Be Ready (Part 1)

Scripture — Romans 13:11-14

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.

Devotion

Have you ever heard of the kind of prayer called a “collect”? It’s a funny name for a prayer, to be sure, but it’s a very ancient form. Some liturgists think that as people were gathering for worship, starting in about the 5th century AD, the priest would say a prayer before the worship leaders processed into church called a collecta (it meant “gathering together”). The collecta gathered everybody to get them ready to worship, and it also gathered up the prayers of the congregation into one prayer.

Collects took on a very specific form, which is still used today—they are very common in Western liturgical traditions such as Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, and my own tradition of Anglicanism. Here’s how you compose a collect:

1. Invoke God the Father (“Dear Lord,” “Almighty Father,” etc.)
2. Describe God (“who loves us,” “who made the heavens and the earth,” etc.)
3. Ask God for something (“please bless this congregation,” etc.)
4. Explain why you’re asking (“so that we can do your will in the world,” etc.)
5. Close, acknowledging the Trinity and the saving work of Christ (“through Christ our Lord, who loved and gave himself for us and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, Amen,” etc.)

In the Episcopal church, we have one collect for each Sunday of the church year as well as many others for special occasions. The collect for the First Sunday of Advent is my very favorite prayer in the whole church year (and the reason for me giving you this little history lesson), and it goes like this:

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

(Incidentally, it’s missing one of the five parts. Can you spot which one?)

Collects are often based on Scripture, and the collect for the First Sunday of Advent picks up a phrase from today’s Epistle lesson: “Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12). This passage from Romans 13 was chosen to be read at the beginning of Advent because it so clearly expresses the desire that we will be ready for Christ whenever he comes: “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” (Romans 13:11).

The collect for this Sunday roots this passage both in Christ’s first Advent—when he came “to visit us in great humility,” as we celebrate each Christmas season—and his second Advent—when he “shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead.” Wake from sleep, be ready, and live honorably, Paul writes to the Romans—and to us—because you never know when that day, so near for so long, will finally arrive.

I’ll have more to say about that tomorrow. For now, ponder the collect and the following questions.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project’s online commentary. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Living Under the Power of God (Romans 13).

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