A Sermon for First Presbyterian Church, Spring City, TN, Dec. 17, 2017, read by
Ruling Elder Lesa Frady
Note:
The url’s to scripture link to the NIV Bible Gateway that preserves the poetic
cast of the text.
Its Dec. 17, Christmas
morning is 8 days away. I heard one guy
say how lucky we were that Jesus was born on Christmas day.(ha!ha!) But like this fellow who needs it, let’s talk
a little about Advent and Christmas.
Many people who have
heard about Advent think it is an odd Christian holiday. Actually, some denominations do not recognize
it, or see it as some dangerous Catholic heresy that leads us astray. But there is
no escaping that Advent starts a four-week period of getting ready to celebration
of the birth of Jesus.
But let’s take a step
back, and note that
Advent is more so a period of introspection.
Why do we celebrate the birth
of Jesus? We celebrate advent because Jesus used the prophesy of Isaiah (61:1-3)
to proclaim his calling,
"The spirit of the Lord God is upon
me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good
news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the
captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of
the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who
mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland
(of green) instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the
mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. (Those who hear the good news) will
be called oaks of righteousness, the (trees) of the Lord, to
display his glory."
So, when
we await the celebration of the birth of Jesus we are called to remember these
words and examine our own hearts. Can we
be called “Oaks of Righteousness?” Do we
turn from anger at our friends and enemies, show them love, and the compassion in
our heart that the Jesus felt for the crown of 5,000 hungry people and fed
them? That compassion whose Greek is splagchnizomai (”splag-chinz-oh-my”), means a deep seated
compassion that overwhelms the heart, eliminating any room for hate or
disregard. It is a compassion that comes from the gratefulness over the joy of our
restoration as Psalm 126 expresses.
Advent is a time of waiting to celebrate the human/Divine act that marks
our salvation and a time for self-testing our lives for how well we live the good
news.
What does Advent really
mean? Advent is a
Latin word meaning “coming towards, or a return with a sense of a successful
homecoming.” The Latin word was used to describe the entry of the emperor
into Rome after a successful military campaign. In that sense for Christians, it ought to be
an Easter word describing the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. But the New Testament writers writing in Greek
used a calculating irony with this word for waiting, Parousia.
Parousia also means return with a sense of that great day when the
Lord of All, not the emperor, will bring his Kingdom fully to earth and gather
all the faithful, living or dead up into his graceful arms forever. (Amen.)
Our advent awaits the
King described in The Apostle’s Creed, the one who was crucified, dead and
buried, ascended to heaven and sits on the throne at the right hand of God. Our
advent waits for the entry of the only Lord and King after His successful
campaign that completes the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven that began
upon his birth.
You can see how the sense
of the Roman Latin advent and Greek parousia fit together but the Latin talks
about the Emperor and the Greek mocks Rome and all earthly power speaking about
the only Lord and King.
What about 2017?
I do not hold it against anyone
who is 2, or 12 or 22 or 32, or even 42 years old to have images of sugarplums
dancing in their mind when they see the presents under the tree waiting for
Christmas. I do get concerned when I see
those 2-year olds advance to 12, 22, 32, 42, and even 92 and not feel splagchnizomai,
the compassion of Jesus for humanity, when they realize there are 2, or 12 or
22 or 32, 42, or even 92 year old people that see no presents under the tree, know
no faith, languish in jail or opprerssion and have no hope in the good news.
Advent ought to be a
reminder to us all about our blessing of God’s grace and our duty to share
God’s grace with every living being. Isaiah
prophesies that we will be called “Oaks of Righteousness, plantings of the Lord
who will testify to his Glory.”
People Get Ready
Advent is the time for people
think about getting ready for “that train that's a’comin.” It is a period to keep
in mind a repeated caution voiced by Jesus and Paul, be prepared because The
Day of The Lord will come “like a thief in the night.”
You know I’m not a fire-and-brimstone
preacher because you know by now I really dislike that kind of “put the fear of
God in you” preaching. We already have
God’s compassion in our heart, we were created in his image, we just need to shut
out the noise of the world and our ego to hear the Spirit calling us to use our compassion,
to live the good news. I cannot put
something in your heart that is not there already. But I think it is there. Only you can find it. By God’s grace I might be a gentle breath that
fans that flickering flame of compassion in your spirit, if I can let go of my
humility and grief over my own sins to believe I can help you do even that.
Advent ought to be a
time to keep one question in your mind:
“Are we ready?” Are we ready to say, “Come Lord, Jesus. Come.” Are we ready to say, “Come Lord, Jesus, Come”
when we realize we are looking forward to the face of the Lord on the Day of The
Lord?
The Day of the Lord has
always been a human idea about some time in the future created and talked about
by the prophets. For some of the exiles
it was the dream of the end of captivity, for early Christians it was a day
next week or month when Jesus returned in his glory. Those are all examples of how human logic
twists and stops our ears to what the good news says about The Day of The Lord.
How many times did Jesus repeat
this one powerful message found in the first verses of Isaiah 61, the synoptic
gospels and the gospel of John? I won’t read them all. Let’s boil them down to the essence: “I am the
truth and Light. You have seen the Glory
of God. The Kingdom is at hand.” Brothers
and sisters in Christ, the “Day of the Lord” is at hand. Amen.
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