Today's Sermon - God's Wisdom based on Luke 2:41-52

God’s Wisdom (based on Luke 2:41-52)

This is the only story in the gospels about Jesus between his infancy and he emerges as a man to be baptized by John.  Some scholars have argued that this account of Jesus in the temple as a young teenager is not an actual account, but a legend created by the early church to fill in some of the gaps in their knowledge of Jesus' life.

We should be aware that in the second and third centuries many legends arose about the boy Jesus and were put into numerous apocryphal gospels—accounts of Jesus which the early church rejected as not having the authority of the four earliest gospels which we have in the New Testament.  Two things speak for the wisdom of the church in recognizing the authority of only Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  They are content to leave almost 30 years of blank space in Jesus' life, because their interest was on the heart of the gospel not on peripheral matters.  The one story which Luke does include in 2:41–52 is so reserved that it is very unlike most of the legends that were circling of Jesus' childhood.  It does not portray him as doing any supernatural deed or speaking in an unduly authoritative way.  The story reaches its climax and main point not in a supernatural feat but in the sentence: "I must be about my Father's business (or in my Father's house)" (v. 49). Contrast this with some of the legends which grew up later on.

There’s an apocryphal text called the Infancy Gospel of Thomas which is said to have been written in the 2^nd Century.

“When this boy Jesus was five years old he was playing at the ford of a brook, and he gathered together into pools the water that flowed by, and made it at once clean, and commanded it by his word alone.  But the son of Annas the scribe was standing there with Joseph; and he took a branch of a willow and (with it) dispersed the water which Jesus had gathered together.  When Jesus saw what he had done, he was enraged and said to him: "You insolent, godless boy, what harm did the pools and the water do to you?  See, now you also shall wither like a tree and shall bear neither leaves nor root nor fruit."  And immediately that lad withered up completely; and Jesus departed and went into Joseph's house.  But the parents of him that was withered took him away, bewailing his youth, and brought him to Joseph and reproached him: "What a child you have who does such things."  After this again he went through the village, and a lad ran and knocked against his shoulder.  Jesus was exasperated and said to him: "You shall not go further on your way," and the child immediately fell down and died.  But some, who saw what took place, said: "From where does this child spring, since every word is an accomplished deed?"

Here is one more example from the Arabic Infancy Gospel:

One day, when Jesus was running about and playing with some children, he passed by the workshop of a dyer called Salem.  They had in the workshop many cloths which he had to dye.  The Lord Jesus went into the dyer's workshop, took all these cloths, and put them into a cauldron full of indigo.  When Salem came and saw that the cloths were spoiled, he began to cry aloud and asked the Lord Jesus, saying: "What have you done to me, son of Mary?  You have ruined my reputation in the eyes of all the people of the city; for everyone orders a suitable color for himself, but you have come and spoiled everything."  And the Lord Jesus replied: "I will change for you the color of any cloth which you wish to be changed"; and he immediately began to take the cloths out of the cauldron, each of them dyed as the dyer wished, until he had taken them all out.  When the Jews saw this miracle and wonder, they praised God.

After such stories, our gospel reading from Luke seems a bit drab—and that is precisely what speaks in favor of its authenticity.  It does not appear to be motivated by a desire to overplay Jesus' uniqueness.  The claim to uniqueness is much more subtle in Luke and that fits better with the way Jesus acted most of the time.

We know from the beginning of Luke that he puts a high premium on eyewitness confirmation.  We also know from an account later on written in Acts that while Paul was imprisoned for two years in Jerusalem and in Caesarea, his sidekick Luke, who wrote this gospel, was probably roaming around Jerusalem interviewing old-timers and collecting information.  After all, he considered himself to be an historian.  And finally Luke mentions that people kept experiences in their hearts, or in other words, they remembered them deeply for their experience.  In 1:66 he said that all who heard how John the Baptist was born "laid it up in their hearts, saying, 'What then will this child be?'" In 2:19 after the shepherds had come to Bethlehem, Luke says, "But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart." And then here at the end of our text in 2:51 it says, "And his mother kept all these things in her heart."  I think the most important reason why he mentions this “storing up of memories” is to give Theophilus (the person to whom he was originally writing the gospel account and the story or the Acts of the Apostles) and us a clue as to how Luke, a Gentle foreigner, was able to write as much as he did about Jesus' childhood.

Therefore, in view of how few there are of the child Jesus, and how much more reserved this particular account is than the apocryphal legends, and how great Luke's concern is to trace things out carefully and confirm it with eyewitnesses, it seems to me that the claim that this story is only a legend is most likely wrong.

Now let's work through the story:

It opens with Jesus’ parents going up to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover.  So we see that Jesus' parents were devoted to the law of Moses.  They loved it, studied it, obeyed it.  And because of that, we also soon see Jesus doing exactly the same thing – being devoted to the law.

The fact that this incident happened when Jesus was 12 is pretty significant in and of itself.  Because the 12th year was the last year of preparation for a young boy before he entered full participation in the religious life of the synagogue.  Up until that time his parents, especially his father, would be teaching him the commandments of the law, but at the end of the 12th year a child goes through a ceremony called a bar mitzva, whereby he formally takes on the yoke of the law and becomes a man, or a “son of the covenant”  Bar means son, and Mitzvahor means covenant or commandment.  Perhaps Jesus wanted to subtly demonstrate subtly that his insight into the commandment or covenant was more profound than for others and his relation to God was unique.

In verses 43, 44, Jesus’ parents realize, after journeying a whole day, that he is not with them.  The distance that we’re talking about is like driving from Pittsburgh to Harrisburg and realizing you left your child and having to drive back again.  Only it's worse: they were walking.  One thing in particular stands out for me in this story; there seems to be an implicit faith that Mary and Joseph have in their 12 year old son.  If he had been an irresponsible child, his parents would never have gone a whole day without knowing his whereabouts.  They seem to have trusted him and knew he had good judgment.  This suggests that Jesus' motive in staying behind was not carelessness or disrespect.  Evidently, he intentionally let them go in order to demonstrate something.

Verses 43–46: "They sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances; and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem seeking him.  After three days they found him in the temple." I’m assuming, although we don’t really know, that the three days means one day out of Jerusalem, one day back to Jerusalem, and a third day searching for him.

But, in any case, "They found him in the temple sitting among the teachers listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers."  This sentence has always intrigued me as it allows me to fantasize about all the possible questions I have and understandings that I have that I’d love to sit and chat for hours with great learned scholars of our day, to have an audience of just me and them.  Well, rather than fantasize about such things, I think that the ultimately lesson from this unusual account is this; if the Son of God could seek out teachers, listen, ask questions, and give answers about the things of God, I think it is fair to say that this should be a pattern that we adopt as well as an important aspect of our own growth in knowledge and understanding to gain wisdom.  As we say a fond farewell to the end of 2018, may the new year of 2019 bring us more growth in our knowledge and understanding of scripture and the things of God.

I am indebted to Rev. John Piper's work on this passage.  He was chancellor at Bethlehem College and co-founder of the website Desiring God.

Christmas Eve Sermon - we read through the story of Christ's Birth mainly found in Luke 2

God’s Son

When I get an opportunity, I enjoy watching the history channel.  One of their segments is a documentary series about some of the most amazing marvels of human creation.

The Egyptian Pyramids: Constructed mostly as tombs for the ancient pharaohs and their consorts, over 100 pyramids (that we are currently aware of) remain in Egypt.  Most of them were built during an 85-year explosion of building in Egypt, but many go back nearly 1,000 years prior.  They stand as cultural and engineering marvels of staggering proportions.  Even today’s engineers wonder at the scope and precise building of these ancient structures.  Most have stood their ground for 5,000 years, deteriorating only as the constant wind and sand erode them.

The Great Wall of China: It took nearly 3,000 years to build with most of the wall built between 1368 and 1644.  Although only about 4,000 miles of the wall were actually built along the northern borders of China, with natural barriers such as hills and rivers altogether the wall stretches over 13,000 miles.  Although the wall was constructed to keep out invading empires; over the years the Tartars, the Mongols and the Manchus all breached the wall easily and invaded China.  Regardless of it’s lack of defense, the Great Wall of China stands as a testimony to the spirit of humanity’s ingenuity.

The Eiffel Tower: It was meant to be a temporary exhibit, a demonstration of French engineering acumen at the Paris World's Fair.  But to Parisians, the tower, designed by the brash, young Gustave Eiffel, came to stand for much more-revolution, innovation and a soaring spirit.

The Chunnel: The job of joining Britain and France via a tunnel under the English Channel was a huge challenge.  Geologists tracked the only safe route with satellite technology, and French and British teams drilled towards each other using two of the largest Tunnel Boring Machines ever made.

I could also spend some time talking about unbelievable scientific inventions that I’ve heard about on the Science Channel, like the mapping of the human genome or the discovery of photon molecules, or the creation of self-replicating synthetic bacterial cells, or how gravitational waves in black holes work; but quite honestly, I rarely understand any of it.

Why; on Christmas Eve, do I mention these human feats of incomparable excellence?  Why?  Because it all pails in comparison to what God has done for us.  As amazing and wonderful as those achievements have been, none come even close to what God did for us this night.

Soren Kierkegaard, the great Danish theologian of the 19^th century, tells a story of a prince who wanted to find a maiden suitable to be his queen.  One day while running an errand in the local village for his father, the king, he passed through a poor section of the town.  As he glanced out the windows of the carriage his eyes fell upon a beautiful peasant maiden.  During the ensuing days he often passed by the young lady and soon fell in love with her.  But he had a problem.  How could he possibly seek her hand in marriage?

He could order her to marry him.  But even a prince wants his bride to marry him freely and voluntarily and not through coercion.  He could put on his most splendid uniform and drive up to her front door in a carriage drawn by six horses.  But if he did this, he would never be certain that the maiden loved him or was simply overwhelmed with all of the splendor at his disposal.  As you might have guessed, the prince came up with another solution.  He would give up his kingly robes.  He moved into the village, entering not with a crown but in the garb of a peasant.  He lived among the people, shared their interests and concerns, and spoke their language.  In time the maiden grew to love him for who he was and because he had first loved her.

This is a very simple, almost child-like story, written by one of the most brilliant minds in philosophy and theology trying to explain what we Christians mean by the incarnation – that God came in human flesh to live among us.  When people ask what God is like, we, as Christians, point to the person of Jesus Christ.  God who made the stars in the heavens, the universe that envelops our planet and stretches beyond what we can grasp.  God, who creates living creatures that breathe and have a being.  God, who formed the oceans and the rocks upon which the mountains of the earth stand.  This God is incomprehensible to us, but in Jesus Christ we get a glimpse of that glory.  In the person of Jesus we are told that God, that mysterious Person that created the stars and the universe, is willing to go all of the way to be one of us, talk our language, eat our food, share our suffering, and ultimately die on a cross.  Why?  So that a single person: you, me, might stand in awe this night and comprehend what God did for us, be redeemed of all our sins...and somehow in that miracle grow to love God.

The marvel of Christ's birth is the greatest of all events recorded in the annals of human history.  There is nothing that can compare to it, there is nothing that can equal it, and there is nothing in heaven or on earth that can accomplish for us what His birth accomplished.

Today's Sermon - God's Mercy - 4th Sunday of Advent 12/23/18

God’s Mercy

(based on Micah 5:2-5)

Turn in your hymnal to page 44/250.

At the top/bottom of the page you see the name Philip Brooks. Brooks was an Episcopal Priest in Philadelphia in the 1800’s.  He made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1865.  It was Christmas Eve and he was headed to the Church of the Nativity located in Bethlehem for a worship service.  While heading there he stopped to watch dusk envelope the town. He was inspired by the view of Bethlehem from the hills of Palestine especially at night.

Interestingly, Brooks kept these memories to himself for three years. Later he was motivated to share his memories with a church gathering and what he did was write a four-stanza poem and he gave it to the church organist, Lewis Redner, who gave the poem its musical background.  The song was born and heard for the first time on December 27, 1868.

Let’s look at our Old Testament reading this morning from Micah.

Micah lived about 750 years before the time of Christ, about the same time as the prophet Isaiah, who wrote many of the scripture passages that we often read as prophecy regarding the coming Messiah.  But Micah also contributed to this.  Micah lived in a time in which the people of God had pretty much turned away from Him, and were serving false gods, living in all kinds of sin.  The Northern Kingdom had been captured by Assyria who took the ten tribes of Israel into captivity.  The Hebrew people were beginning to ask God questions like; “Has God rejected his people?  Is God finished with them or is there a future for them with God?” because the prophets were preaching judgment upon them.

But amidst all of the darkness, there was some good news: a Messiah was about to be born to come and save them; someone who would make everything right with God again.

In Micah’s word of good news in the prophesy a specific city is given for the birthplace of that Messiah - Bethlehem.  “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth to be ruler in Israel.”

The name “Bethlehem” means “house of bread”.  And “Ephrathah” means “fruit fields”.  Ephrathah was formerly the name of Bethlehem.  Israel had been divided up into various wards or precincts for clearer organization known as clans.  But Bethlehem was so small, it didn’t register as significant enough to be considered its own precinct or clan.

Despite the fact that Bethlehem Ephrathah was not big enough or prestigious enough to be considered it’s own area, God decided to consider it worthy and graced this town with the privilege of first, being the birthplace for King David – as it is often referred to as the “City of David” but now God was also saying that someone even more important than David was going to be born there – the Messiah, Emmanuel, God with Us.

Devout Jews knew this promise of where the Messiah would be born, even the advisors to King Herod knew that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem, as they told the Wise Men this when they came seeking to pay him homage and inquired about his birth. 

But this prophecy had come 750 years ago, who paid attention to that anymore?  No one was expecting that prophecy to be fulfilled now.  The people of Israel had already waited so long.  They had seen worse times.  Now they were simply occupied by Roman rule, much like the rest of the world at the time, but they had not been banished from their land like in previous times when conquerors had come.  A great resurgence in building and architecture had recently allowed them to rebuild the temple and was even now expanding to be even greater.  The religious leaders were very religious and the people were…..well, let’s just say that they simply went about their day; not terribly religious, but not necessarily hostile toward religion either.  They paid their sacrifices to the temple priests when necessary with as little as they could get away with, but was a Savior absolutely necessary, now?  They weren’t in slavery like during the time of Pharaoh and Moses.  They weren’t exiled in Babylon like the time of King Neberkenezer and Daniel.  Or the second time they were captured by Babylon and exiled, the destruction of the first temple in Jerusalem during Jeremiah’s time.

All things considered, it was a rough time period under Roman rule, but it wasn’t horrible.  They’d been through worse times before, they’d waited for a Messiah before and one hadn’t come.  The hopes and dreams of a Messiah had been stored for so long.  The anticipation was overwhelming, perhaps so much so that they couldn’t think about it too much anymore.  Countless generations had come and gone and no Messiah had come.

But hasn’t God told us time and time again, that he will come when we least expect it.  Hasn’t God, in our own lives, shown up “out of the blue”, not usually in our time frame, but often when we look back, at exactly when we needed him?

Let’s look at the song O Little Town of Bethlehem, itself.

1. The first two lines are part of the setting for the song.  Remember Philip Brooks was out on the Judean hillside looking down on the village from afternoon until dark.  The last line of the first stanza is particularly striking to me, “the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight”.  

Since the author of this poem is on the other side of Christ’s birth, we may have trouble understanding the emotion people of that day must have felt as they looked forward to the coming of the Messiah.  The hopes of this special night had finally come to be.  To help you try to conjure up the emotions of this anticipation, for those of you with children, you have nine months to anticipate the birth of your child.  You dream about what will she/he look like… what color hair … eyes … what will he/she do for a life’s vocation … all kinds of hopes and feelings of anticipation.  Try to imagine the emotion of that promise fulfilled?  Sometimes it is so strong, you can’t even put it into words or think about it too long, afraid that something will come along and dash the dream or take it away, or not allow it to happen, at all – “the hopes” of all the years.

But the line in the song also says “the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight”.  Fears?  What kind of fears?

Fears - that the very promise of a Savior would never come to fulfillment.  Fears that all those sacrifices and the religion that they weren’t particularly attentive too, were after all, a waste of time or hadn’t been enough.

But in the birth of Jesus all the hopes were fulfilled and all the fears were laid to rest.

2. “For Christ is born of Mary” makes it crystal clear this is a song about the birth of Jesus.   In Jesus we have the birth of Christ.  He is the Messiah – the Savior, the Emmanuel among us.

3. “How silently the wondrous gift is given.”  I think that’s what I love most about the celebration of Christmas.  Even now, there’s all this anticipation, all this excitement.  And yet, on Christmas day, even with children up at the crack of dawn, racing to open gifts under the tree, there is a silence and quiet in the celebration.  It has never mattered how chaotic the season or the day has been, there has always been, for me, a long pause of rest and of stillness as the message of God’s gift to the world sinks in on that morning.

He came without parades, without the news media shining bright lights into the stall, the King did not visit, and other dignitaries in town did not make room for him in their homes.  He came quietly, silently, in the hush of a cows lowing, and the cooing of the doves in the rafters.  God’s gift was simply given, silently and quietly.  In fact, if it were not for the angels inviting the shepherds, no one would have attended the birth.

Both the song O Little Town and the prophet Micah say that this gift is God’s message of peace to the world.  That is God’s mercy to us, that God gives us peace.  A peace that ought to fill our souls with such joy, with such wonder that we live our lives differently, that we share that message with others. 

God gave us a gift and that gift will be our peace.

Today's Sermon - 12/9/18 - God's Preparation

God’s Preparation

(based on Luke 1:68-79)

A friend of mine tells the story of playing Christmas carols on the piano for her then 4-year-old daughter, Samantha.  When she played “Away in a Manger,” she started to sing as she played.  After just a few words, Samantha put her tiny hands up to her mother’s mouth and said, “Oh, No, mommy, don’t.  Just let the piano sing it.”

Do you ever feel that way when you sing?  That nobody wants to hear your voice?  Well, when you sing, you aren’t singing for others.  You’re singing for God.  And God always wants to hear you sing.  Mary’s song which began earlier is one of the verses in this grand musical introduction to Luke’s Gospel.  Another verse in this musical masterpiece is today’s reading and is known as the song of Zacharias.  

It’s the second verse of this song, and it picks up where Mary left off, but really, it’s more of the same.  It’s the same song, second verse, with the same theme, similar ideas, and related words.  Both verses focus on Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world.

If you had not been able to talk for a year, what would you say when you finally could speak?  With the first words out of his mouth after nine months of silence, Zacharias praises God and prophecies about the future.

First, he praises God for the salvation that is to come through the Messiah and second, he says something about his own newborn son because he will be the prophet who will prepare the way for the Messiah.

When Zacharias spoke these first few verses, he was thinking primarily of God’s promises to the nation of Israel to deliver her from her enemies and restore her to her rightful place among the nations. So when he speaks of salvation in these verses, he means temporal, physical salvation from enemies like the Roman government.  But they also have a broader and more transcendent meaning.  God came to deliver us from sin and death in Jesus Christ.

The first words out of Zacharias’s mouth are praise to God for what God has done and what God will do.  In the coming birth of baby Jesus, God is about to redeem Israel, ransom captive Israel.  He will deliver them from their bondage; from Rome and from King Herod, who sits on the throne in Jerusalem.

About Christmas time, a family was expecting their oldest son to come home from college.  He was arriving on the midnight plane.  All the younger children were excited and wanted to stay up until he arrived.  They begged their father to let them stay up.  But their dad replied, “No, it will be too long for you to wait; you must go to bed and rest; you will see John in the morning.”

This is how the ancient prophets spoke about the Messiah – their eldest brother Jesus.  They longed to see him come, but their father in heaven told them no, it would be too long for them to wait.  Moses prayed for yet a more complete deliverer to come, David sang often about and prayed for the horn of salvation, Job prayed in the midst of his pain and suffering to see his deliverer, Isaiah prayed, Jeremiah prayed, Ezekiel prayed, even Elijah and Elisha both prayed, but to all of these ancient prophets, God said, “No, my child, it is too long of a wait, you must rest first.”

But Zacharias, who could not contain the song and the prayer, was finally witness to the long-awaited Messiah; the eldest brother, finally coming home to them all.

And just like a musical piece there’s repetition, there are refrains and choruses, parts and counterparts.  Zacharias sang in verse 69 that the purpose of the Messiah’s coming was to save us from our enemies. Then he sings in verse 70 that he got this truth from holy scripture – that it was a promise made to the forefathers, but only now fulfilled.  Then in verse 71, he said once again that the purpose of these promises was to deliver God’s people from their enemies.  This pattern and refrain is repeated in verses 72-74 regarding God’s purpose and plan.  Then the climax to the song comes in the last part of verse 74 and verse 75, and that climax is our purpose; what we must do:

Our purpose is to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives.  We no longer need to serve God out of fear, but instead out of joy, love and gratitude.  Though we were all slaves to sin, we have been set free through Jesus Christ.  

If you grew up in the Presbyterian Church prior to 1983, you were more than likely required to learn the Westminster Shorter Catechism.  The first and primary question and answer that you needed to recite was this:

What is the chief end of man?  The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.

This opening question in the Catechism, brings us at once to the subject of true religion – what it requires and what it gives.  For us, as Christian believers, God has made us for a purpose just as everything made by humans is made for a purpose.  Only as we fulfil the purpose for which God made us can we be happy.  We cannot add to God’s own glory, but we can show that glory by doing everything in life as service to God. This means that God must be first in our lives; only then we can experience real joy.  Looking for happiness apart from God, our Maker – in other words, ‘doing our own thing’ – is a dead end and will lead us nowhere.

From here in the song of Zacharias, he talks about his son, John, and the part he will play in the plan of God, preparing the way of the Messiah.  It’s an important task to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus Christ.  And John was certainly an unusual character who did that. 

Although Jesus has already come, He is planning on coming again, and God has called us to prepare the way for that return.  In this ancient song of Zacharias, God calls us to prepare the way.  We are to give others the knowledge of salvation, to share the good news with other people, to show others what forgiveness means. 

The Westminster Catechism said that our chief end was to glory God and to enjoy Him forever.  In order to do that we must mirror the likeness of Christ.  Our chief purpose is to show others what God in Jesus Christ has done for us.  God has shown us mercy, he has forgiven us our sins.  Because of this, we must do the same to others and show mercy, be forgiving.  We also must shine light where there is darkness and be a guide for others to bring them into the path of peace.

How do we find peace and lead others into the path of peace?  This week, I kept coming back to the words of Ari Mahler who spoke at Pittsburgh’s Symphony Concert for Tree of Life.  Mr. Mahler, a Jew, was the ER nurse on duty the night that the shooter was brought in.  He spoke of why and how he was able to care for him.

“…love is the only message I wish to instill in you.  Love.  That’s why I did it.  If my actions meant anything love means everything.  Love is why we care for the stranger, as we care for one another, as we care for ourselves.  Love as an action is more powerful than words, and love in the face of evil gives others hope.  It demonstrates humanity.  Love reaffirms why we’re all here.  The meaning of life is to give meaning to life, and love is the ultimate force that connects all living beings. 

Love deeply.  Love blindly.  Love faithfully.  Love unexpectedly.  Love without question.  Love with every breath.  Love the stranger, love those that are different, reaffirm love that has been lost, love yourself and equally love the world.  The more you love others, the more love you will find within. I believe in you.  I trust you.  I feel your heart beat as if it were my own.  Care for my heart as if it were your own.  Trust the heart, it’s the most beautiful possession we share.  I love you as if we are one.  Woven together to share the beauty of passion, the kindness of empathy, and the virtue of selflessness.  Love so that even when the world seems as dark as it did in Pittsburgh, love casts light.  Love me as I love you.  Love as if love is all that matters.” 

Jesus came to this earth to fulfill the promises of God, to bring salvation, to reveal the tender mercy of God, and break forth as light into the darkness and guide our way into the way of peace.  Zacharias sang of this and the purpose of his newborn son John to prepare the way of the Messiah in the days when Jesus walked the earth.

And now God has called us to prepare the way, to show the Messiah to those who have not heard or understood.  The only way to do that is through love.  May God guide your feet.

Amen.

Today's Sermon 12/2/18 - The First Sunday of Advent: God's Promise

God’s Promise

(based on Jeremiah 33:14-16)

It is that time of year again.  Snow is in the forecast, Christmas music is on the radio, Christmas lights are popping up everywhere, Christmas trees are going up, and we as Christians start out the season of the church year that we call advent.  The word Advent comes from the Latin Adventus, which means "arrival, approach, invasion, incursion, ripening, visit, or appearance.”  It is a holy season of the Christian church that marks a period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ.

Of all the definitions of this Latin word, adventus, I think I like "ripening" the best.  It certainly fits our passage this morning.  “The days are coming, when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.”  It’s a waiting period until the time was just right, until the fruit was at its peak of ripeness.

In anticipation of that time, we decorate with greenery everywhere, representing the evergreen hope, love, joy, and peace of the coming of our Lord.  The liturgical color is purple, signifying great royalty in the coming of our lord.  And the Advent Candles on the wreath, represent a journey… a journey each week bringing us closer and closer to Bethlehem.

Today is the first Sunday in advent, a Sunday represented by our first candle… the hope candle.  And with the story of a branch coming from the stump of the shepherd king, David to herald another type of Shepherd, visited by shepherds in the field and the lighting of today’s candle, we have begun our journey…the hope of God’s promise fulfilled.

But before we get too far ahead of ourselves… I have to ask a quick question of clarification.  What is hope?  It is a term that can so easily be thrown around. “I hope we have nice weather tomorrow.”  “I hope we have a white Christmas.”  “I hope the Steelers win.”  “You hope to see you soon.” But that is not the kind of hope that is represented by this lone candle burning brightly today.

The hope represented by this candle, is a much greater and much grander hope.  It represents the hope of an entire nation, it represents the hope of the entire world, fulfilled in a promise God made to us from the beginning, but one that was ripening over centuries/generations.

You know… we no doubt hear the Christmas story told every single year, but we forget what it was like before that very first Christmas; what it was like before the savior came.  Imagine yourselves in the time of the prophets or in the time of the shepherds from the Christmas story.

Their religious life was much different than our own.  Church was much more about following strict laws and coming into the sanctuary for the sole purpose of making sacrifice and offerings to pay the atonement for the breaking of the strict laws they were supposed to be following.

It was an endless cycle, try to follow laws that were impossible to follow, break the laws, and then make payment for your sins through burnt offerings and sacrifices.  Never being good enough, never being able to live up to the law, always falling short.  Can you imagine how tired, how defeated, how desperate one could begin to feel always coming up short, forever and ever having to pay your way into heaven and never finding quite enough there to make full payment.  Frustrating… yes… but there was God’s promise that one day, there would be a different way, there was HOPE.

If you read further in the passage of Jeremiah, he wrote to his people about the great hope that they had.  Verse 17 and 18, “for this is what the Lord says, “David will never fail to have a man sit on the throne of the house of Israel, nor will the priests, who are Levites, ever fail to have a man stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present sacrifices.”

The hope of the promise God made to them was that one day they would not have to keep coming back time after time to make sacrifices for their sins, to make atonement forever and ever… soon there would come a man who would do it for them continually.  

And although we didn’t read this part of the story yet, this year, you all know it - this is the hope that the shepherds have in their hearts the night that the angels appeared and gave them a message of great hope and joy.  The savior has been born.  No more “He is coming soon,” much rather… “HE IS HERE!”  Can you imagine the excitement… can you imagine the hope… the anticipation… the eagerness to run to Bethlehem to see the Lord.  The shepherds were overflowing with hope and filled with great joy. Because of what it meant for them, because of what it is supposed to mean for all of us.

Not sure of the origin of this story, but it is like this… Years ago, there was a very wealthy man who, with his devoted young son, shared a passion for art collecting. Together they traveled around the world, adding only the finest art treasures to their collection.  Priceless works by Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet and many others adorned the walls of the family estate.

The widowed father looked on with satisfaction as his only child became an experienced art collector.  But the day came when war engulfed the nation, and the young man left to serve his country.  After only a few short weeks, his father received a telegram that his beloved son had been killed while carrying a fellow soldier to a medic.

One morning a knock came at the door of the old man’s home, and as he opened the door, he was greeted by a soldier with a large package in his hand.  He introduced himself to the man by saying, “I was a friend of your son.  I was the one he was rescuing when he died.  May I come in for a few moments?  I have something to show you.”  “I’m somewhat of an artist,” said the soldier, “and I want to give you this.”

As the old man unwrapped the package, the paper gave way to reveal a portrait of his son.  Though the art critics would never consider the work a piece of genius, the painting did feature the young man’s face in striking detail and seemed to capture his personality.

The following spring, the old man became ill and passed away.  The art world was in anticipation!  According to the will of the old man, all of the art works would be auctioned.  The day soon arrived, and art collectors from around the world gathered to bid on some of the world’s most spectacular paintings.  The auction began with a painting that was not on any museum’s list.  It was the painting of the man’s son.

The auctioneer asked for an opening bid.  The room was silent.  “Who will open the bidding with $100?” he asked.  Minutes passed with not a sound from those who came to buy.  From the back of the room someone callously called out, “Who cares about that painting?  It’s just a picture of his son.  Let’s forget it and go on to the important paintings.”

There were other voices which echoed in agreement.  But the auctioneer replied, “No, we have to sell this one first.  Now, who will take the son?”  Finally, a friend of the old man spoke.  “I knew the boy, so I’d like to have it.  I will bid the $100.”  “I have a bid for $100,” called the auctioneer.  “Will anyone go higher?”  After a long silence, the auctioneer said, “Going once.  Going twice.  Gone.”

The gavel fell.  Cheers filled the room and someone was heard to say, “Now we can get on with it!”  But the auctioneer looked at the audience and announced the auction was over.  Stunned disbelief quieted the room. Someone spoke up and asked, “What do you mean it’s over?  We didn’t come here for a picture of some old guy’s son.  What about all of these paintings?  There are millions of dollars worth of art here!  We demand that you explain what’s going on!”  The auctioneer replied, “It’s very simple. According to the will of the father, whoever takes the son... gets it all.”

This message is the summary for what Christmas is really about – whoever accepts the son, gets it all.  As we begin our journey to Bethlehem, let us remember God’s promise to us in hope, that we do not take the gift offered to us for granted knowing the price that has been paid for our lives, and knowing what a joyous and hope-filled thing it is to celebrate the birth of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.

It is our Christ, our Savior, and our Lord who awaits us in Bethlehem. It is to him that we will journey these coming weeks, getting closer and closer to Bethlehem as we get closer and closer to the advent of his appearance.  May your hearts be filled with the great hope of expectation as we journey there.