This past Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Advent & the 1st day of Winter, “Love Sunday, Pastor Michael Miano preached to the congregation about truly creating “A Festival Of Light In the World”.
Here are some notes from the sermon.
He started by sharing some quotes from Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
“We can, and should also, celebrate Christmas despite the ruins around us…we shall celebrate Christmas and now for once let us make it really a festival of Christ in our world…it is not a light thing to God that every year we celebrate Christmas and do not take is seriously. His Word holds and is certain. When He comes in His glory and power into the world in a manger he will put down the mighty in their seats, unless ultimately, ultimately they repent”. Furthermore he exorted us, “…we have become so accustomed to the idea of divine love and of God’s coming at Christmas that we no longer feel the shiver of fear that God’s coming should arouse in us. We are indifferent to the message, taking only the pleasant and agreeable out of it and forgetting the serious aspect, that the God of the world draws near to the people of our little earth and lays claim to us.”
As Walt Kelly, said, “We have met the enemy and he is us”. We constantly pit our desires over and against God’s design. So we must repent. And this is “good news”.
In that regard, Pastor Bonhoeffer said, “The celebration of Advent is possibly only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come”.
Here are 3 ways we can repent and foster the right attitude this Christmas season and forever.
1.) Develop & maintain an attitude of joy with contentment despite the realities around us.
(see, 1 Timothy 6:6)
2.) Self- Love & Community Care
Love yourself and love others as you love yourself, especially the “Church” (the community of God).
(see, Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31, and Leviticus 19:18; John 13:35)
3.) Celebrate Christmas Correctly
Bonhoeffer went on to assert, “Who among us will celebrate Christmas correctly? Whoever finally lays down all power, all honor, all reputation, all vanity, all arrogance, all individualism at the manger; whoever remains lowly and lets God alone be high; whoever looks at the child in the manger and sees the glory of God precisely in His lowliness. And that is the wonder of all wonders, God loves the lowly…God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings. God marches right in. He chooses people as His instruments and performs His wonders where one would least expect them. God is near to lowliness; he loves the lost, the neglected, the unseemly, the excluded, the weak and broken”. He went on to explain, “He (Jesus Christ) comes in the form of the beggar, of the dissolute human child in ragged clothes, asking for help. He confronts you in every person that you meet. As long as their are people, Christ will walk the earth as your neighbor”.
“The danger of allowing ourselves to be driven to contempt for humanity is very real….We must learn to regard human beings less in terms of what they do and neglect to do and more in terms of what they suffer. The only fruitful relation to human beings – particularly the weak among them – is love.”
We hope you find yourself having ‘A Very Bonhoeffer Christmas” this year!