Great Expectations

May my true inspiration be a baby laid in a manger; that his life and his words may be for us our guide and our path. Amen.


Expectations.

We all have expectations. We know what we expect from ourselves. We know what we expect from our kids. We even know what our parents expect from us.

Everyone has expectations about the behaviour of everyone else. We all have expectations about our own behaviour. Expectations are seldom met. Sometimes this is because they are set too high. Sometimes this is because they just don’t fit.

Even Mary and Joseph had expectations of Jesus. They expected him to act like every other Jewish boy of his age. In our story today, they made their journey as part of a larger group of family and friends, all from the same area. Mary and Joseph expected Jesus would stay with that group.

Jesus, too, had expectations of his parents which were not met. Jesus expected them to understand what was important to him. He expected them to know where he would be. He did not expect that they would have to search for him or that they would have any reason to worry about him. He knew where he was supposed to be. They should know it too.

In the temple, it would be expected that a boy of his age would just sit and listen. Jesus did not do this. He joined in the discussion between the rabbis as an equal. He asked questions of them and answered some of theirs with great wisdom. This was not what they expected.

We are coming up to a time when we set expectations for ourselves. Has anyone heard of a new year’s resolution? … This is actually two expectations at the same time, or at least it is for me. New year’s resolutions are expectations that we set for the coming year. In many cases, these expectations are hugely unrealistic. There is no way we can keep them and we know it when we make them. This is our second expectation. We expect that we will break our new year’s resolution.

Why do we bother to have expectations? They never seem to come true so what use are they? And why does it seem so important to us that we have them?


I’m going to keep things short today and leave you with a few more thoughts.


Expectations that are too high can beat down our spirits.

Expectations that are too low are uninspiring.

Expectations that are at the edge of our ability can inspire us to do great things.

In the Christmas season, we celebrate the expectation that Christ will be part of our lives and that Christ will come again.

The Bible tells us that God expects us to be “very good.” God does not expect us to be perfect, but we are expected to do our best.

Wrapping It All Up

Could I have all the kids come up here please?

It’s time to light the advent wreath again. How many candles do we light today? Yes, all five. Does anyone remember what the first one stands for? Hope. What colour is it? Purple. (Light hope).

What is hope all about? What does it mean to have hope?
- helps us through bad times
- helps us through fear
- no matter how bad it is, it will get better
- no matter how good it is, it will get better

OK. Does anyone remember what the second candle stands for? Peace. What colour is it? Purple. (Light peace.)

What is peace about? Where can we find peace?
- silence
- our hearts
- the world
- places at war (work toward)
- our families
- our friends
- our enemies

Which candle is next? Joy. What colour is joy? Pink. (Light joy).

Do you remember what we talked about when we first lit this candle? Baptism. Why is baptism about joy?
- God chooses us
- God loves us
- We join a huge family
- We have everyone here to help us keep our promises to God
- We get to help everyone here keep their promises to God

We only have one more candle which we already lit. What is the last purple candle about? Love. (Light love).

Now this one is really important. Well, they all are really, but there is something special about love. Do you know who the Bible tells us to love?
- Our enemies
- Our selves
- God
- Everyone

The Bible tells us something else about love too. It tells us who and what God loves. Can you tell me about God’s loves?
- The world
- Us
- Israel
- Judah
- Creation
- Jesus

We only have one candle left. Does anyone know what the white candle in the middle stands for? Christ. Why do we light this candle today? Christmas. What is Christmas about?
- God loves us so much that he became one of us to experience the world from human perspective
- Giving
- Love
- Hope
- Joy
- Peace

I think this is all something we should celebrate. Let’s say a prayer and light the Christ candle.

Great God of love and light,
We thank you now for the gift
of your presence among us;
for Jesus Christ,
our Light and our Life.
We thank you for the sign of your love
shining brightly in our lives
as we celebrate
the birth of your Son,
our Saviour and our King. Amen.

(Light Christ Candle).

Mary and Elizabeth - A World Upside Down

Could I please have all of the kids come up?

Do you know what we’re going to do now? Yes, we’re going to light the advent candle. We already lit the candles for Hope, Peace and Joy. What do you think this one is for? Today we light the candle for Love. Could someone help me with this candle? …

Now we have a repeat after me prayer. Ready?


Holy and gracious God,
Teach us to love.
Help us to love you,
And to love each other,
As you love us.
With hope we wait for your kingdom.
With peace in our hearts we hear your call.
With joy we remember
That in your love
You came to us
As Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.


Thank you. You can go back and sit down now.


Advent is a time of new beginnings. In the Church calendar the beginning of advent marks the beginning of the new year. Each year in our lectionary we focus on one Gospel. Our good news this year comes from the Gospel of Luke. Saint Luke’s gospel has a couple of very specific focuses which are not as apparent in the other Gospels. He makes it very clear that the message of Jesus is for everyone, not just for the Jews or for any other specific “chosen” people. We are all God’s chosen people. He does, however, say that some are “more chosen” than others. Luke’s Gospel, like the others, gives preference to those who are at the bottom of the ladder and have little or no power. Unlike the other Gospels, Luke makes a special case for women and the poor above all others.


In today’s story we have two very important women. I talked a bit about them last week. Elizabeth is the wife of Zechariah. She is getting older, probably in her mid thirties. She is past the age were it is reasonably safe to have a baby. She has not been able to get pregnant. This means that she has almost no status and her husband, Zechariah has lost most of his. He has no son to carry on his line. They have no one to support them in their old age, which means that they will probably end up as beggars.

Mary is Elizabeth’s niece. She is young, probably about fourteen. She is engaged to be married to Joseph. She is poor but she has a promising future ahead of her.


Does anyone know what happens next in the story?


They both get pregnant.


For Elizabeth, this is a great blessing. Her status and the honour of her husband will be instantly restored. The other women will start talking to her again and including her in their gatherings. The men would start to respect Zechariah again, which would make his job as a priest much easier to do. Their future was full of hope.

For Mary, on the other hand, this was a great scandal. According to the rules of their society, Joseph should abandon her. She would be left to fend for herself. It is unlikely that anyone would ever marry her. She was destined for the life of a prostitute or a beggar if she even survived the pregnancy. She would have little or no medical care because she would have instantly lost all of her family. Her future was bleak.


So how should these two women react to their news? Well, as I see it Elizabeth should be shouting out her joy to the world. And Mary? Mary should be hiding in her parents house trying to figure out some way to salvage her life. These would be reasonable reactions.


How do these women actually react to their news?


Mary immediately sets out to visit Elizabeth and tell her the wonderful news.

Wait a minute. Isn’t Mary supposed to be upset by what has occurred? Isn’t she supposed to be trying to find a way to salvage her life? …


And what does she find when she reaches Elizabeth’s house? Elizabeth is six months pregnant and she hasn’t told anyone. She is hiding out in her house keeping the pregnancy a secret.


There is something seriously wrong here. Mary, who should be keeping her “condition” a secret runs off to spread her story. Elizabeth, whose future has been saved, is hiding away and keeping it secret. What is going on? Everything is upside down. Each of them has had their world turned upside down and each reacts exactly opposite of what would be expected.


What is going on? … God does this to us all the time. God turns our worlds upside down. This story shows us two very different ways to cope with this change. Change is always uncomfortable. Change is also always happening. It is up to us how we greet change. It is up to us to choose to hide from it or to work with it. We can hide from the change, refusing to believe that it is true as long as possible and then grudgingly adapt to our new circumstances like Elizabeth. … Or we can embrace the change, looking for the barest hint of a blessing in it, and find joy in our new opportunities like Mary.

John the Baptist

Could I please have all of the kids come up?

Today we are going to start with the Advent candles. Do you know which candle we light today? Today is the pink candle. Do you know what it stands for? Today we are celebrating the joy of advent. Who is going to help me light the pink candle? Thank you. Now we have a repeat after me prayer …

God of hope and peace.
With joy we listen for your call.
Help us to hear each other
and to find your Word
in the world around us.
Amen.

Could you come with me? We’re going back to the baptismal font.

(Sermon at the font.)

John the Baptist was a smart man. Do you know who John the Baptist was? His mom was Jesus’ mom’s aunt Elizabeth and he was born just a few months before Jesus.

Do you know what John the Baptist did?
- baptised people in the Jordan river
- baptised Jesus
- preached about salvation (what is salvation)
- was put in jail and put to death by Herod
- said that all could be saved, even the tax collectors
- said that God could make anyone a son of Abraham (a Jew)
- said that being born to the right family didn’t make you God’s chosen
- said that what he did was just a small thing, the Messiah was coming to baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
- He preached the good news (gospel) before it was written down
- People thought he might be the Messiah


(Hold up the Bible) This is a very important book. It helps us to learn how to live as people of God. In here it is written in words. Do you know where else God writes the good news? John the Baptist didn’t have a Bible but he knew the words anyway. He could feel them written in his heart. He could also see them written in the world around him. Each and every one of us can do that too. This is a promise that God made to us. This is God’s gift in our lives that we celebrate at Christmas time.


We make a promise back to God. In baptism we make a promise or have a promise made for us. A promise to live as Christ teaches us to live. Christ teaches us in here (the Bible), in here (our hearts) and everywhere (the world).

Who here likes to get people wet? OK, each of you take one of these branches and then do what I do.

(Dip in bowl, fling water, say “remember your baptism”)

Peace

God of hope. We come to you today to listen for your call. Help us to find peace in our souls that we may hear and heed your message for us. Amen.


“Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem.”


(Long Silence)

The world is a clashing cymbal, distracting us from God’s Word.

(Silence)

“Look toward the east, and see your children gathered from the west and east at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them.”


(Long Silence)

We try to look through the distractions toward the message of Christmas.

(Silence)

“The woods and every fragrant tree have shaded Israel at God’s command.”


(Long Silence)

Bethlehem draws near.

(Silence)

Christ has come. Christ is coming. Christ will come again.

When we can silence our thoughts, we can take down the wall that hides the door in our hearts. When we find that door, we find the way of salvation.

“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”


(Long Silence)


Would all of the children come forward please.


Last week we lit the first candle, the light of hope. This week we are going to light the candle of peace. … Peace is a very hard thing to find. Have any of you ever found peace? How did it feel? When we find peace, we find God.

Can one of you help me light this candle? Another purple one.

Thank you. Now we are going to do a repeat after me prayer.

Gracious God,
Help us to find peace,
Peace in our hearts,
Peace in our lives,
Peace in the world.
Give us the courage
To follow the path of peace.
Help us to remember
That in peace – we find you.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.



As we have opportunity, let us do good unto all; and especially unto them that are of the household of faith.



Do you remember the song we sang last week? Can you help us sing it again?

Wait for the Lord, whose day is near. Wait for the Lord, be strong take heart.