Wearing a face mask now is compulsory at schools, as students returned to their new academic years. Wearing of masks when going indoors either to super markets or other places, including places of worship is now compulsory. As we return into our church buildings for worship, all of us must wear a face mask. This is to slow down the spread of the virus and to protect the most vulnerable among us, and perhaps is a sign of showing our love for our neighbour. It is understandable that for some it is uncomfortable to cover up the face with a mask in public spaces for a long time, but refusing to wear a mask out of sheer rebellion is unbecoming of the people of faith. As people of faith wearing a mask is one of the simplest forms of showing to the world that we care for our neighbours and show our love towards them, and our hope is in Jesus Christ and not in arrogance or in rebellion.
Paul when writing to the church at Rome as recorded in Romans 13:11-15 appeals in urgency to the early Christians to wake up and put on the Lord Jesus Christ, which comes to us with even more urgency with a challenge for our times. Putting on Jesus Christ today is shown by our love for our neighbour. It is now time for us to wake up from sleep, lay aside the works of the empire and to put on Lord Jesus Christ.
1. Recognise this time as God’s Momentous Time:
Paul in verse 11, calls on the Church “to know what time it is”, for the time is ripe and the Kingdom of God is at hand. It is now time to recognise this moment in time, as it is the time appointed by God to act and work. It is interesting to note that the word for ‘time’ used in Greek is ‘kairos’ rather than ‘chronos’. It is not the ‘chronological time,’ that Paul is talking about here, rather it is the ‘appointed time’ (kairos), a time where God intervenes into our times at our end, a time for action, a time for introspection, and a time for an audit of truth.
Many people have interpreted this time of pandemic in their own ways, but this text is calling us to recognise that it is God’s intervening time, the times at our end where the signs of our times calls us to wake up from our sleep as a church and act for justice and liberation. If we have to demonstrate to this world that this is God’s momentous time, then we as church are called to demonstrate that love of God to all people, specially to those on the margins. I personally think, as a church we are called to do things differently from what we have always done to capture this God’s momentous time during these times.
2. Reaffirming in the Nearness of Salvation:
In verse 11b, we see Paul further exhorts that “for the salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers.” The distance and affinity to salvation becomes closer to people of God in their journey of faith, in relation to their love for their neighbour (8-10v). Salvation is a journeying gift of God that comes closer and nearer to those that wake up from their slumber of inaction and those that stand committed in their acts of love. Salvation oscillates between believing and discipling, and the call today is that salvation gets closer in our true discipleship to Christ, which is nothing but loving our neighbour. Is salvation nearer to us than before? If salvation is nearer to us, then we are invited to act along with God at this appointed time in transforming our lives and our world with love. Salvation is near to us, when we are near to our neighbour loving them unconditionally irrespective of their identity.
Many people have interpreted this pandemic as apocalyptic times, and we have seen a rise in people spending in the online activity of prayers. But one of the big questions that needs to asked is how do we understand salvation today? One of the marks of salvation is love for the neighbour, and that is shown in actions of care for the vulnerable and to those on the margins.
3. Resisting the Works of Empire:
In verse 12, Paul further appeals “the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light.” In the context of the Roman empire, Paul explains in 13 verse the works of darkness as revelling, drunkenness, debauchery, licentiousness, quarrelling and jealousy, which have been the order of the day, for those in power indulged in such acts and exploited the vulnerable colonized communities. In contrast to these acts of the empire, Paul urges Christians to lay aside the ‘pyjamas’ of darkness and put on the ‘armour of light’, a vestment for the day, a vestment of the Kingdom of God, which primarily exposes those ungodly deeds, dispels darkness, and liberate people and communities with and towards light. Resisting the works of our neo-empire of our times, which include exploitation, oppression, discrimination and exclusion is a call for us to put on the ‘armour of light.’
In the context of the pandemic, I see ‘face mask’ as an armour of light, which is a sign of our love for the neighbour. For those who can, simply donning a mask during this public health crisis can model for our neighbours how we care about them more than keeping our glasses fog free or getting a stare or two. It shows those around us that we will put their health and livelihoods before our own comforts if that means slowing the spread of this deadly virus and saving lives, as we seek to open up our communities and provide for our families. To act as if wearing a mask in this season is cowardice or not trusting the Lord is not only reckless, but it is also a fundamental misunderstanding of how God calls us to live in a broken world.
4. Re-covering ourselves with Lord Jesus Christ:
In verse 14, Paul finally appeals in all urgency to put on Lord Jesus Christ, making no provisions to gratify the desires of flesh. In contrast to the Roman dress which is muddled with power, authority and exploitation, Paul urges the early Church to put on Lord Jesus Christ, who is stained in all dust and dirt to identify with those on the margins. ‘Putting on Lord Jesus Christ’ is an act of defiance to the colonial rules of ‘putting on Cesar’, the Lord of the colonial powers. This act is to affirm in the Lordship of Jesus Christ in opposition to the Lordship of the empire. Putting on Lord Jesus Christ calls us towards defiance to the powers, and to identifying with the people on the margins. Those in power are called to pitch their tents among the vulnerable communities, for it among them God works and Kingdom of God happens. During this momentous time we are called to de-cover ourselves from the stinking chores of power and re-cover ourselves by putting on Lord Jesus Christ. Putting on Jesus Christ today is wearing a mask as a sign of our love for the neighbour. St. Augustine in 4th Century heard the call of God from this text as he read and put on Lord Jesus Christ in his life, and eventually turned to become a great theologian for all times.
The relevance of this text today is therefore is to swiftly act in showing our love for our neighbour. The context of our times are so grim, for there has been a growing intolerance towards the other, increasing hatred against the stranger, increasing rise of consumerism where economy drives the society, where many people are pushed to invest on spending, widening gap between the rich and the poor, increasing unaccountability of leadership, an increasing refugee crisis, an increasing changes on our climate and planet, increasing poverty, increasing homelessness etc. and there is a sense of more urgency than ever to wake up to face and address the realities of our times. Paul’s words “The night is far gone and the day is near,” therefore conveys to us that this is a momentous time for the church and to each of us as disciples of Christ to wake us up from deep slumber of doing things that we have always done, to know that this is God’s momentous time, lay aside the works of empire and to put on Lord Jesus Christ onto our lives. Let us stop pretending to sleep and wake up with our eyes and hearts wide open to the ongoing acts of injustice and evil around us to raise an alarm for change, so that we can collectively partake and actively participate in transforming our world.
Let me conclude with this Masking Prayer by Caroline Beckett, which is relevant for us today.
Rev. Dr. Raj Bharat Patta,
4th September 2020
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