The Lutheran Hour
-
"Hope for the Holidays"
- Download MP3 Reflections
-
Text: Jeremiah 33:14-16
-
Grace, and mercy, and peace be to you in the Name of our Advent hope, and our Christmas joy, Jesus the Christ! Amen!
It’s getting closer, isn’t it? It’s no secret that the countdown to Christmas is in full swing. Already, in September, I saw decorated Christmas trees in department stores! And now Christmas lights are glistening around the neighborhoods, decorated trees are visible throughout homes and store windows, and Christmas sales are being trumpeted in newspapers and on the Internet.
Yes, Christmas is getting closer. Children have their Christmas lists drawn up–perhaps the second or third edition of what they hope to find under the tree. Kitchens are being filled with the sweet smell of Christmas cookies, pageants are being practiced, and Christmas greetings are going out in the mail. It’s that time of year. You may even be someone who agrees with the renowned Christmas song: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”
But I’ve been a pastor for a lot of years and I know that this season isn’t always the most wonderful time of year for many who are listening today. Yes, this season of Christmas expectation may very well be filled with joy, but the word you use to describe this time of year may not be joy at all.
You might use the word dread. You might use the word grief. Or perhaps stress. Or you might even use the word hopelessness.
The darkness of the approaching winter may reflect the way you feel about the approaching holiday. With all the hurt that’s happened in your life, it’s not very easy to get excited about all the things going on. In fact, it may be a time of year when you feel more hurt than ever.
If you’ve lost a loved one, this is the time of year when your grief and pain are at an all time high. If you’ve experienced a broken relationship, this is the time of year when your heartbreak and loneliness hit you with full force. If you’re short on cash, this time of year aggravates your frustration over being unemployed or under-employed. If life has been difficult, if you’ve had a really hard stretch in your life, this time of year can send you into a spiral of depression.
That’s why Jeremiah’s message is so powerful for you and me today. I don’t want you to miss the hope that only God can bring, no matter what is happening in your life today, tomorrow, or the tomorrow after that. Whether you soar with glee during the holiday season or barely scrape by because of your pain and brokenness, this season brings you a precious gift. It is the gift of hope in God, God who cares about you and is committed to making things right. It is the hope of a Savior God who brings joy that lasts beyond the Christmas sales and who provides deep and abiding comfort that carries you through the worst of Christmas pain. Friend, today you have hope.
I don’t know if you remember the holiday Christmas classic movie, “White Christmas.” It starred Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera Ellen. It’s on television every December. Watching it is a tradition in our home! Filmed back in 1954, this Christmas classic featured Bing Crosby’s famous song, “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas.” Bing sings this classic Christmas ballad as the movie comes to a happy ending. But, if you remember the story, it didn’t start very happily. Like real life–perhaps like your Christmas season–the story started with challenge, pain, and frustration.
The movie storyline starts in the tumultuous days of World War II. Danger, loss, and fear dominate the main characters’ lives as they serve overseas in the armed forces. Even Christmas wasn’t peaceful in war-torn Europe. After making it through those challenging war years, the movie moves on to post-war life. Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye team up as partners in show business. The partnership begins well, but as you would expect in the movies, confusion, relationship troubles, disagreements, and the prospects of hopelessness barge into the characters’ lives. They hit the wall of some big problems as Christmas approaches.
That’s not very far from the reality of life that many of us experience every day, is it?
Today there are thousands of military men and women separated from home–away from their loved ones as Christmas approaches. Even worse, there are many families grieving the loss of their loved one, a soldier who paid the highest price for our freedom.
And, like the movie, strained relationships become more strained at Christmastime. It’s a season when things are supposed to feel right, so when everything feels wrong, the hurt hurts even more.
One character in the movie, General Waverly, seems to embody perserverence, but hopelessness nonetheless. He once commanded an army division, but after buying a ski lodge in Vermont, he now faces the prospect of losing everything. A warm winter with no snow meant no guests in his lodge and no revenue to keep it going. Every plan he tried didn’t work. Even the army didn’t want him back. His bank account was exhausted. He felt alone, unwanted, and at the end of his rope.
You know, in real life, these are not simply movie feelings. Art imitates life, and life can wear you down to the point of hopelessness.
But that’s, again, why God’s Word commands our attention today. In Jeremiah chapter thirty-three we hear: “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah” (vs.14).
The people of Israel and Judah were scraping by in life like General Waverly–perhaps like you today. They were hurting and hopeless. Life was filled with loss and wreckage. Everything was going wrong. But God let them know that the story wasn’t over! “The End” was not going to appear on the screen until He had His say and accomplished His way. God was going to intervene and make things right. This was a promise. This was His Good News. This was meant to change their outlook and give them hope.
Just a few chapters earlier, God declared to the people through the prophet Jeremiah, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV).
And that promise is for you today, too, dear friend. Even if everything is going all wrong, God is at work for you right now to make things right. You may not see it all come together today. You may not feel wonderful tomorrow. Problems and pain may still rage. But God is at work for you. God is holding on to you. God has an eternal plan for your life. You can trust Him even when this sin-ravaged world and your sin-stained life plunge you into despair, because even there God gives you a promise. And that proof of His promise to you is in the plan He accomplished for you.
Yes, your hope is in the plan. Your hope is in the plan that was announced to Adam and Eve; promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, established in King David, King Solomon, and fulfilled in Christ for you, for all. For when the plan is right, it works for all.That’s kind of what happened in the movie, “White Christmas.” Bing Crosby hatched a plan to save General Waverly. Bing was going to bail out the General and bring the help and joy he needed. So, Bing made a television appeal to all the soldiers in the General’s former command. They were asked to take their sweethearts and meet in Vermont at the General’s ski resort. They would pack the place for a special Christmas show and reunion. The troops would honor General Waverly and give “the Old Man” a hand. They brought strength, hope to the one who did the same for them on the battlefield.
It was a classic movie plan with good old Bing Crosby mustering every resource he could find and even footing the bill for the big celebration. As you might imagine, plenty of zaniness led to the ultimate accomplishment of this celluloid caper, but the results were heartwarming as hundreds of former soldiers sang of their love and allegiance to their dear general. The plan worked, movie ones always do, don’t they?
But that does remind us that good plans can work, and not just in the movies. You see God’s plan isn’t just “Hope for the Holidays.” In fact, God’s plan makes the holidays holy days! When God lays out His plan, it’s time to stand up and take notice for yourself! You see, this season is about God’s plan–His real plan to save you from hopelessness, pain, sin, and sadness. This season is about the way God mustered all of His resources and paid the full price to help you and to embrace you with His love and care. This season is about God sending His One and Only beloved Son to be born in human flesh, walk in the footsteps of your pain, and suffer for your sin and the sin of the world to win the victory over death, darkness, hurt, and hopelessness.
When the angels sang of the Savior’s birth, the plan was working. When Jesus defeated the devil in the desert of temptation, the plan was working. When the Son of God healed the sick and spoke words of forgiveness to the broken, the plan was working. When Jesus cried out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” the plan was working. When darkness covered the land as the Son of God was punished in our place, the plan was working; and when He rose from the dead, overcoming every obstacle that would try to steal away hope and life from you and your life, the plan was working.
No matter what hopelessness you feel right now, no matter how wrong life may be going, God’s plan for you still holds; His promise is true now for you, the risen Savior is with you. You are right with Him and He will make things right ultimately in your life. Count on it. With His living Word as comfort for your heart right now and with the assurance that all will be well one day with Him in eternity, Jesus brings you hope today, hope for the holidays.
In the midst of real pain, even struggle, Jeremiah spoke of God’s plan of your salvation hundreds of years before Jesus was even born in Bethlehem. He said, 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 dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.” (Jeremiah 33:15-16).
God’s righteousness means that God’s right way prevails. God’s plan rights the wrongs, overcomes our sins, breaks the chains of this world’s evil. God’s plan in Jesus Christ makes life right again. But did you notice? Jeremiah says that this plan is for us. It’s God’s righteousness, God’s justice and mercy; but for us, for you and for me. The Lord, our righteousness, He’s the One for us. Through His love, and mercy, and friendship, God gives you this gift of hope. You can hope again because God is at work for you, directing you, strengthening you, forgiving you, and walking with you. He offers His gift of righteousness, life, and salvation to give you hope.
The Bible declares: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him, in Jesus, we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV). In Jesus, God took all that was wrong and made our lives right again. This is real hope to face the day today, tomorrow, and forever. Jesus is telling us all, in Him, you’re going to be okay. Even as you face your biggest challenges, you’re going to be okay. God stepped in and made a plan to reach you in your time of need, you’re going to be okay. God stepped in to save you.
So, with the gift of forgiveness of sins, receive God’s hope for your holidays. With His everlasting love for you, receive God’s hope for your holidays. With the promise of a fully restored eternal life, receive God’s hope for your holidays.
Today, I’d like to leave you with this thought. “What happens when even the ‘generals’ in life need help?” Aren’t they supposed to be the ones who are strong for all of us? What happens when those generals are overwhelmed in their fight for us?
Remember General Waverly at the end of the Movie, “White Christmas?” Remember when he finally saw the outcome of the grand plan to help him, he was touched and moved beyond belief? Here was this tough old military general, even shedding a tear. Even the strong among us need hope and joy. And boy, was he grateful. If you’ve seen the movie, you know how wonderful the closing scenes are. It’s the joy that happens when plans of real love work in our lives.
That’s what Jeremiah wants for you today; God’s plan of real love, real hope, to be yours today by faith in Christ. I pray that you look to Christ this holy season, through all the festivities and even the sorrows, for only He can bring hope, joy, and peace to your life.
And take a look around, even in your struggles, even when you’re overwhelmed, take a look around and see if there are any General Waverly’s in your life. They may be people at the brink of hopelessness, but let them into your hearts and pray because when your hope is in Jesus Christ your Savior, you know a joy beyond the joy of a “White Christmas.” It’s a joy bigger than good friends, it’s a hope greater than our best efforts, it’s a peace that comes from a Savior who wouldn’t quit until we were saved eternally.
You really do have a gift to share this season because only the favor of God can make all things new in life; only the forgiveness of God can take away that guilt that you might be feeling today, and only the promise of God is sure, giving real hope to face the future with boldness.
You might say that His blessings are as white as snow! Oops. I think I just gave away the ending to the movie. That’s okay; it’s a movie that gets better the more that you watch anyway. But at the very end, if you remember, with all the best-laid plans actually coming together and working, you still have that wonderful, final scene. As Bing Crosby sings his signature song, “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know,” the large doors of the performace hall swing open just as the snow begins to fall outside. Yes, the barren, snowless season is over, the joy of the ski lodge’s winter wonderland are just beginning. Everything is new again. Everything is right again.
That’s Jeremiah’s promise to you today in Christ. In fact, that’s the prophets of the Old Testament throughout the Bible telling us to look to God always for His plan, His hope, His joy. That can happen for you today, let the doors of your heart open to His Word, His promise. Today, by faith in Jesus, you have a new beginning. The Bible says, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).
Today, in Him, you have new life. Today, in Him, you have new hope for the holidays. Let this hope hold you as you face the challenges in your life and the challenging days ahead! Let this hope hold you as you spend time with your family! Let this hope hold you as you make your way through the stores and the traffic and your neighborhood. And, don’t hold this hope alone; share with those who might really need it even more this time of year.
Real hope for the holidays this year! It’s a hope bigger than the hassles, the hustle and bustle or the headaches. Dear friend, the Prophet Jeremiah reminds you, with God’s plan in action, you have real hope in Jesus Christ, now and forever! Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for December 2, 2012
Topic: What Do The Candles On The Advent Wreath Mean?ANNOUNCER: Now, Pastor Gregory Seltz responds to questions about Christmas traditions. I’m Mark Eischer and today we’ll talk about the Advent wreath; four colored candles. What do they stand for?”
SELTZ: Well, that’s a great question, Mark, because it does show the difference between “church holiday time” and “Madison Avenue holiday time.”
ANNOUNCER: Okay. What do you mean by that?
SELTZ: Well, there is a lot of symbolism during the season before Christmas Day. As you mentioned, the season we’re in now is called Advent for the church; not the Christmas season yet. The word Advent means “arrival” or “beginning.” It is a time of anticipation and preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ birth on Christmas Day. Christmas season doesn’t even begin for the Christian until Christmas Day.
ANNOUNCER: Okay, now what about the wreath?
SELTZ: Well, let me say first of all, churches and Christian homes don’t always have wreaths, but the Advent tradition of wreaths goes way back. It’s a European tradition. It symbolizes life that lasts. So, Christians use these branches, these wreaths, to symbolize the eternal life we have in Christ. Even when the other trees look dead during the grey winter months, the pine tree stays green, pointing to the ongoing gift of life that we have even as we await the coming of Christ in our broken and imperfect world.
ANNOUNCER: Okay, so the wreath itself is rich in symbolism. What about the candles?
SELTZ: Well, there are four tall candles placed on the wreath. Each candle is lit each Sunday during the four Sundays before Christmas. So, on the first Sunday, one candle is lit. On the second Sunday, two candles are lit, and so on; and that growing brightness points to the fact that the celebration of Jesus, the Light of the world, is getting closer and closer.
ANNOUNCER: The double meaning is Christmas Day is getting closer, but, then again, so is the second coming of Jesus.
SELTZ: Exactly. These candles on the wreath are of two different colors. Three candles are blue or purple. One candle is pink. Blue is the color of hope and anticipation. Purple is the color that symbolizes repentance and preparation and that pink candle is lit on the third Sunday during the season of Advent; often called “Refreshment Sunday.” That’s a day of rejoicing and rest in the middle of a time of repentance and anticipation.
ANNOUNCER: Sort of like a countdown to the celebration of Jesus’ birth; a visual way to show us that that very good day is getting nearer.
SELTZ: Absolutely. And there’s even more to the symbolism. The first candle lit has been referred to as the Prophecy Candle. It opens the season of Advent, reminding us of the Old Testament prophets telling of Jesus’ birth. The second candle has been referred to as the Bethlehem Candle, the city of Jesus’ birth foretold in the Bible.
ANNOUNCER: All right. So, all of this has a much deeper meaning than I ever imagined!
SELTZ: Oh, yes, and it’s way better than even the “ball falling in Time’s Square!” That third candle on the wreath, then, as I mentioned, is the pink one. It is often referred to as the Shepherd’s Candle; representing the joyful sharing of the Good News of Christ’s birth by the shepherds. The final candle of the four has been called the Angels’ Candle. It points to the angelic announcement of the coming Savior. Advent wreaths oftentimes will even add a fifth candle. Usually white or red and is called the Christ Candle. That candle is lit on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It symbolizes the blood-bought gift of the forgiveness of our sins.
ANNOUNCER: Do all churches have Advent wreaths?
SELTZ: No, not every one of them does. But for the churches and even the homes that do use the wreath, it is a blessing to understand what the symbol is communicating. In fact, I like the idea of having those in your home as well.ANNOUNCER: Because you can use them as a part of a family devotion.
SELTZ: Now that’s one really good way to get ready for Christmas. In fact, Advent is a wonderful time to begin a tradition of family devotions. Having a simple Bible meditation and prayer can bring a family together during what has become a very hectic time. And you can always start today!
ANNOUNCER: And here at Lutheran Hour Ministries we’d like to offer some help if you’d like to get started with Advent devotions.
SELTZ: Yeah, in fact, I think you can download an Advent devotion booklet yourself for your personal use, use with your family, or even to share with your friends.
ANNOUNCER: The title of the booklet this year is “Christmas Memories” and it was written by our co-worker Rev. Wayne Palmer. You can download a free copy for yourself by going to our website: www.lhm.org and look for the appropriate tab. Thank you Pastor Seltz and for a variety of resources, Bible Studies, and more, go to www.lhm.org. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music Selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.
“Savior of the Nations, Come” arr. Henry Gerike. Used by permission.
“Let All Together Praise Our God” arr. Richard Gieseke. From Glad Tidings (© Lutheran Hour
Ministries) Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Nun komm der Heiden Heiland” by J.S. Bach. From Christmas Pastorale (© 1993 Japan Lutheran
Hour)