First Lesson: Isaiah 9: 2-7
Second Lesson: Titus 2: 11-14
Gospel Lesson: Luke 2: 1-20

Grace and Peace from Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

In the last nine months, everything in Mary and Joseph’s life had changed.  First of all, Mary, a young girl of no more than fourteen, learns from the angel Gabriel that she will bear a child that she is to name “Jesus.”  As soon as Joseph heard this news, he didn’t believe it to be so for Joseph thought Mary’s claims of virginity were nothing more than lies or excuses.  Joseph took this news of a birth as an unpleasant shock.  Joseph’s original wish was to divorce Mary[1].  Joseph only ceases his initial plan once an angel appears to him in a dream. 

Now Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem.  Bethlehem was a mere 90 miles away from Nazareth where they lived[2].  The trip was not going to be an easy journey.  Whereas typical travelers could go 20 miles a day, this trip was going to be difficult 90 miles going uphill and downhill probably taking twice as long as average.  The journey would take them along the flatlands of the Jordan River, into the woods where they dreaded encountering lions, bears, and boars.  Even major roads ran the threat of encountering bandits and robbers.  For Mary and Joseph, this was not going to be a safe nor comfortable journey to Bethlehem.

There is no good reason that a pregnant Mary would want to travel to Bethlehem.  In fact, they probably dreaded the journey.  Mary and Joseph had no choice in the matter.  The Roman government was forcing everyone to go back to their “official residence” to be counted.  The Romans did this as a means of forcing every maximum dollar of tax revenue while also making sure that they had no shortage of troops on hand for the next battle.  The Romans counted everything they could from the trees in the grove to the number of cattle owned[3].  Here were Mary and Joseph being forced to travel to pay for the right to be oppressed by the most unfriendly of governments.  The announcement of the Roman Census would have been taken as anything but good news!  Think of the feeling of the Doctor calling you into his office with the need to talk.  The census would have seemed to have been the definition of an event out of which no good could come.  The census would serve as a reminder of a conquered people seemingly powerless to change their surroundings.  Mary and Joseph’s life had flipped in the past nine months and had no clue what the next nine months might bring. 

Christmas 2015 is a time of uncertainty for many within our community.  Due to a crisis within the U.S. Mining industry, many do not know where or if paychecks might come some months from now.  We face uncertain times as a community as we can easily say that the downside is much higher than the upside.  This uncertainty lies over all of us. 

Uncertainty was what faced Mary and Joseph on this night.  The night of Jesus’ birth was not going to be an easy night.  The night was anything but warm or comfortable.  Here was Joseph forced to take his pregnant wife to a cave to give birth on a ground surrounded by smelly, farm animals.  The night stood in sharp contrast to a Christmas Eve with nice clothes and pleasant aromas.  The night was desperate people being suffocated to misery by the census of an oppressive government.  There was little that one could say was good about a day such as this one.  The truth is Mary and Joseph’s story of trying to find purpose in the midst of turmoil is more like ours then we might imagine. 

I want to tell you a story today of one of the most miserable days of my life on January 17th, 1999.  The day began in Minneapolis watching the Vikings play the Atlanta Falcons with a trip to go to the Super Bowl on the line.  Any Vikings fan knows this story all too well, Gary Anderson misses the kick, the Vikings lost the game in the overtime.

I’ve walked out of wakes louder then walking out of the Metrodome with 60,000 plus people on that day.
I then began the 3 ½ hour drive up I-94 to Moorhead where I went to college.  Things looked pretty good until Alexandria when the snow started to fall.  Snow kept falling and falling.  I still had miles and miles to go.  Visibility kept getting worse and worse.  Nowadays I would have pulled over and gotten a motel room at the first sign of unpleasant weather.  Back then, as a college kid with no money I kept driving.  Pretty soon, I had no ability to see the road that lied ahead of me.  All I could hope for was to see other cars along the road to guide me.  I figured all I could do was follow lights. 

What is the meaning of Christmas, as I ponder this night?  I think of the journey of the Magi to Bethlehem guided by nothing by light[4].  I think of the famous words from the Gospel of John reflecting on Jesus birth that proclaim “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it[5].”

Somehow I made it to Moorhead that night almost as if I was being guided whose presence that I could not see.  My Dad had trained me to drive a few years prior, but nothing could prepare you for driving on a day such as this.  How do we respond to the unexpected of life as we ponder the birth of our Savior on this night.  There’s something interesting about the birth of Jesus.

Jesus’ birth reminds us how God works in some of the most unexpected ways imaginable.  Jesus was born in a manger because the inns in Bethlehem were full because of a census.  Mary and Joseph were so low on the social totem pole they ended up out there in spite of the size of Mary’s belly.  At the manger that night were shepherds.  Shepherds were basically the first century equivalent of transients or bums.  The whole story centers around an unwed mother.  Our story centers around the types of people seemingly shunned by the religious folk and even God himself. 

Pro Wrestling Legend Dusty Rhodes when one time describing the ups and downs of his life declared “I have wined and dined with kings and queens and I’ve slept in alleys and dined on pork and beans.”  Here was God coming into the world surrounded by the alley-dwelling pork and beans crowd.
I think one of the most valuable lessons of our Christmas story is that confronts the innate human belief that only greatness shall win out in the end. 
Social Worker Brene Brown comments, “When I look at narcissism…I see the shame-based fear of being ordinary.  I see the fear of never feeling extraordinary enough to be noticed, to be lovable, to belong, or to cultivate a sense of purpose[6].”

Christmas reminds us that God indeed dwells within the ordinary. 
The truth of Christmas is children might not become great students, superstar hockey players, or famous actors; teachers might not win awards, marriages or any human relationship will not inevitability be the things of fairy tales.

God still comes in the midst of this at Christmas to bring us hope.  God does not dwell with the rich and powerful but rather God lives with the homeless shepherds, unwed mothers, laid-off miners, elderly widows, and in the midst of a crowd of ordinary, broken-down Christian people. 
We will not leave tonight with our fears completely resolved.  Christmas is not a magic pill.  We will leave this place fearing the status of our relationships, our finances, and possibly even our health.  The crowd that gathers one year from now might look very different than it does tonight.  Be reminded that in the midst of our struggles, God will not abandon us. 

Nine months can change everything.  Nine months can bring financial windfall or financial ruin.  Nine months can bring the love of your life or see that person leave never to return. Nine months can bring healing or it can bring death.  Nine months can bring birth.  Nine months can bring hope.  Nine months can bring grace.  Nine months can bring salvation.  Nine months can bring light in the midst of darkness.  Nine months can bring a child born in a manager.  Amen


[1] Matthew 1:19
[2] Religion News Services. “A Long, Cold Road to Bethlehem: Nativity: Gospel Accounts of Mary and Joseph’s journey gloss over the arduous reality of life and travel in ancient Galilee”.  Los Angeles Times. 23. Dec.1995.Web. Dec.21.2015.
[3] Nelson Larned, Joseph. The New Larned History for Ready Reference: Volume 2.  1924. Google Books. Dec.24.2015.
[4] Matthew 2:1-12.
[5] John 1:5.
[6] The following Brown quote is from Daring Greatly. 

First Lesson: Micah 5: 2-5a
Responsive Reading: Luke 1: 46b-55
Second Lesson: Hebrews 10: 5-10
Gospel Lesson: Luke 1: 39-45

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

I want to tell you the story this morning of a girl who was cut-off from nearly everyone around her.  I want also to tell you the story of the woman who took her in when no one else would.  This morning’s Gospel lesson is the tale of Mary and Elizabeth[1].

As we reflect upon these ladies story, consider the emotions that Mary an unmarried woman her early teenage years was undergoing.  Mary’s pregnancy for many was not a joyous occasion; no one was going to believe that she was actually a virgin.  Mary probably had a hard time admitting it due to the circumstances.  Mary probably had to face the shame of her pregnancy alone because those around Mary were probably going to distance themselves from her[2].

Elizabeth was on the different end of the social spectrum from Mary.  Elizabeth lived in a culture where a woman was considered a failure if she didn’t produce children.  Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah had seemingly done everything right: they said their prayers, they watched Elizabeth’s health, and they waited until it seemed to be too late.  Zechariah went to the Temple nearly every day of his life praying for a child, still praying out of habit once it was thought to be no longer possible.  One day the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah announcing that his wife Elizabeth would bear a son.  Zechariah’s doubt that this would actually happen was so strong that he went mute until the day of the child’s birth.

So here were two women united by their pregnancies because they had no one else but each other.  No one else who would believe their story!  As we look around the congregation today, not many of you probably think that you are going through what Mary and Elizabeth were going through.  We don’t have teenage moms or previous barren pregnant women surrounding us, yet Mary and Elizabeth’s story matters to us on this day.

We have people within our congregation on this morning that are struggling with many of the emotions underwent by Mary and Elizabeth during the holiday season.  For many people within our midst, Christmas is one of the most painful times of the year[3].  Christmas for many people will be a painful time reflecting upon loss of their loved ones; this loss occurs on either an emotional or a physical level.  Christmas breaks people like no other time of the year.  People’s joyous celebrations often bring pain to the lonely, and sad.  Many people go through the Holiday season struggling with the question of whether “Are they worthy of love in their lives?” 

Some years ago, the band Bowling for Soup wrote a song entitled “High School Never Ends[4]” which says how we claim to be wiser and more mature as the years pass us by, but society still defines by beauty, status, and power.  So even though on the surface Mary and Elizabeth were quite different in many ways they were quite similar.  Their same emotional needs were why these women needed to come together.
Ultimately in the absence of connection, there is suffering.  The world is full of people trying to get and keep connection[5].

Mary stays with Elizabeth for three months before returning home.  One interesting thing about the tale of Mary and Elizabeth is that it never has Mary telling Elizabeth her big secret of a virgin birth.  Elizabeth seems naturally knows her secret.  Perhaps Elizabeth’s knowledge helped convince a scared, young girl in Mary that God’s plan would eventually come to fruition in her. 

As we hear the story of Mary and Elizabeth, their story might seem unique.  Although their story is similar to many people’s stories of going through life seemingly more and more isolated from the world around them only to be brought back by God’s promise.

Think of the Biblical story of Zacchaeus[6].  Zacchaeus was a Jew, who sold out to the Roman Government.  All of Zacchaeus's former friends wanted nothing to do with him.  Zacchaeus had experienced all sorts of rejection in life but made all kinds of money along the way. 

Zacchaeus eventually becomes so desperate for love and affection that he dares to climb a tree to see Jesus.  Zacchaeus probably looked like a fool to everyone watching him, but he just didn’t care.  Jesus finally spots Zacchaeus.  Jesus’ response to Zacchaeus is interesting in that Jesus never seeks to point out to Zacchaeus where his life went wrong.  The truth is Zacchaeus knew better than anybody where his life went wrong.  Zacchaeus knew his sin and shame better than anyone else, yet Jesus vowed not to leave his side. Jesus deemed that Zacchaeus was worthy of receiving love, no matter what anyone thought about his situation.

The need for connection in the midst of despair brings to my mind another Bible story that we all know.  The story of the Woman at the well in the Samaritan village of Sychar in John 4[7].  If anyone could go through life thinking that they are not good enough for Jesus, it would be this woman.  The woman at the well had a string of failed marriages, and was now living with another man out of wedlock.  Jesus still approached this woman.  Jesus interacting with the woman at the well was probably going to cause people to start spreading all kinds of rumors about their relationship.  For this, Jesus wasn’t going to care because his message is more powerful than a million people’s small words.  Jesus doesn’t ignore her situation or dismiss it as a sign of the times.  Jesus ironically enough never issues a word of judgment toward her.  Jesus knew that this woman was vulnerable and hurting.  Jesus merely seeks to tell her that the Gospel is for her.  Jesus is reminding her that there is no confession or isolation too far from which a return is not possible.

When I was working in Lamberton, I had a congregation member that I’ll call Phil, who was in recovery.  I didn’t know Phil very well since he was very rarely in the church.  One day, Phil approaches me wishing to get together to complete the fifth step of his AA program.  The 5th step is called the step of confession where we admit our wrongs to another human being.  Opening this stuff to a complete stranger for Phil was going to be hard.  As soon as we sit down, I let Phil know that I understood what he was going through.  I talked to Phil about how easy it is to give into emotional pain having grown up around my Grandma’s alcoholism as a child.  I didn’t believe Phil to be a worst sinner than any other sinner; I merely let Phil know that he had made different bad decisions[8].  Phil’s decisions could not be separate from the human realities of how we all have pain! Each of us has hurt deep down inside! I remember several months after this visit Phil talking to me saying that this was probably going to be the best conversation of his life.  No conversation between individuals was going to be more authentic as we dared to embrace each other’s rough edges and vulnerabilities.  Phil was in church nearly every Sunday after that because his whole outlook on church and forgiveness changes after completing his 5th step.

The interesting thing about Mary and Elizabeth’s relationship is it bounded by their mutual trust that God will deliver them from their present isolation.  God will one day take away their shame.

The movie Good Will Hunting tells the story of Will Hunting an orphan that grew up on the wrong side of the tracks.  What made Will Hunting unique is that he is a genius.  A genius that seeks to run away from his gifts at every opportunity because of his pain.  When he meets a girl, he lies to her about having twelve brothers because Will didn’t want to admit to being an orphan.  Will goes through life terrified that the secret of his past will be exposed opening himself up to another painful rejection.  Will’s natural instinct is to run from any personal commitment.  Will Hunting was caught up in a never-ending cycle of shame-isolation-loneliness[9].  Will would always respond to this period though either cigarettes, alcohol, or fighting.  The break though in the whole movie occurs when Will’s therapist one day embraces him while assuring him “It’s not your fault.”  You are not to blame for how other people have made you see yourself. 
Will Hunting is not unique.  I remember the night before my sister Anne started at Concordia, she asks me “What if I don’t make any friends?”.  Anne’s question seemed like a strange question at the time considering she was the prom queen at a relatively large high school; Anne is plenty outgoing yet even Anne struggled with these questions of “Who will accept me?”

Mary faced this question during her pregnancy.  Mary knew that a higher spiritual purpose was at work within her.  The words of Isaiah 61 shed insight on this question “He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound[10]”.  People being set free because of the coming birth of the Messiah above all else is the reality of the Christmas season.

There is no better person to make this point then Linus of Charlie Brown fame.  Everyone knows Linus for his famous security blanket.  Linus would never be seen anywhere without the blue blanket[11].  Lucy, Snoopy, and Sally try everything to get Linus to drop his security blanket.  Linus’ blanket for some served as a source of his ridicule, but Linus could never let it go.  The truth is Linus is more like us than we might imagine.  We all have our blue blankets.  We all have our ways of shielding ourselves from the truth of the world around us.  For many people, this might be their spiritual pride as they to cling towards bitterness, anger, and judgment towards other people.  For other people, it might be spiritual despair wishing to cut ourselves off from the world around us for fear of never getting hurt.  Blue blankets take many forms. 

This year has been fifty years since the Charlie Brown Christmas first came on the air.  As the Christmas pageant falls apart, Linus the one who was thought to lack courage interrupts.  Linus starts reading the Christmas story from Luke 2[12] when he starts reading something happens as Linus says the words of the angel to the shepherds “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people[13].” Linus drops his blanket in front of the entire world. Linus is exposed.  Linus’ sin and shame is on the stage for the whole world to see.

This scene brings us back to our Gospel lesson for today.  The thing about the Gospel of Jesus is Jesus sees us as we are, Jesus doesn’t demand that we cover ourselves in his presence.  Jesus sees our shame, sees our guilt, and declares your sins to be forgiven. 

Mary approaches her cousin Elizabeth today in the weakest and most vulnerable positions.  Mary approaches Elizabeth as a scared, young girl with the weight of the world upon her shoulders.  Mary had her secret, yet then she saw Elizabeth.  When Elizabeth came into Mary’s presence, the lesson says that “She is filled with the Holy Spirit[14].”

Mary was not going to be alone through her ordeals.  In Elizabeth, Mary was going to experience unconditional love and acceptance to heal her from the pain of the world around her.  Just as we shall experience the unconditional love and acceptance of Jesus to heal us from the pain of the world around us.  What Christ’s acceptance of us should allow us to find grace not only in our imperfections but the imperfections of others.

We know the end of this story.  Elizabeth gives birth to a son named John.  John would become famous for his baptisms.  Mary gives birth to a son named Jesus.  The tale of these women’s pregnancies is not a story of healing or everything instantly becoming right within their lives.  The tale of Mary and Elizabeth’s pregnancies is a story of the redemption of God bringing unto these women his grace and salvation.
Mary was always going to have walk around with the emotions and physical scars of her pregnancy.  Elizabeth would never be able to escape the painful years of seeking to conceive a child within her youth.  Mary and Elizabeth though would be made whole.

The story of Mary and Elizabeth points to many of the ways in which God is working within our world today[15].  God is working in the lives of people that many might choose to isolate or cast out.  The new reality of God’s grace is that the people that we consider to be shameful, God considers them to be holy.  This new reality of God’s grace is all around us even as difficult as might be for many of us to see on this day.  Amen
 
 

[1] Luke 1:39-45
[2] Jones, Judith. “Commentary on Luke 1:39-45(46-55).” Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. 20.Dec.2015. web. Dec.15.2015.
[3] This paragraph was influenced by a reflection by Dr. Jeannie Miller Clarkson entitled “Speaking to Christmas Pain Brings Christmas Peace” . JeannieMillerClarkson.com. 10.Dec.2015. Web. Dec.15.2015
[4] Bowling for Soup. “High School Never Ends.”The Great Burrito Extortion Case. Jive Recors. 2006. CD.
[5] Zimmerman, Aaron M.G. “Brene Brown and the End of Shame”.  MBird (Mockingbird Ministries). 1.Nov.2012. Web. Dec.15.2015.
[6] Luke 19:1-10
[7] John 4:1-30
[8] This thought process on the difference between shame/guilt comes from Brene Brown’s Daring Greatly. Penguin Random House. 2012.
[9] Kozo Hattari, Makala. “What Good Will Hunting Teaches Us About Men, Shame, and Suicide. “ Good Men Project. 12. Nov.2014. Web. Dec.15.2015.
[10] Isaiah 61:1
[11] Soroski, Jason. “Just Drop the Blanket: The Moment You Never Noticed in A Charlie Brown Christmas.”  Crosswalk . 14. Dec.2015. Web. Dec.15.2015.
[12] Luke 2:10
[13] Soroski, Jason. “Just Drop the Blanket: The Moment You Never Noticed in A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
[14] Luke 1:41
[15] Jones, Judith. “Commentary on Luke 1:39-45(46-55).”

First Lesson: Zephaniah 3: 14-20
Responsive Reading: Isaiah 12: 2-6
Second Lesson: Philippians 4: 4-7
Gospel Lesson: Luke 3: 7-18

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

Last Sunday, I attended church at our sister church in Stacy, Minnesota in Saint John’s Lutheran[1].  During the sermon Pastor Ed Wheatley told the tale of a funeral for a woman named Dolores that had happened the day before.  No matter how many funerals you’ve attended, I bet you’ve never attended a funeral like this one.  Dolores had a grandson let’s say in his early 20’s that was going through some rough times in life.  The grandson had been spending the last few weeks before his grandmother’s funeral protesting down at the fourth precinct in Minneapolis regarding the police shooting death of Jamar Clark.  The grandson becomes overwhelmed by all the emotions of the past few weeks at his grandmother’s funeral.  The young man pretty soon cannot be calmed or controlled by those within the church.  The local police had to be called in to constrain him.  Words were doing no good, so the cops had no choice but to fire rubber bullets at the young man inside the church as a way of hoping to restrain him.  Pastor Wheatley commented that this was the first known shooting in the history of the church.

What this story highlights is the uncertainty of the world around us.  The most common of occasions can quickly turn into the scariest of realities. 

This story brings us into the frame of mind for our advent season.  We might not be able to explain Advent well, but the message of Advent is the darkness that is all around us.  You see this darkness when you turn on the nightly news, we encounter this darkness when you experience people’s personal pain with no good words of comfort, and we are seemingly often overwhelmed with senseless death.  What we must remember is that at times such as these is that our expectations of this world are ultimately not God’s expectations.

Today’s Gospel lesson comes to us from Luke 3.  It contains a story from the life of John the Baptist.  In the lesson for today, some very interesting people approach John the Baptist to ask the question “What sir shall we do to inherit eternal life?”

These were not the type of men that you would expect to approach John the Baptist.  These men approaching was the equivalent of members of ISIS coming near a prominent Christian minister today to inquire regarding the significant answers of life and death.  The men that approached John the Baptist were tax collectors and soldiers who worked for the hated Roman government.  These men made their living as reverse Robin Hoods stealing from the poor to give to the rich.  These men were the Pro-Wrestling villains who everyone boo’s as soon as they walk into the arena.  Here they were coming to locust-eating, wilderness living John the Baptist. 

This was a definite clash of extremes when it came to how they viewed the world: power versus piety.  While these men might have seemed like a strange sight in the presence of John the Baptist.  These social and religious outcasts were the type of men whom John often preached.  John preached to the riff-raff of society.  John preached to misfits.  Plenty of people probably didn’t want John the Baptist to go to the types of people that he went to.  John is preaching to those who endure the struggle between judgment and hope nearly every single day of their lives.  John’s aim is to break down the walls of spiritual pride that exist within so many by bringing grace to those society deemed to be the most heinous of sinners.  John is saying to these people that God does not see you like everyone else may see you. 

John’s whole preaching is about seeking to prepare those within the world for a stronger, better world.  John is seeking to prepare people for the one who will baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit[2].  John the Baptist is seeking to remind people that the future is less uncertain than it may seem.

The big story of the last week was the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California.  The aftermath of the shooting was predictable with people’s instant reactions having to do with either redoing our gun policy or immigration policy.  These responses seem to me to miss the mark as the mess in San Bernardino isn’t a problem that we can easily fix by assigning free-will to inanimate objects, nor by only allowing the right kind of people into this country versus the wrong type of people.  What the San Bernardino shooting reminds us is that the world is how much of an epidemic that sin is in the world around us even as people fight their hardest to deny its existence.
In the wake of the shooting a headline in the New York Daily News blasted out “God isn’t fixing this[3]?”  The problem with headlines such as this is they assume that God is standing idly by as the world descends into darkness[4].  The problem that too many people have is they believe Adam and Eve never fell from a tree, so they don’t know how to respond to events such as these other than blaming certain people or even God himself.  What the headline failed to recognize is what our Gospel lesson for today tells us about God’s response to sin and evil. 

On this day, John the Baptist was preaching to a fractured world.  John the Baptist was still inviting his people’s worst enemies into his presence.  John the Baptist was seeking to give them a way forward in the midst of their despair.  John the Baptist was seeking to proclaim that even when times are the darkest, the savior is on the horizon.  The savior who would soon be known as Jesus was coming not just to judge the world but ultimately grant unto the world forgiveness.

Today in our Gospel lesson the tax collectors and soldiers ask, “What must we do[5]?”  These are the questions that plenty of people have been asking within the last week as people debate hot-button issues such as gun control and immigration.  What might John the Baptist preach to us on this day as we grapple on this day?  John would tell us to repent of the spiritual pride that we cling to claiming to have all the answers.  We must remember that whenever we enter into any discussion that WE ARE NOT GOD!
We must acknowledge that as broken as the world around is we do not have the power to fix it.  Our limited power though does not mean that we lack hope.  We do have hope!  This hope is soon about to come down from heaven by way of a child.  John the Baptist’s preaching on this day is to those who came to him wanting change.  John’s preaching is for those who yearn for a new way of life. 

How can we make sense of this Advent season?  How do we make sense of a world filled with shootings and political discord?  As stated by C. J. Green Advent is “a season that reminds us that there has to be death before there can be life.  There has to be struggle before there is triumph[6].”  No one in this room has survived 30, 40, 50, 60 years of marriage without our sorts of challenges coming before you together.  What Advent reminds us is that no matter how much the world surrounding you, might be beating you down that there is hope that is present as we gaze unto the sky looked at by shepherds at night.  Advent serves as a reminder that the time of death must occur before the day of resurrection. 

I want to close this morning by telling you the story of the Mayfield family[7].  The Mayfield family’s year was a disaster.  Both parents had to quit their jobs.  Mom had a really traumatic pregnancy, nearly dying at child birth having to he hospitalized for several days.  They had to move across the country saying goodbye to friends and a job they loved.  The newborn baby never did learn to sleep any good.  Their van died for good.  They were forced to move to a cramped, apartment.  Dad got a new job, but debt still reigned supreme.  Every month they hoped they could get off food stamps, yet it hasn’t happened yet.  Mom working as a writer struggled to compose her thoughts to paper.  Both Mom and Dad struggled with sleep.  The Mayfield’s were so beaten down by it all that they became increasingly isolated from their family and friends.  Every day became a fight for survival.  Everything that could have gone wrong in the last year did go wrong.  Worst of all a car had crashed into their daughter’s bedroom wall.  After a few days away from the worst home life that anyone could imagine, the Mayfield’s returned to their apartment. 

The Mayfield’s in the midst of disaster begin to see the signs of hope[8].  They see hope whenever they see the baby’s dimples.  They see hope whenever their daughter makes new friends.  They see hope when neighbors drop by food that they’ve never tasted before.  They see hope when the newborn baby begins to crawl.  They see hope when their life comes together enough to show up in a church on a Sunday morning.
You see as the Mayfield’s had a year that was probably worse then your year they came to realize something about their lord and savior, Jesus never left their side[9].  Jesus stood beside them in the arena that we call “life.”  You see Advent is above all else a season of hope.  Within Advent, we come to terms with the most complex of human emotions: the sadness of the forthcoming holiday season, the waiting for things to turn around; and the longing for all things to be made new[10]. 

As I reflect on our Gospel lesson for today, I reflect upon the words of the Prophet Isaiah:
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone[11].”

Advent reminds us that as shootings take place all around us, as Politicians say all kinds of nasty things about each other, as the worst of sinners stand before us.  As the world around us crumbles, something different lies just around the corner.  A new birth is on the horizon.  Christmas is indeed coming soon.  Amen


[1] The story comes from Pastor Wheatley’s December 6th, 2015 sermon at Saint John’s.
[2] Luke 3:16
[3] The headline comes from the December 3rd edition of the New York Daily News
[4] Burk, Denny. “Christmas means that God is fixing this”. Denny Burk.com. 3.Dec.2015. Web. Dec.12.2015. 
[5] Luke 3:10
[6] Green, C.J. “The Life, Death, Life Cycle”. Mockingbird. 9.Dec.2015. Web. Dec.12.2015.
[7] Mayfield, D.L. “The Brutally Honest Christmas Card.” DL Mayfield.com. 9.Dec.2015. Web. Dec.11.2015.
[8] Mayfield, D.L. “The Brutally Honest Christmas Card.”
[9] Mayfield, D.L. “The Brutally Honest Christmas Card.”
[10] Mayfield, DL. “The Brutally Honest Christmas Card.”
[11] Isaiah 9:2