Isaiah 9: 2-7
“Great Expectations”
Pastor Chris Enstad
We’ve had two children and for each of them there was a time that my wife and I turned to each other and gave thanks to God for giving us 9 months to get ready for each of them to be born. There was much to do in our home for each of them but Liv, our first, she really needed some space cleared in our lives and our homes and our spirits to make her way into this world. WE had to first open the door of what had become our catchall room and basically hire a dumpster to clear out the junk that even relatively broke pastors and teachers seem to be able to accumulate. Then we had to paint that room to make it feel like a nursery, and, being that we weren’t sure if Liv was going to be a boy or a girl, the color choice seemed to be something in the shade of green.
And then the baby showers, then the crib assembly after dutifully researching our purchase on Consumer Reports and Baby 411. Then there were the birthing classes, attended by other scared but not really wanting to show it future parents. And then the waiting. It’s the waiting that really gets to you. That’s when the brain and the heart really take off on their own tangents.
Who will this child be to us? What will the coming of this child do to us and for us? How will our expanded definition of family make its way into our lives, we will gracefully make accommodation for this new way of life, fewer nights out, fewer guys’ nights, less money, less sleep? How will that go for us?
And who will this little child be to the world? Being people of faith we take it almost for granted that we know how our child will be seen by God, as a child of His own hand, created good and well-pleasing to his eye. But what about the world? How will this child be in the world? Will they grow up to fulfill their call? Will they be healthy? Will they be good? So many questions, so many expectations.
It’s the waiting that really gets to you isn’t it?
Today, today we have been given a very special birth announcement. For you see, Mary is pregnant, and she will give birth to a baby boy. And his name shall be Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. All authority shall rest upon his shoulders. There shall be endless peace from his throne. He will establish and uphold his rule with justice and righteousness from this time onward and forevermore.
Wonderful, Mighty, Everlasting, Prince.
Great expectations indeed. But it’s the waiting that gets you in the end. What do you do with the waiting?
Well, just as in our own families, and if not in your own immediate family it makes sense to think that someone had to make way in their lives for us to appear, we take this time to prepare. To get ready for the birth of this little, baby.
Little, not big, not accomplished, he hasn’t earned his stripes or been given this rule after a long associate rulership in some other kingdom somewhere. This king of ours comes to us in the diminutive of an infant.
A baby. This little baby comes to us fully human and fully divine. This baby comes to us not in a netflix remailer, ready to be returned to sender after viewing. This baby comes to us not as some human-like form but who is just God in miniature with a fully loaded hard drive with full conscious of what his mission and ministry would be to us. This baby was not born knowing his life would be cut short by his fellow humanity. This baby was born not knowing that his own people would reject him. And yet this baby was born. Fully human. God truly gave to his creation his only begotten Son so that in his true humanity we would find the fellowship and unity that would save us for if this baby were not born a baby how could we have ever been saved?
Who will this baby be for us? How will we make room for Him in our lives, our homes, and our hearts? Will we receive him as the gift he was intended for us by God? Are we excited for Him, or maybe we are scared knowing that once this child is born things will never… be… the… same… again?
How will the world receive him and his message? Will they accept his mission and calling in the world? Will they trust that in his life and ministry we are catching glimpses of the kingdom of God? Will the world have faith that in God’s kingdom our worldly math never adds up and seemingly never does His?
Being people of the Book we already know how Christ’s story goes and yet the church does this seemingly silly thing every year and we wait, and watch, and prepare for the birth of this little baby.
I pray that we can all take a moment to savor this announcement and then I pray that we can all take seriously this season of preparation as we get ready for the birth that will truly change the world once and for all people.
Pull up a dumpster both physically and spiritually, get rid of all the clutter that hinders your ability to fully worship our Savior, our Counselor. Repaint your life in confessing your sins and receiving the absolving word of your God.
And finally, help the world prepare for the coming of a king. Spread this good news near and far. A child has been born to us. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Technorati Tags: Advent, lectionary, sermons
Posted by: |