Finding True Joy and Meaning in Advent

one of the things I love about the Advent season is the music I love Christmas carols I love to sing I love to listen to them I will tell you right now one of the ways I will invite you to be with God today is to make music even if you don't think you're good at it to listen to music that brings you Joy and reminds you that this is Jesus Emmanuel God With Us [00:17:34]

these are words written by The Atheist philosopher Birch and Russell Century or so ago purposeless void of meaning is the world man's growth his hopes and fears his loves and beliefs are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms no fire no heroism no intensity of thought and feeling can preserve an individual beyond the grave all the labors of the ages all the devotion all the inspiration all the Noonday brightness of human genius are destined to Extinction in the vast death of the solar system [00:57:21]

and it would be strange if we had that need and something more did not exist now the word for that's something more the good news that we all long for that we all crave without which we cannot live that the soul requires old word for it is good news or gospel and so an important question for you to think about today is what is your gospel that is what's the good news that you are waiting for that you are pinning your hopes on that are worth making a firm foundation for your life [02:40:44]

and in this article she writes about how what is sometimes called Instagram therapy is creating a moral vortex or a vacuum a lack of meaning or Transcendence she's careful to distinguish here between uh therapy that happens in a clinician's office that can be absolutely critical to deal with anxiety depression OCD emotional health issues that many of us struggle with distinguishing between that and then kind of the language of therapy more broadly as the only cultural framework for understanding life that's absent of any sense of transcendence or ultimate meaning or moral reality [03:28:14]

rather it's according to it's that according to this newly prevalent Gospel of self-actualization that's the language she uses the gospel of self-actualization teaches us that the pursuit of private happiness has increasingly become culturally celebrated as the ultimate goal the authentic self to use another common buzzword is characterized simply by personal desires and individual longings so our feelings then become the authority authoritative guidelines to what we should do that's one of the gospels in which we live if we think that the universe doesn't have any meaning then we turn to the self and how can I fulfill or actualize myself and that's the gospel [04:26:69]

and she goes on to write about how historically the prospect of making sense of Our Lives was dominated by religion our church as synagogues mosque offered answers to Life's most wrenching questions why do we suffer what is our purpose in life but Pew estimates 30 percent of Americans were religiously unaffiliated in 2020 a share that may exceed 50 percent by 2070 if president Trends continue but we don't stop looking for a gospel [06:04:97]

not long before Jesus was born in the year 9 BC there was an ancient inscription that marked heralded the birthday of Caesar Augustus listen to these words Providence which has ordered all things and is deeply interested in our life has set in most perfect order by giving us Augustus Caesar Augustus whom she filled with virtue that he might benefit humankind all people sending him as a savior that he might end war and arrange all things and since he sees her by his appearance excelled even our anticipations surpassing all previous benefactors not even leaving to posterity any hope of surpassing what he has done [06:47:16]

but not too long after that we are told in the Gospel of Luke that one day there were shepherds abiding in the field keeping watch over their flocks by night and suddenly the angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord Shone round about them and they were sore afraid but the angel said unto them fear not for behold I bring you good news and Luke their uses precisely the same word that was given to announce the birthday of Caesar I bring you good news of great joy which shall be to all people [07:51:84]

now unto you is Born This Day in the city of David a savior not a political savior nobody's venerating Caesar anymore his birthday does not get celebrated interestingly enough Kenny Michael Barber writes about this Jesus lost the only election he was ever involved in it was a runoff against another character uh Barabbas to see who would be spared by the Roman government and Jesus lost and died on a cross for the Forgiveness of the sins of the whole world so that we could be reconciled to God [08:48:06]

so that we would know through his resurrection that this universe is not just an assembly of random atoms it will not be destroyed every good act every prayer every bit of generosity every self-giving loving extension of one person to another is seen by God cherished by God that's the good news [09:31:01]

and while it's a good thing for us to seek to be happy our Salvation does not lie there it does not lie in Psychology it does not lie in the world of politics it does not lie in the world of economics and we are not doomed to despair for to you is born this day a savior that's the good news You Are Not Alone [10:35:16]

pause during the day when you rest when you take a break when you were confused when you see another person when you're not sure what to do when you finish one task when you begin another when it seems to be too much when something great happens and you are deeply grateful just stop good news good news the world the universe does not rest on your shoulders [10:12:48]