Sermons & Meditations

Luke 1:46-55
Presented December 24th, 2006, by J.D. Kline
The Fourth Sunday of Advent

Many of us here this morning are old enough to remember the E.F. Hutton commercials some years back, asserting, “When E.F. Hutton speaks, people listen.” As soon as a Hutton representative opened his or her mouth, everyone and everything would freeze; all conversation would cease; people would stop dead in their tracks.

According to Matthew and Luke, something similar must have happened as angels brought a word from God to a number of key characters in the Christmas story. You may remember the story of Zechariah, aged father-to-be of John the Baptist, having an angel appear before him with the words, “Do not be afraid,” followed by the announcement that his wife Elizabeth, well past child-bearing years, would give birth to a son named John. These are words that stop Zechariah dead in his tracks. In like manner, according to Matthew, an angel appears to Joseph in a dream, assuring him, “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20). And on the night of Jesus’ birth, an angel emerges before a group of shepherds, once again asserting, “Do not be afraid,” followed by that most astonishing of announcements, “I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).

Surely the most remarkable Do not be afraid announcement is addressed to Mary by the angel Gabriel, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” Perplexed and apparently a bit frightened by all this, Mary then hears Gabriel continue, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus…” (Luke 1:28, 30).

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Zephaniah 3:14-20; Luke 3:7-18
Presented December 17th, 2006, by J.D. Kline
The Third Sunday of Advent

Some years ago, in the customary pattern, the following Sunday’s sermon and scripture text were listed in the bulletin, with the text coming from the prophet Zephaniah. A long-time member of the congregation I was then serving came to me following the worship service, pointing to the listed scripture text and asking if this was a test to see who was paying attention. “There’s not really a book in the Bible named Zephaniah, is there?” this member asked.

Indeed, there is a brief three-chapter book in the Hebrew Scriptures based on the oracles of a 7th century BC prophet by the name of Zephaniah ben Cushi. Zephaniah ministered in Jerusalem in the early 600s BC, offering words of judgment against the Judean people’s unfaithfulness. These were the days before the collapse of Jerusalem and the subsequent period of exile, that time of deep disillusionment and despair when much of the ancient Jewish community was forced to live in Babylon. Yet Zephaniah expects that something much like the exile could well occur. It seems surprising, then, that in the middle of the final chapter, there is an abrupt shift from a message of judgment and doom to words of hope and joy. The prophet envisions a time, following the period of judgment, when God will do something markedly new, when God will be with the people in a fresh way. Cries out Zephaniah,

On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak.
The Lord, your God, is in your midst…
God will rejoice over you in gladness,
God will renew you in love;
God will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival (3:16-18a).

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Luke 1:68-79
Presented December 10th, 2006, by J.D. Kline
The Second Sunday of Advent

There is an old story told of four blind men who discover an elephant. Having never encountered an elephant before, the four grope about, seeking to understand and describe this new phenomenon. One grasps the trunk and concludes it is a snake. Another explores one of the elephant’s legs and describes it as a tree. The third finds the elephant’s tail and announces that it is a rope. And the final blind man, after discovering the elephant’s side, concludes that, no, it is a wall.

Try as we may, it is difficult to fully grasp the truth of the gospel message. You may remember the words of the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13, “Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face” (v. 12). Each of the blind men grasped dimly a part of the truth, but they were not yet able to grasp the full essence of the elephant. And so it may be for us as well.

The Scriptures are filled with stories of people who display a peculiar combination of faith and misunderstanding. During the period of exile, that difficult time in Israel’s history when Jerusalem was destroyed and many of the people were forced to live in exile in Babylon, the ancient Israelites displayed both faithfulness and unfaithfulness. They recalled God’s steadfast love and the joy of worshiping with fellow Israelites in the now-destroyed Temple, memories that led them to cry out, in the 137th psalm, “How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” The psalmist continues, “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!” (vv. 4-6).

Words of remarkable devotion. And yet, these same Israelites, urged by Jeremiah to bloom where they are planted, to settle into life in Babylon, even to recognize that their welfare is integrally related with the welfare of their captors—these same Israelites resist the call to expand their vision and to offer light to the people of Babylon. And years later, when the exiles are able to return to their beloved homeland, only to find it still in ruins, they begin to rebuild, but reject offers of help from those who had remained behind during the years of exile. A choice stood before the people—to retrench and to hold others at a distance, or to embrace the high calling of being light for all peoples and all nations. All too frequently the people chose the pathway of retrenchment, building walls of fear and suspicion. A peculiar blend of faith and misunderstanding.

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Jeremiah 33:14-16; Luke 21:25-36
Presented December 3rd, 2006, by J.D. Kline
The First Sunday of Advent

What are we waiting for? Sometimes it seems as if all of life involves waiting. In this season so rampant with commercialism, we find ourselves frequently waiting in lines to make our purchases. On Thanksgiving evening, some people began, hours ahead of early morning openings, lining up in front of stores, hoping to grab hold of the best bargains. But waiting is not limited to shopping. Younger persons sometimes find themselves yearning to be at a later stage in life, anxious to experience what their older peers experience. Many 14 and 15-year-olds, for example, can scarcely wait for their 16th birthday and a likely driver’s license. High school seniors experience “senioritis,” impatient for their coming graduation day and the opportunity to embrace new endeavors. Young adults may well assume that their lives are not complete until questions of career, faith issues and relationships are settled.

It’s tempting to assume that life will be better at another stage of life, and until that time arrives, waiting may feel painful. For those struggling with fresh experiences of grief, a time of waiting and yearning for that grief to become less raw involves a great deal of pain. Waiting, while a common part of life, seldom comes easily to us.

The season of Advent includes the experience of waiting as well. Advent waiting, too, can be difficult. Advent is a time when we are reminded that God has so much more in store for us than we have experienced thus far. God envisions a new way of living, a time when despair gives way to hope, when enmity and warfare and suspicion are replaced by peace, when grief and tears no longer carry the final word. But the unfolding of God’ realm, God’s kingdom in our midst, often seems so very distant.

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