Isaiah 2:1-5
The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. In days to come the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it.
Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD!
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Please pray with me...Holy God, may the words from my mouth, the meditation of our hearts and the thinking of our minds be all that you hope for in us, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Christmas is coming -
The signs are everywhere! As soon as the halloween candy is on sale for half off, there they were - the Christmas decorations coming out of the boxes in the retail stores. The winter season decorations on street corners and the flyers announcing the lighting of the Community Christmas tree.
It seems to me that there are more and more lights. And I wonder if it’s because today’s darkness is becoming darker and darker...or at the least we are kept more informed about the darkside of humanity.
We can’t escape the stories...they are on the TV news, the radio news, the print media - all around us...
war, violence, disease, hunger
-yet another young man from our own Bay Area killed in the war in Iraq
-the stepdad who is alleged to have killed his 18 month old child out of desperation and frustration
- the new genetic disorder in the spotlight - xp xeroderma pigmentosum. Children with xp can’t tolerate the ultraviolet radiation in sunlight...even a few minutes of sun can cause cell damage that inevitably turns to cancer.
- people the world over who are hungry, who are dying of hunger.
The lights we light might be our attempt to bring light to the darkness around us. We need beauty, we need to defy the darkness, we need hope. The lights of Christmas provide or represent all three.
Lights guide us, light the way, reassure us...and in the church, the light takes on a whole other level of meaning. We hear and say, “The light of Christ...” and know this as hope...hope at a personal level, hope for our family and community, hope for the nation, hope for humanity.
The winter months (with the possible exceptions of Florida and California) are dark ones...when the promise of light and warmth is meaningful...
Promise of light in the darkness -
that, my friends, is Advent in a nutshell!
Advent - waiting and hoping for the light
And the signs are right here......
It’s Advent and the beginning of the new Church year.
- look around the church,
there are the traditional signs of Advent:
purple vestments the lovely tie-dyed advent hangings created a couple of years ago by Kelly and Stacey and Erin and Yasuyo. our Advent banner that invites us to journey toward Bethlehem and marks our steps each week.
our empty tables that on Christmas eve will be laden with Handbells to be rung by our handbell choir
the Advent candles that we started lighting this Sunday
What does it mean when we light another candle each Sunday, first one, then two, then three, then four; when we see advent hangings and banner and purple vestments of this time of year?
They are rituals of waiting and wonder.
The church year starts a strong sense of expectation with waiting and wonder.
We wait and wonder. Waiting and wondering are signs of a heart that lives, a heart that remains open to God. I would dare say, eager for God. because of hope!
Listen to the story of this man.....
He was feeling pretty forlorn and on the verge of tears when an old friend saw him and tried to comfort him.
"You look like the world is ending - What happened, my friend?"
So he replied, "Let me tell you. Three weeks ago, an uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars."
"Whew! That’s a lot of money."
"But, wait there’s more, two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died, and left me eighty-five thousand free and clear."
"Sure sounds like you’ve been blessed...."
"No, wait! You don’t understand!" he interrupted. "Last week my
great-aunt passed away. I inherited almost a quarter of a million."
Now his friend was really confused. "Then, why do you look so sad?"
"This week... nothing!"
So, I’m not sure that this was a story of hope - or at least the kind of hope we’re talking about....
Advent Hope/Christmas hope is one of those incredible ingredients that may yield amazing feats......
Hope is what fueled Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Have you heard or do you remember his inspiring speeches. Do you remember how many times he as well as other black people were persecuted and arrested during the sit-ins and demonstrations. Why do you suppose Dr. King keep going? Why do you suppose he willing to be arrested and mistreated for his beliefs? What motivated him to tirelessly campaign for civil rights in a time period when relations between whites and blacks were indeed horrendous?
I think it was because he was a man of hope.
He dared to imagine that the world could be different. That the world could be a better place.
He said, "I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day in the state of Alabama, little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. I have a dream that one day, all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
It was the hope of a better tomorrow that inspired these words of Dr. King. The same thing is true about our reading this morning from the book of Isaiah.
Isaiah is saying, "Yes, I know that things aren’t going well for us right now. Yes, God is mad at us. Yes, we have sinned. Yes, we live in a war ravaged country. But I believe that someday, things are going to change around here! I have a vision from God! There are better days ahead! Someday, this sinful land is going to become the home of the living God! An oasis of freedom and justice and righteousness. A place where people from all over the world can come to learn the word of God! A place where nations will throw away their weapons of war. And learn the ways of peace.
Folks, we, too, must be inspired by this hope of a better tomorrow....we need such hope in times such as these.
So, yes - It is a wonderful thing to prepare for Christmas by hanging lights and decorating trees - and preparing gifts for those you love.
It terrific to defy the course of the world and to proclaim that there is a special day - a day in which family and friends may gather and dine together in peace and with joy.
But it is even more wonderful - when you are doing whatever you are doing - that you have reason to believe that a day is coming when the whole world will be at peace - reason to believe that when your life is done you will enter into a joy that is eternal - when you have reason to believe the light which only briefly defies the darkness during our Christmas celebrations will be established forever.
We have such reasons - we have such hope.
And because of that - I - and you - can rejoice at Christmas time,
- even if the money is tighter than we have ever known,
- even if our jobs are not secure and our health, failing
- even if we or our loved ones are in crisis mode
- even if our children have moved far away or loved ones have passed on
- even if our neighborhoods and towns are threatened by crime, pollution, and all the ills of human greed - of human sinfulness,
- even if our nation is a country divided and at war,
we can rejoice with hope
Because of the one who came at the first Christmas,
- because of his life - his death - his resurrection - and because even now he is present in the hearts of all those who believe in him -
you and I can face the world as it is and make a difference to it
and be at peace in it.
The light of the world has come. Come, let us encourage all to beat their swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks; Come, let us journey to Bethlehem. come, let us walk in the light of the Lord that we become a light in the darkness this Advent Season, and in all the seasons of your days. May it be so.