Sermon Series November 30th to December 24th
Hark!
So this English word, “Hark!” has become a profound Christmas message. It it is an english word, a verb, “to play close attention.” Through the Old Testament we get this kind of message a lot. Hear! Listen! Pay Attention. It’s the voice of God breaking in to tell us that we’re about to be in on something very special. Tune in! So it’s surprising and beautiful that the New Testament story starts with lots of Harking and Heralding. Lots of announcements for people to pay attention.
One of the first “Hark!” moments came with great news: Zechariah’s going to be a dad, and this son of his is going to be John, a great man to be used by God. Amazing. This is front page news! Then Gabriel, this Good News bringer, this angel, says, “nope, you have good news, but you will be mute.” And he was.
Often this would happen in Jesus’ ministry, too. Someone would get healed or freed in some beautiful way then Jesus would say, “hush” be still. Quiet. Keep it to yourself. Why? It’s Good News worth sharing? If it was me, and I had good news, I’d share it far and wide. But, I think there is a deeper wisdom here. Sometimes when we get good news we want it to be validated, we want others to tell us if it’s true or not, to agree with us, to help us sort out what we’ve just experienced. We are hungry for approval, for clarity. But God’s Good News doesn’t need a vote by committee, it just IS. I think Good News, like the Good News we are about to see throughout the Christmas Story, is often met with a holy hush because it’s signalling how we all need to hold the Good News of Jesus for awhile: we need to hold it close.
The early Church fathers loves the work of stillness to make our hearts grow to fit the Good News.
Go Deeper: Resources
Our intention is to create or share resources to help people explore these topics in further depth. Here are a few resources you might find meaningful during this sermon series.
Sermon Audio Files
Hark!
So Zechariah is brought into silence. This Good News is for his heart, not to share…yet.
Silence is not a punishment for Zechariah, it’s a result of his unbelief, yes, but not a punishment for his failure.
God wanted him to believe, so he made him quiet. Maybe God sees your unbelief and your fears and your anxieties. Maybe you’re invited to be quiet today. Maybe your belief begins in the gift of silence so that you can meet Jesus there. The pregnant ache of Advent is the ache of your heart.
This is a birth story, after all. And your faith may need to grow in the gift of silence.
Hark! Jesus lives in you
Mary’s experience was not like anyone before and anyone after. To carry Jesus, God himself, into the world is something we can only imagine. It is unique in all ways. We cannot imagine the eternal God coming to make a home in a woman. To entrust his life, frail and small, to the care of a young woman. What God would do such thing. Clearly God thought that his life, the life of Jesus, the incarnate fully God-fully man, would grow up in the very body of this precious young lady. It was perfect. This is what made Gabriel burst into the scene with just joy. The plan, aeons in the making, was about to grow in the very body of a woman who is the descendent of thousands of people who ran from God, now God is coming to find them. Growing in this girl, it was the very best way.But, there is something profound here for us. Hark!
Hark: Refiner’s Fire
Up until now, the angel of God, Gabriel, has come to individuals. Zechariah in the temple, to Mary directly, to Joseph in a dream. Each profoundly personal. But here something shifts. The Good News God is announcing spills over into a group of people. This message is not just for one or two, it’s for all. Something more is happening here
Hark! Joseph
God interrupts Joseph when he’s at work being faithful, in the half-made part of his story. Joseph is doing what he should, preparing a home, securing provision, establishing a faithful partnership.
He is doing exactly what he should, incomplete as it is, when God interrupts him. Jesus would later emphasize this, that God comes as a thief in the night, or as a unexpected guest, we should be found faithfully at our work when God arrives. Joseph was found faithfully at work when God met him. Sometimes we meet God when we’re going on about what God called us to do. The menial tasks of our day, faithful to whatever we’re meant to be doing.
God meets us here, surprise! God met Joseph there.
Hark! Jesus Became One of Us
The Incarnation of God in Jesus is perhaps the most wonderful news humans can hear. Hark! God is here. He’s one of us. This incarnation, literally meaning, enfleshed, is a message that stops us in our tracks, we must decide what to make us such a thing. God would leave heaven to be in our murk and sorrow and strife? No God would do this, no powerful God at least.