December 1, 2013
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
Sermon 1 of Advent Series
“An “Advent”ure To the Stable”
Isaiah
52:7-12 New Living Translation
Isaiah
9:1-3 New Living Translation
Romans
5:1-5 New Living Translation
“Kneeling
in Bethlehem” by Ann Weems
A
Reading from Paul’s letter to the Roman’s, chapter 5, verses 1-5…listen for and
to the word of God for you and me, the people of God. Read the scripture from
Romans.
Read
“In December Darkness” by Ann Weems book “Kneeling in Bethlehem”…
Good Morning. Well, winter is finally
here. We now have snow on the ground…the sun is not as hot as it was and it is
dark later in the morning and earlier in the evening, Winter is a hard time for
me. With the cold and snow sometimes I think it will never end. But I know it
will. It has happened this way for so long that even though I may not see the
signs of spring, I believe it will happen. I have seen it and so in the seeing
I have come to believe. This is my hope for the spring to come.
This believing is seeing thought has
also got me thinking about our relationship with our Risen Lord Jesus. Like the
sun, He is always there. Even when the sun doesn’t shine we believe it is still
there on those cloudy days. And just like the sun, the “Son” of man, our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ, is there even in the dark night of our souls, even
when we can’t see the light of day through our pain and sorrow, shining God’s
light of compassion and love upon us. This He has promised. This is our hope
for each day.
Today, we begin “An “Advent”ure To the Stable.” It is the time when we go back to the
beginning of our salvation; we go back to the manger stall where love came down
from heaven. We go back to the place that God, once again, rolled up His
sleeves and became involved with humanity in the form of a child. Sometimes,
this seems so incredible it is hard to believe. Especially when we are going
through those times of trouble and God seems absent in our lives. As we walk
the road to Bethlehem, we are going hear stories from Scripture about the hope,
love, joy and peace that Advent offers humanity…even in those times when God
seems silent in our lives.
Today is the 1st Sunday in
Advent…the Sunday of Hope in our church calendar. It is the day that we
celebrate the hope that was born in a stable long ago. We celebrate not only
the hope that is found in Jesus’ birth but the hope we have in His returning.
But…why do we hope. We live in a world that is…well…hopeless. With all the
despair and chaos around us how can there be any kind of hope? Can we rekindle
that hope that died long ago in the hearts of those who have seen too much in
life and has lost all hope for the future?
Well…the only place to find real hope is
with the babe that was born in that very same stable that where our “advent”ure
is leading us…to the stable where hope came down from heaven…the stable where
the Son of man was born. We find our real hope in Jesus Christ. This is the
hope in the song we sing as His followers. How heartbreaking it is that
humanity has forgotten where the wealth spring of hope really is. It’s not
found in others…we are human and we will
fail each other from time to time…it is not found in our wealth…we may find hope in what we have but that
too may fail us…the only place to find it is in a lowly stable, a place
that seems too insignificant to have any real meaning. None the less, that is
where we find our hopes for tomorrow…
In the first scripture from Isaiah, we
hear about hope. We have hope in the Good News that Jesus ushered in for all of
humanity. We have hope because God has shown His power in the form of a baby
born in a lowly manger stall…the power of forgiveness and redemption that was
showered down from heaven for all of humanity. We have hope because no matter
what is going on around us in the world, we have the protection of the God of
Israel…the One true God.
The Second reading from Isaiah talks
about that same hope that is found in the Messiah…in Jesus Christ. The darkness
and despair around us will not last forever but the light will shine through
that darkness, dispelling all fear and give hope to those who believe. This
light is so bright that it lights up even the darkest corner of our lives. It
will illuminate all those things that hide in the dark recesses of our souls
and remove the fear it brings. As we believe and then see, we grow in our faith
and our hope for the future…but not just our future but the future of those
around us. Darkness cannot hide from light for very long. Soon it will shine
like the noon day sun chasing away the shadows of yesterday giving us hope for
a bright tomorrow.
Within that faith in the Son we find…as
the Romans scripture tells us…we will have that hope that will not disappoint us.
In a world full of hopelessness and desolation, we can have hope. It is within
our faith in God’s word and in His Son, Jesus Christ that we can see through
the darkness and haze of the world because of illumination of our minds and
hearts. We will of course still have those hard times but within them we grow
into who God would have us be but He doesn’t leave us to stumble in the dark.
He gives us the light of hope, the light of love, the light of joy and the
light of peace. We are dearly loved and not abandoned. We are able to dance in
the light as we cultivate the likeness of Christ in our lives. That light we
have within us will be too bright to hold within ourselves. This light will
shine through us and out of us onto the world around us as we help bring that
light to life into the darkness of despair. We will and can be the bearers of
the Good News of this season.
Today is the 1st Sunday of Advent, the
Sunday of Hope. We have a hope within us as we believe in the Son. Just as we
believe that the sun is shining, even though obscured by clouds, we can believe
that the Son of God, our Risen Lord Jesus Christ shines down upon our lives,
even through the time of despair and confusion…this is our hope. This is our
believing is seeing. And as we believe, we will see the glory of God, through
His Son; shine bright in the darkness around us. Believing truly is seeing.
Advent is an Adventure and it begins
with hope. The time of Advent is a time of longing for God to come . . . as we
celebrate Christ’s birth so long ago. Advent is a time of waiting for Christ to
return . . . ushering in the New Jerusalem, the new heaven and earth, which he
will bring also. Advent is also a time of watching for Christ’s return . .
. being alert and awake, doing the
Kingdoms work as we do so. Advent is not just a season but a way of life, a way
to live out our journey, our sojourn on this celestial plane that we are on. If
we, as Christians, keep these things in mind as we enter the season of Advent,
we truly will have the best Christmas.
My
challenge for you during this Advent season and for me too, is this:
• To
deliberately try to re-think Advent in your mind and in your hearts.
• To
rethink what Advent really is.
• To
deliberately search within ourselves to find that Hope that is within us and to
live out that Hope in the world around us.
• To
deliberately look for Jesus in the world around us and in those in whom we come
in contact with. He’s there; we just have to look.
Let us begin to live that Advent life
throughout the year and not only during the time of Advent. It begins with
hope, and the scripture says, hope will not fail us!
Let
us pray:
God
of Advent, we await expectantly for the celebration of the birth of your Son, Lord
Jesus Christ . . . Help us to also expectantly await His return. Help us to
live our lives not only as Easter People but also as Advent sojourners. Stir up
your Spirit within us and that may we live out our lives awake and at work for
the Kingdom to come. This we pray in the name of the One who became flesh and
lived among us, our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ.
Amen?!
No comments:
Post a Comment