The Holly and the Ivy,
Are dancing in a ring,
Round the berry-bright red candles,
and the white and shining King.
And One is for God's people,
In every age and day.
We are watching for His coming.
We believe and we obey
And Two is for the Prophets,
And for the light they bring ,
They are candles in the darkness.
All alight for Christ the king .
And Three for John the Baptist,
He calls on us to sing;
‘O prepare the way for Jesus Christ,
He is coming, Christ the King.
Song: Come Thou long expected Jesus
88 - Come, Thou Long-expected Jesus - YouTube
Prayer.
Eternal God, we believe that your purpose is unalterable love, but that you are active, moving and making, changing things. Thankfully, we acknowledge that your Spirit can transform people for the better, and that wherever your power is realised, your creation is being renewed.
Father, we do not always know for sure how to apply the gospel to the choices that confront us. Keep us in the right direction. Give us confidence to choose instead of just accepting. May we back up our choices with active endeavour. We want to be able to change when change is required, and yet, not to be reeds bent by every wind. This we struggle to achieve; and we ask that your love may achieve it for us and in us.
Amen
Reading: Malachi 3: 1-5
Song: On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry
On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry. Lyric video (StF 182) - YouTube
Reading: Isaiah 40: 1-11
Song: Joy to the world
Vineyard - Joy To The World [with lyrics] - YouTube
Reading: Matthew 3: 1-12
Song: Hark the glad sound
Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near!
Advent is a time of preparation, of getting ready to celebrate. We are celebrating the coming of Jesus. Both the birth 2000 years ago, and the coming in the future.
Some criticise the celebration of Christmas: the bible does not mention the date, or even the season. Some criticise that the early church adopted the date, used as an early pagan festival.
The date is not relevant. Jesus was born. We celebrate. A bit like the queen's birthday, .not celebrated on the actual anniversary, but on the “official birthday”
We prepare to remember the celebration of the birth, the coming to earth of God's son. We look at the examples of those in history who were part of the story.
In many churches candles are lit on an advent crown.
These candles symbolise: People, Prophets, John the Baptist, Mary and Jesus.
The prophets, foretold the future. They anticipated the future coming of the Messiah, God's anointed one. Many times is history, people were given visions of what was to come.
Many faithful people looked forward to the time when God's kingdom would arrive, and His rule would be established. Some of their stories are recorded in the Bible, others are part of our history, others are known only to a few.
Think about the people who are responsible for you being here today. If you mentioned their names, would anyone else here know who they were? Who inspired you to become a Christian?
What do we know about John the Baptist? A miraculous birth to an elderly couple. An unconventional looking man. Perhaps reminding people of the prophets. Wearing a camel hair coat, living in the wilderness.
How do you like your preachers? What sort of person do you like in the pulpit? Conventionally dressed? Presentable?
Probably would not like John? If I produced a pair of wellington boots, and a newspaper, you might think of Edie Pegden in “Last of the summer Wine.” If someone came into her house dressed in a way she did not like, such as Compo in his wellies, or Wesley in his overalls, she put newspaper doen on the floor to keep her house clean. John the Baptist would have had that sort of effect on people.
He was an austere man, dressed only in necessities.
He eventually preached “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near!” That is all we know of his message. Perhaps he said more that that, because it attracted crowds, including the elite and the educated. We can assume that he spoke at greater length, and perhaps with some passion, but this was the content of his message.
Malachi said that the one who would be the messenger to prepare the way would bring his message to the priests first. The sons of Levi would be cleansed with the most powerful agents of the time; the refiners fire and fullers earth. Perhaps nowadays he would use images like Domestos, Harpic, 1001, Persil, or Mr Muscle.?
What is the message?
The general opinion is that “Repent” is a poor translation of the Greek word used at this point. Repent has associations of being sorry, being penitent, but this is not what John's message was at all.
The Greek word is “Metanoia” which means turning round, changing minds and attitudes
Different translations attempt to convey this meaning:
New Living Translation: "baptized to show that they had turned from their sins and turned to God"
Common English Bible: "baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives"
New International Readers Version: "baptized and turn away from their sins"
The Message: "a baptism of life-change"
It has been said that if you were to find a column of marching soldiers and shout “metanoia!” at them, they would not start saying that they were sorry, instead they would immediately start to march in the opposite direction. “About Turn” is the meaning (presumably, the soldiers would have to be Greek ones (or at least bi-lingual)).
People's acceptance of baptism by John was a sign that they believed that they needed to change their ways. A public commitment to a new life.
Is near, or traditionally, “is at hand”, perhaps “has come near”.
The prophets proclaimed that the Kingdom of God would come. John’s message is that the kingdom of the heavens, the rule of God is here, available .
No longer is it something to aspire to, no longer is it going to happen at some indeterminate time on the future, it is here, available for the taking, all people have to do is to change the way they live.
It is important to remember that John’s message was not to the unbelievers, but to the religious leaders. They were the ones who needed to change their direction.
John was the forerunner. He was the one with the message that Jesus was the means by which the division between the things of earth and things of the heavens would be brought together. He may not have known exactly how this would be achieved, but he knew that Jesus was the one who would achieve it.
He was addressing the attitude that they could depend on their past, they were “Sons of Abraham.” and therefore they were alright. God can raise up new sons of Abraham from the cobbles under your feet. They were told.
What might the message of John be to us today? In the 21st century as we prepare to meet Jesus?
The same as it was back then. Not to rest on our laurels. Not to live in the past. Those of us who follow in the Methodist tradition might say that we are O.K., we are followers of Wesley. Followers of John Wesley are ten a penny, he might say. What Good are you doing?
Later in the gospels, we have the account which tells us that at the time of Jesu's death, The curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The division between the things of God, and the things of earth is no more.
As we prepare to celebrate the coming to earth of Jesus, the baby in the manger, we also celebrate the coming to earth of the kingdom of God. The fact that in Jesu's life, death and resurrection the divisions between mankind and God have been overcome.
In the old Methodist Hymn Book, there is a hymn, number 862, “Wise men seeking Jesus” Wise men seeking Jesus - YouTube
The message of this hymn is that we can find Jesus anywhere, if we choose to look. This is the message of Christmas.
Turn round, change your way of life and you can meet with God.
Song: Hail to the Lord’s anointed
Hail to the Lord's Anointed - Aldersgate Chorale - YouTube
No comments:
Post a Comment