Advent's Armor of Light

This was a message I was privileged to deliver at an Advent luncheon in 2019. As we close out the year of redefinition, I think this message is timely despite our inability to gather in person as we once could.

So, I come from a long line of teachers and preachers, and I’m going to let you in on a little ministry secret: many sermons begin in the shower. Now, I’m not going to make any assumptions about your clergy here, but this has certainly been my experience, and, can I just say, the shower is a really humbling place to get a word from God…

After reading through the lectionary readings for this first Sunday in Advent, I raced into the shower to capitalize on the scant hour I had where the five other members of my family were sleeping. As I was beginning to outline some points for this talk, I was surprised that my mind had slipped into planning something else – what was I going to wear for this luncheon? Wait, what? I stood there for a moment and tried to figure out why my mind thought my outfit was an equally important part of my preparations. Then the Spirit spoke – “who’s armor are you putting on?” Oof.

Let me break this down for you: I’m, at this point, nearly 5-weeks postpartum, so my wearable wardrobe is in that weird purgatory between maternity wear and my regular clothes. I’m also an introvert who is notoriously bad at small talk, so I begin thinking about wearing something I’ve made, because it’s an instant conversation starter. If that fails, I’ll just wield the shield of my iPhone that has a really cute picture of my four kids. Oh, and hair and make-up! Obviously, I have to hide from each and every one of you that I am terribly sleep deprived, because, for some reason, I want you to think that I am a wonder woman mom who has it all together a month after the birth of my fourth child. And this is just my visible armor...

Once I really considered my motivations, I realized how flimsy this armor is in protecting me from…what? I had created a whole system of barriers to project a false self. Suddenly, my planning seemed very pointless.

The next day, I experienced a second word from God while I was reading, a “sacred echo” confirming my convictions from the shower encounter. In the chapter Entering the Room in her book The Next Right Thing, Emily P. Freeman considers how she arms herself to enter into different situations. She states “With people, you can connect, or you can compare, but you can’t do both.” In that moment, my paper-thin armor had a name: the Armor of Comparison. When I enter a situation ready to show you that I’m better than I am and to tell you all about myself I’m not only actively sabotaging the relationships I so desire, but, even worse, I’ve made myself into my own idol.

When I enter a situation ready to show you that I’m better than I am and to tell you all about myself I’m not only actively sabotaging the relationships I so desire, but, even worse, I’ve made myself into my own idol.

Now, as we briefly look at a portion of Paul’s letter to the Romans, I hope you will forgive my initial missteps and humbly ask for you to hear past my stumbling lips to what God has for us today.

I am going to begin with verse 8 of Romans 13 (three verses before our assigned reading).

“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”

Today, the message points are simple. The first point is to Choose Love. Leon Morris said of this passage “we can never say, ‘I have done all the loving I need to do.’ Love then is a permanent obligation, a debt impossible to discharge.” To love one another is the chief concern of the Christian. What would it actually look like this Christmas, when we are surrounded by people, to love them as we love ourselves? Primarily, time. Love takes time, and usually the time in which we are called to love on someone is not convenient. Reflecting the love of Christ will require us to sacrifice time at get-togethers, or during our self-care, or when we are cleaning the house for guests. But when you weigh these things against the impact of truly investing in another person – love will always prevail.

Paul goes on in verse 11 –

“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…”

Paul says that besides choosing love, we must also choose wakefulness. That is our second point. These verses are meant to shake us out of complacency. Satan loves it when we are comfortable and forgetful. He has no problem stepping aside to allow us to build up our idols and fall into our temptations. I believe that one of the biggest temptations women face around Christmas time is trying to be everything for everyone – the best hostess, the best gift-giver, the meal-planner, the home craft-director, etc. etc. etc. It doesn’t take long to fall into the trap of “holidays”. What once were “holy days” have not only been abbreviated in name but also in meaning. And while the intent of abbreviation is to create space, it has, historically, only opened up more time for us to fill with less important tasks. These tasks may give us a temporary feeling of accomplishment and connection, but when we are overrun with what we perceive are our obligations, our days resemble that of a chaotic dreamer – fast moving colors and images with a few anxious jolts.

It doesn’t take long to fall into the trap of “holidays”. What once were “holy days” have not only been abbreviated in name but also in meaning. And while the intent of abbreviation is to create space, it has, historically, only opened up more time for us to fill with less important tasks.

Picking up in verse 12 -

So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime. Not in orgies and drunkenness. Not in sexual immorality and sensuality. Not in quarreling and jealously. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.

Paul says we must cast off, not put down or lay aside the works of darkness - we must be brutal in our removal of sin. Charles Spurgeon said “The rags of sin must come off if we put on the robe of Christ. There must be a taking away of the love of sin, there must be a renouncing of the practices and habits of sin, or else a man cannot be a, Christian. It will be an idle attempt to try and wear religion as a sort of celestial overall over the top of old sins.” The third and final point is to Choose Christ because it is only through him that we can don the appropriate attire of a Christian. Notice that we are not given virtues to combat each sin listed in this passage; we are only given Christ, because he is enough. And, we do not wear the armor of Christ, We Wear Christ Himself.

Our Old Testament readings from Isaiah 2 and Psalm 122 reminded us of our home, where God is on the throne. Peace and gladness dwell within His walls; the people flock to Him for His love and His council. The New Testament readings address the place of our sojourning, our temporary home. Too frequently, we forget that this world is not the place we were made for, because many of our needs can be temporarily met here. But pain such as hunger, fear, and loss remind us that this world is broken. This year, I am entering into Advent burdened by brokenness within my own family. This year I discovered a fierce love for a girl I barely know who needed me to step out of my comfort to show her the love of Jesus. My false self would have offered her little more than she has already received from those who have failed her, but when I put on Christ, his light is so brilliant that He is all she sees.

I challenge you to consider the month you have probably already planned. What have you chosen? What will you wear? Who will you love?

By God’s grace, we were pulled out of the darkness of not knowing Him and his precepts. In His mercy he brought us into His dawn, knowing that our eyes were too weak for the fullness of His light. But now, as maturing Christians, we have moved past the hours of our first love, when Christ entered our hearts, and must choose to continue forward into the day. If we do not repeatedly consider our movement, we will leave footholds for sin to enter in and lose our ability to perceive the dangers of the dark. Our current culture tries to distract us with shiny new gifts and redefined joy.

I challenge you to consider the month you have probably already planned. What have you chosen? What will you wear? Who will you love?

Choose to connect rather than to compare. Connecting with people requires intention and prayerful refocusing. As we enter into Advent and prepare for Christmas, we will be surrounded by more people and more temptations to compete and compare than any other time of the year. How timely then, are our lectionary readings for today, the first Sunday of Advent, to help us dress appropriately for the season ahead of us?