Salvation is near; wake from sleep
13:11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is already the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers;
13:12 the night is far gone; the day is near. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light;
13:13 let us walk decently as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in illicit sex and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy.
13:14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Advent is the season of “woke.” The papal nuncio to America may not agree with me (why should he?) , but “woke” is not an unchristian extreme. The papal nuncio and I may disagree, but I stand with Archbishop Romero and the martyrs of El Salvador, and see in “woke” the cry for justice, and the Advent call, “Fuck this shit.”
And I think Paul agrees with me.
Paul was too canny to go full apocalyptic; that way lies a frontal challenge to the powers-that-be which would, in his day, cut very short his evangelical mission. Paul was not a coward. He just wasn’t interested in leading an uprising, anymore than Jesus was. Still, he’s telling the church in Rome he thinks they need to “woke up,” and “throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.”
He’s talking about preparing ourselves for what is coming, which today we call the basileia tou theou. Of course, for most of us, December is all about gratifying the flesh and its desires; well, at least when it comes to food and drink and receiving gifts.🎁 I’m not going all ascetic on you, and quietly saying you must set aside all those things for Advent. But would it hurt you to think a bit less about gaining the world (or buying lots of unnecessary Christmas gifts), and a bit more about care of the soul? Yours and everyone else’s yours touches in life. That’s not necessarily a religious statement; it’s the central theme of the redemption of Scrooge. Dickens barely mentions the “reason for the season,” but his story is perfectly in line with Advent’s season of spiritual preparation.
And in line with what Paul is saying. To throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light (and protect yourself from…what?) is not just an act of will; it requires a change of heart. And perhaps it even helps to raise an ebenezer. Anything to help us keep awake. And that would be, to be woke; wouldn't it?
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