This morning, walk through Romans 13:11-14 and are reminded that Advent is a season of waking up — shaking off spiritual sleepiness and remembering what really matters. Paul tells us the night is fading and the day is near, so we’re called to lay aside the things that weigh down our souls — the habits, attitudes, and distractions that make us sluggish and unfocused — and instead “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” In a season when it’s easy to get wrapped up in busyness, perfection, and consumerism, you encourage us to wake up to God’s grace, live intentionally, and let Christ’s light push back whatever darkness has crept into our hearts. Today is a good day, you say, to let go of what doesn’t matter and live fully awake to the goodness of God.

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Good morning, y’all.
It’s good to be with you on this Tuesday morning as we continue walking together through this season of Advent.

Like I mentioned yesterday, during Advent we’re using the devotional guide that our prayer ministry at St. Matthew’s has put out. It’s a little booklet we bought through Cokesbury — very similar to The Upper Room devotionals that all good Methodists know and love. Each day has a reading and a short reflection, and I’d encourage you to pick one up if you’re around the church this week.

You can find them wherever the Upper Rooms usually are:
• by the sanctuary doors,
• on the table near the coffee in the S building by Intersection,
• and there are even some in the back by Hart Hall.

So grab one when you’re here — it’ll be a good companion for these next few weeks.

Today’s Scripture comes from Romans 13:11–14.
Let’s read it together:

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Romans 13:11–14 (NRSV)

“Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep.
For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers;
the night is far gone, the day is near.
Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light;
let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy.
Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

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Now, as you know from studying Scripture with me over the years, context is everything. Romans is a fascinating book. The first eleven chapters are packed with theology — sin, grace, salvation, God’s sovereignty, election, all of it.

Then in chapters 12–16, Paul shifts from theology to ethics — how to live.
Romans 12 is one of the great chapters on Christian living: sincerity, humility, love, forgiveness, sacrifice.

Romans 13 begins with being good citizens and then moves into the command to love — that all the law is fulfilled in loving your neighbor.

And then Paul says this:
“Besides this… wake up.”

In other words:
You know why you should love.
You know how you should live.
You know what God desires.

So now — wake up.
Wake up because your salvation is nearer than it’s ever been.
Wake up because the night is fading and the day is coming.
Wake up because this matters.

The world has a way of lulling us to sleep, doesn’t it?
Not literally — though sometimes that too — but spiritually.
We get comfortable.
We get complacent.
We get distracted.

And before we know it, we’re sleepwalking through the very things that matter most.

Paul says, “Lay aside the works of darkness. Put on the armor of light.”
In other words: don’t stay stuck in the things that weigh your soul down.

You know how you feel on Thanksgiving afternoon after three plates of dressing and maybe a couple too many Little Debbie Christmas tree cakes?
You sit there heavy and sleepy and sluggish.

Well, that’s what sin and complacency can do to us spiritually.
They weigh us down.
They slow us down.
They keep us from living fully awake to God.

Paul mentions things like quarreling, jealousy, drunkenness — but the point isn’t just the list.
The point is that any of these things can get such a grip on us that before long, we’re making decisions we don’t even like… and we don’t even know why.

Have you ever been in that place?
You’re irritated at somebody and you don’t even know why anymore — you just are.
You’re fussing, you’re fighting, you’re stewing, and you’re not even sure what started it.
That’s what happens when we fall asleep spiritually.

Paul says:
Wake up.
Put on Christ.
Let His light push out the darkness.

And y’all — we need that, especially this time of year. Christmas can so easily turn into a season consumed by what wewant, what we’re trying to buy, the perfect card, the perfect pictures, the perfect everything.

But none of that is the point.
The point is Jesus.
The point is His grace.
The point is His light shining in the darkness.

So Paul says:
Wake up.
Live like today matters.
Live like Jesus matters.
Live like salvation is near — because it is.

Today is a great day to shake off the heaviness, to push aside what doesn’t matter, and to remember what truly does. Put on Christ. Live in His love. Walk in His light. Let His grace reshape your heart.

Thanks for being with me today.
I hope you’ll pick up one of the devotional booklets if you’re around church — and I look forward to walking through these Scriptures together each day this Advent.

Have a great day — and wake up to the goodness of God.