Is It Getting Up Time Yet?
Sermon
Are you a night person or a day person? Do you rise with the sun and do two hours work before the rest of the world begins to open its sleepy eyes? Or do you groan and pull the covers over your head and turn over for another hour's sleep? And at the other end of the day, do you dance the night away living it up until three in the morning, or are you finished by nine o'clock at night and ready for bed?
There's no doubt that some of us function best in the mornings when we're fresh and bright, but that others of us function best in the evenings, when we've had plenty of time to adjust to the day. That's just the way we are. We have biological differences, and one difference is our biological clock. Some people's clocks are set later than others.
Biological clocks also seem to vary at different stages in life. Small children usually wake incredibly early and are bouncing around full of beans long before most of us are ready to function. But by the time they reach their teenage years, most youngsters would stay in bed all day if they were allowed to. And students will stay up to all hours without a thought, and still manage to function reasonably well next day.
Some people seem to require much less sleep than others. Mrs Thatcher famously claimed to sleep for only four hours per night, so that her working day contained two or three extra hours. But she was exceptional. Most of us lesser mortals need a regular minimum of six hours sleep per night, and if we don't get it we pay the price next day.
At times like that we sometimes spend much of the following day feeling half asleep. At times of worry it must be a common experience for all human beings to spend the small hours of the morning lying in bed wide awake, with the brain churning the problems over and over, then falling asleep just before dawn only to wake in an hour or two and spend the rest of the day feeling half dead.
But there are times when human beings act as though they're half asleep even when they should be wide awake and very alert. School teachers will instantly recognise those pupils who are going to daydream their way through school because they live in a world of fantasy and make believe and never really concentrate on what's happening outside in the real world. Of course, fantasy and imagination and make believe are essential tools for children and should be encouraged, but there are times when such skills are inappropriate. When struggling through a maths problem, for instance, it probably doesn't help to be gazing out of the window dreaming yourself onto the hallowed turf at Wembley kicking the deciding goal in the Cup Final.
Most of us have some escape mechanism from the harshness of reality, and often those escapes are entirely necessary. Some people read escapist literature, some watch the television, some take a drink or two in the evenings, some smoke, and so on. All of these can be used to escape from life, and it's relatively rare for these escapes to escalate into obsessions. And when they do escalate into obsessions, it's really very sad to see people who need to escape all the time and so become alcoholics or television addicts or chain smokers.
In today's gospel reading Jesus tells us not to be like that. "Keep alert," he says, "for you don't know when God will approach you." He goes on to say that God approaches suddenly and silently and unexpectedly, and those who aren't ready will miss him. Habitual daydreamers and escapists are likely to miss the moment God comes, because instead of getting to grips with this life they will be busy dreaming of something else.
St. Paul picks up the theme of being ready for God coming into your life. "The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber," he says in today's epsitle reading from Romans, "... the night is nearly over; the day is almost here." He's referring to the Day of the Lord, when it was widely believed that Jesus would reappear. Back in the days of the Old Testament, the Day of the Lord was thought to be the final day when God would appear to crush sin out of existence and cleanse the land. Isaiah says, "See, the day of the LORD is coming --a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger-- to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it." (Isaiah 13:9). And Joel says, " Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand--" ( Joel 2:1).
Amos sees the day of the Lord as a time of darkness: "Why do you long for the day of the LORD? That day will be darkness, not light," he says (Amos 5:18). But St. Paul tells us that the time of darkness is nearly over. Since the coming of Jesus darkness has been banished from the land, and Jesus will reappear in a blaze of glory, not in darkness. It's time, therefore, for all Christians to emerge from the darkness of their lives into the light, for only those who live in the light will be able to recognise the Prince of Light when he comes.
Certain behaviour characterises the night, and St Paul lists that behaviour: orgies and drunkenness, sexual immorality and debauchery, dissension and jealousy. That sort of behaviour is inappropriate during the daytime, it belongs under cover of darkness where it can be hidden away. The behaviour which characterises the day is quite the opposite, and is the sort of behaviour which Jesus displayed: openness and honesty and love and healing and generosity and kindness and so on.
As we begin the four weeks of Advent, we look forward to the dawn. The first three candles in the Advent ring are usually purple, the dark colour of night. But the fourth candle is often pink, to show that the dawn is rapidly approaching. And the final candle which is lit on Christmas Day is usually white, to show that the day has dawned. Night has been banished by God himself coming into our world as a human being.
But we all know that night hasn't actually been banished. Even though Jesus was born roughly 2,000 years ago and brought incredible light into our world, we still have darkness and night. There are still orgies and drunkenness, sexual immorality and debauchery, dissension and jealousy, and at first glance it might seem that nothing has changed. The answer is that it certainly has changed, but that the change isn't yet complete. For many people the night has completely gone, for their lives have radically changed with the advent of Jesus into their lives, but many other people don't yet know Jesus.
Our job as Christians is to spread the light. We can only do that by allowing it to pass through us, so that we shine like beacons in any darkness that still remains. When Jesus finally comes again, that light will be complete, for everyone, everywhere, but meanwhile it's our task to shine light into any dark corners we find. Some of those dark corners might be within ourselves, and so we need to open ourselves more fully to Jesus, so that his light can illuminate our darkness.
This Advent as we pledge ourselves anew to our Lord, let us become like stained glass windows through whom the light shines, and who reveal Jesus to a dark world.
There's no doubt that some of us function best in the mornings when we're fresh and bright, but that others of us function best in the evenings, when we've had plenty of time to adjust to the day. That's just the way we are. We have biological differences, and one difference is our biological clock. Some people's clocks are set later than others.
Biological clocks also seem to vary at different stages in life. Small children usually wake incredibly early and are bouncing around full of beans long before most of us are ready to function. But by the time they reach their teenage years, most youngsters would stay in bed all day if they were allowed to. And students will stay up to all hours without a thought, and still manage to function reasonably well next day.
Some people seem to require much less sleep than others. Mrs Thatcher famously claimed to sleep for only four hours per night, so that her working day contained two or three extra hours. But she was exceptional. Most of us lesser mortals need a regular minimum of six hours sleep per night, and if we don't get it we pay the price next day.
At times like that we sometimes spend much of the following day feeling half asleep. At times of worry it must be a common experience for all human beings to spend the small hours of the morning lying in bed wide awake, with the brain churning the problems over and over, then falling asleep just before dawn only to wake in an hour or two and spend the rest of the day feeling half dead.
But there are times when human beings act as though they're half asleep even when they should be wide awake and very alert. School teachers will instantly recognise those pupils who are going to daydream their way through school because they live in a world of fantasy and make believe and never really concentrate on what's happening outside in the real world. Of course, fantasy and imagination and make believe are essential tools for children and should be encouraged, but there are times when such skills are inappropriate. When struggling through a maths problem, for instance, it probably doesn't help to be gazing out of the window dreaming yourself onto the hallowed turf at Wembley kicking the deciding goal in the Cup Final.
Most of us have some escape mechanism from the harshness of reality, and often those escapes are entirely necessary. Some people read escapist literature, some watch the television, some take a drink or two in the evenings, some smoke, and so on. All of these can be used to escape from life, and it's relatively rare for these escapes to escalate into obsessions. And when they do escalate into obsessions, it's really very sad to see people who need to escape all the time and so become alcoholics or television addicts or chain smokers.
In today's gospel reading Jesus tells us not to be like that. "Keep alert," he says, "for you don't know when God will approach you." He goes on to say that God approaches suddenly and silently and unexpectedly, and those who aren't ready will miss him. Habitual daydreamers and escapists are likely to miss the moment God comes, because instead of getting to grips with this life they will be busy dreaming of something else.
St. Paul picks up the theme of being ready for God coming into your life. "The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber," he says in today's epsitle reading from Romans, "... the night is nearly over; the day is almost here." He's referring to the Day of the Lord, when it was widely believed that Jesus would reappear. Back in the days of the Old Testament, the Day of the Lord was thought to be the final day when God would appear to crush sin out of existence and cleanse the land. Isaiah says, "See, the day of the LORD is coming --a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger-- to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it." (Isaiah 13:9). And Joel says, " Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand--" ( Joel 2:1).
Amos sees the day of the Lord as a time of darkness: "Why do you long for the day of the LORD? That day will be darkness, not light," he says (Amos 5:18). But St. Paul tells us that the time of darkness is nearly over. Since the coming of Jesus darkness has been banished from the land, and Jesus will reappear in a blaze of glory, not in darkness. It's time, therefore, for all Christians to emerge from the darkness of their lives into the light, for only those who live in the light will be able to recognise the Prince of Light when he comes.
Certain behaviour characterises the night, and St Paul lists that behaviour: orgies and drunkenness, sexual immorality and debauchery, dissension and jealousy. That sort of behaviour is inappropriate during the daytime, it belongs under cover of darkness where it can be hidden away. The behaviour which characterises the day is quite the opposite, and is the sort of behaviour which Jesus displayed: openness and honesty and love and healing and generosity and kindness and so on.
As we begin the four weeks of Advent, we look forward to the dawn. The first three candles in the Advent ring are usually purple, the dark colour of night. But the fourth candle is often pink, to show that the dawn is rapidly approaching. And the final candle which is lit on Christmas Day is usually white, to show that the day has dawned. Night has been banished by God himself coming into our world as a human being.
But we all know that night hasn't actually been banished. Even though Jesus was born roughly 2,000 years ago and brought incredible light into our world, we still have darkness and night. There are still orgies and drunkenness, sexual immorality and debauchery, dissension and jealousy, and at first glance it might seem that nothing has changed. The answer is that it certainly has changed, but that the change isn't yet complete. For many people the night has completely gone, for their lives have radically changed with the advent of Jesus into their lives, but many other people don't yet know Jesus.
Our job as Christians is to spread the light. We can only do that by allowing it to pass through us, so that we shine like beacons in any darkness that still remains. When Jesus finally comes again, that light will be complete, for everyone, everywhere, but meanwhile it's our task to shine light into any dark corners we find. Some of those dark corners might be within ourselves, and so we need to open ourselves more fully to Jesus, so that his light can illuminate our darkness.
This Advent as we pledge ourselves anew to our Lord, let us become like stained glass windows through whom the light shines, and who reveal Jesus to a dark world.
