First Sunday of Advent: Jesus Is Coming in Time

Jesus Is Coming in Time
Romans 13: 8 – 14

I. Introduction.

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is the season of the year in which we prepare ourselves for the “Coming of Christ.” In fact, that is what the word “Advent” means: “Coming.”
I did not grow up in a church that recognized Advent, so when I first encountered a Baptist church observing the season of Advent, I thought they were doing something that wasn’t really Baptist. And you may be wondering the same thing. Of course, Lufkin’s First Baptist has observed Advent for many years, but most of us did not grow up at Lufkin’s First Baptist. So, for those of you wondering if Advent is Baptist or not, I have an answer. No. Advent is not Baptist. Advent is Christian.

Two times during the course of a calendar year, we pause to celebrate the highest and holiest Christian holidays. I know most of you think I am going to say Easter and Mother’s Day. No. Easter and Mother’s Day are our highest attended days of the year. Our highest holy days are Easter and Christmas. Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus. When we celebrate these two significant events in the life of Jesus, we unite with Christians of all denominations from every people of the world. We are not just Baptists, we are Baptist Christians; and we unite with all Christians to worship the same Lord Jesus Christ.

By observing the first Sunday of Advent, we are beginning our Christmas worship 23 days before Christmas. This means we are extending our Christmas worship to something more than just one worship service. It also means we are creating a sense of anticipation, perhaps even giving ourselves an opportunity to prepare ourselves. We anticipate and we prepare for the “Coming” of Jesus.

There are two ways we can think of the “Coming” of Jesus. On one hand, we will light candles in anticipation and prepare our hearts for December 25. On the other hand, the hope of our faith is based on Jesus’ promise that he will one day return to this earth. So, I want to direct your thoughts this Advent season to both the First Coming of Jesus when he was born in a Bethlehem stable and the Second Coming of Jesus when he will return to bring judgment to the world and vindication to the righteous.

It was two millennia ago—in the fullness of time—that God fulfilled his promise to Israel by sending his Only Begotten Son as the Promised Messiah. God had originally called Abraham and established Abraham’s descendants as God’s own people. Then God sent Moses to rescue his people from slavery in Egypt; to lead them through the desert; and to establish God’s Law and covenant with these people. God’s people continually rebelled against God’s Law and covenant, so God sent the prophets to call God’s people to repentance and faithfulness. When the time was right—hundreds of years after the prophets fell silent—the God broke into the space and time of our world in a new way. God became flesh and dwelt among us so we could see God and know God like never before.

The birth of Jesus was the beginning of a new time. It was the beginning of the end. Today, we live in expectation of Jesus’ Second Coming. His first Coming was simple. He was born of a virgin. He had no place to call home. No one really suspected that this simple baby was the Son of God. But when Jesus returns, he will return as the righteous judge. It has not yet happened, but it will. This is another promise God has made. And we have a Bible filled with God’s promises, each of which was fulfilled exactly as promised.

Read Romans 13: 8 – 14.

This Scripture appears in a context in which Paul describes how Christians are supposed to live in the world as we wait for the Second Coming of Jesus. He writes about our relationship with the government, our relationships within the church and our relationships with non-Christians. In a nutshell, Paul told us to obey the law and pay our taxes. Then, he turns his attention to the daily relationships of life.

II. Love One Another (v. 8).

Paul starts out with some practical advice. Well, it’s practical advice to you and me. But in the ancient world, this was not so much advice as it was a common assumption. We live in a world of easy credit and high balance credit cards. In the 21st Century, there are people who make millions of dollars hosting radio programs to give out advice like this. In the ancient world, people did not carry a debt load like we are accustomed to. In fact, most people lived like our grandparents. If they didn’t have the money, they didn’t buy it. They didn’t borrow money for houses, transportation, Christmas presents. They just knew how to live without. So, Paul states the obvious: “Do not owe anyone anything.” Then, Paul introduces an acceptable debt for all Christians: the continuing debt to love one another.

There is something unusual about this debt of love. First, this is a continuing debt, which will never be paid off. As long as we live, we will always owe love to others. Secondly, this is a debt we owe, not to the people around us, but to God. God loved us and sent his Only Son who died for our sins. This is a continuous debt we can never pay off. God does not expect us to pay him back: He expects us to love each other.

III. Love Fulfills the Law (vv. 9 – 10).

Two times in this passage, Paul mentions love. The first time, he said we should “Love one another.” The second time, he quotes from Leviticus 19 and from the teaching of Jesus by saying, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

There is a very subtle difference between these two commands to love other people. The first reference is to “Love one another.” This is a refrain which we find in the teachings of Jesus, the Apostle John and here in the writings of Paul. I would make an argument here to say that this is a command for Christians to love other Christians. In other words, church people are supposed to get along.

The second reference is to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This is a teaching that comes directly from the Old Testament book of Leviticus (19: 18). Most of the Jewish people interpreted this to mean they should love other Jews. However, Jesus gives us a fresh, new interpretation of “Love your neighbor” by telling us the parable of the Good Samaritan. In the parable, Jesus presented a Samaritan man as the hero—the one who demonstrated love for his neighbor. Therefore, I believe this is a reference to love people who are outsiders and do not look like us. People who are like the Samaritans—different from us in race and religion.
When we love the people who look like us and dress like us and smell like us, we are no different from the people of the world. BUT…When we love people who are different…When we love every person God has placed on this earth, we separate ourselves from the world and demonstrate that we are God’s people. We are God’s people who fulfill God’s original purpose for his people Israel. But let me ask a question. If loving each other inside the church and loving people outside the church is the way we fulfill God’s purpose, then what does it mean when Christians do not love other Christians?

Since Paul is making such a big deal about loving other people, perhaps we should ask what it means to love others. Well, if you are reading verse 10, you don’t have to wonder. Paul says that we love others when we choose not to do harm to them.

This may sound like a strange definition of love, but it is one that has been around for many years. In fact, it sounds a lot like what we refer to as the “Silver Rule.” I know you have heard of the “Golden Rule,” but have you heard of the “Silver Rule?” We believe it originated in the teachings of a Jewish Rabbi, named Hillel. Hillel was noted for teaching his disciples: “Whatever you hate, do not do that to others.”

Of course, this leaves open the possibility that it is OK for us to do nothing and feel good about not doing harmful things to others. I believe Jesus would have been aware of such a teaching about withholding evil from others and chose to set a higher standard for his followers.

Therefore, Jesus gave us an entirely positive definition of loving others by teaching us: “Do to others as you want them to do to you.”

This is love. Withholding evil and doing good to others.

IV. The Hour Has Come (vv. 11 – 12).

Here Paul begins to express his urgency in commanding us to love each other and to love the world. We should love; because the time is right…We are running out of time to do the right things.

In the New International Version I read, there is a word missing in verse 11. It may seem like a small word, but I think it changes the way we interpret this. The word is “already.” Paul did not write, “The hour has come.” Instead, Paul wrote, “The hour has ALREADY come.”

The difference is like when the alarm clock goes off in the morning. On a regular morning, the alarm goes off, and we wake up—The hour has come. But then there are some mornings when we are not quite ready to wake up when the alarm goes off. We turn the alarm off and think we can sleep for just another five minutes. Then, 30 minutes later we wake up in a panic—The hour has ALREADY come.

This is the kind of desperation Paul is communicating. Every day we live is one day closer to the Second Coming of Jesus.

Again, if you want to play with my image of the alarm clock, we can think in terms of the dawn—night is coming to an end, daylight is beginning to break. Yet, this daylight is different from the daylight of dawn. It is different, first, because it is symbolic. It is different, second, because this daylight is not recognized to everyone.

If you want to think in terms of what Jesus taught us, we can think about the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God was the primary theme in the teachings and preaching of Jesus. After his baptism, Jesus began telling his followers that the Kingdom of God was at hand. When you and I place our faith in Jesus, we enter into his Kingdom by allowing Jesus to become the King of our lives. Yet, we continue to live in a world that does not acknowledge Jesus as King. Therefore, we live as citizens of two different worlds. We are ultimately citizens of God’s Kingdom, but we are forced to live in a world filled with evil, death and pain.

This is the image of light and darkness. When Jesus came into our space and time, dawn was beginning to break. Everyone who places faith in Jesus as Lord and King lives in the light that Jesus brings. However, we are surrounded by a world of darkness. Yet, this will not always be the case. When Jesus comes to our space and time in his future Coming, the light will break forth throughout all the earth. There will be no more darkness, only light—for the dawn will have come.

The church should be like that one house in the neighborhood that has Christmas lights everywhere. You know the house I’m talking about. Everyone in the neighborhood has modest decorations and a few lights on the house. But there is always one house that is so bright that the Houston airport has to divert air traffic away from it to keep pilots from trying to land in their front yard.

V. Clothe Yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ (v. 14).

There are two ways we can interpret this verse. The first way—and this is what I thought it was at the beginning of the week—is to interpret this as a baptism formula. The new convert would wear an old set of clothes to be baptized in. Then, after baptism he or she would change clothes and put on a brand new set of clothes. This was a visible representation of the spiritual change in the person’s life—Taking off the old way of life and putting on a new life with Christ.
The second interpretation is to return to Paul’s charge that it is time to wake up. What do you normally do when you wake up in the morning? I eat breakfast, I shave, and I get dressed for the day.

The hour has come. We have slept too long. It is time to wake up and get dressed. But what am I going to wear?


VI. Conclusion.

I remember when I was a child, we always went to church on Sundays and Wednesdays. We always dressed up on Sunday mornings. But as soon as I got home, I started changing clothes. I wanted to put on my “play clothes.” It’s hard to have fun while wearing your Sunday clothes.
Different clothes serve different purposes. We have work clothes, dress clothes, school uniforms, etc… No one would try to work in the yard while wearing their dress clothes! There are just some things you can’t do while wearing your best clothes.

When Paul commands us to “clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ,” he is making the same point. As long as you are clothed in Jesus, there are some things you just cannot do. But there is one thing we can do—Love.