Sermon from the First Sunday of Advent – December 1, 2024, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church – Buffalo, NY .
Sermon Video | 8:30am worship & 10:30am worship
Sermon Text | Luke 21:25-36
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!
Thanksgiving is one of those holidays when people love to get together to watch the Macy’s parade, watch football, be with family, have a truly abundant meal, and take a nap after enjoying that meal. Thanksgiving can be one of those events that has such emotional power capable of stirring up images and maybe even expectations of a meal and family as depicted in Norman Rockwell paintings.
In none of the idyllic images of Thanksgiving or in the conversations about what people are most looking forward to do I hear anyone say they are looking forward to the joy of cleaning off the table, washing the mountain of dishes, or doing laundry after the Thanksgiving feast.
In quieter conversations, people share that they are struggling. Some are grieving the loss of a loved one. My Uncle Phil died last Sunday, so the Thanksgiving experience for my aunt and cousin have been far from that Norman Rockwell image. For some of us, this is our first Thanksgiving without special people in our lives. For others, the empty chair at the table has been there for many years. Several people have shared that they either aren’t getting together with certain family members because of deep divisions in political views or political topics are banned from conversation.
Driving around as I did my last-minute preparations, I saw people walking the streets of Buffalo. Some looked lonely, not well fed, not well clothed, and not well housed. Far from the Norman Rockwell depiction of the holiday.
How do you and I hear – how do those who are lonely and wandering and who don’t have enough – how do we hear the message of Thanksgiving and the message of Advent? How do these messages bring good news to the rich and the poor … to those who are with family and friends as well as those who are experiencing loss? How do these messages have authenticity? How do they share hope?
One would think that the first Sunday of Advent would have happier and more hopeful scripture readings. Instead, we have readings very similar to the last couple of weeks. They can sound scary, apocalyptic, and anything but hopeful.
But each and every one of us needs hope … right?
When you’re struggling … whether it’s something small like a hangnail, something personal and big like a medical concern or grief, communal issues of justice or peace … no matter what it is … we want … we NEED hope. And we need to know that HOPE has substance to it. We need hope that is real … authentic. We need more from hope than just a platitude.
Hope, by definition, is not about what is happening now, but hope is confidence that something in the future could actually happen. That’s why we shouldn’t really say that we have hope that any of us will win the lottery. That’s actually a wish, a dream, or a fantasy rather than hope. The lottery is not something you would bet your retirement on or paying for your children’s education.
So, when we hear Jesus talking about the signs of these terrible things taking place, he also tells us to do the opposite of what is natural and makes the most sense to us. Jesus said: “When these things begin to take place, STAND UP and RAISE your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).
When terrible or scary things are happening, what many of us want to do is curl up to protect ourselves. We want to gather those we care about close to us. But when we stand up and raise our heads in the middle of our current struggles, rather than adopting a posture that would protect us, we choose the opposite and make ourselves vulnerable. When we stand up and raise our heads, we are stepping into hope. And this hope is the belief, the confidence, and the joy that we are not alone.
As we stand at the beginning of Advent, we stand in our struggle with our heads raised high seeing that Jesus is revealed as being in the middle of our struggles of human reality, too. We claim the hope that is Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” Through Advent, we will hear of God’s faithfulness throughout the generations – this is simply who God is.
Advent is about the new things and the new beginnings God is bringing about. It is the new breath of hope that God and God’s people are with you in the middle of it all. Hope is a lifeline to which we cling as we seek to both experience and bring about the Kingdom of God – a kingdom of justice, love, peace, and hope.
As we begin the season of Advent, where in your life do you need that breath of newness and hope?
And also, as the people of God, how can we hear God’s call to be that breath of newness and hope for those around us? How can we stand in the gap between scarcity and abundance to be the hope that God sends into the world?
In the name of Jesus. Amen!
Epicurious Lutheran 