Sermon: 2005-12-04 (2nd Sunday of Advent)

Sermon: 2005-12-11 (3^rd Sunday of Advent)

Christmas is Coming

Good Morning. Let’s prepare our minds and hearts this morning with prayer: “Lord may the words of my mouth and the mediations of our hearts be pleasing to You O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.” In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Narnia is out! Are you going this afternoon? Have you already seen it? My son Stephen, gives it two thumbs up! I’m looking forward to seeing it, hoping that it will be every thing I’m hearing… and as powerful as the book.

Whether you’ve seen it or not, let me tell you about a good little book called “The Lion of Judah in Never-Never Land”, written by Kathryn Lindskoog. This book along with my wife’s incredible memory, have helped me find and assemble most of the references to Lewis’ writing that I will cite this morning.

As I use the story of Narnia this morning I will be careful to not spoil the movie, but I hope you’ve read the book. If you have, you know that it’s full of Advent… Christmas is coming.

Yes, Advent. Remember from “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, as Mr. Tumnus explains to Lucy, Narnia is “‘…always winter and never Christmas. Think of that!’ …he says.” Well, let’s think of that.

To be sure, this problem with Christmas in Narnia is not about the weather. In Narnia, something had gone so wrong that as the story begins, there are no seasons there. It is always winter. Christmas had not come because some evil had gotten into the very nature of Narnia itself. In the symbolism Lewis uses in “Mere Christianity”, Narnia was “enemy occupied territory.”

Narnia like our world, belongs to the King. From the tales, Aslan is “…the King. He’s the Lord of the whole wood, but not often here, you understand. Never in my time or my father’s time. But the word has reached us that he has come back. He is in Narnia at this moment.” (p.14)

Remember that as Aslan later explains, “though the witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know.” For her knowledge went “only back to the dawn of time.” (p.132)

So the power of evil is inferior to the power of good and the power of good is the King’s. From the tales again, “He’ll settle the White Queen all right…” “She won’t turn him into stone too?” said Edmund. “…turn him into stone? If she can stand on her two feet and look him in the face it’ll be the most she can do and more than I expect of her.” (p.63-64)

[DDM1] Christmas is coming.

“Narnia” like “The Lord of the Rings”, are valuable to us. But we must not stop in our imagination. We must not be like Walter Middy. [Remember that character who escaped to the world of his imagination.] We have been given the means to live powerfully effective lives if we will allow the Holy Spirit to transform our minds—to change our thinking.

Christmas is coming.

Now listen well for the Lord’s voice as we look again for the themes of advent in today’s readings. Do you believe that God wants to say something to you this morning? Remember that believing leads to salvation. The promise is, “…Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…” (Acts 16:31 NASB95) You know getting saved starts at a point in time but is finished when we see Jesus. That’s why we still long for Christmas.

Do you hear an advent theme in our first reading, the reading from Isaiah 61? In verses 1 and 2 we are reminded of Jesus’ announcement of his ministry in the synagogue in Nazareth. He quoted these verses at the beginning of his public ministry. So we find the same words in Luke’s Gospel. Jesus quotes Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19 NASB95)

We will come back to that passage in a moment, but our text in Isaiah continues the proclamation, “...the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn,” (Isaiah 61:2 NASB95) The first of these last phrases is reference to the judgement of God that will in the final day make everything right. In the end, comfort comes from God and He promises it to those who morn. The poor, the captives, the blind, the oppressed and those who morn; all receive the Lord’s favor. This is what Jesus comes to do. This is what Christmas is for. The King Jesus is come to earth to melt snow. Christmas is coming.

So rejoice with the prophet. Continuing with verse 10 and 11 we join with the prophet in anticipation of the Day of the Lord; “I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations. (Isaiah 61:10-11 NASB95)

Notice the prophet’s response is to rejoice, recognizing the garments of salvation. These garments are righteousness and garments of preparation… preparation for a wedding. Just as a bride and bridegroom prepare with rejoicing for a wedding in joyful anticipation of new life together, and a garden shows green to prepare for flowers and fruitfulness, so the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to spring up so that all the world can see and hear it. The prophet Isaiah rejoices as he recognizes that God is writing a story and has given him a role in it.

Now did you notice that our Responsorial Psalm was not from the Psalms at all, but from verses in Luke’s Gospel, Mary’s song of rejoicing: the Magnificat. Mary magnified the Lord as she recognized that she like the prophet Isaiah, had a role to play in the story of salvation. And so our response is to rejoice with her in the salvation of our God.

Christmas is coming. Rejoice!

John the Baptist is a second character from our readings who had a role of preparation. John’s role; “There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. (John 1:6-8 NASB95)

Then as a condensed paraphrase, his message continues, “It’s not me you’re looking for.” He said “I’m not the Christ, not Elijah, not the Prophet”. John knew that he was in the role that Isaiah had prophesied about, “the voice of one crying in the wilderness: make straight the way of the Lord.” He also recognized that Jesus, the one he was preparing for, was greater than he. Jesus was the fulfillment of all the ancient promises. He would have joined with Charles Wesley to say,

Come, thou long-expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.

Israel's strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art:
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.
(Charles Wesley, 1744)

Christmas is coming. Rejoice!

Now this may seem abrupt, but let me ask you, “What do you want for Christmas?” No, this has everything to do with Advent and our Scripture readings this morning. You see, it’s your turn. You must see your part in this story. What you want for Christmas will determine your role in this great story of earth’s history. Don’t live in a fictional story. Live in the true and non-fiction version. You must enter into that story by faith. Live in a faith that shapes your imagination. That has power to melt snow.

Jesus calls us to believe that he has anointed us to participate with him in the coming of his kingdom. We must participate in the coming of Christmas to our world. That’s sacramental living. We are now responsible to proclaim and to demonstrate the Gospel. God wants it preached to the poor, the captives, the blind, the oppressed and those who morn. To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Paul tells us how… “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. […no mater what happens ‘cause even the bad stuff has purpose.] Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. [the thought here is about your longing. Know that God wants to speak to you more than you want to hear him; and I know you want to hear him. So, do not treat prophesy with contempt. In fact fan the Spirit’s fire. It’s that fire that melts snow. Lord melt the snow in my heart! Speak Lord, to the snow. Set me free. To give you direction, power to live by, strength and consolation …rest. Ask Him for joy. He wants to be everything to you. That’s what a Savior is. Have you heard that He wants to be your Savior? What do you want for Christmas?

Christmas is coming. Rejoice!

Back to Narnia. Father Christmas comes to Narnia and gives gifts to the children. These gifts are very important as the chronicles continue. So, he gives tools not toys. Now revealing all the particulars might spoil the movie, so let me just mention that one gift was a sword and another was contained in a small bottle, a cordial with healing properties. A third was an ivory horn that could be used to summon help in whatever circumstance. (p.104)

So what do you want for Christmas? Are you still asking for toys?

Paul continues with his Christmas guide. “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 NIV)

Christmas is coming. Rejoice!

Let us pray: Lord of Christmas our Savior, we pray for Christmas to come. We pray for Christmas to come to us… melt the snow in our lives. And we pray that we would be bringers of Christmas. We ask for your presents of tools not toys. For your name’s sake. Amen.