Sermon Tone Analysis

Where were you when…?

Every generation has a “Where were you when?” moment…

— Where were you when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon?

— Where were you when you heard JFK or Martin Luther King Jr. got shot?

— Where were you when Columbine happened?

— … 9/11?

And the list goes on…

Moments like these are big!

They change things.

There’s no going back… These are moments that create “Culture Shifts”.

When they happen, our lives are never the same.

Many of these moments are negative events… catastrophes… or tragedies…

They strike without warning, and they leave uncertainty in their wake.

Sound familiar?

These last couple of years have been just that.

They have been filled with uncertainty…

We’ve experienced a global pandemic… mass unemployment… political division… social and racial division… record high fuel prices… and shortages at the stores…

It’s hard to tell what will happen next!

One pastor said: “If there’s a new word for this year, it should be — doomscrolling.”

You know what that is — scrolling through Facebook, just reading the headlines… Looking for what new “doom” is in the news…

I don’t want to bring us down… Quite the opposite actually!

Christmas is a time of Joy and celebration!

But… this is the world we live in…

It’s been a tough few years… We’ve seen families struggle… finances struggle… people leave the church…

If there’s ever been a year that we need Christmas… This is it!

You see… That’s the thing about Christmas, isn’t it?

There is Hope in Christmas!

We are at the beginning of the Advent Season.

Advent is a season of HOPE.

Advent means “coming” or “arrival”.

This season is a time of expectation… of waiting… of anticipation… and of longing… Amen?

It is a time when we look at what God has already done… and we long for what He will do in our lives next!!!

You see… Advent isn’t just about Christmas!

It is a season that links past, present, and future…

Advent looks back in celebration of the Hope fulfilled in Jesus’s birth… while at the same time, looking forward in hopeful and eager anticipation of the coming of Christ’s Kingdom!

During Advent, we wait for both — all the while being actively assured of His promises!

Far too often we allow Christmas to become to full… to frenzied… and to overwhelmingly busy.

We pack our schedules with family activities… church activities… shopping, etc…

Have you noticed that the stores began pushing Christmas back in September?

At one point you could have shopped for Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Easter all at the same time!!!

The season of PEACE has quickly become a season of STRESS!

Advent is an opportunity to set all that aside… to prepare our hearts… and to focus on rediscovering a far greater story!

We need to rediscover the story of God’s redeeming love for our world.

Don’t make this a season of pretending to be happy… or of covering up the pain and hardships…

Let this be a season of digging deep into the reality of what “Immanuel — God With Us” means…

As we enter this season of Advent, I invite you to set aside all the craziness and uncertainty of the past year… and to journey with us as we Rediscover Christmas!

Rediscover HOPE

Today, we begin with rediscovering HOPE… Even when we are completely surrounded by uncertainty and fear… We CAN find HOPE!

During Advent we look at the Christmas story… We look at the characters… We look at the narrative…

But today… We need to look at the background first…

You see… we think we have it bad today,

But… In Jesus’s time… in the world He was born into… Things were rough!

Israel was a defeated nation… The people were living under the iron thumb of Rome…

It was a harsh time to live in… It was a time of brutality and conquest… When Rome conquered, it was brutal!

Punishment for crimes were harsh!!! (And they didn’t even have to be capital crimes!)

It had been thousands of years since Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and God calling out Israel as His “chosen people”…

They had suffered thousands of years of invasion and suffering under the rule of the Assyrians… the Babylonians… the Greeks… and now Rome…

They were generations and generations away from the forming of God’s covenant and the promised of the Messiah…

They were clearly a defeated and broken people… There was no doubt that many of them were lost… (That’s what made it the perfect timing for Christ to come…)

You see… The fulfillment of God’s Covenant and the coming of the Messiah wasn’t just a “happy idea”…

It was their deepest hope… It was the promise that sustained them … encouraged them… spurred them on… (This Messiah would save them… would free them… would change their lives forever!)

They clung to the promise to Abraham that “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you...” (Gen 12:3)… Like they clung to life!

“How long, O’ God?” became their cry…

How long can hope survive?

The whole world seemed to be against them… Nothing in their lives seemed to say “We are God’s Chosen People!”

Were there even embers of hope left smoldering?

The Christmas story says “YES!”

Most of the time, We end the Christmas story with Mary and Joseph in the stable… Baby Jesus is born… Shepherds come to visit and go back to their fields… The angels have sung… We sneak the Magi in because it’s convenient… All is calm a quiet… peaceful… We all sing “Silent Night”… and it’s done, roll credits!

But today, we are going to pick up in an unusual place.

You see… Luke’s Christmas narrative doesn’t end with Jesus’s birth and the shepherd’s departure… It moves on to tell the story of two people: Simeon and Anna.

Look at Luke 2:22-38

Simeon and Anna were sparks of HOPE in Israel!

They lived their lives in expectation that God would come through… That He would do what He promised to do!

They believed God when He promised the Messiah!

They were waiting for this moment!

Both Simeon and Anna were old… They had lived long lives… They had seen the hardship and pain of their people…

Anna had been a widow for decades… which was a position of extremely low social status… In fact, she had nowhere else to live, so she stayed in the Temple…

Yet… Both Simeon and Anna remained faithfully devoted to God.

Did you notice that neither Simeon or Anna seemed surprised, or uncertain about Jesus being the Messiah?

Look at the Christmas Story… Almost everyone else in it has had to be convinced by an angel…

But… God didn’t need an angel to get the message to these two!

They were ready… They were tuned in…watching… waiting… listening… expecting… They were filled with HOPE!

Is that how we are approaching Christmas?

Are we tuned in… Watching… Waiting… Expecting… ?

Day after day… Year after year… Simeon and Anna served God faithfully… fueled by the hope that God was at work… Even though they couldn’t see it…

Even though they were surrounded by hardship… Even though they both were growing older and older… They held on to HOPE!

They set their eyes on God… on worshipping Him… on serving Him… and finally… they saw Him!

They could have been smug… arrogant… they could have said: “Of course God came through!

This is what He said He’d do!”

But instead… They rejoiced and celebrated!

They shared their Joy and Hope with the people around them… With Mary and Joseph!

Simeon and Anna’s stories reveal several things about Hope.

I. Hope sees beyond our current circumstances.

Hope is the fuel of Faith.

Hope is that whisper that says “Maybe… Just maybe…”

Let me tell you… No matter how bad your year has been… No matter what kind of problems and struggles you are facing… No matter what kind of season of darkness and pain you are in…

Hope is still alive!

Even in our deepest pain and most hopeless circumstances…

Hope is alive!!

Hope chases away the darkness and uncertainty…

Hope is alive because… God is with us!!!