Sermon 11.26.2023; Hope in a New and Glorious Morn

This Advent, our theme is "A New and Glorious Morn" a line from the Christmas song, "O Holy Night." As we await the birth of a Messiah and the birth of a new and glorious morning, how might we hold onto hope that this is possible? Join us for the first Sunday in Advent as we journey together towards Christmas! 

Scripture

Jeremiah 33

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still confined in the court of the guard: Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to make a defense against the siege-ramps and before the sword: The Chaldeans are coming in to fight and to fill them with the dead bodies of those whom I shall strike down in my anger and my wrath, for I have hidden my face from this city because of all their wickedness. I am going to bring it recovery and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them; they shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.

Thus says the Lord: In this place of which you say, “It is a waste without human beings or animals,” in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without inhabitants, human or animal, there shall once more be heard the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord: “Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: In this place that is waste, without human beings or animals, and in all its towns there shall again be pasture for shepherds resting their flocks. In the towns of the hill country, of the Shephelah, and of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, the places around Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah, flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the Lord. The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”

For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, and the levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to make grain offerings, and to make sacrifices for all time. The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: Thus says the Lord: If any of you could break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night would not come at their appointed time, only then could my covenant with my servant David be broken, so that he would not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with my ministers the Levites. Just as the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will increase the offspring of my servant David, and the Levites who minister to me. The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: Have you not observed how these people say, “The two families that the Lord chose have been rejected by him,” and how they hold my people in such contempt that they no longer regard them as a nation? Thus says the Lord: Only if I had not established my covenant with day and night and the ordinances of heaven and earth, would I reject the offspring of Jacob and of my servant David and not choose any of his descendants as rulers over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes, and will have mercy upon them.

Sermon Text

This year, our Advent theme is "A New and Glorious Morn" which is a line taken from the beloved Christmas classic “O Holy Night.”

Before the song’s first refrain, we sing: 

A thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn’

Friends, as we prepare to “fall on our knees” and kneel at the stable in Bethlehem, before the Christ child, we journey through this season of Advent.

And today, we journey with hope, remembering that a new and glorious morn is indeed on its way. Ann Weems, the Presbyterian poet writes:

The Christmas spirit

is that hope

which tenaciously clings

to the hearts of the faithful

and announces

in the face

of any Herod the world can produce

and all the inn doors slammed in our faces

and all the dark nights of our souls

that with God

all things still are possible,

that even now

unto us a Child is born!

Before we can celebrate the birth of the Christ child, we often read through the prophets. The prophet Jeremiah is sometimes referred to as the weeping prophet. The prophets, overall, probably weren’t the most pleasant to be around. They were usually folks who lived on the margins of society with a strong “wilderness” background. And they were rarely filled with cheerful news or bright fortunes for the future. Rather, they were often critics of society, pointing out all that the people were doing wrong, with the hopes that their warnings would turn the people back to following God.

In fact, when Jeremiah speaks these words that Marci read from the 33rd chapter, he’s imprisoned at the court of the guard. The leadership of Israel has gotten so tired of him speaking out, that they’ve locked him up.

But all that Jeremiah foretold has come to pass. Jeremiah was a prophet in a time of destruction and the collapse of a kingdom. Babylon, a stronger, bigger force, has come, invading Judah and Jerusalem, leaving hardly anything behind and leading the people into exile. This is a national tragedy that will shape the people of God for centuries.

And here is Jeremiah, a witness to it all. One who has tried to prevent the worst of it.

The one who warned that this might be possible. So surely, he weeps, brokenhearted and exhausted. Biblical lore has it that he penned the book of Lamentations. And while that is probably more tradition than truth, it certainly is in the style of Jeremiah who laments again and again for the first half of the book. Interestingly, however, the name Jeremiah means “the Lord will exalt.” And we see how in this chapter, Jeremiah goes from a weeping prophet to a prophet of hope, a prophet who believes that the Lord will indeed exalt, a prophet who can dream a future that seems completely lost.

Throughout today’s scripture, we see the world as it is, and the world as it could be. And it is that glimpse of what could be that stirs hope within us.

There is beautiful communion liturgy that says we partake in the Lord’s Supper with one foot in the world as it is, and one foot in the world as it should be.

For Jeremiah and his people, the Chaldeans have come to fight and kill those living in Judah. But God says, “I am going to bring it recovery and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first.”

What is before them now is death and destruction. But what is coming is prosperity and security. For Jeremiah and his people, the land is desolate, a waste without human beings or animals. But God says, “there shall once more be heard the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness…” What is before them now is tears and tyranny. But what is coming is gladness and singing.

For Jeremiah and his people, they are without a king and without a country. But God says, “David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, and the levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to make sacrifices for all time.” What is before them now is division and ruins. But what is coming is a covenantal commitment from God that they will always be God’s people, no matter what, even without the temple, even without their kings, they belong to God.

Friends, this has been a tough year, wrought with violence and war. To read about the destruction of Israel while Israel, Gaza, and Palestine today are being destroyed is heart-wrenching. It can all seem so hopeless and doomed.

But can we, like Jeremiah, dream of or imagine another way? Because within that prophetic imagination is where we find hope. And hope is necessary in times of despair. Can we imagine a ceasefire and an agreement between nations, so that civilian lives are spared?

Walt Disney is rumored to have said, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” I am a career pessimist myself, so I know that it’s not as easy as that. But perhaps if we can dream it, then hope finds a way to persist and allows us to do the work necessary for the impossible to come within reach.

Jonas Edward Salk was an American virologist and researcher who developed one of the first successful polio vaccines. He spent his last years searching for a vaccine against AIDS, and he once said, “Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.” — Jonas Salk

Can we muster the courage needed to turn dreams into reality?

We live in a divided time, a time of violence and anger and retribution. We see our unhoused neighbors on every corner; making rent is only getting harder, and the price of groceries, parking tickets, and the PG&E bill are higher than ever.

While these are certainly issues unique to our time, they aren’t unknown or unknowable to God. And the God who was faithful then, is faithful still.

A dictionary definition of hope says it is “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” Added underneath it, is an archaic definition meaning “a feeling of trust.”

Our hopes, as followers of Jesus, are not fleeting or momentary. Rather, they are rooted in a God who is faithful.

For Christians, to hope means to trust in God and to believe that God is doing a new thing, even as we suffer through the old things again and again.

When we were choosing a theme for Advent this year, at first we considered another line from “O Holy Night.” I was particularly struck by the notion of “A Weary World Rejoices” which is what many churches will be using through the liturgy group “A Sanctified Art.” 

But ultimately, through Victor’s nudging, we decided to go with an emphasis on hope rather than weariness - “A New and Glorious Morn.” 

Can we believe that morning will come after a long night, especially these nights that are getting longer and longer through the solstice? And in that sunrise, there is the promise of something new and glorious.

When I was but a fledgling pastor in Minnesota, I led several mission trips, some of which were to our partner church in Colombia, La Iglesia Presbiteriana de Colombia.

On one of those trips, we took some youth and young adults, one of whom was a college freshman who charmed everyone we met. I still have on my phone a recording of him dancing with some of the older women we met in Colombia.

He was fun, thoughtful, and nearly fluent in Spanish. It was wonderful to get to witness him share God’s love with the world.

Several months after that trip, he was in a car accident and died instantly. I was devasted; we all were. And even though I was on maternity leave after the birth of Austin, I asked to come back to take part in his memorial service.

This young man was the youngest of three children, and his parents were long-time members of our congregation.

His dad was able to speak at the service, and his words have stayed with me all these years. Speaking to his son, he said, “I look forward to the day when the sound of your name brings a smile to lips rather than a tear to my eyes.”

“I look forward to the day when the sound of your name brings a smile to lips rather than a tear to my eyes.”

My friends, that is prophetic imagination. In the throes of grief, to have enough hope to believe that, one day, we will smile again.

Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. But perhaps Jeremiah’s most lasting legacy may in fact be one of hope.

One of the most quoted verses in the Bible is from Jeremiah 29:11, “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.”

In this season of Advent, a new and glorious morn is promised us through the birth of a child, born in a manger. In this season of Advent, a new and glorious morn is coming; its arrival is imminent.

So take heart. Be of courage. Dream dreams, and let hope arise.

Amen.