Hanging of Greens Devotion
Isaiah 9:2, 6-7
Christmas comes on December 25th, but for many of us it starts long before that.
Store displays, the internet, and t-v commercials announce glad tidings of great joy as soon as kids are taking off their costumes on Halloween.
On Black Friday, and now beginning on Thanksgiving Day, people can buy big screen t-v’s at huge savings.
The entire stock of men’s clothing at 50 percent off.
There are unbelievable deals.
I mean, that’s good news, is it not?
Several years ago, the good news turned to tragedy for a Walmart employee on Long Island, New York.
He was assigned to stand by the door at 4:55 a.m.
Outside the store were two thousand people eager to get a great deal.
The people were frustrated; they were cold and ready to go inside.
Some of them pounded on the glass doors.
Others pushed on the doors.
They pressed on the glass, the glass shattered, and the frame landed on top of the Walmart employee—killing him.
This is a story of Christmas run amok, and it’s symbolic of something bigger—a kind of amnesia, illustrating how ordinary people can so easily forget the real meaning of Christmas.
Next Sunday, is the first Sunday of Advent.
The Advent Season is the Four Sundays before Christmas.
And it’s the church’s response to the hustle and bustle of the Commercial Christmas Season.
It’s a time when we are to pause and say, “Let’s remember what this is all about.”
“Let’s remember Who the Child is, born in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago.”
“Let’s remember who He has called us to be as we seek to live as His followers.”
The word Advent comes from the Latin word that means “coming.”
And during this four-week period we are not only preparing to commemorate Christ’s First Advent or Coming, but we also are to prepare for the day when Christ will return, in glory, to usher in a new heaven and earth.
As the Children of Israel, and the Prophets waited for the Messiah to come, we are called to wait for the coming of Christ during this upcoming season of Advent.
And, what would God have us focus on as we wait?
What would God have us participate in?
I would encourage all of us to make a commitment to begin or continue a daily time of devotion.
First thing in the morning, when you awake, is a great time for this.
If this time doesn’t work for you, perhaps you can spend some time alone with God and God’s Word later in the morning, or before you go to bed.
The Upper Room Daily Devotional is an excellent resource to guide your time focusing on God.
Or you might want to purchase a special Advent daily devotional, or read the Bible, pray and write down in a journal the things God is speaking to you.
The Scripture Passage I read from at the beginning of our time together this evening reads: “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…
…For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…
…and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
When this prophecy was written the Israelites were living in a time of terrible fear, distress, darkness and despair.
Assyrian invaders had attacked the northern kingdom and they were under an oppressive military occupation.
And yet, Isaiah speaks of light and hope during and despite this time of desolation.
Advent is a time when we are reminded that no matter how bad things may get, Light and Hope have come into our world.
God has a love affair with us.
He will not leave us alone.
And He proves it through Jesus—God Made Flesh.
Approximately 700 years after Isaiah’s prophesy another prophet—this one named Simeon—held the baby Jesus in his arms and said this to Mary and Joseph: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.
And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
This would come to pass on the Cross.
Without the Cross of Christ, we would have no Christmas.
The profound gift of Christmas is our salvation and forgiveness.
The baby born in Bethlehem ultimately gives His life to save us from sin, and demonstrates the magnitude of God’s love for us.
The salvation you and I receive by grace through faith cost Jesus His life.
It is the greatest gift God could ever offer us.
And so, there is a reason for this time of waiting and preparation.
It’s a time to ask God for a very authentic understanding of what we, as Christ’s Church, are to accomplish for this community in this time and place.
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light”
And the brightness of this LIGHT shines on us like a brilliant dawn suddenly breaking in on the darkest of nights.
It illuminates every secret place, bringing the path we are to take into view.
It’s the kind of light that gives us direction and drives out fear.
May this Advent Season, therefore, be an outlier for what we are preparing to do as a Church.
May it also be a time when we focus on the things that we can individually improve on in our own walk with God.
What shall we give this year?
Is God calling us to volunteer more?
Is God calling us to start new ministries to reach the lost, the poor, the marginalized, the forgotten of our community?
What shall we focus on?
What does it mean to be Christian and a member of Christ’s Church—for which He was born and for which He died?
No matter what the world tries to sell us, ultimate meaning is not found in personal comfort and material luxuries.
Therefore, it should come as no surprise that a meaningful Christmas is not found in mindless spending, eating, and stress.
Christmas is God’s gift to us, a gift of light and life, hope and grace.
The gift reflects God’s concern for this world, and God’s desire to heal it, save it, drive away its darkness.
And the gift of Christmas comes with a mission, a calling, and a responsibility.
The Prophet Isaiah not only promises that we will be given a light to see by and a light to walk by; he also promises us that following the light will lead us more and more deeply into the lives of others.
To those who have been waiting for God’s light to break in on their darkness, God says in Isaiah 49:6: “I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
And so, during this Advent Season, Isaiah reminds us that God intends for us to be gifts to the world as well—those through whom God’s light shines on others.
Christmas is not about us.
It’s not about shopping and the hustle and bustle.
It’s about offering our lives to Christ as His Body here on earth.
So, as the Church of Jesus Christ, that meets at 3800 Dayton Boulevard, how will this look in the coming year, and how are we going to prepare?
