redemption

Let it Be (Sermon December 21, 2014)

Luke 1:26–38 (NRSV)

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

He, Qi
2001
China

²⁶ In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. ³⁰ The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. ³² He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. ³³ He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” ³⁴ Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” ³⁵ The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. ³⁶ And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. ³⁷ For nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

In the busyness of this season it is extremely difficult to remember just how amazing it really is. While we are running through stores trying to find the perfect gift, having arguments over how much money is being spent or if we are actually going to buy gifts for that member of the family, making of travel plans and whose family we are visiting on which day, it can almost be overwhelming especially if you work at a place that people frequent during this season. But then there is the flip side of the season that seems to make it all worthwhile. I think everyone should take a toddler shopping for Christmas and just stand in wonder with them as they look at the displays. Yesterday while we were doing the normal holiday shopping we let Albert walk, and the screams of joy over every Christmas tree display was enough to bring a smile to the face of the grinchiest person. But even that does not really hit the deepest most amazing aspect of this season.

Today we meet with Mary in the pages of scripture. As we each consider this passage I would like us each to just empty our minds of the years upon years of Christmas stories and sermons that we each have wrapped up around this story. I want us to do that because to be honest we have become so comfortable with this story that often we forget just how scary, miraculous, impossible, confusing, dangerous, and gracious it really is.

The first thing to consider is the opening of this passage. In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee. There is much in just this one verse that we probably overlook or just forget. First off this occurs during the Jewish month of Elul, which is between August and September. Most of us do not grasp the significance of this month, but this month is one that is focused on Repentance and preparation for the most holy holidays of the Jewish calendar Rosh Hashanah the Day of Judgment and Yom Kippur the Day of Atonement. It is said that the name of this month is derived from the verse “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.” from the Song of Solomon. Basically this is a month of deep searching, asking for and granting forgiveness, and examination of one’s life and standing before God. There is a reason the writer of the gospel felt it necessary to include the month in the writing, through the naming of the month we are given a foreshadow of the very purpose of this event, Luke is telling us just how much God loves the world and how God is going to provide for atonement.

The second is the fact that an angel is sent. Today there is a resurgence of giving great honor to angels. I have to admit that for many years I had a guardian angel icon clipped to the visor of my car for several years…I don’t anymore because the clip broke, which probably means my driving is too much for the angel. But our culture puts a great deal of energy into angels, we study them, we have given classifications to them, we try to see them, we fear and respect them, but do we really know what or who they are? In scripture we only really meet two angels and a third is spoken about briefly. The two are Gabriel and Michael, the third is the one that rebelled against God. Michael is the protector or the leader of the armies of God for Israel and Gabriel is always a messenger. True there are areas of scripture that state that there are more than just three angels but we do not know through scripture anything about them. Really all we know about angels is that they are sent by God. They can only do what God allows them to do. In this case Gabriel is sent to give a message in a small town in Galilee.

Which raises another question why that small town? Nazareth is not an important place. In fact it is never mentioned in the Old Testament or in the Apocrypha, but it is just north of the most agriculturally fruitful valley in Israel in limestone hills. The people of Nazareth were most likely involved in agricultural or stone cutting trades, which is why most scholars believe Joseph was probably a mason and not a worker of wood since the term translated as carpenter is used for both. This town is insignificant yet it is the place an angel is sent, and the angel is sent to speak to someone that on the surface is equally insignificant.

If we were to look back through scripture to see every visitation by angels throughout the history of Israel who were they sent to? They were sent to speak to the patriarchs of the nation, they were sent to Joshua the general that lead Israel into the promised land, they were sent to prophets, never in the old testament was an angel sent to speak to a woman. I do not mean to be sexist by saying that, I am only trying to show that in most ancient cultures men were seen as greater than women, and the angels were sent to influential men. I want us to keep that in mind, Gabriel was sent not to an influential man, but a woman, a girl actually. An angel was sent to a young lady around the age of twelve who was yet under the care of her father. In light of the culture Mary was a person of very little importance in a town of very little importance, yet God was going to use this town and this woman, beginning in the month dedicated to repentance to show not only Israel but the entire world that humanity is loved by God.

The passage goes on to say that Mary was perplexed, confused, even fearful at this moment is there any question as to why she would have been confused. Imagine a preteen girl standing before messenger sent by God, knowing full well the history and significance of the situation. Never before was an angel sent to someone insignificant. Yet she would have felt far from significant given who she was and where she was from.

The message this angel gave was equally if not more perplexing. Basically saying, “You are so favored by God that you are going to become pregnant today and give birth to the highest King of Israel.” This is where everything gets scary, miraculous, impossible, confusing, dangerous, and gracious yet we have heard and read the story so often we tend to forget it. Consider Mary, a young woman who is promised to a man yet is not yet married. If she were to become pregnant it would be very scandalous. As they courses of history have progressed the taboo has significantly decreased to the point that most people do not even care if a woman becomes pregnant out of wedlock. But in the first century this sort of thing could have dire consequences. A woman caught in adultery could be stoned, and Mary’s father would have the right to demand her life and the life of the father. This angel was telling Mary, “good news! You are so loved by God, he might get you killed.” But this is where it gets interesting, Mary doesn’t care about that part, her question to the angel is how can this be since I am a virgin?

Those that want to discredit the virgin birth will look deeply into the usages of words when it gets to this. They will say that the term translated into English could also mean young woman, or unmarried woman which is true, but the second word translated as virgin in Mary’s question literally means she has never intimately known a man and no man has known her. Impossible, confusing, dangerous, scary, and miraculous. She is faced with death, her reputation could be ruined, and her future uncertain. She had a great life planned for her. She was about to be married to a respectable man in the community, someone that could provide for her every need, and they would have a family and live a happily insignificant life together in the limestone hills of Nazareth, but an angel came to visit.

The amazing story of Christmas is that life is full of surprises, the seemingly insignificant can become the most important thing of all creation, and that God calls humanity to participate in making something out of nothing. The truth is God will usually uses the insignificant to do the greatest things and that usually happens when those called to participate have nothing to offer.

In the month of Elul, God through and angel told Mary, “that she is her beloved’s and her beloved is hers.” She was going to give birth to the king of kings, the son of the Most High, enthroned in the throne of David ruler over the house of Jacob in a kingdom that will have no end, he will be the very Son of God, and His name will be Jesus (Joshua) which means God to the rescue, God the deliverer, or God is salvation.

What does Christmas really mean? It means that nothing is impossible with God. It means that God is our salvation, God is our deliverer. It means that God will see us through if we will turn and follow Him and walk in His ways. It means we have hope, we have grace, and we are loved. It means that God so love the world that He sent His Son not to condemn the world but to save us. It also means that God want us to continue live and share that testimony in all that we do.

Do we live as if that is true in our lives? Do we believe that God can do the impossible through the most unlikely people? I believe that he can. I believe because I have seen him do seemingly impossible things. I come from a background that is not exactly remarkable. I came from an insignificant town in an insignificant state. I was born into a family that has no fame and no fortune. Yet I have seen God do amazing things. I was never hungry even though I grew up poor. God sent me to minister on the other side of the world, he provided all I needed for that journey and more even though there was no feasible way I should have been on that plane. But I am not significant, I had a child before I was married, my ancestor were not always the most righteous either, yet God has called and used us to extend his kingdom.

What does that say to us as a Meeting, us as a community? Though we may not be significant in the eyes of the world God can use us to do the impossible. I believe that God is at work all around us, I believe that God is about to expand his kingdom in a way that history has yet to see, and I believe that this tiny seeming insignificant Meeting which is part of a seemingly insignificant yearly meeting, which is part of a movement that developed into a seemingly insignificant denomination, is going to be right in the front of that great revival. I believe that this small meeting will participate in showing the world around us that it is its beloved’s and the it’s beloved is theirs.

As we enter into this time of open worship and holy expectancy I want us to consider a couple of things. I want us to consider a couple of statements made by Mary whom God called to participate in the changing and redemption of the world. The first is “How can this be.” This is the perplexed statement of those that are unable to see outside of the current situation. The statement of those that cannot see beyond their own abilities. The second is “Let it be.” Let it be is the statement of faith, belief. It is a statement that goes beyond understanding and trust and extends to entrusting the very future and reputation on God. Those are the two statements that are on the minds of each of us here today that are looking forward into cloudy future that God is calling us into. We are asking, “How can this be?” How can we feed the hungry, how can we cloth the naked, provide shelter to the homeless, and care for those that cannot take care of themselves. How can we bring hope to our community when we can barely take care of ourselves? How can we?

With God nothing is impossible. With God a child can be born out of nothing. With God a poor farm boy can go around the world as a missionary. With God an insignificant meeting can do the miraculous. If only we say to Him, “Let it be.”

Prepare the Way (Sermon December 7, 2014)

Mark 1:1–8 (NRSV)

JESUS MAFA
1973
Cameroon
http://www.jesusmafa.com

The Proclamation of John the Baptist

(Mt 3:1–12; Lk 3:1–20; Jn 1:19–28)

1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

² As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,

“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way;

³     the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight,’ ”

⁴ John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶ Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷ He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. ⁸ I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

There is much to celebrate during this season. It is the time where we look with anticipation to the hope we have in Jesus. We look back and reflect on the time prior to his birth where the ancients were hoping for the advent or the arrival of their anointed one, and we look to the future where we, like they were, are waiting for the arrival of Christ’s Second Advent. There is real emotion involved in these seasons of faith, there is a yearning even a desperation that our faith will become sight, yet we wait.

It is not that difficult to imagine the feelings of the people in ancient days, the desires of the faithful to see and experience the arrival of their long awaited messiah. For centuries they had heard stories of this mighty king to come, a king that would be greater than King David, the King that even their great king would call Lord. We feel those same emotions as we look forward to the end of days. When will it happen, will I be ready, will I experience it, will I even notice, are all questions that run through our minds. This is why this passage is so important to remember during this Advent season.

What exactly was John the Baptist? John is probably one of the most enigmatic figures in all of scripture, not the most mysterious because Ezekiel laying on his side was pretty mysterious especially when he turned over and laid on his other side. John the Baptist is a man that did things differently, his approach was different, his style was unique, yet he is so important. This unique style was foreseen by the prophets of old to the point that they recorded it in their testimonies:

“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”

John’s purpose was to prepare the way. Why exactly would we need to prepare the way when everyone was in a state of anticipation?

This goes to the very heart of the Gospel, and what it really means. This week I have struggled with this passage, I have thought of many different directions I thought I should take in presenting this, I even thought I had the perfect idea, but the Spirit changed my directions. The reason being is that those great ideas were my ideas, my thoughts, what I wanted to do. I was in the process way too much and I was forgetting the most important aspect that it is not about me. This is why they needed John, and why we need John in the advent season. John’s most famous quote is, “He must increase but I must decrease.” (John 3:30). He must increase.

This concept is powerful, because it is the exact opposite of the religious superpowers. Every church wants to grow in number and increase, every seminary wants increased enrollment, every leader wants an increase in their influence, these ideas of increase are not something that is new to religion. But that is not what John is telling us. John came to prepare the way for something different, a call to repentance.

There has been a struggle from the very beginning of humanity, a struggle we still fight to this day. It was a struggle that first started with two people and a crafty serpent. The struggle is which course I will take. The serpent tempted our first parents with the possibility to become equal with God, to have the knowledge of good and evil, and to be able to chart their own destiny instead of relying only on the word of God. As a result sin entered the world, through one simple choice of eating. Sin is an interesting concept, we each have a definition of what sin is. Actually the more accurate statement is that we each have examples of what sin is because the definition is very difficult to pin down, but I will make an attempt. Sin is anything that hinders or causes us to step away from God. Sin can be anything and everything. Sin is a course of life.

A course of life. I want us to think of that for a moment, a course of life, a way of life. That is the very meaning of John’s mission, to prepare the way. The term “way” is a term that has many meaning but one that stood out to me the most as I was in prayer and study is that this term was used to describe the course or pathways of a river. It was also used to describe a journey, and a lifestyle. I found each of those definitions remarkable. Each of those definitions point to an idea of movement something that is not stationary but constantly moving toward goal. A river begins small, a small spring or a simple drip from melting snow in a crevice on a mountain, but the course moves gradually more drops come together and more crevices building into a stream, more streams come together to form a river, and rivers come together to form massive waterways that can carry that single drop of water and everything surrounding it to the sea.

If that is the course, sin disrupts it. The term damnation is something that disrupts the flow or the course of water. Sin is damning it hinders the course of that single drop of water as it make its way to the sea. Does that mean that it will never make it? Not necessarily.

John came to prepare the way. The term prepare is also interesting, it means to make ready, suitable, or to equip in advance for a particular purpose. John came to prepare the way among a people group that was very religious and faithful. Think about that for a moment. They were not ready, suitable, or equipped for the messiah even though they had been living in a state of anticipation for Him. The religious establishment was at its peak, the worship of the God of Israel was the richest religion in the entire empire. The Temple of God was the greatest house of worship human eyes had seen and yet these people were not ready to for the messiah. Not only were the people of Israel more faithful than probably any other time in their history but they were actually converting non Jewish people to their faith that is why there was a court for Gentiles at the temple, it was for the God fearers that had not fully converted. Yet they were not prepared.

They were not prepared because they were increasing instead of God. They were focused on the wrong journey, and damning the course. John cried out in the wilderness for repentance and called people to be baptized as a sign of forgiveness of sin. As a symbol of reentering the course of the river of life that would take them into the land of promise. And John said that he only baptizes with water but the one after him would baptize with the very Spirit of God.

There is a lot to think about. Are we ready? Are we equipped? Are we prepared for the advent of our Lord? These are very tough questions that I hope we will wrestle with as we walk the courses of our lives this week. But the interesting thing about this struggle is that we have a community that will help us stay on course, and we have history and traditions that can guide us as well. Last week began to use the Christmas tree as an illustration for the hope we have in Christ as we wait in this advent anticipation. The evergreen tree gives us hope in the everlasting love and strength of God, the ability Christ has to redeem all people, and the victory we can have in Christ through the darkest days. But none of us just have a tree in our homes to celebrate Christmas, we each hang ornaments on the branches. Even these can teach us something about the hope we have in Christ and help us prepare for his return. The first ornaments to be placed on the trees were apples. These were used in the middles ages first during nativity pageants that spoke of the hope we have in Christ. These pageants began with the story of the fall of mankind. The priests would hang apples on the tree to represent the fruit that Adam and Eve ate ushering sin into humanity. These paradise trees and the fruity ornaments then represented the need for and the victory of Christ over sin, taking what once damned us, what once distracted us from the courses of God and then using that very thing to redirect us to himself again.

Sin detracts attention away from God, the Spirit redirects the attention back to him. Sin takes us off the pathway, but the Spirit guides us back. We seek to increase, but the Spirit diminishes our egos so that He can increase. The ornaments on the tree represent the sin that Christ has redeemed, they represent the grace that God has provided through Jesus. Jesus is the pathway, Jesus is the course, Jesus is the way, and He is calling us to enter into the flow of the Spirit so that we can be carried to goal.

As we enter into this time of holy expectancy consider the courses of our life. Are we being damned or are we flowing free? Are we damning or are we preparing the way of the Lord? Consider the Christmas tree before us consider your lifestyle and the ways we live out our lives, are they shining balls highlighting everlasting love, or are they the fruit leading ourselves off course?

O’ Christmas Tree (Sermon November 30, 2014)

Mark 13:24–37 (NRSV)

The Coming of the Son of Man

(Mt 24:29–31; Lk 21:25–28)

http://www.motsingertrees.com/images/fraser-fir-christmas-tree.jpg

²⁴ “But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, ²⁵            and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

²⁶ Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory. ²⁷ Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

(Mt 24:32–35; Lk 21:29–33)

²⁸ “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹ So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. ³⁰ Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

The Necessity for Watchfulness

(Mt 24:36–44; Lk 21:34–36)

³² “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³ Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. ³⁴ It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. ³⁵ Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, ³⁶ or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. ³⁷ And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”

This time of year is probably the most exciting, it is the holiday season! It begins with Thanksgiving and for the next month we look forward with the anticipation of the coming of our Savior. There is much to celebrate when we look toward God. Yet often times we get caught in despair and hopelessness. So as we start off this Advent season I want to take a look at some of the traditions that many of us have held so dear.

The Christmas tree is probably one of the most memorable tradition in most of our houses. Most of us have memories of the excitement we had a children of putting up the tree. It has become so engrained in our cultural celebrations of Christmas that it is hard to imagine a time where Christmas trees were not popular. The use of a tree to assist in our celebrations in America is younger than the concept of our nation, but the roots go deep into history.

Winter is a very dark and sometimes scary season, especially if you lived in the far northern areas of the world where during the winter months the sun barely peaks over the horizon if it rises at all. People that settled in those northern places, in countries we now know as Finland, Sweden, Norway and others often lived their lives in fear because there was very little light, and the weather was fiercely cold. But they saw something that gave them hope, a tree. During the winter everything seemed to die, the plants died, animals died, and even people because it was just too cold, but there was one thing that did not die the fir tree. This tree would stay green throughout the harsh winter months so it became a beacon of hope for the hopeless. They would hang a fir tree from their ceilings with the hope that whatever power kept it dying during the winter would be poured out on the family living in the house. We know this to be superstition now, but we must remember that this was a dark time. So the evergreen tree made its debut as a holiday tradition in the homes of the Vikings or Norsemen, but it was redeemed by God like some many things.

The redemption came when a monk named Boniface was called by God to travel all over Europe to share the Gospel and build churches. On one of his journeys he came across a group of men who were about to make a sacrifice according to their traditions, but Boniface ran up to them to save the life of the one they were going to kill. Of course they did not want to listen to him but God has a way to turn hearts to Him. The legend says that Boniface punched the trunk of an oak tree that they were going to use for their sacrifice rituals, and the oak tree fell to the ground. Then when the dust from the fallen tree settled a lone fir tree stood, Boniface then used the illustration of the Fir tree to teach the Vikings about the everlastings hope and love of God that is offered through Jesus Christ, and like St. Patrick used the shamrock to teach the Irish people of the Trinity, Boniface used the triangular shape of the fir to teach the Vikings. It is said that those men converted and the hope surrounding the fir tree was shifted from pagan superstitions to the hope we have in Christ.

I tell this story because the evergreen firs gave hope in a dark time. In today’s passage Jesus is telling those that will listen that there are dark times in the future. This is not exactly a passage most of us would associate with this holiday season, but it provides us with the reason Jesus came to dwell among mankind.

Jesus was born during a very dark time for the people of Israel, not too distant in their history they had returned from exile, gained their freedom, only to find themselves again under the rule of an empire that rejected God. The people were yearning for deliverance yet for centuries they had not seen the answer to their collective prayers. Just prior to this passage Jesus was teaching that in this earnest hope many would be lead astray from the truth by people claiming to be the messiah or a prophet. Most of these prophets were not sent by God and were actually more concerned with profit than being a prophet.

There was tension in the air, everyone knew that something was about to happen, and that excited them. I say excited, but it was not necessarily a joyous excitement. They knew that things were going to change. Jesus is warning them that this change will not necessarily be what they were expecting, Jesus was telling them that there will be great suffering.

Suffering usually proceeds revival. Revival is a compound word that has the prefix “re”, these two letters have a simple meaning when they are attached to a word. Those two letters tell those of us that read or hear the word that whatever the base word means is going to happen again. The term vival is a word that means life, so revival speak of having life again. To have life again, life must end. Suffering, hopelessness and darkness.

The people were looking to the future hoping that someone was going to change the course of their culture but Jesus is telling them that there will be great suffering first. This is not exactly how you draw a crowd. But there is more to this. Jesus uses apocalyptical language, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the heavens, and powers in the heavens will be shaken. These are not the words of revival but the words of exile. Jesus is telling them that everything they hold to be important will be demolished and their world is about to be turned upside down. Darkness is on the way, but the “son of man” will gather his elect from the world.

I want us each to be very careful with how we read this passage. We may be lead to believe that this is a passage about the return of Christ, but that may not be the meaning especially when in other gospel narratives Jesus says that this will all happen within one generation. When we put all our interpretation of this passage on the second coming of Christ we will run into a problem because we are just a few generations away from the time these words were spoken. Trying to make this passage only represent the second coming leads us into error. Do not get me wrong I do firmly believe in the return of Christ.

About forty years after Jesus spoke these words, the culture of Israel was turned upside down. In 70 AD the Romans totally conquered Israel, their temple was torn to the ground and all the vast wealth of the society was taken out of Israel and used to satisfy the whims of the emperor. The sun will be darkened, the moon will fail to give its light, and the hope of Israel will fall. But through all the suffering God will emerge.

I want us to now consider our own time. Throughout our nation we have seen a continual decrease in the influence of God as we know it. The church as a whole has seen a steady decline in attendance, and it seems as if the culture is falling away from God in every possible way. The sun is darkened and the moon fails to give light. The church is left with a crisis, do we continue down the same path, do we fight, or do we withdraw. Consider this for a moment. Are we on the verge of the second coming, or do the signs we interpret point to something else entirely? Change is in the air, and that change has many people crying “how long”!

Jesus did not return in 70 ad, but something definitely shifted. When the Romans tore down the temple it forced the faithful to rethink how they worship and how they engage the world around them. Without a temple what do we do?

Our world is again being engulfed in darkness, the very things that we as the church have held as important for so long, seem to turn people away from the gospel. But does that mean that the time is near for Jesus’ return? I do see that there are signs all around us, but the signs could mean different things. Our culture is increasingly turning away from God, at least away from the church, but does that mean they do not desire a relationship with God? We again must rethink and approach how we engage the culture. Just like the Christmas tree, once pagan icon, was redeemed by the Church to reach out to an ungodly culture, like the shamrock was used to convince the Irish, we too must understand our culture and use the tools God has given us to assist in the redemption of our culture. Some say the church is dead, I say hardly. Some say that our culture is forever lost, I say our mission has just begun. Some have given up hope but I believe we are about to enter into the largest revival the world has ever seen. But how do we get there? We can crusade around trying to force people to act Godly, but is that what Christ has called us to do? We could withdraw and build a colony separated from the darkness, but does that bring hope to those sitting in their houses hopeless? Now more than ever we need to look to Christ, follow in his footsteps and participate in the Holy rhythm of life he showed us. Now more than ever we need to live a life of prayer so that we can be directed by the Spirit to minister to our community. Now more than ever we need to share the hope we have in Christ as we minister to the people stuck in the darkness. God Father sent his son into this world not to condemn the world but to redeem it, so that His will can be done on earth as it is in heaven. The joy of advent, the hope of the resurrection and the return of Christ is just that, the hope of a restoration and redemption the hope of the revival of people, cultures, and our world.

As we enter into this time of open worship and communion as Friends, I want us each to look at this Christmas tree before us, reflect on the history of this symbol and the memories we have had around such a tree. And let us not forget that God has, can, and will redeem our culture if we are willing to be a person and a church devoted to loving God, embracing His Spirit, and Living the love of Christ with others.