Saturday
12/17/16 Blue Christmas/Longest Night Homer Avenue UMC
Sermon Title:
“Finding Light, Love, and Life in the Middle of it
All?”
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 80:1-7
New Testament
Scripture: Hebrews 10:32-39
Gospel Lesson:
John 16:31-33
My dear friends, my brothers and sisters, welcome this
night to this our Blue Christmas or Longest Night service. This Blue Christmas
or Longest Night Service is a service that many churches are now having every
year, but this is not a historical service of the Christian Church. This is not
a service that we have for centuries, but instead it is a service that we have
implemented in more recent years.
While the seasons of Holy Advent and Christmas are supposed
to be times of great joy, hope, anticipation, excitement, wonder, and love,
some people despite their best efforts struggle either this year, or perhaps have
struggled other years to feel this way, during the Advent and coming Christmas
season.
Perhaps you are having a great Advent, and perhaps things
in your lives are going well, and if this is the case, see this service as
opportunity to grow closer to God, to reflect more on your life with God, and
to try to love and care for others more.
In explaining this service a little more, I found a good
explanation of why many churches do this Blue Christmas or Longest Night
service. Here is an explanation: “Blue? Yes, blue as in the blues. As in
"I am feeling blue." Not everyone is up and cheery for the Christmas
holidays. Dealing with the death of a loved one, facing life after divorce or
separation, coping with the loss of a job, living with cancer or some other
dis-ease that puts a question mark over the future, and a number of other human
situations make parties and joviality painful for many people in our
congregations and communities. There is a growing attentiveness to the needs of
people who are blue at Christmas. Increasing numbers of churches are creating
sacred space for people living through dark times. Such services are
reflective, accepting where we really are, and holding out healing and hope” (http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/blue-christmaslongest-night-worship-with-those-who-mourn).
“Some
churches hold a service of worship on the longest night of the year, which
falls on or about December 21st, the Winter Solstice. There is an interesting
convergence for this day as it is also the traditional feast day for Saint
Thomas the Apostle. This linkage invites making some connections between
Thomas's struggle to believe the tale of Jesus' resurrection, the long nights
just before Christmas, and the struggle with darkness and grief faced by those
living with loss” http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/blue-christmaslongest-night-worship-with-those-who-mourn.
I
decided to have this service tonight, as having this service on the actual
Winter Solstice, which is next Thursday December, 21 might have been a little
harder to do. In any event though, the longest night every year in the Northern
Hemisphere is the Winter Solstice. On the Winter Solstice, there is the least
amount of sun light or any other day of the year. As a result of this, in
recent years some churches decided to create this service, so that we would have
this time together, on a dark and cold night.
In
the midst of this season of Advent, and in the midst of the soon to be season
of Christmas, if we are suffering, or if we are not suffering, how can we “Find
light, love, and life, in the middle of it all”. Dr. Ben Witherington III a
very prominent and well known Wesleyan scholar at Asbury Theological Seminary,
in Wilmore, Kentucky, has argued that there are three main core attributes or
characteristics of God, of Jesus, of the Holy Spirit. These three attributes or
characteristics are light, life, and love.
The
gospels tell us that Jesus is the light of the world, that he loves us, and that
he calls us to love other. We are also told that Jesus has come to give us new
life. Sure there are many words to describe God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, but
the main attributes or characteristics of God can be boiled down to light,
life, and love.
Every
year in the Northern Hemisphere on the Winter Solstice, as I said, we have the
least amount of light than any other night of the year. Yet we serve and
believe in a God of light, life, and love. So how then when there is less light
in the world on nights light this, or in our own lives, can we “find light,
love, and life in the middle of it all”?
We
hear scriptures tonight that speak of crying out to God for help. Many who are suffering
pray and call upon God for healing and for restoration. In our reading tonight
from Psalm 8:1-7, we are reading a prayer for Israel’s restoration. The
Psalmist says, “Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be
saved” (Ps. 80:7, NRSV). Maybe some of us feel this way during this season of
Advent, and despite our best efforts, the light, life, and love of God seems
more distant to us right now, than other times in our lives.
In our reading tonight from the Apostle Paul’s Epistle or
letter to the Hebrews, the Apostle Paul encourages us in our sufferings. The
Apostle Paul says, “you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes
being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes being partners
with those so treated” (Heb. 10:32b-33, NRSV). The Apostle Paul then encourages
to “live by faith,” and to believe in the imminent return to earth of Jesus
Christ (Heb. 10:35-39, NRSV). Have hope in Christ. Many of scriptures of Bible
have a great deal to say about suffering, and how we can deal and cope with
suffering.
In looking at our gospel of John reading for tonight, Jesus
Christ encourages us to cling to our faith, to him, even in the hardest of
times. Jesus says, “Do you now believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come,
when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone.
Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me” (Jn. 16:31-32, NRSV). Jesus
then says, “I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the
world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!” (Jn.
16:33, NRSV). On the day of his crucifixion Jesus was largely abandoned, and
because of this, he know what it is like to suffering, to be alone. He know
what it is like to physically suffering the whip and nails of the cross.
So back to my original question for us to consider tonight,
how do we “find light, love, and life in the middle of it all”? I think the
answer to this, is number one, we must fully surrender our lives, and
everything we have to Jesus Christ. We fully trust him as our Lord and Savior.
We must not look to ourselves, but we must look to Jesus in all things.
In addition to this first and most important step, we
secondly need to continue to be the church. When I say continue to be the
church, I mean we continue to love and to care for one another, and minister to
each other. Jesus Christ says that he will always be with us, but brothers and
sisters, we can also be there for each other to. As a church, we suffer
together, we laugh together, and we live our faith together.
If you are doing well, great! Let us take joy in that. If
you suffering though, let us suffer together. Let us pray together. For through
the ups and downs of life, God has called us to not only embrace his light,
life, and love, but to share it with each other. Friends, sisters and brothers,
even if we are broken, even if we are hurting, if we love and care for each
other, if we pray together, we will find more of God, of Jesus, of the Holy
Spirit.
We are never alone, as Christ is always with us, but beyond
that may we be here to love and to serve each other. When we do this, the
Christian Church goes from places proclaiming to the gospel of Jesus Christ, to
a community of people that live it out. May we love each other boldly and
powerfully in this season of Holy Advent and soon to be Christmas. Let us also
remember that we are never alone, for Christ is always with us. If we believe
in him, we will be with him for eternity.
So let us continue being the church, continue living and
proclaiming the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we all find and share
the light, life, and love of God with other. May we all be blessed in the name
of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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