JESUS BASICS: Do You Know Them?
Isaiah 11: 1-10
ROMANS 15: 4-13
DECEMBER 7 2025 – SECOND SUNDAY of ADVENT
We have all seen them … the greeting cards for this time of the year that just happen to mention Jesus. Now, that might be surprising to some of you who are hoping to see snow scenes, or reindeer or the jolly old elf himself. Perhaps you enjoy those classic Peanuts’ cards with Charlie Brown although you do pay a premium for any card that has a famous figure on them, at least a famous figure from the 20th or 21st century. But once in a while you might see Jesus on a card … and I just saw a card the other day that said CHRISTMAS begins with CHRIST. And, then I went “DUH … CHRIST-MAS” Christmas does begin with Christ and here we are … in the ADVENT SEASON, which in Christian church lingo is a brief 4 week season when people who call themselves CHRISTIANS reflect on the arrival of Jesus Christ in the world as well as on the essential hope of our faith, which is His return or our arrival in heaven one day.
Just a quick by the way … an informative piece of information in case you didn’t notice … if you are a CHRISTIAN or call yourself a CHRISTIAN that very word begins with CHRIST. You know CHRIST-i-a-n. So, if we self identify with the concept or the collective group of folks in this world by saying we are CHRISTIANS when we are asked who or what we are … you do answer CHRISTIAN don’t you? Anyhow, it is important to remember that Jesus is meant to be the starting point for our lives even though we don’t spell Christians J-E-S-U-S- I -A-N-S. It would sound strange to call oneself a Jesusian but as we move forward into the ADVENT season of 2025 and assuming that all of us are self identifying as Christians perhaps, we need to put JESUS first in that description. I am a JESUSIAN! That could lead to some interesting faith-focused conversations when people heard that because I think that the name Christian has been hijacked in our society today.
Alright JESUSIAN might not go over … and JESUS-MAS is not the name of the holiday when we are focused on tree decoration, amazing light displays, and glittery presents under the tree much less all those great movies and classic songs even though some are Jesus’ songs. This is that one time of the year when folks don’t mind music that was recorded generations ago or songs that mention Jesus … I was listening the other day when Gene Autry streamed onto my playlist. How many of you know that he was called the “Singing Cowboy?” Anyone recall his partner? Smiley Burnette? All of you have heard his songs by the way … GOOGLE the name Gene Autry the next time you are up on the housetop or seeing a snowman with an old silk hat.
Advent is a season according to the LITURGICAL EXPERTS whoever the heck they are who say that for CHRISTIANS or as we now are self identifying ourselves as JESUSIANS … anyhow, when folks who align with Jesus and believe that Jesus is more than a historical name … ADVENT is a time when faith practices like prayer, giving to those in need (Unless of course your name is Ebenezer Scrooge but even he eventually provided a pretty darn good meal and support for Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim and Bob’s family ensuring that Razzleberry dressing was featured at their meal.), and ADVENT is meant to be a season of worship for the faithful. Perhaps one of the most important reasons for the Advent season is that this calendar event provides us with a reason to finish a year and head into a new year with a focus that God wants us to have … offering us a church season to celebrate our faith with the hopes that after the New Year’s Eve ball drops that we don’t drop our faith practices as well.
You do know … don’t you that God has expectations for how we are to live our lives. God as the prophet Jeremiah wrote has a plan for all of us that includes a future with hope. You can even look that up in your Bibles before or after you are done with your daily reading of one of the Gospel passages that provide each of us with the lessons Jesus came to give us about life. “I know the plans that I have in mind for you declares the Lord, they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope. When you call me and COME and PRAY TO ME I will listen to you. When you search for me … yes SEARCH FOR ME with ALL YOUR HEART, you will find me. I will be present for you.” Ah, plans for PEACE.
Right there is a Christmas oops JESUSMAS’ gift from God but please notice that it takes two to tango as they say or because I am not a very good dancer and could never be celebrated as a great TANGO dancer … let’s say it takes TWO to do the TWIST and the TWIST about living out our lives is that we need to align our lives with God. Not just on a card … not just by saying we are Christians … I mean JESUSIANS …. We need to search for God and align with God with ALL of our HEARTS and I might add because it is Scriptural with all of our hearts, souls and minds … making God a priority, which means we should know some basics about Jesus Christ, RIGHT? And Jesus should not be frozen into a Christmas decoration … but He needs to be accepted and taken and endorsed in our hearts and minds and very souls.
We need to be constantly searching for God … constantly embracing Jesus Christ and being open to the Holy Spirit. It’s sort of reflective of the loving relationship that we need to have with God … it’s easy to say God loves us and actually loves all those folks out in the world but the very first and primary commandment is not GOD YOU MUST LOVE HUMANITY … because that is already a truth … the first Commandment from Jesus, which perhaps is the first fact we all need to know about Jesus if we start to collect truths about the alive and living Messiah, Son of God, and the reason we call ourselves JESUSIANS … the first command for us to adopt if we are to discover the hope promised by the Lord God to the world through the prophet Jeremiah is that Jesus Christ on more than one occasion did not say ‘be sure to put up a Christmas tree every year.’ Jesus did declare … YOU MUST LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD with … drum roll please Eddie … ALL YOUR HEART, SOUL, and MIND.
And yes … this church in particular knows the second element in the GET TO KNOW JESUS FAQ experience. Jesus also said… actually Jesus insisted on this one too, “YOU MUST MUST MUST MUST love your neighbor as yourself.”
In our reading from the Prophet Isaiah this morning we heard the prophesy that today is pretty clear … “The earth will surely be filled with the knowledge of the Lord.” All you have to do is look at your cell phone Bible APP, which I know all of you have on your phones, and have made sure it is on your children’s phones and grandchildren’s phones and yes, you can even find an acknowledgment of at least the birth of Jesus Christ on some Christmas cards during this JESUSMAS’ season. And, as believers, followers of Jesus Christ … I know that we each are reading at least a verse or two or three from the Gospels daily or taking advantage of an audio recording of the Gospel.
Isaiah noted when he predicted the arrival of Jesus that “a shoot will grow up from the stump of Jesse, a branch will sprout from his roots. The Lord’s spirit will rest upon Him, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of planning and strength, a spirit of knowledge. He won’t judge by appearances nor decide by hearsay. He will just the needy with righteousness. He will strike the violent with the rod of his mouth. The wolf will live with the lamb and the leopard will lie down with the young goat. The calf and the young lion will eat together. And, a little child will lead them.”
He shall be called the PRINCE of PEACE. A basic reality of who Jesus is and how we are called to follow Him. The second candle of the Advent season is the candle of peace and yet we are witnessing violations of peace endorsed from on high with orders to kill them all don’t allow a survivor to tell their story. Today’s candle is the candle of peace. Jesus declared that the peacemakers will be called the CHILDREN of GOD.
Advent begins with HOPE but today’s second candle is reflective of peace. A fellow pastor asked me this week if I was going to talk about peace … if I was going to endorse peace … if I was going to celebrate the teaching of Jesus and I said I definitely hoped to.
Once again, I feel a need to remind all of us that God offers us choices in this life. God does not control us like robotic slaves who just nod at God’s every command. God offers us a chance to get to know God’s Son Jesus the Christ and once we know Jesus … God then allows us to decide whether we will obey what Jesus taught or hurry into the dark shadows of the world to live not as JESUSIANS but as world endorsers with human gods draped in gold whom we bow down to, to supporters of violence against the innocents, and as isolationists who condemn any and all who do not fit into our club whatever that might be. Would you celebrate a Department of War or a Department of Peacemakers? War or Defense? Love or Aggression? Would you mock a peacemaker and a justice endorser in order to celebrate a man in armor?
We are in the Advent season … focused I hope on the God truth … the historical record … “A child is born to us! A Son is given to us! And, He will be our ruler, He will be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father … PRINCE OF PEACE.”
It is my hope that each of you agree with that Scripture focused in on having Jesus rule your life’s direction. That the truths of Easter are truths you have in your life. That Jesus is your Messiah … He is your rabbi … He is the One whom you self identify even when friends or the television set tell you to support concepts that are directly opposed to the teachings of Jesus … well, you do have to know what Jesus said to figure out who is for the Son of God and whose actions on a daily basis are opposed to them.
It is the season to reacquaint yourselves with God’s Son … beginning with the basics. Check our Luke chapter 10 or Matthew chapter 25 or perhaps Mark chapter 12 or even John chapter 13 when Jesus says, “This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples when you love each other.” In John 14 Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Jesus basics … become a JESUSIAN … and discover who your Lord and Savior is and how we are called to live our lives. It’s Advent … we have lit the candle of Peace … become a peacemaker … a child of God. AMEN