BELIEVE

December 23^rd, 2018        “BELIEVE”      Rev. Heather Jepsen

Luke 1:39-56 and Micah 5:1-5a

         There are many holiday decorating trends and each year something new seems to pop up.  One year it was elf on the shelf, and one year it was silver trees.  This year there are sure a lot of those spot lights that you can shine on your house that rotate different images or laser lights.  I think we have three new sets on our street alone.  Several years ago, the trend was signs that were simply one word, “Believe.”  It wasn’t clear what exactly we were supposed to “believe” in.  Some signs had Santa on them so I think the admonition was to “Believe in Santa”.  But a lot of folks took these signs to mean “Believe” in the Christmas story of Jesus.   This became a popular gift among folks in my old church and consequently your pastor has one of the best collections of “Believe” signs and ornaments around.

I was reminded of this holiday slogan as I was studying the texts for this week.  Today it is still Advent, a time to prepare our hearts for our Lord’s coming, now and in the future.  We stand on the precipice of Christmas, as tomorrow night we will celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  But today, we are still preparing. 

In our reading from Luke, Mary is preparing as well for the birth of Jesus.  She has gone to visit her cousin Elizabeth who the angel told her is also pregnant.  As Mary arrives and calls out to her relative and friend, the child within Elizabeth’s womb leaps for joy.  Readers of the gospel know that this baby is the prophet John the Baptist, and even in-utero he is announcing the arrival of the Messiah. 

Elizabeth is overcome and cries out “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb” announcing to all Mary’s special status as the mother of our Lord.  Elizabeth adds “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”  There’s that word, “believe”. 

Elizabeth has an interesting view on this “believing” matter.  Earlier in this chapter an angel appeared to her husband, Zechariah, a priest.  Within the holy of holies Zechariah was visited by the angel Gabriel and was told that his wife, Elizabeth, would bear him a son who would be a great prophet.  Zechariah questioned the angel and Gabriel chastised Zechariah, “Because you did not believe my words, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.”  Zechariah didn’t believe and it cost him.

 Mary of course, is visited by this same angel, and although she asks questions about how a virgin might become pregnant, her response is clear, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”  And so, as the two women gather together to celebrate these miraculous pregnancies, Elizabeth makes her astute observation, “Blessed is she who believed.”

Mary’s belief leads to her state of blessedness.  When I speak of belief leading to blessing it is not in a prosperity gospel understanding of things.  Our relationship with God is not transactional, like if I do this then you owe me that.  Rather, Mary’s belief leads to a blessed world view, a new way of living in hope and looking to the work of God in the world. 

We see this in her song, the Magnificat.  Mary is moved and sings out, but her song is not about blessings and babies.  Instead her song is about Advent, and the coming of God’s reign of justice and peace.  God has looked with favor on the lowly and downtrodden.  The humble are lifted up and the proud are scattered.  The powerful are knocked off their thrones.  The bellies of the hungry are filled and the rich go away empty handed.  This is that same Jewish apocalyptic writing that keeps showing up on Sunday mornings.  This is the hope that God will come again and make the world right.  This is what we are looking forward to during our Advent season of preparation.  What does Mary believe?  She believes the promise of God to bring hope and peace to our world once more.

Our reading from Micah is also encouraging us to believe in the saving power of our God.  “But you, O Bethlehem, from you shall come forth the ruler of Israel”.  We love this reading this time of year as it speaks of the woman in labor and the birth in Bethlehem, but this too is Advent prophecy.  Written at the time of Bethlehem’s destruction, when the people were in exile, this was a word of hope to the people of Israel and Judah.  Labor and new birth are common metaphors for God’s bringing of a new world of justice and peace.  Micah looks for this justice to come from the land of Bethlehem.  Micah looks for a ruler who will rule with peace, rather than the sword.  Micah believes in God’s word for the future.

All of these texts offer us hope today.  We too are a people who are looking for hope in our world.  We are a people who are longing for a prince of peace and not war.  We are a people who are yearning for God’s justice.  And we are a people who want to believe. 

(show pictures of modern Bethlehem)

Many of you know that I visited Bethlehem this past spring, and I will never read these texts the same.  Modern Bethlehem is a place of hardship and suffering.  Home to the Palestinians, it is a place of violence and fear.  Within Bethlehem is the one square mile Aida refugee camp, the most tear gassed place on our planet.  Surrounded by walls which are manned by snipers, the residents of Bethlehem are not free to come and go as they please.  With checkpoints on every corner and gates often closed, the Bethlehem of today is as sad and sorry as it was during the time of Micah.

When we contemplate this setting, it brings new meaning to our texts.  “Now you are walled around with a wall . . . siege is laid against us . . . but you, O Bethlehem, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule Israel . . . and they shall live secure . . . to the ends of the earth . . . for he shall be one of peace.”  Blessed are we when we believe in this Advent hope.  Blessed are we when we believe in the power of God to bring healing and restoration to Bethlehem and all the broken parts of our world.

Today we gather around the communion table and this is always a place where we look forward to God’s good and glorious reign.  As we gather here with family and friends, we share our belief as a community.  We tell the story of our Lord, come to be one of us, and to share with us the profound love of God.  And we look forward to the day when people will gather from all corners of the globe and celebrate together at our Lord’s Table.  “And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace.”  “For the Mighty One has done great things, and holy is God’s name.”

This Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the first Advent of God among us, let us also believe in the second Advent of our Lord.  Let us live each day yearning and hoping for the healing power of God.  Let us look for small acts of justice and peace.  Let us strive for a better world.  And let us bring the Christmas spirit into every interaction we have.  God has promised us a new a glorious creation, God has promised us healing and peace.  Today let us believe.  Amen.

Looking for Hope

December 2^nd, 2018     “Looking for Hope”       Rev. Heather Jepsen

Jeremiah 33:14-16 and Luke 21:25-36

         The first Sunday of Advent is always a jarring experience.  We come in here ready for the Christmas story and the church is nowhere near that message.  Instead of joy and carols, we have people fainting from fear.  Instead of sparkling lights, we have the shaking of the heavens and the earth.  Instead of messages of peace and goodwill, we have nations in an uproar.  Not exactly Christmas cheer.

         This is Advent, not Christmas, and we have four Sundays to go until we meet the babe in the manger on Christmas Eve.  Advent means “coming” or “arrival” and this is a time when we focus our faith and prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ.  When we talk about Christ’s coming this time of year, we are talking about two different events.  First of course, the babe in the manger the Christmas story that we know and love so well, we are preparing our hearts to celebrate the birth of our Savior.  But we are also preparing our hearts for the second coming, the arrival of the Lord on the clouds of glory with trumpets blaring, the end (or beginning) of the world.  Our texts for today focus on both of these Advents, both of these arrivals.

          In our Old Testament lesson for today we hear from the prophet Jeremiah.  He is writing during the time of Judah’s exile in Babylon following the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.  This destruction of the temple was extremely significant, because at the time God was only thought to be present in the temple, residing in the physical space.  So, the destruction of the temple would be the destruction of God’s presence with the people.  People would believe that God had abandoned them, and I am sure that is what it felt like.

          In our reading from Jeremiah the prophet is anticipating a new kind of relationship between people and God.  He writes of the righteous branch which will spring up from David’s line, a day when the promises to the nation of Israel will be fulfilled.  Jeremiah is anticipating the new covenant in Jesus Christ.  In Christ, people are no longer bound to only experience God in a physical location such as the temple; rather they can have a personal relationship with God through Christ wherever they may be.  Jeremiah is anticipating the first Advent, the baby born in Bethlehem who will change the world.

Our reading from Luke is the words of Jesus himself, offering us a vision of the Second Advent, or his return to this earth.  Luke sets the speech in public in the temple as a message for all people, not just the inner circle of disciples.  Christ offers us a startling vision of the future.  Upheaval in the natural world, and in the political world.  People fainting from fear of what is happening and what might happen.  But the followers of Jesus are told to stand strong and raise their heads, their salvation is drawing near. 

This is Jewish apocalyptic literature, similar to our reading from Mark just a few Sundays ago.  You might remember the three main beliefs behind this writing.  One, God is in control of everything that happens on the earth.  Two, the world is so bad that only God can save it.  And three, God will save the earth with a new and just creation.  While these readings are scary, and thinking about the end of the world is scary, these were actually meant to be texts of hope.  God will come and make everything right; this is something to look forward to in our broken world.

Now that we know what these texts are about, and what the season of Advent is about, the only question that remains is why.  Why should we bother with all this?  Why not simply skip ahead to the good part, why waste time with these scary and strange readings?  I think the answer is the same as it is for everything else this season, waiting is good for us.  No one gets to open presents until Christmas arrives, so too, no Christian should jump ahead to celebrate the baby until we’ve taken the time to prepare our hearts.

I think that the slower pace of church is really good for us this time of year.  As soon as the turkey is cleared from the table, the starting gun for the consumer Christmas season goes off.  There is a lot to distract us: from super shopping sales, to decorating the house and yard and church and everything else, from the list of people we need to buy gifts for to the list of people we need to send Christmas cards to, from all the parties and social events on the calendar to the holiday programs at school and church.  The world outside tells us to hurry up and get it done; the countdown to Christmas is on.

It doesn’t take much to realize that the sparkly shiny material Christmas has a really thin veneer.  Just scrape the surface and bit and we can see how hollow it all really is.  Under that rush to do everything right is sadness and sorrow.  There is the financial burden of the holiday, the stress of trying to do too much, the sadness as we think of loved ones who are no longer here to celebrate with us.  Christmas highlights our loneliness and the falsity of our materialistic culture.  We are trying for a perfect holiday that doesn’t exist anywhere.  What folly.

I think the value of these strange and wonderful Advent texts is their lasting truth and the power they have to give us real hope.  Jeremiah is writing in the midst of destruction and heartache and he offers the word of hope.  “The days are surely coming” when things will be better, when promises will be fulfilled.  And Jesus in Luke tells us not to be distracted by the wiles of this world.  Don’t get drunk on the heady brew of consumer Christmas and fall asleep to the truth he warns.  There is another thing coming, something else to prepare for.  Instead of preparing our homes for the holiday, we would be better off preparing our hearts for the Lord.

Now those that know me know that I embrace the regular American Christmas with the best of them.  I love decorations and presents and cookies and lights and sparkles and Santa and everything.  I love it all.  But I love Jesus so much more.  What I really love is that this time of year when we are looking for magic and trying to buy magic that one night we get to really experience magic.  We gather together and tell a totally crazy story about a baby born to a mama too young, unmarried and poor.  A story about a family who can’t find a hotel room and has to sleep in a cave.  A story about a baby born in the middle of nowhere to parents who were nobodies.  And in that tiny space, in that small family, was the whole of the universe.  In that moment God was with us in a way that God had never been with us before.  It was a miracle, a real miracle, and it was real magic.  That’s Christmas.  That’s the hope that we are looking for.

We spend this season getting ready to celebrate this crazy story of God, and we are reminded that God could be anywhere and that God will do things we don’t expect.  This season we are looking for hope in our sad lives and our broken world and Jeremiah and Jesus help us to see it.  Healing is on its way, “the days are surely coming”.  And we can see the signs even now “Look at the fig tree”; you know the signs of change. 

We have three weeks together to prepare our hearts for Christ’s Advent.  The children will share the Christmas message next Sunday, opening our eyes to the Lord in a new way.  The choir will respond the Sunday after that, telling us things in music we couldn’t hear any other way.  On the 23^rd I will preach again and we will celebrate at table, thinking of all the ways the Advent of the Lord touches our lives.  And on Christmas Eve it will be time, finally time, for readings and carols, candles and love.  We will tell the story, be surprised, and feel the magic once again.  No matter what is happening in our lives or in our world, we will find hope together that night.

And so today I encourage you to celebrate Advent, not Christmas yet.  Prepare your heart for the coming of Jesus Christ.  Be ready to tell the story again and find the babe in swaddling clothes.  And be ready for the end of the world, the Lord coming in great glory to make everything right and just again.  This season, don’t look for hope in the thin veneer of shopping and sales, of tinsel and ornaments.  Look for hope where the real magic is, the amazing, wonderful, unexpected Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.