Hope and Encouragement - Sermon for the 2nd Sunday in Advent

2^nd Sunday of Advent
December 4^th, Year of Our + Lord 2022
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Hill City and Custer, SD
Hope and Encouragement 
Rom. 15:4-13, Matt. 3:1-12, Is. 11:1-10

 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope…¹³ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.    

   At first blush, it seems like John the Baptizer didn’t get the memo about encouragement. 

    Encouragement and hope.  Sounds good.  Paul begins and ends our passage from his letter to the Romans with hope, not despair.  With the prayer that we be encouraged, not discouraged.

    Where do you find hope?  What encourages you?  Or are you not feeling very hopeful or encouraged these days? 

    Most of our joy stems from being in harmony with family and friends.  And, our greatest sorrows and angst stem from conflict with those we should be closest to.  This has always been so.  Indeed, between the first and last sentences of our Epistle reading this morning, harmony is exactly what Paul talks about.

   May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, ⁶ that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷ Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.  Paul isn’t just speaking of getting along with parents or your siblings, or even with your countrymen.  He exhorts the Roman Christians to fulfill who they are in Christ and achieve harmony between nations, between Jew and non-Jew, between all the nations, so that all peoples be unified in praise of God, for sending the root of Jesse, Christ Jesus, the Lord of all.    

    Such harmony is hard to imagine today.  Between the nations  of the world, division and rivalry predominate, and today the possibility of wide ranging war looms.  Within these United States of America, we are fractured.  Perhaps it’s because we lack one clear agreed upon external enemy to unify us.   Or perhaps it’s due to the decline of the Christian Church and the family as institutions.   Whatever the causes, people today more and more seek identity and security in new tribes. 

    The problem is, whether they are political movements, social movements, or just crowds following charismatic leaders, these new tribes spend most of their time hating each other.  No one seems to have a positive agenda.  But it is an everyday event to hear of a mob or an tribal leader denounce a rival American tribe in much harsher terms than they will speak of an objective international enemy.  Borrowing the tone of the Baptizer, political and social rivals from all points on the spectrum label each other “broods of vipers.”  They use different words, of course.  Racist.  Traitor.  Brain-washed.  Sub-human.  “Them.”  Enemies we’d like to see burned by unquenchable fire, despite the fact they are fellow citizens, neighbors.   

    Such things ought not be, but they are.  The divided, bitter state of affairs in America today mocks the harmony prophesied by Isaiah, that the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. 

Sounds like a pipe dream, doesn’t it?

   We are not wrong to worry about the fractured state of affairs in our world and in our nation.  Or about whatever struggles we face in our communities, our neighborhoods and our families.  We may feel powerless to improve anything.  The promises of Scripture seem to be defeated by the realities of life in this world.  But do not give up hope.  When our hope fades, we are not called to despair, but to discover true and lasting hope.  We are called to be instructed by Scripture, to dig deeper into the Word of God, and find the hope that is Christ for us.  Through His wisdom and encouragement, we will learn the right way to interpret and live in this troubled world. 

   As we struggle with the disconnect between the hope promised in the Bible and the discord and hopelessness we see all around us, the first thing to understand is where the promised harmony that Paul and Isaiah speak of is to be found.  Spoiler alert, it’s not out there in the world. 

    The harmony and unity that Paul is calling the Romans to fulfill, even between various tribes and ethnic groups, refers to peace and harmony between the people from those groups who have become part of Jesus’ tribe, the New Israel, the Christian Church.  All loyalties one might have held prior to being baptized are superseded by faith in and loyalty to the One who destroyed every wall of separation by His death on a Roman cross. 

   Am I black, brown, white or of mixed race?  O.k., but in Christ all are brothers and sisters.  Am I German or American or Japanese or Russian?  That’s fine, but first and last, I am a Christian, happily bound by the Word of the One who bears scars for me.  Am I a man, a woman, am I rich or poor, beautiful or plain?  Unimportant, for God the Father has called me and all of us to be His beloved children, by the power of His Spirit, who brought us to believe in Jesus, His Son. 

   Not all of the differences that can divide us are the result of sin.  God makes some men, some women, some tall, some short, all with differing talents.  And yet Christ joins us together in one body. 

   Still, many worldly differences, like nationality, economic level, or ethnicity, are by-products of the divisive sin that remains in all of us.  And any of these minor characteristics, whether good or bad in and of themselves, become a problem if they gain more importance than the fundamental characteristic of every member of Christ’s Body the Church. 

    This is to say, nothing comes before being a repentant sinner who clings to Jesus and His forgiving love.  And so Paul says, “welcome each other as Christ has welcomed you.” How did Christ welcome you?  By washing you clean of all your sin, and declaring you a beloved child of His Heavenly Father.  So we also see and treat our brothers and sisters in Christ.          

    John the Baptizer preached fierce law… for the sake of delivering forgiving love.  He was, after all, preparing the way of Jesus, who would submit to the fiercest law, to win forgiveness for all. 

    And so we who have been rescued by the Cross and Resurrection are called to speak the truth in love with each other, to bear each other’s burdens and faults, to be long suffering for the sake of unity.  Also, we should never just allow a brother or sister to wander off into sin.  Sometimes brotherly love requires mutual correction.  Harmony in the Church is not easy.  It cost Jesus’ His life’s blood.  But it is possible, because the lifeblood of Jesus is ours.  His Word of Hope has fractured our stony hearts and given us new hearts, hearts made whole in order to love unselfishly.  In His Supper He comes to us hidden under the bread and wine, truly feeding us with Himself, for forgiveness, and binding us together, each one to the other, a tangible local manifestation of unity and love.  

   The harmony Paul speaks of requires ongoing work within each congregation.  Isaiah encourages us with the goal, the perfect harmony that we will enjoy in the new creation, in the age to come, where wolf and lamb lie down together in peace. 

    But what about the world?  Shall we turn inward, abandon the world to hell and make ourselves into a congregational island, a 21^st century monastery?  No, not unless they force us.  We are, in an important sense, left here by Christ for the sake of the world.  There is no hope for lasting peace in the world, but there is hope for peace for every sinner.  And Christians who love and serve their neighbors are chief among the ways that the Holy Spirit builds the bridges that enable us to share God’s peace with others.  And, as the world, or your corner of the world, gets populated with more peace-filled Christians, it does become a better place, right now, one hopeful soul at a time.  That’s not heaven, but it is a very good thing.    

    So what do we do, exactly?  Well, try this.  Don’t think about fixing what’s wrong, far away.  It’s hard not to worry and focus on bad things, way over there, because these doom bricks we call smart phones grab our eyeballs and frighten us with the most outlandish or ominous news.  We could all consume less media.  Exchange some of the time you spend online with reading or listening to God’s Word.  And with loving your neighbor.  Your actual, right next to you neighbor.  Your family could always use more love and attention, and maybe a good example and a little discipline.  And that crank who lives next door or down the lane, or that crazy lady across the street, or that weird kid in science class.  They could stand to see a friendly smile, I’m sure of it.  Maybe you can start with just saying hello, or a small gesture of neighborly help.    

    That’s hard, I know.  More importantly, Jesus knows how hard it is, because He loved all His neighbors, perfectly, even as they rejected Him.  In His resurrected power, you can love a little, too.  Pray first.  Ask the Lord to soften your heart, and show you how.  If everybody makes their corner of the world a bit better, wow, that would really be something.  Something that the Spirit could use, to give the hope of eternal life to more and more sinners, sinners like you and me. 

     So, to end where we began, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.  Hope is yours, in Christ Jesus, the little child, who came at Christmas, to grow into your crucified and risen Savior.  He forgives you, loves you, and goes with you every day, until the day He leads you home.  Be encouraged, and live in His hope, Amen.