Hope, Shared

Presented at County Line Brethren Church on December 20, 2009.
Year C, Fourth Sunday of Advent
Scripture passages: Micah 5:2-5a and Luke 1:39-55

So, here we are, with the encroachment of winter upon us. Snow fell yesterday and it is likely to be with us for some time, delivering on Irving Berlin’s dream for a “White Christmas.”

All over the east coast today, churches are closed and sledding hills are crowded. Side streets have been turned into toboggan runs. Add a little snow and dreary becomes wonderful – at least for those who have a sense of adventure. Fires have been lit in the fireplaces while stoves and ovens create the aromas of cookies and hot chocolate. Winter can be very dreary. But it need not be so.

It seems more than coincidence that Christmas comes during the darkest, most dormant, and is the coldest season of the year – at least for those of us dwelling in the north side of the northern hemisphere. The deciduous trees have shed their leaves for the most part. In many areas familiar with snow, the grass turns brown, lakes have begun to freeze over, and even some of the wildlife have disappeared.

We would do well to be reminded that scripture nowhere tells us the date, month or even the season for the birth of Jesus. Some have suggested that cultural and non-Christian influences helped the church to set the date at December 25. This is difficult to argue against for this is almost certainly true to at least some extent. Nevertheless, positioning Christmas toward the end of December, fits quite nicely into the liturgical calendar.

In the beginning of “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe” winter had settled in for a very long time. Winter was maintained in the grip of evil, without the hope of spring. Mr. Tumnus, the faun said that Narnia was, “Always winter, never Christmas.”

Winter, which officially arrives tomorrow, symbolizes for some the time of Seasonal Affective Disorder and cabin fever, as well as sustained periods of trouble and despair.

In our Old Testament reading for today, Judah was experiencing a winter of distress and despair. Their nation was falling apart.

Historians tell us that many in Judah suffered displacement and economic hardship after the fall of the northern kingdom in 722BC. To keep Assyria at bay, rulers of Judah paid tribute for several generations and evidently passed those expenses on to the poor. In addition, refugees flooded into Jerusalem and elsewhere in the southern kingdom from the north and from territories Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, sliced off from Judah and gave to the Philistines. In a time when resources were not plentiful, the increased population and need for more food encouraged landowners to lower wages and expand their properties.
The trickle-down effects of these conditions were according to Micah, deadly. The “heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel” coveted and seized fields, oppressed small farmers and pushed them off their land, took bribes, and generally declared “war against those who put nothing into their mouths” (referring to Micah 2:1-9 and 3:2-11). [Feasting on the Word, Year C, Vol. 1, pp.74, 76]

It has been discovered that Sennacharib, the king of Assyria, had taken possession of 46 strong cities and many other smaller towns in Judah. Even Jerusalem was placed under siege during this time.

Much of the early portion of Micah is devoted to the pronouncements of judgment against Judah and Jerusalem – even more than what they had experienced already! For example, Micah 3:9-12 says this.

Hear this, you leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right; who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness. Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us." Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.

So, you see that even the Lord God has determined to judge these people. They have distorted justice and pushed down the poor to their own benefit. They call good evil and evil they call good. They are unkind to one another and not following God.

And to top it off, a prophet of God is telling us it is going to get worse. Now that feels good doesn’t it?

Let’s consider this for a moment in the context of our own current travails. We have high unemployment. Many hard working people lost their jobs, not because of their performance, but because of the crisis in our economy. There are big money people that are making bigger money on the backs of people who were enticed and tricked into loans that were dangerous, and the home is now back in the hands of those big money people. Not only our federal government, but individual and corporate debt loads have been higher than anyone could have imagined just a few years ago. Innocent people have been put to death in our prisons, babies die in abortion clinics, and civilians die in our wars abroad, while others die due to the lack of adequate medical care.

Are we that different from Judah in Micah’s day? I suspect that there are even more similarities. Let us not be deluded into thinking it is just the country or just the corporate big shots or just the criminals and gangsters or just the politicians. It is us, you and me. Most of us have been greedy, blurring the line between “wants” and needs.” It is not helpful to point the finger entirely at other people. We must accept responsibility for our own greed and reliance upon our own skill. We trust more in doctors, politicians and our savings account than we do in Almighty God. Surely, we suffer, in part, as a result of our own devices.

But God did not leave Judah and Jerusalem to wallow in their suffering. And God does not leave us in the mire of our own making. God is always faithful and will not forget his children. Out of the pain of judgment and the desolation wrought by foreign kings, God sends a message of hope. 700 years before the birth of Jesus, God reached into the heart and soul of a desperate people. God pronounces his everlasting faithfulness to a people who have lost hope.

During a time when raw military power is used to suppress the people, God speaks about a new ruler who will arise out of the little town of Bethlehem. During a time when the prevailing belief is that the only answer to this oppressive power is more power, God says that this new ruler will
stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace. (Micah 5:4)

“He shall be the one of peace.” The problem with reliance upon power is that it always takes more power. God offers the hope that this new ruler will come, not with bigger and better guns, but in the strength of the Lord. And he will stand and feed the flock. He is able to do this, not because he is able to build alliances, but because he will come “in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.”

Hope is then the next phase of our preparation for the coming Christ. Repentance prepares our hearts to receive the hope offered by God. Hope without repentance is a pipe dream. Repentance without hope is a meager existence. Hope fits in well with that ‘forward-looking’ aspect to repentance.

Now, for Judah and Jerusalem in Micah’s day, the realization of this hope was still a long ways off. You did hear me say that Micah spoke the word of the Lord 700 years before the birth of Jesus. You also heard me emphasize that there would be more trouble for Judah.

In spite of this, let it be known here today that God is faithful and his promises are true. We do not know his specific plans, but we know he has not forgotten us. He understands our desperate states, both individually and corporately together. In the same way that God spoke words of hope to the people then, he offers us words of hope today. But let us not be deceived. We are not looking for, or demanding, quick fixes. God’s ways and his timing are just and perfect. We pray he will not tarry another 700 years, but it is his decision.

Our personal and collective response to our failings has been covered in the past two sermons. Our peace and liberty rests in the pathway of repentance. While that does not bring about perfect restoration, in and of itself, we are provided with the hope of reconciliation because of the cross.

Meanwhile, 700 years after the prophecy of Micah, angels appeared to the parents of both John and Jesus. It is no mystery that these two women, prominent in the birth narratives, are brought together. In the midst of another “winter” with the children of Israel again occupied by a foreign power, the imminent arrival of the Shepherd is brought to bear in the lives of Mary and Elizabeth.

There is no irony in the grace bestowed upon both Elizabeth and Mary. For that is the way God works. He chose the small village of Bethlehem for the birth of his child. God chose these two obscure and humble women to participate in his plan to save the planet. That’s how God does things.

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." (I Corinthians 1:27-31)

In this, our last Sunday of Advent, Mary sets out “with haste” to her cousin Elizabeth. Perhaps someone should have reminded her that this has been in the planning stages for a few thousand years. She probably did not need to hurry. But Mary was driven to see Elizabeth. For the promise of hope, delivered to Micah, would soon come to fruition in and through their own lives. Husbands would do well to pay heed to this.

We made a lot of preparations for the open house last week and really enjoyed seeing all of you who attended. By the way, I believe there is still one pecan bar left, unless you had it last night, Beth. Well ahead of time we set up tables and chairs and did a lot of cleaning. The kids helped with the baking. I did not do any of that – you should be thankful. Now, over the course of our marriage, I have learned a few things – even though I still have a lot left to comprehend (I’m a real slow learner). Here’s one thing I learned. Just because I THINK every thing is done and prepared and ready does NOT mean every thing is done and prepared and ready.

Indeed, pregnancy is a time of waiting and preparation. Hmmm. That’s just like the season of Advent, is it not? This was not just some long pajama party. Mary and Elizabeth had some preparing to do. There was a lot of talking, to be sure. By the way, Elizabeth had no one to talk to. Her husband was unable to talk. So, yes, Mary and Elizabeth were best buddies, sharing their fears, their excitement and their hopes.

This brings us to our final point. Even repentance has pointed us in this direction. Have you noticed that true hope is difficult to suppress or keep hidden? True hope is about as hard to hide as is pregnancy. [that reminds me of a show Beth likes to watch about people who give birth not knowing that they were even pregnant, but we won’t go there] But typically, pregnancy is a physical manifestation of hope. It is hard to hide or be quiet about.

Elizabeth testifies to the veracity of Gabriel’s message to Mary. Mary gives God the glory and gives voice to her hope for the shepherd that will turn things upside down. Mary’s song is about a shepherd whose

mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

This was not something Mary could keep to herself. It was a hope that she shared, with Elizabeth. They were together for 3 months, sharing their hope.

So, our final act of preparation for the coming Christ child is sharing our hope with one another.