Episcopal Church of the
Incarnation
The Second Sunday of Christmas (B)
Jeremiah
31.7-14 Psalm 84 Ephesians 1.3-6, 15-19a
Matthew 2.1-12
May the Lord be in my mind, on my lips, and in my heart, that
I may rightly and truly proclaim His holy Word. Amen.
1) “Bond. James Bond.”
There can be few men of my generation who have not at some time thought
of what it would be like to sit in some glamorous setting and to give this
answer to a glamorous woman who has asked, “And who, sir, are you?”
a) Being handsome and powerful,
and with unlimited resources, is a pretty common fantasy.
b) But let’s draw a distinction
between fantasy–what we know not to be real–and the present reality of what
will come to pass in the future.
i) There’s a real difference
between a young child saying “I will be a doctor when I grow up”–and then
working to attain this goal–and a child who says “One day I will be king”.
ii) The child who says “I will
be a doctor”, and works to attain this goal, is speaking of a future reality
made present.
c) Just as The Letter to the
Hebrews instructs us that “... faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11.1).
i) We know by faith that the
hope to which we are called is real.
ii) We know by faith that salvation
is not a future event but a present reality.
2) Faith and hope
intertwine. Faith is like the “eyes of
the heart” in Ephesians, by which we see that what we hope for is real.
a) Faith is the assurance, the
substance now that what God calls us to and promises us, lives within us
and changes us now.
i) It is not just potential and
dream.
3) In popular parlance there’s
another way to describe this. An
Evangelical Christian would state, simply, “I am saved”.
a) And that’s language that in
the Episcopal Church can seem to come from another culture.
i) But let’s think about how
that expression might apply to the magi, the “wise men from the East” who came
to
b) The wise men, who “left for
their own country by another road” knew who this child, Jesus, was.
i) They found Him and paid Him
homage, offering gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh in token of His kingly
office, His priestly office, and the fulfillment of prophecy.
(1) But then they left for their
own country.
c) They knew that this child
before them was the One promised by God, was the One to whom all the scriptures
(and the star) pointed as the Anointed, the Messiah; the one promised to
establish God’s reign.
i) And so they didn’t have to
worry about hanging around to witness that reign.
(1) For the eyes of their hearts
were open to receive their king.
(a) They knew salvation to be a
present reality.
4) So when someone asks, “Are
you saved?” you can answer “Yes!” emphatically, for the “hope to which [God]
has called you” (Eph. 1.18) is a present reality.
a) It is the reality of knowing
that God has chosen you, has adopted you as His child.
i) His child to know “the
riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and ... the immeasurable
greatness of his power for [you] who believe” (Eph. 1.19).
ii) His child who is changed now
by this power.
5) The wise men were changed by
Jesus. That’s why they could go back
home, even to a home that did not know God.
a) They did know Him.
b) They could go back home not
despairing, but living in hope, for the “eyes of [their] hearts” had been
enlightened by the Light which had come into the world.
i) And so even if this light
was not known in their own lands, they knew this light.
6) You see, the opposite of
hope is despair. It is saying that there
is no light, and no possibility of light.
a) People in despair curse the
darkness, and seeing no purpose live in the futility of their own minds (Rom.
1.21).
i) They live in a fantasy world,
a world in which I might not just dream of being James Bond but also pursue the
next thrill in the vain fantasy that I can one day really experience that power
and attractiveness.
b) People in despair do not
just curse the darkness, but cannot see that beyond darkness there is light;
that God’s light will enter their lives if they will open themselves to Him
i) They curse the darkness
while at the same time wishing, dreaming of the fulfillment of some
fantasy, of the fulfillment of self.
ii) But people of faith do not
dream of a future fantasy, for they know that right here, right now, God “has
blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing” (Eph. 1.3).
7) At the start of the new year
it is customary to look forward, to hope for a good year, one filled with blessings.
a) At this new year we too can
live in hope, but in hope that is a present reality, in the present reality of
knowing the blessing of God who, in the words of the Collect, “... wonderfully
created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature ...”
i) And our calling as believers
is that we take this hope, take this blessing, and proclaim it, share it.
b) We’ve been very good about
“taking care of business”.
i) The church physical plant is
in great shape and expanded.
ii) The church budget is in good
shape.
iii) Church attendance and
membership both increased in 2008.
iv) We have experienced and
experience the light of God’s blessing.
c) But around us are many who
sit in darkness.
i) They may not know God at
all, or they may know Him but think of salvation as only a future tense
reality.
(1) It is our mission to look
outward, beyond the bounds of this parish.
(a) To share the blessings we
have received, but above all to share in the present reality of blessing, in
the present reality of the Lord who has come into this world.
(b) Then we may the words of Psalm 84, together with those around us: “Happy are the people whose strength is in you! whose hearts are set on the pilgrim way” (Ps. 84.4).
(c) Let our hearts be set on this pilgrim way, just as the hearts of the wise men sought in pilgrimage for the Light which had come into the world, that with hearts enlightened we may know the hope to which we are called.
In
the Name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.