December 7, Second Sunday of Advent

Lessons: Isaiah 40.1-11; Mark 1.1-8

Sermon Title: Alleviation

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INTRODUCTION

After a Christmas shopping trip, a wife comforted her bill-paying husband: "I slashed expenses this Christmas. Everything was charged on one credit card so that it will cost only one stamp to pay all of our bills." (1)

    1. Someone is going to have a headache.

    2. Does anyone have an Aleve

    3. He is going to need alleviation.

Diamonds (2)

Morris ran into Jacob while shopping at the mall the other day in front of one of the jewelry stores. Noticing a conspicuously small gift wrapped box in his hand, Morris asked if was a gift for Jacob's wife Becky.

Jacob told Morris, "With Christmas coming up, I asked Becky what she wanted and she said, "Oh, I don't know just give me something with lots of diamonds in it."

"So what did you get her?" Morris asked.

Jacob smiled and replied, "I bought her a deck of cards."

    1. Does anybody have an Advil

      1. Someone is going to have a lot of aches and pains.

      2. He is an all-over Advil person

    2. He is going to need alleviation.

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MAIN BODY:

  1. What do you take when you have a headache or a muscle pain?

    1. Which OTC do you take?

      1. NSAID's (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). These include aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil and Motrin), naproxen sodium (Aleve), and ketoprofen (Orudis KT).

      2. Acetaminophen (Tylenol and Panadol).

    2. You have to be careful which OTC you take.

      1. They all have side effects.

      2. Naproxen (Aleve)

All medicines may cause side effects, but many people have no, or minor, side effects. Check with your doctor if any of these most COMMON side effects persist or become bothersome when using Naproxen:

Constipation; diarrhea; dizziness; drowsiness; gas; headache; heartburn; nausea; stomach upset; stuffy nose.

Seek medical attention right away if any of these SEVERE side effects occur when using Naproxen:

Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; trouble breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue); bloody or black, tarry stools; change in the amount of urine produced; chest pain; confusion; dark urine; depression; fainting; fast or irregular heartbeat; fever, chills, or persistent sore throat; mental or mood changes; numbness of an arm or leg; one-sided weakness; red, swollen, blistered, or peeling skin; ringing in the ears; seizures; severe headache or dizziness; severe or persistent stomach pain or nausea; severe vomiting; shortness of breath; sudden or unexplained weight gain; swelling of hands, legs, or feet; unusual bruising or bleeding; unusual joint or muscle pain; unusual tiredness or weakness; vision or speech changes; vomit that looks like coffee grounds; yellowing of the skin or eyes.

  1. For some people John the Baptist is a pain in the neck.

    1. They don't know who he is.

    2. They don't know where he has come from.

    3. They don't know why he is doing what he is doing.

    4. They are bewildered and angry.

    5. They are also jealous and frustrated.

    6. The side effects of their condition are psychologically and even physically painful.

    7. There are no OTC pain relievers for this condition.

  2. For some people, John the Baptist is a pain reliever and more.

    1. He is better than either aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen sodium, and ketoprofen or acetaminophen.

    2. He is proclaiming a baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

      1. In Judaism, there was no baptism for the remission of sins.

      2. There was the Mikvah. It was an immersion for the creation of ritual purification after one was ritually impure.

      3. John was doing something that was familiar but radically different.

    3. It would be easy for us to overlook what John is doing, especially at this time of the year.

David Busic and Jeren Rowell, in an article in the Preacher's Magazine, A Way Made Ready confronts us with a missing piece in our Christmas Creche. (3)

John the Baptist is a missing figure in our modern Christmas celebration. There are no wild, prophetic figures on our Christmas cards, in our nativity scenes, or ornamenting our Christmas trees. And why should there be? John the Baptist doesn't enter the story of Jesus' life for another 30 years. Of course, the wise men are foreign figures to the night of Jesus' birth as well, and we would never think of leaving them out of the Christmas program. Why? Their story belongs to the Christmas story, that's why. They enable us to understand the coming of Jesus, and to respond properly to His coming. The gospel narratives about John the Baptist do the same: enable us to understand Jesus' coming and respond properly. So move the shepherds over a little, squeeze the magi closer together, and add John the Baptist to the Christmas narrative.

Our people need to encounter the Baptist and his message. The Church has recognized this reality throughout its history by the observance of Advent and the inclusion of John the Baptist's story in the Sundays of preparation for Christmas. The Lord comes, has come, is coming, and will come again. Readiness to receive the coming of the Lord and the salvation He brings is dependent upon hearing and responding to the Baptist's call into the wilderness to initiate repentance and enter a new way with the Lord. A million messages about hope will not benefit our people if they do not have opportunity to practice the repentance that is the doorway from hopelessness to hope.

So the task of this message is to stand in the sandals of the Baptist and prepare the people of the Lord for His coming. The prophetic tradition of Elijah, which John filled full, lives again in the preacher who takes seriously the hope of Advent. A way must be made ready. The message of repentance is always a part of the preparation. Beautiful scenes of God's activity will not be negated by John the Baptist's presence and ministry. They will be enhanced, for they will be received by hearts made ready to welcome a Savior and live His life. Can you think of a better way to celebrate Christmas?

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  1. We are confronted by John the Baptist and his message of repentance, but for what purpose.

    1. Here is the purpose.

      1. It is an extraordinary one.

      2. John the Baptist is the initiator of a new community.

    2. The leader of the community is Jesus Christ towards whom he makes ready a people.

    3. The new community is a community in which there is relief from stress.

Stress Relief (4)

As an assistant professor, I taught during the day and did research at night. I would usually take a break around eight, however, to play the strategy game Warcraft online with a teammate.

One night I was paired with a veteran of the game who was a master strategist. With him at the helm, our troops crushed one opponent after another, and after six games we were undefeated. Suddenly, my fearless leader informed me that his mom wanted him to go to bed.

"How old are you?" I typed.

"Twelve," he replied. "How old are you?"

Feeling my face redden, I answered, "Ten."

    1. Stress is most often produced by guilt.

      1. Guilt is best handled, as John the Baptist, informs us by repentance.

      2. Repentance is one step to creating the trust level that is needed for the new community.

        1. The Christian tradition of the ceremony of confession, or reconciliation, offers us a chance for liberation through its three helpful steps:

(1) confessio oris: the admission of guilt, the step to truth;

(2) contritio cordis: the contrition of the heart, the turning away from guilt and the return to righteousness, the change of mind;

(3) satisfactio operum: the making good of the harm done, as far as this is possible; restoration and establishing the new community.

        1. These three steps are preceded, accompanied, and followed by the forgiveness of guilt, the assurance of new trust, and the offer of new community.

        2. It does not matter which step we take first.

          1. Repentance without forgiveness is a sterile torment.

          2. Forgiveness without new community leads nowhere.

          3. Forgiveness can be offered only in the power of an assurance that new community is possible.

        3. With this prospect opened us for the guilty, the process of repentance and liberation can begin, yielding a joy in new life.

        4. Forgiveness of guilt is not merely a backward-looking act.

          1. It opens up a new future.

          2. The person who offers it and the one who receives it can let go of the past and start afresh, for forgiveness of guilt is a down-payment on trust, made in hope.

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  1. The new community is a community of hope.

    1. Sheila Walsh writes in The Women of Faith Daily Devotional (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2002, 24):

Late one night as I waited for the elevator in the lobby of my hotel, I saw a friend standing with her back to me. I hadn't seen her in ages and was so glad for the opportunity to say hello. We hugged and chatted about the day. Then she asked me if I had heard the news.

"What news?" I asked, looking into her eyes for some sense of what she was about to tell me.

"I'm pregnant," she said. That kind of news is usually followed by screams of delight -- but not if you and your husband carry a rare gene that makes it impossible for your child to reach his or her first birthday.

They had already buried a child. They had taken every precaution to make sure this would never happen again, but they conceived anyway. My friend had already undergone testing, and this baby would be born with the same rare illness that had claimed their first daughter.

We wept together. But even as I saw her anguish, I was struck with the peace and grace that rested on her. "If this life was all we had, I would have no hope at all," she said. "But this is just the rehearsal for our real life."

That is our home as we stand in hopeless places. We look beyond the pain of this broken world to the place where there will be no more tears. We are not people of a human lifetime, we are people of eternity.

    1. The new community requires patience to create.

      1. In A Community of Character, Stanley Hauerwas ties hope with the virtue of patience.

"Hope without patience results in the illusion of optimism or, more terrifying, the desperation of fanaticism. The hope necessary to initiate us into the adventure must be schooled by patience if the adventure is to be sustained. Through patience, we learn to continue hope, even though our hope seems to offer little chance of fulfillment."

      1. But Hauerwas notes that patience also requires hope.

      2. Without hope, patience too easily accepts the world and the self for what it is, rather than what it can or should be."

  1. The side effects of hope are many.

    1. Hope used 69 times in NT.

      1. Its primary meaning is confidence.

      2. Its secondary meaning is faith.

      3. Its third meaning is expectation.

        1. Read Romans 8.22-25

22We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; 23and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

        1. Read 1 Peter 1.3-4

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you...

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CONCLUSION:

  1. John the Baptist is the initiator of a new community.

    1. It is necessary to give up the old so that we may have the new.

    2. Claudia, in an e-mail posting to the Practice Circle of the Spirituality & Practice online course, writes: (5)

I'd like to share a moment of deep healing that I experienced. When I lost my hair from chemo, I let it all go one day in the desert. It was the beginning of spring. It just blew away from my head as I ran my fingers through it. I wept for my loss. Several weeks later, I noticed a nest being built on the portal of the house I shared. Looking closer, I saw clumps of my hair in the nest. I wept again for this symbol of hope. My lost hair was part of a nest for nurturing new life. This was not a cure, but a deeply healing experience.

  1. John offers a deeply healing experience.

    1. Jesus guarantees that it will take place.

    2. This is the Second Sunday of Advent.

    3. This is the Season of Hope.

Amen!

1. via Rev. Dr. Karl R. Kraft Glassboro (NJ) United Methodist Church

2. Mikey's Funnies [funnies-owner@lists.MikeysFunnies.com]

3. David Busic and Jeren Rowell, Preacher's Magazine, Retrieved from http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/pmol/pastissues/2005%20Advent/magdec4.htm

4. The Good, Clean Funnies List [gcfl-info@gcfl.net

5. Claudia, in an e-mail posting to the Practice Circle of the Spirituality & Practice online course, "Practicing Spirituality During Illness," 5/5/08, spiritualityandpractice.com/community/thread.php?id=2025. Retrieved May 5, 2008.

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