The Family Christmas Letter: Christmas 2018

Well, it's already come and gone - Christmas, that is - and here I am not having written a Christmas letter, yet. With apologies for my tardiness, I want to dash this off to get y'all caught up in our story.

You may remember last Christmas, I told you about our adventures in owning a bar. I ran the bar-back, Laura was the tobacco-chewing bouncer, and Christopher was running a parts salvage place, re-selling parts that mysteriously and suddenly were needed for the bikes in the parking lot. Megan was creating fine art and plant arrangements, wanting to get into horticulture in Denver, but it turns out in Texas, you cannot yet put weeds in your floral arrangements. Who knew? Alyssa had been teaching a night class on "Gambling for fun, profit, and financial aid" at the Alabama University for the Bright but Underachieving and Remarkably Naive ("AUBURN"), and was getting a lot of attention by the school and even some guys from Washington.

In fact, it turned out that our whole family got put on some kind of "watch list" for what we were doing. I thought, given the economy, that this would be a good thing. America needa more entrepreneurs, and if the government was going to give us our own YouTube channel for people to learn how to make money, that was OK with me.

Well, it wasn't a YouTube channel that we got. One day about a dozen men and women showed up at the bar. They were obviously important - they had matching jackets with letters spray painted across the back. Wanting to be friendly, I asked if they were from a new biker group. They said, no, they were from Washington. I told them it was OK - we have to serve anyone, no matter if they are from the west coast. They said, no, they were from Washington, DC and needed to ask us some questions.

Turns out, our bar had become a hang-out for a notorious biker group calling themselves the WD-40s. I got scared, thinking this was some kind of gang like the MS-13's we keep hearing about. One guy - he said he was from the federal dresser investigators (what he was hoping to find in my wife's bureau, I don't know) - said this gang was a bunch of middle-aged businessmen who fixed sticky situations. Apparently they fixed books, shaved points, and were running something called a Fonzie scheme on unsuspecting clients. All of our small businesses were impacted by this group.

Well, I'm no dummy, I said - I don't let people repair books in my bar - tape and glue is a fire hazard. No one except my daughter uses the pencil sharpener to shave the point of her pencil, and I don't let anyone mess with my jukebox or set up an office in the men's room, no matter how cool they are.

This FBI guy sighed, shook his head, frowned, rubbed his temples, started mumbling, and then he really got upset. I know that because he walked away and sent another fellow over who was from East Texas - Marshall, his jacket said. He said they were going to have to put my family into witness protection because they needed us for what we saw.

They said they would "spare no expense" and move us where we wanted to go. We would need new identities and new careers. They said we could write family, but had to use our new names. So, let's see if you can figure this out.

The move started out OK. They brought us a U-haul that didnt have more than a quarter million miles on it. Not bad for a '83 model. The guys in the matching letter jackets looked a little old for high school, and complained about babysitting the Morons - I figured that was our new name. I said that it didn't seem fair we had to pack our own truck and asked to see that paperwork. I guess I didnt pay attention when I signed, because the paperwork actually said "spare every expense" and we were moving to Cuero.

So they have us set up in Cuero, now. The house is Barney purple, and kind of sears the eyes in afternoon sunlight. The freight trains rumble by and the chain link fence apparently isn't a sound blocking kind, because our velvet Elvis keeps getting knocked off the wall. Cuero seemed a safe enough place, quiet and unassuming, but now our high school football team won state and everyone knows where we are. I was in Piggly Wiggly when the news came over the internets about the victory and I got interviewed by the local TV station and bait  shop. I kept my cool and, remembering what my wife said about not sounding like a fool, said the tornado sounded just like a train, like they say in all them movies on TV. The camera man must have been kin to those guys from FBI - he shook his head the same way, rubbes his temples, and walked away.

So, here we are - all set up with our new identities. They call me Don, my wife is Lauren, our kids are Alicia, Morgan, and Fonzie. Since there seemed so much opportunity in the field, we plan to open a small business called Moron's Book Fixing and Point Shaving. The man from Marshall just sighed and rubbed his temples when I told him our plans...

Ok...so this continues the far-flung adventures that dont really exist. Thankfully, we're not in witness protection and havent had to move.

In fact, all is well in Mission Valley, Texas. I am blessed beyond measure to be the pastor of Zion. I am encouraged, challenged (in the good sense), and supported in ministry. We aren't breaking growth records, but attendance is steady and strong with new guests worshipping with us in a regular basis. Laura is still at the Region education office and serves schools in over a dozen districts the area. She is very good at her job and is frequently requested, by name, to present to these schools for workshops and presentations - even from schools she is not assigned to.

Our kids are all half-through their year - Alyssa at Alabama, Megan at Victoria West HS, and Chris at Cade Middle school (8th grade is sort of like being a senior, right?). Alyssa is finishing her BS in engineering, is working for a professor in a start-up company, and is planning to stick around for an MBA and maybe a Masters of Mechanical Engineering, too. The prof likes her work and is trying to work out funding for both degrees. Megan is focused on vet tech work and has been accepted to Texas A&M Kingsville, about 2 hours from home. We visited a few weeks back and she liked what she saw. Her love for animals will help her fit in nicely there.

Chris had a scare this summer. After months of pain all spring, we took Chris to a specialist in Austin where an MRI and an X-ray told us the frightening news that Chris had a tumor in his hip. Fearing the worst - starting with a capital C - a biopsy revealed the truth: cartilidge didn't develop into bone like it was supposed to and had, instead, calcified into a golf-ball size lump in his hip bone. Thank God, Dr. Williams - a highly skilled surgeon - sees dozens of these a month and removed the mass. When we went back for the follow 3 months later, he said if he hadnt been the surgeon knowing exactly where to look, he would have missed the spot in the X-rays. Diagnosis was 100% recovery with an almost 0% chance of any complications or re-growth. Relief, thanks, and gratitude to God and to a crack staff at Dell - especially a nurse named Diane (pronounced Deon, as in Sanders), as well as the family and friends who remembered our son in prayer...this was the best gift we received all year.

As the year comes to a rapid conclusion, now just a few days away, we rejoice in the gifts God showers on us daily in our homes, at work, in play, with health and happiness.

Here's to the new year. May she be even better than the old one. - Col. Sherman T. Potter, MASH 4077.

And may the peace, joy, and hope of the Newborn Christ Child be yours today, tomorrow, and always.

-Jonathan, Laura, Alyssa, Megan & Christopher Meyer

Christmas Gift! - Luke 2:1-20

After months of building anticipation and growing excitement, it is finally here: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We have looked forward to this joyous night of celebration when we join hearing the narrative of Luke 2. Through hymns and readings, in our minds we have traveled back to O Little Town of Bethlehem where Gentle Mary Laid Her Child, tucked Away in a Manger, truly A Great and Mighty Wonder to behold. Once, in Royal David’s City, Of the Father’s Love Begotten, It Came Upon A Midnight Clear as Hark, the Herald Angels Sing. In just a few moments, candles will burn, and the lights will be bumped down and, soto voce, we remember the Silent Night when alles schleft, einsem vacht. As the final “Amen” echoes through the church, there is a sense that – if only for a moment – there truly is peace on earth and goodwill toward men.

Naturally, our attention is drawn to Mary and Joseph – after all, they are the newly minted parents. Mary as mother of man mother of God will always inspire both majesty and awe – even Mary herself wondered how this could be, that God would chose her from among the least of the women of Israel. Mary delivered the Bread of Life in the House of Bread. Joseph as step-father to God’s own Son, possibly burdened with the shame he might have felt as people whispered about his wife’s pregnancy. A cursory glance is tossed at Herod the Great – both because it was his decree that God used to have Jesus delivered in Bethlehem, and because he was the monster who had a unknown number of babies and toddlers murdered trying to hunt down Jesus. Again, because of the romantic mis-notion, folks will also include the wise men, the magi, but they probably didn’t arrive for quite some time yet. We certainly can’t forget the angels – both the lead spokesperson and the whole, heavenly hosts who follow Gabriel’s lead in disturbing the peace with the message of peace.

So let’s see…Mary – check; Joseph – check; Herod – check; wise men – in waiting, but check; the angels – check; and we might as well toss the hotel manager in the mix, too. Who’s missing?

Ah, yes - the baby. Not just any baby, though. This is God’s entering into time, through the Virgin Mary, in the person of the God-child Jesus.

Every other religion in the world demands that man somehow approach their diety, whether it’s with bribery, chicanery, trickery; accomplished with acts of strength, wisdom, or foolish bravado. Not only does the Triune God NOT demand we come to Him – we cannot by our own reason or strength do this, remember? – He comes to us. God descends from the highest of heavens, takes on human flesh and weakness, and comes to us.

He comes as a baby born, conceived in an extra-ordinary way, to be sure, but born in an ordinary way, like any of us. Although a descendant of King David, and Himself King of Kings and Lord of Lords, His bassinette was a manger. Although His Father is Divine and Eternal, His earthly mother was a simple Jewish woman from Nazareth – Nazareth…can anything good come from Nazareth? We shall see. His step-father a craftsman – about as nondescript and average as you could find. And, Bethlehem? Other than having a historical significance as David’s birthplace, it was such an insignificant little berg that already 600 years earlier Micah had declared it “least among the clans of Judah.”

But it is from this humble and unexceptional setting that the most remarkable event happens. Although the birth was ordinary, from human terms, it was and always will be extraordinary. Remember: God comes to us. This boy-child, son of Mary, is also the God-child, Son of God. His name is Jesus, which means Savior, because He has come to save us from our sins.

Never forget that the reason for tonight’s celebration has its roots at a tree in the Garden, a tree filled with tempting but forbidden fruit, and a man and a woman’s inability to resist temptation. Their surrender to the devil’s lies that day trapped mankind in a world of dark despair. Out of a Father’s love for His beloved, but fallen, creation, God pledged to send His Son to rescue, redeem and save that which otherwise would be lost. Jesus’ death at the cross would be the ultimate gift of love: His only-begotten Son would be sacrificed; a perfect gift for imperfect people.

While that lies ahead, Jesus’ death is always on the horizon. The cross always stands ahead. The cross, not the manger, is Jesus’ throne. The cross, not the manger, is where God’s glory is fully shown. The cross, not the manger, is where Jesus saves. The cross, where Mary would watch her son – and God’s Son – die. And then, three days later, He would be birthed again – not from womb, but from the tomb – risen, resurrected, whole and alive.

That is down the road.

Tonight, we celebrate that Christ is born.
A gift for you.
A Savior.

Last year, after Christmas Eve service, someone gave me a handshake and said, “Christmas gift!” I had never heard that before, but I have read about it. Author Ferrol Sams describes how his family used it when he was a child growing up in the depression[1]:

“Christmas gift!,” we would shout! Then it rang all over the house, “Christmas gift!” You said it first and you said it fast. You said it to anyone and everyone upon first sight that day. It was the salutation of the season, used only on that day. It was an accomplishment to catch a sister, a cousin, and aunt or uncle unaware with this cry. Christmas gift!

They say we picked it up generations before. Maybe so. It was said that whoever beat another person to saying it was supposed to receive a present from that individual… But it was impossible to get daddy. He beat everybody to it, his parents, his siblings, and certainly his children. He surprised, he startled, he anticipated everyone. It was a point of honor with him. He carried the custom into his 80s. He was even known to hide behind the smoke house and leave out at arriving grandchildren. “Christmas gift!”

But what it really means is I love you and on that one day of the year they can be shouted exultantly to the heavens. “Christmas gift! Christmas gift! Everybody - Christmas gift!”

On that night of old, the Bethlehem hillside rang with God’s declaration of Christmas gift! The angel said, “Fear not, for behold I bring you good news that will be fore all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David, a Savior which is Christ the Lord!”  (Luke 2:10-11) So there was no doubt that this message of Christmas gift love, an entire chorus of angels joined in: Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, among those whom He is pleased.” (v. 11-12).

For most of us, Christmas involves gifts under the tree and exchanging those with family and friends. Whether you are celebrating tonight or tomorrow; whether you stay up late or get up early – or both – don’t forget the reasons for these gifts we give. It’s because of the Christmas gift of Jesus.

To the shepherds, to Mary and Joseph, to the town of Bethlehem, to all of Israel, to all of the world, to Mission Valley, to you, people of Zion: Christmas gift! Christmas gift! Everybody – Christmas gift!

This gift is Jesus.

In His name. Amen.

---

[1] Ferrol Sams, Christmas Gift. Delta Publishing, © 1989. P. 42-44.

My Lord! - Luke 1:39-45

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

This weekend is one of the busiest travel weeks of the year. The American Automobile Association estimates that from December 23 thru January 1, almost 110 million Americans will be traveling this year via planes, trains and automobiles. To put that into perspective, that’s roughly twice the population of Texas. For all of you who are traveling, whether it’s just into town or across the state or even across the country, we pray God’s speed and safe travels for you.

This morning’s Gospel lesson tells us of a family get together that was unlike any other, when Mary went to visit Elizabeth.   

It must have been a remarkable visit for these women. Two women, pregnant, at more-or-less the same time, just a few months apart in their pregnancy. Pregnant women, getting together to share pregnancy stories, isn’t all that unusual, I don’t think.  This is especially true of first-time mothers, I suspect. But the circumstances behind their pregnancies were most unusual.  

Elizabeth, for example, was advanced in years. That’s Luke’s polite and genteel way of saying she was an older woman, so much so that she was no longer biologically capable of having a child. And that was the problem, wasn’t it? Earlier in chapter one, Luke gives us the backstory. She and her husband Zechariah wanted a child desperately, but the Lord did not allow this blessing to come to them. The inability to have a child was, in the early Jewish world, a demonstration that you were in disfavor with God. If there was no child, the conclusion was simply obvious: either the husband or wife had done something to cause God to not bless them with a child, with an heir to carry on the family name. The family would die when the mother and father died. And now, by the grace of God, according to the angel’s message, Elizabeth was carrying the child who would be the forerunner of the Messiah. Her husband, not believing the angel’s message, was struck mute. I’m speculating here, but for that reason alone – to have someone to talk with - Elizabeth must have enjoyed the company of her fellow mother-to-be, Mary when she came to visit.

Mary was much younger than her relative. Tradition says that she was in her mid-teens – not much older than some of our daughters or granddaughters – but, to be accurate and fair, we must admit there is no Biblical evidence of her age at all. She could have been fourteen; she could have been twenty-four. We don’t know. And, the fact is, her age really doesn’t matter. What does matter is that she, by the grace of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, is carrying in her womb the son of God. She had been told of this news by the Angel Gabriel. Hearing this remarkable news, she simply declares herself a servant of the Lord; may it be according to the word of the angel. Likewise, her fiancée, Joseph, was told by an angel of Mary’s pregnancy but, unlike Zechariah, who simply could not believe the news of Elizabeth, Joseph obeys the angel’s command and takes Mary into his home as his wife.

Perhaps there were whispers in Nazareth about Mary and Joseph, her being pregnant already before their wedding consummation. Perhaps she was tired of the community’s whispers; maybe Joseph agreed. Perhaps she heard of Elizabeth’s joyous news that she, too, would be a mother and Mary wanted to share the excitement with her relative. Whatever the reason, Mary goes to visit Elizabeth.

The Christian church rightly teaches that Jesus’ miracle at Cana, changing water to wine, is His first public miracle. This is true. But there are three, very powerful – but hidden – miracles that take place in this morning’s Gospel reading that are worth remembering.

The first miracle is that in the womb of Mary, God becomes man. You can accurately say Mary gives birth to a boy and at the same time you can say Mary gives birth to God. That Jesus is Immanuel, God With Us, is necessary so He is able to be like us in every way from birth to death with all emotions, feelings, needs, and even temptations that are ours. Yet, while He is fully man, Jesus remains fully God, always maintaining His divinity so He can be without sin and be the perfect sacrifice for the world He comes to save.

The second miracle is that Mary is a virgin. Her pregnancy is by the power of the Holy Spirit. There is no analogy, no metaphor that we can use to explain this because there is nothing else like this in the world. We cannot prove it or scientifically demonstrate it. We must take this in faith. It is not blind faith, though, for Matthew does quote Isaiah and remind us that, in Mary, “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel.”  

The third miracle is that these two women share the similarity of faith: by the grace of God, enabled by the spirit of God, they are given the gift of faith, believing the angel’s message that Mary is to be the mother of God. Elizabeth, upon hearing Mary’s greeting, experienced John’s leaping in her womb and blesses both Mary and the unborn Baby Jesus.

Neither Mary nor Elizabeth know, at this point, what is in store for their sons – at least, not completely. Yes, the angel had spoken prophetically to Zechariah about how John would be a great servant of the Lord, Spirit-filled, and in the footsteps of Elijah, he will turn the hearts of many to the Lord and prepare the way for the Lord. And, yes, the angel had also spoken to Mary, telling her that she will miraculously conceive the Son of the Most High, in the line of David. No ordinary child, this baby will be the holy Son of God.

A moment ago, I said that without an heir, a family line will die. Without a male heir, a family name will cease. These are as true today as it was then. In the Biblical age, this was considered a curse of God. But because of a curse of God, spoken in the Garden long ago, this heir was infinitely more important. When God’s first son and first daughter, Adam and Eve, ate of the forbidden fruit, God spoke a curse upon them, and all of their sons and daughters, for their sins: they would die after a lifetime of toil, sweat, and tears. But, God also spoke a blessing: that His seed, His own child, would come to crush satan’s head underfoot. A second Son, a second Adam was needed – one who would perfectly fulfill God’s Law for us, and take our place under that Law, to redeem us from this curse of sin. The redemption price would be high – terribly high – and cost this Son his very life-blood, trading His holiness for the sins of the world. But in this death He would save. This Son, this fulfillment of God’s promise, was in Mary’s womb. His name would be Jesus, because He will save His people from our sins. Through Eve, sin came into the world and through Eve’s womb, hers and Adam’s sins are still passed on from generation to generation still today. But through the child of Mary’s womb, Eve’s sins, and Adam’s sins, and your sins and my sins, will be forgiven.

Visits last but a short time. A wise guy once said both family and fish start to stink after three days. We don’t know how long Elizabeth enjoyed Mary’s company. It really doesn’t matter, because the joyous news of this visit continues today, even here among us. Did you catch the two words Elizabeth used to describe the baby in Mary’s womb? They are easy to miss. Let me read this again: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” There it is: my Lord. Elizabeth identifies Jesus as her Lord, her Savior, Her Messiah who would rescue her into eternity.

You share that confession. You said it a minute ago in the Creed, albeit in the plural: “I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.” You, along with Elizabeth, empowered by the Spirit of God, know, believe, trust and rely that this Jesus, whom today we read about still in Mary’s womb, was already then, and still is now, our Savior. “For God so loved the world” - or as we might say in Texas, “For God so loved all y’all” - is absolutely true, don’t ever forget that from His conception to His life, death and resurrection, Jesus was and is entirely for you - second person singular – an individual child of God. And, so you have no doubt that Christ is your substitutionary sacrifice, you have been Baptized into Christ, clothed with Christ, and given the name of Christ.

Blessed is he and she – blessed are you - who believes that there was fulfillment of what was spoken to Mary from the Lord.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

I've got the joy, joy, joy! Zephaniah 3:14-17

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

Traditionally, Advent is a penitential season. It is a time for repentance. Sounds strange to our modern ears, given that the Christmas season now seems to begin shortly after the 4^th of July, but if you think of it, it does make sense. Advent is a time for repentance because the whole reason that God sent His Son to be born of Mary is that the world needed saving from sins. The whole reason Jesus came in the first place is because of our sins. Thus, Jesus’ birth. There is a linear thought, then, that Advent should be a time to contemplate, remember, and confess our sins. To help drive this home, the traditional color for Advent was purple – the same as Lent. And, if you read any of the sermons of a generation or two ago – I know, not exactly on your wish list for reading material – you would see that the sermons of that day and age weren’t all that unlike John the Baptizer, thundering and calling people to repentance.

But then you arrived at the third Sunday of Advent and suddenly, the gears shifted. Instead of the heavy message repentance, there was joy. On this Sunday, there would be a pink candle in the Advent wreath; sometimes the paraments would also be changed to pink. In fact, the old Latin name for the third Sunday is Gaudate Sunday – you hear the English “gaudy” there – which means “joy” or “rejoice.” In the midst of a season of repentance, there was a time for rejoicing.

Joy is a spiritual fruit; it is a gift of God. A Christian’s joy comes from outside of us. You’ve heard me say it before; we are beggars with empty sacks – how could we create joy on our own? So, Jesus fills us up with joy. Christian joy is different than happiness; isn’t merely a feeling or an emotion. It is a state of being. Filled with the joy of Christ, what else can we do, what else can we be other than joyful, for we are joy-filled!

And there should be rejoicing in Advent. Christ’s advent is nigh – first, in time as a child in Bethlehem; second, in eternity when He returns in glory to judge the living and the dead. The day is soon approaching. We are a mere nine days away from the celebration of His Nativity; we are a day closer to the day of His return. We, as His people, live in His grace and mercy, trusting that in Him our sins are forgiven. What great news!   This is what allows Paul to say in this morning’s Epistle, “Rejoice in the Lord always!”

Ah, there’s the rub – isn’t it? “Always.” How on earth are we supposed to rejoice always? Turn on the news for thirty minutes; flip through the paper; scan the internet. How are we supposed to be joyful when there are so many things that are going on around us that are anything but joy-full? Police arrest six adults in New Jersey on criminal charges of abuse and endangerment of a child, the story so disgusting I can’t even read the whole news story. Tensions in Venezuela continue to rise with Russia sending nuclear-capable bombers on an exercise, seeming to taunt the United States and our allies. A tire company closes their Central America plants which, in turn, cause them to close their Tennessee plant. Workers get ten tires as severance. Suicide rates escalate this time of year for both senior citizens and teenagers; one can’t take the loneliness, the other can’t stand the pressure. Farmers got caught with the late season rains and acres and acres of cotton are left unharvested and ruined. Do we put gifts under the tree or tires under the car? Mom and Dad are fighting again. We sing the modern Christmas song, “Four new prescriptions, three medical tests, two new appointments, and a whopper of a medical bill.”

I think the Baptizer would have empathized. After all, he had spent his entire ministry preaching a message of preparation and repentance. But the Jesus that he is seeing and hearing about isn’t the Jesus he was expecting. It causes John to question, to wonder, perhaps even a measure of doubt, “Are you the one, or is there another one coming? Did I misunderstand? Did I miss the signs? John expected a winnowing fork, a fuller’s fire but what Jesus does is the exact opposite. But, that’s where Jesus points John: to the signs and wonders, to the blind receiving sight, the deaf being able to hear, and the lame walking. These demonstrate that Jesus is God in flesh – who else could do such a miracle? And, if Jesus is able to do these things, then surely He is able to do even more: to save His people.

So, where do you find joy on this third Sunday of Advent, this Joy Sunday, when we are surrounded by these things that suck the joy right out of our lives?

Someone very near and dear to my wife and I has been having a very difficult time lately. Life has been coming a little harder and heavier. Some days are at the verge of being overwhelming. Friday evening, Laura stopped and picked up a card to encourage this dear soul. She showed it to me. On the front were four Bible verses I skimmed through the first three and thought, “This is nice…” But then, I got to the fourth verse and stopped. I read it; and then I re-read it. Where have I seen that before, I wondered…and then I looked at the reference. It was from a seemingly obscure book in the Old Testament. Now, we don’t spend as much time in the Old Testament, so we are less familiar with it, but that’s even more true of the so-called minor prophets in the end of the Old Testament. By the way, they’re called “minor” due to their size, not because of having a less important message. But what we call the Old Testament is what John, or Peter, or Mary or Joseph for that matter, it’s what they would have simply known as their Bible, the Scriptures. The New Testament wasn’t written until a generation after Jesus’ ascension, remember? So, back to this card… The reference was from Zephaniah 3:17 – the last verse of this morning’s first reading. “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by His love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”

The prophet is reminding God’s people of old, held captive in the heathen land of Babylon, that even in that foreign place, even in their seemingly-joyless circumstance, God is still among His people. He will not abandon them. The prophet turns the people back to God: His gladness, His love, His rejoicing, His singing, His saving work for them.

This is what Zephaniah would do for us as well, God’s 21^st century people. He gently turns us from all of those things that would distract us, from those things that would drain the joy from our lives, and instead turns us back towards Jesus, Who came into our midst as a Immanuel, God with us, in flesh, to be as us in every way, but without sin. The Mighty One, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross and scored it’s shame does, indeed, save. This Jesus rejoices with every sinner who repents and trusts in His death and resurrection. He quiets the troubled conscience with His mercy and grace and fills them with His joy, His singing, His love.

So, I told you about the card and Zephaniah 3:17 being there. Friday morning, my devotion included this reading from something Luther wrote on this verse. He said: These things signify that their consciences would experience that fatherly sweetness of the Kingdom of the Lord. The sense is this: You will feel joy. You will feel in your conscience that the Lord is kindly disposed toward you, that he surely is a kind father to you in all things. You see, the Lord is said to rejoice over us when he causes us to sense his favor. He has expressed the nature of the Kingdom of Christ very aptly and emphatically. For thus it happens for the righteous that he allows them to be attacked, in various ways, and to be troubled by many evils, so that they may be comforted to their King. Yet he adds that feeling of joy, that security of heart, so that all things may become sweeter, so that nothing is able to separate them from the love of God. (Citation: Harrison, Matthew. Little Book of Joy, p. 16; CPH © 2009)

On this Third Sunday in Advent, if there are things in this life and this world that are troubling you, weighing your heart and conscience down, follow the words of Zephaniah who leads you back to Jesus. And on those days when you can’t rejoice, those days when your heart is too heavy, or your mind is too troubled, or your soul is almost overwhelmed, then bring your empty sack to Jesus. His rejoicing is full; His rejoicing is complete; His rejoicing is perfect and He fills your empty sack for you so that His joy overflows in you.  

I'll Have a Blue Advent - Jeremiah 33: 14-16

“I’ll Have a Blue Advent”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The text is the Old Testament lesson from Jeremiah 33:14-16.

Two Sunday ago, after Bible class, I stepped into my office to switch my Bible for my hymnal and I noticed I had a missed call on my cell. When I checked the message, it was news that my friend, Ray, had died in his sleep earlier that morning. He and his wife were here for my installation – some of you may have talked with him. I worked for him when I graduated high school, through college, a couple summers while I was at Seminary, and even one summer after I was ordained. Over the years, especially after my dad died, our relationship changed, and he became a quasi-father figure for me. Ray had been sick for a while since the middle of summer, in and out of hospital and nursing homes for the last couple of months. He had taken a turn for the worse in October, and I knew he wasn’t well. I had called and talked with him a couple times this fall and had hoped to spend some time with him soon. His son’s phone call changed that.

His memorial service was last Saturday.  All week I was in a funk, remembering Ray’s life and contemplating his death. We had driven from Tuscaloosa, Alabama to Walburg, Texas so we could attend the service. Last Saturday I was truly sad and cried more than a few tears, before and during the service, and later in the afternoon as well. I know some of you read what I wrote on my blog. I know what I was feeling is not unique to me and many of you have been there as well.

You’ve probably heard the song, “I’ll have a Blue Christmas.” I think Elvis did it originally, but others have covered it since then. It’s a simple song, just two verses plus a refrain, that laments missing a loved one. The song doesn’t say why the loved one isn’t there – it could be death, war, or a relationship being broken apart. I guess the specifics don’t matter because, regardless, the singer is sad; he or she is blue. That’s how I was feeling last Saturday. I sure didn’t feel like Christmas was around the corner. So that evening I went for drive and I stopped at the cemetery where the members of Zion, Walburg, have been laid to rest for over a century. Names of the faithful that I knew and remember are etched in stone for generations to see. And there, in the northwest corner, is the red granite stone etched with my Mom’s birthday and next to hers, my Dad’s name, birthdate and date of his death. I was in a melancholy mood for it being just a few days before Advent. The cemetery seemed a perfect place to be that evening.

But, perhaps, a cemetery is a good starting place for the season of Advent. The word “advent” means “to come towards,” and the church marks the season as a time to prepare for Jesus coming. Advent has a two-prong focus. The first one is easy: we remember Jesus coming, in time, the long-promised Messiah to come to the House of Judah through the lineage of David, born of Mary, as the Babe of Bethlehem. It’s easy to remember because all around us the world has jumped full-swing into Christmas. Christmas music is on the radio and in the stores, the trees are up in our homes and businesses, lights twinkle and stockings are already suspended, waiting to be filled. There is nothing wrong with this – don’t get me wrong. I am not being a theological grinch, nor am I trying to be a pastoral fuddy-duddy. Our tree is up, too. I play Christmas music in my study, and I am ready for Linus to give his rendition of Luke 2 to the rest of the Peanuts gang.  

But it’s the second aspect of Advent that I was considering that gloomy Saturday evening: the return of Jesus in glory. We know this, that Jesus will return one day. It’s in the Scriptures. You heard Jesus say it Himself last week: “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory,” Mark 13:26. It’s in the Creeds: “He will come to judge the living and the dead.” It’s in our prayers. When we pray our common table prayer, we are so concerned about whether it is let this food or let Thy gifts, we forget that it’s a prayer for Jesus’ to come and be among us: Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest. We pray it in the Lord’s prayer – let Thy kingdom come. The Latin translation makes it even more clear: adveniat regnum tuum.  The last words written in Holy Scripture still echo through the centuries: Even so, come Lord Jesus! The Church has always held this promise of Christ.

But that’s part of the struggle, isn’t it. Christ’s return is so near, but also so far. It’s near: It’s as close as the Word - we repeat Jesus’ promise week after week and we know it, we believe it. But it’s so far: somewhere along the way, the imminence of, the nearness of, the yearning for Jesus’ return has gotten lost. It’s been “out there” so long that it has gotten pushed further and further out there, so far out on the edge of our periphery that we hardly even consider it in our daily lives.

The early church, the earliest Christians, believed Jesus’ return to be any day. They longed for, they yearned for, they prayed with great earnestness for the day of Christ’s return and the resurrection of all flesh. Even in Luther’s life, he fully expected Jesus to come again before he died. But today…today, the immediacy, the expectation, the desire for the day is all but lost. We’re so busy dealing with the realities that are around us – the economy, the drumbeat of war in the Ukrane, the flood of people waiting to cross into the United States, our health, the fear of layoffs, the medical tests, the slipping transmission, the leaky roof, our kids, how to afford gifts on top of all of this…the list is endless. These are real concerns – don’t misunderstand me – but the problem is that with all of these things on our minds, Jesus’ return just doesn’t make the list, or at most, it’s way down at the bottom. After all, we think, he’s waited this long…it’s been 2000 years since His ascension. Why would he pick December 2, 2018, or December 19, or even the year 2019 to return?

I think we’re more like God’s people in the Old Testament than we realize. By the time of Jeremiah, it had been thousands of years since God promised the Messiah to Adam and repeated it to Abraham. Five hundred of years had passed since King David had been promised his son would always remain on the throne. God’s people were growing weary of waiting for Messiah and their eyes, their ears, their hearts were wandering, seeking answers to temptations surrounding them. Lest we blame them too quickly, there are many parallels between then and today: Times were hard; especially for those who struggled to remain faithful to the promises of God. Their sister nation, Israel, had fallen; Judah’s kings were far from faithful; the nations surrounding them threatened to overwhelm them. Why was Messiah taking so long in coming?

Does this sound familiar? This is why Jeremiah’s words are still so poignant almost three thousand years later. Just as he did for the people of ancient Judah, he still speaks for us today. It’s as if Jeremiah is still calling out to us: “Look! Do you see what I am seeing! Do you hear what I am saying? The days, they are adventing. The time is drawing near when God will fulfill all of the promises to His people, the Church.” Jeremiah calls us, the Church, the New Israel, to repentance, confessing our sins, acknowledging that our sins are the very reason for the Messiah to be promised in the first place. He tells us how we are letting our eyes be distracted by these things around us, our ears by the noise around us, our hearts by those things that scare us, and he lets us see these things for what they really are: temptations to stop looking to Jesus. By the power of the Holy Spirit, he continues to call us to faith, trusting that we are saved by the One whose very name means Savior. Jesus did not let His eyes be distracted from the cross; He did not let His ears be swayed from the voice of His Father; He did not let His heart be pulled away from His great love for us. Everyone wants to remember His birth but remember: His purpose was to die for you. And so you never forget, and never doubt that truth, Immanuel, God-with-us, dwells among us in Word, in water, in bread and wine, with the blessed declaration that we are recipients of His righteousness, inheriting the full and free gift of the forgiveness of all of our sins. 

Earlier I said there are two aspects to Advent: one, where we look back in time to when Jesus first came in flesh, the child of Mary. Advent leans backward, so to speak, to that night of nights when Christ was born.   Advent helps us prepare to celebrate this Nativity of Jesus. This is important. This is good.

But Jeremiah helps reminds us of the second aspect of Advent: that Jesus is returning.  He is patiently waiting, not being slow in keeping His promises, as some think. His patience is an act of grace, giving people the opportunity to hear and believe of Christ who came to seek and save the lost, that they may repent and trust His promises and also look forward to the day of His return.

Perhaps you know how I was feeling last Saturday. You, too, have experienced the death of a loved one in the past year, or suffered the destruction of a relationship, or you have a loved one who won’t be coming home this year. You’re feeling a bit blue, yourself. The season of Advent is also for you. Ironically, the color is even blue, albeit for a different reason. It’s not blue for our sadness; it’s blue for Jesus’ royalty. Remember that we are awaiting Jesus’ return in glory as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

On that great, glorious day, when the heavens are torn apart and He descends where every eye can see Him and every ear hear His voice, He will raise the dead and the faithful will be restored into perfection for eternity with Him. For those who know, believe, trust and rely on Jesus as their Savior, having been declared by their Righteous King to also be righteous, they shall be raised into eternity. And you all will see each other, you and your loved ones whom you miss now so much, you will be resurrectedly whole. But even greater than that, you will see Jesus, Immanuel, God in flesh, who came once, in time, and who returns again to deliver the salvation promised through Jeremiah.

Sing with me:

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel. (LSB 357 v1)

Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Amen.