Today’s scripture readings come from Luke 2:1-20 and Jeremiah 29:11.
Luke 2:1-20 (Contemporary English Version CEV)
2 About that time Emperor Augustus gave orders for the names of all the people to be listed in record books.[a] 2 These first records were made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.[b]
3 Everyone had to go to their own hometown to be listed. 4 So Joseph had to leave Nazareth in Galilee and go to Bethlehem in Judea. Long ago Bethlehem had been King David's hometown, and Joseph went there because he was from David's family.
5 Mary was engaged to Joseph and traveled with him to Bethlehem. She was soon going to have a baby, 6 and while they were there, 7 she gave birth to her first-born[c] son. She dressed him in baby clothes[d] and laid him on a bed of hay, because there was no room for them in the inn.
The Shepherds
8 That night in the fields near Bethlehem some shepherds were guarding their sheep. 9 All at once an angel came down to them from the Lord, and the brightness of the Lord's glory flashed around them. The shepherds were frightened. 10 But the angel said, “Don't be afraid! I have good news for you, which will make everyone happy. 11 This very day in King David's hometown a Savior was born for you. He is Christ the Lord. 12 You will know who he is, because you will find him dressed in baby clothes and lying on a bed of hay.”
13 Suddenly many other angels came down from heaven and joined in praising God. They said:
14 “Praise God in heaven!
Peace on earth to everyone
who pleases God.”
15 After the angels had left and gone back to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let's go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about.” 16 They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and they saw the baby lying on a bed of hay.
17 When the shepherds saw Jesus, they told his parents what the angel had said about him. 18 Everyone listened and was surprised. 19 But Mary kept thinking about all this and wondering what it meant.
20 As the shepherds returned to their sheep, they were praising God and saying wonderful things about him. Everything they had seen and heard was just as the angel had said.
Jeremiah 29:11 (New International Version (NIV)
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
I’d love to share a joke with you before I begin my sermon. If you’ve ever listened or watched Joel Osteen, he does this too. I drew my inspiration from him. This joke has nothing to do with my sermon.
A man, his wife, and his mother-in-law went on vacation to the Holy Land....
While they were there, the mother-in-law passed away. An undertaker told them "You can have her shipped home for $5,000, or you can bury her here in the Holy Land for $150." The man thought about it and told him he would just have her shipped home. The undertaker exclaimed, "Wow! You must have really loved your mother-in-law!” The man said "Well, it’s not so much that. I just know about a man who died 2,000 years ago. He was buried here and 3 days later, he rose from the dead. I just can't take that chance.”
The title of my sermon is called Hope and a Future. I’m hoping that what I’ve prepared is concise and meaningful and that you are comforted in knowing that your future plans are full of hope and prosperity.
The month of December is such an exciting time of year as we anticipate the celebration of Jesus’ birth. Mary and Joseph, I would imagine, were full of hope as they awaited the arrival of their child. I would like to spend some time talking about my and Josh’s experience in trying to achieve our first pregnancy and how it specifically relates to Jeremiah 29:11.
Josh and I were 27 when we first began talking about starting a family. Prior to that, I knew I wanted to wait until I was finished with graduate school so I wasn’t distracted with the demands of the classes and final project. I hadn’t, at that time, really prayed about our success. I thought it would happen because I wanted it to happen: in my time and my will. After 6 months of no success I visited my OBGYN and the advice I was given was to “keep trying for another 6 months and if nothing happens, come back and we will discuss options”.
Well, a full year came and went and still no success and no real advice on my follow-up visit with my OBGYN. I remember feeling extremely frustrated, left out, and secretly envious of all my friends and coworkers. It felt like someone I knew was pregnant every week. What about me? Still, I hadn’t really prayed about the situation...more like complained about it. I ended up speaking to a coworker who had difficulties of her own and how she ended up becoming pregnant. She suggested Josh and I try the Diamond Institute for infertility and menopause. She raved about the doctor that she and her husband had been seeing. So, we embarked on that journey for a few months. Maybe close to another year? Sadly, no success. I took fertility drugs and even had a failed IUI procedure. I was devastated because I thought for sure, science would have helped us achieve what we wanted. I remember Josh specifically telling me that “This is not what God wants for us.” He helped me realize that our quest for achieving a pregnancy, through the Diamond Institute (and my own will), was rushed and unsuccessful. We felt we were being treated like numbers and not like humans. I have friends that have had success with the Diamond institute, but Josh was right.
I don’t remember if I came across Jeremiah 29:11 while Josh and I were navigating our way through the Diamond institute or if afterwards? But, I specifically remember being at my coworker’s house (the one who told us about Diamond) and she was hosting some kind of party where you can purchase items for your home. Something along the lines of Pampered Chef. I remember looking through the order form and stopping on a page where Jeremiah 29:11 seemed to jump out at me. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” I can’t fully explain to you what reading those words, at that specific time in my life, meant. I know now that I was meant to read those words and be encouraged by them. God’s timing. Not mine. So, you bet I purchased that sucker and as you can see on the screen, it still hangs and the proof of those words hang beneath it. I’m pretty certain I also began praying about our outcome at that time too.
Now, I wish I could tell you that after reading Jeremiah 29:11 and thoughtfully praying more, we became pregnant with Jake. FAT CHANCE. God, rather, guided me to my very dear friend who introduced me and Josh to the Creighton Model Fertility Care System. It’s a form of natural family planning which involves identifying a woman’s fertile period through charting. Try to picture a blank piece of paper that would ultimately be filled with lots of small, rectangular, stickers in the merry colors of green, yellow, and red. Through this data, a couple can plan when to achieve and when to avoid a pregnancy. In conjunction with the charting, the use of Naprotechnology could come into play if necessary. Naprotechnology otherwise known as Natural Procreative Technology is a medical approach to women’s reproductive health that uses natural methods to identify and treat the underlying causes and problems. The Creighton model website actually says the following, “The CrMS finally allows a woman to unravel the mysteries of her menstrual cycle!” You have no idea of the mysteries that were going on in here! My dear friend also gave me the contact information of an amazing woman who was my fertility coach. She helped me chart, understand, and track my cycle to help know when the fertile days were. She also helped lead me to my underlying problem after a few months of charting.
Based on my charting, my fertility coach suggested that I make an appointment with a doctor who specializes in the Creighton model and can analyze my charts. I did so without hesitation. For a few more months, Josh and I travelled close to 2 hours into New Jersey to further understand why we were not achieving success. It was decided that I needed to see a surgeon who also specializes in CrMs and naprotechnology at the Holy Spirit Hospital in Harrisburg, PA. Again, jumped at the suggestion. I ended up meeting a wonderful man, who resembled Santa Claus. We reviewed my charts and I answered questions. It wasn’t until he gave me an exam, a painful one, that he suspected I had endometriosis. For those of you who do not know what that nasty little term is, it means a chronic condition that occurs when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside of the uterus. The cause is unknown. Lucky me, right??
This surgeon told me that the only way to find out if his suspicions were accurate was to check inside via a laparoscopic procedure. So, I was put to sleep and Santa surgeon made 3 incisions around my navel, went in with a camera and mini blow-torch and burned every bit of the suspected endometriosis away...BECAUSE IT WAS THERE! Instead of a 2-3 hour procedure, I was under for 5 hours because I had so much. I practically had it everywhere and that was what was causing our infertility. Not even a full two months later, we were pregnant with Jake! We found out in December of 2009. Just over 3 years of waiting and trying. We also did not have any issues conceiving Avangeline or Jamison.
My sermon has focused on hope and a future. God gave Mary, Joseph, and the world hope when Jesus was born. Our heavenly futures are secured with Jesus. Josh and I hoped for so long to be blessed with a child. We have three now and our earthly futures are so bright!
On a side note, I realized a little too late that the second week of advent is the week of peace. So, I apologize for not focusing on that in my sermon. However, I can tell you, confidently, that Josh and I are now seeking peace after having 3 kids!! Just kidding…God ended up giving me and Josh peace even though my experience with charting was a longer process and everything that Josh and I went through to get our firstborn was quite the experience. God knew the plans and he prospered us. I would like to take another moment to recognize the people God placed in my and Josh’s life that helped us achieve a family: My dear friend Sheila MacKay who told me about CrMS. My patient and knowledgeable charting coach Laura Weidner. The kind and talented Dr. Jean Golden Tevald who analyzed all of my charts. And the amazingly compassionate Santa surgeon, Dr. Stegman. The man who literally cleared the path!
I believe that Jeremiah 29:11 can fit in just about any situation and I hope that Jeremiah stays with you and that you come to rely on it if you are worrying or struggling with anything. Thank you, Amen
Sermon by Andrea Decker