Apostolic Goals, IV: Sobriety: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-8, especially vs. 6: "Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober." We have noted that St. Paul has called us to purity of sexual conduct. Today he draws attention to sobriety, urging all "who are of the day" to be "sober" in our manner of life (vs. 8). To speak of sobriety raises one of the serious issues of contemporary society, alcoholism and other drug addictions. In this we speak of a terrible and widespread corruption that is shattering marriages, destroying productivity, and wasting life.
The truth is, in first century Greco-Roman society substance abuse was as bad as, or worse than it is today. Still, the Apostle does not narrow his focus solely to drunkenness, but expands from it to a much broader concept of sobriety, encompassing an entire world view. St. Paul includes in the goal of sobriety: awareness of ultimate accountability, correct focus of one's energies, and conscious hope in God. Sobriety among Christians not only answers the problem of substance abuse, but also heals irresponsibility, loss of direction, and hopelessness, as well.
Observe that the present passage begins with instruction about "the day of the Lord" (vs. 2). By directing attention to the end times, the conclusion of history, and the return of the Lord Jesus, St. Paul introduces a note of ultimacy into his call for sobriety. These topics he will take up in later verses. The Apostle is pointing toward what may be called an "eschatological orientation" - from the New Testament word, "eschatos," meaning "last." "For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night" (vs. 2). Reframing life with an end-time, eschatological perspective injects a powerful antidote against living strictly for the moment, which is a major denial that human life has ultimate significance.
The present world has so relativized values, morals, and human worth that men today think like the godless sort of man known to ben Sirach, the person who "says to himself, 'Who sees me? Darkness surrounds me, and the walls hide me, and no one sees me. Why should I fear? The Most High will not take notice of my sins.' His fear is confined to the eyes of men, and he does not realize that the eyes of the Lord are ten thousand times brighter than the sun; they look upon all the ways of men, and perceive even the hidden places" (Sir. 23:18-19).
In our generation, many are greatly awed by the sweeping forces of global history and the changes that are taking place. As a result, they have become fascinated with eschatology. They wonder endlessly when the day of the Lord will come and seek to predict the day and hour of the end. This is quite contrary to the Lord Jesus' explicit statement that it is useless to do so (Mt. 24:36). St. Paul directs attention away from all such idle conjecture and focuses on the goal of Christian sobriety. He calls on us to place primary energy on spiritual growth and on vigilance against the assault of anything that might distract us from growing closer to the Lord in heart and soul. "Therefore let us not sleep...but let us watch and be sober" (vs. 6).
Finally the Apostle speaks all through this passage with a confidence born of a sure and certain hope. So he appeals to us "who are of the day [to] be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation" (vs. 8). Think about a helmet: it protects the vital area of the head, the locus of the senses of sight, smell, taste, and hearing, and the center of our cognitive processing, the brain. Spiritually speaking, we have a helmet for our spiritual center, a helmet of guaranteed hope which was established by the Incarnation, Passion, and Resurrection of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, "for He hath given unto us life eternal and great mercy." Let us live confidently, protected by the certainty of what God hath wrought for us.
Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, as we do put our hope in Thee.