“Living in the daylight hours”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Sunday, November 27, 2022

Romans 13:11-14 (Forward, p. 29) CEV p. 1185

Sadly—and albeit rather unfortunately—night and darkness have received a very bad press over the years. That is because certain less than noble activities often take place under the cover of darkness, simply because they cannot be seen or detected—robberies, for instance, or vandalism or immorality. Here Paul becomes somewhat specific, spelling out such things as wild parties and drunkenness and vulgarity and indecency. But, surprisingly, he also mentions a couple of things that we rarely put into this category, things that we might well accept as being okay, namely quarreling and jealousy. He is implying that there are certain things, certain activities, that most people simply do not, or should not, want to be widely known about.

And so, the apostle Paul tells his readers—and us—to forego all of those kinds of activities. Don’t live under the cover of darkness, He says, where evil and immortality prevail, but rather, in the light of God’s presence. And actually, that is the key: ‘we are to let the Lord Jesus Christ be as near to us as the clothes we wear’. If He is that near to us, and we are conscious of Him being so near, then we will consciously live for Him and not for ourselves or for our own self-centred, selfish desires. We will live in the light and not in the darkness. Amen.

Forward notes: ”Besides this, 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 than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near” (verses 11-12a).

First Sunday in Advent

“I grew up attending a small, private, religious school. I still remember the teacher of my faith formation class making us memorize the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth chapters of Romans. At the time, we felt it was a terribly unreasonable expectation, but some thirty-plus years later, I can still quote large sections of the passage.

“On this first Sunday of Advent, Saint Paul is preparing us for something new. He’s building our anticipation, telling us to keep our heads up, our eyes searching the skies. The moment of our redemption is at hand. But what that redemption looks like is different for all of us. For some of us, it’s the ability to let go of guilt; for others it’s the capacity to forgive, and others still, the healing of old wounds. This Advent, anticipate the freedom found only in Christ, for salvation is nearer to us now than ever before.”

Moving Forward: “What are you waiting for this Advent?