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.
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