Hope Forever

Sermon Jeremiah 33:14-16 November 29, 2015 Advent 1 yr C

Hope Forever

God’s promises are new every morning!

Those words stare me in the face from the side of my mug as I sip my coffee during the awakening of the day.

I turn the mug- not ready to see or believe these words-as I wait for the effects of the caffeine to kick in. But, slowly reality comes alive-this is a new day, there is a new dawn, and there is opportunity on the horizon.

The prophet Jeremiah is telling the people who are now living in captivity in a foreign land that there is a new day coming!

There is a day when war will be no more, a day when everyone will be able to return to their homes, and a day when righteousness will rule the earth. There is a day when no one will go hungry and all people will find shelter and there will be enough for the whole world. The days are surely coming says the Lord.

We enter into this Advent season as we do every year, on the heels of Thanksgiving.

The entrance is abrupt as if we aren’t prepared for it.

It jolts us out of our complacency

and throws us into a whirlwind of activity

that we knew was coming

but thought we had more time.

It happens every year like this-year after year-we say

                                    we’ll do better next year and be more prepared.

But, here we are again this year,

           and for young families there is more to do than the year before

                                                                     and we wonder how it will all get done.

We are jolted into the season set aside to reflect and wait and wonder about the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He comes to us incarnate-God with us-as a babe all over again every year.

God’s promises are new every morning!

This season;

        let’s give ourselves the chance to witness the newness of the birth of the Christ child.

Let us allow this birth to take form in our hearts.

A newness, a new birth within us as God’s promises are fulfilled in the new day.

You might decide that I need a check with reality because the world around us is still living in fear. Our brothers and sisters of various colors of skin and ways of living are still under attack in a world where freedom is supposed to ring for all people. Little girls are still denied an education. Men are afraid to go out at night for fear of being arrested. There is no longer a place to call safe space.

You might decide to tell me that my words are foolishness because I haven’t recently visited the hospitals or the jails where suffering and pain, death and injustice are still occurring every day.

It is true that for thousands of years it appears the world has not changed. It is true that humans continue to wreak havoc upon one another.

Yet, it is also true that goodness keeps coming forth. It is also true that people are relentless in random acts of kindness. It is also true that wherever we turn there are hardworking people seeking to provide light and happiness and wonder for others.

·         And this is where we find ourselves on the heels of Thanksgiving as we are launched into Advent; hardworking people seeking to bring a little light into a world of darkness through many acts of kindness, love, and care. !!

Today is the Sunday of hope.

Hope is an active way of being.

Hope is more than a desire for a future outcome.

It is a way of living in the present.

Hope provides the reality that we can live to our fullest as each new day dawns despite what rules the world and despite those who seek to diminish us.

There are many people out there who can only make themselves feel good about who they are by discrediting and diminishing everyone around them. If you meet someone like that it is time to turn and go the other way.

Our goal as faithful believers of Jesus is to spend our time talking about the good we see in each other.

This is how we live out an active hope.

Emily Dickenson wrote this short poem about hope:

Hope is the thing with feathers-

that perches in the soul-

and sings the tune without words-

and never stops at all.

As we are launched into the season today, do not despair.

Live into hope.

Live with the faith we have been given through God with us. God, as we witness in Scripture and history, has been faithful throughout all the generations.

Let’s discover together how we can live this Advent season filled with hope and encouragement-not just for each other but for everyone we meet.

Let us make this Jesus we believe in real! The love of God coming to us all brand new, wrapped in swaddling cloths, ready to offer all the love we are able to receive.

Let us share the news of God’s love in a way that people not only hear this but they desire this love too.

Let us reach out with sincerity to our neighbors and our friends and invite them to experience life together.

·         We may be retired but that doesn’t mean we have stopped living and being active and filled with a life of hope for today and tomorrow. God is calling us to share the love of Jesus in every new day that dawns.

·         We may be working full time scrambling to make ends meet, but that doesn’t stop us from smiling as we pass people on the sidewalk or the grocery store or the highway.

·         We may be alone but that doesn’t stop us from proclaiming the truth of God present with us in all of our ways and days.

·         We may be young and wonder where life is leading us. We may be worried about a future we know nothing about. But, that doesn’t stop us from trusting God and being faithful. It doesn’t stop us from actively seeking to show God’s love in our decisions.

·         Getting up every morning is not an option. It is a call of God to get up, receive, and give.

Yes, Advent has snuck up on us again this year.

It is here whether we are ready or not.

And so it was with the coming of our Lord then and now.

His birth, his return, comes without warning.

It comes without fanfare.

It comes as Advent should, as a new day dawning.

Let our hearts be open to receive, ready or not.

Amen.