Thursday
12/24/15 Freeville/Homer Ave UMC’s Christmas Eve Service
Sermon Title: “The hope of the world has come”
(“Hope is coming” series: Part 5 of 5)
Old Testament
Lesson: Isaiah 9:2-7
New Testament Scripture:
Titus 2:11-14
Gospel Lesson:
Luke 2:1-20
Welcome
once again my friends, my brothers and sisters, to this our Christmas Eve
Service. This is the night that we celebrate and are soon to receive the birth
of a child named Jesus Christ. A child, a baby, not yet grown into a man, and
not yet the one who would call the twelve apostles. At this point then, we just
await a baby. Admittedly, when the shepherds, when Joseph and Mary, when the
Wise Men or Magi and many others were awaiting the birth of the Messiah, they
only knew that he would be the Messiah. They didn’t necessarily know how all of
the details of his life, his death, and his resurrection would play out. All
they knew was that a child was coming, and that he would be called “Emmanuel,”
or “God with us.”
Of
all of the emotions that exist around this promised one, this Messiah, this
“Emmanuel,” one of the strongest emotions that many people had was the emotion
of hope. For many had great joy, peace, excitement, love, and anticipation, but
hope is what I decided to focus on in the season of Advent, and as of sun down
today, this Christmas Season. For as of sun down today, we transition from the
Season of Advent, to the Season of Christmas. The “Twelve Days of Christmas,”
as we commonly call them, go from tonight through Tuesday January 5th.
Yet
tonight, we await a child, named Jesus Christ. He is coming, hope itself is
coming. Many people also realize that the Christian Church isn’t completely
sure of the actual day that Jesus was born. Many people know that the church
picked December 25th for political and other reasons. Some people
get very side tracked by the date that the Christian Church picked for the
birth of Christ, yet on that first Christmas, many were awaiting a baby.
Tonight at midnight we can say, “The hope of the world has come”.
In
this way, the date of the birth of the Christ didn’t matter, as it was the hope
of what this baby was. I suppose if we were all alive back then, and if there
was baby pool going on Jesus’ birth, we should have all put our chips in for
December 25th. In reality though, I don’t think that the shepherds,
that Joseph and Mary, or the Wise Men and Magi were thinking of a specific day
of the Messiah’s birth. Instead, I think that they were filled with hope and wonder
over who this child would be. They were filled with hope and wonder over what
this child represents.
In
the season of Advent, and now this Christmas Season, I have been preaching
about the hope that is coming in Jesus Christ. We don’t fully understand who
Messiah will be yet, we don’t know everything about him, yet he is the source
of hope.
So
many Christians that I have met are excited about the birth of Jesus Christ,
the Messiah, because they connect Jesus Christ’s birth, to the events of
forgiveness and eternity. Specifically, many Christians believe that Jesus is
coming to die on a cross for the sins of humanity, that he will be resurrected,
and through our belief in him, we can have eternal life.
The
belief in forgiveness through the cross of Christ, and the belief in eternal
life through Jesus Christ is very much a central part of the Christian faith. I
would argue though that on this Christmas Eve, that we have more to be hopeful
for than salvation through a cross, and eternity in heaven somewhere up there.
We have the hope of something new, and something powerful. Our hopes shouldn’t
just be invested in heaven, as we have a world in the here and the now that is
suffering. Imagine if we took the hope of this coming child named Jesus, and imagine
if we united around that hope. Imagine what we could come together and do for
the world?
I
mean Jesus’ parents Joseph and Mary, the Shepherds, all of Jerusalem, and many,
probably heard the prophecies in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament about
the Messiah. They probably knew that the Messiah was destined one day to die
for the sins of humanity, and that new life would be offered to all through
him. Yet they also heard that he would be called “the prince of peace,” and
that he would create a new way of love, joy, peace, mercy, and hope.
I think that many people on this first
Christmas, saw their own life realities. The Jewish people in Judea were living
under harsh and oppressive Roman rule. Many people didn’t have hope. Yet they
then heard that Messiah was coming. Not only would Messiah die for them, but he
would also no doubt say and do things that would be transformative.
Today,
we live in a world with fear, violence, terrorism, massive wealth inequality,
and many people like the people that were alive when Jesus was alive were
looking for hope. I say tonight, friends, brothers and sisters, “Hope is
coming,” and his name is Jesus Christ.
This
hope that is coming is something that we have to invest in though. We have to
choose hope. We have to believe in a better world. We need to come together as
God’s people to claim this hope. When we do this, we can feed the poor, clothe
the naked, provide clean water, end disease, and ensure that all of God’s
children live with dignity and prosperity. For this is a great part of the hope
of the Messiah. Not just salvation and eternal life, but in looking around us,
a better life now. The Christian Church is charged with training up and raising
up leaders who build God’s kingdom, as we await the coming fullness of the
kingdom of Jesus Christ.
I
recently put a quote on Facebook that I think captures the essence of what I am
trying to communicate tonight. This quote says, "In
this season of Advent and soon to be Christmas, may the birth of the Christ be
something that we have great hope in. May this hope be bigger than just
salvation and just eternal life. May this hope be so powerful that it changes
us from the inside out, into people that actively build a world of peace,
justice, prosperity, and love. For this is why Messiah came."
I unfortunately think though that so many of us, my friends,
my sisters and brothers, learned an incomplete gospel of Jesus Christ growing
up. Many of us learned that God was angry, and that if we didn’t believe in
Jesus Christ that we would be punished. That we had to believe in Jesus to go
to heaven.
If this is all that the gospel of Christ is though, then why
do we have chapter after chapter in the gospels that talk about what Christ
said and did? Sure Christ is coming to die for us, but beyond this, he came to
give us life, light, and love. He came to show us how to love God and our
neighbor, how to care for the poor. How to regard the elderly, and care for the
widow. Jesus Christ, the hope of world, is so much more than a cross and an
empty tomb. This baby that is coming, will change the world for ever. He will
break social norms, he will dine with sinners, he will care for the
unfortunate, and we will declare that the meek will inherit the earth. He tells
us to make sure that we feed and clothe all people, and to build a world of
equity, love, justice, and mercy.
Imagine if we claimed that hope. Imagine what the world would
look like if we really got as excited as Mary and Joseph did, as the shepherds
did, as the Wise Men or Magi did, and as the people that were all around did?
What if we really got serious about the problems plaguing this community, this
country, or this world? Could the gospel of hope do more than just offer us
salvation and eternal life? What if this baby named Jesus will one day grow up
and give us a new way to live, to love, and to care for one another?
To my dear friends, brothers and sisters, this is the full
hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The hope of not only heaven, but the hope
of a better world in the here and the now. A world of conscious, a kingdom of
heaven, in the here and the now. A world where all people are loved and
respected, a world where the love, the light, and the life of Jesus is lived.
This is what the Christian Church was designed to be, and this is what we
invite all persons to come to this church and to help us to build. To build
God’s kingdom, as we await the coming kingdom. For this is our hope.
So many of us right now, right where we are sitting, need
hope, and I would assert on this night, that we can find hope in Jesus Christ.
I would assert that when we come together as sisters and brothers, that we can
build hope. We can stand strongly on who Jesus Christ is, as we seek to build a
better world. We are stronger together, and together we can do so much.
When we feed people, when we love people, when make the world
better with our words, our actions, and our deeds, we are being children of
hope. Jesus Christ is coming soon, so that we have hope in a better world, a
world of conscious, a kingdom of heaven.
As the people of ancient Israel were awaiting the birth of
the Messiah they looked to scriptures written by Old Testament prophets, such
as Isaiah. Isaiah who said of the Messiah, “The people walking in darkness have
seen a great light. On those living in a pitch-dark land, light has dawned”
(Isa. 9:2, CEB). Powerful imagery here. Light and hope are coming, light and
hope are here. Do we claim this light and hope?
Isaiah says of this child, this Jesus, that he will be called
“Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6b,
CEB). Imagine the hope of these words, and what we can do with together with
these words.
In our New Testament reading from tonight, taken from the
Apostle Paul’s Epistle or letter to his friend Titus, we have these words, “The
grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. It educates us so
that we live sensible, ethical, and godly lives right now by rejecting ungodly
lives and the desires of this world” (Titus 2:11-12, CEB). The Apostle Paul
then says to his friend Titus, “At the same time we wait for the blessed hope
and the glorious appearance of our great God and savior Jesus Savior” (Titus,
2:13, CEB). The Apostle Paul is telling Titus, we believe in Jesus, and in who
he is, but we also need to live good lives now. We need to make the world
better today. It is important.
In our gospel reading for tonight, from the gospel of Luke,
we have the famous story of Mary and Joseph coming to Bethlehem, as Caesar
Augustus was doing a population census of the whole Roman Empire (Lk. 2:1-2,
CEB). Mary then gives birth to Jesus in stable or a stone structure, and the
shepherds come (Lk. 2:6-17, CEB). In the gospel of Matthew, then the Wise Men
or Magi come. There is the bright star over the manger and the stable, and
there is great hope. Even though everyone didn’t fully understand who this
Messiah was yet, they had great hope. Imagine how that hope changed them?
Imagine what we could do in the here and the now with hope like that?
When we claim the hope of the gospel it changes us, and then
God can use us to change others. For Messiah comes so that we can have life,
love, light, and hope.
I was given a nice Christmas gift this year that has a good
quote on it about hope. I would like to read to you what this wall plaque has
to say. It says: “If you planted hope today in any hopeless heart, If someone’s
burden was lighter because you did your part, If you cause a laugh that chased
a tear away, If tonight your name is mentioned when someone kneels to pray,
Then your day was well spent”. Hope friends, brothers and sisters, hope in a
child named Jesus Christ. Hope is here if we claim it.
I would like to share a story with you on this Christmas Eve
that really encapsulates the hope of Christmas, the hope of Jesus Christ. This
story is taken from Alfred
Edersheim’s book “The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah”. This
story is called, “A Story of Hope and Survival,” and here is how it goes:
“Jesus’ society knew great pain and oppression. Rome ruled. Corrupt tax
collectors burdened the people. Some religious leaders even sanctioned physical
beating of Jewish citizens participating in compulsory religious duties.”
“Joseph and his pregnant wife Mary
traveled a long distance to Bethlehem to register for a census but could not
obtain proper lodging. Mary bore her baby and laid him in a manger, a feeding
trough for animals. Eventually, King Herod sought to kill the baby. Warned of
impending risk, Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt, then returned home after Herod’s
death.”
“Imagine how Mary felt. Traveling
while pregnant would be challenging. Fleeing to another nation lest some king
slay your son would not be pleasant. Yet she, Joseph, and Jesus survived the
ordeal.”
“In the midst of social and cultural
challenges, the Christmas story offers hope and encouragement toward survival,
hope of new life linked to something—someone—greater than oneself. One of
Jesus’ followers said Jesus’ “name . . . [would] be the hope of all the world.”
“So, the Christmas story is
important because it has endured and because it speaks of hope and survival.”
My friends, my sisters and brothers, Jesus Christ is indeed
the hope of the world. “The hope of the world has come”. He is in us and
amongst us. Do we claim this hope in this season of Christmas? Imagine what
would happen if we did”? Image how we could take the hope of Jesus Christ, and
change the world with this hope. May we all have a blessed and hope filled
Christmas. Come Lord Jesus. Amen.
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