Sunday, December 9, 2012

“Lord, Give Us an Advent Heart”—Phil. 1.2-11, Series C Advent 2 Dec. ‘12


1.      Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.   In today’s message we’re going to be looking at the importance of thanking God for those He’s put in our midst.  The message is taken from Philippians 1:2-11 and is entitled, “Lord, Give us an Advent Heart!”  Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.      “I’ll be home for Christmas; you can count on me,” so says the popular Christmas carol. But, who’ll be coming to your home in a couple weeks, hauling in suitcases, hugging you and embracing your heart? These were the words that President Dale Meyer of Concordia Seminary St. Louis said in his Meyer Minute radio broadcast.  Dr. Meyer went on to say that, “Guilt promises to come. “Remember how you hurt that family member? Don’t imagine that you can ever repair the damage you’ve done!” “Your husband, your wife, your child, died this year, not home for the holidays. Don’t you feel guilty for the times you weren’t loving?” “So dedicated to your career… you’ve shut others out, Mr. Scrooge!”
3.      Yes, it’s true!  There’ve been times when we haven’t been thankful or content with those that God has put into our midst.  We haven’t always had an Advent heart for those around us.  I’m sure that there are many days where we feel guilty for the things we’ve said or done to hurt our spouse, our children, or those relatives that have died and gone before us. As Dr. Meyer says, maybe you feel guilty for some of the things you said or did and now you feel helpless because you can’t take back what you said, since that beloved family member has died.  Maybe there’s that family member that hasn’t died yet.  An Uncle, Aunt, Mother, Father or sibling that you can’t stand.  Can we really thank God for them or really feel sorry for things that we’ve done to them in the past?  I know we’re supposed to be Christians, but really come on, sometimes it’s just to hard to say I’m sorry or to really show that love and affection that God calls us to give.
4.      Well, the Apostle Paul didn’t see it that way.  He believed that Christ died for all, and because of this we as Christians are called to love all those that Jesus has placed into our midst.  Yes, even that sibling, parent, relative or child we don’t appreciate very much.  Listen to what the apostle Paul says in Philippians 1:3-11, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”
5.      St. Paul was anxious to be able to see the Philippian Church and all the Christians that were living out their faith in that great city.  He held them in his heart.  I’m sure that some of you can’t wait to spend time with your family and friends during this festive time of the year.  Well, the Apostle Paul felt that way too.  He had a good relationship with the Philippian Church.  Whenever Paul thought about the Philippians, he must have remembered the special way in which the Lord called him to bring the gospel to that area of the world in Acts 16:9 which says, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!”  He must have remembered the first Christian worship service on that European continent.  Or, his meeting with a little group of Jewish women who met along the riverbank on the Sabbath Day.  Maybe he remembered Lydia, who believed the Gospel and immediately opened her home for the missionaries and as a headquarters for the Philippian Church.  There was also Paul’s imprisonment in Philippi and the midnight deliverance the Lord had given to him and Silas.  That was a great night, since the jailer and his family were converted.  I’m sure that Paul remembered the great support he received from the Philippians after he’d left their city and about all the good things that they were doing while he was out on his missionary work.
6.      As the Apostle Paul has shown, believers who have been brought together into a Gospel partnership joyfully show that partnership in their day to day lives.  They do this in many ways.  They worship, pray, and study God’s Word together.  As we do here at St. Johns.  They joyfully acknowledge one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.  They show to one another helpfulness and love.  They encourage one another in Christian living and they work together to promote the cause of the gospel to the world.  For all this there’s so much to be thankful for!  So we too can be thankful for a Church body that proclaims the Gospel from week to week, for our families where we can share our faith with one another and for so much more!
7.      And yet, during this season of Advent and on into Christmas some of us may not feel this partnership in the Gospel or the communion we have as Christians.  In our day to day living here in America we don’t always feel content with the people that are in our midst or with the possessions we have.  Maybe there’s a gift that you’re expecting this Christmas that you may not get.  Or, you’re expecting to see a family member or friend and they just don’t show.  Well in his book, “The Progress Paradox:  How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse,” Gregg Easterbook tells us how good we have it as Americans and as Westerners.  He says that we live better than 99.4 percent of all the human beings who’ve ever lived.  Whoa, we must have it pretty good!  For instance, life expectancy has nearly doubled in the past century and continues to increase.  Household income has doubled since 1960.  But that’s not all.  The price of food and many goods keeps falling. So we can buy more and more for ourselves.  Our standard of living has risen to levels our great-grandparents could never have imagined.  Following World War II  the average American home was 1,100 square feet.  Today it’s a whopping 2,300.  For most of our history, the average home had one room for every two people.  Today there are two rooms for every one person! 
8.      Wow!  We don’t have much to complain about as Americans.  God really has blessed us with a lot.  But, the average American and European suffers from more depression than our great-grandparents ever did.  For some people being depressed can be traced back to family history, but for others being depressed in the midst of so much prosperity can be traced to spiritual, cultural and moral factors.  What are we to do as Christians with all of this?  God has given us so much, and we remember a lot of this during the Christmas and Advent seasons.  Just like the Apostle Paul we have a lot to be thankful for:  a family, this Church, a house and so much more.  The very fact that we have houses to keep us warm during the winter proves just that.  Well a good place to start is to have gratitude and thankfulness for all that God has given to us.  The Roman orator Cicero called gratitude not only the “greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”  And the philosopher Immanuel Kant called ingratitude the, “essence of vileness.”
9.      As Christians, knowing that we’re better off than nearly every human that has ever lived can inspire us to a daily prayer of thanksgiving.  Like the Apostle Paul, we have so much to be thankful for.  So we can say like him, that we thank God for each other and for so many blessings that He’s given to us.  Especially the greatest blessing of all—the gift of eternal life that God has given to us through His Son Jesus Christ.  After all, that’s what we’re celebrating during this Advent season, “The coming of our Lord—baby Jesus.”   That little child in Bethlehem that became the God/man to take on our sins upon that Cross of Calvary, 33 years after His birth.  Because of Him, we can be thankful everyday and we can forgive one another for the mistakes we’ve made.  It’s through Jesus that we can be content and thankful for our family and friends and all of our possessions.  Through Him we’re led to say, “I hold you in my heart,” I have an Advent heart, because of Jesus Christ my Savior. 
10.  During this season of Advent and on into Christmas we pray like the Apostle Paul that we might grow in faith and love through Jesus Christ our Lord so that those around us may see Him living in our hearts and lives.  Here in Philippians chapter 1, Paul’s prayer was that the Church might grow all the more in faith and in words and deeds of love.  So too, as we grow in a mature Christian love and knowledge of Christ as our Savior we’ll be able to show that thankfulness and contentment in our lives.  In Christ there’s no reason to live without hope, for He’s given us so much: clothing, shoes, a home, family and friends.  May God move us through the power of His Holy Spirit to live out our Christian faith that we profess here in Church from Sunday to Sunday.  May we continue to grow together as a body of believers so that everyone will know the great Savior Jesus that we truly have, not only during this season of Advent and Christmas, but throughout the whole year.  Lord grant to us an Advent heart!  Amen.




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