First Week of Advent
First Week of Advent
Light of Christ Anglican Church
The Rev. Michael Moffitt November 30th, 2025
First Week of Advent
Text: Romans 13:8–14
On Friday morning I woke up around 3:30 which isn’t that unusual. As I lay there I prayed expressing to God my desire for a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. Actually, I think about that quite a bit because that’s what I feel a longing for more than anything else.
To be honest I don’t really have any idea what that would entail. I want to grow stronger in faith and the depth of my relationship with God. If there is more available to me in my walk with Him I want that. Of course with knowledge comes responsibility. It’s likely that having a deeper walk with Jesus Christ would mean that other things may have to go. Or possibly situations will appear in my life that will mandate that I hold on more tightly to the Lord in order to get through it. Do I really want a deeper relationship with my Lord, no matter what the cost? I really do.
Over the years I’ve learned that I should be careful about what I ask for from God. We’ve had times where I prayed such things and God took me at my word. We’ve been through situations where God was literally our only help and resource. It’s one thing to believe it to be true but quite another having to live it out. In retrospect I look back and marvel at the changes God brought into our lives.
I’ve learned that trusting God in the middle of difficult times always proves His faithfulness. I’ve prayed many times, “whatever you want Lord is what I want too.”
Right now my reason for praying for a deeper walk with the Lord is brought about by the question I’ve had on my mind in preparation of starting a new liturgical year in the life of the church. I’m considering what has changed in my walk with God over the past year. What am I bringing into the new year that was different than last year?
Sometimes when I think about the greatness of God I feel overwhelmed considering His infinite power and glory seen through creation. I’ve remarked before that over the past few years I’ve been in awe of God by His glory and beauty expressed through all that he has made in the universe. We are privileged to be able to see pictures taken from deep in the universe and I am enraptured with the beauty and creative genius of our creator.
Friday morning as I prayed I think the Lord gave me a way of thinking about this idea of going deeper with Him. He showed me this goal I have of wanting more should be seen as if I was wanting to drink all of the Atlantic Ocean one mouthful at a time. Not all the oceans and seas of the world—that would be crazy. Just the Atlantic. Okay so maybe that to is a little too unrealistic, so how about the Potomac River. Again, only one mouthful at a time. No matter how long I drank I would never even come close to drinking it all.
However, the truth is that I would stand a better chance of doing that than knowing all there is to know about God. The joy and anticipation is that because of the cross of Jesus Christ I will have an eternity of learning about God and I will never be able to finish learning about Him or experiencing all His glory.
I think sometimes we seriously underestimate the ramifications of the gift of salvation and therefore eternal life in the presence of the Lord. I believe our vision of that is way, way too small. But more troubling is the fact that apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ people won’t have that at all. We can’t even begin to imagine an eternity apart from God in the pits of Hell.
One of the problems that unbelievers often have is that God can’t be satisfactorily explained to them. To be honest I would be underwhelmed by a God that I could fully comprehend and explain. One of my frustrations is that I often don’t feel that I have the vocabulary to adequately offer God the praise, glory, and honor that He is due. Even the basic things that we know about God significantly set Him apart from His creation.
The fact that He is eternal; no beginning and no end seems impossible, and it is for us, for creation. Yet the truth is if there is anything in existence there must be the assumption that there has never been a time when there was nothing. Maybe it’s too early in the day for such a statement.
For me that is the best beginning to the explanation for the eternal God, and His word teaches us that. He isn’t like us, but we do bear His image. We were created with dignity and purpose, reflecting God’s nature through capacities like reason, morality, and love. We are therefore tasked with a special role in creation and we are called to live in such a way that honors Him. So what does this have to do with Advent? In truth it has everything to do with Advent.
Today begins the first week of Advent. The word advent means “coming” or “arrival.” The focus of the entire season is preparation to celebrate the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent. Therefore, Advent is much more than simply marking a 2,000-year-old event in history. The truly amazing and wonderful realization of the First Advent is that God remembered His promise in the Garden of Eden as He pronounced a curse on the serpent in Genesis 3:15,
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heal.”
Theologians call this the “protoeuangelion” or the “first gospel.” This is considered the first promise of a future savior and the foundation of the Christian gospel message before the birth of Jesus Christ. It is vitally important that we see this first Advent as God sending our Savior as a baby born of a virgin. In other words God came to us in a miraculous impossible way and yet the simplest of ways, a way we could understand. I often marvel that God would condescend to come down and be one of us. But the fact is the Lord and King of the universe, the one who is incomprehensible in His majesty, power, glory, and strength came to us as a newborn baby born into humility and poverty. Why would He do such a thing? Could it be that we offer Him something that He is lacking? No, not at all. In doing so Jesus Christ, God the Son condescended to become one of us, the creator becoming part of the creation. Doesn’t that amaze you? Doesn’t that make you want to know more about Him and about the limitless love that brought Him to our rescue? Aren’t you curious?
So we start the new liturgical year in remembrance that God made a way for us to be saved through the incarnation of Jesus Christ- the Son of God- the Son of man.
It is celebrating a truth about God, the revelation of God in Christ where all of creation will be reconciled to God, everything will be made new, and all wrongs will be made right. That is the life in which we are invited to participate in now and to look forward to the day when Christ will return at the consummation of all things. The return of Christ will usher in the full realization of the Kingdom of God here on earth. Our Scripture readings for this morning reflect this emphasis on the Second Advent. This includes the themes of accountability, of being found faithful at His coming, judgment on sin, and the hope of eternal life.
In this double focus on past and future, Advent symbolizes our spiritual journey as individuals and as a congregation. Together we affirm that Christ has come, that through his Holy Spirit he is present in the world today, and he will bodily come again in power. That acknowledgment provides the foundation for how we should live in his kingdom, for holy living arising from a profound sense that we live “between the times” and are called to be faithful stewards of what is entrusted to us as God’s people.
It’s in this season that the people of God, the church, celebrates the fact that God in his faithfulness broke into history in the Incarnation. Because Jesus Christ was faithful in coming to the rescue of those who are in bondage to sin and death, we should joyfully anticipate the future return of Christ to restore all things to where God originally intended them to be.
Paul points out in Romans 8:18–23 that it’s not merely man that longs for this event but “all creation is groaning awaiting its redemption”. The effect of Adam’s sin didn’t merely bring a curse upon mankind, but it also changed everything in creation. If rightly understood this should be the focus of our lives and the longing of our hearts. This is the message of Advent and if we allow this to penetrate our hearts it will change how we think, how we live, and how we understand and respond to the other seasons of the church year.
Today we’ll briefly consider our reading from Romans 13:11–14.
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. 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 jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Let me make a brief comparison between Paul writing to the church in Ancient Rome in AD 55–60 and us in the United States today. Rome was the heart of a vast empire, drawing people from across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Even though there were other empires like the Parthian Empire that challenged them through frequent wars over control of the East, Rome was mostly dominant during this time. One of their supposed strengths was their diversity in many different religious beliefs and philosophies. Romans worshiped a pantheon of gods and embraced practices from Greek, Egyptian, and other religious traditions. The other religious beliefs were tolerated as long as they didn’t interfere with the social order or challenge allegiance to the emperor. This is very similar to what is found in modern society in the West today where there is acceptance of diverse spiritual beliefs and worldviews, where people are often encouraged to hold personal beliefs privately without being seen as imposing them on others.
Roman society was known for its liberal attitudes toward sexuality, with practices like prostitution, adultery, and even various forms of same-sex relationships accepted or even celebrated among certain social classes. Many Romans followed the philosophy of Epicureanism, which prioritized pleasure as the primary goal of life.
In Romans, Paul directly addresses the moral consequences of rejecting God’s truth, specifically warning against behavior that goes against God’s design (Romans 1:26–32). This aspect of Roman culture has a clear parallel in today’s world, where ideas of “living your truth” and pursuing self-gratification can often overshadow moral and spiritual considerations. Paul’s message of living in line with God’s will, rather than following cultural trends, is as relevant now as it was then. It also is coming under attack in much the same way it was in the time of Paul.
As we enter into the Advent season I would like to suggest that Paul’s mission in Rome was no different than our mission in the United States, or in Virginia, or on the Northern Neck. Even though this letter was written almost 2,000 years ago God’s people, including the Apostle Paul were looking forward to the return of Jesus Christ in His second advent.
I love the way Eugene Peterson in The Message interprets Romans 13:11,
But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God.”
Basically he reminds them that because we know the danger of the times and we anticipate the soon return of Jesus, we should be all the more energetic and committed to a right walk with God instead of a sleep-walk with God. The Greek word used for sleep is hypnos, from which we get the word hypnotize- meaning lethargy or stupor.
Paul wanted the church in Rome to pay attention. There were plenty of people all around them doing very religious things and I’m sure some of those things were good and helpful. The same thing was true with those who professed to be Christ followers but were the things they were doing from the Lord. Were they awake to what God was saying for them to do?
Paul exhorted them to WAKE-UP! The works of darkness that once was their old life needed to be cast off or thrown away. I don’t think the emphasis is on the old vices they had like sexual sins and wild living but on those things that we can harbor in our hearts like bitterness, unforgiveness, dissension, and jealousy. When these sins are not dealt with the Holy Spirit is quenched and well-meaning people who profess Christ can fall asleep spiritually. Churches are fractured and ministries flounder while God’s people doze. The illustration is from taking off and putting on clothes. When you get dressed every day, you dress appropriately to who you are and what you plan to do. Therefore, every day “put on the armor of light”! Charles Spurgeon wrote in a sermon on this passage.
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 works of darkness are characterized as revelry and drunkenness, licentiousness and lust, strife and envy. These are not appropriate for Christians who have come out of the darkness into God’s light.
The armor of light is pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. When we put on Christ, we put on all the armor of God and are equipped to both defend and attack. Leon Morris in his Commentary on Romans wrote,
Putting on Christ is a strong and vivid metaphor. It means more than put on the character of the Lord Jesus Christ, signifying rather Let Jesus Christ Himself be the armor that you wear.
Paul knew that if we make provision for the flesh it will be as active as we allow it to be. We have a work to do in walking properly, as in the day—it isn’t as if Jesus does it for us as we sit back; instead, He does it through us as we willingly and actively partner with Him.
I want to close with an excerpt from the story of 4th century Bishop St. Augustine’s conversion. He had long been in bondage to sins of the the flesh, and it kept him from finding the way to a relationship with Jesus Christ.
“One day, during his 32nd year, everything changed. While despairing of God’s mercy in prayer, St. Augustine suddenly heard “A child’s sing song voice came clearly to him, repeating over and over, “Take it and read it.” It seemed a message from God. Augustine snatched up the Bible and read Paul’s words:
Let us behave decently…not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. (Romans 13:13–14)
Faith flooded upon him. He immediately thrust aside the sins of the flesh that had held him in bondage. “But faith would not let me be at ease about my past sins, since these had not yet been forgiven me by means of your baptism.” He entered the water of baptism and was relieved.
As we begin a new year as the church ask God to show the way he would have you go.
