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December 6, 2009 Sermon

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Sermon (12/6/09)

Second Sunday of Advent--Year C

Philippians 1:3-11, Luke 3:1-6
Gary Sanford San Angelo, TX

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen

I like this time of year; these weeks and days leading up to Christmas. I like the feeling of excitement and expectation in anticipation of the joyous arrival of the baby Jesus. I like to watch those old Christmas movies (and some of the new ones). The ones where the mysterious stranger comes to town and saves Christmas; the ones where families torn apart by old wounds are miraculously healed and reunited; the ones that make you laugh and cry at the same time. I like these movies because they show us that there is room in this world for love and compassion, and hope. Hope that that love and compassion will find a place in all of our hearts.

This is the season of Advent (from the Latin word adventus meaning "coming"). It is a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. In our Gospel reading John tells us that it is the time to prepare for the coming of the Lord. He tells us to repent of our sins and to make straight the path of the one who is to come. And we wait. We wait for the coming of Jesus, the presence of God in this world in the form of man. We await the coming of a gift of love greater than we can possibly imagine, from a Father who loves us more than we can possibly imagine--a love that will endure for all time. The miracle of Christ's coming.

This has been a year of miracles for me not the least of which has been United Campus Ministries. As this year started, with hardly any students participating--not even for a free lunch, I was beginning to think that after 31 years of service we were going to have to close. Everything I tried seemed to fail. I read articles and studied reports. I attended seminars and studied the past records. I had all of the facts and figures yet, I could not find the answers I needed. I prayed, I cried, I lay awake at night trying to discover what I was doing wrong--what mistakes I was making. I knew that God had led me here. He pushed, He prodded and He made me step in when things were at their worst. I could see that it was bad and it would have been so easy to say, "Not my problem, let someone else do it." But I couldn't, He wouldn’t let me. And now I was failing Him.

Then He brought me students. Just a few, but they said, "We can make this work." Students that did not go to church, some who were questioning their faith and even some that didn't believe in the existence of God, and they made it work. How did that happen? It happened because this small group had an amazing amount of love and compassion for each other and others who they knew. They saw UCM as a place where they could come and be accepted for who and what they were without anything expected in return. They saw it as a place of safety filled with a desire to serve and love them. And that love and compassion has spread and grown. United Campus Ministries is now a thriving vital ministry reaching out campus wide to welcome students of all denominations and areas of study. God has given us new life and in His infinite wisdom knew that the old had to die before we could begin again.

And that is what we wait for, this Advent season; a new beginning in the birth of Jesus, new life in Christ. John tells us of the first coming of Jesus. Paul tells us of the second coming of Christ. Paul is preaching to the choir. He is reaffirming what these, and we, already know--that Christ will come again. And he cautions them, and us, to be prepared for that coming. "And this is my prayer," John says, "that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God." As we await the birth of Jesus will we also be ready for His second coming? Will we be pure and blameless? Will we have shared with others the love and compassion that God has so willingly given to us? My prayer is that we will.

Those old movies that I like, fiction, right? Well, some are, but some are true stories. It doesnt really matter, though. What they do show us is that love and compassion are possible and that miracles do happen. They show us that it is not too late to begin again, to offer love and compassion to others and to heal old wounds. Yes, we await anxiously a new beginning in the birth of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Let this also be a new beginning for us. The rewards we will reap in heaven will be far greater that the rewards we will experience here.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus Christ,
who is, who was, and who is to come,
we pray for the virtue of hope,
that amidst the trials and difficulties
of this world,
we may keep our hearts fixed
upon you, who reigns over the cosmos.
May your grace enliven us,
strengthen us,
and defend us,
as we await your coming in glory. Amen
David Bennett

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