Uncomfortable Advent 4 - Uncomfortable Peace

Scripture: Luke 1:39-55

Luke 1:39–55 NIV

39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” 46 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. 50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”

12/22/2024

Order of Service:

Announcements

Opening Worship

Prayer Requests

Prayer Song

Pastoral Prayer

Kid’s Time

Ministry Celebration

Offering (Doxology and Offering Prayer)

Scripture Reading

Sermon

Closing Song

Benediction

Special Notes:

Week 4: Ministry Celebration

Advent 4

Opening Prayer:

Shepherd of Israel,

you gently support the one who is with child

and call forth the Lamb who dances in the womb,

Stir our hearts to recognize Christ’s coming,

as Elizabeth recognized his presence

in Mary’s radiant obedience to your desire,

an open our souls to receive the one

who came to love your flock. Amen.

Uncomfortable Peace

Peace is Impossible

If joy is elusive in our lives, peace is impossible. But we keep trying, don’t we?

In 1914, amid World War I, peace spontaneously broke out on Christmas Eve along the front line in Europe.

The truce also started with carols. Colin Wilson of the Grenadier Guards says,

“We heard a German singing ‘Holy Night,’ of course, in German, naturally. Then, after he’d finished singing, there were all sorts of Christmas greetings being shouted across no man’s land at us. These Germans shouted out, ‘What about you singing ‘Holy Night’?’ Well, we had a go, but, of course, we weren’t very good at that. Anyway, they said, ‘Meet us and come over in no man’s land.’ Well, after a time, we were allowed – a limited number of us – our officers allowed a limited number of us to go into no man’s land.”

It was a Christmas miracle that began to spread across the front lines in Europe. But not all were pleased with this word of peace.

When they heard about it, the high commands on both sides ordered an end to the truce. George Ashurst described how unpopular this made them.

“We got orders come down the trench, ‘Get back in your trenches every man,’ by word of mouth down each trench; ‘Everybody back in your trenches,’ shouting. The generals behind must’ve seen it and got a bit suspicious so what they did, they gave orders for a battery of guns behind us to fire, and a machine gun to open out and officers to fire their revolvers at the Jerries. ‘Course that started the war again.”

He told interviewers that the soldiers were cursing the generals who were not on the front lines in the cold that December but were giving orders from their big houses and driving around in their fancy cars. They hated the sight of the generals.

It took an unbelievable amount of courage for the soldiers on both sides of that war to lift their heads, put down their guns, and walk into No Man’s Land together to trade Christmas gifts with their enemies, but many on both sides did just that.

True peace comes from God. We experience it when we follow Jesus faithfully and courageously, allowing Him to reign in our lives. God’s peace pushes us to be better for Jesus.

📷

Brave Faith

How do we experience that impossible peace of God? It has to come to us first, and we must be courageous enough to let it lead our lives.

Mary experienced this many times throughout her life. The angel Gabriel came to her with a special calling, an invitation to bring the Savior into the world. She did not understand how it would work out, and she recognized that saying yes to God would put her life in danger. Yet, despite her fear and very real danger, she chose to say yes to God.

The angel left her but did not leave her alone. He gave her a clue, a direction of where to go next. Even now, he said, “Your cousin Elizabeth, who was barren, is six months pregnant. Anything is possible with God.” If anyone could sympathize and offer some guidance on what to do with a miracle baby from God, perhaps it was worth checking in on her cousin six months ahead of her.

Her brave faith meets encouragement, even while understanding tries to keep up. The song “Mary, Did You Know?” is a little silly because there is a lot that Mary did know. She would have been well aware that any Messiah she gave birth to would make her an enemy of the Roman Empire, an enemy of the Jewish rulers who were puppets for the emperor. Whether this Messiah would be like David and lead the army of Israel in a victorious battle against their enemies or like Moses and lead them with supernatural power, she knew the Messiah would break the peace of Rome and send them all to war.

The Prophets knew about the Messiah. Sometimes, we assume that the prophets learned everything they knew directly from God and never learned from other people. Even for a prophet like John the Baptist, the Bible doesn’t say this about him, nor do I think we should assume it. Jesus was the son of a young woman with little background who was betrothed to a carpenter.

But John the Baptist was born into the priesthood. His father served a term in the Holy of Holies, the innermost room of the temple of God in Jerusalem. You had to have extensive training and be chosen among your peers for that special task. So John‘s father, Zachariah, would have known the Scriptures and prophecies, especially the ones concerning the Messiah. He could have been one of those dangerous leaders who wouldn’t have gotten along with Jesus. But he too was visited by an angel, shown the error of his unbelief, and put on a road to submit to the peace of God Himself, just like Mary. While it is true he was struck mute and probably could not speak for the first few months while Mary stayed with them, he could have communicated through his wife, Elizabeth.

All this adds up to Mary being given the gift of a couple to encourage her who have experienced a miraculous pregnancy themselves, had the knowledge of God‘s word that she may have lacked, and had firsthand experience of the consequences of doubting God. Both she and Joseph couldn’t ask for better coaches. Did Mary know everything about Jesus? No. Nobody did. But she knew enough to take her next step, and with each step she took, she experienced both danger from the world and the encouragement that came from God.

📷

2 Blessings

2000 years before Jesus, another couple was called by God to leave home and become parents for His people in a brand-new way. Abraham and Sarah were the first couple in the Bible credited with a miraculous birth. It was a different kind of miracle than Jesus's, and they were much older than Mary and Joseph. But when God called them to fulfill that unique role, He told them He would bless them so they could bless others. I find it curious that Mary talked about Abraham in her blessing rather than the Prophets who spoke of the Messiah and salvation.

We can sum it up in one great blessing. However, we respond to this blessing in two different ways. Whenever God blesses us, we have to receive that blessing. Yes, God does some things for us and even to us without our express permission. Still, when our relationship with Him becomes very serious, He holds out His hands and invites us to go with Him into a new kind of life that does not automatically happen on its own.

I’m not talking about salvation in the sense of getting rubber stamped by God with His approval. That never happened in the Bible. Every person who entered a saving relationship with Jesus made daily decisions to follow where He led them. Some days, it was easier to make those decisions than on others. Sometimes, they messed up with Jesus and had to pick themselves up again. But every time, they had a choice, and there were times when some people chose to turn away, and we don’t know if they ever came back. But as they followed Jesus, and as we follow Jesus each day, He gives us our daily bread. He blesses us for the day. And there are always leftovers. We always get more from God than we need ourselves.

And so, just like Abraham and Sarah, just like Zachariah and Elizabeth, and just like Mary and Joseph, we are blessed to receive and share that blessing with others. Two blessings of a sort: one to receive and one to share.

📷

Receive and Share

This Advent season, we have celebrated different kinds of blessings we can receive from God. God gives us hope, draws us to Him, and helps us grow and thrive in a world that is still broken and dark. When we receive that hope, we always get just a little more than we need, and we can share that with those around us. No matter how small the flame, one little light beats the darkness in that small area around it every time. And that light can be shared with another, creating two little lights that don’t lose anything. When we share that blessing of hope that we have received with one other person, Jesus beats back the darkness twice as much through us.

We also received the blessing of God‘s love. When we know we are loved by God, it empowers us and gives us strength to do more than we could on our own. It takes that glimmer of hope and builds a foundation of trust, giving us the strength to take one step after another along that path of faithfulness. And we passed that love on to others. Not everyone receives an angel knocking at their door to bring them a word from God. Honestly, I don’t know how loving that encounter was for Mary. But she did experience love at the home of her cousin Elizabeth and Zachariah. And that love that she received from them, which came originally from God, she could pass on to her son Jesus and to everyone who came to worship Him on that holy night he was born.

When hope is real, and love is shared, something in our soul flares up, like Christmas lights and celebration music. As we follow Jesus faithfully, loving as He empowers us, He gives us His joy. And that joy is something far greater than happiness. That joy gives us the courage to follow Him anywhere. And that joy is contagious. Sometimes, it’s hard to love people, but when we are filled with that joy from Jesus, it’s hard not to share it. It may be the turning point that makes following Jesus easier.

And all of these blessings culminate in peace, which is a consequence of faithfully following God. Jesus talked about us being peacemakers, but we don’t manufacture peace. We look for hope and share the love that we receive from God, using the joy He gives us to encourage us in our work, and all of that results in peace, like the end of a beautiful recipe. You and I can stop attacking our enemies, put down our weapons, and start singing Christmas carols, but there is no guarantee that our enemies will do the same. We never know when the generals will call everyone back to their weapons again. We can do our part if we are brave enough to receive and share our blessings from God. But true peace can only be held together by Jesus. Only He is powerful enough to reach into the hearts of every man, woman, and child and fill them with His hope, love, and joy to overflow so that His peace will reign in, around, and through us.

What blessings have you received from God?

Where do you see the leftover edges of that blessing God calls you to share with others?

What is holding you back from following Jesus faithfully and letting His peace flow through your life?

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, we are in awe of all You do in our lives. You push away our fears and anxieties and fill our lives with hope, love, joy, and peace. Help us to receive all that You are giving us today. And when we find there is more than we can use, more even than we can hold, help us to share what we have in our hands, minds, and hearts with everyone around us. Help us to be people who bring Your Heavenly peace wherever our feet touch the ground. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

📷