Fumes
Rev. Jimmy Moore, preaching
Matthew 2:13-20
Does anyone else feel a little tired? It’s well known, especially among pastors, that the Advent and Christmas season, for all of its power, can be exhausting. Mary Beth and I were joking the other day about sermon titles for the first Sunday after Christmas and I quipped, “Fumes”. (as in ‘running on fumes’) And the truth is, I’m a little tired. But as I began to reflect, I quickly had to note that we’re not the only ones. During this season we all shop, travel and entertain. We engage in so many activities that we simply cannot make it to all those gatherings we wish we could. For all of its glories, December can wear us out. And beyond all of that, there are many burdens, personal and global, that just seem too heavy to carry these days. For that matter, perhaps 2019 has just been a rough year for some of us. So, I’ll ask again: does anyone else feel a little tired?
Indeed, weariness is one of the less frequently explored themes of the Advent/Christmas season. As the lyric in “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” has it, “And still their heavenly music floats o’er all the weary world.” In the biblical narrative in Matthew and Luke, the shepherds are working at night, after the visit from the angels, travel to see the holy infant. And the young couple and the babe are frequently awakened at night by angels and told to move under cloak of darkness, for they are not safe. It is a wearying thing to be unable to be at peace in a home of your own, isn’t it?
A clear but powerful piece of the Good News is this: God cares for the weary and the broken-hearted. Part of the longing of the Nativity Scene of the Gospels is that this motley crew that gathers can rest in the shining of the radiant moment.
So what if this is true, that our fatigue actually serves as a messenger of God to tell us that we need to find the rest and restoration that can allow us to breathe deeply? We’ll talk about this in the sermon on Sunday morning which is titled, “Fumes”. (Yes, it really is). The sermon rises from the accounting in Matthew 2:13-23 in which the holy family has to keep relocating to stay safe. Join us on Sunday morning at 10:30 as the Chancel Choir, led by Gerry Sousa, leads us in music.