Sometimes I feel like a voice crying in the wilderness, we live in a cultural time when you have to be intentional to be a Christian believer. The Christmas season is sometimes now referred to as, “The Sparkle Season” celebrated by “holiday trees” and “festive lights.” Children are encouraged to share their holiday stories of “Frosty the Snowman” or “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” but not about the birth of Jesus. It is illegal for governments to put up the traditional “Manger Scene.” You don’t officially pray in public schools. The nation’s citizenry is being bombarded with messages that seek to point people in directions which will help them, but with no religious basis. Consider these quasi-religious advertising messages, which I identified in the papers this past week, and I am sure there are more: “Buick, Something to Believe in;” Miller Beer—“It doesn’t get any better than this;” GE “We Bring Good things to Life;” “Come to life with Pepsi;” and there is a golf course now advertising, “Your sanctuary from the masses.”
Being bombarded by these quasi-religious ads, if we are not intentionally and continually reminded of “the story,” could be missed altogether amidst the noise of holiday carols and bright tinsel. The sad thing about our cultural situation is that it is missed by so many who simply don’t have a church family, or a place to go to hear the music of Christmas, or …
Maybe that is why, 184 years ago, this church held its first service during the Christmas season, to be sure that the good tidings of Christ’s birth might be voiced. That the stories of Jesus might be told to the children.
Isaiah the Prophet, stated that the early defined purpose of the people of God was to “bring good tidings to the afflicted, to bind up the brokenhearted, and to proclaim liberty to the captives.”
Interestingly enough, we learn in the Gospels that the announcement of Jesus’ birth was, “behold, I bring you good tidings of a great joy.” The first public appearance of Jesus was in a Jewish synagogue in a village on the Galilean Sea where he read from the writings of the Prophet Isaiah’s defined purpose: “I have come to bring good tidings to the afflicted, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives.”
For 184 years, First Church has been busy fulfilling its calling to “bring good tidings to the afflicted, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives.”
It is a joy to say to you who come this morning trying to make sense out of the contradictions and tensions and sadness of your life, that
“you are loved by a power far greater than you have ever known;”
“the sound of the wailing of broken hearts is but the door way to God;”
“the taste of your tears will give way to the sweet flavor of being loved;”
“the afflictions of betrayal which you now feel will be overcome by a divine love freely given;”
“the captivity you now experience, locked into relationships which stifle, put down, abuse your inner self, the captivity that you now feel, will end. With the coming of the darkness there will be a peace which surpasses all understanding and that in the morning, the dawn of a new day will come!"
It is a joy to say to you “Listen to the tidings of a great joy which has come to you—A child shall be born, to us a son is given, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.”
“I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.”
God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whosoever believes in him, should not perish, but have eternal life”
In one of the many marvelous windows of our Church, the West Window depicts an image of an angel standing poised with wings and trumpet on ready for some sort of announcement to be made. This is an interesting combination of symbols as there is the trumpet symbol of a Kingly announcement and the central figure surrounded by Easter lilies, the symbol of life, matching those in the garden of the Resurrection tomb.
Angels are mentioned in every form of religious writings be it Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam as well as in Judaism and Christianity. They serve at God’s command and have basically one of four general functions: They praise God, they watch over the faithful, they serve as an instrument of God’s punishment of the wicked and they deliver His messages. The very word “angel” comes from the Greek word angelos, meaning messenger.
Some angels are mentioned by name such as Gabriel, Raphael, Michael and others. Probably you might want to read Billy Graham’s Book on Angels or David Jeremiah’s exhaustive study if you are really interested about this kind of thing. For whatever reason, over the years of my study and loving the scriptures, I have never quiet figured the angels out nor have I been very interested in figuring them out. I have been more preoccupied with earth angels rather than heavenly beings and have thought if I ever have to figure out who’s who in the heavenly realm, then I would just deal with that after death. Surely there will be time for that.
But for now, for those of you who are trying to make sense out of the chaos of Christmas, we recall the conversation between the angel Gabriel and Mary, the expectant mother of Jesus: “Hail O favored one, the Lord is with you!” “Do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus. With God, nothing will be impossible.”
It is not the dialogue about the baby; we will deal with that next week, but the part about:
“Do not be afraid. Nothing will be impossible with God.”
Do you understand the implications of this statement? The hopes and dreams of your heart, are possible. The longings which you have buried in your inner psychic, they are possible. The desires which you have disserted out of frustration, they are likely to be realized.
The words of the angel invite us to a life of expectancy. The announcement of the angel encourages us to entertain thoughts which are “beyond the realm of possibility.”
Health, love, peace, joy. Later Jesus would say: “All things are possible to him who believes.”
Do you realize the implications of this angelic announcement?
Do not be afraid for with God, nothing is impossible.
No wonder Mary said quickly: “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word.”
If you find yourself at the terminal where there are many buses to get on, then I say to you, Get on the bus that believes that “All things are possible”! Part of the problem of so much of our life is that we have been thinking to small, too little, to limiting. Do you think scarcity? Or plenty? Do you think, “I’ve got to get mine? Or do you think, “There’s plenty to go around!” Do you think, “I couldn’t do that?” Or do you think, “Well, yeah, I can do that.” Start thinking huge! Believe it and you will see it. If you are not thinking of or dreaming of things beyond your ability or your immediate capability, then your God is either too small or to far away. God wants to be near you, like a mother hen who gathers her chicks beneath her wings, like a mother duck who rounds up her ducklings, like a father who waits and longs for his loss son.
Because we believe in a Great God, who is near at hand, we are bold enough to pray for the impossible, for the healing of the sick, for peace for the world, for a world that doesn’t consume itself.
A little tiny God, you can lose! A far removed God, you can not reach! But the God of Jesus Christ is one who desires to be in fellowship with you and to enable great things to happen in and through your life. God was in Christ incarnate, of human flesh.
So the angel said: “Do not be afraid”. It was the same message the angel at the empty tomb would say to the first disciples: “Do not be afraid, he is not here, he is risen.”
The Native Americans, who lived on this land long before we arrived with out condos and bank buildings, had a unique practice for training young braves.
On the night of a boy’s 13th birthday, after learning hunting and fishing skills, he would be placed in a dark forest to spend the entire night alone. Until then he had never been very far away from the security of his mother and the tribe. But on the night of his 13th birthday, he was blindfolded and taken several miles away into the deep forest. One of the young boys retold the story of his long night in the darkness where every time a twig snapped, he visualized a wild animal ready to pounce. Every time the wind blew, he wondered what might happen next in this terrifying night. After what seemed like an eternity, dawn broke and the first rays of sunlight entered the interior of the forest. As the young boy looked around, he saw flowers, trees, the outline of the path, and then to his utter astonishment, he saw the figure of a man and a woman standing in the shadows of a large tree. It was the boy’s father and mother. He had been there all night long keeping watch over his own. At Christmas, we are reminded of Emmanuel, listen and you will hear the angel’s voice saying The Heavenly Father is always present, standing in the shadows, keeping watch over his own. Do not be afraid.
So the angel says to Mary: “Do not be afraid, nothing is impossible with God.” It was the same message the angelic strangers who visited the tent of old Abraham and ancient Sarah and told them “Guess what? You are going to have a child, because nothing is impossible with God.”
At Christmas, the rational details of life gives way to mystery and our mind soars with possibilities and when words can no longer describe what we are feeling, the music of angels begin to carry our feelings.