Sunday Messages

God prepares the heart for joy. Jesus’ coming delivers believers from distress. It enables us to demonstrate gladness even in seasons of sadness and grief.

We conclue our final week of this Advent message series as we gather together on Christmas Day. This series has helped Jesus-followers prepare their hearts for the coming of the Christ-child. Four themes (hope, love, peace and joy) help us focus on the qualities of life with Jesus. They remind us that the life of the Jesus-follower is different from what it would be otherwise. Let God live long enough in the heart, and that heart will prepare to change. Portraits of despair will be replaced with landscapes of hope. Periods of desolation will be replaced with offerings of love. Walls of annoyance will be replaced with paths of peace. Feelings of distress will be replaced with seasons of joy. God can no more leave a heart unchanged than a mother can leave her child’s tears untouched. God’s plan for us at Christmas is nothing short of a prepared heart. Jesus entered this world to offer his followers the blessings of hope, love, peace and joy. May we this Advent season prepare our hearts and stretch out our hands toward Jesus. God is remaking us into the image of Christ. He wants us to prepare our hearts to receive Jesus. This is the desire of God and the theme of this message series.

In our three messages to date we emphasized the importance of hope, love, and peace. Let every heart prepare for hope, love and peace. In reprise, portraits of despair will be replaced with landscapes of hope. Periods of desolation will be replaced with offerings of love. Walls of annoyance will be replaced with paths of peace.

This is Christmas morning and the Advent rush is behind us. A lot of crazy things happened during our Advent preparation.

• Going the wrong way in the "Advent Rush"
  While I was out driving to do some Christmas shopping, my wife Sue had been watching TV when she heard the announcer say, "be very careful and watch driving on the 10 freeway today, there is a motorist driving the wrong way"! Sue got hold of me on the cell phone to warn me, and my reply was: "You tell me, there are hundreds of them here".
• The Wrong Gift
  My son-in-law John and daughter Jennifer began to assemble the special Christmas gift they had for their three girls. They had ordered a kit for a tree house and received the plans for it. However, the materials they received were for a sailboat. They wrote the company to complain. The company's reply: "While we regret the inconvenience this mistake must have caused you, it is nothing compared to that of the man who is out on a lake somewhere trying to sail your tree house."
•  Three Wise Women
  You know what would have happened if there had been three wise WOMEN instead of three wise MEN worshiping the baby Jesus, don’t you? They would have asked for directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the Baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and given practical gifts.

This is a joyous season of the year. Many people are talking about Jesus and celebrating his birthday. However, we understand that most Americans do not fully know “the reason for the season,” but Jesus is still getting more attention than at any other time of the year. If only our family and friends could see beyond the glitter and glitz to the humility of our sacrificial Savior. That would be wonderful, and the gift every Jesus-follower wants most. What could be greater than seeing our family and friends accept the real Jesus this Christmas? However, many people today are wooed by the glitter and glitz, and they miss the joyous meaning behind the “Holy” days.

The “Holy” days. With the first slice of the Thanksgiving turkey, we began an extended season of celebration that lasts, at least for the football fans, until the BCS Championship Game on a Wednesday night in January. Throughout the “Holy” days, we attended Christmas parties, purchased gifts, enjoyed dinners, decorated homes, and sent Christmas cards. Good foods tantalized our appetites. Tasty eggnog lightened our hearts and lifted our spirits. The stories of another were retold to trumpet our victories and solicit empathy for our defeats. We reminded ourselves that life is good and God has truly blessed us. But sometime about the middle of January, we will return to the monotony of life. The doldrums will settle in and the festive cheer of December will be drowned by the silence of the routine. During the mundane moments of living, we will wonder why we cannot extend the same feeling of Christmas joy throughout the year.

Between 4-6% of the population suffer from a form of post-holiday blues. After all the tinsel, wreaths, and candles have been returned to storage, a general dissatisfaction may overcome a person. The lack of sunshine and lingering cold contribute to this season of discouragement. Those who suffer from it probably grimace over the angels’ words for the shepherds to rejoice. However, painful, the angels’ words summarize the theme of the Christian message.

The proclamation of Good News is an announcement of joy. The angel of the Lord tells the shepherds, "Fear not for behold, I bring you glad tiding of great joy!" The joy of Christmas is not a temporary moment of happiness that evaporates the moment the wrapping paper is trashed and the presents stored on shelves. The joy proclaimed by the angels should reside in the heart of every believer.

Joy is also essential to continuing in the Christian life. Without it we cannot continue long through difficult circumstances. We are told in Scripture that our joy in the Lord strengthens us. The joy of motherhood enables a woman to endure labor. Children may begin playing a musical instrument in obedience but will not continue unless they experience joy over the sounds of their melodies. The Christian life becomes a dull, drudgery without a joyful spirit.

The purpose of Advent is to “Let Every Heart Prepare.”It connects our need for hope, love, and peace with the angels, the shepherds, and Mary and Joseph who waited for the baby to be born. We are in much the same place today as Jesus-followers. There is a need for a revolution of hope, love unlimited, and practicing peace. A hope, love, and peace that as we meet the Christ who is God’s gift, they will joyfully be born in our lives and in our world.

Jesus’ birth is attended by Mary and Joseph and the animals housed in a stable. But an unexpected invitation is offered to view the newborn king. The invitation is offered to a group of shepherds tending their flocks in a field outside of Bethlehem . An angel sent from God offers the standing invitation.

The shepherds respond to this joyful invitation in Luke 2:15-20…

¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." ¹⁶So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

¹⁷When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

After the angel departs, the shepherds go immediately to Bethlehem to see if what they have seen and heard is true. They find the baby—along with Mary and Joseph. Jesus is wrapped in bands of cloth. This is not the way a baby of privilege and position enters the world. The shepherds immediately recognize the low estate of the family and their new infant. The angelic invitation that the joyful good news is for “all the people” takes on special significance, as the shepherds who are poor encounter the Savior of the world adorned in rags of poverty.

“Let Every Heart Prepare” this Christmas by focusing our perspective on joy to the world: feelings of distress will be replaced with seasons of joy.

 Rekindling Seasons of Joy

That this special invitation is made to distressed shepherds is an indication of the depths of the meaning of the gospel. The offer of life and meaning contained in the gospel message is for everyone, and especially for the lowly, the poor and the humble. Realizing their low station in life, realizing God has made special provisions for them, sparks in them a rekindling, wonder and witness.

Let’s note two observations from the shepherds concerning how we can experience true rekindling of joy to the world this Christmas:

First, the shepherds experience joy through authentic wonder. The lives of the shepherds are changed, not in outward circumstance, but in inward perspective.

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

They are not enticed by the glitter and glitz of their surroundings, but they, with full wonder, are drawn to Jesus. It is worth noting that neither the arrival of Jesus nor the angelic invitation changes the social standing of the shepherds. The world does not suddenly begin to view them as trustworthy and true. Their wages do not suddenly increase or their work conditions improve. They remain the same poor, scorned people they were before. This authentic wonder in the lives of the shepherds leads them to another noticeable difference.

Second, the shepherds extend joy through actual witness. The wondrous joy of the shepherds that fills their hearts, finds expression in their voices.

When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

They immediately spread the word concerning what they have seen and experienced. Their authentic praise transforms into actual witness. These shepherds are good examples for us to imitate on this Christmas Day. They receive by faith the message God sends them and then respond with immediate obedience. After finding the baby Jesus, they report the good news to others. Then they humbly return to their duties, new people going back to the same old job.

We must not overlook Mary’s response to this birth experience. Despite all that Mary has been shown, she can hardly grasp the full implication of her calling to be Jesus’ mother. The Greek text draws a fascinating comparison. But Mary kept on continually guarding all these words in her heart and bringing them together for the purpose of considering them in their total import [Wuest, An Expanded Translation]. While shepherds and people who heard their report were amazed and excited, Mary in contrast (“But”) chooses to guard all these things in her heart.

The shepherds witness with exuberance, but Mary’s way is a better one. Some of us respond with great, immediate emotion to almost any message. But the feelings quickly wear off, and with them our interest in the message disappears. Mary does not overreact to the amazing events. She chooses to prepare her heart so she can experience them for a long time. It’s true that God touches our emotions as well as our minds. But, like Mary’s, our joyous witness must be rooted in contemplation of what God has done and is doing for us, and its meaning for us, not in feelings primarily—or alone.

Though still poor and probably despised, the distressed shepherds have seen the heavens ablaze with the announcement of God’s most precious gift. They are rekindled in wonder and witness. In short, the joy that fills their hearts and finds expression in their voices transcends their circumstances. Encountering Jesus, the fulfillment of God’s promises, allows them to rise above their situation and fills them with joy.

Joy vs. Happiness. Many of us know Ron Beams, friend and former Pastor of Visitation. Ron works as a spiritual counselor and bereavement coordinator. Ron told me that he is struck with the sheer number of clients who he encounters that are not happy with their circumstances or happy about their lives. Sometimes legitimate reasons cause unhappiness. Loss of a loved one, a major health issue, or an unplanned career change is certainly a disruptive event. But many people who complain of a lack of happiness can not identify a specific cause for their feelings. Instead, they are aware of a vague, undefined feeling of restlessness, distress, and anxiety causing them to doubt the value and purpose of their lives. Many of these people have good jobs, nice homes, and healthy, normal families. So why aren’t they happy? Happiness is what they feel when they think they’ve got what they want. That’s why nobody in the world is happy.

People seek happiness through the acquisition of possessions, pleasures or power. Christmas time is a reality check for this earthly pursuit. They acquire the possessions, pleasures and power, but still remain unhappy. So, they try more or different possessions, pleasures, or power. Still no happiness.

The reality of this frustrating cycle of seeking and not finding happiness leads some to embrace the pop wisdom that “happiness is an illusion.” That may or may not be true. However, if happiness is sought in acquiring a list of “wants and wishes,” it will never come. We either can’t or don’t get want we want, or we get it and find out it cannot, or does not, deliver the happiness we are seeking.

Joy, on the other hand, is a different experience altogether. If happiness is what we feel when we think we’ve got what we want, then joy is what we feel when we discover we already have what we need!Sorrow may come, but it cannot defeat or extinguish our new joy to the world outlook. Sadness, hurt, pain, loss, even grief, may bring tears, but the presence of Christ in our lives provides an underlying sense of joy. This joy rekindles us as we live our lives and seek to be faithful to God who loves us.

Joy is not tied to circumstances. Joy, for Jesus-followers, is the result of a relationship that creates a new way to view the world and ourselves. A genuine experience of joy allows us to face situations that may bring unhappiness.

As the angel extended an invitation to the shepherds long ago, I want to present an invitation to you on Christmas Day.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

In the Family Circus cartoon two children are listening to a TV evangelist preaching on John 3:16. What is the response by the children? One child says, “Hear that? People in heaven have ever-laughing life!” Well, on Christmas Day, we can’t be guaranteed ever-laughing life, but we can claim through the joy of Christmas, everlasting life. I want you to receive a God-given gift of everlasting life this Christmas Day.

Max Lucado in his book entitled, In the Grip of Grace, says salvation is God-given, God-driven, God-empowered, and God-originated. The gift is not from man to God. It is from God to man.

Self-salvation simply does not work. We have no way to rescue ourselves.So, if we desire to prepare our hearts for Christmas then we need to consider and respond to the following God-given invitation.

Admission into Joy—

Our entrance to joy is a plea for help, an acknowledgement of moral distress, and an admission of inward insufficiency. Like the distressed shepherds, we who taste God’s presence have declared spiritual bankruptcy and are aware of our spiritual distress. We ask God to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. Oh, the irony of God’s delight—born in the parched soil of destitution rather than the fertile ground of achievement. We don’t often declare our helplessness. Admission of failure is not usually admission into joy. But then again, God has never been governed by what is common.

I want to speak directly to each person. This Christmas, take a different path to joy:

Admit—Confess to God you are a sinner. Repent and turn away from your sin. The bible says, “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Believe—Trust that Jesus is God’s Son and that God sent Jesus to save you from your sins. The bible says, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Commit—Receive Jesus as God’s gift to you. Accept him to be your Savior and Lord. The bible says, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Romans 10:9,10).

The psalmist proclaims: “You took away my clothes of sadness, and clothed me in joy” (Psalm 30:11).Let God clothe you in joy this Christmas Day.

You can pray the following prayer:

“Lord Jesus, I need you. Thank you for coming into this world to be my Savior. I open the door of my life and receive you as my Savior and Lord. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Amen.”

Dare to Believe. There is a unique experience of knowing that something is ours, yet longing to enjoy it more fully. As a child at Christmas time I would always do a lot of snooping, trying to find the gift --wrapped presents and figure out what was in them. One year I discovered a package with my name on it that was easy to identify. There was no way to disguise the baseball bat inside. I made this observation: "When Mom wasn't around, I would go and feel the package, shake it, and pretend that I was on the ball diamond. The point is, I was already enjoying the pleasures of a future event; namely, the unveiling. It had my name on it. I knew what it was, but only Christmas would reveal it in its fullness." The joy that awaits the Jesus-follower defies our comprehension. What we can grasp about it, however, fills us with great anticipation. We look longingly to that day when we shall enjoy heaven in all its wonder and witness!

This Christmas Day, Let Every Heart Prepare. Because of God we can rekindle joy to the world through wonder and witness. Joy is not tied to circumstances. Joy, for Jesus-followers, is the result of a relationship that creates a new way to view the world and ourselves. A genuine experience of joy allows us to face situations that may bring unhappiness. Because Jesus is present in our lives, we can rekindle joy—feelings of distress will be replaced with seasons of joy. Amen.

God prepares the heart for peace. Jesus’ coming guides believers to live in enduring peace. This peace extends into the world through peacemaking with others.

We are into our third week of this Advent message series as we gather together on Christmas Eve. This series has helped Jesus-followers prepare their hearts for the coming of the Christ-child. Four themes (hope, love, peace and joy) help us focus on the qualities of life with Jesus. They remind us that the life of the Jesus-follower is different from what it would be otherwise. Let God live long enough in the heart, and that heart will prepare to change. Portraits of despair will be replaced with landscapes of hope. Periods of desolation will be replaced with offerings of love. Walls of annoyance will be replaced with paths of peace. Feelings of distress will be replaced with seasons of joy. God can no more leave a heart unchanged than a mother can leave her child’s tears untouched. God’s plan for us at Christmas is nothing short of a prepared heart. Jesus entered this world to offer his followers the blessings of hope, love, peace and joy. May we this Advent season prepare our hearts and stretch out our hands toward Jesus. God is remaking us into the image of Christ. He wants us to prepare our hearts to receive Jesus. This is the desire of God and the theme of this message series.

In our first two messages we emphasized the importance of hope and love. Let every heart prepare for hope and love. In reprise, portraits of despair will be replaced with landscapes of hope. Periods of desolation will be replaced with offerings of love. Mary’s Magnificat and the account of Jesus’ birth resonate in our 21^st century with a revolution of hope and love unlimited.

“Salaam” is born. There was an unusual baby born in Palestine five winters ago. This baby was a Palestinian Arab by birth. She was found abandoned in a roadside heap of trash near the West Bank town of Ramallah, one of the scenes of violence in the war between Jews and Arabs. She was taken to a Palestinian hospital and saved by a group of Muslim doctors. She was named "Salaam," which is Arabic for "peace."

Salaam found a permanent home a few days after her birth in a home run by Christian nuns in Bethlehem. But her health worsened. She was turning blue and losing weight. The Palestinian doctors determined that Salaam had a hole in her heart, and her lungs weren't receiving enough blood circulation. Lacking the facilities to do surgery, the baby was taken to a hospital in Jerusalem. Israeli doctor Eli Migalter operated on Salaam. The Jewish surgeon worked for free. The nuns in Bethlehem raised nearly $11,000 to pay for hospital costs. Following the operation, Salaam made a full recovery.

That winter, Arabs, Christians, and Jews crossed the boundaries of their hatred and conflict to unite in caring for a little child, whose name was "peace." If that's not a Christmas story, I don't know what is.

The purpose of Advent is to “Let Every Heart Prepare.”It connects our need for hope and love with Mary and Joseph who waited for their baby to be born. We are in much the same place today as Jesus-followers. There is a need for a revolution of hope and love unlimited. A hope and love that as we meet the Christ who is God’s gift, they will be born in our lives and in our world.

Maybe we have come here tonight alloyed by the absence of peace in our world. We have built walls of annoyance in our attempts to recover true peace. At Christmas time, and especially on this holy night, we have high longings for peace. In the midst of walls of annoyance we long for political peace in our world. Like the world that the Prince of Peace was born into, ours is a world torn by violence and conflict. We don't have to rehearse the events that have happened since September 11, 2001. We have been at war now for three and a half years. Yet we still pray for peace, for the sake of our soldiers, for the sake of their families, and for the sake of our world. We still follow the One who said, "Blessed are the peacemakers." We long for peace.

Peace on Earth. While attending seminary, a friend of mine who happened to be a Messianic Jew adopted an interesting habit. He began greeting everyone he saw by saying “Shalom!” He used it to say hello, and he used it to say good-bye. At first I though he was just being trendy. Eventually I asked him, “What’s up with all the ‘Shalom’ stuff?” He explained. The word “Shalom” was used as a greeting and a farewell by ancient as well as modern Hebrews. This was probably also true for early Jesus-followers. But the Hebrew usage was more than mere greeting. The word was intended as a prayer that one person offered for another as they met, or as they parted. The word itself means “peace.” It is the same meaning as the Arabic word “Salaam” for peace. But it means peace in a wonderfully broad and expansive way. Shalom means healing, hope, wholeness, prosperity, health, as well as the absence of conflict. The prayer of Shalom is for people to become whole, fully mature, at peace with God, with themselves, and with the world.

A Canticle of Peace

Christmas Eve always turns our hearts toward peace. During times of war, there is often a Christmas cease-fire. We sing hymns about the “Prince of Peace.” The story of Jesus’ coming into the world fills us with a longing for things to be different, for peace to come. Peace is our need and our prayer. Where can we find it, and from where will it come?

A canticle of peace is heralded with an angelic announcement in Luke 2:8-14…

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." ¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ¹⁴ "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

“Let Every Heart Prepare” this Christmas by focusing our perspective on practicing peace: walls of annoyance will be replaced with paths of peace.

We long for peace in our relationships this Christmas. The illusion of holiday cheer and the images of warm, fuzzy family get-togethers make this a particularly difficult time for many people. Domestic violence and suicide escalate during the holidays. Family conflict that simmers the rest of the year seems to boil over at Christmas. Folks who because of bitterness and resentment over past problems don't get together with their loved ones are lost in a heart-breaking loneliness. We just wish there could be peace among us.

But most of all, deep down, we have a longing this Christmas for spiritual peace. If we could just have an internal peace in our hearts, then maybe we could deal with the external conflicts. If we just had some assurance that everything will turn out all right, then we could handle our problems. If we just knew who was really in charge, we could hang in there.

For anyone tonight who longs for peace, there is a wonderful announcement: ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord…¹⁴ "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:10-11,14).

Dr. Eugene Peterson, in his paraphrase called The Message, writes these verses this way: "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide. A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master‚ Glory to God in the heavenly heights, Peace to all men and women on earth who please him."

We have a reason to celebrate tonight. We have heard the announcement of salvation. We know the possibility of peace. What is it that gives us peace tonight? What enables us to hear the song of the angels as they sing glory to God? What is it that helps us to practice peace in our everyday relationships?

Let’s note four observations how we can practice peace this Christmas:

First, we may practice peace because there's a God. That may seem to be stating the obvious, but it isn't so obvious to many people. The truth is, we have a heavenly Father who created us, who loves us, who redeems us from our sin and lostness. The birth in Bethlehem is proof that "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

Second, we may practice peace because there is a Savior. God loved the world so much, he didn't send a committee. God didn't save us in general terms; he saved us in particular. He sent a Son, one tiny baby who grew into a man who lived and taught and healed and died to save us from our sins. ¹¹ “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord “ (Luke 2:11).

We have a present Savior (today); we have a promised Savior (town of David); we have a personal Savior (born to you).His name, Jesus, means "God saves." His name, Emmanuel, means "God is with us." His mission is to reconcile us to God, to restore our relationship, to renew and refresh the power of God that lies deep within us. Because we have Jesus, we are never without hope and love. We can have peace about that certainty.

Third, we may practice peace because there's a plan. God is God; he sent his Son, and he has given us a way to enter into a relationship with him. This is what God is disclosing to us through this message series. Let’s recap the highlights.

To enter into a relationship with God for the first time, or to renew a relationship that has become complacent or idle, we have to:

1. Repent of our sins. Acknowledge before God that we aren't what we should be and that we are sorry for not being what we should be. Then the promise is this: "If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9).
2. Trust in Christ for salvation. This is also called accepting Jesus as your Lord or having faith in him. Romans 10:9-10 says, "If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved."
3. Then we receive forgiveness. The slate is clean; the past is gone. The mistakes and messes that have kept us away from God are blotted out by God's grace and mercy. We don't have to pay the penalty for our evil before a holy God because Jesus paid it all for us on the cross. Even as he was lying in the manger in Bethlehem, this was God's plan for his life, and he followed it perfectly to the end.
4. This is how we find spiritual peace. We know Christ, and we are assured of abundant life now and eternal life in heaven. The problems and pains of the world can't take this away. On the night before he died, Jesus told his disciples, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid" (John 14:27). Peace -- it's the gift of Christ. It's the gift of Christmas.

Fourth, we may practice peace because there is a sign. How do we know this? We know it because there's a sign. The angel said to the shepherds, ¹² "This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger" (Luke 2:12).

The announcement of salvation comes down to a baby in a barn -- not exactly the kind of spectacular sign we would expect from the God of the universe.

As Max Lucado writes, "An ordinary night with ordinary sheep and ordinary shepherds. And were it not for a God who loves to hook an 'extra' on the front of the ordinary, the night would have gone unnoticed. The sheep would have been forgotten, and the shepherds would have slept the night away.

But God dances amidst the common. And that night he did a waltz. The black sky exploded with brightness. Sheep that had been silent became a chorus of curiosity. One minute the shepherd was dead asleep, the next he was rubbing his eyes and staring into the face of an alien. "The night was ordinary no more. "The angel came in the night because that is when lights are best seen and that is when they are most needed. God comes into the common for the same reason."

We are able to see the light and understand the significance of this night precisely because God makes the common uncommon, the ordinary extraordinary. When Mary kissed her baby, her lips touched the face of God. When the shepherds looked into the manger and saw the infant struggling against the cloths that kept him warm, they knew somehow the struggle against sin had been won. God had come in the night to save the day. If we need a sign tonight, we only need to look around us. Hundreds of people will gather here tonight to celebrate this Gift. Thousands of people across this country, millions around the world will sing "Silent Night" together in all different languages. After 2000 years, the story is still told and believed. How could it be a lie?

Communion Preparation. We practice peace in the partaking of Communion. Eat this bread and drink this cup. Here is a sign of the continuing presence of the One who was born in Bethlehem. "This is a sign of the new covenant, the blood poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you eat this bread or drink this cup," Jesus said, "do it in remembrance of me."

A Fable on Peace. When Christ was born, the angel declared to the frightened shepherds, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” But the world has seen very few years of peace since Christ our Prince of Peace came. I discovered this fable on peace which challenges me. 'Tell me the weight of a snowflake,' a sparrow asked a wild dove. 'Nothing more than nothing,' was the answer. 'In that case, I must tell you a marvelous story,' the sparrow said. 'I sat on the branch of a fir, close to its trunk, when it began to snow--not heavily, not in a raging blizzard--no, just like in a dream, without a sound, and without any violence. Since I did not have anything better to do, I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. Their number was exactly 3,741,952. When the 3,741,953rd dropped onto the branch, nothing more than nothing, as you say, the branch broke off.' Having said that, the sparrow flew away. The dove, since Noah's time, an authority on the matter of peace, thought about the story for awhile, and finally said to herself, 'Perhaps only one person's voice is lacking for peace to come to the world.' Will you be that one voice this Christmas?

The apostle Paul writes…If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all (Romans 12:18).

This Christmas Eve, Let Every Heart Prepare. Because of God we possess a Savior, a plan, and a sign to experience peace. This is how we practice peace in the story tonight. We know peace because we participate. We listen! The angels are singing for us tonight: "To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors." Whether it is “Salaam or Shalom,” let’s be at peace. Because Jesus is present in our lives, we can be about practicing peace—walls of alloyance will be replaced with paths of peace. Amen.

God prepares the heart for love. Jesus’ coming helps believers respond to unlovely situations and people. God’s love is to be seen, felt and embraced.

We are into our second week of this Advent message series. It helps Jesus-followers prepare their hearts for the coming of the Christ-child. Four themes (hope, love, peace and joy) help us focus on the qualities of life with Jesus. They remind us that the life of the Jesus-follower is different from what it would be otherwise. Let God live long enough in the heart, and that heart will prepare to change. Portraits of despair will be replaced with landscapes of hope. Periods of desolation will be replaced with offerings of love. Walls of annoyance will be replaced with paths of peace. Feelings of distress will be replaced with seasons of joy. God can no more leave a heart unchanged than a mother can leave her child’s tears untouched. God’s plan for us at Christmas is nothing short of a prepared heart. Jesus entered this world to offer his followers the blessings of hope, love, peace and joy. May we this Advent season prepare our hearts and stretch out our hands toward Jesus. God is remaking us into the image of Christ. He wants us to prepare our hearts to receive Jesus. This is the desire of God and the theme of this message series.

In our first message we emphasized the importance of hope. Let every heart prepare for hope. Portraits of despair will be replaced with landscapes of hope. Mary’s Magnificat resonates in our 21^st century with a revolution of hope—morally, socially, and economically.

Technical Suppport for Important Matters. We live in a high-tech, low-touch world. However, those in high techology are always trying to take the important matters of life and find a way to add the special touches that offer help. For example, let’s listen to the following telephone conversation between a customer and technical support person just a week before Christmas Day.

Customer: Is this technical support?
SUPPORT: Yes, how can I help you?
Customer: Well, after much consideration, I've decided to install Love.
Can you guide me though the process?
SUPPORT: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?
Customer: Well, I'm not very technical but I think I'm ready. What do I
do first?
SUPPORT: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your
heart?
Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it
okay to install Love while they are running?
SUPPORT: What programs are running?
Customer: Let's see...I have the Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge and Resentment running right now.
SUPPORT: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your
current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However, you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off?
Customer: I don't know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?
SUPPORT: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely erased.
Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?
SUPPORT: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.
Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, "Error -
program not run on external components." What should I do?
SUPPORT: Don't worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on
Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.
Customer: So, what should I do?
SUPPORT: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize your Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.
Customer: Okay, done.
SUPPORT: Now, copy them to the "My Heart" directory. The system will
overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.
Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor and Hope, Love, Peace, and Joy is copying all over My Heart. Is this normal?
SUPPORT: Sometimes. For others it takes a while but, eventually,
everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running. One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it in an unlimited way, especially this Christmas. Also give its various modules, to everyone you meet. They should, in turn, share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.
Customer: Thank you, SUPPORT! Can I call you if I have other problems with this program?
SUPPORT: Pretty much. But just remember that your heart is now prepared for “Love Unlimited” this Christmas!

The purpose of Advent is to “Let Every Heart Prepare—to install love in our hearts. It connects our need for love with Mary and Joseph who waited for their baby to be born. They were waiting for love, and with love. We are in much the same place today as Jesus-followers. There is a need for love unlimited. A love that as we meet the Christ who is God’s gift, love will dawn in our lives and in our world.

Mother Teresa said, “We can do no great things—only small things with great love.”The Christmas miracle is the supreme example of small things with great love.

Love’s First Miracle

The Christmas story is about God going to extraordinary lengths on our behalf. Jesus’ coming into the world is the ultimate act of a God who loves us. God sees past our failure to the person underneath our failure. God reaches out to us in love to draw us into the light of his love. There are basically two types of people in the world--those who come into a room and say, “Here I am!” And those who say, “Ah, there you are!” Jesus comes into the world and says, “Ah, there you are!”

Michael Card, musician and author, writes in his book entitled Immanuel the following reflection on the birth of Christ…

Jesus paid a tremendous price to be with us. Certainly the cross was the most obvious cost. But I believe more is in view. We focus so much on the fact that Jesus died for us, we sometimes forget that He also lives for us still... Imagine what it would be like to be at the Father’s side one moment and struggling to sleep in a cattle trough the next. Imagine what it would be like to go from hearing the praise of angels to suffering the taunts of stupid men. The cost to Jesus is an indication of the incredible value of what He came to give us. And because no one will ever fully know what that cost Jesus, we can only begin to understand the incredible value of His gift to us.

The story of love’s first miracle is draped in lowliness and humility in Luke 2:1-7…

¹In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ²(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³And everyone went to his own town to register. ⁴So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The implications of this story of Jesus’ birth are both comforting and unsettling. Comforting, because Jesus has come to share the desolation of our everyday lives. Unsettling, because it’s one thing to claim that God looks down upon us from a safe distance, but to say that he’s right here puts us and God in a totally new situation.

“Let Every Heart Prepare” this Christmas by focusing our perspective on love unlimited: periods of desolation will be replaced with offerings of love.

We observe periods of desolation that are replaced with offerings of love,

First, Jesus’ family faces periods of desolation. There is the desolation of power. ¹In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ²(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³And everyone went to his own town to register. Jesus is born into a poor, oppressed family living in an occupied country. They are forced from their home to benefit a powerful leader Caesar Augustus who would do little to benefit them in return. One of Rome ’s primary interests in an occupied territory is the collection of taxes. These monies are used to maintain Rome at the center of its power. Little, if any, of the tax revenue is used to improve the lives of the people who are forced to pay it.

There is the desolation of pain. ⁴So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. Jesus’ family—from the royal line of David—is subjected to dangers, fears and deprivations. Travel is difficult and burdened with danger. The highways, though nominally guarded by Rome , are in fact treacherous. The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem is approximately 80 miles. The accommodation for travelers is most primitive, especially for a young woman with child. Arriving in a community that is not their own, they are forced to seek lodging where they might afford it. Since many travelers are moving about fulfilling Rome ’s demand for revenue, Jesus’ family is denied even the most basic of creature comforts.

Second, Jesus’ family presents offerings of love. Jesus’ birth is an offering of love in the midst of commonness. ⁶While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger… A simple courtyard that Mary’s child is born. Cloths consist of squares of material with long bandage-like strips coming diagonally off from one corner. The child is first wrapped in the square of cloth and then the long strip is wound round and round about him. The word translated manger means a place where animals feed; and therefore it can be the stable, the cave, or the manger which is meant.

Jesus’ birth is an offering of love in the midst of crowdedness. ... because there was no room for them in the inn. That there is no room in the inn was symbolic of what is to happen to Jesus. The only place where there is room for him was on the cross. Jesus seeks an entry to the over-crowded hearts of people; he can not find it; and still his search—and his rejection—go on.

Christ’s Humble Birth. In his best-selling book, The Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancey contrasts the desolation of humility that characterized Jesus’ royal visit to planet earth with the prestigious image associated with world rulers today:

Queen Elizabeth II visited the United States, and reporters delighted in spelling out the logistics involved: her four hundred pounds of luggage included two outfits for every occasion, a mourning outfit in case someone died, 40 pints of plasma, and white kid-leather toilet seat covers. She brought alone her own hairdresser, two valets, and a host of other attendants. A brief visit of royalty to a foreign country can easily cost 20 million dollars.

In meek contrast, God’s visit to earth was truly an offering of love as it took place in an animal shelter with no attendants present and nowhere to lay the newborn king but a feed trough.

The family in which Jesus is raised exercises a key role. The Scriptures make it clear God chose Mary and Joseph carefully. As parents, they exercise a crucial influence in the life of their child. Rather than resentment from Roman’s inflicted violence, oppression, poverty, cruelty and prejudice on the Jews, it seems that Mary and Joseph will teach their son love and respect for persons. The humble birth and life of Jesus will become God’s supreme offering of love to a desolate world.

In short, Jesus’ offerings of love present to a world caught in commonness and crowdedness the uncommon and uncluttered. Jesus is born and raised among people that we might consider the most desolate in the world. What meaning are we to draw from all of this? If we believe that God acted in history to make himself known to all people through Jesus of Nazareth, then why choose such a lowly beginning? Why not appear as a child in a royal family, or a family of wealth and privilege? Why not appear in the family of a great thinker or philosopher?

What practical application may we apply to love’s first miracle—the birth of Jesus Christ? God’s decision to send Jesus into an impoverished family during a time of oppression and displacement sends a powerful message about the rationale for and the character of God’s love. C.S. Lewis said, “God loved us not because we were lovable, but because he is love.”

If Jesus appears among the privileged of the world, it is too easy for the privileged to claim him for their own. People of means seem to have a way of monopolizing the best things in life. And it is far too easy for the poor and powerless to believe Jesus is not for them, since so many of life’s good things are clearly beyond their reach. By coming to the poor and downtrodden people, by walking the path of the weak and oppressed, God is able to say through Jesus, “No one is beneath my love, no one is beyond it, no one is above it,” God’s love is for everyone.

Loving the Unlovely

If we are not careful and attentive this Christmas, we can easily allow our own times of desolation and disappointments to dampen God’s offering of love. This causes us to turn inward, away from people in need. If we are not devoted to living out the meaning of Jesus’ love in us and for us, we can easily allow resentment and petty envy to create divisions between us and the people we should be helping. If we are not willing to see the fault and failure in all of us, we can easily allow people who are unlovely to frighten us from doing the one thing we are called to do—loving them!

Sir John Templeton said, “Unlimited love was called agape by the ancient Greeks to distinquish the divine love from earthly emotions. Unlimited love means total constant love for every person with no exception.”

Leave, Lash Out, or Love. Oh, we did it again. This past week we welcomed an addition to our family. An eight-week old female Lhasa Apso puppy. We call her Gingerbread—for short, Ginger. She really is our daughter Janay’s dog. She carries her around all day. This small ball of fur fascinates us, and her flat nose intrigues us. She sleeps in her kennel in Janay’s room. But it won’t be long before she sleeps on Janay’s bed. So what if she smells like a dog? Her odor is cute. So what if she whines and whimpers? We think the noise is cute. So what if she does her business on our carpet? Can’t say we think that is cute, but we don’t really mind. We work together as a family to be Ginger’s caregivers. We will clean her eating dish, and put her food in it. The minute she laps up some water, we will replenish it. We will keep her hair combed and her tail wagging. But, in a few weeks, this adorable puppy will quickly be transformed into an irritable animal.

However, Sue can say to Janay and me, “Ginger is your dog!” Period. In sickness and in health. For richer, for poorer. In dryness and in wetness. We are stuck with Ginger. The courtship will soon be over, and the honeymoon will end. We are mutually leashed. No doubt, Ginger will go from an option to an obligation, from a pet to a chore, from someone to play with to someone to care for.

Perhaps we can relate this Christmas. Chances are we know the claustrophobia that comes with commitment. Only instead of being reminded, “She is your dog,” we remember “He is your husband.” Or, “She is your wife.” Or, “He is your child, parent, in-law, work associate, employee or boss or roommate: or any other relationship that requires loyalty for survival. We understand that sometimes the people who seem the most unlovely are not the stranger, the homeless, the poor, and the person with a lifestyle that is different. The people who become unlovely live just a heartbeat away. Such permanence can lead to panic. It can lead to feeling stuck with someone.

Max Lucado in his book entitled Just Like Jesus, defines the meaning of feeling stuck through the usage of the word “Stuckititis.” (Stuck meaning “trapped.” Ititis being the six letters we tag on to any world we want to sound impressive.) “Stuckititis”—attacks that are limited to people who breathe and typically occur somewhere between birth and death. It manifests itself in irritability, short fuses, and a mountain range of molehills.

There are basically three ways to cope with stuckititis: leave, lash out, or love. Some opt to leave: to get out of the relationship and start again elsewhere, though they are often surprised when the condition surfaces on the other side of the fence as well. But the grass is always greener over the septic tank. Others lash out. Houses become combat zones, and offices become boxing rings, and even in churches tension becomes a way of life. A few, however, discover another treatment: love. The Christmas miracle is the model of love. A God who doesn’t leave or lash out in his commitment to the unlovely. God loves. God sends his only Son to us as a model of what it is like to love. God responds with an option, not an obligation. God sent to us a statement of love on that Christmas night.

The card read:

“I forgive you. I love you. Let’s move on!”

The card might as well have been a manger. And the pen might as well have been some swaddling clothes, for out of that stable came forth pure love in the form of a baby, and with it God gave his only Son to an unlovely world. Certain conflicts can only be resolved with a manger. Are there any relationships in our world desolate, needing an offering of love wrapped in swaddling clothes? Are there any inhabitants lodging in the “inn” of our lives who need to be assured of our love? Jesus came to give us no reason to doubt God’s love. Why don’t we do the same? Will we fail? Maybe. But as the old saying goes, “It is better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all!”

God looks into our world this Christmas, and certainly, God sees many things that are not lovely. There are things we do, and behaviors we adopt that are far beyond the scope of what God intends for us. There is failure enough for us all to have our full portion of blame and shame.

O God how is it that your love is bigger than the world?

Your heart hurts for all the dying people?

When will we step out of our comfortable inns and truly dare to love?

This Christmas, Let Every Heart Prepare. God sees the person beneath the failure. God offers Jesus as a remedy for our failure. With Jesus in the world and in our lives, it becomes possible for us not only to experience God’s love unlimited, but also to show it to others. We, who were once unlovely in God’s sight, are empowered to love those who are unlovely in our own eyes. Because Jesus is present in our lives, we can experience love in all situations-- periods of desolation will be replaced with offerings of love. Amen.

God prepares the heart for hope. Jesus’ coming gives believers hope in despairing times. Jesus creates a hope that allows us to face life’s difficulties.

This Advent message series helps Jesus-followers prepare their hearts for the coming of the Christ-child. Four themes (hope, love, peace and joy) help us focus on the qualities of life with Jesus. They remind us that the life of the Jesus-follower is different from what it would be otherwise. Let God live long enough in the heart, and that heart will prepare to change. Portraits of despair will be replaced with landscapes of hope. Periods of desolation will be replaced with offerings of love. Walls of annoyance will be replaced with paths of peace. Feelings of distress will be replaced with seasons of joy. God can no more leave a heart unchanged than a mother can leave her child’s tears untouched. God’s plan for us at Christmas is nothing short of a prepared heart. Jesus entered this world to offer his followers the blessings of hope, love, peace and joy. May we this Advent season prepare our hearts and stretch out our hands toward Jesus. God is remaking us into the image of Christ. He wants us to prepare our hearts to receive Jesus. This is the desire of God and the theme of this message series.

Hope is a vital necessity of life—a gift that God wants to give us this Christmas season. Hope is more than mere wishful thinking. People are looking today for hope to press on, hope to endure, hope to stay focused, and hope to see dreams fulfilled. However, the present landscape of our world offers to us a portrait of despair.

A pastor’s wife was sitting at her second-story window as she was opening her daily mail. As she opened one of the letters, a crisp, new, ten-dollar bill fell out. She was pleasantly surprised, but as she read the letter her eyes were distracted by the movement of a shabbily dressed homeless person down below, leaning against a post in front of a building. She couldn’t get him off her mind. Thinking that he might be in great financial stress, she slipped the bill into an envelope on which she quickly penned “Don’t despair.” She threw it out the window. The stranger below picked it up, read it, looked up, and smiled as he tipped his hat and went his way. The next day she was about to leave the house when a knock came at the door. She found the same shabbily dressed man smiling as he handed her a roll of bills. When she asked what they were for, he replied: “That’s the six hundred bucks you won, lady. “Don’t despair” paid fifty to one.”

Tis’ The Season. Healthcare professionals term it “seasonal depression.” Every year during the holiday season stretching from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, thousands of people report having feelings of despair, lonliness and hopelesssness. Some experts say the feelings are a physiological response to the shortening of the days. Longer periods of time in artificial light contribute to feelings of depression and low energy.

But it may not be artificial light that is the problem. The problem may be that we have too much darkness on the inside of our lives. The holiday season is presented to us in glimmering images of family joy and festive celebration. We are reminded at every turn that this is the season to be jolly. There is a subtle suggestion underlying the marketing surrounding the season that Christmas, just by showing up on the calendar, should automatically make us happy and hopeful. But for many people, the season alone does not deliver the gaiety it hypes. Family unity, paraded across television screens as ’s norm, does not match the family terror in which many men, women, and children face everyday, including Christmas Day.

The shameless and conspicuous messages to consumers to spend, spend and spend some more, stands in stark and cruel contrast to the desperate poverty many families live with everyday, including Christmas Day. It’s no wonder that for many people feelings of hopelessness and despair increase during the Christmas season. The reality of life so often does not match the ideal of our contrived, commercialized Christmas. Occasionally, the despair and darkness become too much to bear. As people seek relief from their pain and answers to the insoluble questions of life, invariably they resort to unhealthy ways of dealing with their circumstances.

So what are we to do? Should we give up celebrating Christmas because it promotes depression? Are we wrong to associate the Christmas story with hope? Are we misguided in making the season a time of worship and celebration? If the message of Jesus coming into the world does not deliver the hope it promises, why should we continue to celebrate it?

Thornton Wilder says…hope is a projection of the imagination; so is despair. Despair all too readily embraces the ills it foresees; hope is an energy and arouses the mind to explore every possibility to combat them. In response to hope the imagination is aroused to picture every possible issue, to try every door, to fit together even the most heterogeneous pieces in the puzzle. After the solution has been found it is difficult to recall the steps taken--so many of them are just below the level of consciousness.

The purpose of Advent is to “Let Every Heart Prepare.”It connects our need for hope with the longing of the Israelite people who waited so long for their Messiah to appear. They were waiting for hope, and with hope. We are in much the same place today as Jesus-followers. There is a revolution of hope. A hope that as we meet the Christ who is God’s gift, hope will dawn in our lives and in our world.

A Song of Hope

The Bible provides ample witness to the harsh realities of a world filled with inequities and difficulties. A persistent message thoughout the Scriptures is that God is not pleased when people are crushed under heavy burdens of oppression, injustice, and despair. A recurring promise is that God will vindicate the lowly and give them hope.

This hope is given profound, poetic expression in Mary’s beautiful song known as the Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55…

⁴⁶ Mary said,
"My soul gives glory to the Lord.
⁴⁷ My spirit delights in God my Savior.
⁴⁸ He has taken note of me
even though I am not important.
From now on all people will call me blessed.
⁴⁹ The Mighty One has done great things for me.
His name is holy.
⁵⁰ He shows his mercy to those who have respect for him,
from parent to child down through the years.
⁵¹ He has done mighty things with his arm.
He has scattered those who are proud in their deepest thoughts.
⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones.
But he has lifted up people who are not important.
⁵³ He has filled those who are hungry with good things.
But he has sent those who are rich away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped the people of , who serve him.
He has always remembered to be kind
⁵⁵ to Abraham and his children down through the years.
He has done it just as he said to our people of long ago."

In the narrative preceding the song, Mary encounters the angel Gabriel who tells her she would be the mother of the promised Messiah. Gabriel also tells Mary her cousin Elizabeth is pregnant. Both of these women are unlikely and surprising pregnancies. Mary was unmarried, and Elizabeth is past childbearing age.

“Let Every Heart Prepare” this Christmas by focusing our perspective on the following revolution: Portraits of despair will be replaced with landscapes of hope.

In the opening part of her song Mary reveals her response to God’s dealings. The distinction between gratitude and praise is this: gratitude is appreciation for what God has done; praise is appreciation for who God is. To magnify the Lord is “to recognize and proclaim his greatness.”Mary’s desire to magnify God is not unlike that of the apostle Paul, who later desired to magnify Christ in his body whether he should live or die.

I completely expect and hope that I won't be ashamed in any way. I'm sure I will be brave enough. Now as always Christ will be lifted high through my body. He will be lifted up whether I live or die. (Philippians 1:20).

Mary’s thoughts move on to celebrate God’s greatness and mercy. Her acceptance of God’s sovereignty is reflected in the name she uses, “The Mighty One.” Her reference is not only to sending the long promised Messiah, with all that this implies for peoples and nations, but also to the method which God chooses. Sending God’s Son as a baby conceived by the Holy Spirit without the involvement of an earthly father is an act unprecedented in human history. She resolves this challenge to her faith by viewing this great deed as consistent with a God who is mighty.

Perhaps no three verses in the Bible are as revolutionary as verses 51-53…

⁵¹ He has done mighty things with his arm.
He has scattered those who are proud in their deepest thoughts.
⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones.
But he has lifted up people who are not important.
⁵³ He has filled those who are hungry with good things.
But he has sent those who are rich away empty.

We observe three portraits of despair that are replaced with revolutionary landscapes of hope:

First, God brings about a moral revolution of hope: the proud are scattered in verse 51. While a proper sense of self-respect remains in a believer, sinful pride and independence from God are killed. God resists the proud because they resist him; God defeats sinful human arrogance. The hope lies in the promise of Jesus—Immanuel, “God with us.” God—“The Mighty One”—comes humbly through Mary, a human vessel, in the form of a baby. Jesus comes at first with a gentle sign, and so he still comes. God takes on humanity’s weakness.

Martin Luther says…it is the nature of God that he makes something out of nothing. Consequently, if someone is not nothing, God can make nothing out of him. Men make something into something else. But this is vain and useless work. Thus God accepts no one except the abandoned, makes no one healthy except the sick, gives no one sight except the blind, brings no one to life except the dead, makes no one pious except sinners, makes no one wise except the foolish, and in short, has mercy upon no one except the wretched, and gives no one grace except those who have not grace. Consequently, no proud person can become holy, wise or righteous, become the material with which God works, or have God's work in him, but he remains in his own works and makes a fabricated, false and simulated saint out of himself, that is a hypocrite.

We like to be dazzled and entertained. We like to have our senses galvanized with spectacle and unusual exhibitions. We like to be in center stage. We like to receive the attention from our peers.

Two Texans were trying to impress each other with the size of their ranches. One asked the other, 'What's the name of your ranch?' He replied, 'The Rocking R, ABC, Flying W Circle C, Bar U, Staple Four, Box D, Rolling M, Rainbow's End, Silver Spur Ranch.' The questioner was much impressed and exclaimed, 'Whew! That's sure some name! How many head of cattle do you run?' The rancher answered, 'Not many. Very few survive the branding. The same is true for the Jesus-follower. God didn’t create us to survive the branding that takes place when we boast of our self and egocentricity.

This helps explain why God did not use a few special effects and image boosters when Jesus was born. Yes, we know a brilliant star appeared—but not many knew why or for whom. A young working-class couple welcomes their first child in a barn with its pungent odors, among animals whose moist eyes reflect the flickering light of the oil lamps brought in for the birth. No fine appointments, no coverage by the media. Today, God still scatters those who are proud in their deepest thoughts, but gathers those who are willing for God to take on their weaknesses. Jesus brings the hope of a moral revolution.

Second, God brings about a social revolution: the mighty on their thrones are put down and those of low degree (like Elizabeth and Mary) are exalted in verse 52. This is what God did when he defeated Pharaoh and the forces of on behalf of a slave nation. The powers that human society may amass—think of political, military, or public oppression in the world today—are nothing before the living God, who takes pleasure in those of humble and contrite spirit. The hope lies in the life of low degree like Jesus. The apostle Paul spoke of Jesus’ coming, Who, being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. (Philippians 2:6,7). The message of hope comes to those who are held in low regard, and so Jesus still comes.

Every person needs recognition for his or her accomplishments, but it is possible to carry the need too far. Such people are like the little boy who says to his father, 'Let's play darts. I'll throw and you say 'Wonderful!''

The world today argues against the posture of low regard. We live in a day when aggressive and assertive ways are touted while reserved and quiet are ridiculed. If we would examine the self-improvement section of our nearest bookstore, we would find numerous shelves filled with an assortment of books.

There is a variety of titles like The Act of Getting Your Own Sweet Way; Look Out for Numero Uno (Spanish edition); The Virtue of Selfishness; Competitive Advantage; How To Get What You Really Want Out of Life.These titles seem to suggest that we ought to get what we want, when we want, from whom we want, even if we have to use or misuse other people. Today, God still brings down rulers from their thrones, but lifts up those who are willing to take the place of low regard. Jesus brings the hope of a social revolution.

Third, God brings about an economic revolution: the hungry are fed and rich are sent away empty in verse 53. Mary celebrates the time when gross injustice, so prevalent under human rule, will be weighed by God in the scales of his justice. Any economic system must be evaluated by what it does for those least well off. Jesus came into the world with a definite mission to help the poor and needy. “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18,19). Jesus quotes from the words of Isaiah the prophet in 61:1,2. In fact, the birth of Jesus fulfills this prophecy of Isaiah when Jesus says, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). The message of hope comes to those who face injustice, and so Jesus still comes.

The story is told about a woman who was called to jury duty and told the presiding judge that she was not qualified to serve because she did not believe in capital punishment. The judge said, 'You don't understand, madam. This is a civil case involving a man who spent five thousand dollars of his wife's money on gambling and other women.' To which the woman replied eagerly, 'I'll be happy to serve, your honor, and I've changed my mind about capital punishment.' God does not show a flexible bias against injustice.

There is still a high need for justice today. Reinhold Niebuhr said, man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary. We are a society depressed by bad news, bound by addictive habits, blinded by worldly values, and oppressed by economic decline. We live in the richest nation, consuming the most products. However, many people feel the despair of hopelessness in the midst of dealing with their circumstances. The reality of life so often does not match the ideal of our contrived spending and commercialization of Christmas. Today, God still sends those who are rich away empty, but fills those who are hungry with good things. Jesus brings the hope of an economic revolution.

These words from Mary’s song of praise are primarily a vehicle of hope. They are intended to sustain and even enrich us through time, and in all the painful disappointments we experience. Paul said, for in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for that we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently (Romans 8:24,25). The Greek meaning to “wait for it patiently” has the meaning “to bear up under.”The hope instilled in us by the gift of Christ does not bring hope by eliminating life’s pain. Jesus’ gift of hope allows us to “bear up under” pain or disappointment. Hope keeps us going, keeps us from giving in to despair. All of this sounds wonderful, but does it work? Is it real? Can we really prepare our hearts for hope? Can we really expect our faith in Jesus to create in us a hope that will allow us to face the portraits of despair in life?

Saved to be safe? In closing, certain religious circles today would have us believe that the ideal spiritual life is one where problems are instantaneously solved and miracles never cease. They insist that to be saved means to be safe. This thinking opens one up to a charmed life in which anyone who does not prosper and live affluently is not living fully in the Spirit. Perhaps this has been true for some people. But for many Jesus-followers it has not been their experience. The Bible, above all else, seems to be a book of reality. And reality has the mark of difficulty. Mary expressed it in her Magnificat and countless others through the centuries have experienced as well. The Scriptures say, the righteous will flourish like the palm tree (Psalm 92:12). However, we need to remember that palm trees don’t grow in beautiful forests, but in the desert. As Jesus-followers we are called to bear fruit—but we must recognize that fruit trees grow in valleys, not mountaintops. This side of life that includes suffering and pain provides a message of hope. If we want to rejoice through our times of despair, we just need to keep reminding ourselves that what we’re going through isn’t the end of the story…like Mary it’s simply the rough journey that leads to the right destination.

This Christmas, Let Every Heart Prepare. The celebrity status, the strength of military force, the wealth of nation winning by intimidation, and elbowing our way to the top—are these the measure of our humanity, the mark of greatness, the evidence of power? No, the sign for all times is in a barn where a child named Jesus is born to Mary, a young virgin of humble means. This child who took the form of a servant reveals the hope that saves and keeps. Jesus still comes today to bring a moral, social, and economic revolution of hope. The gift of Jesus is a gift of hope. Because Jesus is present in our lives, we can experience hope in all situations-- portraits of despair will be replaced with landscapes of hope! Amen.