“Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Paul concluded this section of his lesson to the church in Emphasis, which was our reading this morning, with a quote from a hymn. As it is with us today, the hymn stanza would be instantly recognizable along with  the message that was associated with the hymn. If anyone in the congregation was uncertain of the message that Paul was trying to convey, there would be immediate clarification when they heard the words of a very familiar hymn. It is the message that the light of Christ will overcome the darkness of evil.

“Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” This stanza came from a very important and well-known hymn to the first-century Christians because it was probably sung as a part of their ba…