Why is He Coming?

“Why is He Coming?” Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 Third Sunday of Advent Year B December 11, 2011 Whoever got us into the mess should be killed A woman was in the midst of her Christmas shopping. She still had just a few gifts to get. But it seemed that these were the hardest gifts. Everything that she has circled in the sale papers, when she went to the store they were sold out. And when she was shopping, all of the stores were crowded and the lines were long. After she finally got her last gift, she went to get in the elevator to go home. There was a crowd already in the elevator, but everyone was gracious enough to pull together and to let her in. They gave her room for her and her packages to get on the elevator. In exasperation of the day, she says – whoever came up with all of this Christmas mess should be shot. They should just string him up and hang him in a tree. Everyone in the elevator responds – they already thought of that – they crucified him.’’ Without Easter, there is no Christmas Without Easter, there would be no Christmas. Without Christmas there would be no Easter. They go hand in hand. If we forget about Christmas – then Easter is just a supernatural myth that has no meaning. If we forget about Easter, then Christmas becomes a sentimental story that we can all feel good about. But together, they are about the coming of Christ into our lives, and the point of our salvation. We are grateful for the first coming, and preparing ourselves for the second coming. Advent is like being locked up in prison Someone said that advent is sort of like being locked in prison, waiting by the door for someone from the outside to come and open the door and set you free. Advent is learning to wait on God in a very special way. There are a lot of people in the prison of life – we need to tell them that God is coming. That is why the book of Isaiah is important to us. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me The spirit of the lord is upon me, because the lord has anointed me, he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners. We have heard these words before – yes they are in the messiah. But they are also in Luke. These are the words that Jesus stood up to say as he was in the synagogue and he announced that it was time for him to start his public ministry to the world. Liberation theology These are words of liberation, comfort and grace for all people. The Hebrew word for people in need is anawim. It literally means the righteous people, who have been treated unjustly. The good news for me is that God has a relentless determination to ensure justice and mercy in the world. The anawim The lay leader of Rust has been talking about meeting the needs of the anawim. I was struck as she talked about the need of people and that there seem to be so many people in need today. Who are the anawim today? Single parents, children, those who are hungry, those who don’t have jobs, those who are afraid of violence. It is important for the church to meet the needs of these people. But advent is the time for us to also spread the good news. We spend so much time wondering how to get these people into our churches. There are two times a year, when the world is knocking on our door, waiting for us to speak up and tell them about our savior. And all that he has done for us, and all that he can do for them. This is the time to tell them that God has heard their cries and sent a savior into the world to set them free. This is our time to introduce them to that savior – Jesus Christ. God cares enough to do whatever it takes to set them free – even sending his son into the world to be killed. Another seminary word for you, especially at Garrett. Liberation theology. That is what God is doing all around the world to set his anawim free. It talks of what God does in poor countries, in countries where there is oppression, amongst those who understand oppression well, but are learning to take care of themselves, with the help of the Holy Spirit. The advice of Thessalonians Our text in 1 Thessalonians says don’t quench the spirit. Always let the spirit do its work, in us and in the world. But the spirit of God is what frees our souls from the oppression of the world. Last week we looked at 2 Peter – that was the last book written in the New Testament. 1 Thessalonians is the first book. It would have been written in 50 AD – fifty years after Jesus’ appearance on earth. This is the generation who waited for God. The whole theme of Thessalonians is when Jesus is coming back. They ask the question – how long do we have to wait? They are as impatient as a young child waiting for Christmas. And Paul had to talk to them about what to do in the meantime. For a child – the time between thanksgiving and Christmas can seem like an eternity, not a month. Paul wants us to know that even in our waiting; we are to live as Christians. As if Christ is in our lives, because indeed he is. The advice that he gives to us in our waiting – Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstance, don’t quench the spirit, listen to the prophets, and test everything. Repeat after me - rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in everything, and test everything. Remember the joy that we have in life today, the joy we have in Christmas, is the joy that we have because our lives are lived in the spirit of Christ. Whatever else is going on – if I have Christ, I have joy. The inner peace from God Anne FitzPatrick writes of coming home one night after a pleasant outing with her husband and friends to find that their house had been broken into and robbed. The house had been ransacked and many of the things taken had not only monetary value, but sentimental value as well. Anne was at first shocked, then angry and finally frightened. Her inner spring of security had been poisoned. For weeks, the break-in was never far from any of Anne's conversations. She became suspicious of anyone she didn't recognize and had trouble sleeping. She had become shackled to bad memories. One evening, several weeks after the robbery, the theft was again the topic of family conversation. Anne's teenage son, Bill, said, “We should stop dwelling on what happened to us. We lost only things, but [the thieves] lost a lot more. They're out of grace of God by breaking his law.” Bill went on to suggest that they should pray for the intruders. Slowly, Anne began to understand the godly wisdom her 17–year–old son had spoken. She later said that as she was able to forgive the thieves, her own sense of inner peace returned. The Sunday of joy The third Sunday of advent is known as joy Sunday. It is the Sunday when we remember the joy that we have in Christ. The candle we light is usually pink – lighter than purple to remind us that we are almost near the end. Next week its back to purple again, to remind us that life always gets worse before it gets better. But we have to keep on moving forward anyway. Sticky notes and joy I want to try an interactive demonstration today. I want to give a few of you a sticky note – stick it on you. It has a word on it, but I don’t want to share what the word is just yet. Funny thing about sticky notes though – they were designed by an engineer at the 3M company. He was given the assignment to design some sticky glue. He designed it – but he was embarrassed to tell his supervisor. When his colleagues questioned him about what he had been doing all of these months – he told him that he designed this special glue – but the thing is it doesn’t stick very well. You can stick it to you – but the thing is, it really doesn’t stay. You can pull it off. You can put it back on you, but and it will stick again, but I wouldn’t exactly call it glue – because it doesn’t stick. His colleagues looked at him and told him that he had hit the jackpot. This was a special glue that could be put on the back of some paper, and people could use them as sticky notes. That they can take off and put back on again. 3M and that engineer, made a lot of money off of something that was invented by accident, with a result they weren’t expecting. Can someone tell me what word is on their sticky note? Joy – what does joy have to do with the invention of the sticky note? The sticky note was not something that the engineer set out to invent, he thought he was going to lose his job and he ended up creating one of the most important product of the company. Can’t seek joy There are a lot of people out there in the world looking for joy. But the thing is, you can’t buy joy. There is lot of people out there in the world right now at these moments who are seeking joy – in things, in people, in situations, in drugs, in experiences. But the thing is – they get disillusioned – because no matter how hard you look – joy is not yours to find. Because joy is a gift from God. Anytime we set out to find joy, it may last for a moment, but the reality is that if you are looking for it, you can be sure that you are going to lose it. If you set out to get it, you are going to fail. Joy is a byproduct of seeking something greater. If you are looking for joy, you won’t find it, but if you are looking for Jesus Christ – it will be given to you abundantly. Joy comes to you when you serve Jesus Christ. When you know that God is with you, and that your life is in Christ – everything else falls into place. Rejoice always We are not called, we are recalled The spirit of the lord is upon me to because the lord has anointed me to bring good news. That is not our call – that is our recall. Our reminder of what the world needs now – the freedom and joy that only the lord can bring. We are not waiting on Christmas, we are waiting on the lord to set the captives free. Amen.