Evergreen Decorations Point Us to Christ's Two Advents based on Hosea 14:4-8

SERMON OUTLINE

Introduction: Evergreen decorations used for Advent appear in many different forms.

I. Evergreen decorations used during Advent originated in Europe.

a. The Christmas tree arose in northern Europe to represent the tree of life.

b. Evergreen garland arose in England to present life in the dead of winter.

II. Evergreen decorations serve as a symbol of eternal life.

a. Green signifies life.

b. Evergreen signifies life that is eternal.

III. Evergreens point us to Christ’s first advent.

a. Jesus came to restore and give us eternal life, which had been lost due to sin.

b. Christ became human to bring eternal life through His death and resurrection.

c. God, the source of life, indwells and empowers us with His life.

IV. Evergreens point us to Christ’s second advent.

a. Jesus’ return will inaugurate a new creation without sin and death.

b. Evergreens are associated with eternal life and the tree of life.

SERMON

INTRODUCTION

Advent is a season of preparation for Christmas and for the coming of the Lord. During this Advent season, we reflect upon common decorations that we see all around us this time of year. They can help us prepare for the coming of Christ. This first week of Advent, we will focus on how evergreen decorations help us prepare for the coming of Christ.

Look around this time of year, and you will see greenery everywhere—garland, wreaths, trees, and sprays. We decorate with different kinds of conifer trees—pine, spruce, fir—as well as with broadleaf evergreens like holly and ivy. We love to sing songs that celebrate these evergreen decorations, such as “O Tannenbaum” and “The Holly and the Ivy.” Indeed, the Christmas tree has become the universal symbol of the Christmas season, for trees are displayed everywhere throughout the world: in homes, offices, town centers, shopping centers, and public spaces.

Even here in our church sanctuary, we have decorated our church with an evergreen tree and wreaths and garland. [Point to examples.] This indicates that these decorations have a churchly significance; they point us to spiritual truths. Why do we display evergreens in our church and in our homes as Christians? Is it only for aesthetic value—to make the place look pretty and festive? Or is there a deeper significance?

I. Evergreen decorations used during Advent originated in Europe.

To help us answer these questions, let’s go back to the very origins of the use of evergreen decorations during Advent and Christmas. Historians tell us that these decorations were first used in Europe during medieval times.

The use of the Christmas tree appeared in northern Europe around AD 1000. Usually, a small fir tree was cut from the forest and brought into the house. By AD 1400, Christmas trees were commonly found in German homes. They were decorated with apples, nuts, pretzels, wafers, and gingerbread.

Furthermore, December 24 was observed as the feast day of Adam, during which a “Paradise Play” was presented. This drama reenacted the events that took place with Adam and Eve in Paradise as depicted in the opening chapters of the Bible. In this play, a fir tree represented the tree of life. Christians associated the evergreen tree with life for this winter festival.

Around the same time, garland made of green holly and ivy appeared in England during Advent and Christmas. Christians would decorate their churches, houses, and streets with evergreen branches. They even wrapped a pole with evergreen garland as a kind of winter maypole. This presented the hope of life in the dead of winter.

ADDITIONAL SERMON ILLUSTRATION

Today we see Christmas trees all around us. But at one time, a Christmas tree in a church caused a scandal. That tree was set up by a pastor in a Lutheran church in Cleveland, Ohio, on Christmas Eve of 1851. Pastor Heinrich Schwan (the third president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod) erected an evergreen tree in the church sanctuary, attached candles to it, and placed a silver star on the top—one that he had brought from Germany.

This candlelit tree in a church was so revolutionary that it was reported in the city newspapers. One local paper called it a nonsensical, asinine, moronic absurdity. Some townspeople accused Pastor Schwan of engaging in heathenish and idolatrous practices because of the tree erected in the sanctuary of Zion Lutheran Church. They maintained that the tree was a pagan symbol. It became quite the city scandal in 1851.

But the members of the church loved the tree. It brought back positive memories to many German immigrants of the Christmas trees they had seen back in the old country. Nevertheless, Pastor Schwan and his congregation were at the center of a controversy. So he researched the history of Christmas trees in Germany and was convinced that they were a godly custom that celebrated the Savior’s birth. He wrote letters to the newspapers and to the people who objected, making the case for the Christmas tree.

The next Christmas Eve, in 1852, Pastor Schwan again erected a Christmas tree in his church. Many of his parishioners also decorated trees in their homes. Then others who were not members of that Lutheran church adopted the practice. Within a decade, Christmas trees appeared in churches and homes across America.

Today a historical marker in Cleveland commemorates the event and the start of people putting up Christmas trees in their churches and homes in the United States. What once was scandalous is now dearly loved and displayed in thousands of churches and homes and businesses in this land. Christians affirm the Christmas tree and how it testifies to the new and everlasting life that Christ’s coming brings.

II. Evergreen decorations serve as a symbol of eternal life.

Green is a symbol of life because living plants are green. In cold climates, many plants lose their green in the winter and appear to be lifeless. But evergreen plants such as fir, pine, and holly trees retain green leaves in the winter. They have become a symbol of life when other plants appear dead.

Moreover, evergreens are a symbol of eternal life. This is because they are ever green. They prevail over death, even in the dead of winter. Remember that the fir tree symbolized the tree of life for Christians in the Middle Ages. In the Bible, the tree of life offered eternal life to all who ate its fruit. Accordingly, Christians since the Middle Ages have decorated their homes and churches during Advent and Christmas to remind them of the gift of eternal life that Jesus’ advent offers.

III. Evergreens point us to Christ’s first advent.

Christ’s first coming was to restore eternal life that had been lost when our first parents fell into sin. In Paradise, Adam and Eve had access to the tree of life, as depicted by a fir tree in the medieval Paradise Play. But they forfeited that eternal life by sinning. Thorns infested the ground as a symbol of the curse and of death (Genesis 3:17–19).

Jesus, the Second Adam, came to restore life that was lost in humanity’s fall. In His advent two thousand years ago, God the Son came as a human being to give His life so that we sinners might receive eternal life. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). He brought life to us through a thorny crown and a sacrificial death on the cross, exchanging His life for the death that we deserved. The evergreen holly branch is associated with Christ’s death because its thorny leaves remind us of the crown of thorns He wore on the cross. Its red berries remind us of the drops of blood that fell from His head as He hung on the cross. His death destroyed death, and His resurrection restored life. Jesus proclaims, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25–26).

Through Christ’s first advent, you and I have the gift of eternal life. God the Holy Spirit indwells us and empowers us with His life. He compares Himself to an evergreen tree in Hosea 14:8: “I am like an evergreen cypress; from Me comes your fruit.” God is our never-failing source of life and fruitfulness.

IV. Evergreens point us to Christ’s second advent.

But that’s not all. Jesus’ return will inaugurate a new creation in which sin and death no longer exist. In the Bible, evergreens are associated with the new creation, which brings the reversal of sin’s curse and the blessing of eternal life.

Recall that evergreens are associated with the tree of life, which we will have access to when Jesus comes again. The final chapter of the Bible describes that scene: “On either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed” (Revelation 22:2–3). The tree of life is everbearing, evergreen, bestowing the fruit of everlasting life. This life is ours because of Christ’s first and second advents.

CONCLUSION

Evergreen decorations made of pine, spruce, fir, and holly trees are ubiquitous during this season. They convey a powerful message: evergreen symbolizes everlasting life. That’s what Advent and Christmas are all about: the eternal life that Jesus won for us at His first coming, which we will experience fully at His second coming. So, every time you look at evergreen decorations, remember their message: Jesus has come and will come again to give you everlasting life!

Evergreen decorations made of pine, spruce, fir, and holly trees are ubiquitous during this season. They convey a powerful message: evergreen symbolizes everlasting life. That’s what Advent and Christmas are all about: the eternal life that Jesus won for us at His first coming, which we will experience fully at His second coming. So, every time you look at evergreen decorations, remember their message: Jesus has come and will come again to give you everlasting life!