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I love the celebration of Christmas because we remember an amazing story. God chose to enter
the world in the womb of an unwed, peasant teenager. Her finance, Joseph, decided to stay with
her when he found out she was pregnant. Im sure it was hard for him to believe that the Holy
Spirit had been the father and not another man from town. The baby was born in a small house
in Bethlehem with animals nearby. After the baby was born he was put in a feed trough or what
we would call a manger.
This is the story of God entered the world as a human. What a remarkable, humble story.
I love getting ready for Christmas by celebrating the season of Advent.
The worship services are so beautiful this season. At Chain of Lakes we have some amazing
music planned. In two weeks were going to have our first symphonic band. Along with a choir.
We had so many people show up for choir practice that Kristel ran out of music. The music of
the season is amazing.
I love getting together with family and even going to a party or two.
But as much as I love the season I hateand if your parents were like mine they taught me that
hate is a very strong wordI hate how the season can be hijacked. The excesses, the
consumption, the busyness, the financial debt we take on and even the weight some of us gain.
The media encourages us to spend, spend, spend. Already we have days in this season that are
labeled for shoppingBlack Friday/Cyber Monday. The media keeps us informed on how well
we are doing at our shopping. I turned on the news this past Mondayexcuse mesorry
cultureIll be hip and call it cyber Mondayand I didnt watch news. On the news I watched
a three minute description of the best deals on the Internet. After every deal the newscaster said
wow. For me the word, wow is a very special word that is all about God. Now the word,
wow is being used for shopping.
What Ive always wondered about the season is what lasts? We celebrate a story that has
everlasting implications for our life. What lasts about our preparation and celebration? Are we
being drawn closer to the person God wants us to be? Is our world drawn being closer to the
Kingdom that God desires. Is the poverty rate lower because of Christmas? Are the nations of
the world drawn closer to peace because were celebrating the birth of the Prince of Peace?
My hope is this year our preparation and celebration can last. With this hope Im sharing a three
week sermon series called Making Memories. The AIM of the series is to see what is it about
the story of Jesus birth that we will carry with us into the new year. Each Sunday Im going to
encourage us to do make a memory this season. Im going to encourage us to make a memory
based on the Spirit of Jesus that we will still talk about in ten years.
Each sermon will revolve around a theme. Todays theme is hope.
Im going to do three things in this sermon. I would encourage you to write them down in the
left hand side of the bulletin.

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SLIDE
1. Share the story of Simeon
Give two take-aways
1. A challenge for the week
2. Encourage us to make a memory
Lets look at the story of Simeon. This story takes place in the latter half of the second chapter
of Luke.
Some context. Right before the story of Simeon we read about Jesus birth. Eight days later he
was circumcised. Then Joseph and Mary took Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem.
You remember the village where Jesus was born? Bethlehem. Do you know how far it was
from Bethlehem to Jerusalem? A little more than five miles. Do you know how far it is from
Roosevelt Middle School to Lino Lakes Elementary STEM where we do mentoring? Thats 7.3
miles. So they walked Joseph and Mary walked a little less than that distance from Bethlehem to
Jerusalem.
Why did they go to the Temple? When a woman gave birth in Jesus day she was known as
unclean for 40 days. During this time she couldnt touch anything that was holy and she couldnt
go into a sanctuary. When those 40 days were up she would approach a priest and share an
offering. The priest would declare the woman clean.
This is the law they were following.
SLIDE
When the days of her [mother of a child] purification are completed, whether for a son or for a
daughter, she shall bring to the priest a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, a pigeon or a
turtle-dove for a sin offering.
If she cannot afford a sheep, she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons. Leviticus 12:6
SLIDE
they [Joseph & Mary] offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, a
pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. Luke 2:24
What this tell you about Joseph and Mary?

They were poor

Joseph and Mary and Jesus were on the way to the Temple from Bethlehem. One part of the
story. This brings us to Simeon.
Simeon was a righteous man. The story says he was looking forward or waiting for the
consolation of Israel. This means a lot, but most simply it means he was waiting for the
Messiah. Simeon had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the
Messiah.
Most people think that Simeon was old. Here are some pictures of Simeon

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SLIDE
SLIDE
SLIDE
Let me ask you a question. Simeon had been promised that he would see the Messiah. As he
was waiting what do you think was going through his mind? What emotions was he
experiencing?
Anticipation; excitement; expectation; hope.
I think Simeon felt hope. I think Simeon was a prophet of hope. He is a role model for us.
I preached a lot on hope. I pulled out some of my sermons on hope. This week I came up with a
definition of hope.
SLIDE
Hope is knowing the worst of the world and believing in the best
I dont think living with hope is easy.
Jim Wallis is the editor of Sojourners magazine. He wrote this.
SLIDE
Prophetic faith does not see the primary battle as the struggle between belief and secularism. It
understands that the real battle, the big struggle of our times, is the fundamental choice between
cynicism and hope. The choice between cynicism and hope is ultimately a spiritual choice,
one that has enormous political consequences. Gods Politics, page 346
God had told Simeon that he would see the Messiah. It was quite remarkable that Simeon would
believe God. People in Israel had been waiting for the Messiah ever since their nation had been
destroyed six centuries earlier. Many times people thought the Messiah was coming. The
Messiah had never come. I think it would have been easy for Simeon to be cynical about what
God had told him.
In many ways its a lot easier to choose cynicism instead of choosing hope. Theres quite an
attraction to cynicism. The cynics have a lot to offer the world. Cynics are smart and critical,
and they honestly see reality. Ill let Wallis share the point.
SLIDE
[Cynics] tend to see things as they are, they know what is wrong, and they are generally
opposed to what they see.
We actually need cynics in our lives as they keep us honest.
However here is the thing about cynics. They make the correct step in identifying the problems
of the world. But they dont go far enough. They stay with the problem, but they dont present a
solution. They arent willing to take risks, or make sacrifices, or put their heart and life on the
line to solve the problems they can so easily identify.
One more quote from Jim Wallis. Its a fairly long quote, but it expresses the point.

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SLIDE
Perhaps the only people who view the world realistically are the cynics and the saints.
Everybody else may be living in some kind of denial about what is really going on and how
things really are. And the only difference between the cynics and the saints is the presence,
power, and possibility of hope. And that, indeed, is a spiritual and religious issue. More than
just a moral issue, hope is a spiritual and even religious choice. Hope is not a feeling; it is a
decision.
SLIDE
And the decision for hope is based on what you believe at the deepest levelswhat your most
basic convictions are about the world and what the future holdsall based on your faith. You
choose hope, not as a nave wish, but as a choice, with your eyes wide open to the reality of the
worldjust like the cynics who have not made the decision for hope.
Gods Politics, Page 347
I love being with a group of people who choose hope. That is why I love being your pastor.
You choose hope. You and I are almost at the end of a long campaign that started in early June
when Gary Long and I received an E-mail that said we werent going to be able to worship at Da
Vinci Academy. After worship today the Steering Committee is going to vote on when we will
start worshiping at our new home on Davenport.
The journey from that first E-mail to our first worship service has been quite a journey. Were
going to a facility, the journey has not been about a facility. The journey is about a choice. The
choice is one that you made many times in the last six months. The choice you always made was
hope.
We chose hope instead of cynicism.
The cynics would have rightly said that this journey would be hard. They would have quit.
Instead you said that this journey will be hard, but lets give it a shot. Lets see what happens.
The cynics would have said that it makes no sense to turn a Bridal studio into a worship space
Instead you saidyes not too many Bridal studios are turned into a worship space. But lets try
to figure it out.
The cynics would have said that there is no way the congregation can raise the amount of money
we need to raise.
Instead you said, yes it will take a lot of money, but money follows vision and if we can
communicate the vision the money will come.
This particular journey is almost over. Guess who won the journey. God won the journey. God
is a God of hope.
Its the same story as Simeon.
Simeon could have saidyes Ive heard that the Messiah has been coming. Ive been hearing
that for 500 years. Why would it happen now? He didnt choose the path of cynicism.

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God was at work in this story in a way that no one could have imagined. I encourage you to read
the story this week. God had an intersection that God was orchestrating. Joseph and Mary
brought Jesus to the Temple. God told Simeon to come to the Temple. When Simeon came to
the Temple, guess what happened.
He saw Jesus. He saw the Messiah.
Simeon rushed up to Jesus and grabbed him in his arms. This is the one weve been waiting for.
He pronounced these words. These verses have become know as the Nunc Dimittis They are
worth memorizing
SLIDE
Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word;
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
Which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
A light for revelation to the Gentiles
And for glory to your people Israel.
Luke 2:29-32
This is the one; this is the one weve been waiting for. All of our waiting has been worth it.
Thats the power of hope. Thats the story.
My first take away to you is this. Its a takeaway for one week because I realize the shelf-life of
sermons is one week.
SLIDE
This week continue to choose hope over cynicism.
Every day were going to look at the reality of a fallen world. Were going to have to choose
how to respond. We have hard decisions to make because of this fallen world. Our decisions
range from as small as my schedule is out of whack to a loved one needs help. Just this week
Amy and I got word that a close friend of ours had to go into emergency surgery because a large
mass was discovered on his bowel. Every day we look at the reality of a fallen world.
What are you going to choose this weekhope or cynicism. Are you going to saythis
situation is really bad and its not going to get any better. Or are you going to say, this situation
is really bad, but I think God just might turn it around. Choose hope.
Today we are welcoming 12 new people as Disciples at Chain of Lakes. I am so excited that this
group is connecting to us. You arent a member, though we do have members. You are a
disciple because what most important to us is not what you do for the institution called Chain of
Lakes. What is most important is how this community can help you grow as a follower of Jesus
Christ. I want our community to help you grow in your faith life, your relationship life, to be
healed of any wounds that you have, and to become the person God desires for you to beto
discover what I call our Inspirational Intersection. Those are a lot of words, but my charge to our
new folks for their time at Chain of Lakes is choose hope. Always hope over cynicism. Help
our congregation do the same.

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The last take-away I want to share is very simple. But its a big challenge.
SLIDE I want to challenge you to do something this season in the spirit of Jesus that youll still
be talking about in ten years. Make a memory that will last.
If your family is like my family we have family traditions that are special and meaningful. Im
not asking us to create a new tradition that we do every year. Im encouraging us to do
something for one yearin 2014that will lastsomething that represents hope.
Its up to you to discern what this could be. Let me share some possibilities. My motivation is
not to tell you what to do, but instead to prompt your discernment. Ive talked about Ola in some
past sermons. He is a man in his 20s who came from Nigeria. He is dying of colon cancer.
Sally Narr and our confirmation students are going to visit him today. He might not be with us
in a month. His mother still lives in Nigeria. Perhaps a group of us could figure out how to pay
for her plane ticket to the United States.
Were going to be asking people to give gifts to homeless teens. Maybe you want to take one
teenor perhaps you would take five teens.
Maybe you could do something with your family that is very meaningful. Perhaps you would
want to knock on every door near you and share a present with that family that represented
Christmas to you.
You probably could come up with some even better ideas.
As the world tells us to consume, were celebrating an everlasting story.
Right after the sermon Kristel Peters and the band is going to play a song. As they are doing that
I want to encourage each of us to reflect on a memory you could make in the Spirit of Jesus this
season. Have a conversation with God about what your memory could be.
I pray that Simeons story can be our story. Always choose hope.

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