First Sunday in Advent 11/29/09 Text: Jeremiah 33:14-16 Title: Warning Signs
First Sunday in Advent
11/29/09
Text: Jeremiah 33:14-16
Title: Warning signs
The season of Advent is puzzling to most Christians, especially when you have a Gospel like the one this morning which is read on Psalm Sunday. The Bible readings are not favorites. There is no star in the East guiding magi to their destination. There is no mention of the angels waking the shepherds to tell them of Jesus’ birth. There is no touching moment when the angel tells Mary she is going to give birth to the Savior of the world. In other words Advent is just the opposite of what people would expect, as they get ready for Christmas, that time of giving and receiving of presents and the wonderful gatherings of friends when all is suppose to be peaceful.
The readings of Advent seem especially odd because they are not happy texts. They come from the harsh reality of life with all of its struggle and death. They zero in on the reality of sin that still seems to rule supreme today. It talks of hope that does not exist.
Advent can leave you dizzy. It is not just a steady marching on of time. It moves from thousands of years ago to the death of Christ without stopping at his birth, then on to his Second coming. Advent in other words is not laid out in ordinary time, but in God’s time.
Advent is just a strange time of the year, so the trend for many Christian churches is to skip the meaning of Advent for the joy and gladness of the Christmas stories, but in doing so they have cheated their congregations of the opportunity to grow in their faith.
Jeremiah in our Old Testament reading is speaking to hostages being seduced by the conditions in Babylon. Things were pretty good even though they were slaves. They had pretty much given up hope of going back to the land from which they were taken and were just trying to make the best of the situation, as they settled into the natural rhythm of life. He is telling them whether they wanted it or not that God is going to do what he has told them he was going to do. Jeremiah wants the people of God to look into the future, God’s future which probably seemed laughable to the people, so far away from their homeland.
Advent for us is also be a time of looking into the future, as we long for Christ to come back, that is unless we, just like the people of Jeremiah’s day Christians are content in our circumstances of life. Advent is to be that time when the Christian Church can no longer contain its unfulfilled desire for Christ’s return. “Come Lord Jesus! O Come, O come, Emmanuel.”
This morning we lit the first candle of Advent, the candle of hope. How fitting that is with our Old Testament reading. Jeremiah’s words are giving hope to us today, as we too find ourselves living in a world turned upside down by all types of sin.
As strange as Advent might seem I love it, for as much as I love Christmas music; I have my radio set to Christmas music. As much as I love the social gatherings, the giving of gifts, the decorations. I long even more for the day when there are no more poor. I long for the day when there are no more murders or abortions. I long for the day when there will be no more robberies and prejudice. I long for the day when our young men and women do not have to go off to war. I long for the day when there will peace among brothers and sisters in Christ. In other words I long for Christ’s return, that time when everything is at peace.
That is why I enjoy Advent so much, for it tells of the fulfillment of hope in a time when so many people have put their hope in the things of the world, those things that promise happiness and contentment, but can never deliver on that promise, at least for very long. We are in desperate need of God’s words of promise whether we want to admit to it are not, for the end is coming.
This past summer while I was driving down a county road just outside Hattiesburg I was listening to one of the talk radio shows. I don’t even remember which one when all of a sudden I realized I was fast running out of road. As I slammed on the brakes and sharply turned the steering wheel to buy myself a little distance I slid right up to a deep ditch with a rather large end of the road sign right in front of it.
I was really fussing at how bad it was that there were no other warning sides to alert a driver to the impending danger. I went back up the road, at least a half mile or more, turned slowly around and headed back to the end of the road, slowly this time. I started taking pictures with my cell phone as I drove. I wanted to, when I talked to the county supervisor; have evidence showing how poor a job the county had done in not putting up the proper signs warning of the impending danger.
I had not driven very far when to my astonishment I started seeing very well placed signs with a big letters saying, “Danger Ahead, road ends in so many feet. I found out that if I had not been as fortunate as I was and I had driven off the road into the ditch I would not have had any excuse. You see what I was doing while I was driving was listening to the talk show host with all his end of the world predictions and was not paying any mind to those well placed signs placed there by the county road department who knew exactly when the end of the road was going to happen.
I am telling you this story because what happened to me that day has a connection with Advent, for Advent is also about signs, signs that let us know that the end is coming. Each week during Advent the readings for that particular Sunday are sign posts preparing us for the end times, so that we might be found alert and ready for the end. They are warnings, not meant to frighten us, but to keep us focused on Christ’s coming, to keep us on the right path.
When we read each Sunday during Advent of the signs that God has given us our faith will be strengthened in such a way that we will moved by the Holy Spirit to take a closer look at our own lives, to assess just where our lives stand in our relationship with God. Advent then is a time to think about your life, your hope, and your dreams. What are you looking forward to? What are you planning for? Is your heart set merely on the things of this world; making the most money you can, or on that latest and best toy, electronic gadget, or vacation? It is a time to ask yourself, “What is my hope for this life based on.”
And once we have come to grips with our who we are we are moved to repentance because we can only come to one conclusion. We are sorely in need of forgiveness. We who have been joined with Jesus in our baptism need to renounce once more the devil, all his works, and all his sinful ways.
We need to quit spending so much time on the sin of the people around us and start repenting of the sin in our own heart. We need to recognize that we, who are to be of the Spirit, many times do not live lives of the Spirit.
The time for Christ to return is near and we who long for his coming do not dread his judgment, for we know that in Christ there is a new beginning, for he came to make things right between us and God. When he died on the cross for us the words the angels proclaimed at his birth came true. We now have peace with God the Father. He will come again, for he has told us so and the signs are all there.
Therefore during this season of Advent, let us prepare once more for the Lord’s coming by embracing the Christ child who came to embrace us. And in doing so let us cast away the things of the world that keep us from fully embracing us. Let us do good works and give generously. Let us forgive as God has forgiven us.
Look down the road. Read the signs he so lovingly put in his holy Word for you to read. And with your eyes on him walk the road towards the approaching King in prayer and in hope, in righteousness and in love, knowing that as so many of promises of God were fulfilled at the birth of Christ, so too the rest will be fulfilled; to his praise and his glory. Amen.
11/29/09
Text: Jeremiah 33:14-16
Title: Warning signs
The season of Advent is puzzling to most Christians, especially when you have a Gospel like the one this morning which is read on Psalm Sunday. The Bible readings are not favorites. There is no star in the East guiding magi to their destination. There is no mention of the angels waking the shepherds to tell them of Jesus’ birth. There is no touching moment when the angel tells Mary she is going to give birth to the Savior of the world. In other words Advent is just the opposite of what people would expect, as they get ready for Christmas, that time of giving and receiving of presents and the wonderful gatherings of friends when all is suppose to be peaceful.
The readings of Advent seem especially odd because they are not happy texts. They come from the harsh reality of life with all of its struggle and death. They zero in on the reality of sin that still seems to rule supreme today. It talks of hope that does not exist.
Advent can leave you dizzy. It is not just a steady marching on of time. It moves from thousands of years ago to the death of Christ without stopping at his birth, then on to his Second coming. Advent in other words is not laid out in ordinary time, but in God’s time.
Advent is just a strange time of the year, so the trend for many Christian churches is to skip the meaning of Advent for the joy and gladness of the Christmas stories, but in doing so they have cheated their congregations of the opportunity to grow in their faith.
Jeremiah in our Old Testament reading is speaking to hostages being seduced by the conditions in Babylon. Things were pretty good even though they were slaves. They had pretty much given up hope of going back to the land from which they were taken and were just trying to make the best of the situation, as they settled into the natural rhythm of life. He is telling them whether they wanted it or not that God is going to do what he has told them he was going to do. Jeremiah wants the people of God to look into the future, God’s future which probably seemed laughable to the people, so far away from their homeland.
Advent for us is also be a time of looking into the future, as we long for Christ to come back, that is unless we, just like the people of Jeremiah’s day Christians are content in our circumstances of life. Advent is to be that time when the Christian Church can no longer contain its unfulfilled desire for Christ’s return. “Come Lord Jesus! O Come, O come, Emmanuel.”
This morning we lit the first candle of Advent, the candle of hope. How fitting that is with our Old Testament reading. Jeremiah’s words are giving hope to us today, as we too find ourselves living in a world turned upside down by all types of sin.
As strange as Advent might seem I love it, for as much as I love Christmas music; I have my radio set to Christmas music. As much as I love the social gatherings, the giving of gifts, the decorations. I long even more for the day when there are no more poor. I long for the day when there are no more murders or abortions. I long for the day when there will be no more robberies and prejudice. I long for the day when our young men and women do not have to go off to war. I long for the day when there will peace among brothers and sisters in Christ. In other words I long for Christ’s return, that time when everything is at peace.
That is why I enjoy Advent so much, for it tells of the fulfillment of hope in a time when so many people have put their hope in the things of the world, those things that promise happiness and contentment, but can never deliver on that promise, at least for very long. We are in desperate need of God’s words of promise whether we want to admit to it are not, for the end is coming.
This past summer while I was driving down a county road just outside Hattiesburg I was listening to one of the talk radio shows. I don’t even remember which one when all of a sudden I realized I was fast running out of road. As I slammed on the brakes and sharply turned the steering wheel to buy myself a little distance I slid right up to a deep ditch with a rather large end of the road sign right in front of it.
I was really fussing at how bad it was that there were no other warning sides to alert a driver to the impending danger. I went back up the road, at least a half mile or more, turned slowly around and headed back to the end of the road, slowly this time. I started taking pictures with my cell phone as I drove. I wanted to, when I talked to the county supervisor; have evidence showing how poor a job the county had done in not putting up the proper signs warning of the impending danger.
I had not driven very far when to my astonishment I started seeing very well placed signs with a big letters saying, “Danger Ahead, road ends in so many feet. I found out that if I had not been as fortunate as I was and I had driven off the road into the ditch I would not have had any excuse. You see what I was doing while I was driving was listening to the talk show host with all his end of the world predictions and was not paying any mind to those well placed signs placed there by the county road department who knew exactly when the end of the road was going to happen.
I am telling you this story because what happened to me that day has a connection with Advent, for Advent is also about signs, signs that let us know that the end is coming. Each week during Advent the readings for that particular Sunday are sign posts preparing us for the end times, so that we might be found alert and ready for the end. They are warnings, not meant to frighten us, but to keep us focused on Christ’s coming, to keep us on the right path.
When we read each Sunday during Advent of the signs that God has given us our faith will be strengthened in such a way that we will moved by the Holy Spirit to take a closer look at our own lives, to assess just where our lives stand in our relationship with God. Advent then is a time to think about your life, your hope, and your dreams. What are you looking forward to? What are you planning for? Is your heart set merely on the things of this world; making the most money you can, or on that latest and best toy, electronic gadget, or vacation? It is a time to ask yourself, “What is my hope for this life based on.”
And once we have come to grips with our who we are we are moved to repentance because we can only come to one conclusion. We are sorely in need of forgiveness. We who have been joined with Jesus in our baptism need to renounce once more the devil, all his works, and all his sinful ways.
We need to quit spending so much time on the sin of the people around us and start repenting of the sin in our own heart. We need to recognize that we, who are to be of the Spirit, many times do not live lives of the Spirit.
The time for Christ to return is near and we who long for his coming do not dread his judgment, for we know that in Christ there is a new beginning, for he came to make things right between us and God. When he died on the cross for us the words the angels proclaimed at his birth came true. We now have peace with God the Father. He will come again, for he has told us so and the signs are all there.
Therefore during this season of Advent, let us prepare once more for the Lord’s coming by embracing the Christ child who came to embrace us. And in doing so let us cast away the things of the world that keep us from fully embracing us. Let us do good works and give generously. Let us forgive as God has forgiven us.
Look down the road. Read the signs he so lovingly put in his holy Word for you to read. And with your eyes on him walk the road towards the approaching King in prayer and in hope, in righteousness and in love, knowing that as so many of promises of God were fulfilled at the birth of Christ, so too the rest will be fulfilled; to his praise and his glory. Amen.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 2:29 PM
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