November 30, 2025 · Rev. Derek van Gulden · Lamentations 3:46-57; Luke 2:1-5
On the first Sunday of Advent, Rev. Derek van Gulden describes the world Jesus was born into, centuries of silence and occupation under Caesar and Herod, and asks the congregation to name what feels oppressive now. The good news is that God chose that moment to enter the world, and hope, however small, is still the antidote to fear.
Transcript
People of God, would you join me in a moment of prayer? Gracious and holy God, this morning I ask you to move the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts by your love, and help each of us this day not to be the instrument of oppression, but to be an instrument of peace in every step and every breath, in every moment of every day. Amen.
Hope. When you hear today's scripture, especially the one from Lamentations, did you hear hope ring out through that? Question? Sure. I hear people crying out in pain.
People that for hundreds of years who have been oppressed over the next month, right through Christmas, we are going to be looking at and doing a worship services based on what child is this? That beautiful poem that was turned into a song. You all know pretty well. And this Sunday. I want to introduce to you, if you don't know already what the world was like in that moment that Jesus was born, and why possibly God chose that moment in history. To enter in the world that God created in the baby Jesus at that time.
Before that time, it was known as the Silent Period. God hadn't spoken hundreds of years. Those who lived in Judea, those who lived in Bethlehem and Nazareth. What is now Palestine suffered constantly. Different regimes would come in, take over, they'd fall, another one would come in and take over. They lived from oppression to oppression to oppression. And in the point that Jesus was born, when God entered the world as a child, they were under the foot of Rome.
This is important for us to remember. Quite often we celebrate the birth with great joy, which is good, but we need to remember what was going on then and possibly look in our world.
Are there any things right now that you find oppressive that you worry about? It's okay to call them out. One word. Two words. Everything. Untruths. Untruths. Food insecurity. Limited security or no security. Food importing immigrants. Importing immigrants. Deporting immigrants. Cruelty. Cruelty. Cruelty. Corruption. Corruption.
Military might that supposedly brought peace from the Son of God. Remember, Caesar? The Emperor was in charge back then. And in the Roman history, Caesars were known as the Son of God. We can't forget there was also Herod, who was king of the Jews. And here this lowly infant, Born in a stable. Born to be king. And if you do not think that's a radical and political statement, you need to read more. God entered the world where these kings and Caesars, the Son of God, were ruling everything. And for hundreds and hundreds of years, those in that area have been oppressed. And all of a sudden, God chose that moment. To become incarnate in Jesus. And he was known at the beginning as the King of Kings. A very at that time, political, a very powerful statement that the world of kings has changed and will change.
Those in power who. Kings will not rule much longer for this new King. The King of kings will lift up those who have been oppressed. Will bring back into society all those who have been rejected and pushed out. Will bring back love into the culture and into our world. It's a huge statement, and it's one of those statements that I believe when people talk about religion and politics, they know, not know. But the Bible is fairly political all over the place. It doesn't mean we have to shout that out loud, but it doesn't mean also that we cower from it. Those moments when God entered into the world that God created as an infant to bring about the change that the world needed.
I was reading all week. This book that someone recommended to me called The First Advent in Palestine. The author is Kelly, and I apologize to her because I'm going to destroy your name. Nicardia. And the very first chapter is called Silence and Suffering. That was what was going on when Jesus was born.
And we picture Mary and Joseph traveling. Well, I can't imagine Mary, nine months pregnant on a donkey traveling from Worcester to Rockport. Without going into labor. But that trip for them. Was also probably very hard because Caesar had called for a census. Now, nowadays censuses are census. The census is taken so that we know where the people are and who needs representation or not, supposedly. But in that day and age, when Caesar called for a census, what it truly meant was they were going to end up paying more in taxes. They would be crushed down with more weight of giving away what little they had. So I doubt anybody was really happy.
But I want us to remember that, and I want us to think about right now in our lives. Where do we find hope? For me, the hope of the world came when God entered the created world through Jesus. The hope was born, I believe, on that day. But I also believe. That we find hope today.
Hope is the antidote to fear. When we start to fear so much that we feel we can't go on finding hope somewhere, even if it's small as the light on the top of a matchstick. So think about where you find hope this week. It's there. It's there everywhere. It's never gone.
Sometimes, as you said, the world just gets so oppressive that we don't know what to say, what to do, or who to turn to. May you find this week and realize. Where your antidote to fear is. Hope. Amen.