Each Sunday at Fellowship Congregational UCC Tulsa, where I am on staff, I usually give a sermon or message to our youth during our Youth Worship. I try to keep them short and often conversational. I’d like to start sharing them more often. Here is the one I gave this last Sunday, the Third Sunday in Advent; the theme in our series this week was Do the good that is yours to do.
Scripture: Isaiah 58:9b-12
“If you get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people’s sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
firm muscles, strong bones.
You’ll be like a well-watered garden,
a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.
Message:
“Do the good that is yours to do.”
Close your eyes for a moment, and think about something you really love to do. Maybe that thing is playing video games. Maybe its creating art. Maybe its reading, or playing outside, or spending time with your favorite pet. As you have your eyes closed, think about the feeling you get inside when you do that thing you love. Think about how happy you feel, about the joy that wells up inside you in those moments.
Open your eyes. Today’s reminder is, “do the good that is yours to do.” We just heard the words of the prophet Isaiah, written almost three thousand years ago, to the people of Israel. Isaiah was one of the most important prophets in the history of Israel; although out the Gospel stories of Jesus, you will be find Jesus and John and the Disciples and Apostles quoting Isaiah. His words were powerful and important for these people, and they still are for us.
In today’s reading, we hear instruction from Isaiah, about how we are to be living in the world. “Get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming others and gossiping”, he says. “Be generous, and give of yourself to others. Do these things,” Isaiah promises us, “And your lives will begin to glow in the darkness!”
500 years after Isaiah wrote these words, a group of people came to the Jordan River, to be baptized by John the Baptist. John, remember, was the man who came before Jesus, trying to prepare people for what was about to happen. On this, these people came to him, and asked him a question: “What are we supposed to do, to be ready for the coming of the Messiah?” John tells them: “Give away your stuff, and feed the hungry. Don’t cheat others, be generous, don’t envy.”
During Advent, you may be asking this question as well, “What is it we are supposed to be doing? What is this all about?” As those who are trying to follow Jesus, what we are supposed to do is just this: Do the good that is yours to do. It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant, or huge. Help your parents out getting things ready for holiday meals. Hold the door when you go into the store. Talk to your family about maybe helping at a soup kitchen or food bank during Christmas break. Donate your unworn coats and sweaters and hats and gloves for those who don’t have what they need to be warm. Smile. Encourage one another. Be the friendly face someone else needs today.
The cool thing about doing these little things: when you do them, you will find you get that same great big feeling of joy and happiness that you get when you are doing your favorite thing in the whole world. This week in Advent is the week of joy. Find the joy in your life, and then spread it around to others. That’s our job to do. Amen.
Today’s Video: “Gilraen’s Memorial” from The Fellowship of the Rings OST by Howard Shore
Justin DaMetz 