Holy Covenant United Methodist Church - Jeremiah 33:14-16 "All I Want for Christmas"

Jeremiah 33:14-16 "All I Want for Christmas"

Written by Rev. Don Lee
Saturday, 02 December 2006
The book of Jeremiah was written during a period that included the rise of the Babylonian empire and its domination of large sections of the Ancient Middle East. Jehoiakim, King of Judah rebelled against the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar, resulting in the occupation of Judah by the Babylonian army, and the deportation to Babylon of many of his Royal court, officials and citizens. God has heard the peoples’ cries, writes Jeremiah, and promises to come and save Israel. Our scripture reading is Jeremiah 33:14-16. The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: "The LORD is our righteousness." Prayer: Come, Lord Jesus, send forth your Spirit. Open our minds and our hearts to the Good News your have for us today. Amen. By the time I was a teenager I had read the Bible completely through at least a couple times, and if you had asked, there is little I would have said about my “good friend” Jeremiah here except that he wasn’t very fun to read, and he didn’t have much good to say about anyone! So beginning the Advent season by reading from “the Prophet” may seem like an odd way to enter what’s referred to as, “the most wonderful time of the year…” As a matter of fact, Jeremiah is a great way to begin Advent! After all, Christmas doesn’t make much sense until you know what’s come before. Just as the story about a bear charging into a hunter’s cabin, doesn’t make much sense until you know what comes before… But if I tell you about a young hunter who brags to his buddy, “You get the fire going and I’ll go get us something to eat.” Surprised by a Grizzly, he runs back to his cabin, with “Bear” hot on his heels; he trips, falls, and the bear skids right past him through the open door. The hunter slams closed the door and yells to his buddy on the other side, “You skin that one, and I’ll go get us another…” Suddenly a bear charging into a cabin makes perfect sense! Jesus’ arrival in the world is predicated by what comes before…He comes because of the mess we’ve made of things. He charges in to rouse us from our slumber, and sends us running for cover! He comes to disturb our false sense of security and he challenges the behavior that incites this holy rampage. “I have come to not to bring peace but a sword,” says Jesus in Matthew 10:34. True, Christ comes to heal brokenness, to forgive sin, and to bring peace on earth?” But he also comes to challenge the very things that stand in the way of his healing, forgiveness, and peace; things like injustice, violence and hatred. He confronts the oppressor, challenges the selfish desire of humanity that destroys our holy otherness, and stands against the powers that undermine the possibility of peace, and a sustainable and healthy future for us, our children, and every other human being that walks the face of this planet including the Sudanese refugee we seem to care so little about. Christmas is for everyone. Oh sure, Jesus may look mild and lowly, laying in the manger, but looks can be deceiving! Truth is, most of us prefer the baby “meek and mild” then a Christ who comes to turn “our” world upside down! Why, if Jesus were here today, he’d get himself crucified all over again, and that by the religious establishment (i.e. the church)! “Humanity” left to our own devices will: -victimize the innocent, -ignore the suffering; -betray our loved ones, -suck this world dry of its resources; -and ultimately, destroy this planet we live on. We have the technology to do it, we have the selfishness to do it, we have the hate to do it, and the apathy to let it happen. The Prophet cries out in the wilderness not to declare humanity’s faithfulness, but God’s. Christ comes because our very survival depends on it. 2ndly, Christ comes bearing gifts! I want to sing you a carol that I think summarizes well our scripture reading from Jeremiah: O come, O come, Emmanuel And ransom captive Israel That mourns in lowly exile here, Until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel. “O come, O come Emmanuel” was cutting edge music in 12th century medieval Church. Its melody is a Chant, the earliest form of singing in the church. In it, God’s people are separated from God…like those separated from the temple in Jerusalem during the Babylonian Exile. P.179 101 Hymn Stories, Osbeck. What starts as a mournful cry, ends in rejoicing. Christ will come and he doesn’t come empty handed! Jesus comes bearing gifts! The Prophet identifies these gifts as justice and righteousness. Vs. 15 “And he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” Recently, God’s promise of justice and righteousness has taken on new meaning for me. As most of you know, my daughter was hospitalized recently at Cooks Children’s hospital, Ft Worth. Most of the children I saw hospitalized there had the same look in their eyes: uncertainty and fear. Uncertainty and fear has become a way of life for many of these children, just as it had for those living in the Babylonian Exile. Jeremiah’s Prophecy? God gifts of justice and righteousness create an environment in which uncertainty and fear cannot exist. As a parent, there’s so much I want to be able to protect my children from. The truth is, ultimately none of us are in control. Everyone here knows what it feels like to come to the end of your rope and realize there is nothing else you can do but “let go.” The harder I hang on to my false sense of control, the harder it will be to receive the gifts God offers me. While at Cooks Texas Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira, and his wife, Leigh, came to visit. The room, full of hospital gowned children representing a wide range of illnesses was a stark contrast to this healthy, 26 year old, 6’3” 220 lb athlete and his attractive 20 something wife! And I have to confess I was overcome by the injustice of it all. A little Hispanic boy with a shaved head, fighting Leukemia. A sweet black girl tethered to a portable IV and looking so weak she could collapse at any moment. A tiny Caucasian girl, not more then 3 years old with a still to be determined illness plopped down on a bean bag, unwilling or unable to participate. (and of course, my own child). Where is Christ in all this? My overwhelming feeling of injustice, even frustration with God, comes out of a worldview that says, “This is not the way things are supposed to be. This cannot be the world God has envisioned for us.” If Emmanuel was truly “here” for us, things would be a lot different, must be different. A total stranger, a member of a downtown Ft. Worth Church challenged this narrow myopic view and opened up my eyes to a Spiritual revolution raging all around us. -Every Sunday 52 weeks a year, a downtown church in Ft. Worth brings lunch to the patients and staff of the hospital. They were there on Thanksgiving day! I had just loaded up a couple plates with homemade Thanksgiving food for my family, when one of the volunteers grabbed the plates from me, and refusing to take “no” for an answer, personally delivered it to my daughter’s hospital room. -Christ is here in the volunteers, caregivers, and doctors who kindly and compassionately tend to these children’s needs. -Christ is here in this not-for-profit hospital that has committed itself to the highest quality care possible for its patients, even providing a chapel, a labyrinth, and onsite chaplain. Christ comes bearing gifts! I want to read to you from the Values statement of Cooks Children’s Hospital. The life of every child is sacred and each deserves our love and caring in the healing process. In everything we do, we put the well-being and interests of our patients first. And, To the extent that our resources permit, we will not refuse necessary or needed care to any children residing in the region we serve because of their parents’ inability to pay. For many of the children at Cooks Children’s Hospital in Ft Worth, all the good theology in the world, all the spiritual formation, and yes, even social action, will not change their future. For most of these children, the best we can do is care. Caring will ease their pain; caring will give them hope. Do you care? For the follower of Jesus Christ “care” is always a verb! Vs. 16 “And this is the name by which it will be called: "The LORD is our righteousness." When we commit ourselves to living generous lives; when we see a need and realize that God has us there to do something about it. Then the Church will be known as “The righteousness of God,” and Christmas comes! What does Christmas look like? Turn with me in your bibles to Revelations 21:1-4. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’ O come, O come, Emmanuel And ransom captive Israel That mourns in lowly exile here, Until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.