Isaiah 2:1-5

Matthew 24:36-44

A little girl named Jana was given a part in her church’s Christmas play. Jana was so excited about her part that her mother thought she was going to be one of the main characters. Jana, however, would not reveal to her mother the part she was supposed to play.

After much anticipation, the big night finally came. The parents were all there eagerly awaiting their children’s participation in this Christmas drama. One by one the children took their places.

The shepherds fidgeted in one corner of the stage. Mary and Joseph stood solemnly behind the manger. In the back three young wise men waited impatiently. Meanwhile, Jana sat quietly and confidently.

Then the teacher began: “A long time ago, Mary and Joseph had a baby and they named Him Jesus. And when Jesus was born, a bright star appeared over the stable.”

This was Jana’s cue. She got up from her chair, picked up a large tin-foil star, walked behind Mary and Joseph and held the star up high for everyone to see.

When the teacher told about the shepherds coming to see the baby, the three young shepherds came forward and Jana jiggled the star up and down excitedly to show them where to come.

When the wise men responded to their cue, Jana went forward a little to meet them and to lead the way, her face as alight as the real star might have been.

The play ended. They had refreshments. On the way home, even though she only had a nonspeaking role, Jana said to her Mother, with great satisfaction, “I had the main part!”

“You did?” Her mother asked, wondering why she thought that.

“Yes,” she said, “because I showed everybody how to find Jesus!”                                                               I guess she did have the main part. She pointed all the other actors toward Jesus.

Welcome on this First Sunday of Advent. Advent points us towards the birth of Jesus. It also points us to that day when the triumphant Christ shall return to establish his reign–when nations “will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks,” as Isaiah so beautifully describes that wondrous time (Sermons.com 11.27.16 King Duncan).  One commentator wrote about this passage, “Every generation needs reassurance that the powers of the world-whether the Romans of Jesus’ time or the principalities and powers of our present age-do not determine our future” (Feasting on the Word, A1, pg. 3). God is ultimately in charge.  A message that still holds true today.

We just celebrated the blessings of our life with family and friends around the table.  Giving thanks for the bounty of God’s richness.  I pray your time was deeply meaningful.  Gratitude is a powerful force and a gracious gift.  My daily devotional said, “A thankful attitude opens windows of heaven.  As you look up with a grateful heart, you get a glimpse of Glory through those windows” (Jesus Calling pg. 34).  Paraphrased, “Gratitude is a window of hope.”

An older woman lived alone in her home for 40 years.  The bathroom off of her bedroom had not been updated in a long time.  The Formica was cracked and the dark wallpaper peeling.  She decided to remodel.  The bathroom faced east, but only had one small window, so her contractor suggested 2 additional windows and a skylight.  After several months of work the job was complete.  Her old dark bathroom was gone.  She awoke to early morning sun streaming into her room.  The windows’ welcomed the sun’s warm brightness into her life. Gratitude is the window of hope, shining light into our darkest places.

So you ask, where do I find the hope in this gospel story?  Matthew speaks of the time when Jesus will come again; an apocalyptic day in the future.  While working on this sermon on hope, Cooper was home for the holiday and he said, “Isn’t amazing that apocalypse can mean either the end of times or a great revelation.”  You gotta love that kid.  Noah and the flood is certainly an apocalyptic event, as well as some being taken while others are left behind.   It is hard to find the hope here.   But it can also be for us a great revelation that our faith happens in our trials of life like illness and hardship and every facet of daily living, like working in the fields or grinding the at the stone or going to the office.

In the summer of 1967, after she graduated as “Most Athletic Girl” from a Baltimore, Maryland high school, Joni Eareckson broke her neck in a diving accident. Joni was paralyzed from the neck down. This caused her to sink into a deep depression which she eventually overcame through a strong Christian faith. The change from darkness to light in Joni’s life was astounding. As many of you know, Joni now leads an active life. In spite of her disability, she is a successful commercial artist, a bestselling author, and the host of her own radio ministry.   Joni Eareckson Tada is a person of deep maturity and wisdom who has inspired millions with her Christian witness. How does she do it in spite of her physical limitations?   In one of her books A Step Further, Joni writes, “If God’s mind was small enough for me to understand, He wouldn’t be God . . . Sometimes I can’t stand being in a wheelchair, but there God’s grace takes over. Even in my handicap, God has a plan and purpose for my life.” She continues, “God began his (earthly) life in a stinky stable. He got angry. He was lonely. He went without a place to call his own, abandoned by his closest friends. He wept real tears. This is a God I can trust. I know my tears count with him”  (Sermons.com 11.27.16 King Duncan).        You and I will probably never be physically disabled in just the same way as Joni. But there will be those times when our world will come crashing in on us. Life is very uncertain. Indeed, there is only one thing in this whole world that we can truly count on and that is that God is with us. God will never forsake us. We have the same hope as Isaiah and the New Testament church.  We live in the light streaming through the window of Hope.  We invite the light of the Lord into our darkness.

Passing through the Red Sea – a window of hope for the people of Israel                                                       Native Americans and new arrivals surviving that first winter in America – a window of hope.               The birth of Jesus is the definitive window of hope.

Sometimes we need a mental remodel where windows of hope shine light in our dark situations.  Other times we get to be the window of hope for others as we point people to Jesus- just like Jana and the star. especially during this Advent season. Invite a friend to Blue Christmas.

Ultimately God remodeled humanity by sending Jesus as the window of hope.  He is light in our darkness.  Jesus is the joy that finds its way into our hearts like a warming and loving light cascading through the window of hope. Amen.