Rev. Linda B. Hirst
November 25, 2007

Luke 1:67-79

Our scripture reading this morning is from the gospel of Luke - we’re in that time of year right before Advent - Advent begins next Sunday - so we’re in a time of waiting and preparation for what’s to come, for the big event.

Our reading this morning is part of the preparation - Elizabeth and Zechariah have just become the proud parents of a baby boy they have named John - who we later come to know as John the Baptist.  Elizabeth like Zechariah, a priest, is getting on in years and when an angel told them they were going to have a son who would turn the people of Israel to the Lord their God, be a light in the darkness, they don’t believe it.  And this is what I love about the stories in the Bible - about the people in the bible - our ancestors in the faith - they’re so human - we would say the same thing, we often react the same way when good news, impossible news comes our way.  

So when Zechariah says, "How can this be?  I’m an old man - my wife is old, too."  The angel said "stand in the presence of God and bring you this good news but since you don’t believe me you will become mute until these things come true."  And that’s what happened.

When their son is finally born, Zechariah regains his voice and he gives this speech which is known as Zechariah’s Prophecy - he speaks of what God has done, and what God will do in the days and months and years ahead.

His speech - his prophecy - helps prepare us for what is coming - the coming of Jesus Christ in our lives.

Let’s hear God’s words - let’s hear Zechariah’s words... 

Read scripture:

It has begun.  Can you feel it?  If you’ve been anywhere near a story, if you’ve been in a store, in the mall, the mad race to the 25th of December has begun.  I would say it all began Friday but if you’ve driven through Portsmouth you know it began long before Thanksgiving.  The moment Halloween was over, actually, I think before Halloween was over, Hannafords’ started stocking candy canes, garland, red and green colored M & M’s and everything else we need to have a happy holiday.  Wreaths are up, the lights are up and on.  The ads on TV have begun in earnest - telling us everything we need to buy to have the best Christmas ever - and it gets to us - to all of us - even those of us who think we’re immune - above all the commercialism - above it all -why on Thanksgiving night - while I was having a moment of quiet - I heard Brad hollering from the other room - Hey - Kohl’s is opening at 4 in the morning tomorrow - should I set the alarm?  I thought he was kidding, but now I’m not so sure...

This is the time of year people everywhere - us included - start getting anxious, and nervous and overwhelmed - thinking about all we have to do, all we have to bake, all we have to make, to ship ...wondering, praying, hoping we’ll get it all done without having a nervous breakdown.  In fact, if you weren’t feeling anxious and nervous and overwhelmed when you came in here, I bet you’re feeling it now.  

So to help us relax, to get into the right frame of mind - to help get us to that place where we can be a peace and be able to handle all that the month brings - to help prepare us - to focus on what’s important this time of year, to think about what is the reason for the season, Todd Richard is going to sing a wonderful, gentle, spiritual song, called "Give Me Jesus".  So sit back, close your eyes if you want to and listen.

I heard my mother say

I heard my mother say

I heard my mother say, 

Give me Jesus. 

Give me Jesus.  Give me Jesus. 

You can have all the world, but give me Jesus.

In the morning, when I risen the morning, when I rise, give me Jesus

When I am alone

When I am alone

When I am alone, give me Jesus

Give me Jesus, 

Give me Jesus, 

You can have all this world, 

But give me Jesus

When I come to die

When I come to die

When I come to die, give me Jesus

Give me Jesus, 

Give me Jesus, 

You can have all this world, 

You can have all this world, 

Give me Jesus

Give me Jesus.  There, don’t you feel better?  

Give me Jesus, that should be our mantra, the words we say in the days ahead whenever we feel the craziness of the season pressing upon us.  

Give me Jesus.  That’s what we should say when we start feeling anxious and nervous and overwhelmed.

Give me Jesus.  That’s what our prayer should be, when we need to regain our focus - to be reminded that everything leading up to December 25 is not just about rushing and dashing and running to Kohl’s at 4 in the morning but about the birth of a child who was born in a manger.

Give me Jesus. Give me Jesus.  Those three simple, beautiful, powerful words can make a difference in our lives.

Give me Jesus - That’s what we can say when we find ourselves in a long, long line at the department store, and the music is blaring, and the sales clerks and the people in line have stopped smiling long ago and we need an extra dose or two or three of patience.  Give me Jesus.  Give me Jesus.

Or when the cookies you made for your child’s Holiday party at 10 o’clock at night burned while you were wrapping the teacher’s gifts and as you scrape them off the cookie sheet into the garbage can, that annoying little voice in your head says:  You’re bringing store bought cookies to school?  Again?  But deep down you know it’s not the end of the world - there are more important things in life - like children who don’t get holiday parties or whose only gifts will be from the Giving Tree this Christmas.   Besides, Pepperidge Farms makes pretty good cookies, too. Give me Jesus, give me Jesus.

Or when your spouse or significant other announces to you one morning before you’ve had your coffee that his entire family, brothers, sister, children, nephews, nieces, dogs and hamsters are gathering at his mother’s home in CT over New Year’s - the one with two bedrooms? and guess what - you’re going too - won’t that be fun?  And you know it will be, once you get past the shock of it all, and family is what it’s about this time of year, isn’t it?  Give me Jesus. Give me Jesus.

Give me Jesus, that can be our prayer, when we need strength, not just to do all the things that need doing this season, but to do the important things - the real things - like visiting family and friends or even people we don’t know - but who need a visit - the men and women in nursing homes, those in our own church who are home bound, who are alone. Give me Jesus can be our prayer when we’re looking for those ways to be a light in someone’s life.

Last Sunday the junior high youth group helped sort food at St. Christopher’s Church- all the food that was brought here last Sunday was taken there - along with food from the schools and other churches - it’s a ton of food - and after it’s sorted boxes are set out to gather the food to give to families in York. Some of the adults were watching the boxes being brought out and being numbered - watching is what some of us do best - as we watched, we saw box #301 placed on a table in front of us.  A woman I didn’t know turned to me and said, does that means there are 301 families in York who need food?  I didn’t know.  It just might be. It was a sobering moment. 

There’s a lot of need right here, in the world and it takes strength to meet it - to care for our brothers and sisters.  Give me Jesus can be our prayer, when we need strength.

And give me Jesus, can be our cry when we’re in pain - feeling broken, physically, or maybe emotionally or spiritually, when we need comfort and don’t know where to turn.  Or someone we love is in pain so we turn to Jesus, because God has promised us to care for us in our darkest hour, that somehow, at some point, we will be given what we need.  Give me Jesus can be our cry when we’re in pain.

And Give me Jesus can be our wish when we need peace - maybe it’s just a moment’s peace, 20 minutes tops - or longer - it can be our wish for peace in our households... in our families... our world, and in our hearts.  

Praying for peace, for Jesus to touch me, to give me peace in my heart, is something I’ve done a lot of over the years.  There was one particular stretch of time when my youngest was in kindergarten that I was doing it almost every day.  He was having trouble controlling himself in the classroom - he was a physical child - with a big voice, the teacher would say - which is code for - he’s really, really loud.  It got so bad that eventually the teacher gave him slips to bring home every day letting us know how he did.  Yellow meant he had a good day, Green meant he had an o.k. day and red, well you can imagine what red meant. Every day - all day - I’d wonder what sort of day this child of ours was having - a yellow day, a green day or the dreaded red day.  

And his behavior issues didn’t stop there - it continued on the bus - Oh yes, I had one of those children - after fretting all day wondering what color slip he’d bring home I had to worry about the bus driver stopping the bus, sticking his head out the little window and saying, "You’re son...and you can fill in the blank - your son wouldn’t sit down, wouldn’t listen, was too loud, you name it, he did it.  It got to the point where I’d hear the bus coming down the street and start to break out in hives.  I was a wreck - unlike my son who was completely unfazed by all this delightful attention he was getting.  What’s up with that?

Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore - I was at my wit’s end - so every day at 3 - about 15 minutes before the bus came - I would sit in a chair by the window and pray - and I prayed for Jesus to help me, for God to help my son, for God and Jesus to help both of us,  to help me deal with whatever needed dealing with, but most of all to know peace, to be at peace,  because when we’re at peace, well, I think we find we can handle whatever comes our way.  And more times than not, peace was what I felt, was what I knew in my heart.  Give me Jesus, we can wish, when we need peace.

And give me Jesus, give us Jesus, can be our hope this season - that we and all around us will know all the gifts that the Christ child brings to our lives and to the world.  

By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, 

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the way of peace, Zechariah said.

This is why Jesus was born, this is why he came, so that all of God’s children would know his hope and joy and peace and love.  This is our hope, our prayer.  Give us Jesus.

Last Tuesday I stopped by the Table of Plenty - the community meal that the different churches in York and the hospital sponsor every Tuesday for between 60 and 80 people - and most of the people who come are there because they need something - a home cooked meal - it may be the only one they that day - for some it’s the one night a week they’re not alone.  They come for the companionship, for the friendships that have developed and they’ve become a community, these men, women and children from York and neighboring towns.  

When I got there, everyone was busy eating - it was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving so it was a feast - and up on the stage was a young boy - I think he was about 9 or 10 years old and he was playing the violin.   And he played like most 9 or 10 year olds would play the violin - a little scratchy but you could definitely pick out the melody - I think he played Twinkle, twinkle little star, and maybe Jingle Bells, a few other songs while the guests ate - and when he was finished - all the men, women and children clapped for him as if they’d just been treated to a concert at Carnegie Hall.  And that little boy then bowed to them as if he had just performed in front of an honored group of guests. 

It was one of those moments - Jesus was in Moody Hall that night with the guests and that little boy during the Community Meal...and there was hope and joy and peace and love.   

We need more of those moments. Give me Jesus, give us Jesus.  That should be (is) our hope, our prayer for us, for the world.

May those three very simple, beautiful and powerful words be what we say in the days ahead whenever we feel the craziness of the season pressing upon us.  

May they be what we say when we start feeling anxious and nervous and overwhelmed.  

And may that be our hope, our wish, our prayer should be, this day and always.  

Amen.

In the morning, when I rise, give me Jesus.