We Are Witnesses of Salvation! Let the Praise Be Heard! (Psalm 148; Luke 2:22-40)
Sermon title: We Are Witnesses of Salvation! Let the Praise
Be Heard!
Scripture: Psalm 148; Luke 2:22-40
Date: December 28, 2025 (First Sunday after Christmas)
Location: Christ Church, Des Plaines, IL
0. Opening Greetings
Beloved brothers, sisters, and siblings in Christ, grace and
peace to you on this First Sunday after Christmas.
Thank you to this congregation and to Rev. Gilbert Martinez
for the invitation to be with you today. It is truly an honor to worship with
you.
Before we enter today’s message, I bring greetings to you on
behalf of the Pacific Islander and Asian American Ministries (PAAM) of the
United Church of Christ—especially from our National Executive Committee, our
National Moderator Eppie Encabo, and our regional representatives.
Greetings on behalf of PAAMILY!
We are deeply grateful for your faithfulness, your
partnership, and your unwavering commitment to witness to the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. Recently, we received the financial support you generously offered.
Your gift reminded us again of a profound truth:
We are not alone on this journey: to proclaim the good news,
to be close to the marginalized and needed, and to make this world a more just
one for all — we have each other.
A brief update from PAAM:
(1)
We are preparing for our Annual Convocation next
June in California, the theme is “Josiah’s Generation: Going deeper in Faith”,
with a special focus on empowering youth and young adults,
(2)
And we are launching a new scholarship program,
open to anyone who wishes to participate in PAAM and on their journey toward
the ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, regardless of ethnic
heritage.
We invite you to continue supporting our ministry—to join our annual convocation, to share your wisdom, and to encourage members of your congregation, your community, and your neighbors to apply for the scholarship program. I will be available after the worship service to share more details and to answer any questions you may have.
I also bring a small token of appreciation from the National
Pacific Islander and Asian American Ministries: a clergy stole. This stole has
strong Japanese American motif in it: the front is the noble animal in Japanese
culture; the back is many icons of Japanese food, which means we share food at
the same table as friends. Japanese Americans were forced to leave their home
and land, and were put into detention camp against their will during WW2. They
were displaced. After WW2, they were one of the key forces that initiate Pacific
Islander and Asian American Ministries. We are reminded that people among us
were suffering and what the church can respond to it.
In addition, we would like to invite you to host Pacific Islander and Asian American Ministries Sunday on the first Sunday of May, during AAPI Heritage Month. This is an opportunity to open doors to AAPI communities and to celebrate together the rich diversity of God’s creation.
May God’s abundant blessings and joy be with your ministry. We look forward to deepening our connections, lifting one another across regions, and continuing this shared movement of faith—rooted in our cultural strength and our common calling.
Let us pray:
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
I. Introduction: A Community Formed by Salvation
We have spent the week celebrating Christ’s birth—a moment that
changed the world forever. But today’s readings remind us that Christmas is not
only a memory; it is an ongoing revelation.
It is something that keeps happening in us, among us, and through us.
Psalm 148 gives us a universe exploding in praise.
Gospel of Luke chapter 2 gives us two elderly prophets
witnessing to salvation.
And today, through your ministry, your welcome, your work
for justice,
God continues to raise up witnesses.
Your support of PAAM, your Open & Affirming commitment
to all God’s children, your WISE commitment to mental health, your care for
outsiders and the marginalized, these acts are not accidental.
They flow from a community that has encountered salvation and
has received abundant love.
You are witnesses of God’s saving work.
And your lives—your ministries—let the praise be heard.
II. Psalm 148: Creation as God’s First Testimony
Psalm 148 is a cosmic liturgy—an unfolding symphony of
praise.
The commentary tells us that this psalm follows the path of
God’s epiphany:
from the highest heavens, down through the earth, and
finally into the community of God’s people.
As God draws near, creation responds—with praise.
Everything praises:
the sun and moon,
the sea monsters and ocean depths,
the fire and snow,
mountains and rivers,
birds and beasts,
trees and creeping things.
Even the chaotic forces—symbolized by dragons and sea
monsters—are summoned to praise.
And the psalm ends in the heart of the faith community:
“For God has raised up a horn for God’s people,
the praise of all God’s faithful.”
In other words—
God’s salvation becomes visible among the people,
and because of that, the whole universe begins to sing.
Praise is not an obligation.
Praise is what happens when salvation breaks through.
III. Luke 2:22–40 — Human Witnesses of Salvation
While Psalm 148 gives us the cosmic witnesses, Gospel of Luke
chapter 2 gives us the human ones.
Mary and Joseph faithfully follow the Torah.
They bring Jesus to the temple for rites of dedication and
purification.
And there, two prophets emerge from the shadows of waiting:
A. Simeon—A Witness Shaped by Longing
Simeon is righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation
of Israel.
He knows what it feels like to hope for years.
And when he holds Jesus, salvation becomes a touchable
reality.
He bursts into testimony:
“My eyes have seen your salvation.”
And then he announces something new and astonishing:
Salvation is for all peoples—
a light for the Gentiles,
and glory for Israel.
B. Anna—A Witness Shaped by Faithfulness and Wounds
Anna, an elderly widow and prophet, has endured decades of
grief.
She is marginalized yet unwaveringly devoted.
She lives in the temple—praying, fasting, watching.
When she sees Jesus, she praises God
and tells everyone who longs for redemption.
She becomes a messenger of salvation.
III½. The Troubled Year of 2025: A World Longing for
Salvation
Before we speak about our witness, we must name honestly the
world in which that witness is so desperately needed.
For many of us, 2025 has been a troubled year.
Here in Chicago, we feel the weight daily:
(1)
Ongoing gun violence and the grief of families
and neighborhoods.
(2)
The strain of welcoming migrants and asylum
seekers with limited resources, while refusing to lose our humanity.
(3)
A growing mental health crisis—visible on our
streets, in our schools, and within our own communities.
(4)
Economic pressures that leave many exhausted,
anxious, and uncertain about the future.
Across the United States, the turmoil deepens:
(1)
Political polarization that fractures
communities and families.
(2)
Policies and rhetoric that threaten LGBTQ+
lives, immigrant communities, and communities of color.
(3)
A profound epidemic of loneliness and despair,
especially among young people.
And in the world beyond our borders, the suffering is
impossible to ignore:
(1)
War and devastation in places like Gaza and
Ukraine.
(2)
Millions displaced from their homes, living
without safety or stability.
(3)
Climate disasters—fires, floods, heat waves—that
strike the most vulnerable first and hardest.
It is no wonder people are tired.
It is no wonder people are afraid.
It is no wonder people are longing—for hope, for peace, for
salvation.
This Christmas, Christian leaders across traditions named this reality with striking clarity.
In the 2025 Christmas message, Pope Leo XIV (14) spoke with deep urgency about a world numbed by indifference. He lifted up the suffering of civilians in war zones—especially in Gaza—describing families exposed to cold, rain, and violence, and he pleaded with the global community to reject apathy. The Pope reminded the world that Christmas proclaims a God who enters human fragility, and that peace is not abstract—it requires compassion, solidarity, and concrete action for those who suffer. He named Christ as our peace and called people everywhere to choose mercy over violence and dialogue over hatred. (note)
At the same time, in the United Church of Christ, our
General Minister and President, Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson, offered a
Christmas message titled “A Gift of God to the World.” She reminded the church
that the birth of Jesus did not occur in a calm or safe world, but under
empire, occupation, and fear. And yet, she proclaimed, God chose that world to
enter. Christmas, she said, is both hopeful and disruptive—a declaration that
love is stronger than empire, that God’s power does not belong to kings or
systems of domination, and that salvation takes flesh among the vulnerable. The
church, she urged, is called not only to celebrate this gift, but to embody
it—to live as bearers of hope, justice, and love in a broken world. (note)
Two voices.
Different traditions.
One shared conviction:
Christmas is proclaimed precisely because the world is
wounded.
Salvation, in Scripture, is never announced in easy times.
It is proclaimed under empire.
It is proclaimed amid displacement.
It is proclaimed in seasons of fear, grief, and waiting.
This is the world into which Simeon speaks.
This is the world into which Anna proclaims.
This is the world Psalm 148 dares to imagine differently.
Simeon and Anna do not live in peaceful times.
They live under Roman occupation.
They live with disappointment and deferred hope.
And yet—they still recognize salvation when it appears.
They still testify that God has not abandoned the world.
In a troubled year like 2025, their witness—and ours—becomes
even more urgent.
IV. This Congregation as Witnesses of Salvation
Simeon and Anna teach us something vital:
Witness begins with encounter.
And encounter leads to praise.
That is true for us as well.
A. You know salvation because you have needed it.
Many of us here in this city, in this state and in this
country carry stories of waiting,
as immigrants, Pacific Islanders, Asian Americans, Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer siblings, trauma survivors, caregivers, and
mental-health advocates.
We know what it means to long for comfort, for safety, and for
belonging.
We know what it means to need grace.
And because of that, when salvation appears,
in kindness, in justice, in community,
we recognize it.
B. Your ministries are a form of praise
Your support of PAAM
your welcome to LGBTQ+ members
your commitment to mental health and welcoming environment
your care for outsiders and the marginalized
your hospitality to newcomers
These are not simply good deeds and behaviors.
These are acts of praise.
These are testimonies of salvation.
These are echoes of Simeon and Anna.
These are the living out of Psalm 148.
C. You make praise audible in this world
When you stand with those the world forgets,
praise is heard by somebody.
When you show compassion to those who struggle,
praise is heard by somebody.
When you create space for healing,
praise is heard by somebody.
When you lift up the marginalized,
praise is heard by somebody.
We are witnesses of salvation.
And through us, the world hears the song of God’s love.
V. Conclusion:
We Are Witnesses of Salvation, Let the Praise Be Heard!
On this First Sunday after Christmas,
we join the heavens and the earth in Psalm 148.
We join Simeon and Anna in the temple.
We join the saints across cultures, generations, and
histories.
We join as witnesses.
Because we have seen God’s salvation.
Because we have received God’s love.
Because we have welcomed the new born king, the baby Jesus.
Because God is still moving among us.
So let the praise be heard:
In our compassion.
In our justice-seeking.
In our hospitality.
In our courage.
In our joy.
In our continued support of various ministries in- and out- side of the congregation, the community, and the wider church.
By doing so, when we enter the year of 2026, we will find out that we have reached a step closer to a just world for all.
Beloved sisters, brothers, and siblings, we are witnesses of salvation.
Let the praise be heard.
Amen.
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