Christmas Eve, 2014 TEXTS: Micah 5: 2-5a, Isaiah 9: 2-7, Isaiah 35 and 1 Corinthians 1: 4-9 Merry Christmas! We gather here tonight to witness, to testify to the truth revealed in Jesus that Hope in God breeds Faith or Trust which in turn brings Love into the world. Say that again, If you have hope because of what God has said, and you trust in God through Jesus, you will be a part of God’s bringing love into the world. Isaiah is sating as much. He reminds the people that even through the exile, even through what some considered abandonment by God, God was faithful. God spoke hope even in bringing them into exile, hope that they would learn to trust, hope that the world would be renewed, hope that God’s Good News would become reality for even more people. And that hope built trust or faith as the people learned their identity again, as they struggled with what it meant to follow God when all the trappings of a country, a religious system, and the convenience of saying you were a Jew, all of it was swept away and now being a Jew was strange and difficult. When you could no longer take for granted what God’s covenant meant, how were you to follow? By hope in faith. And that turned into joy and freedom and renewal that brought forth love as the wilderness blossomed and the city was restored, and a people walking in the darkness of sin and exile had seen a new light. That tradition, that basic understanding of the faith also gripped the prophets like Micah. Religion was a way to control God and bring about your own benefit. Daily living was focused on getting ahead. The covenant was again lost as the people forgot about the community, forgot about God. But there was hope—a new shepherd. There was hope—a day when even the coming of an army did not shake confidence in God. For the prophet trusted God and then saw God’s faithfulness and peace. And that trust brought love into the world as God restored the people and the covenant. Mary and Joseph ring out with this same story. A poor peasant girl, young and afraid, being visited by an angel and told a wondrous story. An older man feeling betrayed by his wife-to-be, finding her pregnant and he not the father, being visited by an angel. Both given hope that this was a new beginning, not an ending. Both trusting God, even with the Roman oppression and the social isolation and the hardship of the traveling, bringing forth love into the world. Making the dark night burst forth with the light of angels. Marveling at the shepherds coming to hail the king that was their helpless newborn. Clinging to the love which was theirs in this new family, but was also for the whole world to restore and renew and rescue and bring love. What is your tradition of hope, faith, and love at Christmas? Phillip Gardner was a simple man. He had farmed for 52 years and he and Gladys had moved into town 2 years ago. It was Christmas and all the kids were coming home. All the kids, the two boys and his little girl. And they were bringing their kids too. It would be a busy house! All the food, the laughter, the running and noise---he couldn’t wait. Christmas was always his favorite time of year. And this year it would be special, because it might be his last one. That prostate cancer was winning, but he wouldn’t let on. He would live in the hope of his family. Gladys made all the right things—the candied ham, the apple streusel, the sweet potato casserole, the almond bread, the creamed corn, and the best salads you could imagine. And each of the kids brought their own favorite dishes too. Gladys was clever that way, making sure they had a monumental feast with all their favorites but making the division of work fun! And when the grandkids had arrived Christmas Eve afternoon they sat with their grandma and made sugar cookies and those little cheesecake cupcakes he loved. She could probably make cleaning their rooms seem fun if they lived there, like she did so long ago with their kids, making them find the pickle in their rooms for the extra chocolate cookie. He just adored Gladys and that love flowed into their kids and grandkids. To think that all came from the hope of her saying yes 49 years ago at that movie. That night, he made a fire in the fireplace and the he made S’mores with his boys. Watching them helping their own boys and watching how even Mike in his 46th year could squeal with delight when that marshmallow goodness hit his tongue made Phillip smile. What could be better? Carol, his daughter, came into the living room then, wrapped from head to toe in her coat and holding 5 boxes he knew were filled with cookies. “Time to bring this joy to some others.” They all got in the cars and drove first to the Peterson’s, then to the Rainmakers. After singing carols and delivering the cookies to the neighbors, Joseph led the car caravan to the county jail. He met brother Marty there and they took one of the boxes inside. His family sang two songs and wished the three men inside a Merry Christmas. One of them sneered and said it was easy being Merry when the cops didn’t have you all locked up. And before anyone could respond, Phillip’s youngest grandson Tom looked the prisoner in the eye and said “Jesus brings hope even to prisoners, even to kids like me. Merry Christmas sir, and the green wreaths are the ones I made for you. They are the best!” The caravan continued to another house with a new family in town and yet another where an older couple lived. When the family got back to the house, Phillip was tired but full of joy. His oldest son Kelly called everyone to the fire again and he read the Luke story of Jesus’s birth. Kerry, Kelly’s 7 year old was sitting snuggly in his grandpa’s lap. Wonder what it was like to have all those shepherds just show up like that. Grandpa, if they came here I think they would have loved the S’mores—I do. Phillip tickled him and agreed. He said a prayer in his heart thanking God who had turned that hope he and Gladys shared into trust and now into so much love. Christmas and all its traditions was the best way for Phillip to see the love of God in Jesus at work. And he treasured all these things that last Christmas, writing them down in a journal. The story of Christmas is the story of hope and trust revealed in a new covenant that the Jews of the Exile knew in Isaiah. It is the story of trust that the prophets knew in how God’s plan would turn the world upside down, all in his care as a good shepherd like Micah tells us. It is the trust and simple peace that Joseph and Mary showed that was burst into love and light in that manger all those years ago. And it is the love that springs from the hopes and faith we share just like Phillip and Gladys, shown in Christmas traditions, in Christmas acts of love and cookies. Hear what Paul said about that hope and faith turning into love in his first letter to the Corinthians… (Read 1 Cor 1: 4-9) I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 15:21:17 +0000
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