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 28, 2008—First Sunday After Christmas Day

Lectionary Texts: Isaiah 61:10—62:3; Psalm 148; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:22-40

Sermon Text: Luke 2:9-14 and Isaiah 9:1-2

Ordinary Night, Extraordinary Messengers

“Only drive as fast as your guardian angel can fly.” Who has seen that on a bumper sticker or a license plate placard? “In the arms of the angels, fly away, from this dark cold hotel room and the emptiness that you feel.” Who has heard that beautiful song by Sara Mclaughlin? Or if you were at the funeral of Joe Hampton you heard the words, “And I believe there are angels around us.” You can probably think of other songs that talk about angels.

What about movies? There are angels in movies too. Sometimes it is the angel of death, other times it is a guardian angel that disappears when they have offered the help needed. Sometimes it is a messenger that says, you better change or else!

What ways do we use the word angel? Someone who helps us: Oh, she is such an angel. A child who behaves well: he is like a little angel. Someone who sings beautifully: the voice of an angel.

Who has a picture of an angel somewhere in your home? Probably on a Christmas card, maybe in a work of art, a statue, a plaque, a journal or book. That angel is probably a beautiful woman in flowing gowns, blonde hair, and an angelic face. You know what I mean.

We have a fascination with angels and yet we don’t know a lot about them really. The dictionary defines them like this: a spiritual being superior to man in power and intelligence; especially: one in the lowest rank in the celestial hierarchy; an attendant spirit or guardian

The Bible talks about angels in such a variety of ways that we can come away from the Scriptures wondering who in the world these creatures are. What their role is and what do they mean to us?

You can find many references to angels in the story of our Fathers of Faith, the Patriarchs. When Hagar was sent away from Abraham and Sarah’s camp because Sarah was jealous of her, an angel met her in the desert and showed her a well that she and her parched son could drink from. That is the kind of angel that we would like to meet when we are in trouble.

There were angels in the story of the destruction of the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. They came to tell Lot to get his family out before it was too late. They were messengers of God bringing a message of protection. Lot almost didn’t act on it! Those are the angels that we would like to meet when something bad is about to happen.

God told His people that He was sending an angel ahead of them to prepare the land for them, to fight their enemies, to protect Him. That is a good picture of angels, but how does that work exactly?

God spoke to women who were barren about the babies that they were finally going to have and hold in their arms. How did He speak to them? Through angels the Bible tells us--in dreams, and in person--angels came to give that wonderful, good, life changing news.

Psalms tells us that angels surround us when we pray. Protection is something that God’s angels seem to offer us.

But what do they look like, how do they do all of this, how do we know they are the ones speaking to us in dreams and it isn’t just that we ate pizza too late last night? Do angels still speak to us today? Do we meet angels? We don’t know as much as we would like. Wouldn’t I like to see an angel? Wouldn’t I like to have a visit from one--to hear those words “Do not be afraid, I bring you good tidings of great joy!”

Wouldn’t I love that? But I have never seen a messenger of God like the angels. I have never had that kind of experience. Very few people have.

We may never completely understand, until we get to heaven, what heavenly angels are. But it is interesting that throughout the Bible there are different meanings to the words angel. The kind of angel we have been talking about is definitely a Biblical one, but the prophets of God, regular men and women whom God gave His message to, were also called angels in the original languages. The real meaning of the word angel is messenger--you can see how people could also be called angels.

That is something I can get my mind around. Maybe I haven’t met a messenger like Mary met or that Joseph saw in His dream, but I have met messengers of God. When my mother and father spoke to me of Jesus Christ and His great love for me--I met a messenger of God. When my husband speaks love to me and cares for me and our children--I have met a messenger of God. When a friend comes and talks to me about something I am not doing correctly--I have met a loving messenger of God.

We may not see angels like those who proclaimed the birth of Jesus, but we kid ourselves if we think we have not encountered countless messengers from God. We must also be aware of the truth that we have the ability to be messengers from God as we grow to know Him and serve Him more.

I pray that today, on Christmas Sunday, I can be a messenger from God for you. Hear the words I am about to speak and know that I believe them with all of my heart and I have tested to see that they are true and real and possible. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the perfect, powerful Son of God. He came to this earth in the womb of a virgin teenager, Mary who willingly participated in the plan of God. He was raised by a man named Joseph who willingly participated in the plan of God. He was met in that stable where he was born by shepherds who were considered outcasts by many—the angels invited those kind of people! Wise men came and brought Him expensive gifts that foreshadowed His death. He grew up and learned, and lived and knew what it was to feel deep pain and loss, great joy and hope, anger and fear, uncertainty and wonder. He died on the Cross for our sins and on the third day He rose again. Knowing this Jesus, this baby that was born in a manger, has been life changing for me. Living a life like He has invited me to live has changed me. I can see with eyes of love those that are unlovely; I can give even when I don’t think I have enough; I can help in ways I never knew I was capable of; I can be a person of hope in a hopeless world, a person of love in a loveless world, a person of light in a dark world. All of this is not because of who I am, but because of who He is.

Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy that will be to all the people--that means you! Good news of great joy sounds like this: A Savior has been born to you, He is Christ the Lord. He loves you, He understands you, He invites you to journey with Him. Won’t you receive the message of the angels? Receive the greatest gift ever given: Jesus Christ.

The Fifth Sunday of Advent

The Angel’s Monologue

Angel: When it was time for God to send a Savior to the world we couldn’t have been more ready for it. We knew that God had to do something. Long ago He had promised to never again destroy the earth by flood. Let me tell you, the earth was a mess and if I had any say in it I think it should have been destroyed. But then again, I’m not God.

Many times God sent leaders to His people. Abraham obeyed God and helped the people. But their hearts were so wicked that they would turn away. God sent Moses to lead them out of slavery, and they griped in the desert that they wished they were slaves again because at least they had three square meals in Egypt. God sent Judges to try to help govern the messes the people had made. He anointed prophets and kings, and one after another they messed up, the people turned away from God to worship others.

As an angel in heaven, who is always in the beautiful, pure, holy, and powerful presence of God, it doesn’t make sense to me that the people would turn away incessantly. If they only knew what they were turning their backs on. If they only understood that God loved them so much. He had tried so many ways to get them to see, but they were blinded by selfishness.

I knew that God was going to have to do something, but I didn’t know what. If you have read the Scriptures, you know that we angels didn’t know what God’s plans were ahead of time. We just do His bidding when He asks. We wondered what we would be called to do, what we would have to help with this time. It was sure to be exciting, it was certain to be earth shattering. Maybe we would get to be a part of what really worked, what really would stick with the human beings God had created. Maybe they would finally get it.

I wondered if God would do something to show His incredible power--certainly they would believe God if He demonstrated all He could do. Or maybe, I thought, God would reveal himself in all of His glory: bright and shining on His throne, then they couldn’t deny Him anymore. Maybe God would swoop down and sweep up His people and save them from all that ails them--healings, restoration, hope, and peace. Just imagine that, think of all the joy that would overflow in the hearts of the people--they would see and believe! They would tell their children and their children’s children and it would be good with the world, the way that God wanted it to be from the beginning.

But let me tell you, it wasn’t like that at all. When I was summoned to the throne room to hear the plan that we were to participate in, I shook my head unsure how such things could take place, how they would make a difference.

A teenage girl was now the main character? Are you kidding me? Teenagers are known for their compulsive and impulsive behavior. What role could she play? And why a baby? What would a baby prove? There is no power in a baby, no glory in the ordinary birth of a child, no healing in childbirth. What was God thinking? And then the kicker, we were to get ready to sing our most beautiful song, to appear in the skies above Bethlehem and sing our hearts out in praise to God. I know how to do that! I thought about all of those other mind-boggling plans of God and this made sense. We angels, we can sing, and we love to sing praises to God. When I found out that we wouldn’t be singing at any palace, above any metropolitan area, but in a field with a bunch of filthy outcasts and stinking animals, I was even more shocked. What was God doing? But we didn’t ask questions, that isn’t our job. Even though we may have been dumbfounded by what was going on, we know that God’s plans somehow have a way of drawing people closer to Him. We know that God’s love supersedes all things and that something good would come from this. We also knew that if the people didn’t listen God would continue to work in ways we don’t understand to convey all of that never ending love.

An angel was sent to that little teenage girl, Mary, and she said something that shocked me: “May it be to me as you have said.” I never guessed a teenager would be willing to join in God’s plan like that, but she was.

An angel was sent to Joseph, the fiancé who found out that his soon-to-be-wife was pregnant. He didn’t humiliate her, he didn’t divorce her, he willingly took her as his wife. That shocked me too.

An angel was sent to the magi--wise and learned men--in a dream. They listened and didn’t go back to the king who wanted to kill the baby that God had given. I wouldn’t have thought men like that would have listened. I would have thought they would have sided with the king, but they didn’t.

An angel came again to Joseph in a dream and he got up in the night and escaped with his family to Egypt. Why did he get up and go? Why didn’t he think that maybe what they had eaten for dinner had caused wild dreams?

But the thing that shocked me the most was on the night that Jesus Christ was born. I never expected those shepherds to care one bit. I figured they would have attributed it to something else, booze, sleeplessness, other gods--I never would have thought that message that we sang would have spoken to them in such a way. But it did. I’ve never seen humans get up so fast and run. They searched and found Jesus just like we told them to. My jaw dropped then and there.

I never seem to understand what God is doing. I never understand what people are doing. But I am learning that God’s love can do amazing things.

I thought when God sent that tiny baby, when He sent His one and only Son, that He was making a big mistake. Why would a baby matter? Why would these ordinary people matter? What role could they play?

I understand how kings and rulers and mighty warriors might be able to help God, but not this group. I found that I was so wrong. It took something as humble and ordinary as a baby for people to really see God. To see the love He has for them. To see the willingness He has to enter into life, to share it with us, to walk with us, to know us. The people needed to see that. And they also needed to see something else I think. How many kings and rulers, and mighty warriors are there in the world? A lot less than ordinary people, right. There are many more regular teenagers, hurt fiancés, outcasts and just plain old people than there are famous and powerful people. God told the world something incredible when His Son was born, something I was too blind to understand, something that didn’t make sense to me: God can use regular people to do His will. He wants ordinary people to experience His extraordinary love, He longs for people like you to know who He is.

I always wanted God to reveal himself in some grand and powerful way. He really did. That helpless baby was more powerful than a million armies. I wanted God to show himself on His throne so people could see His glory. The manger, however, I think it shows the true glory of God. I wanted God to swoop down and fix everything, heal, restore, bring peace. God didn’t just swoop down and do all of that and then soar back up into heaven, no Jesus Christ came and lived and died and rose again. That was a lot more work, a lot more sacrifice, a lot more meaningful. That is something that people can talk about with their children, and their children’s children.

I am so glad that God invited me to be a part of His greatest plan. The sending of His Son might not have made sense to me at first, but I get it now. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.” I never get tired of singing that song!

The Angel Character Sings: O Holy Night!

Christmas Sunday Candle Lighting and Nativity Set Up

Reader One: Today we place the angels in the nativity.

Reader Two: These messengers were used by God to share the Good News of the coming of Jesus Christ, God’s one and only Son

Reader One: We thank God that He sent these angels so that the truth could be known of what He was doing.

Reader Two: We thank God that those who met the angels willingly received their message and did what the angels asked them to do.

Reader One: Today we light the Christ candle of the Advent wreath thanking God for the light of the angels. (The Candle Lighter lights the first, second, third, fourth and the Christ Candle.)

Reader Two: As we place the angels and light the candle we are mindful that God sent His Son to us. We willingly accept that message and commit to following Jesus. (The Nativity Helper places the angel in the Nativity scene.)

Congregational Singing: Shine On Us