12142014 Advent 3 Gaudete Sunday - The Third Sunday of Advent

Gospel Audio
Sermon Audio

December 14, 2014

What joy do you have?

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer.  AMEN.

When I first arrived here at Emmanuel one of the first church celebrations I had the opportunity to celebrate in the first two months was Christmas.  Not only here in the church proper, but also with the saints at Wheat Ridge.  Since that time I have not only visited and celebrated Holy Communion with the saints both at Wheat Ridge and Good Samaritan, but joyfully proclaimed Christ and Him crucified for many who now make heaven their eternal home.  The reality is each time I do visit Wheat Ridge, Good Samaritan and even elderly members of our congregation, I receive a great joy in reminding them that they are part Emmanuel and especially members of the Body of Christ!  They are part of our fellowship and I have the greatest pleasure to bring the joy of Christ for and to them during every visit.

Today we light the third Candle of the Advent Wreath.  The third Candle is known as the Shepherd’s Candle or the Candle of Joy.  For my family growing up and many others, the third candle was pink on the Advent Wreath.  This candle has special significance because of the reminder of the Joy of the Angels.

Remember in the account of Luke that tells of the sky being full with Angels proclaiming the birth of the Savior.  This is so impactful even listening to it as a child.  The joy the angels and others must have felt when they heralded Jesus entrance into the world.  At a congregation in Western New York, on Christmas Eve there would be from the balcony a trumpet sounding the joy of the moment.  This would not only raise the collective hairs and goose bumps on many people’s necks, but clearly elicit the joy of the moment of the heavens clearly proclaiming Jesus birth.

When I was in Israel as a student, this passage took on new meaning for me personally.  Our tour group that had been in the Holy Land for days and enjoyed visiting the most sacred sites gathered together shoulder to shoulder huddled in nothing more than a cave, an underground cavern.  Very similar to what the shepherds would keep their sheep in to protect them from the marauders of the night.  In that cave, in the dim light, the proclamation of the angels was recited from memory from the King James Version.  And in that one moment all who heard, clearly connected not only with the joy of the shepherds, but especially the joy of the message shared of Jesus Christ birth in Bethlehem for all of mankind.

My question for we who gather here this morning, “What joy do you have?”  As we light this the Shepherd or Candle of Joy, “What joy do you have?”  Clearly we could say, it is the message of Jesus birth, but that was over 2000 years ago our society would respond.  But for we who gather here in the church and light the Advent Wreath, now with three candles, our Joy can have new and greater depth and meaning.

When we look through the lens of the fulfillment of the promised Messiah, just as Joy filled Elizabeth with the entrance of her cousin Mary who carried Jesus in the Womb, we to can have that joy.  For today we gather here to let the joy of Christ overflow from within us.  We look to this wreath of greenery, now with three of the four candles lit, knowing that in ten days we will gather to celebrate Jesus entrance into the World.  We will sing the songs of joy and light our candles and clearly with unmistakable hearts and voices raised, sing “Joy to the World”!

God wants us to not only have the joy, but share the joy!  This morning, we have heard the children singing, telling of the coming Christ and those children are our future.  The children are our joy and we not only have an obligation to teach them the stories, but share the joy God first placed into each of our hearts.  And that joy came in our baptism into Jesus Christ life, death and resurrection.  This is the fount of all blessings and the joy that God clearly shares with each and every one of us.

May we who gather here this morning not only come to bask in the glow of the lights of the Candles of the Advent Wreath, but also share in the joy given to us by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  For Jesus Christ came into this world in a lowly manger to save all of mankind, including all of us joy filled saints gathered here this Third Sunday of Advent.  AMEN.

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Is our culture discipling our church instead of our discipling our members?

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12102014 Wednesday of Advent 2

Sermon Audio

December 10, 2014

What do you smell?

May the offering of our time to be in the presence of our Lord be a blessing not only for our lives, but also our souls as we prepare our hearts for the celebration of the entrance of the King of Kings!  AMEN.

As a child, I remember going up into my Grandmother’s attic during one of our visits to Northeast Iowa.  Up there she had boxes of trinkets and treasures that were there for the exploration of young children.  One such item that always caught our interest as kids was a trunk.  This was not a small foot locker that we are accustomed to see these days in Wal-Mart, but the old Steamer Trunks.  It was a relic from the old country.  You see my Grandparents came separately to America through Baltimore on ships from the Czech Republic as young children.  Like most who travelled the oceans all their family’s worldly possessions were crammed into a steamer trunk to keep them safe until they arrived in the New World.

When we would open the steamer trunk the first thing that we noticed, wasn’t the clothes, the memorabilia or mementoes, but it was the smell.  It was not the smell that assaults us when we go by a feed lot or dairy farm, but the smell of old clothes and long ago perfumes that wafts through the air.  The kind of smell that is clear nostalgia of a by gone era.

This evening the second gift in our series of the Gifts of the Magi is of Frankincense.  Clearly Frankincense has a smell, not of ‘old clothes’ or ‘steamer trunks’, but a fragrance and aroma that people of the Old Testament knew well.  Frankincense was used in the Temple and prior to that Aaron’s people used it when there was not a place for God’s Glory to dwell.  During the time of the Exodus from Egypt when the people were wandering in the desert Frankincense was used as a fragrant offering to God.  The clear use of Frankincense in the Temple meant it was a priestly aroma, meant for God.

When the Magi presented Frankincense this gift was presented on bended knee for God the Son born in a manger.  By presenting Frankincense to Jesus Christ born in the manger the Magi foretold what Jesus would be doing when He grew older.  We have all heard the story of Jesus staying behind in Jerusalem when older and being found in the Temple with the leaders of the Jewish Synagogue.  They saw great wisdom that came from Jesus, beyond His very years.  And this gift of Frankincense as the fragrant offering, was exactly that what Jesus would be known as for we who gather here this evening.

Jesus is our High Priest.  Jesus goes before the Father for each and every one of us.  Though born in a manger in the lowest of circumstances, Jesus Christ took on His humanity and was humble in His beginnings.  But with the presentation of the Gift of Frankincense was a prophecy of what Jesus would be for we Who gather here tonight.

Frankincense offered in the sacrifice indicated how Jesus would be sacrificed for you and for me on the Cross of Calvary for our sins.  The fragrant offering Jesus Christ made in order that we might live would fulfill the plan of salvation and set us free from the bondage of sin, death and the devil.  We through Jesus perfect sacrifice are offered grace and mercy beyond what we deserve.  And in Jesus sacrifice it is a pleasing aroma for His Father in heaven.  All pointed to with the opening of a simple yet profound gift of Frankincense by the Magi.

May we who gather here this evening as we smell the pleasing aromas of the meals, the cookies, cakes and goodies of the season, remember the pleasing aroma of Frankincense given to Jesus Christ.  For Jesus Christ came in the manger, was given the gift of Frankincense, chose to offer Himself and is the reason for the season.  Jesus Christ is the pleasing aroma of our God Who came as our sacrifice to set all of mankind free, including all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this Second Wednesday of Advent evening.  AMEN.

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