Wake up!

The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, 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 sinful nature (Romans 13:11b-14a).

Have you noticed that many restaurants use dim lighting? The same is true for most bars. If you have gone out dancing, I’m sure that you’ve noticed how low they keep the lights. And what is more romantic than an evening together in front of a glowing fireplace, with the lights turned off?

Dim lighting is used by restaurants, bars and dance halls to create a feeling of intimacy. When the lights are low, the only people that you can see clearly are those who are close to you; others are hardly noticeable in the darkness and are easily ignored. Furthermore, in the darkness things look better than they are; there’s an old joke that says "the closer to closing time, the better your date looks." This is due in part to alcohol, but it also has to do with the darkness. In dim light, it is hard to see wrinkles or gray hairs; when you cannot see many details, your imagination tends to fill in the blanks, making things look more appealing than they would under a bright light. I have sometimes joked that the reason a restaurant keeps its lights dim is so you cannot see what your expensive dinner really looks like.

But while darkness can give you a false sense of intimacy and hide imperfections, it also has a dangerous aspect to its character. Most crimes occur at night. Criminals use the darkness to hide their activities. In the darkness, no one can see a figure breaking into a house. In the darkness, it is hard to see clearly the face of a kidnapper or a rapist. Further, most people sleep when it is dark, and being asleep is when a person is most vulnerable to attack. Many people are victims of crime while they are asleep, and are not aware that they are being victimized until it is too late.

Paul speaks about the dangers of darkness. He speaks of us sleeping in the night, a night filled with deeds of darkness like orgies and drunkenness…sexual immorality and debauchery…dissension and jealousy. What exactly are the dangers of living your life in darkness?

One problem is that of loneliness. Darkness is isolating. In a poorly-lit bar, you might value being able to forget about everyone who is hidden in the shadows while you talk privately with someone you want to grow closer to; but at two in the morning, when you are alone in a dark room with only your fear and loneliness to keep you company, shadows take on a frightening character. The hours spent alone in a dark house are much harder to endure than when that home is filled with sunlight. Darkness isolates us, breeding fear and loneliness.

Another problem with living in darkness has to do with reality. In a darkened restaurant, your food and your companion can seem more attractive than they truly are because the darkness can hide unappealing details. In the darkness it is easier to deny reality and believe what we want. In one of the songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, the deformed Phantom sings these words to the beautiful girl he desires: Close your eyes, for your eyes will only tell the truth, and the truth isn’t what you want to see; in the dark it is easy to pretend that the truth is what it ought to be. We can make mistakes in judgment when we let illusion disguise unpleasant reality.

The third risk of living in darkness is that of out-and-out danger. When we believe ourselves to be safely hidden by the dark, it is far easier to give in to the temptation to do wrong because we are not afraid of being caught. Not only are we endangered by the urge to do something that can get us into trouble, but we are also put in danger from others who plan to do us harm while we are unable to protect ourselves, asleep and blinded by the dark.

Satan loves the dark. He loves to make us feel all alone, because then we fear that Jesus is not with us. If Satan can convince us that our Lord is uncaring and far away, he can weaken our faith in Jesus’ love for us and trick us into giving up on having a relationship with the only Person who can forgive our sins and reconnect us to God. By definition, hell is the place where we are cut off from God’s love, and Satan uses the isolating power of darkness to give us a taste of hell when we become convinced that we are all alone in the night.

Satan loves the illusions of the dark. Satan loves it when we live in a fantasy world. When we live in darkness, the truth of God is hard to see because shadows obscure the light. When the truth is hard to see, we fill in the details from our own sinful imagination and inner dark desires. Men convince themselves that when a woman says "no", she really means, "try a little harder." Women convince themselves that spreading gossip does no real harm, because it is best that the truth be out in the open for everyone to see. Teens convince themselves that getting drunk shows how mature you are. When life is lived in darkness, it is easy to ignore the damaging effects of orgies and drunkenness…sexual immorality and debauchery…dissension and jealousy. Darkness permits the fantasy that I won’t get in an accident on my way home from the bar, that I won’t get AIDS or become pregnant from tonight’s sexual encounter, that I am not to blame for the conflict going on in my family. When we confuse fantasy for reality, we commit sins while believing that we are actually doing nothing wrong. Satan loves such delusions, because when we fool ourselves into thinking that evil is good, we do not see any need to go to Jesus for forgiveness. The devil hopes that when we are deceived by the illusions of darkness, we will die with our sins unforgiven and he can claim us forever.

And Satan loves it when he finds us sleeping in the dark. He loves finding people who could be lighting up their lives by spending time with God, but who cannot find the energy to worship or pray or study their Bible and instead nod off into vulnerable slumber. It is while we are alone in the dark, with God’s Word shut off in an unused corner of our hearts, that the devil attacks. He attacks with cancer and heart disease. He attacks through the abusive words and deeds of those who we thought were close to us. He attacks through a constant stream of depressing news on the television and in the newspaper. He attacks by showing us things we should not or cannot have, and urges us to do whatever it takes to get them even if it bankrupts us, breaks the law, hurts our loved ones, or offends God. When Satan catches us asleep in the dark, he immediately tries to destroy our happiness and our future with any means at his disposal.

This is why Paul urges us to wake up. This is why he tells us to look at what we are thinking and saying and doing in the light of God’s truth, and abandon deeds of darkness. God’s light is coming, and there is no escaping the truths it will reveal. Jesus said, There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs (Luke 12:2-3). When the Lord returns, all darkness will be banished by His glorious light, every evil thing starkly revealed in all its ugliness. Paul says, our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed—every day brings you one day closer to the moment when everything you have done in darkness will be revealed by the brilliant dawn of Christ’s return.

God does not want us to live apart from Him. He sent His Son Jesus to suffer death for our sins so that we could be returned to His loving arms, no longer cast out alone in the darkness of our sins. Nor does God want us to live under the dark delusions of sin; the Holy Spirit caused the Bible to be written for us, so that we could know what God's will is--His good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:2). And the Lord does not want us to be lost in the dark on our own, vulnerable to Satan’s attack—that’s why He compares us to wandering sheep and Himself to the Good Shepherd who gives everything to protect His flock, as we read in the Gospel of John chapter 10: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Paul’s instructions to us are these: wake up from your slumber…Let us behave decently, as in the daytime…clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. First of all, you need to wake up. Satan cannot sneak up on us so easily if we are alert. When you try to wake up while it is still dark, it is important to get the lights on; in order to be spiritually alert, you need to fill your life with God’s light. You can increase the amount of His light in your life by praying to Him more often and attending worship with greater frequency. The closer you try to be to God, the brighter His light will shine in you and the harder it will be for Satan to catch you unawares.

Paul’s second instruction is that we behave as if we are living in God’s light. We should want to see the world as it truly is—imperfections and all. The truth is important, and we must be careful to never accept illusions as a substitute for reality. The reality of the world is this: because of sin, everyone and everything is imperfect. Sooner or later, everyone and everything in our lives will disappoint us, maybe even hurt us. By the light of Christ, we can see in the mirror of God’s Law that we too are far from perfect, and that we too are responsible for bringing grief and pain into our lives and the lives of others. But seeing this truth is a blessing. When we see the many ways in which we are causing hurt by our sins, we are moved to turn to Jesus for His mercy and His wisdom. We learn to forgive others for being imperfect because we are imperfect too, and are only made lovable by Christ’s willingness to forgive us. It is God’s written word that enables us to see things as they really are; you can be better prepared to see through the delusions of this dark world by increasing the amount of time you spend studying the Bible.

Paul’s final instruction is to clothe ourselves in Christ. He wants us to be so close to the Savior that we are in constant contact with Him every minute of our lives. He is like a suit of armor for us, protecting us from the devil’s attacks. By being clothed in Christ, we are wrapped in His holiness, a holiness that covers up our sinfulness and makes us acceptable to stand before God. By being clothed in Christ, we are constantly in touch with our Lord, constantly reassured and warmed by His loving presence, never alone. We gained this garment of salvation when we were baptized, and Christ shares His righteousness with us again every time we come to Him humbly asking to be forgiven.

So, do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Thinking about sinful things is a poor investment of time and energy; remember that spending time in darkness leaves us feeling alone, confused about what is true, and vulnerable to the devil’s attacks. Furthermore, sin is not permitted in heaven, so the time and energy that we devote to sin is time and energy that leads us away from an eternal home in paradise. Instead, let us put aside the deeds of darkness. Let us behave decently, trying to obey God’s Law and seeking Jesus’ mercy when we fail. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; today you are one day closer to meeting the Lord face to face, to give an account of yourself to God. Will you slumber in darkness, or will you wake up and welcome the coming Light from heaven?