Thanks guys.
Good morning.
Let me get situated here.
I didn't set my stuff up early.
And I think, thank you for water.
Greg always, I tease myself too.
I have baby, tiny child ears.
I should have just used the handheld.
These things won't even hang on to my little elf ears.
I tell you what, it's always a thing.
Okay, yes, it's because I'm a mythical magical creature.
Okay.
I am honored to be preaching this morning
as we begin the season of Advent.
To have this sacred calendar kind of schedule is helpful.
Sometimes we might find ourselves saying,
especially these days, right?
Because holidays are busy.
There's extra gatherings, extra commitments.
There's pressure of making everything just right.
You want that family photo or the perfect gift
or the holiday meal.
And we look at it all and we might think,
oh, modern us, we've complicated things
and we're so stretched and we're so busy nowadays.
So thank goodness for Advent.
But Advent has been around pre-elementary school,
Christmas pageants, pre-office job, work parties,
pre-Pinterest perfect holiday menus and tablescapes
because being obligated and stretched
isn't a modern concept.
It's been around always.
And I actually wondered like how long has Advent,
how long have we been kind of keeping this calendar?
So maybe you'd like to know too.
According to St. Gregory of Tours,
the celebration of Advent began in the fifth century
when it was directed that starting with St. Martin's Day
on November 11th, Advent would begin
and it would go through Christmas.
Thank you, Google.
So the fifth century, that was 1,500 years ago.
For 1,500 years, Christians have designated this time
leading up to Christmas as Advent, a time of expectation,
a time to focus on hope, peace, joy, love
and the light of the world come to us
because it's always been important
as humans stretched with obligations to set aside time
and remember the truth and the promises of the one who was,
who is and who is yet to come.
So let us begin with hope.
One of the traditional readings on the first Sunday
of Advent for hope is Isaiah nine, two through seven.
The chapter is actually entitled Hope in the Messiah.
Here at the house, we aim to give the reading of scripture
our full attention and one way you can do that
is kind of through a posture of attention and focus.
So for some that might be standing,
for others it might be sitting with your eyes closed
or opening your hands, whatever is meaningful.
I invite you to join with me now
in focusing on these words from Isaiah nine, two through seven.
The people who walk in darkness will see a great light,
a light that will shine on all who live in the land
where death casts its shadow.
Israel again will be great and its people will rejoice
as people rejoice at harvest time.
They'll shout with joy like warriors dividing the plunder
for God will break the chains that bind his people
and the whip that scourges them just as he did
when he destroyed the army of Midian
with Gideon's little band.
In that day of peace, battle gear will no longer be issued.
Never again will uniforms be bloodstained by war.
All such equipment will be burned.
These will be his royal titles.
For a child is born to us, a son is given
and the government will rest on his shoulders.
These will be his royal titles.
Wonderful counselor, mighty God,
everlasting father, Prince of peace,
his ever expanding peaceful government will never end.
He'll rule forever with fairness and justice
from the throne of his ancestor David.
The passionate commitment of the Lord Almighty
will guarantee this.
Let us pray.
God of every tribe, every tongue, every color and nation,
our heavenly father, thank you for your living word,
which is the fuel and foundation for hope.
Thank you for your truth.
Thank you for your promises.
Be with us today as we take time to pause
and reflect on the importance
of your true words and promises.
I pray you'll bless our time together.
Open our hearts and minds to the revelations of love,
peace, joy and most especially hope
that your word and this time of year communicate
and represent.
I love you.
Amen.
You can be seated if you're standing.
So our two minutes for one question was about nativities.
Do you put one up?
What's its story?
I love nativities.
The little people one, right?
The fancy breakable ones, whatever it is.
I love nativities.
Some of my favorite Christmas time memories
are carefully, sneakily playing with my mom's nativity
that was always set up in the bay window.
And we also had these like very 70s style,
really small stained glass type angels
that were hung by string as a whole heavenly host
in all of the like diagonal paint windows.
And there was a bull or maybe like an ox that had horns
and they were springs.
And I just have these memories of like sitting
in the bay window and playing with that
and being really intrigued by that.
Or my dad's nativity, which typically went
at the other end of the house in the living room.
It had a cardboard manger with printed artwork details
and a lot of sheep, like more sheep
than I've ever seen any nativity have.
And lots of shepherds and like there were a lot
of like extras things.
And I remember when my mom told me that was because my dad
would save up money.
And when he was little, like Wally's age
and he would go to the store and he would buy a piece
at a time and add to it.
And it was like a point of pride for him.
He loved that nativity his whole life.
It was so special and important and dear to him.
And then it became special and important and dear to us.
It was like a treasure.
Well, we have a nativity at our house
and a special tradition with our nativity that I really love.
I originally got this idea of it when Brennan and Liam
were still toddler age and I still read mom blogs.
I don't do that anymore.
I just, I don't.
But yeah, I was reading this mom blog
and she did this cute thing each year
where when they set up their nativity,
they took the three wise men out from the traditional
crusher manger scene and she'd place them
in the farthest, farthest most eastern part of their home.
And as the advent season progressed,
she would slowly begin moving their location
from far off in the east to slowly closer and closer
to arriving at the Christ child
and the gathering of the manger scene.
And I loved that it brought this visual kind of
interactive alive depiction into this mama's home
and that they got to experience and remember
that the story of Jesus coming to earth involved a journey.
And it was one that took a long time for everyone.
Because just to read the story,
we get Luke one, Luke two, and that's it.
It all begins with a Jewish priest
and a few minutes later, the savior of the world is born.
It usually takes up maybe three pages in your Bible.
So this mom's idea grabbed a hold of me
and it put things into like a new perspective
and probably that's because I don't like to wait at all.
I don't like to just sit.
But the truth is Mary had to wait.
She had to sit with it.
And so I got the idea of how I wanted to integrate
this new nativity time marker tradition
into our family's home at Christmas time.
There's this, the originating like willow tree artist,
Susan Lordy, she created this sculpture in 2003
entitled Cherish.
And two years after that, I received it as a gift
when I was pregnant with Brennan.
And so this is the Mary figurine that occupies
our nativity scene until Christmas morning.
So that's how we set it up.
And on Christmas morning, we get Mary that's kneeling
with baby Jesus.
And usually I'll read a little bit of the story.
I think last year Adley got to put Mary out.
Because Mary had to wait.
Mary had to sit with it.
She didn't get to skip ahead two pages
and just understand how it all worked out.
And she wasn't the only one.
We kind of laughed earlier when I said,
it all begins with a Jewish priest,
but those are the real words.
Which I'm gonna have a moment of like author story
writing dork because I just wanna say,
that's good writing on Luke's part, right?
Welcome to my book of the Bible.
It all begins with a Jewish priest.
That's so good.
Like you wanna keep reading that.
So I actually do wanna dive into that story
that we see in Luke and Matthew.
I know we already did our scripture reading,
but I just wanna read the Christmas story to you,
dare I say real quick, because it's weird,
but it's true that it really only takes
about two and a half minutes.
So in Luke one, we begin.
It all begins with a Jewish priest.
Zechariah who lived when Herod was the king of Judea.
Zechariah was a member of the priestly order.
His wife Elizabeth was also from the priestly line of Aaron.
One day Zechariah was serving God in the temple
for his order was on duty that week.
He was in the sanctuary when an angel of the Lord appeared
standing to the right of the altar.
Zechariah was overwhelmed with fear,
but the angel said, don't be afraid Zechariah.
God's heard your prayer and your wife Elizabeth
will bear a son, you are to name him John.
You'll have great joy and gladness
and many will rejoice with you at his birth.
He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah,
the power of old.
He will proceed the coming of the Lord
preparing the people for his arrival.
Zechariah said to the angel,
how can I know this will happen?
I'm an old man now and my wife is also well along in years.
Then the angel said, I am Gabriel.
I stand in the very presence of God.
It's he who sent me to bring you this good news.
And then further on, in the six month of Elizabeth pregnancy,
God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth,
a village in Galilee to a virgin named Mary.
She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph,
a descendant of King David.
Gabriel appeared to her and said,
greetings favored woman, the Lord is with you.
Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think
what the angel could mean.
Don't be frightened, Mary the angel told her,
for God has decided to bless you.
You will become pregnant and have a son
and you are to name him Jesus.
He will be very great and will be called
the son of the most high and the Lord God
will give him the throne of his ancestor David
and he will reign over Israel forever.
His kingdom will never end.
Mary asked the angel, but how can I have a baby?
I'm a virgin.
And the angel replied, the Holy Spirit will come upon you
and the power of the most high will overshadow you.
So the baby will be born and will be holy
for nothing is impossible with God.
Thank you.
Joseph also, Joseph, her fiance, was a just man
and in finding out that she was pregnant,
decided to break the engagement quietly
so as not to disgrace her publicly.
As he considered this, he fell asleep
and the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.
Joseph, son of David, said the angel,
do not be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary
for the child within her has been conceived
of the Holy Spirit and she will have a son
and you are to name him Jesus.
All of this happens to fulfill the Lord's message
through the prophet.
Look, the virgin will conceive a child,
she'll give birth to a son and he will be called Emmanuel.
There it is.
At that time, the Roman Emperor Augustus
decreed that a census should be taken.
All returned to their towns to register for the census.
Joseph traveled to Nazareth and Galilee.
He took with him Mary, his fiance,
who is obviously pregnant by this time,
while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born.
She gave birth to her first child, a son,
and wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth.
That night, some shepherds were in the fields
outside the village guarding their flocks of sheep.
Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them
and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them.
Don't be afraid.
I bring you good news, a great joy for everyone.
The Savior, the Messiah, the Lord has been born tonight
and this is how you will recognize him.
You will find a baby lying in a manger
wrapped snugly in strips of cloth.
And the angel was joined by a host of others.
Glory to God in the highest heaven
and peace on earth to all whom God favors.
Praising God, they said.
And last, last of the story we get to hear about
the wise men who I love people are now beginning
to call the astronomers.
It's another dark moment for me, sorry.
Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem.
About that time, some wise men from the eastern lands
arrived in Jerusalem asking,
where is the newborn King of the Jews?
We've seen his star as it arose
and we've come to worship him.
Herod was deeply disturbed.
Where did the prophets say the Messiah would be born?
He asked.
In Bethlehem, they said, for this is what the prophet wrote.
Bethlehem of Judah, you are not just a lowly village in Judah
for a ruler will come from you
who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.
And then it all ends nicely
and Mary treasures it all in her heart.
The end.
So Mary wasn't the only one.
Zechariah and Elizabeth also didn't know
how it was gonna end up.
When Gabriel came to Zechariah, Luke shares with us,
he was overwhelmed with fear
and to the message of God's archangel, his response was,
but how can I know it will happen?
And Mary, Luke shares with us
that she was confused and disturbed.
And she said to the angel Gabriel,
but how can I have a baby?
Joseph too at first decided,
okay, I'm not gonna make a big deal.
We'll break it off quietly.
It's fine.
But the angel addressed his real feelings and said,
do not be afraid.
Go ahead with your marriage to Mary.
Even the shepherds were terribly frightened.
And then there's the astronomers, the wise men.
They weren't filled with feelings of unsureness
or disbelief or fear or confusion,
but they were filled with big emotions of joy
and expectation when they saw the star.
But they still had a question in need of answering.
Hey, where is the savior?
Every one of these characters,
they seem to have a few key things in common.
For one, they all had big emotions regarding big questions.
And for two, they all had to just wait
and hope it would work out.
So, Cynthia, your scripture reading was Isaiah nine.
It was about seeing lights where there's darkness
and the passionate commitment of the father
seeing that all things indeed guarantee a hope in the Messiah.
But now you just read a lot of Luke and a lot of Matthew.
I know, thanks for paying attention.
But stay with me.
Because here it is, the most beautiful, important,
third thing that all those people had in common
was that when they were presented with their trial
or their difficulty or quest even or command,
how can I even do that thing or hope?
They all had God's previously committed promise
and words to stand on.
Isaiah nine said it,
the passionate commitment of the Lord Almighty
will guarantee this.
To Zechariah, the angel said,
my words will certainly come true at the proper time.
To Mary, the angel said,
God has decided to bless you,
for nothing is impossible with God.
To Joseph, the angel said,
all of this happens to fulfill the Lord's message.
The shepherds heard them say,
you will find him.
And the wise men, a star will rise.
O Bethlehem, a ruler will come from you.
All they could see was the star.
They couldn't see the Savior.
All Mary could see was her belly growing
and she and Joseph couldn't see the Savior.
The shepherds heard words, you will find him.
But they hadn't yet ever seen or found the Savior.
Until they all did,
because they all kept reminding themselves
of the promises from their creator.
That was how they held hope.
I think that's important.
It's important to remember.
And sometimes I wonder if there's a vision
that you've forgotten in the darkness.
The people who walk in darkness will see a great light,
a light that will shine on all who live in the land
where death casts its shadow.
Is there a vision that you've forgotten
because it's so dark?
Liam, go ahead and show that first picture
of the moon above the cottage.
This is a picture that I took at my friend's house.
It's just a picture of her cottage
and it was quaint and cute.
I was there a couple of weeks ago.
It looked cute when I was looking at it.
I was like the crescent moon above the thing
and it was just really sweet.
I love to go there.
I have writing retreats there.
It's a very special place to me.
And so I was like, I just wanna capture this moment.
So I took a picture of it.
It wasn't, it was, and I took the picture
and I was like, oh, it doesn't look like that though.
And I thought, well, what if I put my camera on night mode?
Because you can do that.
That's so cool.
So I put my camera on night mode.
Liam, the next one.
And so now, I don't know if you can see it.
I was amazed.
You can actually see,
like there's a tiny little constellation
to the bottom left corner of the moon
and one in the like right side there.
I mean, my eyeballs could not see that.
But my phone could in night mode.
And astrophotography is that way as well.
You can take a picture, time lapse it,
and you get to see what the sky actually looks like.
Our human eyeballs don't see that.
But my phone helped me see that.
And so then I had this idea,
oh my gosh, if that's what that looks like,
what does the sky look like?
And so it was cold and it had been raining,
but I laid down on the ground and I put my phone up
and I had it on night mode and I just took a picture.
And what I was looking at with my eyes was not that.
But that's what my phone could see.
And it was so beautiful to be laying there
and looking up with my eyes and just seeing some stars
that I could identify and I knew what they were.
But then to look at that image and know,
wait, but that's what's there.
That's what's there all the time.
I just can't see it, but I can know that it's there.
I know that it's there and that's what it looks like.
And I laid there and I just started crying
and I actually said out loud, I didn't know.
I didn't know that that was there.
And so I just wonder if we're relying
on our human eyes too much sometimes.
Don't forget, just because you can't see it
doesn't mean it's not there, right?
I think that's an important thing
that we can walk away with today for hope, right?
And or maybe even moving forward
in that Isaiah scripture that starts with
walking in the darkness and seeing a great light,
even though you can't see it, remembering it's there.
But then also remembering the passionate commitment
of the Lord Almighty will guarantee this.
God's words are there for us.
And so I wonder if you could use that reminder of his words
or if you might be meant to be someone's reminder.
What's the truth that has been communicated
that's making your hope possible?
Don't forget it.
Don't forget God's promise and truth.
Keep your heart and your eyes and spirit open
for opportunities to remind others of what is true
so that their hope can have a footing too.
How can I know what will happen?
Zechariah wanted to know his words will certainly come true
at the proper time.
That's what he could remember.
You know, it's like a mantra.
You can have a word from God that you can remember.
Mary, how can I have a baby?
Nothing is impossible with God.
And because God's word, because of God's word,
we all have those truths and those reassurances
and promises.
Don't forget, remind yourself this season
why you can have hope.
But also don't forget that you can bring those words
to the ones who are having a hard time remembering.
We've all been there.
Hope can be hard, especially when you have big questions
and big emotions about it.
I couldn't believe that this actually happened yesterday.
But yesterday, as Greg said, I had a really busy week.
I was in Cedar Rapids and I dropped Adley off
for the afternoon Nutcracker performance
and I went to Starbucks to finish this sermon.
And so I was sitting there writing a sermon about hope
and I got up and I went to the bathroom.
And I was in the bathroom and I started, I heard,
and sometimes like, there's sniff.
Sometimes people sniff.
They do that, right?
In the bathroom when it's all quiet
and you hear other people, and so they're sniffing a lot.
But then I realized there was like a rhythm to it,
some trembling breaths in between.
And they were crying.
And so I prayed really quick, God give me wisdom.
Be here in this moment.
I said, can I help you in any way?
She said, I don't know, probably not.
And I wanted to make sure she was like physically okay.
I said, are you feeling sick right now?
No.
And then I heard myself saying,
how are you feeling right now?
And she said, I feel depressed and hungry and hopeless.
And I said, I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry you're feeling that right now.
If you think you'd like to or could come out right now,
if you're okay with it, like I could give you a hug
or I'm here for you.
I just want you to know it's gonna be okay.
And she said, it's not gonna be okay.
And so I told her, I've cried in the bathroom
feeling depressed and hopeless before.
You're not alone.
I wasn't gonna leave.
I just knew I couldn't.
I said, you said you felt hungry.
I have a snack and a little bit of cash I could give you.
Do you need a little money for food?
And she said, yeah.
She finally came out.
And I told her, I said, I'm sorry
that it's feeling so hard right now.
I'm sorry you feel hopeless and depressed.
I know those feelings.
And then I heard myself saying, but listen,
you're not forgotten.
You matter.
You're not alone.
You're loved.
Even when you feel alone and forgotten, you're not.
Not really.
You're loved and you were created with a purpose
and you matter.
What's your name?
Heather.
I said, Heather, you're not forgotten.
You're loved and you matter.
And she started to get more emotional.
I heard myself saying, I'm proud of you
for managing as far as you have.
I'm proud of you that you're here today,
even though it's hard and you're feeling so sad.
Here you are.
That's something that sometimes is the win for the day.
But it won't always be like this.
There's always good people looking out
and it's gonna be okay.
It's gonna be okay, Heather.
Don't forget, you're loved and you matter
and you're not alone or forgotten.
I heard myself saying those words to her
and I knew that those, that was truth for her.
Those were my words that I was saying to her,
but they weren't my words.
They weren't just my words, my truth, my promise.
That was God reminding her of the truth, the promise.
What's real, right?
And so hope, waiting with expectation and anticipation
can be difficult and uncomfortable, but don't forget,
we can keep hoping.
God has words for us and we might have words for others.
So Mary and Joseph couldn't see Jesus yet.
The wise men hadn't seen Jesus yet.
The shepherds hadn't seen Jesus,
but they received a message, a promise,
a truth to cherish in their hearts
and that's how God does it.
That's how hope happens.
That's how you can have hope
and offer hope this Advent season and always.
Amen.