Sunday
12/08/19 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “God can use even us!”
(“Why we need a
little Christmas” Series – Part 2 of 5)
Old Testament
Scripture: Isaiah 11:1-10
New Testament
Scripture: Romans 15:4-13
Gospel Lesson:
Matthew 3:1-12
Friends,
brothers and sisters, welcome once again on this the Second Sunday of Advent.
The Second Sunday in this season of spiritual preparation for Christmas. We
will be in the season of Advent until Christmas Eve at Midnight, and then we
will be in the season of Christmas for 12-days.
In this season of Advent therefore, we are not yet in the
season of Christmas, but we are moving in that direction. Nearly two-thousand
years ago Jesus, our savior was born in Bethlehem, the city of David. Jesus
probably wasn’t born on December 25th, but the church picked that
day centuries ago, and we have celebrated Jesus’ birth on December 25th
ever since. Some of the Eastern Orthodox Churches actually celebrate Jesus’
birth in early January, for example.
Yet in this
season of Advent, this season that leads to Christmas, we are called to be like
those Wise Men journeying to the manger in Bethlehem. Don’t get me wrong, Jesus
was born long ago, and Christmas celebrates the memory of Jesus being born, as
we await his second coming, and as we are invited to invite Jesus into our
hearts daily. Yet, every year we have this season of Advent, and then
Christmas. Every year we are invited to take this journey anew to Bethlehem, to
the manger of Jesus Christ. Every year we are invited to renew, refresh, and
encounter Christ in a new and powerful way.
Christmas
therefore, is more than just the gifts, more than just the material end of
things, it’s about Jesus. When Jesus is alive us, then Christmas becomes about
the love, the hope, the peace, and the joy that we share together. Also, on
Christmas we celebrate little newly born Jesus, but the hope that we share from
Jesus, is similar to the hope that many share whenever they see a newborn
child. For in a newborn child we see hope.
For in this
weary and broken world, we need hope, “We need a little Christmas,” and Jesus
is the glue that binds us together in Advent, at Christmas, and always. He’s
the reason we gather, that we celebrate. Jesus is the reason that most of us
will gather with family and friends on Christmas Day. Its part of who we are,
but just like anything else, it can become common. Christmas can become just
another day.
For those of
us who braved the snow storm last Sunday and came to church, I began a sermon
series last Sunday called, “Why we need a little Christmas”. In this series, I
am preaching on five on many of the reasons that we all “need a little
Christmas.”
Last week I
preached that “we need a little Christmas,” because we need “Hope in a hopeless
world”. Jesus came to earth in a manger nearly 2,000 years ago, and the world
is still so broken, sinful, and fallen. Some people as a result the continued
state of the world have given up on their faith. They say things like, “If
there is a God, then God would have fixed all that is wrong in this world by
now.” As Christians we believe that this will happen, but only when Jesus
returns to earth to usher in the fullness of his kingdom. Until the day that
Christ returns, we are offered salvation and eternal life through the blood of
his cross, if we just repent of our sins and believe in him.
The hope of
the power of the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas, the hope of Christ in us,
the hope of Jesus’ glorious second coming or return to earth, along with what
God is doing through us each and every day, is the hope of Advent, Christmas,
and in general.
When people
give up on their faith, they might simply believe that this life is just a big
cosmic accident, and that when die we just go into the ground and die. We forfeit
hope, because the world isn’t the way we want to be, or the way that it should
be. Yet Jesus came, is alive in us, and he is coming again one day. The hope
that we share in Jesus Christ and his gospel is the best thing that give us
“Hope in hopeless World.” “We need a little Christmas,” because we need Jesus
to come among us. He is coming soon to manger on Christmas, every day in our
hearts, and one day back to earth to set things right. Until that day though,
we as God’s children we can do so much through God to write the wrongs of this
world. God can use us to heal, to love, to mend, and to forgive. Even though
the world is broken, Jesus is alive, heaven is real, and God is still moving.
This leads me
this morning to the second reason in this sermon series on why “we need a
little Christmas.” The second reason “we need a little Christmas,” is we need
to be reminded that “God can use even us!”
Sometimes
when I visit with folks that are older, or in nursing homes, I get apologies
that they are not doing more. Specifically, I hear about how they no longer
have the energy or the ability to do the things that they used to. They think
that because they can’t put on church dinners, or wash dishes, or carry things,
that they are of no use to God, or the church.
Brothers and
sisters, I still believe that God is at work in us and in the world. The
biggest and best thing that any of us can do is pray. The prayers that are
lifted up for us daily from our shut-ins, from our folks in nursing homes, and
all of us, is the very fuel that runs this church. We need to, in this Advent
Season, the Christmas Season, and always, realize that “God can use even us!”
We have
bought into the myth that by doing a lot of work, particularly physical work,
that this is how we honor and serve God. Now work is good thing, and if we are
able, there is nothing wrong with hard work. With this said though, the God we
worship “can use even us!” This season of Advent is about talking that Wise
Men’s journey to Bethlehem to discover Jesus Christ anew. At the manger were
shepherds, Wise Men, and others. They didn’t all do the same work, some had
more possessions than others, and there were likely differences in education,
and in other areas. Yet, on that night that Jesus was born many came and God
used them all. The amount of work we do in and through the church is not the
only way we are honoring God. The women who prays continually at the nursing
home, I believe, is doing far more than I ever can do in a day.
You see, there
are the things that we see, and those things that we don’t see. All of this
brothers and sisters is vital to our faith, to our strength, to God moving
among us, and to the health of our faith and our church. I believe that God
takes all that can give in a variety of ways, and He makes it into a big
patchwork quilt. God tells us that anything we do to praise Him, to bring glory
and Honor to Him, results in us serving Him. For “God can use even us!”
Everyone in
this church is called by God, and unfortunately some might think the one who is
doing the most for God is the pastor. Yet we as pastors are just a moving piece
inside of the large clock that is the church. God has gifted us all
differently, and whatever God uses us to do matters. If this church continues
to grow and flourish, it won’t because of me, it won’t be because of you, it
will be because of what we allowing God to do through us. For “God can use even
us!”
The best gift
that any church, any ministry can have, is that of prayer. All used up and
tired some tell me. They can’t make peanut brittle anymore! Do we really think
that on that day that we stand before the glory and the majesty of Jesus Christ
that he will ask us why didn’t make more peanut brittle?
I think that the
myth that many of us have bought into, especially in the season of Advent and
Christmas that the work that we do will increase or grow the church. Friends,
we are not in control on anything, but God is. Where ever you at, God can and
is using you. The love that you show your neighbors, the food that you feed to
stray animals, the prayers that you pray, and hope of Jesus that you offer is
all is part of what God’s plan is through us. For “God can use even us!”
If we have
“Hope in a hopeless world” through Jesus Christ, then we need to believe that
“God can use even us!” We are simply vessels that have been imbued with eternal
souls. These vessels begin to break down and weaken, but what God calls us to
do then changes. Whatever it is that you do, do it for the glory of the Lord. A
prayer, a smile, a hug. It’s not a competition. There is no special section of
heaven for Lay Leaders or pastors. We are all equal and the same at the foot of
the cross of Jesus Christ. God simply asks us in this season of Advent, soon to
be Christmas, and always, to be open to him using us. We have all kinds of
people in this church that come from different places, with different experiences,
with different gifts and graces. Friends, “God can use even us!”
In our
scripture reading from the prophet Isaiah for this morning, Isaiah tells us once
again of the one who is coming soon. He predicts the coming of the Messiah, of
Jesus. He tells that this child, this person, will come out the lineage of
Jesse, who is the father of King David. He tells us that this messiah will be
perfect, and full of life, light, and love. This Messiah is coming and will
change the world (Isa. 11:1-10, NRSV).
Some might
ask, “But Pastor Paul, since Jesus already came and died for us, why is the
world still so broken?” Jesus, God’s only son, came to this earth to teach us,
show us, to love, to heal, and to forgive. This savior who is coming soon among
us on Christmas will change the world forever. This savior will change us. When
Christ returns to this earth to reign in glory, that’s when the earth will
finally look like it should. Until then, God is working in us, through us, and
sometimes despite us, to bring this better world closer and closer. Jesus gives
us the blue print of his coming kingdom, and as individuals, and as the church,
we are every day, in many ways bringing forth, with God’s help, the kingdom of
Jesus Christ.
In our
reading this morning from the Apostle Paul’s Epistle or letter to the Romans,
he says once again:
“For
whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by
steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May
the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with
one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one
voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom.
15:4-6, NRSV).
The Apostle tells us that the writings
in the Old Testament of the prophets, the Law of Moses, and everything else in
there was written for us to have encouragement and hope. When Jesus enters into
the world on Christmas, this hope is then fulfilled, as we offered forgiveness,
newness, and the gospel, which shows us how to live. Jesus calls us to live in
harmony, and glorify God through Him.
Well then how come the world is still
so broken? It’s broken, because we are fallen and sinful. To be a Christian, is
to be forgiven, redeemed, and to be walking with Christ. It is to become a
light in a fallen world. We are to use whatever gifts and graces that God has
given us to transform Sidney and the world.
Well what are some examples from Jesus
of how we can do this? The Apostle Paul continues on in this reading from Romans
once again saying of us:
“Welcome one another, therefore, just as
Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has
become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that
he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that
the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I
will confess you among the Gentiles, and sing praises to your name”; and again he says, “Rejoice, O
Gentiles, with his people”; and again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and let all the peoples praise him”; and again Isaiah says, “The
root of Jesse shall come, the one who rises to rule the
Gentiles; in him the Gentiles shall hope.” May the God
of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in
hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:7-13, NRSV).
As the song says, “black and yellow,
red and white, they are precious in his sight.” When live and love like Jesus,
well then “God can use even us!” Jesus came for us all, and even though the
world is still broken in this Advent and soon to be Christmas, God is using us
and this church to help mend a broken world. Even though we can fix it all, we
can fix some of it, with God’s help.
I really like
the quote from the great reformer Martin Luther about how much God values what
are doing for him has. This is what Luther had to say:
“Even if I
knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple
tree” (https://www.passiton.com/inspirational-quotes/7179-even-if-i-knew-that-tomorrow-the-world-would-go).
Now if the world was really a cosmic
accident as many atheists argue, then life has no meaning, and our value is simply
in what we can provide materially. If though, we were created by a loving God,
who put into us an eternal soul, then everything that we do for and through God
matters. Our prayers, our efforts, us serving God in a variety of ways matters.
It matters because God is real, Jesus is coming soon, he died for us, he will
return one day, and through him we can change Sidney and world. For “God can
use even us!” So if the world ended tomorrow, would I still love and care for
others today? Absolutely, because we are given eternity, a God who loves us, and
through us loves others. Our lives are all significant to God, and what we do
for him and through him echoes for eternity. The work that so many men and
women have done from this church, who are now in heaven, is not in vain. God
has rewarded them, for live is eternal, Jesus is Lord, and “God can use even
us!”
For those of you that still might
think that God can’t use you, I want to talk about the gospel lesson for this
morning. In this gospel lesson once again we have John the Baptist. Here is
what our gospel of Matthew reading says once again for this morning:
“In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness
of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This
is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of one
crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths
straight.’” (Mt. 3:1-3, NRSV).
So
the prophet Isaiah prophesied that John the Baptist would prepare the way for Jesus.
So what was this John the Baptist like? Let’s hear once again:
“Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt
around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of
Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the
Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their
sins” (Mt. 3:4-6, NRSV).
This gospel reading then concluded
with John the Baptist calling upon the Pharisees and the Sadducees to repent,
and that while he baptizes with water, one much greater and more powerful than
him is coming.
Again my message for this morning in
this “Why we need a little Christmas” sermon series is called, “God can use
even us!” John the Baptist lived in the wilderness. Not in a house, but just
out in the wilderness. John the Baptist wore camel’s hair with a leather belt around
his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
I’m not going to lie, I always
thought of John the Baptist as a little bit of a weirdo. He probably will not
be selected to be on the next season of the Bachelor, as the Bachelor. I can’t
imagine a bunch of single women swooning over a man who lives in the
wilderness, who wears camel’s hair and a leather belt, and who eats bugs and
honey! Imagine what your dinner date with John the Baptist would look like. Sitting
on the ground in the wilderness, eating bugs and honey. Yep, I think that John
the Baptist was kind of a weirdo. Yet God used him, and “God can use even us!” Whatever
we do, whatever we are called do, and can do, let us in this season of Advent
and soon to be Christmas, do whatever we do for the glory of the Lord. Amen.
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