Sermon 12-16-12 Isaiah 9:2-3 & 6-7;
2 The people
walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the
shadow of death a light has dawned. 3 You have enlarged
the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people
rejoice at the harvest-
6 For to us a child is born, to us a
son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be
called Wonderful Counselor Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of
the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will
reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord
Almighty will accomplish this.
Intro-
What we were going to do
today
The polar express
Nice sweet story about not
losing the meaning.
we are punting it
because of the incident
Friday in Connecticut
How
tragic this is, and in the season of childlike innocence
Although
we read a different scripture earlier,
I
draw your attention to the story of the wise men looking for the baby king
-herod and the slaughter of the boy babies below 2 years old
Mt 2:16
When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was
furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity
who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned
from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah
was fulfilled:
18
“A voice is
heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and
refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”[g]
In
the midst of the story of
redemption, there was a horror story
We
are on edge today
I
don’t know who these people are
We
cannot understand folks that do this stuff
Chiefs
Player
Mall
in Oregon
Movie
theatre in aurora Colorado
Sikh
temple in Minnesota
Elementary
school in Newport Connecticut
This
goes beyond our oversimplifications/ our excuses
This
is not a reflection on
Twenty
year olds – some of you here are in your twenties
Kids
from divorced families- some of you here were raised by a single parent
People
that own guns – some of you here own guns
It
is not that simple and the pat answers that are offered are not helpful
Hits
close to to home
We
all have elementary schools. Yates. Chapel lakes, Richardson.
underwood. James walker.
We
all have children – they are our children
It
touches us in deep places
While
we cannot control the people that do such things,
We
can control us
We
can decide who we will be
So,
Who will we be
1.
Determined to be in the pursuit of god [my inward journey]
Who
are you?. You are someone by nature.
Whether
you stay that way is up to you
The
baby isn’t just a baby, he invites us to change
Open,
loving, aware
We
are the people of honest, self introspection
We
are the people of prayer
We
are the people of change
2.
We are committed t o treating each other with love and respect [our journey
together] those in our inner circle. Our friends. Our family.
Our church family
We
are the people of love
We
apologize when we were wrong
We
work to resolve differences
When
we get off track, we stop, shake ourselves off and get back on board
3.
We are committed to being a light in a world that faces darkness [our
interface with those outside the church]
Although
we do not scare them
We
are not better than them
We
do not judge them
We
also are more than ready to love them
Embrace
them
Forgive
them
Tell
them the story as they give us the right
Helpers. Shawn has a
friend who says, in times like this, look for the helpers. There are
always those in tragic stories, who do the right thing. We find hope in
them. This is the role that we want to play in the story. who
are we. Who will we be. To be a positive side of the story.
The woman who bought gas
for the young woman w 4 children
4.
We will trust god no matter what [ultimate dependence]
Back
to the part that I can’t understand.
I
can’t understand it
It
is painful.
It
makes me angry.
No
little pat answers can help me
Today
we are feeling very bad for those who are hurting
Let
us grieve for those whose hearts are breaking.
Let
us pray that our Father console them as only he can.
But
this does not end the story of Christ
In
fact, as we have seen, in the story of the coming Christ child, there was a
slaughter.
Rachel
weeping for her children, and they were not
Cesar thought he was
God. He was not
Herod thought he was the
big king. He was not.
These murderers think they
are the story. They are not .
God is telling a story and
we are remembering and celebrating it.
This is our fathers world.
We
have to stay focused on the message of who we are and whose we are
Not
just today. Not just in the Christmas season
But
everyday, no matter what.
We
are his people
And
so we rally around the manger and we rally around the cross
we
rally at the altar, in our private places of prayer.
We
rally in the grocery stores, in the gas stations.
On
the road way. In our work places.
We
have a story to tell. We have a people to be.
We
don’t have all the answers,
But
we know who we are
And
we know whose we are
We
live today with that knowledge
and
we pursue the the presence of god which is enough
and
we look to the day when there will be no more tears, no more pain, no more
death for god has wiped them all away
never
forget my friends that the message of Christmas is special.
Not
just because it is about a cute little baby
Not
just because in Christ we find redemption
But
this message is special because it is spoken in every language
It
reaches through and beyond every circumstance that this world can provide
And
it finds a place to lodge in every heart that is open to it
Light
still dispels darkness
Let
us pray
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