"Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep." The book of Romans contains for me some of Paul's most powerful and meaningful texts of the New Testament. It is Paul's endeavor to ground the life of the church firmly in the saving action of Jesus Christ. This morning's text is his building a case for right behavior in the early church community.
He begins by reminding the church of time-not chronological, linear time that orders our days, marks our schedule and keeps our calendars. It is God's time that Paul draws the community into-God's kairos time, one that flows fluidly through history, redeeming the past, keeping us in the present and drawing us into the future. A time that marks God's redemptive work throughout all creation. And it is in God's time that Paul reminds the church of who they are, and reminds them that as God's people it is time to be awake. The church no longer lives in darkness as they did before light was born in Jesus Christ, they no longer sleep. In their baptism they have put on Christ and are awakened, called to life in the Spirit. In that life they are alert, awake, fully attentive to God's presence and work in their midst.
Paul also reminds the community that they are to be steadfast, and once awakened, to stay that way. And as we begin this season of Advent it is our call as well. Awakened in our baptisms, we are called to remain so. Our seventh graders have begun their two year journey towards what may lead to their confirmation. We began by remembering their baptisms-inviting their parents to bring pictures and share the stories of their baptisms. In a few weeks we will be celebrating baptisms and re-affirming the baptism of a child adopted from Russia. Every time we talk about the baptisms of our children, or hear the liturgy of baptism, our own baptismal promises echo again for us-the promises of baptism are reaffirmed in our lives.
What does it mean to be awakened by our baptisms and called to continued alertness as a part of this faith community? First it is to be reminded that we have everything we need. When my grandfather was dying, we strived to honor his wish of being at home as long as possible. My brother and I were with him the last night we were able to keep him home. We made sure that his snuff can was where it was supposed to be, his Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk was in its place, and the coffee ready to drip through in the morning. Before going to bed we asked if he needed anything else…and he looked at us both and said, "I already have everything I need." As the church we sometimes get lost in all the complexity that comes with maintaining structures and paying the bills. We have some very real concerns around that issue in this community today. In those concerns we can forget that we already have everything we need to be the church-we have been called awake by the saving love of God in Jesus Christ. To be the church, there is nothing more that we need. It doesn't make our work together easy or simple-but it gives us all that we need to go forward.
And then to stay awake, to be alert-not an easy thing with all that swirls around us, ironically more so at this time of year than any other. The kids and I decided we were tired of that craziness, and so this year we are serving dinner at the Salvation Army in Trenton with my parents on Christmas Day, and then having a pot luck leftover party on the day after Christmas-and it won't matter if everyone brings mashed potatoes! Truly in this time of year we struggle to attend to the things that will keep us awake, all the while being distracted by the frenzy of the world.
Paul gives us his "list" of behaviors that will lull us back to sleep. The first temptation in reading his list is to say it doesn't apply. We're sitting here this morning, not out partying and reveling too much. We might fight a bit with one another, and feel a few twinges of jealously now and then…but we're not doing too badly in that department. And licentious? When is the last time we've been licentious?! Yet, while we might not find ourselves in Paul's list, there are always things that threaten to lull us back to sleep, behaviors that keep us from living fully a life awakened in Jesus Christ and kept awake in the Spirit.
One particular behavior on our list might be the life of choice and abundance we experience. We have more than enough to get by on, yet tend to always think we want more. We live a life of abundance in the choices we have of things to do. How many of us over-schedule with lessons, sports, and the like. We also have an abundance of choices in the things we buy. Grocery stores drive me crazy in the abundance of choice-how many kinds of clothing soap do we really need to have? And then there is the abundance of fear and worry, more than enough to go around, causing us to forget that there is no place that God is not. Our abundance swirls around us, lulling us to life outside the Spirit, distracting us from God's love and promises. A two edged danger-on the one hand we have more than enough to get by on, causing us to think we can be self-reliant. What do we need God for? Then with all the fear and worry that self-reliance causes we get lost in that anxiety and forget God is with us.
As we begin our Advent journey, preparing for light to be born anew in our lives, we are called to let go of the things that get in the way, and lull us to sleep. Zen Buddhist monks strive to let go of everything that distracts them. Traditionally, the monks in Japan begged for their daily food. The concept being this way they would get just enough for their sustenance, no more, no less. A ritual was developed around that idea called, Oryoki. Oryoki is a Japanese word that means both "just enough" and begging bowl. For the monks their begging became an act of offering; a letting go of that which distracted them from their journey. You are invited to reflect on the things which lull you to sleep and keep you from God this season-and as you identify those things, use the stones and the water that are in the chapel areas to let go of them-may they be our version of the begging bowl, so that we might find the balance of "just enough."
And then awake and alert we are sent out to a world that hungers for the light that we have experienced. Hanging on the door of a music room in a high school is a student practicing a violin. The caption on the poster is: "If you love something, you have no choice." We have made a choice. Awakened in our baptisms, we have responded to God's love for us. In that love we have committed ourselves to live in certain ways, we have chose to stay awakened to a life full of god's love and promises for us. We have no choice then, but to live lives that reflect that love and bring it to others in whatever ways we can.
In this season of waiting may you find the balance that gives a life of "just enough" and in that balance live awake to God's love and work in the world.