11-28-21 “Let’s See the World through the Lens of God’s Word!”

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Luke 21:25-36

“Let’s See the World through the Lens of God’s Word!”

I want to start with something funny. I heard about this couple who moved to a new neighborhood. While they were having breakfast one morning, the wife looked out the window and noticed that their neighbor was washing their clothes. The wife said to her husband, “I think they don’t know how to wash. The clothes they washed are so dirty. I am sure they didn’t use detergent.” Week after week, it was the same. She looked out the window, saw the clothes, and made the same comments about how dirty their laundry was. One morning she looked out the window and saw them doing their laundry and was surprised that their clothes were so clean. She said to her husband, “Honey! Look, finally they learned how to wash their clothes properly.” Her husband smiled and said to her, “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.”

This relates not only to their story but for all of us in some ways. Each of us has a window we look through to see the world, see people, and see things. However, sometimes we don’t notice what we look at things through. The window is perhaps our mindset, filled with bias and prejudice.  The window might be the principle of our lives, which is formed by what we have learned and by what we have experienced. No doubt that the principle might have been great at first. But, my point is that it is time to retake a look at our own window, and maybe it is time to clean and renew it again. Our window should be God’s Word. We should practice seeing the people and the world through the lens of God’s Word.

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. In the Advent season, we light five unique candles; three purple, one pink or red, and one white center candle. Until Christmas Day, we light one by one each week. Each candle has a special meaning. The first candle is the symbol of hope; the second is peace; the third is joy; the fourth is love, and the fifth candle which is white is the symbol of the light of Christ. It symbolizes that Jesus Christ comes to the dark world as the light with hope, peace, joy, and love. As Jesus comes into the world, we pray that Jesus brings us hope, peace, joy, love, and light in the world. Therefore, we begin the season of Advent with these candles waiting for hope, peace, joy, love, and light that Jesus Christ brings us.

Someone may ask me, “Is there any hope in the world? Wars, poverty, and injustice still reign. The world is racked with lots of violence.” We indeed hear lousy news more than good news in everyday life. The world is indeed racked with violence, yet not destroyed. It is indeed filled with destruction yet not overcome. We indeed live amidst injustice, poverty, violence, and prejudice, yet still, there are signs of justice, fullness, and hope as long as we pray, commit to mission work, and live out God’s love by our acts. And, we watch. And, we wait. And we wonder.

Today’s scripture says, “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near.” Jesus told us that the way of redemption comes at the edge of despair. Even though the world is full of violence, poverty, and injustice, God never gives up on us. Jesus will come again to save us.

Have you ever experienced finding hope at the moment of despair? I have several times. One of them was when I was hopeless with a broken spine. My doctor gave up on me, and many people around me thought that I wouldn’t walk again. I felt more and more depressed every day. When I was at the edge of despair, God sent a pastor to my hospital room. He brought me a hopeful message that God loves me. The pastor was a sign that God never gave up on me even though everyone else had. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”(Luke 21:33). So, I believed that God might heal me, and I could walk again. Throughout a long, dark, and hopeless time, I learned that there is hope even though we are at the edge of despair. Trust in God; trust in Jesus Christ. Even though you are standing at the edge of pain, please don’t give up hope. God will send you an angel who will help you out.

NASA’s Apollo 13 had one mission which landed on the moon. On April 13, 1971, the spacecraft carrying three astronauts was halfway to the moon when an oxygen tank exploded. Tumbling through space while leaking breathable air, losing power, and drifting off course, Commander Jim Lovell radioed to mission control. “Huston, we’ve had a problem,” and their mission immediately changed. Their goal was to get back to earth alive instead of getting at the moon. After they splashed down in the Pacific Ocean four days later, their mission was dubbed “the successful failure” because they lost their original goal of landing on the moon but made it back to earth alive.

Likewise, our story began with a simple mission: “God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it” (Genesis 2:15). But soon, there was the big lie, rebellion, so Adam and Eve ran into a problem in Eden. God had a new mission that saved us from our sin and its catastrophic effects. It is a successful failure because we lost our original goal, but God has saved us through Jesus Christ. Remember, “Because God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16). God’s purpose is to save us, not destroy us. “Jesus Christ will love us to the end” (John 13:1). God’s goal is not for the world to perish because “God so love the world.” No matter what happens in your life, hold God’s Word. Trust in God’s steadfast love.

The best example of hope at the moment of despair is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was born through the Virgin Mary and grew up in a poor family. He was an outcast in society, but he had many friends in his world, such as the poor, women, the sick, the hungry, and many outcasts. Later on, he seemed to be a king but died on the cross with terrible suffering. However, it was not the end. He rose from death as he promised. He held the God’s Word to save his people in the edge of despair. He is hope for those who are at the point of despair. He is hope for those who pray in the world of despair.

Advent is God’s coming into what has been, what is, and what is yet to be. Advent is God’s activity and God’s way of entering human history. As death came in Advent, so did life. As sorrow came in Advent, so did freedom. As grief came in Advent, so did possibility. God’s redemption is of such tolerance, such kindness, such generosity, such compassion that the whole earth and all that is therein reverberate with signs. God comes to redeem the present moment. God comes to hold all that is to be. So, let us see the world through the lens of God’s Word.

Thanks be to God. Amen.