Sunday 12/06/20 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “What
Will This Child Become?”
(“The Path To Christmas” Series: Part 2 of 5)
Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13
New Testament Scripture: 2 Peter 3:8-15a
Gospel Lesson: Mark 1:1-8
Friends, brothers, and sisters, welcome
once again on this the Second Sunday of Advent, 2020. This season where we take
the journey anew to the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. This Advent Season that
is vastly different than any other Advent and soon to be Christmas Seasons that
we have ever lived through. This season plagued with a global pandemic,
political and social divisions, and many other problems. Perhaps this Advent
and soon to be Christmas Season of 2020 will resemble the struggles of that
first Advent and that first Christmas Season more than ever before.
In this Season of Advent 2020, I
started a sermon series last Sunday called, “The Path To Christmas”. Like many
other years, we have the Advent Wreath with the candles, we are all decorated,
and all awaiting Christmas. The paths to Christmas that many of us have taken
in other years of our lives, however, are likely quite different, as I said,
than Advent and soon to Christmas, 2020. Some of us have had other extremely
hard and challenging Advent and Christmas Seasons in our lives, but this year
2020, is hugely different.
Given this, during this Advent season,
may we be praying, reading scripture, connecting to God, and loving and caring
for others. There are many people hurting right now, and a loving word, a call,
a card, etc., can make all the difference right now.
As I mentioned last Sunday in my
sermon “To Christmas and Beyond,” Advent is about both the anticipated memory
of the birth of Christ, along with awaiting the second coming of Christ. Maybe
as Children we waited in great anticipation for Christmas morning. We were
excited about gifts, family, and all that Christmas entailed. The year that
Jesus was born on that first Christmas almost 2,000 years ago though, was a
Christmas that many had been waiting for centuries.
Yet, what would this messiah, this
Jesus, be like? On that first Christmas, when Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph
knew that this baby would save his people, and the world. The Angel Gabriel had
told Mary that Jesus would grow up and save us all. Joseph was told by an angel
in a dream that this was in fact true. Yet did Mary and Joseph really know what
we know today? Did they really know all the wonderful things that Jesus would do,
say, and accomplish here on earth? Sure, many of these things were prophesized
in the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible, but did Joseph and Mary really know
everything?
Some of my clergy friends criticize
the popular Christmas song “Mary Did You Know,” saying, “well of course Mary
knew! The Angel Gabriel told her!” Yet the Angel Gabriel, as I will discuss
more in two weeks, gave Mary the basics. So perhaps, likely, Joseph and Mary did
not know a lot of the specifics of what their son, our savior, Jesus Christ,
would do here on earth.
Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist will
prepare the way for his cousin Jesus’ earthly ministry, as we hear this
morning, once again, in our gospel of Mark reading. John the Baptist knows that
his cousin Jesus is indeed the messiah, the savior of the world. Yet, I cannot
imagine that even after John the Baptist baptized Jesus that even he did noy
know all that would happen through the next three years of Jesus’ life.
You see, as we are now in the Second
Sunday of Advent, we know that Christmas is on Sunday December 25th.
Jesus has already been born, lived, preached, loved, healed, forgave, and died
for us. Yet we love Christmas, as it is part of the greatest story ever told,
leading the redemption of all of humanity. I think that many people love
Christmas Eve services, because the church is all beautifully decorated, most
people do not have to work the next day, and it is a time for family and
friends to gather. On Christmas Eve every year, we sing years old Christmas
hymns, we light candles and sing Silent Night together. Christmas is new and
exciting, as we experience the birth of Christ every year, as if it is for the
first time. It gives us hope for the future, and as I always say, everyone
loves a baby!
For all these reasons, my sermon title
for this morning is called, “What Will This Child Become”. We of course already
know today what Christ became, yet imagine if we did not. Imagine if it were
two years after Christ’s birth and we were patiently waiting to see what would
become of this Jesus. We would know that something good would happen soon, but
when?
The people of Israel and all of
Palestine lived under the oppressive yoke of the rule of the Roman Empire,
people were overtaxed, and not treated well, as the Advent hymn “O Come, O
Come, Emmanuel” says:
“O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel” (UMC Hymnal, 211).
Maybe, as I said last Sunday, and this morning, maybe we
have had Advent and Christmas Seasons in our lives there were awful. Maybe we experienced
the death of a loved one, the loss of health, a job, etc. As I have said, some
people have really suffered through some Advent and Christmas Seasons.
Imagine though, as I said, if were alive a couple of years
after Christ was born. If we were, we would all be suffering, and all awaiting
the day that we would be delivered. To me, this really relates so well to our
current Global Covid-19 Pandemic.
The Old Testament Prophet Isaiah, prophesied centuries
before the birth of Christ that eventually a messiah, a savior, would come “and
ransom captive Israel”. Then suddenly on that first Christmas over 2,000 years
ago it happened. The waiting was over.
As we wait for the memory of Christ’s birth on Christmas in this Advent Season,
as well as awaiting Christ’s return, we also await the end of this global
Covid-19 Pandemic.
Perhaps we could jokingly say to the doctors and the
experts working to end this pandemic, “O Come, O Come, doctors and experts, and
end this pandemic!” The point is this, is that for many years we have had the
season of Advent leading to Christmas, and then the season of Christmas itself.
Never, ever, like this before though. Never in our lives, have we lived through
a global pandemic. Like people waiting when Christ was a young child to see
what he would become, and the like the Prophet Isaiah and others awaiting Christ’s
birth, when we will be delivered from this pandemic, from the division, from the
violence, from the looting?
Christ comes on Christmas, and one day Christ will come again.
As Christ came, so will this pandemic end. A time of waiting, struggling, and
suffering therefore, is what some are experiencing right now, and this was true
leading up to the birth of Christ.
In our reading from Psalm 85:8-9 from this morning, it says
once again:
“Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts. 9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land” (Ps. 85:8-9, NRSV).
Just as countless people waited for years for Jesus, as we
await in this season of Advent, Jesus then came and delivered us from sin and
death, and as we suffer through this pandemic, we will also be delivered from
this, as well. For God is with us, and this turbulent time in our country and in
this world, this will come to pass.
The Apostle Peter says this well in our reading this
morning from 2 Peter, when he says:
“8 But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed” (2 Pet. 8-10, NRSV).
The Apostle Peter is telling us here, once again, of the
amazing and powerful reality of being in God’s presence and being with God for
eternity. Like Christ returning suddenly, our pandemic will end to. What day will
it be officially over? I wish I knew, but like Christ returning, it will
happen.
Once again, in our gospel of Mark
lesson for this morning, we have the very beginning of the gospel Mark. Mark
once again begins with citing the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah. Mark tells us
the story of the coming messiah, the savior, who will be announced by someone
coming before him. Isaiah is talking about Jesus’ cousin John the Baptist who
will prepare the way for the messiah, for Jesus Christ.
Then Mark tells about Jesus’ cousin
John the Baptist. John the Baptist appears in the wilderness as Isaiah prophesied,
and John the Baptist calls upon people to repent of there sins, be baptized,
and be ready for the messiah, the savior, Jesus, who is coming. This John the
Baptist who wears camel hair and a belt, and who eats bugs and honey, says this
Jesus who is coming is going to be amazing. When this Covid-19 pandemic ends,
it will be amazing. How amazing will it be when Jesus arrives? Well, John the
Baptist once again says in gospel reading from Mark of the one who is coming, Jesus
that:
“7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mk. 1:7-8, NRSV).
In this season of Advent friends, hope is coming. God is
with us, and the Bible tells us that darkness will be extinguished by light. As
Jesus has come to deliver us, so we will be delivered from this pandemic. God
is faithful, and this to shall come to pass. Between now and then, I close with
one of my favorite quotes from the founder of the Methodist Movement, John Wesley.
Well said this:
“Do all the good you can,
By all the means
you can,
In all the ways you
can,
In all the places
you can,
At all the times
you can,
To all the people
you can,
As long as ever you
can.”
―
We are living through a lot of uncertainty right now, but God is with us, Jesus is risen, He is coming, this pandemic will end, and we can still boldly love each other, and live out our faith, even in times such as this. Amen.
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