December 7, 2025 | Second Sunday of Advent @ Parkside Lutheran Church – Buffalo, NY
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
On Saturday morning, I watched ESPN College Game Day. On that show, they preview and discuss the college football games for the day. Behind the stage where the hosts sat was a sea of people – several of whom were carrying signs.
Jesus saves
Talk to Jesus, He will help you
A play on ESPN – Every Single Person Needs Jesus
Jesus is all you need. Just Jesus. No politics, no church, no religion.
As I watched, I wondered: Who are those signs for? Are they for people watching College Game Day, part of their own spiritual devotion, are they for the people holding the signs to feel bold and righteous? Does anyone see those signs and become more open to the movement of the Holy Spirit? That probably sounds judgmental of me I because I really don’t know if people have had their hearts warmed to the gospel through signs like that.
I think we would agree with some version of the phrase “people need Jesus,” but what it is that they need. What do people need beyond catch phrases, signs, religious-sounding platitudes. What are the questions, joys, pains that people are experiencing and how is it that Jesus meets them in those places? How can we help make that connection with people and Jesus when … quite honestly … many of us have our own questions, struggles, doubts?
How are you and I prepared to hear, believe, make decisions, and take actions when we may not feel worthy, when we may feel uncertain, or maybe sharing our faith feels a little too far out there?
Advent is a season of waiting, watching, hoping, and expecting. It is a season of new beginnings. It is a season of looking forward to what God is doing. In Advent, we also spend a lot of time looking backward at what God already did. We heard that disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus with questions. They asked if Jesus was the one they’ve been waiting, watching, hoping, expecting to see? Was Jesus the promised messiah, or were they to go back to waiting, watching, hoping, and expecting?
Jesus wasn’t like the people on College Game Day who held up signs like “I save” or “all you need is me … no church, no politics, no religion.”
Instead, Jesus told them to “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with a skin disease are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.”
As we look backward at what God has already done, we also look forward to what God will do and is doing … not way off in the future, but now … today … this week?
A good practice for Advent is simply noticing. Where do you see or do you think you might see God doing something? Consider sharing what you see with someone else. Sharing with someone else is really important! If you’re not used to sharing this kind of thing with other people, consider telling someone you’re more comfortable with.
We read in Isaiah as God said, “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?” Maybe the “new thing” that God is doing is not some huge thing out there somewhere. Maybe the “new thing” is welling up within you … within your relationships … your sphere of influence … within Parkside Lutheran Church.
This is much better than a sign that proclaims a message that is disconnected from community or meaningful relationships. This is a message at work and living through you and in relationship with other people. Signs like those at College Game Day may spark conversation or thought, but if a person wants to talk with Jesus, how do they find out how to do that?
Here at Parkside Lutheran Church, you took a bold risk to become “the church with the doors.” These are the signs … these are the opportunities … to help people become aware and curious. You and I are called to notice what God is doing. We become like John the Baptist’s disciples to help people answer their question: “Is Jesus the one or do we wait for another?” We can share the truth of what we see and what we experience as God is doing a new thing in, with, and through us.
In the name of Jesus. Amen!
Epicurious Lutheran 