First Sunday of Advent
November 30, 2008
 
 
  Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 21, 2008
 

First Sunday After Christmas
December 28, 2008
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Instructions for Advent Monologues
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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December 21, 2008—Fourth Sunday of Advent

Lectionary Texts: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Luke 1:47-55; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38

Sermon Text: Luke 2:8-20

The Unlikely Light Bearers

Our low fuel light came on recently and usually the car goes quite a ways before it needs gas. I just ignored it. I didn’t realize that it had come on with Dustin the day before so I thought I had a pretty good cushion. I drove it to Merced and back without getting gas. Then I had to go back to Merced later that evening and I still thought I was safe. I got to the Sonnenfeld’s house to pick up Andrew and was planning to just go home and fill it up the next day. But it wasn’t to be. As I was setting my cruise control driving down the freeway, I suddenly lost power. I put my foot on the gas to try to rev it up a little and nothing happened. I said out loud, “You’re kidding me, right?”

Thankfully I was right by an exit with a gas station. I exited and coasted down the off ramp praying the light would stay green so I could coast into the station. Everything was going well until suddenly that light went yellow and then my favorite color--except on that night--red. I grimaced and put on the brake. I was the first in line at that light and I was completely dead. I turned on my flashers and waved people by and wondered what in the world I was supposed to do with two little boys in the car and no gas.

I tried to call my husband but he didn’t answer--come to find out he was chatting to his dad, but that is another story. I thought about calling the Sonnenfeld’s but I knew they were having company come over and I didn’t want to ruin their plans. I said a prayer and called Dustin again. I think he had five missed calls from me. It was dark, there were homeless people around, it wasn’t the best part of town. People were honking behind me even though I had my flashers on, even though I was waving them to go around. It was stressful and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I couldn’t leave the kids in the car even thought the gas station was just kitty corner from us.

Suddenly a man came up to my window and asked if I needed help. A homeless man from the Community Action Center came over and helped me too. Instead of pushing me into the gas station they turned me and parked me across the street because the intersection was too busy to cut across all the lanes of traffic. When we were across the street we turned around and they tried three times to roll me out into traffic and across the five lanes. There was a fair amount of cursing going on at the back end of the car but finally we had timed the light right and got our momentum right and I was rolling across into the drive of the gas station.

There was an old man walking down the street that was oblivious to us and I was sure I was going to run him over but I didn’t want to put on my brakes. Thankfully one of my helpers called out, “Look out old man.” And he did. I cranked and cranked that wheel and found my resting place next to the gas pump. One of my assistants waved a good bye and I thanked him and he was off. The homeless man insisted on pumping my gas for me. I could smell the alcohol on his breath. He offered to give me his last two dollars if I didn’t have any money. I told him thanks but that was unnecessary. I gave him five dollars even though I knew where he would spend it and thanked him too.

I was having trouble getting my card to work in the pump and the attendant came out to help me--usually I am not this pathetic. He said to me, “How much money did you give that homeless guy.” I told him and he shook his head and cursed under his breath and said, “Scum like that doesn’t deserve anything.” I told him that he had helped me and so I offered him a little something in return. He shrugged his shoulders like “whatever.” It was an interesting experience. All around, a very interesting experience.

A totally different kind of experience from what the shepherd encountered on the hillside when the angels appeared. It was dark out there in the fields but the light of the stars and the moon would have been brighter than they are at night here in town. There was probably the flicker of the campfire too, so not pitch black. Just like there were some shady characters around where I was, some of those shepherds were pretty iffy in their standards and way of life. But that is when things change. The light from heaven comes, the angel appears and gives the shepherds a message about the birth of a Savior. They are the ones who receive this beautiful message of hope and favor from God.

They get up from where they are and they go and the Bible tells us that they found the baby just as the angels told them. It was a night filled with light and joy, hope and peace. Incredible, really.

There was nothing incredible about my running out of gas--unless you consider the incredible level of silliness that took place. It wasn’t filled with light and joy, hope and peace. But filled with sadness, stupidity, cursing, and necessity.

How different, though, was it really from what did take place on the hillside. I imagine there was some drinking that took place in the fields. I also imagine that as stories were shared around the campfire that cursing and crudeness took place. The shepherds were out there to make ends meet--necessity of life made them work in the fields. And to all of that, an angel came. To all of that, the message of God was given.

When the homeless man was pumping my gas I asked him if he was going to have to sleep outside that night--it was pretty cold. He told me he would. The shelter isn’t opening until January so there will be many cold nights for those without homes. I asked him if he had a church and he told me no, he just came here from New Mexico and is trying to get his feet under him. I gave him a copy of my business card and said if he needed anything or needed a church he was welcome to come here. He told me he didn’t believe in Jesus, he believes Jesus. Maybe there was a little light there. Maybe a little hope and peace came. Maybe the message of the angels was shared between us--two very different people, two very different life experiences, two very different walks of life. I hope that I was a beacon of light for God in that place at that time. Did he go and buy alcohol with the money I gave him? Drugs? Hopefully he got a hot meal with it, maybe he used it to get a pair of gloves. I don’t know and I don’t really care. God didn’t hold the shepherds’ experiences against them. He didn’t tell them to stop cursing, drinking, lying, and cheating before He sent the angel to give them the message. He met them where they were and offered His grace.

As His followers, we too need to offer grace in unlikely situations to unworthy people. Is there a person in your life that you are estranged from? God offers them grace, maybe you can be the vehicle for them to receive it. Does someone in your family constantly break your heart and make your life miserable? God offers them grace, maybe you can be the vehicle for them to receive it. Is there an ethnic group, an age group, a segment of society that you don’t really like? God offers them grace, maybe you can be the vehicle for them to receive it. None of these people may be deserving, but that is the beautiful thing about grace. God gives it to us even though we don’t deserve it.

God gives us grace even though He knows what we might do with it. Even though He knows we might squander it. Even though He knows what we really do in secret. God still offers us grace. How do I know? Because He sent heavenly messengers to a hill full of outcasts with the hope that they would feel His great love for them. He sent a light, not just that night, but into the world--the Light of Christ--so that we all, no matter who we are, what we are doing, where we have been, can receive His great love. The shepherds certainly felt it. Were they all changed forever by it? I don’t know, but I know that I am changed by the understanding of who they were and what they were given. If the shepherds could hear that message, so can I, the homeless man with a drinking problem, our family members who hurt us, our neighbors, and strangers. God freely offered His Son to those shepherds and He freely offers His Son to us. Talk about light, talk about life. Thank God for His marvelous gift of grace.

Let’s get to know the shepherds better this morning.The Fourth Week of Advent

The Shepherd’s Monologue

Shepherd: I’ve seen strange things take place in the fields. Things you wouldn’t believe if I told you. I have heard stories around campfires that could make your hair stand on end. Some of those stories I have shook my head in unbelief and said, “I don’t know . . . are you sure you saw that?” Being a shepherd really does mean going through some strange experiences and coming away with some amazing stories. I’m an old man now, but I remember it like it was yesterday.

It was a regular night out in the fields when I noticed something in the air that seemed a little bit unusual. The dogs started barking and everyone was attentive, waiting for a predator or a thief or something. I was ready. I had my staff in my hand and was scanning the horizon, looking. To our amazement, it was nothing like we imagined. It wasn’t an enemy to the flock, it wasn’t someone we were going to have to fight, it wasn’t a pack of wolves planning to attack our master’s sheep.

It was a light. A light unlike anything I have ever seen. It wasn’t natural or of this world. I have seen shooting stars that lit up the night. I have seen comets trailing through the midnight sky. I have seen the glow of fires on the hills making the dark sky orange and red. I have seen all kinds of light as I have sat on the hill with my master’s sheep. But this light was so bright, so penetrating, so warm . . . I don’t know how it could be all of those things at once but it was. I felt like everything I was, everything I had ever done--good or bad--was revealed by that light. But it was okay. I didn’t want to run from that penetrating light, I wanted to move closer to it, to be wrapped in it, to live in it.

I’m telling you the truth when I say this. You might shake your head like I have many times and you might even want to say, “I don’t know . . . are you sure you saw that?” I really did. I really saw an angel. I can’t tell you exactly what the angel looked like because it was such a shocking experience. I can’t tell you what the angel was wearing because I was amazed. The light that shone is what I remember. That light . . . I still can feel it.

One angel appeared in the sky and we were scared out of our sandals! I can’t tell you the fear that came upon us, but nobody ran. We all just stood, transfixed in that light. We were a great audience for this messenger from heaven. And what a message we heard! “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you:”

I remember when that angel said a Savior had been born to us that I was taken aback. To me? A Savior? What does this message mean? How can this be? The angel kept talking to us as we gazed up into the sky that light warming and convicting us. “You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

This was almost as strange as the idea that a Savior had been born to me. What is a baby doing lying in a manger and what does that have to do with a Savior? We turned and looked at each other amazed at this experience. I wanted to make sure that the others had seen and heard all that I had seen and heard. I saw them, that light shining on their faces and I knew that we had all shared this awesome experience. As I was looking around, the light suddenly got brighter. I didn’t have to shield my eyes or squint because the brighter it got the more beautiful it was, the more inviting it was. We all gazed up in amazement as the night sky was filled with heavenly beings, angels everywhere, angels all around us, singing the most beautiful song!

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
That night tears streamed down my face as I gazed into that light from heaven. It still brings tears to my eyes. I wasn’t ashamed by them because we were all amazed at what we were seeing, what we, simple shepherds, were being told. Who would have thought that God would send His messengers to us? I guess that was when I realized that the favor of God that the angels had spoken about wasn’t just for other people, it really was for me, also.

As soon as the angels had appeared they were gone again and the light had faded from the sky. All that was shining now was the red and orange flicker of our fire and the tears gleaming, wet on our cheeks. Our last thought at that moment was about the sheep. We couldn’t stay on the hillside anymore, we had to go. That light might not have been in the sky anymore but it was blazing in my heart. I had to find that baby, that Savior the angel had told us about. I cried out to the others, “We have to go to Bethlehem! We have to see this thing. The Lord told us about all of this, we have to find this baby.”

I wasn’t the only one. We gathered up our robes and threw down our staffs and we were running as fast as we could out of the hills and into the city. I don’t know how long it took us to find them, I don’t know how many places we looked. I just remember that when I poked my head into that stable and I saw that family and that tiny baby just as the angel had told us, when I saw all of that I fell down to my knees. I knew it was all true. I knew that a Savior had been born to me. To me, a simple man, a shepherd no less. God had come and shone His light on me. On me.
I couldn’t keep it to myself. I couldn’t stay in that place and hoard this beautiful light of God. I had to tell somebody. We all did. We didn’t care if they didn’t believe us, we were going to tell the world. We were going to shout it from the rooftops, sing it from the top of our lungs: A light in the sky! angels singing! a Savior! Come and see.

The Shepherd Character Sings: Come Just As You Are

The Fourth Sunday of Advent--Candle Lighting and Nativity Set Up

Reader 1: Today we have met the shepherds as they sat on the hills each night.

Reader 2: We have learned of that special night when God sent the angels to give them the greatest message in all of the world.

Reader 3: A Savior has been born to you!

Reader 1: A Savior has been born to you!

Reader 2: A Savior has been born to you!

Reader 3: Today we place the shepherd in the Nativity scene as a reminder to us all that God’s message of love is for all people!

Reader 1: We light the fourth candle of the Advent wreath as a reminder of the light that shone on those shepherds that night (The Candle Lighter lights the first, second, third, and fourth candle of the Advent Wreath.)

Reader 2: We do all of this as a reminder of the true Light, Jesus Christ, who was born in Bethlehem.Congregational Singing: Shine On Us