GREAT JOY

A Sermon the 3rd Sunday of Advent

Pastor Laura Gentry

Zephaniah 3: 14-20

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Let us begin with an Advent prayer written by the late Henri Nouwen:

Lord Jesus,

Master of both the light and the darkness,

send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.

We who have so much to do

seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.

We who are anxious over many things

look forward to your coming among us.

We who are blessed in so many ways

long for the complete joy of your kingdom.

We whose hearts are heavy

seek the joy of your presence.

We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.

To you we say, “Come Lord Jesus!”

Amen.

This morning, we have come to the third Sunday in Advent. Our Advent wreath is glowing brighter, especially now with the addition of the pink candle of joy. It is beautiful to see how the light is growing on the wreath, for this light symbolizes how the light of Christ is coming into our world, into our darkness.

We are no stranger to this world’s darkness. The darkness is all around us. It is obvious this time of year as the dusk starts hovering before it’s even hit four o’clock. It reminds us of the darkness in our hearts. I read an article that said the number one stressor this season is finances. People stress themselves out wondering how they can afford the Christmas presents they are buying. Instead of focusing their hearts on the coming Christ child, they worry about financial matters.

The second biggest stress of the season, the article said, is grief. People think about the loved ones they have lost and how Christmas just isn’t the same without them. Many people become overwhelmed with loneliness this time of year.

I guess I’ve always known this, but this year I’m experiencing it myself. The first Advent season without my mother has been punctuated with moments where I sense the depth of my loss. I’m all but boycotting Christmas. I’m not putting up the big Christmas tree or decorating the house or sending cards and I haven’t been able to bring myself to buy present one. I know, as many of you do, the heaviness of grief this time of year.

And yet, it is precisely because of this heavy, complicated, human pain we bear that we are made aware of of our need for the growing light of Advent. It is because of our brokenness that we come to seek the light of Christ—a light we need more than we can express. We seek it with all our heart and soul and mind.

I was profoundly struck by something I read by Dietrich Bonhoeffer this week. Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor and theologian. He was also a participant in the German Resistance movement against Nazism during World War ll. He was subsequently arrested, imprisoned and eventually executed in 1945, shortly before the war's end. So here was a man who understood, firsthand, the terror of being in a prison cell. And here is what he wrote:

“A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes... and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent.”

The door of freedom must be opened from the outside. Bonhoeffer understood that our freedom is not in our own hands. The Advent message is that through we are traveling in the dark, our God has unveiled a plan for a bright future through Jesus Christ. It’s God’s plan, not ours. That’s why we can wait in hope and, yes, even in joy.

And this is what we hear in our scripture reading from Zephaniah for today. The prophet tells the people who sit in great darkness that the power of God is in the midst of them, bringing victory. These people have no reason to hope. Their land has been taken over by foreign invaders. Many live in exile. Their tears flow like the rivers of Babylon. Yet, they are given word that God will be like a mighty warrior in their midst. But this is not the kind of worldly power that we often think of when we hear the word “warrior”. There is such beautiful language used in this prophesy. We hear that God is “a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”

Rejoice over you with gladness. Renew you in God’s love. These are images that remind us more of a mother than a warrior. And the most beautiful image is that God will exult over you with loud singing.

The good news is that no matter how deep our despair, no matter how debilitating our grief, no matter how solid our prison walls, the door is being opened for us. The darkness is being drowned. The light—the pure, vibrant light we so desperately need—is dawning upon us. Yes, us.

Martin Luther preached that the Christmas message was really about us. In a famous Christmas sermon, he wrote:

“Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people; for there is born to you this day a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.” In these words you clearly see that he is born FOR US. He does not simply say, Christ is born, but TO YOU is born; neither does he say, I bring glad tidings, but TO YOU I bring glad tidings of great joy. Furthermore, this joy was not to remain in Christ, but it shall be to ALL PEOPLE.

It is for us and for all people. Christ is born for us all. He will rejoice over us with singing. Great joy is coming. The door is opening from the outside. Do you believe it?

If you do, then the candle of joy can burn in your heart. May it burn brightly and overwhelm your darkness. Amen.

© 2009 Laura Gentry

FREED TO FREE

A Sermon for the Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 20, 2007
by Pastor Laura Gentry

Acts 16:16-34
One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortunetelling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, “These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.” The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God. (NRSV)

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Today, on our last Sunday of the Easter season, we hear an amazing story from the book of Acts. Paul and Silas are going about doing their ministry and they run across a girl who has been possessed by a demon. Paul miraculously removes her power of divination. He sets her free. But her master is upset about the loss in revenue it will cause him. So he drags them to the magistrates. They are beaten with rods and thrown into jail. Not only that, but they are fastened with stocks.

We’ve all had days like this, haven’t we? Okay, maybe it’s never been quite that bad for us, but we can certainly relate to Paul and Silas at this point. Sometimes life just throws us a curve ball and we think how unfair and outrageous it is that we should have to suffer such a thing. Our experience can be pretty painful and a pity party would definitely be in order.

But here is where we can really learn something from the scripture lesson. We hear not one little peep of complaint out of Paul and Silas—at least the way the story is written. Despite the pain and exhaustion of the beatings they must feel, it says that they begin to pray and sing songs of praise to God. Wait a minute? Did we hear that right? They are beaten up, in stocks, in jail, at midnight and they are just singing their little hearts out to God.

What do they know that we don’t? I mean, would we be happily singing songs in the middle of the night if we’d just been through what they’ve just been through? This is absolutely remarkable! They are completely undaunted. They are still filled with joy of the Lord despite their bleak circumstances. Many people think that the miracle of the story is that God frees them from prison by an earthquake and that’s certainly miraculous, but I consider their boisterous cheerfulness in the midst of adversity the most amazing miracle. It is obvious that these men are filled with faith to behave in such an astonishing fashion. They must know the God of love—they must really know the truth of the gospel in their hearts. And because of this, it seems to me that they are already free. Nothing can really imprison them because they know that the power of God is bigger than any shackles they’ll ever have on.

And then, the earthquake shakes the place. Earthquakes can be quite terrifying. I’m glad I got out of California before the “big one” hits. This earthquake, however, is a freeing one. It bursts their chains and Paul and Silas are freed—fully freed! But they don’t run away. I think it is because they were already free in their hearts. They behave in most strange fashion. They stick around. And when they see the jailer about to kill himself because he fears what his superiors will do to him if they find out he’s let the prisoners go. Paul yells out to him and convinces him not to do so. This so baffles the jailer that he ends up accepting Christ, being baptized and inviting them to his home where he tends their wounds. This is another completely unexpected turn of events. What a drama we’ve been offered!

This passage demonstrates the degree of change that is possible in human life. Paul and Silas act in a way that defies normal behavior. They act in faith and joy and deep compassion. They teach us about being intentional agents of change in our society. They could have hated the jailer for being a part of their oppression, they could have run away—protecting their own self-interest. Instead, they open their hearts to him and he, in turn, opens his heart to them and to Christ. More miracles.

As Christians we are called to a ministry of reconciliation, transformation, and renewal. Our own behavior and our own willingness to effect that change is defined by our relationship to the risen Christ. Is Jesus alive in you? It is obvious by your actions when he is.

The capacity to be different and to act differently because Christ is the center of our being is one of the most effective ways of sharing the Good News. Don’t just talk about Jesus, live his truth. Our commitment to recognizing and appreciating the best that is possible in others reflect the best qualities of what it means to be truly human.

As human beings, we find ourselves captive and imprisoned by a number of things that separate us from Christ and from one another. We may be imprisoned by fears, prejudices, attitudes, anger, and a other feelings that well up during times of stress.

At times like this, when we are unable to manage the complexities of life or circumstance, may we be freed by the power of the Holy Spirit, as Paul and Silas were. May we be set free so that we can free others.

In all things may the mind of Christ, through the Holy Spirit, direct us to fulfilling the God's work during the course of our lives. May the Holy Spirit work within us to bring a sense of joy, centered peace, and a deep sense of compassion in our work and witness with others, in the name of Christ.

And now, may the peace which passes all understanding keep our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

© Laura E. Gentry 2007

SHARING JOY

A Midweek Lenten Meditation
by Laura Gentry

In this painting, I have put candles in each person's hand. This is to signify how we are called to shine forth the joy of God in the world. The bible makes it clear that joy is an important expression of faith. So often we take ourselves and our stresses so seriously that we experience and share little joy. The Psalmist testifies that we ought to share the joy of the whole earth and praise God with great exhuberance and joy. May this painting serve as a visual focus for you to discover new depths of God's joy and share it with others. The scriptures below are from the New Revised Standard Version.

Psalms 96:12
Let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy.

Psalms 65:12-13
The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy: the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.

Psalms 89:12
The north and the south—you created them; Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.

Isaiah 55:12
For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Luke 1.14
The angel said to Mary: “You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at the birth of your son.”

Luke 2:10
The angel said to the shepherds: “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.”

Matthew 2:10
When the wise men saw that the star had stopped over the place where the Christ child lay, they were overwhelmed with joy.

John 15:11
“I have said these things to you,” Jesus said to his disciples,”so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”

1 Peter 1.8
Although you have not seen Jesus, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy.

Jeremiah 31.13
God says, “I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow!”

Psalms 30.11
The Psalmist cries: “You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.”

1 Peter 4.13
But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.

Psalms 98.4
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises.