HOPE IN OUR HOMES

Scripture: Luke 1:26-56

I read an article in Friday’s paper, and you may have seen it too, about former President Ronald Reagan and his battle with Alzheimer’s disease which has left him helpless and bedridden at the age of 92. Reagan’s daughter, Patti Davis, is quoted saying that

she understands how the veil of privacy her mother has thrown around the former president “has allowed people to imagine he is still talking, still walking, still able to stumble into a moment of clarity…but it would be a disservice to every family who has an Alzheimer’s patient in their embrace to say any of that is true. Today, we are like so many other families who come to the bedside of a loved one and look into eyes that no longer flicker with recognition.”

Davis goes on to say that the one blessing amid the tragedy is that it has led to the reunification of her once-fractured family, in particular the reconciliation of Davis and her mother, who were often bitterly at odds during Reagan’s presidency. “And that might be his most important legacy to us,” Davis concludes, “what lives on in the heart.” (From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 5, 2003, “Reagan Bedridden, Daughter Writes” by Bill Steiden, page A-6)

Reading those words, I was reminded of something an eight-year-old boy named Mitchell Miller wrote to President Reagan when he was in office back during the 1980’s. The letter, written in December, expressed what Mitchell Miller wanted for Christmas:

“Dear Mr. Reagan,

I would like you to send children to Mars in the next space ship going in that direction, and I would appreciate it very much if I could go.”

Attached to the bottom of his letter was a note signed by his mother and father:

“P.S. As the parents of Mitchell Miller, we would like to give you our permission to send our son anywhere in space any time you’re ready.”

Well, we know deep down in their hearts that those parents didn’t really mean it, that they surely loved their son and wanted the best for him. But if the truth be told, in all of our families, we have and hold onto an image of the way we think it ought to be while living through the reality of the way it actually is.

Raising young children like Mitchell Miller is a great joy, and yet sometimes it is a painful process. Living a long life like Ronald Reagan could have been for him, for Nancy and their family what Robert Browning once envisioned – “Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be…” that is, if we can stay healthy. But Alzheimer’s disease, as many of us are aware, can turn our dreams into despair.

And so it is for those who are married, starting out with such high expectations which, sooner or later, can run head on into disappointment and frustration. A middle-aged woman went to see her pastor and said, “I don’t know how much longer I can hold on.” The pastor replied, “But didn’t you marry him for life?” “Yes I did” she answered, “but he hasn’t shown any signs of life for the past 25 years.”

The truth is, in all of our families, we live somewhere in between the image of the way we think it ought to be and the reality of the way it actually is. That’s especially true during the Advent-Christmas season, and the question I want us to think about today is this: whether we are older like the Reagans, younger like the Millers or somewhere in the middle of our journey through life, how can we find and hold onto hope in our homes?

II.

That’s the same question which two families were asking during that first Advent season nearly 2000 years ago.

The first chapter of Luke’s Gospel tells us that Zechariah and Elizabeth, who were advanced in years (Luke 1:7), had no children but continued to hope that somehow, someday it might happen. And then an angel appeared to Zechariah and announced that Elizabeth, in her twilight years, would conceive and bear a son whose name would be called John. And the angel said You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at this birth. For he will be great before the Lord (1:14-15).

Not long after, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that she was going to have a baby also: And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus (Luke 1:260-31).

Now the Bible describes Elizabeth and Mary as kinswomen (1:36), which means that somehow they were related to each other. Elizabeth was older, Mary was younger, probably just a teenager, but the announcement came to both of them at about the same time. And together with their husbands, Zechariah and Joseph, those two couples began to watch and wait with an abiding sense of hope in their homes.

So it has been for many of us who have been blessed by the birth of our children. Through an act of love, a child is conceived and the gift of life is given, not only to the parents and grandparents, but also to the godparents, the aunts and uncles and sisters and brothers…and oftentimes now, through adoption, that joy is shared by many others. And in each and every situation, hope is born together with that baby!

So the first thing I want to say about finding and holding onto hope in all of our homes today is that it is a gift from God! Elizabeth and Zechariah, Mary and Joseph were dazzled by God’s surprise, and with thankful hearts and expectant eyes they received the gift of life that was given to them.

And so can we! Every time a child is born into this church family, we make the announcement with a rose in the pulpit. That’s hope! Each Sunday that we baptize a baby in this chancel with water and words of promise to bring him or her up in the Christian faith – that’s hope! And next Sunday, as we gather here at 9:00 for the children’s Christmas Pageant and re-enact the greatest story ever told with more than 250 little angels, shepherds, wise men, animals, choirs and Mary and Joseph and the Baby Jesus – filling this sanctuary with the glory of the gospel – that’s hope! And all that we need to do is to receive God’s gift of hope into our hearts and our homes.

It was Carl Sandberg who once said that “the birth of each and every child is a sign from God that He hasn’t given up on the human race (paraphrase).” So instead of trying to explain the mystery of life, instead of attempting to define the incarnation of Jesus Christ, let us with childlike wonder, simply receive the gift that God continues to offer us – the gift of hope, wrapped up in the birth of every human being on earth … and especially that one child born in Bethlehem long, long ago, who has promised hope to all who welcome Him into their homes.

III.

Before we close, there’s another thing we can do to find and take hold of hope in our homes. As we receive the gift of hope that God has given to us, let us also share the gift of hope with those whom we love by renewing our commitments and promises to them.

That’s what Elizabeth and Zechariah did as their son John was born. And so it was for Mary and Joseph, as they stuck together in the good times and in the hard times, believing that God was at work in their lives. So they embraced the mystery of the child that was born in Bethlehem, and re-affirmed their love and their loyalty to one another, no matter what might happen.

So it can be, so it must be for you and for me and for all of us in our families. If we really desire to find and to take hold of hope in our homes, we need to stick together and re-commit ourselves to one another as we make our way toward Christmas.

You say “Preacher, that’s easy with most of my family. We’ve always been close and that’s the way it will always be. But that is not so with everyone, and I don’t know how we can pick up the pieces that have been broken and put things back together again.”

If that is your situation, you are not alone. Dr. Craig Barnes, who preached from this pulpit last summer, has written a new book entitled “Searching for Home,” and in the second chapter, he makes this painful but honest observation under the subtitle “A Norman Rockwell Painting”:

“It’s impossible not to be inspired by the sentimental portrait of the large family sitting down to the table as the mother places a huge turkey in front of them. That’s exactly the home where we would all prefer to gather for the holidays. But that family doesn’t exist … Rockwell wasn’t painting our family tables, but our aspirations of them. If he had wanted to give us a glimpse of the true family table, it would have been stained with painful memories, a chair would have been vacant to remind of us the loved one who recently died, and at least one person at the table wouldn’t be able to smile. There isn’t a family on earth that is spared any of these harsh realities.

The pain of how things really are at home makes the ambitious among us think that if we work real hard, marry the right person and get our kids into good schools, we can make our family look Rockwellian … But there are no formulas … that can prevent a family from being comprised of human beings. To be human is to bring the wounds of our hurts home every time we sit at a family table …

To find a more helpful portrait … we would do better to look at Leonardo de Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper. There we see the images of grief, confusion, separation and betrayal … but also a Savior in the midst of it all who bears the burdens.” (From “Searching for Home,” by Craig Barnes, Brazos Press, 2003, pages 28-29)

And therein, my friends, lies our true hope and the promise of reconciliation and forgiveness: “Christ at the Center: the Hope of the World!” He is the One who offers hope to you and to me in our homes as we come to Christmas.

If there is someone in your family who has hurt you or fallen away; if there is someone in your home whom you have hurt or from whom you are estranged; then I plead with you and pray today that between now and Christmas, you will resolve to reach out to them and to open your heart and your home to the Savior who was born in Bethlehem, asking Him to heal your hurts and to bring you back into a right relationship again.

Of all the gifts that will be exchanged this season, that would be the greatest gift of all – forgiveness and reconciliation, in the name and for the sake of God’s Son, our Savior Jesus. And that is the gift He offers to us today – Hope in Our Homes, as we make our way toward Christmas.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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