Monday, December 2, 2024

Reflections on “Looking for God in the Future" Jeremiah 33: 14-16; Luke 21: 25-36

The first Sunday of Advent and the first sermon in the Advent preaching series!  I'm not sure this sermon broke any new ground or  had any grand insights.  The service had the ordination and installation of incoming officers and the celebration of the Lord's Supper, so the liturgy carried the service.  If I preached these texts again, I would figure out a way to focus on the people who "faint" from the Luke passage.  I used that in the Time with Young Disciples, and it would have been better in the sermon than what ended up in the sermon!  The conclusion was an ad lib in the service (I added it back to the written text after the service), and it probably would have worked better to have just ended with the last sentence of my second point.

 “Looking for God in the Future”, December 1, 2024; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; Jeremiah 33: 14-16; Luke 21: 25-36

14The 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. 15In 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. 16In 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.”


Introduction:   you don’t have to look very far to see signs of Christmas - decorations are already up in lots of places (including my house since we had our daughters together this year only for Thanksgiving, we had the house decorated and celebrated Christmas with them already).


For many of us, December is a mix and match of Advent preparation, Christmas celebration, and lots of variations in-between.


In the Advent sermon time one the next few weeks, we will be looking toward Christmas as we reflect on the lectionary texts that prepare us to meet the Christ child.


Preparing for Christmas often involves spending time looking for things.


some of us may spend time looking for the perfect gift to give someone.


some of us may be looking for that perfect photo - the photo from a family gathering, 


or that “just right” with our pets, or the photo of that place we visited


that photo that seems to perfectly show what our year has been like so we can put it on a Christmas card to send to friends and family.


some of us may be looking for comfort as we go through this holiday season for the first time without our loved one who died 


some of us may be looking for that special moment, that aha moment when we realize again what it means that God loves us enough to come to Bethlehem to live among us.


Looking for God is our theme this Advent as we reflect each week on where we might find God.


Although we hope the weekly themes are helpful to you, do not be limited by the sermon themes each week as you look for God in your life and in the world around you.


Move 1:  The prophet Jeremiah reminds us this morning that when we go looking for God, we have the assurance that we will find God at work in the future, which gives us hope.


a.  on those bad days we encounter,


those days when everything seems hopeless 


those days when you feel helpless,


we say things like, “this too shall pass.’


or we sing with Annie, “Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow, you’re always a day away”


and we think that tomorrow, or someday soon, things will be better, just because time has passed.


Perhaps more wishful thinking than a sense of hope.


b.  for Christians, however, our hope is not just in the passage of time or movement toward the future:


our hope is in the God who will continue to be at work in the future.


1. “The days are surely coming…”


the prophet Jeremiah announces these words to God’s people.


2.  Words prophesied to the Israelites as their world around them was falling apart with the Babylonians were threatening to overwhelm the Israelites,


or, depending on when you date this part of Jeremiah’s prophecy after the Israelites have already been banished into exile.


in either case, it is a word about the future to people in dire straits for whom the present seems to have no guarantees that they will even have a future.


c.  But, “the day is surely coming….”


1. Jeremiah assures them:  the future holds forth the promise that God will be true to God’s promises.


2. We can make it through today because God is ever before us working to redeem and save the world and us.


1. Notice that Jeremiah uses the phrase, ‘in those days…” to describe the future event.


2.  A phrase that shows up again at a rather important moment, doesn’t it?


We remember  in the second chapter of  the Gospel of Luke, the story about the birth of Jesus begins with those same words, “in those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus…”


3. We do not know if Jeremiah’s prophecy anticipates the next great ruler of Israel or if he is looking toward the day when Christ will come,  


but we do know the truth he prophesies.


“in those days…” 


some future moment, God will act decisively again to redeem and save.


4. what better way for us to look for God in the future than to remember what God has already done:


the God who created us by blowing the breath of life into humanity;


the God who rescued Israel from slavery and ushered them into the Promised Land;


the God who arrived in Bethlehem in the Christ-child will not be stopped.


5.  If you are looking for God, the days are surely coming when you will find God anew continuing to redeem and save.


Move 2: Discovering God at work in the future not only gives us hope, but makes us accountable.


a.  Jeremiah describes the righteous branch that will spring up for David as coming to execute justice and righteousness.


1.  God’s work in the future continues bring about justice and righteousness.


2. the future comes to us as the next day in which God calls us to be people of justice and righteousness.


b.  We know that our Advent journey leads us to Bethlehem and the coming of Christ, but it would be a mistake to see the arrival of baby Jesus and ignore what he comes to do.


1.  As Milton Brasher-Cunningham notes, “any trip to the Manger carries with it a call to justice.” (http://donteatalone.com/los-tres-reyes/ milton brasher-cunningham;  January 6, 2013).


2. Jesus comes to join with us, to call us to new life, and to announce that God’s work for justice and righteousness is not done.


3.  As long as injustice steals hope and the future from people;


as long as intolerance separates people by categories with some deemed better than others because of where they live or who they know;


as long as economic disparity brings riches for a few and despair for many;


as long as violence and bloodshed rain down death;


as long and grief and despair overwhelm people;


God will continue to be at work. 


4.  If you are looking for God, look for God among those who are working for justice and pursuing righteousness today and into the future.

Conclusion:  AS we look for God, we have the assurance that God is at work in the world;  we know that God is calling us to join in the work for justice and righteousness, until Christ comes again.



25“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.26People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. 28Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

29Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; 30as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. 31So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. 33Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 34“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, 35like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”




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