RWJ/Pottersville UMC 12/09/12 Sermon - “Will the savior ever come?”

Sunday 12/09/12 RWJ/Pottersville UMC

Sermon: “Will the savior ever come?”                                                                                   

Scripture Lesson: Malachi 3:1-4

                                             

Gospel Lesson: Luke 3:1-6  

          Good morning brothers and sisters! It’s good to be here with you worshipping this morning, and I hope that you all have had a blessed week.

          This morning, on this second Sunday of Advent we move a little closer to the birth of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. While Jesus Christ has already been born in a literal sense, in this season we prepare for that birth that occurred almost 2,000 years ago. This season often brings about in us all sorts of feelings. Yet amidst the craziness and business that can often be the Christmas season, we must challenge ourselves to focus on the birth of Jesus Christ. The birth of our Lord and savior. For “He is the reason for the season.” He is why we are here in worship this morning, and amidst all of the presents, the wrapping paper, and all of the food, we should really challenge ourselves as we continue through this Advent season to think about Jesus. I wonder if Jesus were to come back today, if he would happy with how we do Christmas, or if he would say, “Yeah, you guys kind of missed the boat on this one!” I wonder if he would think that we have lost him in our Christmas season shuffle. If he would think that Christmas has become about other things, that weren’t about him at all.

          For many of us, Christmas is a time where we are just a little more hopeful than other times of the year. Some of us though, are not feeling so great during this Christmas and other passed Christmas seasons. For some of us we are struggling to get into the “Christmas Spirit.” For some of us, we are saying “Will the savior ever come?” We are saying, “When is Jesus going to return to us?” “When is he coming back to set the evils of this world right?” “When is he coming to enforce His justice and to fulfill the building of His kingdom?” “When will the prophecy finally be fully fulfilled?” You see for some, Christmas is a time of excitement. For some it is a time of decorations, the wonderment of the birth of the Christ Child, the joy of giving, and the love of family.

          Yet for others, Christmas is time of loneliness, a time where they find themselves saying “Will the savior ever come?” For in this season and everyday for that matter, we must radically love each other. Many who are lonely in this season will get special visits or special meals, yet I sometimes wish that we had this radical love and hospitality all year long. While many wait in this time of year with great excitement, some say “Will the savior ever come?” In the scripture reading from the Old Testament book of Malachi this morning, the scripture said, “See I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.” As I said last week, in the time of the Old Testament people were waiting, and many of them waiting desperately for the coming of the Messiah. For many of these people living under the power and the occupation of the Roman Empire, they said when “Will the savior come?” The scripture from the book of Malachi this morning goes on to say, “The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears.”

          You know I have heard Christians so many times, say things such as “You know if Jesus came back right now, than that would be just good enough for me.” One of my family’s favorite family time movies is a movie called “Joe Dirt” with actor David Spade. In the movie the character that David Spade plays, says throughout the movie to various people that were being mean to him, “Is this where you want be when Jesus comes back.” This was to say, this character was saying that you are not being very nice to me right now, and imagine how you would look if Jesus actually did come back right now! How would explain yourself to the savior of humankind.

The scripture goes on to say that “For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fuller’s soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.” I think of the three magi or wise men who presented the Christ Child with the offerings of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. The scripture goes on to say that this offering will be pleasing to the Lord.

          In the gospel of Luke reading from this morning, it said “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonotis, and Lysanias ruler of the Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.” When we think about many of the names I just mentioned from the gospel reading this morning, many of us think of oppressive rulers that made the lives of the people of Jerusalem very difficult. Many of these people lived under the bondage of high taxes, abusive foreign government, and they desperately awaited a savior to rescue them from their suffering. They desperately awaited the Messiah. For many of them, they said “Will the savior ever come?” “Will the messiah ever come to set all these wrongs right?” It is interesting that in the present day, while we live a post-resurrection or a post death and resurrection of Jesus world, that many of us feel the say way. For the people of Jerusalem wanted to be saved, yet many of us feel like this in the present day, that we are waiting for the savior to return. This second coming according to scripture will come at any point, like a flash, and no one will know when this will be. For many of us in the present day then, we say like the Jews of the Old Testament times, “Will the savior ever come.” The gospel reading from this morning went on to talk about John the Baptist, who went out baptizing people, “preparing the way of the Lord.” Jesus’ mother Mary was pregnant with him while her much older cousin Elizabeth was pregnant with John the Baptist. John prepared the way for the Lord.

          I say to you this morning brothers and sisters, in this Christmas season, many people we know are suffering. Many are in pain saying, “Will the savior ever come?” Let us be amongst those who are lonely, who are suffering, and who need a loving touch. Let us in this Christmas season like John the Baptist, “prepare the way of the Lord.”

            This morning I would like to close with a story. The story called Celebrate the Light by Helen Grace Lescheid. Here is how it goes: The Second World War raged in Europe during Christmas Eve in 1944. Mother, with four small children, had fled our native Ukraine with the retreating German army. Father had been reported missing in action. Now we were refugees living in a two-room shack in Dieterwald, Poland. But again the fighting front was only about fifty kilometers away. Frequent air raids sent us scurrying for cover. Explosions rattled the windows. Army trucks brought in the wounded and the dead. Hay wagons filled with refugees rumbled west; bombers droned overhead and army tanks rolled east. Partisans (underground resistance) attacked innocent women and children at night. Nobody in his right mind went out into the dark winter night. And yet, it was Christmas Eve. Two women had prepared a Christmas party in a neighboring village and invited us. Mother, wanting to give us children joy, accepted. She instructed my sister and me to dress warmly against the winter's cold. "Tonight we're going to a party," she said. Being only eight-years old, I sensed no danger--only wondrous excitement. Hurriedly my sister, two years younger, and I dressed. If only Mother would hurry! A simple wick flickered in a saucer of oil--our only light. We could barely see her shadowy form as she bustled about getting my four-year-old brother, Fred, and almost two-year-old sister, Katie, ready. Finally Mother was putting on her heavy winter coat, kerchief, and warm felt boots. With one small breath, she blew out the oil lamp. It was pitch dark now. "Open the door, Lena," she called to me. We stepped onto the crisp snow covering the farmyard. A moon crescent hung above a large house across the yard where the estate owners lived--kind people who treated us refugees well. It, too, was shrouded in darkness. Mother lifted Katie and shuffled her to her back: she'd carry her piggyback for the five kilometers. "Hang tight onto my coat collar," she coaxed. Then, turning towards us girls, she said, "You take Fred's hands." My younger sister and I complied. We had often taken care of our little brother while mother had culled potatoes in the big barns or had done other chores for the landowners. At the road, we stopped. Although I knew it well from my treks to school, I could barely make out the houses on either side of the street. No street lights were allowed now. Windows heavily draped permitted no light to seep out of the houses. My mother hesitated for a brief moment. Then she said, "Come, we'll take the shortcut across the fields." The snow crunched as four pairs of feet punched holes in the white expanse of open fields. Stars spangled the vault of sky above us. A blood-red glow smeared the eastern sky. At times an explosion sent flames shooting into the sky. "Girls, recite your poems to me." Mother's voice sounded a bit shaky. Her arms aching, she put Katie down on the snowy ground. Our recitations of Christmas poems made white puffs in the cold night air. When we finished, Mother said, "Speak up loud and clear when your turn comes. No mumbling." She lifted Katie once more onto her back, and we began to walk again. On and on we walked. But we were far too excited to be tired. Finally we arrived at our friends' house. The door opened and we stepped inside. I felt I had stepped into heaven itself. Lights! A whole room-full of lights! Candlelight flickered from a small Christmas tree and bounced out of happy children's eyes. Heavily draped windows kept the light inside--for us to revel in. Red paper chains decked the tree; delicate paper cherubs smiled down upon us. We squeezed in amongst women and children sitting on the floor. Soon the room filled with singing: "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht."(Silent Night, Holy Night) Some mothers sang alto, the rest of us, soprano. We sang with gusto and from memory, songs that lifted our hearts above the terrors of war and inspired new hope for the days ahead. I can't remember our long trek home that night, but I do remember the wonderful gifts I received; my right pocket bulged with the most beautiful ball I'd ever seen. A very colorful ball it was. Much later, I learned it had been made out of scrunched up rags wrapped in rainbow colored yarn probably gleaned from unraveling old sweaters. The other pocket held three cookies! Soon after that wonderful Christmas party, we were evacuated. Icy winds blew snow into our faces as we cowered on an uncovered hay wagon pulled by two scrawny horses. With the front so close behind, we traveled day and night. Once it was safe to stop, we slept in drafty barns. We ate hunks of frozen bread and drank the occasional cup of milk supplied by a Red Cross jeep.

But the warm memory of that Christmas celebration shone like a small candle in the darkness. Even years later, when my own life's circumstances seemed too bleak to celebrate Christmas, I remembered the truth of Christmas born in my heart that night: Jesus, the light of the world came to us at Christmas time and no amount of darkness can put out that light. Amen.