Announcements, Fulfillments and Choices, December 21, 2014

Announcements, Fulfillments and Choices

Isaiah 61:1-4, Matthew 2:1-12

December 21, 2014

Grace Presbyterian Church

Rev. Dr. Richard E. Miller

 

If We Had Been in Charge We have just listened to the wonderful story of Jesus’ birth as told by Matthew. This story is fascinating and at the same time illogical. I say illogical because it doesn’t appear that God thought out this whole birth event very well. We Presbyterians, who pride themselves in doing all things decently and in order, would have planned Jesus’ birth quite differently.

A Committee is Formed  First of all, we would form a “Messiah Birth Planning Committee” to decide where, how and when Jesus was to be born, and to whom the birth would be announced. This committee would then send an overture to the General Assembly with the following plan.

1. Whereas it is vital to avoid even the slightest hint of scandal and embarrassment, hereby let it be resolved that Joseph and Mary are to wait two years after they are married to have their first-born child. The rationale for this is that people would talk if Mary was already expecting a child when she was married. After all, appearances are everything, aren’t they?

2. Whereas to make sure more people hear about the birth of the Messiah, hereby let it be resolved that Jesus will be born in Jerusalem, the sacred and influential capital of all Judaism. The rationale for this is to counter efforts to have him born in the small, obscure and unimportant village of Bethlehem, six miles to the south. After all, the most important people are born and live in Jerusalem, don’t they? And as they say in real estate, location, location, location.

 

 

3. Whereas to assure the safest delivery possible, hereby let it be resolved that Jesus will be born in Jerusalem’s renown Mt. Sinai Hospital with the finest doctors in attendance. The rationale for this is that Bethlehem has no hospital or doctors and the Messiah might even end up being born in a lowly, unsanitary stable. After all, we can’t be too careful, can we?

4. Whereas it is politically expedient to have Jesus accepted by the religious leaders of the day, hereby let it be resolved that his birth shall be announced at an executive meeting of the rabbis, scribes and Pharisees of the Temple and regional synagogues so they would be the first to know. The rationale is that it would just be good politics, wouldn’t it?

1. Whereas the monthly progress of Mary’s pregnancy will be of intense interest to the world, hereby let it be resolved that a web site called www.messiah-is-born.org is created where every week of the pregnancy can be tracked by people around the world.  Joseph and Mary would have their own blog. They would be on face book, twitter and Linkedin. In addition, a telephone hot line to each presbytery and to the General Assembly office will be available to answer any and all questions. The rationale is to communicate as fully as possible the months leading up to the birth.

1. Whereas it is crucial that the news of the birth of the King of kings and Lord of lords is known by the most people, hereby let it be resolved that when the birth takes place, a press conference shall be called consisting of reporters and photographers from all radio and TV stations and from the Jerusalem Daily News. The rationale for this is that the news would travel more quickly than in just telling a few nondescript shepherds or a few Gentile camel riders.
2. Whereas there will be many people coming to visit Mary and Joseph after the baby is born, hereby let it be resolved that Presbyterian women be in charge of providing foor and drink as a continuous potluck for all the guests. Each presbytery could take its turn. The rationale is to allow Mary and Joseph the freedom to interact with well-wishers without worrying about feeding them.
   If We Had Been In Charge  Now I don’t know about you, but I never would have thought of saving the world as God did with a baby in a manger in Bethlehem. Yet, I guess we’re pretty fortunate that we weren’t in charge of such a venture, aren’t we? If we had been, Jesus probably would have ended up as the Mayor of Jerusalem, rather than as our Savior. We’d have had him being driven around in a Stretch Limo instead of walking into the hearts of people.
   We’d have provided him with body guards instead of allowing him to heal lepers and eat with tax collectors. And we surely would have had him living well into old age, honored and revered, rather than having him arrested and crucified as a common criminal on a cross.
   God Did It His Way  However, as we know, God didn’t choose Jerusalem, select the finest hospital, or alert religious leaders or reporters. He didn’t establish a web site, blog or hot line. As a result, his decisions regarding the birth of his son don’t seem to reflect very sound public relations principles, do they? However, this shouldn’t surprise us. After all, in our Isaiah passage it says that the Messiah was going to bring good news to the oppressed, bind up the broken-hearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners. This prophecy reflected this statement of God, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” [Isaiah 55:9]
   Far too often, we try to tell God what to do and when and how to do it. This attitude alone keeps us from experiencing the greatness of his love. What all of us must remember is that God does everything his way. He’s always done everything his way. And he always will do everything his way.
   And if we think about it for a moment, the story of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus is such a cherished part of our lives that it is impossible to think that the birth of Jesus could ever have happened any other way.
   Why? Because Kings who live in palaces don’t associate with the common people. Kings have body guards to protect them from the people. That would surely leave all of us out.
   But Jesus, the Lord of lords and King of kings, was born in a lowly manger and thus he walks among us and with us each day. It means that he can be born in our hearts as well. God’s choice of the lowly manger assures us that Jesus will save us, just as we are, sins, warts and all. We know how imperfect and sinful we are in thoughts, words and deeds. Yet we can come to God just as we are with confidence to receive his cleansing grace.
   Just as I Am   In 1835, Dr. Cesar Milan asked Charlotte Elliott if she were a Christian. Charlotte was an invalid and felt useless to God. She also felt insulted, and told him to mind his own affairs. But after Dr. Milan left, she could not get the question off her mind, and she had him return and asked him how to find Christ. "Why not come just as you are? ", answered Malan. "You have only to come to Him just as you are ". She did, and wrote the beautiful hymn, "Just As I Am."
   As many of you know, Billy Graham used this hymn for many years at the end of his crusades. It was a call to accept Christ just as you were. You didn’t have to be older, more saintly, or better educated. You didn’t have to be baptized, be a Bible scholar or teach a Sunday School class. You could be physically or mentally challenged or a brilliant scholar or a superb athlete. It didn’t matter. You were invited to come to Christ as you sang:
   “Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidd’st me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
   Just as I am, and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot, to thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
   Just as I am, - thy love unknown has broken every barrier down; now to be thine, yea, thine alone, O lamb of God, I come!”
   [by Charlotte Elliott and William B. Bradbury, 1835, verses 1, 2, 5]
   Afraid to Reveal  Just as I am! That is a powerful and scary thought. I suspect that most of us would be ashamed to reveal to others every thought we’ve ever had, every word we’ve ever spoken, and every action we did or did not take.
   Why? Because some of those thoughts were impure. And some of the words were spoken in hate and revenge. And some of those acts and deeds hurt people. If people knew all these things about us, they might judge us, condemn us, and never associate with us again. The risk of revealing ourselves is to become an outcast. Because we’re afraid to tell others who we really are, we are very careful what parts of ourselves we allow the world to see. Most of who we really are inside we hide from the world.
   However, the good news is this! Even though God knows every single secret of our lives [Psalm 44:21], yet, because of Christ, we can come to God knowing he won’t judge or condemn us. Instead, he will love us and hold us close in his everlasting arms. Christ’s birth and atonement has made us clean. Christ presents us as pure and faultless to God even though we’re not.
   We Are The Reason For Christmas So we are the reason for Christmas!  We are the reason the Prince of Peace was born! Why? Because we couldn’t save ourselves and needed a savior. Because God loved us more than anything in the universe, just as we are. Yes, the reason why Jesus was born was to save you and me and all other men and women and children of his creation.
   Final Thoughts   Yes, God did it his way. And we should be thankful that he knew what he was doing. We should be thankful that in Christ we are cleansed from our unrighteousness. He called us to accept him as his children who realize we don’t have all the answers, and that God indeed knows best. As Travis Cotrell so beautifully put it:
   “I come broken to be mended, I come wounded to be healed, I come desperate to be rescued, I come empty to be filled, I come guilty to be pardoned by the blood of Christ the Lamb. And I’m welcomed with open arms, praise God, just as I am. Praise God, just as I am. Just as I am” [Travis Cotrell]  Amen.
   Matthew 2:1-12 NRSV
   In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
   “And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
      are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
   for from you shall come a ruler
      who is to shepherd my people Israel.” ’
    Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

 

Isaiah 61:1-4 NRSV

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

   because the Lord has anointed me;

he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,

   to bind up the broken-hearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

   and release to the prisoners;

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour,

   and the day of vengeance of our God;

   to comfort all who mourn;

to provide for those who mourn in Zion—

   to give them a garland instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

   the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

   the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.

They shall build up the ancient ruins,

   they shall raise up the former devastations;

they shall repair the ruined cities,

   the devastations of many generations.

 

Shrines, Pilgrimages and Crusades - December 7, 2014

Shrines, Pilgrimages and Crusades

Isaiah 40:1-11, Luke 1:26-38

December 7, 2014

Grace Presbyterian Church

Rev. Dr. Richard E. Miller

 

Pearl Harbor On a Sunday morning in December, seventy-three years ago today, Pearl Harbor was attacked and thousands died. The next day, our President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, called it the “date which will live in infamy.” As a result, the United States entered World War Two. That same December came the song, “Remember Pearl Harbor.” [by Don Reid and music by Reid and Sammy Kaye].

The lyrics went like this. “Let's remember Pearl Harbor - as we go to meet the foe - Let's remember Pearl Harbor, as we did the Alamo. We will always remember - how they died for liberty, Let's remember Pearl Harbor and go on to victory.”

Later, in 1962, the USS Arizona Memorial was dedicated in memory of the men and women who lost their lives that fateful day. Through the years, thousands of people have taken pilgrimages to visit the Pearl Harbor memorial. Many went because their son or daughter was killed that day.

Jimmy Stewart   Jimmy Stewart often went to Washington, D.C. to visit the Vietnam Memorial. Why? Listen to what he says: “We lost our oldest boy in Vietnam. I was in on the Vietnam Memorial from the very start of it, and every time I go to Washington, I go to it. There are 58,000 names, but I can pick out my son’s name with my eyes closed.”  To Jimmy Stewart, the Vietnam Memorial had become a shrine. And one of the compelling needs in his life was to make repeated pilgrimages to the shrine to feel close to his son.

 

 

The Moon Pilgrimage In July of 1969, Apollo 11 took off with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on a pilgrimage to the moon. On July 20th , Neil Armstrong set the first human foot on lunar soil and said, "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind." Our nation’s pilgrimage to the moon was complete.

Of course many people go on pilgrimages to the birthplaces, shrines or monuments of famous people, such as the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the Statue of Liberty. And I’ve even heard that people still travel thousands of miles to visit Graceland where, I believe, some singer used to live.

The Holy Land Many of you have taken trips to the Holy Land. While there, you most likely visited the birth place of Jesus in Bethlehem, or went to Nazareth where he grew up, or to the Sea of Galilee where he called his first disciples. You may have climbed the steps to the Upper Room or visited the place where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. And you may have walked the path to Golgotha where our Lord was crucified. These places have been sacred Christian shrines for centuries.

Crusades  In fact, they became so important that when the Turks captured Palestine in 1071 and closed Jerusalem to all Christians, followers of Jesus all over the world were devastated. So in 1095, in order to free these shrines for future pilgrimages, Pope Urban II called for volunteers to go on a holy crusade to free Jerusalem from the rule of the Turks. As a result, 60,000 men, women and children joined in the first crusade. Although they temporarily succeeded in freeing Jerusalem, the Turks soon regained control. Eight more crusades were launched in the years to follow with great loss of life on both sides. However, crusades and pilgrimages have been going on long before this.

Old Testament For instance, in the Old Testament, Abraham was called by God to go on a pilgrimage to an unknown land. Moses was called by God to embark on a pilgrimage to free the Israelites from slavery to Pharaoh. And once the Israelites successfully crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, they took twelve stones and erected a memorial as a sign to future generations of what the Lord had done for them.

 ‘When your children ask their parents in time to come, “What do these stones mean?” ²²then you shall let your children know, “Israel crossed over the Jordan here on dry ground.” ²³For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you crossed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we crossed over, ²⁴so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, and so that you may fear the Lord your God for ever.’

In the years to come, they were to take their children and their children’s children to this memorial and remind them of how God enabled them to enter the Land of Milk and Honey.

Mary’s Pilgrimage of Faith In our morning scripture, we read of Mary’s nine month pilgrimage of faith as she gave birth to the Savior of the world. And when the baby Jesus was born, her pilgrimage of birth was finished and she and Joseph embarked on a pilgrimage of raising their son. As Luke reports, “And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.” [Luke 2:40]

The Advent Pilgrimage One could rightly say that the first Christmas pilgrimages were those taken by the shepherds and wise men to the village of Bethlehem. These men, hearing that the Savior had been born, traveled to see the newborn child. Why? Because the birth of Jesus was a holy event.  And the place that Jesus was born was a holy place. The shepherds and wisemen wanted to be a part of the mystery and wonder of this great event.

Our Pilgrimages  In many ways, all of us go on pilgrimages. Not as far as the moon, but it could be to visit the grave site of a loved one. Or it might be a trip back to our hometown in order to get in touch with our roots. Sometimes such pilgrimages take place when we go to our grandparent’s house for Sunday dinner. In all such cases, it is a way of uniting with people that are important to us, both past and present.

Why Visit Shrines?  Why do we feel the need to go on pilgrimages to special places? One is for religious reasons such as just noted. We seek a spiritual experience that we could have no where else. People who have visited the great religious shrines of Jerusalem and Bethlehem have told me that they felt closer to Jesus when they were there. Through the years, I have seen strangers walk into the church sanctuary to kneel, meditate and pray. They told me that they needed to feel closer to departed loved ones and to God.

Or we go for sentimental reasons. Years ago, my father was the pastor of the Robins Church of the Brethren. Robins is a suburb of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A few years ago, on a beautiful Sunday morning in August, I preached a sermon from the same pulpit my father had preached from over seventy years before. It was a very meaningful experience for me and helped me honor and connect with my father.

A Pilgrimage of Time  Over the years, during the Advent season, we embark upon several Christmas pilgrimages. That is to say, we begin focusing upon that special celebration where we feel close to God - the birth of Jesus. This pilgrimage culminates on Christmas Eve. As we decorate our trees, and put presents underneath, we are drawn back to our childhood - a pilgrimage of time.

A Pilgrimage of the Spirit  As we participate in the Christmas Eve Communion service at church, we are drawn closer to God. As we sing “Silent Night” and partake of Holy Communion, our hearts are lifted. We have re-connected with our past, present and future all at once - a pilgrimage of the Spirit.

A Pilgrimage of Reconciliation Jesus also calls us to embark upon a Pilgrimage of Reconciliation. Through the years, we sometimes become estranged from one another - parents from children, husbands from wives, friends from friends. The pilgrimage we are called to travel is that difficult distance across the abyss to repair damaged relationships and to achieve reconciliations. This pilgrimage is sometimes difficult, but always necessary.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them.” God has called us to be ambassadors of reconciliation.”

Pilgrimage of the Heart We can also embark on a Pilgrimage of the Heart. With this pilgrimage, we do not even have to travel. All we need to do is open our hearts and allow our Savior to enter. When we do this, our need for closeness with God is met as in no other way. Our desire to connect with him is fulfilled completely. In other words, as helpful as shrines, pilgrimages and crusades are, they never take the place of Christ living in our hearts. We do not have to travel thousands of miles to feel close to Jesus, for he is with us now. That’s what Christmas is all about - God with us - Emanuel.’

Final Thoughts All of us are on an individual pilgrimage from birth to death and to life beyond. But we don’t travel on that pilgrimage alone. Instead, we walk together, hand in hand, heart with heart.  And God’s great Spirit walks with us, day by day. Paul writes in Galatians, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” [6:2] Walking with one another in life is illustrated by the following story:

“Mr. Alter's fifth-grade class at Lake Elementary School in Oceanside, California, included fourteen boys who had no hair. Only one, however, had no choice in the matter. Ian O'Gorman, undergoing chemotherapy for lymphoma, faced the prospect of having his hair fall out in clumps. So he had his head shaved. But then 13 of his classmates shaved their heads, so Ian wouldn't feel out of place. "If everybody has his head shaved, sometimes people don't know who's who," said 11-year-old Scott Sebelius in an Associated Press story (March 1994). "They don't know who has cancer, and who just shaved their head." Ten-year-old Kyle Hanslik started it all. He talked to some other boys, and before long they all trekked to the barber shop. "The last thing he would want is to not fit in," said Kyle. "We just wanted to make him feel better."

Ian's father, Shawn, choked back tears as he talked about what the boys had done. He said simply, "It's hard to put words to." "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2).

Final Thoughts  Because of Christmas, we can fulfill spiritual pilgrimages of reconciliation, love and forgiveness with God and one another. As we leave here this morning, let us make every step we take be a pilgrimage along the path of deeper fellowship and freely given forgiveness with each other, for such pilgrimages as these are far more important than all of the holy places on earth. Amen.

Isaiah 40:1-11 NRSV

Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’ A voice says, ‘Cry out!‘ And I said, ‘What shall I cry?’ All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand for ever. Get you up to a high mountain,    O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, ‘Here is your God!’ See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.

 

Luke 1:26-38 NRSV

 

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.

Promises, Pledges, & Covenants - November 30, 2014

Promises, Pledges, & Covenants

 

Jeremiah 31:31-34, Matthew 1:18-25

November 30, 2014

Grace Presbyterian Church

Rev. Dr. Richard E. Miller

Happy New Year  The first thing I would like to do this morning is wish each and every one of you a Happy New Year! What? You think I’m a month early to be issuing such felicitations? Not at all. This is the beginning of Advent, is it not? And since Advent is the beginning of our Church liturgical year, Happy New Year greetings are definitely in order. So from now until midnight Christmas Eve, we will be preparing our hearts to celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world and into our hearts. This morning, as we embark on our Advent journey, I would like to direct our attention this to the Promises, Pledges and Covenants of God.

Promises  Let’s look at promises for a moment. When we were children, and someone promised to do something for us, we might say, “Scout’s Honor?” “Honest to God?” “Swear on a stack of Bibles?” or “Cross your heart and hope to die.” Or we might do a “Pinky Promise” by hooking our little fingers together. Statements such as these were used to give us the assurance that promises would be kept. When we became adults, many promises were sealed with just a handshake. After all, people were as good as their word. But if you’re buying or refinancing a house, a handshake just doesn’t cut it. You must sign, with witnesses, about a jillion documents.

Promises in our Life  If we think about it for a moment, we realize that  the foundation of our lives and our society is built on promises made and promises kept. We promise to pay our rent or mortgage; our taxes; our credit card debt; and our utilities. How important are such promises? For some people, its very important. Almost sacred.

 

For instance, Booker T. Washington once met an ex-slave from Virginia. The man had made a contract with his master several years before the Emancipation Proclamation to buy his freedom at a certain amount each year and to work where ever he chose. The slave went to Ohio where better wages could be earned. While there, the Emancipation Proclamation passed and he was free. But he still owed his former master three hundred dollars. Although he was now released from any obligation to repay his debt, he walked from Ohio to Virginia and placed the last dollar, with interest, in the hands of his former master. He had kept his promise. He felt that he could not enjoy his freedom till he had fulfilled his promise. [see Booker T. Washington, “Up from Slavery”]

Covenants However, there is another level of promise making and promise keeping called a covenant. The word “Covenant” is derived from the Hebrew word “berith” and means bond or fetter. It comes into being when two parties bind themselves together in an agreement, seal it by a vow, with no means of enforcement. For instance:

A bride and groom establish a covenant of marriage by pledging their faithfulness to each other. That pledge is sealed with a kiss.

Parents promise God that they will raise their children in the knowledge of Christ. That covenant is sealed with baptism.

When we accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, we made a covenant with God that we would be faithful disciples. That covenant is renewed every time we partake of Holy Communion.

God’s Covenants  If we look to the Bible, we find many covenants - covenants between tribes [I Samuel 11:1], covenants between kings and his people [II Kings 11:4], covenants between husbands and wives [Malachi 2:13-15]. However, the most important covenants were those that God made with his people. God would act. His people would respond. The primary Old Testament example was the covenant God made with the Israelites on Mt. Sinai. In this covenant, God said to the Israelites, “I will be your God.” This was wonderful news and they responded, “We will be your people.” So a covenant was made. The sign of the covenant was circumcision and the terms of the covenant were the Ten Commandments. For Christians, this became known as the Old Covenant or Old Testament.

Unable to Keep the Covenant  But the Israelites were unable to obey the Commandments and thus broke their sacred covenant with God. And so God took action. In our morning scripture from Jeremiah it says, “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.” This new covenant wasn’t written on tablets of stone but instead upon the hearts of his people.

Promise of a Messiah  God then became very specific on how this New Covenant would come into being. The prophet Isaiah wrote, "Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." [Isaiah 7:14] "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” [Isaiah 9:6]

Promise to Bethlehem Through his prophet, Micah, God promised that the Messiah would be born in the little town of Bethlehem. [Micah 5:2]

Promise of Ancestry   Through his prophet Isaiah, God promised that the Messiah would be a descendant of Jesse, father of King David. He says, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding...” [Isaiah 11:1]

Fulfillment of New Covenant Prophecy  Each of God’s promises was fulfilled in Christ. He was born of a virgin in Bethlehem of the lineage of David. He grew up to be Savior and King.

As Matthew said in our New Testament reading for this morning: An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’

All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet’" [Matthew 1:20ff NRSV]  Yes, Jesus was the anointed one of God, the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament.

All of the Old Testament Messianic promises, pledges and covenants find their “Yes” in Jesus. This means that Jesus, as both God and human, kept both sides of the Covenant.

God Keeps His Promises  Yes, the Bible is full of God's promises, and he has kept each and every one of them. God said in Isaiah, “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” [Isaiah 55:10-11 NIV] So the promises, pledges and covenants of God will always be carried out for God keeps his promises.

Keeping Our Promises to Each Other  What about us? How well do we keep our promises, pledges and covenants? Are we trustworthy? Are we as good as our word? When we say “yes” can people depend upon us to do as we say? Sometimes we can say “Of course, I am trustworthy.” However, then there’s those other times that occur far more frequently than they should when we failed someone’s trust. The fact is that in spite of our good intentions that our pledges and covenants will be kept, all of us have a trail of broken promises littering our past.

Selfie  As you know, one of the popular things to do these days is take a selfie. What if we had a camera that took a selfie of our moral lives - of how well we have been faithful to the New Covenant that Jesus established on the Cross? A selfie that revealed how well we have been faithful in promises, pledges and covenants we made with others. If the resulting selfie revealed every flaw, every sin that we’d ever committed, I dare say that each one of us, including me, would try to make sure there was no film in that camera.

Standing on the Promises R. Kelso Carter, born in 1849, was both a student and later a professor at the Pennsylvania Military Academy in Chester, Pennsylvania.

While teaching, he wrote the hymn, “Standing on the Promises.” based upon 2 Corinthians 1:20 in which Paul writes: “For in (Christ) every one of God’s promises is a ‘Yes.’ For this reason it is through him that we say the ‘Amen’, to the glory of God.” The words to this hymn start this way: “Standing on the promises of Christ my King, through eternal ages let his praises ring; glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, standing on the promises of God.

Trust  All promises are built upon the foundation of trust - trust that the promises made will be kept and fulfilled. Trust between two people is a precious and fragile trait. But it means so much to know that the other person will do everything possible to carry out the promise. And it means so much to them to know that you will do the same. The best way to keep the promises we make is to stand firmly on the promises of God..

Remember During Advent  So what do we need to remember and treasure during Advent and the coming year?

God's Word became flesh in Christ. That’s Christmas.

God gave us a sign of his New Covenant in Christ. That’s Baptism.

The New covenant between God and us was sealed by the shed blood of Christ on the Cross. That’s Good Friday.

The great promise of life after death was guaranteed by Christ. That’s Easter.

Jesus gave us a means of renewing and strengthening our faithfulness to the New Covenant. That’s Holy Communion.

So once again, remember that all the promises, pledges and covenants of God find their "Yes" in Christ.

I leave you with the words of Norman Vincent Peale: “Promises are like crying babies in a theater, they should be carried out at once.”

Let us pray.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 NRSV 

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Matthew 1:18-25 NRSV

 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.