Rev. Dr. William F. (Chip) Summers              Pastor

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DR CHIP’S SERMON, December 1, 2019

"A MIGHTY SAVIOR"

Luke 1:67-79

   

   Zechariah’s prophesy picks up a major theme of the bookf Isaiah, that the Lord will come himself to redeem his people. The startling thing about the prophecy is that God will come in person. He will not send agents, assistants, or
instructions but will come himself to redeem his people.

And when he comes, he will be a mighty savior. The enemies of Israel will be helpless in the presence of this one who has sworn to redeem his people. The result of this liberation is “That we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.” It is a stirring, hope filled prophecy.

   Luke puts this story directly in front of the nativity story. It is as if he is challenging us to discover the mighty savior hidden in a manger. How can it be that this infant boy child is already a mighty savior? The answer lies in the story
Not the details of the story or the meaning of the story, but the story itself. There is something about this narrative itself that opens us to becoming more fully human, something that draws us towards holiness and righteousness. There is power in the story to break through the crust of defensiveness that we have built up and speak to our deepest needs. In the story of his birth, Jesus is already a mighty savior because he has the power to change us. 

   The power is in the story. I’ve already had several people tell me they were  looking forward to the Christmas Eve service. You remember that the service is the simplest possible process of listening to the story in Matthew and Luke and singing the carols that have grown out of the story. We all know the words by heart. “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus.../ And Mary gave
birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling.../ And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields keeping watch over their flocks..”  The story has the power to open us to a vision of innocence and purity that has gotten lost in the turmoil of everyday living. The power is in the story itself. It has the power to redeem us from cynicism, resentment, and hopelessness.

    And that story has given rise to a thousand other stories. I looked up “Christmas stories” on the internet and found one site that listed 473 separate stories and poems. Most of these stories pick up the theme of redemption.

• · By far the best known is Charles’ Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The irascible old Scrooge is redeemed from his early experiences of rejection and disappointment. He is opened again to being human, to caring.

• The Grinch Who Stole Christmas is a story about redemption. The Grinch’s feelings of anger and isolation are broken down by the Who’s humanity Mary Lou Who is the Christ figure whose love calls the grinch to be new and different life.

• I read one of the lesser known stories this week. Henry Van Dyke’s, The Other Wise Man, tells of a fourth wise man who is left behind. In his searching for the Christ, he is delayed by doing acts of kindness to several helpless people. At the end, he discovers he has been redeemed by the Christ.

    Each of these stories is driven by the notion of redemption. In different ways, the characters are delivered from cynicism, disillusionment, anger, defensiveness, and hatred.

     The Christmas story is about a mighty savior, one who comes to redeem us.  He has the greatest power of all, the power to change our heart. His story has given rise to a thousand other stories about redemption. But what about our story of redemption? Don’t we have memories of Christmas past that are redeeming?

    For your worship today, I invite you to think back over the years. Are there not Christmases when you were brought into the presence of something redeeming, when your life was opened to wonder and joy? Perhaps it was a year of reunion when a long absence finally ended. Maybe it was a first Christmas together. Or again, maybe it was a last Christmas. Was it the year a child was born that the story took on new meaning?

    Was there a year of poverty when the normal getting and buying had to be laid aside and the story became your story? I invite you to find a quiet time to think about this. Go over the years and look for those times when Christmas redeemed anger and isolation and replaced those things with well-being and contentment and Joy.

    And one last thing - It will soon be Christmas again. Is this the year the story of the infant will become a mighty savior in your life? Is this the year some crust of world-weariness will be sloughed off? If you find yourself being drawn into the tangle of human needs and hopes and loves, don’t resist it. A mighty savior may be opening you to his redeeming power.

    I’ll close by adding a new Christmas story. Not long ago, a man took a hundred dollar bill, went to Costco, bought five heavy jackets at 19.95 each, and took them to East Cooper Community Outreach. As he went in carrying the
armload of jackets, he passed a young family who huddled together appearing discouraged. Once inside, the man delivered the coats and went to one side to fill
out the form. Going back through the parking lot, the young man he had passed stopped him and said, “Did you just buy those coats?” The man said, “yes.” The
young man said, “I went in and asked for one of them. They’re really nice. Thank
you.” For just the briefest instant, God himself, the Living God, the Redeeming.

     God, was present in the parking lot. The desire to please people may only be the need for approval, but the desire to please God is transcendent.

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