Once Upon an Advent Part VI: Jesus in Our Midst

Matthew 25:31-46 Part VI of the Advent Sermon Series "Once Upon an Advent" Sermon by the Rev. Ben Brannan from the First Sunday of Christmas, December 28, 2025. "There is a temptation to sentimentalize the Christmas season—to wrap it in nostalgia and soft lighting and comforting music. But Jesus won’t let us do that because Christmas has consequences. Christmas, at its heart, is the declaration that God has chosen to be found not in power, but in presence. Not in domination, but in dignity. Not in abstraction, but in flesh and blood. If God has truly taken on human flesh, then every human body matters. Every person is an image bearer. Every life carries divine weight. "The Word became flesh—and that flesh looks like you and me and the neighbor who needs help today. This is not an easy truth. It disrupts our assumptions about who is deserving and who is not. It challenges the narratives we tell ourselves about poverty, incarceration, addiction, immigration, and illness. Jesus does not ask us to decide whether the person who is hungry earned their hunger or the person in prisoner earned their sentence. He simply says, 'That’s where I am.'" Read the manuscripts of our latest sermons at: https://www.spres.org/worship/sermons/