Rejoice!

       Greetings to you all.  I hope you are all doing well and having a blessed Advent.  Not much is new with me, just trying to finish out this last week of classes.  I head home Friday after classes for a two week Christmas break.  I plan to spend the first week in Iowa with family and friends and then most likely Nebraska the second week but still not sure on that.  I will try to put up one or two posts over the break now that mom finally has internet capability.  I also will try to put up my sermon at the end of the week.
       My thought for the day comes from Pastor Laetsch's sermon yesterday.  Pastor Laetsch is my field work supervisor in Highland, IL.  He is a single 70 year old man who has told me he would have retired by now if he did not thoroughly enjoy working with us seminary guys so much.  He has been such a good supervisor for me to work with and learn from.  He lets me doing anything I want to try, but doesn't push me into anything I am not comfortable doing.  We also go out to lunch every Sunday together so there is a lot of one on one time to talk and discuss anything that I have doubts, worries, or questions about.  I truly appreciate having being blessed to wok with him.  I won't give his whole sermon again, just a few highlights.  The main point is his idea, but I will obviously put it into my own words with some of my own ideas.  His sermon was on the pink candle of Advent.  He discussed how the pink candle stands for rejoicing.  His main point was the difference between happiness and rejoicing.  Happiness is short lived, based on materials, moments, or memories in our lives, and comes and goes frequently.  So we get a new toy at Christmas, or a new car, or have a good family dinner together, we get very happy.  However, all it takes is one thing to snap that happiness away from us.  So even in this time of happiness during the season of Christmas as we buy gifts and prepare for family and are just excited and happy to celebrate the holiday, we turn on the news and that happiness disappears.  We see what seems like pure evil in a man killing twenty-six people at an elementary school, and that excitement and happiness is replaced with sadness, anxiety, and confusion.  Our happiness is short lived and can be taken away from us daily.  However, rejoicing is long-term, based on the truth of the Gospel of our Lord, and can always be found.  To rejoice can mean to express the joy  we have as Christians.  However, it can also men to show that we trust in God at all times and know He is always in control.  It is not based on anything we do or any materials we have in our lives, but entirely based on the work and will of our God.  So even during times of what seems like pure evil, even during times of complete sadness and mourning for twenty-six people who were shot to death for no reason, we still cling to our Lord who is in control, who has authority over all evil, and has given us the ability to know that truth through the death and resurrection of our Savior.  The truth of the Gospel is not just that we are forgiven and will join our Lord in Heaven someday.  The truth of the Gospel is everything our Lord does to us and for us.  He sustains us, protects us, guides us, and even in times of mourning gives us hope to cling to.  This truth of the Gospel is the reason we are able to rejoice at all times, even times of mourning.  The God we serve, trust, and believe in is the one and only, true God who is active in our lives each and every day.  Even when we think He is no where to be found and question how or why He seems to allow such evil to be present, He is there, actively in control.  So we do not question where He is or what He is doing, but we cling to the hope, the truth, and the faith we have in Him.  We rejoice, not necessarily by singing hymns of praise, but we rejoice by trusting Him, clinging to Him, and knowing He is God.  So if you have an Advent wreath in your home, or next time you're in church, and you see the pink candle being lit, remember to rejoice!  Even in the times of stress of the holiday, even in times of mourning death, even in times of doubt, rejoice in our Lord who is not only the reason for the season, but is God over death and sin.  He is our God who has the authority over all evil and is actively in control in our lives even when to us it seems He is not there.  We rejoice in the truth of the Gospel because it is not based on what we do, but what God has done and continues to do daily for us.  Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, rejoice!"  All Praise Him who sent His Son, our Savior, to be our salvation and to be our hope in which we cling, and in whom we rejoice!
Dear Heavenly Father, 
We live in a present evil age, but do not let us forget that even in this age, You are in control.  We beg Your mercy for the families and all those suffering and mourning the school shooting in Connecticut.  We beg Your mercy for every one dealing with doubts, confusions, or feelings of abandonment.  Lay Your comforting hand on them all and help them feel Your peace.  Remind us all that at all times we have Your truth of Your Gospel to rejoice in.  Help us to always rejoice in Your name, staying strong in the one true faith of You and all You have done for us through Your Son and His active reign in our lives.  We pray all this, rejoicing in the name of our Christ and Lord, Jesus. Amen.