First Church of the Nazarene

It is Advent Season.  We will anticipate,  celebrate, and rehearse again the greatest gift ever given, the Good News of Great Joy, for unto us is born in the City of David, a Savior, Christ the Lord.   

 

We have romanticized this fulcrum of human history and perhaps it is good that we have.  For in the romance of the tidings or great joy, we find a solace, a hope, and tangible help.   Yet in all the romanticizing of the story, we cannot forget why it was called great joy, solace, hope and help.   

 

This was a dark, dark point in the story of God's people, and all the people of the earth.    Life was not all that good, it was not all that certain.   The people of God had not heard a Word from the Lord in over 400 years.  There had been no prophet, no judge, no king who had delivered them from the oppression of the Roman rule or the oppression of mere subsistence.  Life was hard, persecution was the norm, corruption was everywhere, and political games seemed to be the new religion.  

 

Some of that sounds familiar doesn't it?   We are seemingly consumed with the corruption of our politics, the consequences in society of ignoring God's plan for marriage, and sexual behavior, the existential threat from people who hate simply because we are not like them, and the persecution and execution of believers at the hands of desperate, and seemingly insane persons.   This could be described as people in darkness, just as it was when Jesus came. 

 

He brought the Joy, the solace, the hope, and tangible help.  It was a light to dispel the darkness....And dispel the darkness He did.  The darkness did not like it, and tried to snuff out the light, and with it, hope, solace, Joy, and tangible help.    Try though the darkness did, even thinking killing Jesus it would stop the Light He was, darkness failed!   In fact so miserable did the darkness fail, that sin, death, hell, and the grave, were defeated.  Darkness has been trying a comeback ever since, and while at times it looks like darkness has succeeded, the Light of the World keeps dispelling darkness over and over.  He, The Light of the World, will never be overtaken by darkness! That's why we will never quit anticipating, celebrating and rehearsing the "old, old story" of Jesus and His love! 

- Pastor David