Bro. Allan Tigue
Dec. 2, 2009

     How many Christmases have you had?  Your age would be the number of times you have celebrated Christmas.

     It is always a festive mood.  “Pasko” comes from the word “Pascua,” a feast of the assover where first-born children of houses whose doors were marked by the blood of the lamb were spared from death.  Jesus was the sacrificial lamb.  He died so we might live.

     Advent means coming. Who is coming? What is coming?  We wait for someone or something.

     There are four things that will surely come:

     1. Death

     Who can say that he will not die? All of us will die.  But when we die, it’s not the end of it all.

     2. Judgment

     Jesus in His second coming will judge us accordingly.

     3. Heaven

     Who wants to go to heaven? Heaven will be for those who believe and remain faithful.

     4. Hell

     The last two is a choice we make.

     King David asked God, when will he die; God answered in silence.  Nobody knows when his time will come to meet God.  Only Jesus knew when he will die and resurrect after three days.

     As to St. Paul, every time we wake up, we come nearer and nearer to our death.

     “And do this, knowing the time, that now is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than we first believed.  The night is far spent, the
day is at hand.  Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.  Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not is lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil its lusts” (Rom. 13:11-14).

     In spite of all these, we are required to rejoice: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice!  Let your gentleness be known to all men.  The Lord is at hand” (Phil. 4:4-5)

     But how are we going to rejoice if our loved ones were victims of the Maguindanao massacre? Our house washed away by  “Ondoy”? Someone in our family is sick?

     When we say that the Lord is near; at hand, God is accessible.  Although not ‘fully’ here, He has sent the Holy Spirit to be with us.

     We can pray.  There is hope.  We should learn to ask from God.  Pray for wisdom and allow to be used for the glory of God.

     What are the reasons for our rejoicing?

     1. We rejoice because we know what God is like.

     “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Rev. 21:3:4).

     There is Christmas because of the birth of Jesus.  He taught and brought
‘grace.’

     2. We rejoice because we not only anticipate the coming of our Lord, but also
asknowledge His presence with us today in our difficult times, in our sickness,
in our separations, in our loss and in our lives.

     “But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy” (1 Pt. 4:13).

     3. We rejoice because our sins can be forgiven.

     “And when he comes homes, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’  I say to you likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance” (Lk.15:6-7).

     4. We rejoice because Advent gives us hope of heaven.

     “But in keeping with His promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Pt. 3:13).

     When we die, it is not the end of it all.  What do you think will happen if Jesus was not born? When we die, that’s it.

     But because Jesus was born, died and resurrected, we have eternal life in heaven.

     Let me close my talk with a story of a mother and child who went to a carnival.    The mother has no extra money to buy things for her child.  When the child saw and asked for an ice cream, the mother said that it was bad for his throat.  Then the child wanted a teddy bear, but the mother told him that it was bad for his health.  And then the child saw a balloon, but the mother told him that it will just burst.

     Suddenly, the child got lost and cried searching for his mom. The police officer went to console him and offered him an ice cream to stop him from crying.  But the child refused the ice cream.  He was given a teddy bear, and then a balloon.  But
again he refused and cried all the more.  All he wanted was to see his mom.

     Brothers and sisters, may we all be like the child who will rejoice to see Jesus.