Sermon preached on Sunday, December 31, 2006.
Lectionary texts: Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Psalm 147; Galatians 3:23-25, 4:4-7; John 1:1-18.
In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Merry Christmas. Do you believe those words or are they just a cliché for you? I suspect the answer to that question depends on where you find yourself this Christmas. I read recently where some churches held a blue Christmas service for those who suffered loss, complete with melancholy piano music and dead branches laid on a table covered with blue cloth to represent the winter of our souls. I found the whole thing to be quite depressing because I was looking for a word of hope but found none. I found the story to be even more depressing when I remembered that these services were being held in Christian churches that are supposed to be messengers of Good News that is in Jesus. No, I wasn’t depressed because this was a story about people grieving at Christmas. Having had my own share of grief, I understand that. Rather, the story depressed me because it lacked the hope that we Christians find in Jesus.
Perhaps you are one of those people this morning who needs hope. Maybe you are grieving the death of a loved one, or a divorce, or job loss, or loss of health. Or perhaps you are faced with a family crisis or something else that has caused you to lose hope so as to make you wonder what’s merry about Christmas. This morning, I want to talk with you about why the Christmas story is a story of hope, even in the midst of our darkest hours. Hope allows us to invest in the future and persevere with creativity and courage in the midst of the worst life can throw at us. And as Christians we must claim the hope that is ours in Jesus Christ.
The Christmas story is a story of hope because it is the beginning of the climax of the entire biblical story of salvation, a story that ends with the death and resurrection of Jesus. John reminds us in his magnificent prologue that the God became human and lived among us as Jesus of Nazareth. God entered history as a human being to restore us to himself, to make right the things that separate us from him so that we can enjoy a relationship with him now and forever. The Christmas story is a story of hope because it is a story about a God who loves us and gave himself for us so that we might become his children. God could have chosen to save us in any way he chooses, but he chose to become one of us and this reminds us of our worth and value as people. The Christmas story is a word of hope because in it we see God coming among us to help us live out the purpose and meaning God gives us—to be connected to him and to others in the right way. In the birth of Jesus, we see God actively pursuing us, helping us live according to the purposes for which we are created. In the Christmas story, we are reminded that we don’t have to go it alone in this life, that self-help is not the ticket. Instead, we have Jesus to help show us the way to live, to help bear our burdens, and to sustain us in the darkest times of our lives. In the life born in Bethlehem we see the light of the world, a light that the world’s darkness cannot overcome. The Christmas story is a story of hope because it is a story of grace—God’s overcoming sin for us so that we can enjoy a relationship with him. It is a story of hope because in the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we know that death and hurt and heartache and sorrow will not have the final say nor do we have to bear them by ourselves. It is the hope that the bible proclaims and that hundreds of millions of Christians over time and across cultures have claimed for their own. The Word became flesh and lived among us, full of grace and Truth.
And so how do we claim this hope that is in Christ? The Bible tells us it is really quite simple: we believe it and accept it as our own. And we do our part to cultivate the relationship. As both John and Paul remind us in today’s lessons, we are the children in this relationship and so must act accordingly. What does that look like? First, we seek guidance for living each day. We read the bible to learn God’s general will for all people and we pray to learn God’s particular will for us. Second, we can take a moment each day to remember Whose we are. We can do this by remembering that when we were baptized into Christ’s church we became part of God’s salvation plan for all of humanity. Last, we come to church regularly to worship with other believers and find our Lord present in our fellowship. In a few moments we will come to the table to partake in the body and blood of Jesus, real and visible reminders that our Lord is always with us. The church calls these things means of grace and it is the consistent testimony of believers across time and culture that they work.
Do these words of hope mean we will have trouble-free lives? Hardly. Christians are never promised a trouble free life. What the Christmas story reminds and promises us is that God loves us so much that he chose to become one of us to make a relationship possible with him again, the kind of relationship that existed before human sin destroyed it.
So if you are an individual this morning in need of hope, take heart. The God who created you, loves you, and gave himself for you has come to you in the baby born in Bethlehem. In his coming you can find your light and no darkness can ever overcome it. That’s good news, now and for all eternity.
In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.