Presented to Alberni Valley Salvation Army, 03 December 2023, the first Sunday of Advent (Hope) by Major Michael Ramsay
Advent is a time of waiting. Advent is
remembering the wait for Jesus’ incarnation and the wait we have now for his triumphant
return. It is about waiting with exiled Israel for a philosopher king and the Judean
diaspora for a conquering hero: a wonderful counsellor, a mighty God, an everlasting
Father and Prince of Peace. It is about waiting with Mary and Joseph for a baby
to be born. It is like waiting with Abraham for a promise to be fulfilled.
Advent is us remembering these waits even as we eagerly await now Jesus’ ultimate
return.
Waiting can sometimes
be difficult. As anticipation of Jesus’ return – as we really believe he is
coming back - builds with every passing day. I think this growing anticipation of
each successive Christmas contributed to the German Protestants inventing
Advent Calendars in the nineteenth century to help with the wait. Many times
when our children were growing up, Susan has made daily advent devotions with
different symbols and treats in stockings leading up to Christmas.
In The Salvation Army
we often remember Christ and mark the time before Christmas by preparing food,
gifts, meals, and raising funds and awareness for those in greatest need in our
community while we wait for Jesus and wait to commemorate the Incarnation.
One of the ways that I
like to mark the Advent Season is to pull out the ties that my girls have made
for me almost every Christmas since Rebecca, my eldest, was born. Today I am
going to share the stories of some of these ties with us here.
2001: this is my first
tie. It has on it the footprint on my 9-month-old daughter and the words, “Merry
Christmas love Rebeca”. 2002 and 2003 each have a second footprint added to the
first; this one is of baby Sarah-Grace. The first tie given to me by my first
begotten child reminds me how God the Father gave us His only begotten child to
live, die and raise from the grave for each of us and how we are now eagerly
awaiting his return, hopefully even more than I eagerly await my new ties.
2004, 2005, and an
unknown year shown here each then have handprints of my daughters and 2006 is
something entirely new. 2006, when my daughters were 5 and 4, they created me a
Christmas Tree on the tie (with help from mom of course). This reminds me that
God loves each of us so much that He made all of creation. Every tree, every plant,
every animal, everything for us… to take care of and to name. And He did this
with even more love than children making a gift for their dad.
The 2008 tie has a picture
drawn by one or both of my daughters: it has a picture of Mary and Baby Jesus
in a manger as well as the Star. It says “I love you” reminding us of the
Christmas story and how Jesus was lain in a manger because their way no room
for him in the inn – it recalls the Father’s great love for us as recorded in
John 3:16 and 17: “For God so love the world that He sent His Only Begotten Son
that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life for
God did not send His Son to condemn the world but that the world through Him
might be saved.”
The 2009 tie from Rebecca
and Sarah-Grace has the creativity of my young children on full display with
Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus under the Christmas star and a Christmas tree.
This reminds us, as well as everything else, of the faithfulness of Joseph as
told in the Gospel of Luke, how he loved Jesus as his own and served God with
all his heart. Matthew 1:18-25:
18 This
is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged
to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be
pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to
the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind
to divorce her quietly.
20 But
after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream
and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your
wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will
give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will
save his people from their sins.”
22 All
this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The
virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”
(which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Next, we have two
undated ties. The hand is the handprint of a baby Heather, so we know that this
tie was made in 2010 or later. And the next one is really neat. Take a look:
under the Christmas Star that led the magi and shepherds to Bethlehem are three
figures: one in blue representing Mary, and one in red representing Joseph and
the baby Jesus is in white. If you look at the three figures you will notice
that each one is the fingerprint of one of my daughters: reminding us all the
God came to earth as a small child, as a baby born to His mother and adoptive father
and laid in swaddling cloths in a manger.
In 2013 I received 2
ties: one from all three girls and one just from Sarah-Grace. 11-year-old Sarah-Grace
made me a cow because cows were her favourite animal and because she loved me,
she gave me her favourite just as God gave us His favourite, His One and Only Son,
on Christmas.
The other tie I
received in 2013 which was made by my daughters is of a shepherd and a sheep.
The sheep’s body is the print of my bottom on my three-year-old Heather’s palm.
This tie references John 10:14-15, where it is recorded: “I am the good
shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and
I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
Next in 2015 we have a
picture of a lamb outside of Jerusalem reminding us that Jesus is the Lamb of
God and that as, as Revelation records, He is coming back with the new Jerusalem.
This is ultimately what we are all waiting for even today – in Advent and
always – Christ’s triumphant return.
Next, we have a reindeer
and a Christmas tree. The words Feliz Navidad are written here. These
words remind us of Iris, a friend of ours from when we served in Toronto. She was
our corps administrator and more. She was from Latin America and was a faithful
servant of God. She received her Promotion to Glory during Advent, one
Christmas, while we were in Toronto.
2017’s tie says ‘Joy’.
Joy is one of the candles that we often light during Advent. You will most
likely see me wear this tie on that day. Beside the word ‘Joy’ is an Angel and
beneath it is the earth harkening us to remember the good tidings of great joy
that the Angels brought to the whole world. Joy to the World.
2018’s tie has an
Advent wreath reminding all who see my tie of the importance of Advent and a
profession of faith. 2019 and 2020’s ties don’t have quite as overt Biblical
themes as the others. 2019’s tie references Bohemian Rhapsody, the Song by
Queen, but if you look at the faces you may notice that instead of the band
members they are pictures of Heather, Sarah-Grace, Rebecca, and Susan around a
Christmas Tree. Christmas Trees, off course, like the Advent wreaths, symbolize
eternal life – so there is that reference to Scriptures. 2020 is an animal – a cat
maybe?, the Christmas Star, and two pineapples making up the zeros in 2020. That
is an inside joke. In 2020 there were a lot of pineapples in the food bank here
and it made me a little concerned that we were handing these out to people who
had no food and no means to eat them and
- while there were a lot of inside jokes that I won’t necessarily share
here but this tie was certainly a personal act of love – just as God sending Jesus
was the most perfect act of love.
2021’s tie has a picture
of Augustus Caesar, a bunch of numbers, and Quirinius – because who doesn’t
need a tie of Quirinius. It cites Luke 2:1-2: “And it came to pass in those
days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be
registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.”
Last year’s tie, 2023,
which I wore at the Christmas Dinner and kick-off this year has a picture of someone
standing at a kettle because indeed this is a tangible way that we can remember
Christ and serve God by loving our neighbour this and every Christmas.
So today, I have shared
with you a lot of my treasures; some of my most cherished gifts. Each time I
put on a tie, I remember my children and how much I love them, all of them. And
I remember how much God loves us that, as we commemorate at Christmas, He sent
His only begotten Son as a child in a manger and even now we await his ultimate
return, at the eschaton, where there will be no more suffering, no more death,
no more tears; only joy to the world and the love of God. John 3:16-17: “For
God so love the world that He sent His Only Begotten Son that whosoever
believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life for God did not send
His Son to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.”
Let us pray.
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