The Incarnation and Joy!
This advent we are examining The Incarnation not as something that happened over 2000 years ago or as a doctrine of the Church. We are looking at The Incarnation as something that has an impact on our daily lives today. The first week of advent we looked at The Incarnation in terms of hope. Too often when people use the word hope they're really expressing far more doubt than hope – hope that is not rooted in circumstance or life’s situations but rather in the certain power of God’s grace. As Paul reminds us in the powerful 8th chapter of Romans, “nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”. This hope is not a wish but a firmly grounded power.
Last week we looked at the gift of salvation – not as something we cause to happen - but as God’s gift to us. Our role is humble acceptance of the gift. As one preacher responded to the question of when she was saved, “between noon and 3 o’clock on a cross on Golgotha’s hill about 2,000 years ago.” This is when God acted to save us. So being saved is not about a time and date but rather the ongoing process of surrendering ourselves to God and committing over and over again to be faithfully, albeit imperfectly, obedient to God’s will for our lives. Our response on an ongoing basis keeps our hearts open to the transforming power of grace.
This week we look at the incredible promise of God to be with us. No matter how isolated or alone we might feel, the powerful reality is we never are. God is with us. The fact that we may or may not recognize this reality does not make it any less true. Even in the midst of this pandemic with all the suffering, isolation, and people dying “alone” - God is with us. That is Gods promise to us and as the Psalms resoundingly affirm, God’s faithfulness lasts forever. We may forget, get distracted or even overwhelmed by life’s circumstances, but God never is overwhelmed, discouraged, too busy, or anything else that would undermine this eternal promise that God is with us. Not only is God with us, God is also redeeming every moment and every situation. The end is never death, but rather triumphant joy.
For far too many people, joy like hope, is too often illusive and subject to the whims of circumstance and situation. In a word, these people think of joy as something that comes to us or doesn’t depending on what lies outside of us and is beyond our control. Nothing could be further from the truth. In tomorrow's sermon I'm going to be examining what the promise: God is with us means for our everyday lives and the incredible joy, power and responsibility this can unleash in our lives.
I am looking forward to our virtual service tomorrow and I hope you are as well.
Grace and Peace, John