This is the sermon delivered by Rev. Akiko Van Antwerpen to the congergation of Unfinished Community on Sunday, December 15, 2024, drawing from Philippians 3:20-4:8
May the Word of my mouth and meditations of our hearts together this morning be pleasing in your sight, O Lord. You are our Saviour, our loving and merciful Lord Jesus Christ. We wait upon you. Please give us your Word, so we have something to hold onto in this very broken world. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
I cannot believe we are already half way through the month of December!And in 15 days, the year 2024 will be coming to an end. I find myself wondering, wow, where did all the time go? How is it that this year is already so close to an end? Gosh, there is still so much to do before we celebrate Christmas, let alone getting ready for the new year? I feel so hectic and restless! I simply do not have enough time!
When I look around, I do not even have to look very hard to find people who are thinking and acting just like me. If you are a teacher, there are extra tests and presentations to grade. If you are a student, you’re studying for the upcoming tests, and work on your long final papers. If you work, you’re finding yourself with extra meetings, or having to go and greet people since it’s the end of the year. If you are the person at home running the house, you have extra cleaning to do - usually while taking care of a sick child because it’s flu season! We all have to get ready to welcome or go and see your family members who live away, get Christmas gifts, go to Christmas and end-of-year events and parties on the weekends. Busy, busy, busy! There is just an overwhelming amount of things to do!
And let’s not forget; I know not everyone has an extensive list of things to do, but in this season, some people feel extremely overwhelmed in a different way because they lack the money to do these things, or because they have broken family relationships which leave them with nowhere to go or no one t turn to in this holiday season….
As I list these things, honestly…my heart feels heavy. My family, my friends and my church family, and of course myself….each one of us fit into these descriptions one way or another. Your situation might not be exactly how I phrased it, but you get the idea. We are busy either with our hands or minds, or both. We feel overwhelmed physically and emotionally.
Earlier this week, my middle child celebrated his 10th birthday. And we have a tradition on birthdays where we go and eat at this particular Yakiniku - that is, “Japanese” barbecue - restaurant. So, as is our tradition, we went there. As usual, we ordered a ridiculous amount of food, drinks and desserts….I would say we definitely ate enough to be worthy of the money that this all-you-can-eat restaurant costs. And at the end, our tummies were happy and full.
But of course, we had bigger happiness than the tasty meal. We had a very happy birthday for our little guy who turned 10!
Then it came to me so I said, “Let’s take turns and say one thing we appreciate about him.” “Let’s take time to share what growth we have seen in him this year.” We said things like “I appreciate his kind heart.” “I like his smile.” “He grew in height!” And when we were done with that, our conversations naturally went to “Let’s share all the funny things he has done and said!” In our home, Don often collects all the funny things our kids have said in a file on his phone. So he read some of the silly things Noah said. And we just kept laughing and laughing.
As I soaked in all of those the moments we had together, my heart felt secure. I was filled with peace and gratitude so I kept smiling. And suddenly all these hard times Don and I had had with him lately felt so unimportant. It was like waking up up! I couldn’t imagine why did had acted like all the issues we had were such big deals, and just why it was that I needed to put all my attention and energy into dealing with the situations? Is that really how I wanted to spend my time this year?
No…..I would rather spend my time like this, giggling and smiling, and cheering, because moments like this just do not last.
This week, as I was spending time on today's Scripture, the difference between God and us humans became clearer.
“What???!?” you might be thinking, “You are a pastor! Surely you, of all people, know the difference between God and humans? You talk about God all the time!! How come you do not understand that!
Yes yes, I hear you. Of course I “know” the difference between God and us humans. God is so great and we are kinda…”meh.” I know we cannot even compare ourselves to God. But what I am trying to say is that I actually took time to let that fact sink in. Or at least I tried to.
And as I was reading and meditating on today’s Scripture, this is what I did. I separated some of the things that God does, from some of the things we humans do, at least as Paul, the writer of today’s scripture, says:
So here it is. This is the list I came up with about God:
“God will transform humiliation.” (Philippians 3:21)
“God will make all things subject to Godself.” (Phillipians 3:21)
‘The Lord is near.” (Philippians 4:5)
“The peace of God that surpasses human understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7)
“The God of peace will be with you.” (Phillipians 4:9)
Now I want us all to take a moment to ask ourselves, are we trying not to do the things that God does? You might be thinking, “no way! Why would I do that? I can’t do God’s job!”
But take a moment to consider that, to really think about it.
Let’s look at 3:21 where it says that God will transform humiliation, misery, and darkness into glory, hope and light. As we read this, what questions are we asking of ourselves? Are we trying to change the situation with our own might and strength? Or are we trying to depend on others or other things to salvage the situations you are in?
The thing is that we will not be able to transform ourselves, others or the situations that we or others are in. So what is it that we are meant to do in those situations where transformation is so desperately needed?
Or how about this, where it says that God will make all things subject to God? All things are subject God’s governance and control, we don’t really own anything in this world; all that has happened, all that is happening now, and all that is yet to come, will be guided by and held accountable to, God. So all our efforts to change things on our own are irrelevant, because God’s will is destined to win out in the end. So why is it that we fight so hard to change things?
What are all our efforts for, in the end?
God is ever near to us, even and especially in those times when we feel God isn’t close at all. So we find ourselves trying not to highlight ourselves, not pretending that we will be the ones to help solve their issues, because as Christians we want to look as though we are trusting in God.
But fixing the problems isn’t our job.
Because God is close to us, we are empowered not to fix and correct, but to fix and help those who are struggling through the grace, mercy, and love of the God who works in us and through us.
The peace that surpasses human understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. The peace God brings to us is totally beyond our comprehension. Such an incomprehensible peace that we cannot produce or gain on our own is what will guard our hearts and minds. And not only is this peace give to guard us, but it goes with us wherever we go!
So many of us are constantly anxious, not knowing if what we are doing is right or if the path we have chosen is good or true. But let us pause a moment and and wonder: are we really looking towards God’s peace that is promised to us as a way to deal with our worries or anxieties? Or are we chasing after something that may lift us up momentarily and ease our anxiety briefly, but which will bring us no closer to the true love and mercies of God?
Are we trying to change those things which cannot be changed by humans? Are we trying to control things, situations, and even people which we cannot, indeed which we never can, control?
What are we doing? And more importantly What are we going to do?
Before we get to the cheer and merry of Christmas, God stops us, and asks us to explore these important questions. And this is not new: God has been doing this throughout our history.
More than 2000 years ago, in a far country called Israel, there was this woman named Mary who was told by an angel from heaven that she would give birth to God’s own Son, the Messiah who would save this world. Yes, this was Mary, the mother of Jesus. And what she was given was an impossible task! In that age, pregnancy before her marriage was a death sentence for her! If she was to keep this child, she would need to let go of all of her plans, surrender all her fears of the humiliation and danger that were definitely going to come upon her.
Mary had to pause and ask herself, “Whose voice will I listen to? Whom will I stand for? Where do I belong? What will I do? What will I hold on to as the most precious thing in the world?”
“Our citizenship is in heaven. We are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Phillipians 3:20)
Of couse, Mary did not say these exact words; Paul did. But her words and actions show that she believed in this long before Paul wrote it. She believed that she belonged to someone higher, that she was called to something greater. She knew that the God of all the heavens, the voices of the Creator, was the voice that she needed to listen to, not the voices of all the many people who would tell her what she was supposed to do, and what they thought was right to be done.
Because in the end, they did not hold that ultimate power to change things. Only God has that.
So despite the dangers that would come upon her, she decided to trust that God would protect her in a way no one or nothing could as she chose the very hard path of keeping that child, not because it made sense, and not because it alleviated her anxiety or made her life easier, but because that is what God asked of her.
How did she do it? The Bible does not tell us all the things she did. But we can read about some of the things she did during her pregnancy. She understood who God was, and what God would do in the end, not just for her but for everyone, so she kept her faith, her belief, in god. She magnified what God was doing in her life, rather than drowning in what was happening to her. She rejoiced, she sang a song, and she danced. She thought about all that was praiseworthy, and kept her focus on God.
Living our lives while focusing on God does not mean that we will just be sitting here, waiting for God to sort things out. Yes it is true, that our citizenship is in heaven and we will in a sense always be waiting for our Saviour Jesus Christ. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to do anything! Because we are expected not just to wait, but to wait with great expectation. With all our anxiety turned into that active energy of a 10 year old boy just waiting for the next plate of meat, and the next silly, happy story.
In this season of active waiting, we are asked very important questions. Where is God? What is God doing? And what are we meant to do with our time and energy, while we wait upon the Lord.
If we turn our focus to these things, we can all find something praiseworthy, something eternal, something that nothing or no one can ever take away; the grace, mercy, love, and above all peace of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
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