Sermon Reflections and More!
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The First Sunday of Advent November 29, 2015

This Weekend's Readings (click each reading to view the passage)

Jeremiah 33:14-16; Psalm 25:1-10; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13; Luke 21:25-36

Pr. Steve's Sermon: Stand Up and Raise Your Heads

Children's Sermon: The Advent Wreath

Thanksgiving Eve Anthem: Let Us Give Thanks to the Lord

Orff Ensemble on Thanksgiving Eve: We Are Thankful

Pr. Leila's Thanksgiving Eve Sermon: Don't Worry

Sermon Notes from Pastor Steve...

In today's Gospel reading Jesus said, "there will be signs ... and on earth distress among nations...people will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world."

Often, one of the challenges of preaching on words like these is that the preacher has to find a good illustration of what stuff like this would look like. But it's actually much worse when I don't need to find an illustration. In the past few weeks, we've all been living with some of the worst fear and distress that the world has experienced in a long time.

People have been saying and doing bizarre things because of fear and a feeling of foreboding that worse things are yet to come. Refugees are literally fainting and dying from suffering and exhaustion. And a few have wondered if these things are signs of another huge global conflict, maybe even World War III.

So you don't need me to tell you what signs and fear and foreboding look like or feel like. It's all too common in our lives right now, and we've been living it each day.

Sadly, there have been many times like this since Jesus first spoke these words. In every time, and in every age, there's been suffering, conflict and fear that things will get even worse.

So in times like these that seem even worse than usual, just as you don't need me to illustrate the point, we also don't need Jesus to tell us that this kind of thing will happen. We don't need Jesus to tell us that people will faint from fear and foreboding. And we don't even need Jesus to tell us that people will see signs - because even people who don't have any particular faith will agree that the stuff that's going on could be a sign of bad things to come.

But here's the really different - and really important - thing that Jesus says in the midst of all this chaos, confusion and fear: "Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

It's a really remarkable and unexpected thing to say. We'd expect, "when these things begin to take place, duck and cover!" Yet Jesus' charge to his first disciples was to be people who reacted differently to the fear and foreboding, and who, by their different reaction, could be signs of God's presence in the midst of the chaos.

Jesus calls his disciples not to live by fear in a world that constantly, and often aggressively, encourages fear. And it's important to notice that, unlike some attempts to deal with fear, Jesus does NOT ask his disciples to:

Live in denial - he doesn't tell them to pretend this stuff isn't scary, or that it won't really harm them; all of this stuff is indeed, exactly what it appears to be - the incursion of evil and death in the world...

Speak "happy talk" - notice that Jesus doesn't tell his disciples to run around and do what so many well meaning Christians try to do - tell people that God loves them and everything will be fine in the end; those things are true, but they're often really not helpful when people are in the process of suffering and dying ...

Act in ways that are oblivious to the danger - Jesus tells his disciples to raise their heads as an act of courage, not as a sign that they're going to continue to go on behaving just as they did before...

Instead, Jesus calls disciples of every age - including us - to be people who confront the fear and foreboding with vision, focus, and courageous action.

Jesus spoke these words because he wants his disciples in every age - including us - to be people who face the fear and foreboding with:

Vision - Jesus said "raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." That is, the chaos, the confusion and the fear aren't all there is. God is still present, even in the midst of the chaos, and rather than face the confusion with a sense of resignation that this is the end, and it'll only get worse from here, Jesus calls us to be people who have a vision of a future in which chaos, fear and death don't have the final word... (that's really what hope is about, and that sense of hope is often what the world needs in times like this...)

Focus - in times of fear and confusion, it's easy to get caught up in the fear and not focus on what God is doing, and calling us to do. There was an old Mr. Rogers quote going around on Facebook last week which was this: "When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' To this day, especially in times of 'disaster,' I remember my mother's words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers--so many caring people in this world." Jesus calls us to stay focused on the good things that get lost in the chaos, and more than that, to be people who are the helpers in the midst of the fear and chaos. And that's why Jesus also calls us to be people who are people of:

Action - courageous action that shows God's presence by how we live and handle the fear. We're supposed to be the people who are running in to help, instead of giving in to fear ... (the reaction of Jay Inslee - Gov. of Washington State - about not treating Syrian refugees like we treated Japanese-Americans during WW II...)

Today, as we begin Advent, we begin a new church year. And while we'd like new years to begin with happiness and promise, this year, just like our Gospel reading, begins with a good deal of fear, foreboding and distress.

But Jesus' charge to us in every year, and in every time, is to live as people of vision, focus and courageous action, no matter what the times are like. And that's especially important when the world is caught up in fear and distress.

Jesus calls us to be people who lift our heads as a sign of God's hope and promise for the whole world. Jesus calls us to look for the signs and opportunities God is giving us to be instruments of hope in the world. And Jesus calls us to be people of courageous action, who react not out of fear, but out of faith and confidence that God can and will use us to be light in the darkness of the world.

Amen.