Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
The night on which we gather is most known for two things. The first is the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. The second is a man known as Santa Claus bringing joy throughout the world. These two statements might seem to be unrelated from each other. It was the man who came to be known as Santa Claus, who in a unique bit of history helped define the true meaning of Christ’s birth. The story starts about 270 years after the birth of Christ in a small village in what was then Greece[1]. A young man named Nicholas was born to some very wealthy parents. Nicholas grew up as a devout Christian, which helped sustain him as he lost his parents at a very young age. So, Nicholas received a significant inheritance that he became renowned far and wide for his giving of gifts to the sick, needy, and especially his love of children. Once upon a time: Nicholas came across a family that was down on its luck[2]. The Father had been unable to work for months. The family was hungry and forced to beg on the streets. This saddened Nicolas, so he went to the Marketplace and bought a large sack of food, then in the middle of the night, laid the sack on the door, knocked, and vanished anonymously into the darkness. The most well-known story of Nicholas’ generosity includes the day’s traditions where fathers would pay dowries for their daughters to marry a good husband[3]. Well, one father had three daughters and little money. The daughters without the dowry seemed likely to end up in slavery. Only for on three different mysterious occasions, bags of gold were tossed into the home’s open windows landing in stockings left by the fireplace. Nicholas’ secret act was discovered and fame spread. Nicholas’ legend led to children throughout the land, hanging similar stockings awaiting a gift from Nicholas the gift-giver. Well Nicholas above all else dedicated his life to serving God. Nicolas became the Bishop of Myra as a young man. When Nicholas was a Bishop, the common wardrobe was the wearing of red robes[4]. Well during Nicholas’ life something remarkable happened within the Christian Church. The same Roman Empire which had forced Mary and Joseph to travel to Bethlehem, the same Roman Empire who appointed Herod the Great that tried to kill the Christ Child. This Roman Empire during Nicholas’ life saw their Emperor convert to Christianity and the empire along with it. A short time later, a big meeting took place in Nicea to determine what exactly the Christian Church believed about the Birth of Jesus Christ[5]. One side argued that on that night in Bethlehem, a child was born, no different than every other child born before him merely possessing the presence of God in his life. The man who came to be known as Saint Nicholas would argue instead that the child born in Bethlehem was God crashing down from the heavens in human flesh. The child born doesn’t merely point the way to God’s salvation, but is God’s salvation himself. Nicholas got so worked up during this debate he ended up slapping his opponents and spending the night in jail. Saint Nicholas perhaps more than any human being that ever lived understood that there is no such thing as a “Christ”-less Christmas[6], anything that minimizes Jesus in the salvation story misses the true meaning of the season. So how did Saint Nicholas become Santa Claus? Saint Nicholas remained popular like few saints in the years after his death. December 6th the day of his death came to be celebrated through the sharing of candies, small gifts, nuts, and apples being placed around the house as a way to remember Saint Nicholas the gift-giver[7]. Martin Luther suggested changing the day of gift-giving from December 6th to December 24th/25th to draw attention to Christ being the true-gift giver to the children of the land[8]. The popularity of Saint Nicholas lived on even as German immigrants moved to this country. In 1823, a very popular poem by a seminary professor was written of which you may have heard titled “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” also known as “The Night Before Christmas[9].” The Saint Nicholas in this poem was: dressed in red fur, rosy cheeks, a white beard, a round belly, and a bundle of toys upon his back[10]. Other popular poems around this time describe a Saint Nicholas like figure arriving from the North upon flying reindeer[11]. The legend of Saint Nicholas helped spread Christmas observance in this country making Christmas carols popular and bringing more children to the newly found Sunday School movement to participate in pageants[12]. Eventually Harper’s Weekly which was a very popular magazine in the wake of the Civil War would publish drawings of Saint Nicholas but change the pronunciation to the Dutch translation of Saint Nicholas “Sinterklass[13].” Saint Nicholas though did not merely bring gifts on Christmas but saved Christmas’ true meaning. Saint Nicholas began his life no different than the Shepherds, Joseph, and Mary who star in our Christmas story. Saint Nicholas was an outcast on account of his faith from the world’s most powerful empire. Nicholas was a Bishop in days when Bishops were routinely imprisoned by this same empire[14]. The most powerful message of the Christmas story is one that would come to define Saint Nicholas’ life: Caeser Augustus might appear to be in control of the story and of the future[15]. Poor shepherds in a field might seem to be nothing more than undereducated, social outcasts. Mary might be nothing more than a scared, young child giving birth to a baby boy in an a strange/ unfamiliar way. Someday, this child soon to be born will triumph over all the forces of this world. The following is the Good News which the Angels proclaim! God was Born in a Manger; God was born Immanuel “For He Will Save the People from their Sins[16].” Saint Nicholas spent a night in Jail because he was so convinced of this. Christians ever since have come to believe it, On this day: “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.[17]”. In 1934, the famous Christmas classic Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town [18]was written. The theme of the song is that the reason we celebrate the Christmas season is Santa Claus’ presence if and only if we’ve been good enough to make his list. Saint Nicholas saw a much different meaning for the season. Jesus Christ was born for us, regardless of how good we’ve been. It is this Christ Child who on this night delivers the greatest of all gifts in the hope of his salvation that is to come. Amen [1] “Saint Nicholas.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 11.Dec.2018. Web. Dec.12.2018. [2] Stier, Leon. “Santa’s First Job.” Email Meditations. 28.Nov.2016. Web. Dec.12.2018. [3] [4] Vander Zee, Leonard. “Santa Claus Saves Christmas.” South Bend Christian Reformed Church. South Bend, IN. 25.Dec.2005. Web. Dec.12.2018. Taken from Saint Nicholas Center. [5] Vander Zee, Leonard. “Santa Claus Saves Christmas.” South Bend Christian Reformed Church. [6] Veith, Gene Edward. “Slappy holiday: Why not take the Santa Claus tradition a little further?” World Magazine. 24.Dec.2005. Web. Dec.12.2018. [7] Saint Nicholas Center. “Saint Nicholas and the Origin of Santa Claus.” Web. Dec.12.2018. [8] Swartz, David. “A Very Not-So-Merry Christmas: How Protestantism Nearly Killed St. Nick.” Saint Nicholas Center. Web. Dec.12.2018. [9] Saint Nicholas Center. “Saint Nicholas and the Origin of Santa Claus.” [10] “A Visit from Saint Nicholas.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 12.Dec.2018. Web. Dec.12.2018. [11] The most prevelant of these being the 1821 work by William Gilley The Children’s Friend which described Sancte Claus. Gilley was a close friend of Clement Clarke Moore. [12] Saint Nicholas Center. “Saint Nicholas and the Origin of Santa Claus.” [13] Saint Nicholas Center. “Saint Nicholas and the Origin of Santa Claus.” The cartoonist involved was Thomas Nast. [14] Vander Zee, Leonard. “Santa Claus Saves Christmas.” South Bend Christian Reformed Church. [15] Saraas, Niveen. “Commentary on Luke 2:[1-7] 8-20.” Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. 24.Dec.2018. Web. Dec.12.2018. [16] Matthew 1:21,23. [17] John 1:14 [18] “Santa Claus is Comin to Town.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 11.Dec.2018. Web. Dec.12.2018. First Lesson: Micah 5: 2-5a Responsive Reading: Psalm 80: 1-7 Second Lesson: Hebrews 10: 5-10 Gospel Lesson: Luke 1: 39-45, (46-55) Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Let me begin by telling you the story of a gentleman named Phillips Brooks. Brooks was born in 1835 in Boston. He was the great-grandson of Samuel Phillips Jr. one of the great pioneers in American education[1]. Brooks eventually enrolls in Harvard. Upon graduation, he got a job in Boston teaching Latin. Brooks was quickly fired and this event drove him into a trigger of despair. Brooks believed himself to be a failure! Brooks proclaimed “I do not know what will become of me and I do not care much. I wish I were fifteen years old again[2]. “ Brooks with an uncertain future enrolls in Seminary. Brooks graduates and becomes a Pastor in Philadelphia. In 1865, Brooks took a trip to the holy land. On Christmas Eve, Brooks makes a horse trip from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. While in Bethlehem, he saw the fields where the angel visited the Shepherds tending to their flocks on the night of Christ’s birth[3]. Brooks then proceeded to attend midnight services which lasted from 10 PM to 3 AM at the Church of the Nativity thought to be the cave where Jesus was born. The service deeply moved Brooks. The memories of his time in Bethlehem never left him. Three years later, Brooks was back serving his church outside Philadelphia. His church was planning their annual Sunday school Christmas program[4]. Brooks and his organist Lewis Redner were lacking a song to tie it all together. Brooks sat down in one setting to write a reflection of his previous trip to Bethlehem. Redner, the Organist on a Saturday night before rehearsal unable to think of a tune for Brooks’ carol, went to bed only to seemingly be woken up in the middle of the night by what seemed to be an angel of the Lord delivering the perfect treble before Sunday’s church services. The lyrics which seemed to destined for the dustbin of history after the Sunday School program were soon printed by a local bookstore, and eventually picked up for a hymnal for Sunday school children[5]. Brooks’ Christmas Carol is known as “O Little Town of Bethlehem[6].” The hymn’s tale in many ways mirrors the story of our lesson from Micah 5[7]. Micah’s lesson was written at a time when the Assyrian army threatened to devour all of Northern Israel along with its ten small tribes. A town as small as Bethlehem would not even be able to muster any sort of army for resistance[8]. The Assyrians would be seeming to claim the land as their own. What the Hymn reminds us of is Phillip Brooks seemed destined for failure, the people of Bethlehem seemed destined for conquest in the eyes of men, but in God’s eyes, there was a big plan in place having to do with the Messiah eventually being born within this smallest of towns[9]. The Book of Micah tells the story of dark days in Israel’s history. Among the injustices taking place where the rich had schemed to take away land from the poor, widows have been evicted from their homes, and wicked rulers endorse the worship of not the God of Israel, but foreign gods. Israel was in dark days both socially and spiritually to say nothing about the threat posed by their great enemies in these days the Assyrians[10]. In these dark days, The Book of Micah gives a word of great hope: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah. though you are small among the clans[b] of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times[11].” Why was Jesus born in Bethlehem? Bethlehem was the city of David who was Israel’s greatest king[12]. David seemed to be an unlikely choice to be a great king. He was Jesse’s youngest and seemingly weakest son, in a society where older sons would claim double portions of inheritance. It was David who not only slayed the giant Goliath but would bring eventual peace and prosperity to the land of Israel like no other time in its history. So now in Bethlehem, not mighty Jerusalem several miles down the road another child would be born in a lowly and unassuming manager to usher in a Kingdom that would go beyond all the kingdoms of the world that came before it. In the Gospel of Matthew, the wise men appear before King Herod to inform him of the birth of the Messiah within these smallest of villages[13]. Micah gave the great word of hope to people that yearned for spiritual peace when it seemed unattainable[14]. Author Barbara Brown Taylor tells the following story[15]. Once upon a time a small congregation such as this one was having their Christmas Eve service. The congregation was in need of a reader. Finally, a woman signs up to read when no one seemingly would. The thing was this woman was having a hard time like the people within Micah’s day of her own. She was in the midst of chemotherapy to treat the most aggressive of cancers. Her body was weak and she was required to bring an oxygen tank with her to the lecturn. She began then to read the great word of Gospel hope of what was to come, no different than Micah, as her oxygen tank is humming along with the reading loud enough for everyone to hear[16]. The story reminds us that it is in the harshest ravages of this world that our Lord truly comes with a word of promise for the new creation that soon is to be born in Bethlehem. To illustrate this further, let me close with one final story[17]. Once upon a time, there was a town in Europe with a beautiful cathedral known far and wide for having a beautiful stained glass window behind its altar. On one winter day, a great windstorm came to the land shattering the window into thousands of pieces. The window is cleaned up, placed in a giant box, and brought down to the church basement. Everyone within this cathedral expected that this window would forever remain memorabilia of the church’s glory days. Sometime later though a stranger got word of the cathedral’s broken stained glass window[18]. He asked if he could have the fragments. The request was strange, and the church’s custodians told him to take the seemingly worthless box. The custodians figured they would never hear from this peculiar gentleman ever again. The church thought at this point, good riddance with the broken glass. Well about two years later, the custodians were invited to a craft show in a nearby village featuring the works of a famed artisian. The most beautiful piece at the craft show was a stained glass window; only this window was made for the broken glass off the cathedral window[19]. The custodians had never seen such a beautiful sight before their eyes within their entire lives. A child born in a manager in Bethlehem! Probably didn’t look like much at first sight no different than the broken glass out of which little good could come. No great hosts were awaiting this child’s birth. He was born in the presence of a teenage bride and the first century’s equivalent of long-haul truck drivers in Shepherds. With the exception of King Herod, the rest of the world failed to take notice[20]. Jesus’ lives some thirty years on Earth with followers coming and going like any other ordinary life. Jesus dies virtually alone on Calvary[21], just as the women with the oxygen tank appeared to be without hope on Christmas Eve. On the third day, the words written by Phillips Brooks for his Sunday school program show brings us all to Bethlehem. How we are the purpose of God’s plan revealed on that night some 2000 years ago. I close with words from the third verse of Brooks’ hymn which we will soon sing: “How silently, how silently The wondrous gift is given So God imparts to human hearts The blessings of His heaven No ear may hear His coming But in this world of sin Where meek souls will receive him still The dear Christ enters in.” For it is this child soon to be born in Bethlehem who will be our peace.” Who will not only remove warfare from the Earth but remind us to whom we truly do belong. Amen [1] “Phillips Brooks.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 10.Sept.2018. Web. Nov.27.2018. [2] Phillips Brooks.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. [3] Hawn, C. Michael. “History of Hymns: “O Little Town of Bethlehem” . Discipleship Ministries. United Methodist Church. Web. Nov.27.2018. [4] Matthews, Diana Leagh. “Behind the Christmas Carol: O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Diana Leagh Matthews. 15.Dec.2018. Web. Nov.27.2018. [5] Matthews, Diana Leagh. “Behind the Christmas Carol: O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Diana Leagh Matthews. [6] LBW #41 [7] Micah 5:2-5a. [8] McFadden, Dave. “O Little Town Of Bethlehem.” Sermon Central. 5. Dec.2006. Web. Nov.27.2018. [9] McFadden, Dave. “O Little Town Of Bethlehem.” Sermon Central. [10] Quirvik, Melinda. “Commentary on Micah 5:2-5a.” Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. 23. Dec.2012. Web. Nov.27.2018. [11] Micah 5:2 [12] Donovan, Richard Niell. “Biblical Commentary:Micah 5:2-5a.” Sermon Writer. 2009, 2010. Web. Nov.27.2018. [13] Matthew 2:6. [14] Stewart, Anne. “Commentary on Micah 5:2-5a.” Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. 20.Dec.2015. Web. Nov.27.2018. [15] Hoezee, Scott. “Micah 5:2-5a.” Center for Excellence in Preaching. Calvin Seminary. Grand Rapids, MI. 14.Dec.2015. Web. Nov.27.2018. [16] Hoezee, Scott. “Micah 5:2-5a.” Center for Excellence in Preaching. [17] McFadden, Dave. “O Little Town Of Bethlehem.” Sermon Central. [18] McFadden, Dave. “O Little Town Of Bethlehem.” Sermon Central. [19]McFadden, Dave. “O Little Town Of Bethlehem.” Sermon Central. [20] Stier, Leon. “Where is Bethlehem?” Email Mediatations. 24. Dec.2015. Web. Nov.27.2018. [21] Stier, Leon. “Where is Bethlehem?” Email Mediatations. First Lesson: Malachi 3: 1-4 Responsive Reading: Luke 1: 68-79 Second Lesson: Philippians 1: 3-11 Gospel Lesson: Luke 3: 1-6 Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
In one of the most well-known stories of Christmas author Charles Dickens tells the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge[1]. Ebenezer’s story seemingly starts on Christmas Eve. Ebenezer was the owner of a loan house. Ebenezer hated Christmas! Christmas brought out the worst of Ebenezer’s penny-pinching and miserable ways[2]. Ebenezer considered Christmas to be a “humbug[3]” which meant a bunch of nonsense or a total waste of time. Ebenezer employed one man Bob Cratchit. Cratchit was a good man, a family man with a sickly child named Tiny Tim. Ebenezer knew Cratchit needed the job and took advantage of Cratchit’s desperation in every way he could think of: low pay, long hours, and would complain whenever Cratchit dared thinking about putting his loved ones first such as taking Christmas day off. The defining scene of Ebenezer’s nature occurs when a man approaches Ebenezer as one of the wealthiest men around asking for a donation on behalf of the poor. Ebenezer sneers at the man that “the poor are better off dead.” Ebenezer seemed to be an old man set in his ways with no hope of any redemption. Only on the night of Christmas Eve, an unexpected visitor comes into Ebenezer’s life in his former long-dead business partner Jacob Marley who lived his life with the same miserly ways as Ebenezer[4]. Marley had been consigned to chains upon his death as punishment for his rotten ways on Earth. Marley warns Ebenezer that he one final chance at salvation from unexpected visitors hoping to save Ebenezer before it’s too late. What ends up happening with Ebenezer? We’ll get back to his story in just a little bit. Today’s First Lesson comes to us from the Book of Malachi[5]. Malachi is most-known for two things: one, Being the final book of the Old Testament, two, Malachi was written a little more than 400 years before the births of John the Baptist and Jesus. Last week, I talked about the Life of Prophet Jeremiah who was a first-hand witness to the Fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 587 B.C. The Jewish people would be exiled from their homeland for 50 long years. They were forced to live in Babylon where men like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would resist Babylonian rulers who sought to get them to denounce their faith in Lion’s Dens and fiery furnaces. In 538 B.C, The Persians conquered the Babylonians allowing the people of Jerusalem to return home finally. They began to rebuild from the previous destruction: both the walls of the city and eventually the Temple to serve as the center of their worship life. If Jeremiah’s life had been the low point in Israel’s history, one-hundred fifty-some years later Malachi’s life was things slowly getting better after Israel’s worst days, but still not all that good. If Jeremiah described a nation under destruction, Malachi describes a nation under malaise[6]. What were the main issues in Malachi? The first main issue has to do with clergy preaching what was popular rather than what people needed to here. The second issue had to do with the people of Israel doing their best Ebenezer Scrooge impersonations in trying to see above all else how cheap they could be[7]. You see the Old Testament demanded that people bring forth their finest animals as sacrifices for their sin. What people would bring instead was three-legged lambs, blind calves, and cows that had all sorts of nasty/foot and mouth diseases. Ebenezer would have been proud. What they were doing in Malachi would have been the equivalent of promising to deliver steak, but instead offering table scraps instead. So God sends Malachi as a messenger to the people no different than the message that Jacob Marley have Ebenezer. God’s final chance at redemption for your people’s salvation is soon coming among us! As evidence of this, God will send a sign a new “Elijah” to ready the way. This messenger will bring a purification of a “refiner’s fire[8]. Back to the story of Ebenezer. Ebenezer’s unexpected visitors took the form of three ghosts. The ghosts of Christmas past, the ghost of Christmas present, and the ghost of Christmas future. These ghosts like the new “Elijah” of whom Malachi spoke confronted Ebenezer with the realities of the depths of his sin. The ghost of Christmas past reminds Ebenezer of his lost chance for love as a young man[9]. Ebenezer blew his chance at love because just like Adam and Eve within the Garden of Eden, he could see the fruit of wealth, but could not understand this fruit’s potential consequences. Ebenezer’s world would never be the same again after being permanently banished from this woman’s life, no differently than Adam and Eve’s sin had banished them from paradise. The second ghost then appears showing Ebenezer Christmas in the present. Bob Cratchit is gathered around his family including Tiny Tim with his cane[10]. Ebenezer can’t believe that Tiny Tim could have nothing, yet he possessed a love towards no one others that knew no limits[11]. The ghost then reminded Ebenezer of his previous words how “poor” children like Tiny Tim are better off dead. The scene reminds you of the crowd shouting at Jesus during Holy Week “Crucify Him, Crucify Him[12].” The love of Jesus towards these same people would soon know no limits even unto the grave itself. The third ghost that appears before Ebenezer is the ghost of Christmas future. The scene is one year in the future[13]. Tiny Tim has died because his father couldn’t afford his health care on the tiny salary paid to him by Ebenezer. The spirit then takes Ebenezer to watch a terrifying scene relating to the death of a “wretched “ man. A man who with no intervention is destined for hell. Ebenezer hears his business associates laughing about how no only liked this “man” and will only go to his funeral for a “free” lunch. Upon the man’s death, all the earthly possessions that he spent his whole life accumulating are stolen. The ghost then takes Ebenezer to the unidentified man’s tomb only to see it read: “Ebenezer Scrooge.” Ebenezer’s life would change on that night’. The messenger that Malachi promised the people of Israel would be slower in arriving. A gap of about 400 years takes place between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament[14]. The gap points to the clear distinction between God’s old way of doing things within the nation of Israel has to do with obedience to the Ten Commandments and animal sacrifices versus God’s new way of doing things in Christ Jesus. We’re sixteen days from Christmas, this often can seem like not enough time, yet the people of Israel waited for four hundred years for the Advent of God’s chosen one upon the Earth. Malachi preached a message of great urgency no different than the spirits preached to Ebenezer only to be met with silence. The second to the last verse of the Old Testament: Malachi 4:5 speaks of the “new” Elijah who was to come: During the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight[15]." Four hundred years of waiting until John the Baptist would come to prepare the way for the Lord, the Messiah, the Christ, John the Baptist’s message would mirror Malachi’s in many ways. Let me read the final words of the Old Testament: “He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction[16]." These words highlight the harshest of sin’s curses. These realities could not be escaped by either Ebenezer or ourselves. John the Baptist came to prepare a “new” way of the grace of God to bring us life in the Messiah that was to come[17]. On Christmas morning, Ebenezer would awaken. Just like when Jesus awakened on Easter Sunday, everything would soon change. Ebenezer rushed to his windows, shouted out “What day is this?” “Is it Christmas?[18]” Ebenezer’s humbugs had changed to shouts of “Hallejuah.” Ebenezer rushed to find the buy and bring the biggest turkey in town to the Cratchits and Tiny Tim[19]. Ebnezer’s story is a remarkable one! Here’s where Ebenezer’s story mirrors our own. There is no Christmas without the silent night before. There is no long-awaited Messiah without a nation trying to piece itself back together (both physically and spiritually) after generations in exile, there is no Easter without Good Friday[20]. To bring this message, God would send two messengers to prepare us. The first messenger would be named Malachi. The second messenger would be named John the Baptist. These messengers would prepare the way for the Savior that was to come. Pretty soon, all sorts of people just like Ebenezer will be shouting for joy as they awaken on Christmas morning! [1] “Ebenezer Scrooge.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 19.Nov.2018. Web. Nov.20.2018. [2] Markquardt, Ed. “Cleanse me from my sin, deep within... Refiner's Fire.” Sermons from Seattle. Web. Nov.20.2018. [3] “Humbug.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 23. Sept.2018. Web. Nov.20.2018. [4] Ebenezer Scrooge.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. [5] Malachi 3:1-4. [6] Hoezee, Scott. “Malachi 3:1-4.” Center for Excellence in Preaching. Calvin Seminary. Grand Rapids. 30.Nov.2015. Web. Nov.20.2018. [7] Hoezee, Scott. “Malachi 3:1-4.” Center for Excellence in Preaching. [8] Malachi 3:3. [9] Markquardt, Ed. “Cleanse me from my sin, deep within... Refiner's Fire.” Sermons from Seattle. [10] Markquardt, Ed. “Cleanse me from my sin, deep within... Refiner's Fire.” Sermons from Seattle. [11] Ebenezer Scrooge.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. [12] Luke 23:21. [13] Ebenezer Scrooge.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. [14] Meyer, Timm. “Our Lord Sends His Messenger.” Sermon Central. 16.Jan.2009. Web. Nov.20.2018. [15] Luke 3:2-4. [16] Malachi 4:6. [17] Hoezee, Scott. “Malachi 3:1-4.” Center for Excellence in Preaching. [18] Markquardt, Ed. “Cleanse me from my sin, deep within... Refiner's Fire.” Sermons from Seattle. [19] Markquardt, Ed. “Cleanse me from my sin, deep within... Refiner's Fire.” Sermons from Seattle. [20] Markquardt, Ed. “Cleanse me from my sin, deep within... Refiner's Fire.” Sermons from Seattle. First Lesson: Jeremiah 33: 14-16 Responsive Reading: Psalm 25: 1-10 Second Lesson: 1 Thessalonians 3: 9-13 Gospel Lesson: Luke 21: 25-36 Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’”-Jeremiah 33:14-16. Once I got done with Seminary, I worked as a substitute teacher. I had the whole gamut of teaching experiences: elementary, middle school, and high school. Minnesota also has what are called Alternative Learning Centers or (ALC’s) which seek to educate students who are at risk in dropping out of traditional educational models. So I spent days substitute teaching at ALC’s where behavior wasn’t always up to conventional standards. My most vivid memory was one day when an 18-year-old boy came into the classroom got on top of the table and started running back and forth. You were encouraged not to lose our cool as to not provoke a further outburst. I remember one day having an unusually long day at an ALC. Kids were frequently talking back, not paying attention, and there might have been a near fight or two. It was one of the rare days of substitute teaching where I seemingly would check the clock every two minutes even when there were hours left in the school day. If I wanted a role model to respond to a situation such as this, I should look to a gentleman named David Bunton who taught at a similar school in Australia[1]. Mr. Bunton was a quiet man who had countless rough days teaching in a school such as this one. Mr. Bunton though had one thing that he would do when students would frustrate him. He would sit at his desk and quietly pray for his students. Something remarkable ended happening with Mr. Bunton’s students. Dozens of his students became believers even as Mr. Bunton was unable to share a word about his faith due to rules within his school. Many of them even entered the ministry as either pastors or missionaries. A quiet man sitting in prayer brought about a great harvest in the lives of some of Australia’s roughest students[2]. Mr. Bunton understood the meaning of our lesson from the Book of Jeremiah which proclaims “the days are coming.” when salvation will come to God’s people despite living in days with seemingly no hope. Now despite how long of days Mr. Bunton had teaching in difficult schools, such things are nothing compared to the worst years of human history. A few weeks back, I was reading a news article that asked an interesting question: “What was the worst year to be alive in the history of the world?” There would have been some strong contenders in 1349 when Black Death killed half the population of Europe[3]. 1918 would be another strong contender with flu estimated to have killed between 50-100 million young adults worldwide. But perhaps the worst year to be alive in all of human history was 536 A.D[4]. What happened in 536 A.D. is a volcano erupted in Iceland causing mysterious fog covered Europe, the Middle East, and Asia so that the sun would be unable to let forth its normal light for the next eighteen months. It was like continually living under the moon. This event was thought to begin the Dark Ages. Among the other effects of the 536 volcano: the lack of sunlight caused a great worldwide famine, temperature drops brought snow to China in the middle of the summer, and Europe’s economy would soon ground to a halt[5]. Within a few years, the Bubonic Plague would strike wiping out half of the population of parts of the Roman Empire to speed up its collapse[6]. Now in thinking of the worst year in all of human history, let me ask another question: “What was the worst year in Old Testament or the nation of Israel?” The answer would be 587 B.C. the year when King Solomon’s temple would be destroyed and the nation would fall under the captivity of the Babylonian army under its wicked King Nebuchadnezzar II. Jeremiah the prophet whose name is on our lesson for Today proclaiming the days are coming when God’s promises of salvation become true was a firsthand witness to Jerusalem’s fall in these days. To understand Jeremiah, you need to know that he seemed to be an unlikely person to give a word of hope such as the days are coming. Jeremiah’s ministry within the nation of Israel lasted nearly 40 years. Jeremiah was nicknamed over these years “The Weeping Prophet.” Jeremiah over all these years had been continuously proclaiming that Israel would soon fall to a foreign power because the nation chooses to worship foreign Gods. Israel was such a mess during Jeremiah’s lifetime that people sacrificed their children to these foreign gods of death and destruction[7]. The officials of Israel cared for Jeremiah’s message so little they imprisoned him. Jeremiah eventually gets thrown down into a cistern, hoping that Jeremiah would starve himself to death drowning in the mud[8].Jeremiah’s life was marked by very little reason to have great religious hope. Here was Jeremiah right after giving forty years of pessimism, continually warning of pending doom doing a 180-degree term by giving people a word of great hope the days are coming[9]. Jeremiah had Israel live out its darkest of ages. Jeremiah kept calling out like the school teacher Mr. Bunton in prayer that God bring eventual salvation to his land and his people. Jeremiah knew that the people of God were way too fickle, to bring this salvation themselves failing to follow the Ten Commandments again and again. So God would need to bring forth a new promise a promise of God’s ultimate grace[10]. 580 years after Jeremiah saw Jerusalem fall and God’s people sent into exile[11]. Jeremiah’s promise that the days are surely coming came true. This promise serves as a reminder that even in the worst death and destruction that God’s presence shall never leave this earth. Mere miles away from Jerusalem in the town of Bethlehem, a woman gave birth to a descendant of King David of whose kingdom would have no end. The birth of the Christ Child serves as a reminder to all God’s people that the Messiah is surely coming soon. A day will soon be here when righteousness fills the land and peace fills the land, even in those days like Jeremiah witnessed where nothing but carnage filled the Earth. What does all this mean to us as we begin on this day our Advent season as we eagerly anticipate the birth of our Savior. What does this mean when like in Jeremiah’s life, things aren’t looking so good within our own life. Let me close with one final story: A man’s daughter once upon a time called up a local church asking for the pastor to see her dying father[12]. The pastor was new to the church and had never met the man before. He walks into the room where he the man lying on his bed propped up by pillows and an empty chair beside his bed. The pastor walks in introduces himself and asks if the chair is for him. The man responded “Oh year, would you mind closing the door[13]?” The pastor was confused, but he followed the man’s request. The man pipes up[14]: “I’ve never told anyone this, not even my family. But I never really understood how to pray.” So I kinda gave up on it, well one day I was having a conversation with my best friend who told me: “Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus[15].” Here’s what you should do, place an empty chair in front of you, and see Jesus sitting in that chair. Remember Jesus promised, “I’ll be with you always[16].” Then you converse with him no different than you and I are doing. So I started talking to the chair for a few hours each day, don’t want my daughter to know, so she doesn’t put me in some sort of “funny-farm.” The Pastor is moved by the guy’s faith in the greatest of personal adversity as he prepared to meet his maker. The Pastor and Joe pray together and the Pastor goes back to church. A few days later, the daughter calls to say that her dad died earlier that day. Pastor asks: “Did he die in peace[17]?” The daughter replies: “Yes, he told one of his corny jokes, kissed me on the check, and then I left for the store.” I came back an hour later, only to see the strangest thing. Dad right before he died, leaned out over the bed, and rested his head on the empty chair that sat beside it[18]. “The days are coming, indeed! The Biblical prophet Jeremiah understood Advent. He understood the nature of waiting!He understood this isn’t always the easiest thing to do when a room full of misbehaving students surround you, yet in the case of Mr. Bruton God’s plan for our salvation is much grander than what we can see in any individual moment. For whereas the Earth might seem so dark that you can’t see any sunlight on this day, Our God’s presence remains. We need not look further than the nearest empty chair to remember this! Amen [1] Atwood, Brian. “Unclaimed Blessings.” Sermon Central. 6. Feb.2003. Web. Nov.15.2018. The following comes from a story in Leadership magazine submitted by Brian Ronnefeldt of West Perth, Australia. [2] Atwood, Brian. “Unclaimed Blessings.” Sermon Central. [3] Gibbons, Ann.” Why 536 was ‘the worst year to be alive’” Science. 15. Nov.2018. Web. Nov.19.2018. [4] Gibbons, Ann.” Why 536 was ‘the worst year to be alive’” Science. [5] Gibbons, Ann.” Why 536 was ‘the worst year to be alive’” Science. [6] Gibbons, Ann.” Why 536 was ‘the worst year to be alive’” Science. [7] “Jeremiah.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 16. Nov.2018. Web. Nov.19.2018. [8] Jeremiah 38:1-13. [9] Hyde, Randy. “The Days Are Surely Coming.” Sermon Writer. 2006. Web. Nov.18.2018. [10] Sylvester, Emily. “Jeremiah 33:14-16.” Sermon Writer. 2012. Web. Nov.18.2018. [11] Giese, Ted. “The Righteous Branch.” Mount Olive Lutheran Church. Regina, Saskatchewan. 29.Nov.2015. Web. Nov.15.2018. [12] Higgins, Scott. “An Empty Chair.” Stories for Preaching. Web. Nov.15.2018. [13] Higgins, Scott. “An Empty Chair.” Stories for Preaching. [14] Higgins, Scott. “An Empty Chair.” Stories for Preaching. [15] Higgins, Scott. “An Empty Chair.” Stories for Preaching. [16] Matthew 28:20. [17] Higgins, Scott. “An Empty Chair.” Stories for Preaching. [18] Higgins, Scott. “An Empty Chair.” Stories for Preaching. |
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