When There Is Woe Amidst the Mistletoe
Jeremiah 33: 14 – 16

Like all pastors, I draw on a variety of material for sermons. For some of the sermon today, I have drawn on the words and wisdom of a longtime friend and mentor, the Rev. Dr. Richard Hughes. Rick is the pastor of the church where I experienced my call to ordained ministry, Union Congregational Church in North Reading.

At this time of year, just about everywhere you go, you can hear Christmas music playing in the background. You can hear songs about reindeer with red noses, chestnuts roasting on an open fire, and jolly men in in red suits. Maybe you’ve heard a song Burl Ives used to sing, that goes like this:

Have a holly jolly Christmas; it’s my favorite time of year.
I don’t know if there’ll be snow, but have a cup of cheer.
Have a holly jolly Christmas; and when you walk down the street
Say hello to friends you know and everyone you meet.

These weeks before Christmas can be a wonderful time of year. But not everyone is singing that happy song. Sometimes it’s hard to feel the cheer that Christmas is supposed to bring. It may be a jolly season for some, but many of us find ourselves feeling far from jolly. Sometimes there’s a simple reason for that “down in the dumps” feeling. The hours of daylight are shorter now that at any other time of year. If we have a run of days with a low cloud cover, as we did last week, even the daylight hours are darker than usual. All that darkness can lead to feelings of depression. Psychologists have a name for the condition caused by limited sunlight: they call it Seasonal Affective Disorder. People who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder can be treated by using special lights to brighten the dark days.

But even if you don’t mind the dark days, this can be a hard time of year. It may be a hard time for you because something has happened in your life that makes things a whole lot more difficult. It’s hard to sing “Joy to the World” if the doctor has just told you that you have a serious medical condition. Christmas cards with news of happy families are like salt in your wounds, if you’re reeling from the turmoil of a bitter divorce. If you’ve just been laid off, and you don’t know where your next paycheck is coming from, a mall crowded with smiling shoppers is the last place you want to be.

Life can be difficult, and if you’re feeling anxious or troubled, it’s understandable. If you’re finding it hard to be jolly in the midst of all the holly, you’re not alone. This is not the first time that people have felt as if their lives were falling apart. When the prophet Jeremiah spoke in our passage for today from the Hebrew Scriptures, people were also feeling sadness and despair. Jeremiah was speaking to the people of Israel, after they had been conquered by the Babylonian Empire. The armies of Babylon conquered their city and invaded their holy places. They destroyed the Temple and forced thousands of people out of their homes, into exile in Babylon.

The people of Israel, Jeremiah’s people, were in despair. They didn’t know if they would ever see their homes again. It looked as if God had forgotten them. They felt abandoned and alone. They were longing to go home. We can hear that longing for home in the words of the hymn we sang this morning:

O come, O Come Emmanuel; and ransom captive Israel;
That mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear.

In the haunting tones of the hymn, we can hear the longing of the people of Israel, in exile. They long for a leader who will break the bonds of their captivity. They long to hear that God has not forgotten them.

Maybe that hymn strikes a familiar chord in you. Maybe you feel you’re in a kind of exile. Maybe your wife or your husband died this year, and you feel as if you’re in a new and strange land. You feel far away from families that are happy and whole. Your wife always decorated the house so beautifully and now you’re at a loss. Maybe, as you anticipate the first Christmas without your husband, you feel as if you’re in an unfamiliar country.

Sadness may come from a difficult loss, or something less traumatic, but it’s not uncommon to feel sadness at this time of year. Sometimes the sadness is made even worse by the twinkling lights and jingling bells, telling you to put on a happy face and jump onto the nearest sleigh, laughing all the way. All around are voices telling you to cheer up, but all you want to do is go to bed and pull the covers up over your head.

This can be a wonderful time of year, but if you’re feeling sad it’s not so wonderful. And if you’re feeling sad, it’s better to recognize that that’s the way you’re feeling. If the shadows of depression are hovering, it’s better to acknowledge that the loss you’re feeling is real. And it’s important to remember that there’s nothing wrong with feeling that way. As people of faith, you and I can affirm that sadness is not a sin. We live in a world that doesn’t have much room for sadness, especially at this time of year. But as followers of Jesus Christ, we can remember that at times even Jesus was sad. When his friend Lazarus died, Jesus shed tears of grief (John 11: 35). Sadness is part of life, and if that’s the way we’re feeling, it’s better to be honest about it.

Take another look at Jeremiah. He speaks to the people of Israel in the midst of their sadness and loss. He doesn’t put them down for feeling sad. He doesn’t scold or wag his finger, telling them to whistle a happy tune. He knows their sadness is real. He knows their sadness arises from a difficult, almost unbearable, situation. They feel as if God has let them down. Jeremiah doesn’t try to talk them out of that feeling.

Jeremiah doesn’t tell them to snap out of it. But he also doesn’t leave them with their sadness and despair. He offers them hope. He reminds them of God’s promise. He says, “the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time, I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David; he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’”

You may have sorrow now, Jeremiah says, but the days are surely coming when God will make good on God’s promise. It’s OK to feel sad, but don’t forget that God has promised not to abandon us. So, in your sadness, don’t give up on God. Don’t give in to despair. Keep alive a little light of hope.

With God there is always hope. Jeremiah also knew that God doesn’t deal in quick fixes. God doesn’t snap his fingers and make everything all right. God doesn’t work that way. In the fullness of time, though, Israel’s hope was fulfilled. The people of Israel were set free to return to their homes. It didn’t happen right away, but in time they did return to plant vineyards and harvest crops. They did return to raise children and watch them grow and thrive and have children of their own. Many years later, God’s promise was fulfilled when a young woman gave birth to Jesus, whose life became the light of all people.

God doesn’t deal in quick fixes, so sometimes you have to wait for things to get better. Sometimes you have to wait because God’s timing isn’t the same as our timing. When the waiting starts to get to you, remember that God wants what is best for us. God knows what we really need and when we really need it. God has the big picture, and God knows the time that is best for us. Just remember, the days are surely coming.

In the fullness of time, God’s promises will be fulfilled. So we can’t give in to despair. We can’t decide that God doesn’t care. What can we do? We can wait in hope. We can keep alive a light of hope, even if it’s only a flicker. We can let that flicker of hope be the spark that inspires us to offer hope to others.

A woman was touched by that spark one day in the supermarket. Her husband had died just a short time ago and food shopping was one of the hardest things she had to do. As she walked aimlessly around the store, she was remembering that he had often bought her three yellow roses when they went shopping together. As she came up to the meat counter, she couldn’t help remembering how much he loved to eat steak. As she stood there, another woman beside her picked up a package of T- bone steaks. She said, “My husband loves T-bones, but honestly at these prices I don’t know.”

The first woman spoke up. “My husband passed away eight days ago. Buy him the steaks and cherish every moment you have together.” The other woman felt tears well up in her eyes as she put the steaks in her shopping cart and continued shopping.

A few minutes later, she went back to the woman who had lost her husband. Instead of tears, she now had a big smile on her face and something in her arms. When the first woman realized what it was, she felt tears come to her own eyes. The woman gave her three yellow roses. She said, “When you go through the register, they’ll know these are paid for.” She gave the first woman a kiss on the cheek and walked away.

Later on, that woman remembered, “I looked down at the beautiful roses…and found it almost unreal. How did she know? Suddenly, the answer seemed so clear. I wasn’t alone. ‘Oh! You haven’t forgotten me, have you?’ I whispered, with tears in my eyes. God was with me and had sent an angel to comfort me.”

This is a wonderful time of year, but if you’re not filled with cheer, remember: there’s nothing wrong with feeling sad. And in the midst of your sadness, keep alive a little light of hope. Remember, as Jeremiah did, that with God there is always hope. Sadness may come, but don’t give in to despair. Don’t decide that God doesn’t care. Keep alive a light of hope, even if it’s only a little glimmer. Let that little light of hope shine, even in the darkest corner of your life.

Rev. Elva Merry Pawle December 2, 2018
Advent 1