The prophet Isaiah writes: “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” – Isaiah 61:10 – 62:5
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The Apostle Paul writes: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.” – Galatians 4:4-7
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Luke writes: “When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought [Jesus] up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
“And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed — and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
“There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
“When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.” – Luke 2:22-40
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Merry Christmas!
Yes, I know Christmas was two days ago. But like the old song says, there are twelve days in Christmas, and my plan is to celebrate all twelve.
And today’s sermon is part of that.
For the past month here at the Partnership we have been holding an online study group called “Lessons From Carols” and on one of the evenings someone mentioned it felt like Advent and Lent have some common ground – which was a great observation. Both Advent and Lent look forward to history-changing events: Advent looks forward to Christmas – the birth of Jesus; and Lent looks forward to Easter – the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Fact is, if Jesus hadn’t died on the cross and then walked out of the grave alive on that first Easter, we wouldn’t be celebrating Christmas. If Jesus is still dead then Easter is pointless and so is our faith. But the truth is Jesus IS alive, and because he lives we too will live. The good news of Christmas is that the King of Kings, our Saviour, has been born. And because he is here we have hope and a future.
But I’m getting way ahead of our scripture readings for today!
I’d like to start with our reading from Isaiah, who gives us a thought to keep in mind: Christmas – or as Isaiah understood it, the coming of the Messiah – is about God’s gifts to us. We give gifts to each other at Christmastime because God first gave to us. We show our love for others because God first loved us. With that in mind, let’s listen to the words of Isaiah:
“I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”
God’s first Christmas gift to us is a robe of righteousness. Clothing. But not physical clothing: clothing that covers our imperfections and our weaknesses and our faults. The robe of righteousness is not self-righteousness because we don’t earn it or deserve it. God gives it.
When we talk about God’s righteousness we understand this is not a narrow concept but a very broad one. The Hebrew word for righteousness (tsedek) includes both the religious obligation to do what is morally right and the religious obligation to do what is just.
In the Jewish world, righteousness and justice are bound together: two sides of the same coin. And there’s a third aspect: generosity – giving to those in need – no matter how rich or how poor we may be. Remember Jesus’ words about the widow’s mite: the woman who gave two pennies, who – Jesus said – gave more than anyone else because she gave all she had. No matter how much or how little we have, we can always share what we have with others.
Scripture tells us there will be a day of reckoning, when everything we’ve ever said or done will be made known. I don’t know about you but that makes me a bit nervous to say the least. I am not the holiest person in the world by a long shot, and I sometimes find myself hoping God will grade on a curve, or that God will believe me if I tell Him the cat ate my homework. But I know that’s not going to happen. If my eternal future depends on me, then I’m in trouble.
The good news of Christmas is that my eternal future – all of our eternal futures – don’t depend on us. God has given us a robe of righteousness and garments of salvation. God says: “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication (which is the same thing as righteousness, it’s the same word in the Hebrew) – until her vindication shines like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. The nations will see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give.”
That’s the second Christmas gift from God: a new name, to go with the new clothes. Isaiah explains it: it’s like a wedding. Isaiah says: “the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”
Can you imagine – God – rejoicing – over us?
Scripture tells us God and sin cannot exist in the same space. It’s like matter and anti-matter, they can’t both occupy the same space at the same time. So how is it possible that God will rejoice over us imperfect human beings?
That’s where the robe of righteousness comes in. God gives us what we need so that our righteousness can shine like the sun and we can be objects of God’s rejoicing.
During this pandemic year we’ve all been slogging our way through, a lot of people have been talking in whispers about the end times. I’m not going to speculate when that may happen, but I do know it’s a good thing to think about the end times now and then, and to remember that God is in charge and all will be set right one day. Remember the words of Jesus about that last day, when he separates the sheep from the goats and says to the sheep: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was sick and in prison and you visited me” – and both the sheep and the goats are surprised at what Jesus says. Those who did these things, don’t remember doing them; and those who didn’t do these things don’t remember not doing them.
While we wait for the end times to come – whenever they may come – we need to be doing our very best to be feeding and clothing and welcoming and visiting those in need – because in doing so we grow to become more like our Saviour. And yet at the same time we know salvation is a gift, and always has been.
God will cause us to be clothed with righteousness. God will cause our vindication to shine like the sun.
Why?
Because God is our Father and God loves us. God is our creator, and God made us for a purpose, each one of us, you and me and our friends and neighbors and even (in some way) our enemies.
The end result is that all nations will see God’s righteousness and the vindication of God’s people. Isaiah says we will be like a crown of beauty in God’s hands.
And this is not just about individuals: the church itself will be purified: church defined as the body of believers, the community of God’s faithful people. During our Zoom Advent series, one evening’s discussion turned to what a mess organized religion is these days: the scandals we hear in the news; the jealousies between different churches and denominations; how churches are torn apart by politics and corruption. There’s no denying it, and it’s sad to see. Though it may help to know we’re not alone: even back in Isaiah’s day people saw the same things in the temple and in their religious leadership. But one day God will purify the community of the faithful and drape a robe of righteousness over it and hold it up to shine like a crown of glory.
How can this be?
Because it doesn’t depend on us.
As Christians we believe in miracles. And we trust a God of miracles.
And most of all we trust a God who came to us as a baby, as the child of a poor teenager in a backwater town in Galilee: a God who is able and willing to become one of us, so that we can be like Him.
Which leads us to the connection between Christmas and Easter: Jesus was born to be our salvation. This is why Simeon takes the baby Jesus into his arms and says “my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all the nations…” – and this will be both for the glory of Israel and for the salvation of the Gentiles (which is us).
Jesus was born to keep God’s commandments perfectly, because we can’t. Jesus was born to die on the cross and rise again – and in doing that, destroying the power of sin and death, for all of us, for all time.
Simeon in the temple took the baby Jesus in his arms and said that Jesus was “a sign given so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed.” There are powers in this world, often hidden, that literally feed on poverty and death. This is what makes (for example) racism so difficult to overcome: because there are people who profit on violence and death, and it’s not always who you think. It’s what makes war so impossible to put and end to: because people literally make profits on death. It’s what makes poverty so hard to overcome: because there are people who make money on the misfortune of others. It’s a truism on Wall Street that where there’s a crisis in the world there’s an opportunity to make a profit: and most of the time the people who do these things are hidden under a cloak of respectability.
Jesus has come to reveal what is hidden and to destroy the power of sin and death.
This also is God’s Christmas gift to us.
So what can we give God in return?
We can sing to him the words of the psalmist: “Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host!” For he has raised up a horn of salvation for His people.
We can come to the manger, with the shepherds and the wise men, and kneel before our newborn King.
And where it comes to Jesus being our King: we Americans generally don’t have a lot of experience with royalty. It takes practice. We can start with the understanding that God’s Kingdom is not a democracy and go from there.
But for now we approach the manger with faith and with trust that what God has spoken is true, and that Jesus our saviour has come, and that his life and death and resurrection will provide for us robes of righteousness and a glory that never fades.
AMEN
Preached for the South Hills Partnership of Methodist Churches, online, 12/27/2020