I
love the celebration of Christmas because we remember an amazing story. God chose to enter the world in the womb of
an unwed, peasant teenager. Her finance,
Joseph, decided to stay with her when he found out she was pregnant. I’m sure it was hard for him to believe that
the Holy Spirit had been the father and not another man from town. The baby was born in a small house in
Bethlehem with animals nearby. After the
baby was born he was put in a feed trough or what we would call a manger.
This
is the story of God entered the world as a human. What a remarkable, humble story.
I
love getting ready for Christmas by celebrating the season of Advent.
The
worship services are so beautiful this season.
At Chain of Lakes we have some amazing music planned. In two weeks we’re going to have our first
symphonic band. Along with a choir. We had so many people show up for choir
practice that Kristel ran out of music.
The music of the season is amazing.
I
love getting together with family and even going to a party or two.
But
as much as I love the season I hate—and if your parents were like mine they
taught me that hate is a very strong word—I hate how the season can be hijacked. The excesses, the consumption, the busyness,
the financial debt we take on and even the weight some of us gain.
The
media encourages us to spend, spend, spend.
Already we have days in this season that are labeled for shopping—Black
Friday/Cyber Monday. The media keeps us
informed on how well we are doing at our shopping. I turned on the news this past Monday—excuse
me—sorry culture—I’ll be hip and call it cyber Monday—and I didn’t watch news. On the news I watched a three minute
description of the best deals on the Internet.
After every deal the newscaster said “wow.” For me the word, “wow” is a very special word
that is all about God. Now the word,
“wow” is being used for shopping.
What
I’ve always wondered about the season is what lasts? We celebrate a story that has everlasting
implications for our life. What lasts
about our preparation and celebration? Are
we being drawn closer to the person God wants us to be? Is our world drawn being closer to the
Kingdom that God desires. Is the poverty
rate lower because of Christmas? Are the
nations of the world drawn closer to peace because we’re celebrating the birth
of the Prince of Peace?
My
hope is this year our preparation and celebration can last. With this hope I’m sharing a three week
sermon series called “Making Memories.”
The AIM of the series is to see what is it about the story of Jesus’ birth
that we will carry with us into the new year.
Each Sunday I’m going to encourage us to do make a memory this
season. I’m going to encourage us to make
a memory based on the Spirit of Jesus that we will still talk about in ten
years.
Each
sermon will revolve around a theme.
Today’s theme is hope.
I’m
going to do three things in this sermon.
I would encourage you to write them down in the left hand side of the
bulletin.
SLIDE
1. Share the story of Simeon
Give
two take-aways
1. A challenge for the week
2.
Encourage us to make a memory
Let’s
look at the story of Simeon. This story
takes place in the latter half of the second chapter of Luke.
Some
context. Right before the story of
Simeon we read about Jesus’ birth. Eight
days later he was circumcised. Then
Joseph and Mary took Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem.
You
remember the village where Jesus was born?
Bethlehem. Do you know how far it
was from Bethlehem to Jerusalem? A
little more than five miles. Do you know
how far it is from Roosevelt Middle School to Lino Lakes Elementary STEM where
we do mentoring? That’s 7.3 miles. So they walked Joseph and Mary walked a
little less than that distance from Bethlehem to Jerusalem.
Why
did they go to the Temple? When a woman
gave birth in Jesus’ day she was known as unclean for 40 days. During this time she couldn’t touch anything
that was holy and she couldn’t go into a sanctuary. When those 40 days were up she would approach
a priest and share an offering. The
priest would declare the woman clean.
This
is the law they were following.
SLIDE
When
the days of her [mother of a child] purification are completed, whether for a
son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest … a lamb in its first year
for a burnt offering, a pigeon or a turtle-dove for a sin offering.
If
she cannot afford a sheep, she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons. Leviticus 12:6
SLIDE
“they
[Joseph & Mary] offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law
of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. Luke 2:24
What
this tell you about Joseph and Mary? They were poor
Joseph
and Mary and Jesus were on the way to the Temple from Bethlehem. One part of the story. This brings us to Simeon.
Simeon
was a righteous man. The story says he
was looking forward or waiting for the consolation of Israel. This means a lot, but most simply it means he
was waiting for the Messiah. Simeon had
been told by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the
Messiah.
Most
people think that Simeon was old. Here
are some pictures of Simeon
SLIDE
SLIDE
SLIDE
Let
me ask you a question. Simeon had been
promised that he would see the Messiah. As he was waiting what do you think was going
through his mind? What emotions was he
experiencing?
Anticipation; excitement; expectation; hope.
I
think Simeon felt hope. I think Simeon
was a prophet of hope. He is a role
model for us.
I
preached a lot on hope. I pulled out
some of my sermons on hope. This week I
came up with a definition of hope.
SLIDE Hope is knowing the worst of the
world and believing in the best
I
don’t think living with hope is easy.
Jim
Wallis is the editor of Sojourners magazine.
He wrote this.
SLIDE
“Prophetic
faith does not see the primary battle as the struggle between belief and
secularism. It understands that the real
battle, the big struggle of our times, is the fundamental choice between cynicism
and hope. … The choice between cynicism and hope is ultimately a spiritual
choice, one that has enormous political consequences. God’s Politics, page 346
God
had told Simeon that he would see the Messiah.
It was quite remarkable that Simeon would believe God. People in Israel had been waiting for the
Messiah ever since their nation had been destroyed six centuries earlier. Many times people thought the Messiah was
coming. The Messiah had never come. I think it would have been easy for Simeon to
be cynical about what God had told him.
In
many ways it’s a lot easier to choose cynicism instead of choosing hope. There’s quite an attraction to cynicism. The cynics have a lot to offer the
world. Cynics are smart and critical,
and they honestly see reality. I’ll let
Wallis share the point.
SLIDE
“[Cynics]
tend to see things as they are, they know what is wrong, and they are generally
opposed to what they see.”
We
actually need cynics in our lives as they keep us honest.
However
here is the thing about cynics. They make
the correct step in identifying the problems of the world. But they don’t go far enough. They stay with the problem, but they don’t
present a solution. They aren’t willing
to take risks, or make sacrifices, or put their heart and life on the line to
solve the problems they can so easily identify.
One
more quote from Jim Wallis. It’s a
fairly long quote, but it expresses the point.
SLIDE
“Perhaps
the only people who view the world realistically are the cynics and the
saints. Everybody else may be living in
some kind of denial about what is really going on and how things really are. And the only difference between the cynics
and the saints is the presence, power, and possibility of hope. And that, indeed, is a spiritual and
religious issue. More than just a moral
issue, hope is a spiritual and even religious choice. Hope is not a feeling; it is a decision.
SLIDE
And
the decision for hope is based on what you believe at the deepest levels—what
your most basic convictions are about the world and what the future holds—all
based on your faith. You choose hope,
not as a naïve wish, but as a choice, with your eyes wide open to the reality of
the world—just like the cynics who have not made the decision for hope.
God’s
Politics, Page 347
I
love being with a group of people who choose hope. That is why I love being your pastor. You choose hope. You and I are almost at the end of a long
campaign that started in early June when Gary Long and I received an E-mail
that said we weren’t going to be able to worship at Da Vinci Academy. After worship today the Steering Committee is
going to vote on when we will start worshiping at our new home on
Davenport.
The
journey from that first E-mail to our first worship service has been quite a journey. We’re going to a facility, the journey has
not been about a facility. The journey
is about a choice. The choice is one
that you made many times in the last six months. The choice you always made was hope.
We
chose hope instead of cynicism.
The
cynics would have rightly said that this journey would be hard. They would have quit.
Instead
you said that this journey will be hard, but let’s give it a shot. Let’s see what happens.
The
cynics would have said that it makes no sense to turn a Bridal studio into a
worship space
Instead
you said—yes not too many Bridal studios are turned into a worship space. But let’s try to figure it out.
The
cynics would have said that there is no way the congregation can raise the
amount of money we need to raise.
Instead
you said, “yes it will take a lot of money, but money follows vision and if we
can communicate the vision the money will come.”
This
particular journey is almost over. Guess
who won the journey. God won the
journey. God is a God of hope.
It’s
the same story as Simeon.
Simeon
could have said—yes I’ve heard that the Messiah has been coming. I’ve been hearing that for 500 years. Why would it happen now? He didn’t choose the path of cynicism.
God
was at work in this story in a way that no one could have imagined. I encourage you to read the story this
week. God had an intersection that God
was orchestrating. Joseph and Mary brought
Jesus to the Temple. God told Simeon to
come to the Temple. When Simeon came to
the Temple, guess what happened.
He
saw Jesus. He saw the Messiah.
Simeon
rushed up to Jesus and grabbed him in his arms.
This is the one we’ve been waiting for.
He pronounced these words. These
verses have become know as the Nunc Dimittis They are worth memorizing
SLIDE
Master,
now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word;
For
my eyes have seen your salvation,
Which
you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
A
light for revelation to the Gentiles
And
for glory to your people Israel.
Luke
2:29-32
This
is the one; this is the one we’ve been waiting for. All of our waiting has been worth it. That’s the power of hope. That’s the story.
My
first take away to you is this. It’s a
takeaway for one week because I realize the shelf-life of sermons is one
week.
SLIDE This week continue to choose hope
over cynicism.
Every
day we’re going to look at the reality of a fallen world. We’re going to have to choose how to
respond. We have hard decisions to make
because of this fallen world. Our
decisions range from as small as my schedule is out of whack to a loved one needs
help. Just this week Amy and I got word
that a close friend of ours had to go into emergency surgery because a large
mass was discovered on his bowel. Every
day we look at the reality of a fallen world.
What
are you going to choose this week—hope or cynicism. Are you going to say—this situation is really
bad and it’s not going to get any better.
Or are you going to say, this situation is really bad, but I think God
just might turn it around. Choose hope.
Today
we are welcoming 12 new people as Disciples at Chain of Lakes. I am so excited that this group is connecting
to us. You aren’t a member, though we do
have members. You are a disciple because
what most important to us is not what you do for the institution called Chain
of Lakes. What is most important is how
this community can help you grow as a follower of Jesus Christ. I want our community to help you grow in your
faith life, your relationship life, to be healed of any wounds that you have,
and to become the person God desires for you to be—to discover what I call our
Inspirational Intersection. Those are a
lot of words, but my charge to our new folks for their time at Chain of Lakes
is choose hope. Always hope over
cynicism. Help our congregation do the
same.
The
last take-away I want to share is very simple.
But it’s a big challenge.
SLIDE I want to challenge you to do something this
season in the spirit of Jesus that you’ll still be talking about in ten
years. Make a memory that will last.
If
your family is like my family we have family traditions that are special and
meaningful. I’m not asking us to create
a new tradition that we do every year.
I’m encouraging us to do something for one year—in 2014—that will
last—something that represents hope.
It’s
up to you to discern what this could be.
Let me share some possibilities.
My motivation is not to tell you what to do, but instead to prompt your
discernment. I’ve talked about Ola in
some past sermons. He is a man in his 20’s who came from Nigeria. He is dying of colon cancer. Sally Narr and our confirmation students are
going to visit him today. He might not
be with us in a month. His mother still
lives in Nigeria. Perhaps a group of us
could figure out how to pay for her plane ticket to the United States.
We’re
going to be asking people to give gifts to homeless teens. Maybe you want to take one teen—or perhaps
you would take five teens.
Maybe
you could do something with your family that is very meaningful. Perhaps you would want to knock on every door
near you and share a present with that family that represented Christmas to
you.
You
probably could come up with some even better ideas.
As
the world tells us to consume, we’re celebrating an everlasting story.
Right
after the sermon Kristel Peters and the band is going to play a song. As they are doing that I want to encourage
each of us to reflect on a memory you could make in the Spirit of Jesus this
season. Have a conversation with God
about what your memory could be.
I
pray that Simeon’s story can be our story.
Always choose hope.
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