was lovely evening with dining and dancing, drinking and celebrating. But toward the end of the evening people began to tire and some had indulged a bit too far in the drinking side of the evening. There had been an auction during the evening, and I was standing in line to check on some items Mary and I had bid on and pay for them if we had won. There was a crowd of people doing the same and the process had slowed to a crawl.
You could sense that people were beginning to get impatient. There was an older gentleman in front of me who began to get heated up about waiting. He began to talk louder and louder about his frustration. Then he spoke rudely to the young ladies that were helping us check out. Then he also engaged the husband of one of the young ladies, who was standing close-by. The tension rose a bit more. Finally he began to refer to these young ladies with names that one would not ever use in polite company. That was it. When the husband standing close-by heard his wife being so described, he threw his wine in this fellow’s face.
The fellow in front of me rared back to throw his drink, along with the glass, at this young husband. I instinctively grabbed his arm to stop him. I slowed his arm down but could not stop him from flicking the glass with his wrist across the table at the other fellow. The husband dodged and the glass hit the wall and others jumped in and there was a brief tussle and some more terse words exchanged. The older man, having now shown himself to be drunk, was asked to leave.
On the way out he managed to get into two other altercations, with more harsh words and a few punches thrown. If all you witnessed were the last few minutes of this man’s behavior, you would probably conclude that he was a despicable character. But, the other side of the matter is that he was by far the biggest contributor to these worthy causes for which funds were being raised throughout the evening. He had literally spent several thousand dollars during the evening. If later someone only looked at the contributors list, they would conclude that he was a most generous and fine person. So you see how we can witness reaching great heights and sinking to low depths all in the same person. Since we are a mixed bag, Paul cautions us to wake up to this fact.
The Message is a beautifully written paraphrase of the Bible by Dr. Eugene Peterson and he renders what Paul says in verse 11 to the Romans like this: Make sure that you don’t get absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-to-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. I immediately related to that because, especially during December, it is common for me to become so absorbed in the planning and all the special parties and extra church services that I do get absorbed and exhausted and then miss the deep meaning of this season. Has that ever happened to you?
Harry, was an emergency room physician. He liked his work. He liked the challenge and excitement of making rapid decisions. One evening while on his shift a young woman was brought in about to give birth. As she was being wheeled in, the nurses could see that they were going to need a doctor and paged him immediately. When Harry arrived he said he could tell with one look that he was going to deliver this baby and soon. As the nurses made all the necessary preparations, the baby was being delivered.
While the little girl was still attached to her mother, Harry laid her along his left forearm. As he had done so many times before, he began to suction the mucus out of her nose and mouth. Suddenly, the baby opened her eyes and looked directly at him. In that moment, Harry transcended his medical role realizing that he was indeed the very first human being this little baby girl had even seen. He says he felt his heart go out to her in welcome from all people everywhere, and tears came to his eyes.
Always before the births
were a technical job that Harry had done with skill and expertise. But now, he was experiencing in a new and
deeper way the meaning of what he was doing.
He says in a sense, this was like the first baby he ever delivered. Previously he was preoccupied with the medical
aspects of the delivery but this time he became acutely aware of the human
aspects.
He wonders how many other such moments of connection he has missed. He suspects there may have been many. (Kitchen Table Wisdom by Rachel Naomi Remen, M. D., p. 159ff)
When we awaken to meaning in our lives, we are awakening to the sacred in our midst. It is a crucial step to take in our spiritual journeys. Hear Paul again when he says, You know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now then when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. (v. 11 – 12)
Or back to The Message that puts it like this: God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. The Good News for you and me is that we are part of the salvation work that God is doing. God is saving us, i.e., God is making us whole, God is growing us into deeper and deeper vessels through which divine love can flow into this world.
The challenge in such a busy season is to make sure we awake to the sacred in our midst, to make sure we recognize the meaning in our moments and grasp that God is indeed at work in our lives. May God bless you with that experience during this Advent season.
…does it not seem strange that he also cautions those
same
__________ to stay away from drunkenness and debauchery?
…knew that we are always a ______ of good and evil…
…conclude that he was a despicable __________________.
…looked at the contributors list, they would conclude
that
he was a most ________________ and fine person.
verse 11: Make
sure that you don’t get absorbed and exhausted
in taking care
of all your day-to-day obligations that you lose
track of the
time and doze off, oblivious to ______.
__________, was an emergency room physician.
He says he felt his heart go out to her in ______________
from all people everywhere…
v. 11 – 12
The challenge: …we awake to the ____________ in our midst,
to make sure we recognize the meaning in our moments
and grasp that God is indeed at work in ______ lives.
Kid’s Question:
Whose lives is God at work in?
…does it not seem strange that he also cautions those
same
__________ to stay away from drunkenness and debauchery?
…knew that we are always a ______ of good and evil…
…conclude that he was a despicable __________________.
…looked at the contributors list, they would conclude
that
he was a most ________________ and fine person.
verse 11: Make
sure that you don’t get absorbed and exhausted
in taking care
of all your day-to-day obligations that you lose
track of the
time and doze off, oblivious to ______.
__________, was an emergency room physician.
He says he felt his heart go out to her in ______________
from all people everywhere…
v. 11 – 12
The challenge: …we awake to the ____________ in our midst,
to make sure we recognize the meaning in our moments
and grasp that God is indeed at work in ______ lives.
Kid’s Question:
Whose lives is God at work in?