ADVENT 4 - B 2011

God with Us

Please note, as with many of my sermons what is written is not "Exactly" what is preached. I usually end up ad-libbing and changing things on the fly. In this case, the entire conclusion of this sermon was done differently. But the written conclusion is still valid. grin.

Introduction

In the beginning…. We walked in the Garden with God.

Ever stopped to think of these stories figuratively, rather than historically? Once upon a time the people were so close to God that we were friends, walking in the cool of the evening… Then we rebelled, or got uppity, or something, and strained the relationship…

Still being our friend, God intervened when we needed help, was always there to lend a hand, walked with us through the desert and gave us his prime vacation property when we had nowhere to live, the Promised Land…

We still didn’t see the true value of that friendship and went ahead and worked on things that were really important like nation building and politics. Eventually getting some kings to take the place of our friend God.

Well – God was still there, but there were fewer visits, after all, we thought we could do everything all by ourselves…

Eventually God thought we were so far off track that God decided to try something new, to relate to us in a new way, instead of an equal, God became the person who needed the help, a tiny little baby… still full of the same wisdom we needed to hear, still trying to help us along the way… but maybe this way we would be more welcoming…

This morning our readings start with King David. They tell us that he wanted to bring God closer, to build a home for God, but that he was going about it the wrong way… he was that king who was too self-reliant to really need God anymore and so…. Still the promise was made: I will still be with you, and your family, and someday, we will walk together again…

With the Kids

Jesus Birthday Party

Exalted Forever

I think most of the encounters people have with God in the Bible go this way:

“…but, God, things aren’t working out like I planned!”

“It’s ok, I will still be with you, and all of your family forever…”

That was God’s promise to Adam and Eve after they left the garden, it was the promise to Noah, to Moses, to King David, to us…

More than that – imbedded in that statement, “I will be with you” is another deeper promise – “things will get better.”

John the Baptist said it this way – the one who is coming is someone far greater than I am… And in fact, fart greater than anyone you have ever heard of; a greater father than Abraham, a greater leader than Moses, a greater prophet than Elijah, a greater king than David, a greater Hockey player than Sydney Crosby… Whatever you imagine, whatever you think the best was… There is still more…

This is partly why I don’t get upset with shopping malls and Christmas elevator music – or sappy movies and holiday cheer. It is not the competition – it is the exact same message: Life can be better. People can be happier. Love can be more real.

I think of Charles Dickens as the best prophet for the Spirit of Christmas we ever had – he was always on about Christmas changing hearts – about how even the hardest heart could be softened by the season.

The Angel Gabriel

Have you ever woken up and found an angel at the foot of the bed?

I haven’t. I know people who have. If you ask me, this is the scariest of all ways God might communicate with you.

I mean, I have felt the gentle push, I have known a calming presence, I have had unexpected things happen. All of these seem to me to be God speaking… but to wake up to Gabriel in the middle of the night telling me some unimaginable thing…

Right in the middle of that proclamation is this line:

"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you”

It is that which changed everything. I want you to imagine that literally in your life right now… what if the spirit of God came upon you – what if you felt God’s will and presence so completely that it overpowered you?

How would the world be different if we were so convinced of God’s way that we never rebelled?

It is said God chose the most unlikely place, the most unlikely person… and that is just like God…

Conclusion

I think the old promises are still true. I think that God still whispers to us that everything will be all right.

It might not seem it in the heat of then moment, and it is totally possible that the bad things out weigh the good right now, But Christmas was and is a time to see the horizon, a time to recognize that something new is always happening and to set out in hope.