Meeting at church the First Sunday after Christmas at 11 am for a worship service, and Tuesday 5:30-7 for Food Pantry. The sermon this week looks back at Christmas and asks “what just happened?”
27 Dec. 2020 Sunday Message; “What Just Happened?”
Call to Worship: Psalm 148
1 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights above.
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for at his command they were created,
6 and he established them for ever and ever—
he issued a decree that will never pass away.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,
9 you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
11 kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,
12 young men and women,
old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
14 And he has raised up for his people a horn,
the praise of all his faithful servants,
of Israel, the people close to his heart.
Praise the Lord!
Invitation, Offering, and Prayer Concerns/Praises; Father in Heaven, we thank you for this sacred season that we just experienced together as a family. Lord today we thank you for all of your blessing and ask that you would continue to grow us mature us, and make us Christians of the working day in your service by giving to others. Amen!
Message Reading: Isaiah 61:10-62:3
10 I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all nations.
62 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet,
till her vindication shines out like the dawn,
her salvation like a blazing torch.
2 The nations will see your vindication,
and all kings your glory;
you will be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.
3 You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand,
a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
Message: “What Just Happened?”
Today, I am excited to be with you. This is something I have become much attached to doing, being with you my family in God. My hope this first Sunday after Christmas, is that we might have become used to looking at the miracle that is Advent, with all of its anticipation, with reflection of God’s majesty, with thanks for salvation, and general goodwill intended for all. That we might automatically out of good habit take those attributes into our New Year 2021, coming upon us this week.
The other night on Christmas eve, I shared some thoughts of what Advent brings us as members of God’s family. I spoke of:
- Advent hope moves us to look for Him;
- Advent love drives us to care for others;
- Advent joy lifts us from our challenges;
- Advent peace calms us, so that we are hearing what God is telling all of humanity!
And then I read a Christmas Eve Advent affirmation. The following remain our firm affirmation of who we are as a faith family, and fellow walkers in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Our Faith Family believes that Jesus is the Son of God. He was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem of Judea. He was and continues to be the long-awaited Messiah who’s coming was prophesied, and His return certain. The same Jesus lives today in our hearts. His Spirit leads our highest loyalty; our total commitment. He fulfills our hope; our love; our joy; and our peace sealed in Him as the light of all mankind.
And so, rejoice, a Savior is born!
A savior is born, and is born again in each of us when we invite Him into our hearts. Showing our joy to the world!
Emanuel has come!
(Thanks to UMC for the idea of a CE affirmation!)
But what really just happened these last four weeks of Advent? What has it been all about? Are we any different from experiencing this thing called a religious Christmas? Where we place the birth of our Savoir higher than all the glitz of the moment, and before our own selfish desires of the minute. It would be so easy to revert back into our regular day to day lives and just chalk up this last little while that we have spent together as just a nice Christmas. Another one on the books. Time to get ready for the next big thing in the calendar year; New Years, and more celebration.
You know it is so easy to get jaded and numb to life’s real events. I think we fall into that very trap when we choose not to live in the moment. I remember from our Advent readings that Mary stored up all of the blessings (and challenges) in her heart for reflection and growth (Luke 2:19). What an excellent example of living, really living in the moment.
It’s so easy to be caught up relitigating the past in our lives and previous hurts, only remembering the bad, that today passes right by. Or to constantly be looking forward to the next big thing that we miss out on the here and now. Don’t get me wrong, it is good to learn from the past and to look forward to a Christ filled future, but we must live and really live with each other in the now that we have been given! And it is my hope that our living in the now has grown each of us this last Advent into more seasoned Christians equipped to handle the next big thing as a family of God and to take on the working day of life.
I think it is important to say how grateful I am that in the midst of a global pandemic, we as a faith family, our little, compassionate, and powerful church has been afforded the blessing of being able to continue to meet as a Congregation. When many have been completely shut down or harassed, we have been blessed, which leads me to ask for strength for our brothers and sisters struggling across the planet, and thanks to God for affording us opportunities to praise, glorify, and magnify His Holy Name throughout this crisis.
Reminding me of today’s Call to Worship reading from Psalm 148, which is all about all of the creation praising our great, holy and majestic Lord of all formation.
1 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights above.
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for at his command they were created,
6 and he established them for ever and ever—
he issued a decree that will never pass away.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,
9 you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
11 kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,
12 young men and women,
old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
14 And he has raised up for his people a horn,
the praise of all his faithful servants,
of Israel, the people close to his heart.
Yes, what we have in common with Angels of legions, the sun, moon, shining stars in the trillions, cedar trees in the billions and billions, mountains and hills in the millions, cattle, birds, rain, snow beyond count, and stormy winds that do His biding; is that we are all His creation. From nothing into something indeed! And owe God praise!
I can’t help thinking that all along, during Advent when we were praising Glory to God in the Highest Heaven, out of earshot by our mere mortal means, the whole of creation was rejoicing and celebrating our appreciation of the majesty that is our God of all creation.
There is a passage in the commentaries of our Catholic brothers and sisters and noted on by the Franciscan Bonaventure who lived in the 1200s, that states; “he who has created me has rested in my tent”.
My thought today is that, when we invite the Lord into our Hearts, our soles house the indwelling of God within us. And as on the seventh day of creation, God had no need of rest but took time and appreciated His work. Indeed, when we praise, glorify, and magnify, His holy majestic name, God’s rest within our tent and is His appreciating His creation. You and me, and any of His humanity that wants to walk in the Lord. By showing God Himself, hospitality! And being open to His promptings.
Kind of like an inverse way of thinking about what the Gospel of John says at the beginning of Chapter 1:1-5;
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
We are that light, that life, that resides in the Lord, when we invite the Lord into our lives and our tent houses the Holy Spirit of the Sovereign Lord, creator of all that is good and wholesome. A God, who leads us to do things bigger than ourselves, and to witness times filled with His majestic grace. And if we are in tune to the moment, we see people; hungry – fed, naked – clothed, lonely – comforted, searching – finding, lost and found. All right here on our little corner of the world. Or in your own family, neighborhood, town, and community.
So, what just happened, this Advent season? My thought or feeling is, that the Lord clothed us in various degrees in garments of salvation and righteousness. Various nuances based on our own individual relationships with and in the Lord, leading me to reflect on Isaiah’s words in today’s Message Reading from Isaiah 61 and 62
10 I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all nations.
And 62:2,3 2 The nations will see your vindication,
and all kings your glory;
you will be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.
3 You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand,
a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
We see these things when we are in tune with the Lord. These are the day-to-day miracles that take place below our radar when we are not appreciating the moment. In God’s sovereign running of the mechanics of His universe. From one small gesture of kindness, perhaps just a smile or a wave of a hand, to a word of encouragement or even something to pray for in comforting another. Good will that many times grow into individual friendships; sprouting, growing, and maturing; God’s hand is everywhere, when we take notice of His majestic touch.
And what seems even more mystical to me, is that His handy work comes at the most out of the way and unexpected times, places, and events. When we are not expecting His graceful touch, there He is in Bethlehem. When I am the most tired, or when you are in the midst of being overrun by your challenges of the moment, and for some reason you are able to rise to the occasion. When the old adage of facing challenges head-on answers the credence about life is 90% of just showing up and trying!
That’s where you will find that without even noticing, we were being clothed in righteousness and salvation. Not based on how good we were individually during Advent, but on how great God is at all times, places, and dimensions of both. And the depth of adornment is based on your willingness, your openness, your availability to the promptings of His Holy Spirit.
I think, oh and by the way, it’s just my thought. You have the heavy burden of thinking for yourselves and deciding with your own free will (another miracle and challenge provided by Him), just what “you think” or how much you are willing to accept from the great “I am”, our eternal King. So again, I think Advent, God among us, is yet another opportunity to accept the myriad of invitations God is placing on your sole’s doorstep for a deeper relationship in Him.
So, what just happened is what the Lord is doing constantly. God employs unique approaches, methods, and callings; to reclaim His own; You! To instruct His flock, you. To love His family, by growing, nurturing, and shepherding and obstinate people you and me, home to Him, by us living, really living in the here and now! May we continue to praise, glorify, and magnify His Holy Precious name!
It is my hope and prayer that this week, as you live your beautiful lives (the walking talking miracles in the flesh that you are), that you have a chance to step back, take a breath and really live the majesty of God’s moment, a masterpiece, and carry that little seed of a miracle into the rest of your incredible eternity.
Amen!
Benediction: 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 & Numbers 6:24-26
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
Num 6; May the Lord bless you and keep you…