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I do not usually post sermons, but Advent is so  brief….The Gospel reading is Matthew 11:2-11

I’ve heard a lot of people say—some in this congregation, some are my friends, even some are acquaintances or  strangers who  I’ve come across in the past few weeks— that there are things that they like to do “to get in the holiday, or the Christmas, spirit.”  The things that they talked about range from baking, to shopping, to listening to carols,  attending the Joy of Christmas here, attending midweek Advent services, caroling, volunteering , driving around looking at the lights; attending a Messiah concert as I did last night….the rituals are varied and diverse.

I’m mindful of my position as a pastor—haven’t wanted to put anyone on the spot by asking, ‘well, just what do you mean by ‘the Christmas Spirit’’, so I smile and nod knowingly—because I feel like I do know. There is a way that we want to feel in this month—A need—perhaps deeply felt—to have meaning in our flurry of activities.

As I’ve thought about it, it’s seemed more and more to be best described as a

Longing

A longing for meaning….a longing for realization of faith’s greatest hope—

that this is all true—(gesture to the altar, the font, the table)—

and, certainly, a longing to be reminded of what is true—

Perhaps that’s the hardest thing for people of faith to admit—to give voice to—to understand beneath the busy-ness of the season and the stress of preparations—

that we are longing for Emmanuel—for God with us—to come and make God known to us.

Because we’ve looked around us, looked at our world, and have been hurt and saddened and horrified by some of what we’re seeing

Because we’ve looked inside ourselves, gazing carefully at the hurts and sorrows and darkened corners that horrify us

and we’ve come to know in our deepest selves,  that we need  to find ways to ‘get in the Christmas Spirit’ because we need what Christmas truly brings—

we need a savior, the Messiah, who is Christ the Lord

And if that sounds like we,( or I’ve) lost our faith, or that we are simply going through the motions here,

why

no less than John the Baptist had those very same longings—

and he gave voice to them in the gospel lesson we read today

John is in prison.

John, the voice crying out in the wilderness—the one who prepared the people for the coming of the Messiah—

the roughened prophet who defied the religious rulers of the time, speaking the plain truth about the need to turn away from sin

and to make the paths straight for the coming One who would save the world

John the Baptist who baptized Jesus in the river Jordan while protesting that he should be baptized by Jesus—not the other way around—

John, in prison, thinking, perhaps worrying,

Waiting—for—release, or his own death

hearing perhaps from his own followers about this man Jesus

asks the question that even now stops us right in our tracks—

Are you the one who is to come

Or are we to wait for another?

Even John the Baptist longed to hear words which offered reassurance—

and he asked Jesus for help in seeing what he and the world were not yet seeing—

how do we recognize the Messiah?, he , and we ask.

John here is no longer a prophet—he is now Jesus’ disciple—and his honest anguish and question gets to the heart of what we need in our time—

our Advent journeys and our lives lived in faith—

We long to learn how to see Jesus at work in our very lives—and to follow him.

And there is perhaps no other time when that longing is as poignant as in  Advent season when the world often appropriates the season

You see, Jesus hadn’t quite fit the image of what John was expecting.

Maybe John couldn’t see it because he was imprisoned—not just his body, but his spirit.  Perhaps he had gotten discouraged, had forgotten what Jesus had said, and done, and had allowed his circumstances to overwhelm and perhaps even blind him to the truths about Jesus.

Perhaps that’s what happens to us too as we rush around preparing for Christmas. We get uneasy, afraid that we’re missing something—feel overwhelmed and anxious and alone and afraid—the good feelings that we planned for don’t seem to materialize

And we search for ‘something’ to put us in the true spirit of Christmas.

Is it true, John asks, Are  you the One?

And Jesus answered him.

He says, essentially,  go out and see for yourselves –

-the evidence of my presence is out there in the world—

Listen and look—

Those that are blind, and blinded will see and will be able to see beyond the surface-to the truths of God’s love

Those that are lame—and the ones who cannot  move forward because of brokenness and sin, will walk—will be freed to reach their potential and will find peace

Those with illness and with any infirmity which isolates them from others, which marginalizes them and makes them outcast—will be healed and will rejoin their communities

Those who cannot hear or are prevented from hearing because of barriers that prevent their comprehension, will hear—will understand—will perceive!

Those who are dead to life and dead to lives lived fully—will live in me; will live eternal life begun in this life

And those who do not seem to have the luck that others do—those who do not succeed by measures of the world—who are unable to care for themselves for any reason—who are discouraged and poor in spirit, body, mind, ambition or finances—they will hear this good news of the Messiah come into the world, they will understand that I came for all people—without question—

I am, Jesus, says in the world. But, beloved children, when you are imprisoned and separated from me, it’s hard to see my presence.

And so Jesus invites us to see beyond the trimmings and trappings of the season which might very well imprison us and distract us from his presence—to spend time reading scripture, in prayer, in worship—to experience his very real presence at the communion table—and to be mindful of those places where we can not only see Jesus in the compassion and outreached hands of others—but where we can show the light of Jesus to others with our own compassion and hands stretched out to serve.

Perhaps there isn’t just one thing that we do that puts us in the spirit of Christmas. Our longings  can  be met by  daily practices— a reminder in the morning to seek him out where he will be found, or a reflection at the end of the day to be aware and grateful for the moments in the day when his presence was most known to us.  It might be simply to help each other and to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the world—to get in the Christmas spirit by inviting a friend or neighbor to worship, or to walk over to see the lighted Nativity in front or in back of the church, and to talk about the One who is to come.

This is the good news!

Amen.

©  Rev. Jan Veseth 12-12-10

Quite simply, this week, I give thanks for the gift of faith….a gift from God.  Often we don’t appreciate the depth of our faith until we are stressed, tired, grieving, hurting, lost, betrayed, alone or just simply afraid.  And it’s there–deeper, stronger and more real than we had ever understood.  Thanks be to God!

Over the past 7 years or so (seminary and first call), I’ve had occasion to spend time with folks who had Alzheimer’s disease or some form of dementia.  At its most extreme, I sat a table in the dining room of a memory care unit with a dozen or so healthy appearing men and women who sat staring at their plates of appetizing and good-smelling food, motionless. They simply no longer had any idea of what to do with the forks and spoons, or the food for that matter.

To a person, however, when I sat with them, and held their hands in mine, and began to pray the Lord’s Prayer, they prayed along with me. Oh, perhaps a few words went missing, and they all faded out at the end of some of the long sentences, but they knew.

They. knew.

Disease had ravaged their minds, disconnected them from so much of their surroundings, but had not separated them from their God. Their faith remained.

As does ours. When we doubt it–when we are afraid that we’ve lost our faith–remember these faithful men and women. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.