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    Nov 29, 2015

    Imagine Hope

    Imagine Hope

    Passage: Matthew 13:32-37

    Speaker: Rev. Vivian McCarthy, Pastor

    Series: Imagine

    Category: Advent

    Keywords: hope, imagine, waiting

    During Advent, we look for God's coming into the world -- we wait in hope.

    There is nothing in this world that epitomizes hope more than the birth of a baby.  We have had 2 baptisms in the last few weeks, and I couldn’t help but notice the looks on your faces as those babies were baptized – one at each service, by the way.  Those looks went far beyond the oohs and aahs, noting the beauty of each of the children, loving their innocence and that new-baby skin, imagining the new-baby smell.  Those looks went beyond our laughing together when Zachary wanted nothing to do with my introducing him to you all!  You were radiant.  Your faces reflected hope. 

    This morning begins our annual journey from darkness to light – from waiting in darkness to the joy of the savior’s coming.  The Psalmist knew what it was like to wait for the coming of God.  How long?  How long?  How long do I have to sit in the dark?  How long do I have to be afraid – to be sad – to feel hopeless? 

    The Baby born in Bethlehem is the answer, and we all know how a baby affects our lives.  There are no parents on this planet that do not want the very best for each of their children.  Then there are the aunts and uncles, grandparents and adopted aunties – some who have no children in their own households but who love the children in their lives unconditionally – who support them and nurture them and provide for them.  Children give us hope and fill our lives with joy.

    Yet, there are many times in our lives when we still feel as though we are waiting with that Psalmist, don’t we?  We may be living with deep sadness or fear or loneliness.  One of our children is sick.  The child of a co-worker has a terrible illness.  We wait for hope to emerge.

    We are hearing stories in the news of children who are displaced, whose parents are reaching out to find a safe place for them to grow up, sheltered from war and disaster, climbing on a rubber raft and setting out on the angry sea – cold, hungry, desperate.  How long?

    There are children who live in danger every day from preventable, curable disease, whose parents have no resources to nurse them back to health. How long, O Lord?

    It always comes as something of a shock when we hear the lectionary texts for this season.  They are looking toward the second coming of Christ and have an ominous tone.  Advent puts us in touch with the tension between the waiting and the hope – between knowing Christ has come and waiting for the day when Christ’s coming will be fully realized. Today’s parable urges us to be alert and awake for the coming of the Christ -- The Landowner.  The master in this story left the servants in charge, and their – our – role is to take care of the household entrusted to them/us.  The parable is about how we take care of what God has put in our hands – especially how we care for the least, the last, and the lost.

    Caring for children takes planning and attention.  Special groceries.  More mopping up.  Reading to them.  Playing with them.  All that equipment!  Diapers, changing pads, pack ‘n play, the swing, a noise machine, just the right toys for the bathtub, and don’t forget that special blankie or he’ll never fall asleep!  And of course when they get bigger, going to their games and performances and rehearsals and practices and……  Moments around a campfire or on the deck.  Special holiday meals and family trips.

    And every one of those moments with the kids we love is a hope-filled moment – a moment when we are praying that this experience of love will be one more building-block in that child’s foundation for an amazing life – a good life – a joyful life.  The kind of life that the Christ Child came make possible for every child.

    Oh, by the way:  Notice that the servants in the parable are taking care of someone else’s household!  Now, I’m not suggesting that our own households are unimportant.  But as Christians, we have been entrusted with the household of the master.

    During this Advent season, we will be focusing on how we can imagine the kind of hope – the kind of world – where our small, intentional acts of hope will make a difference in the lives of children that we can touch every day and those that we can touch through the Imagine No Malaria campaign of the UMC.  Our devotional booklet includes daily scripture readings and prayers as well as small actions that we can each take to make a difference in the lives of the families on the continent of Africa. 

    Take the calendars home with you today and use them every day, perhaps with your Advent wreath.  (For those of you engaging with the sermon online, the Advent devotions will be posted each day on Facebook and on our website.)  Every day pray the prayer for the week.  Read the scripture.  Then read the thought for the day and consider making your offering that day as suggested on the calendar – an offering of hope.

    Imagine HOPE.