ScriptureThere was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. (John 1.6-9)ReflectionThis “John” is John the Baptist – whom we remember on this Third Sunday of Advent. The priests from the Temple in Jerusalem, ask him a simple yet profound question, “Who are you?” He knows he is not “the light”; he is the messenger. He answers them, from the scripture of one of their great prophets, Isaiah, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’.”John the Baptist was a very unconventional man within his society. He knew who he was; he knew what God called him to be and do; he didn’t worry about what other people thought of him. He didn’t compare himself to other people or to their relationship with God. He simply got on and did what God called him to do.Maybe there is a message in there for us too. Listen to that simple question for yourself…. “Who are you?” And ask yourself, what does God want me to do?Revd David
ScriptureThe beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.... 4John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. (Mark 1.4-5)ReflectionMark ‘s Gospel opens quite abruptly: no account of the Baby born in a stable, no ancestral history. The Good News, says Mark, is here, now. It demands your attention, and a response. The ‘beginning of the good news’ is about repentance, about recognising where we have gone wrong and seeking God’s forgiveness. Why did people flock out into the wilderness to hear John’s challenging message? Surely because they were aware that something was missing in their relationship to God, and they glimpsed a way to put things right.In this season of Advent we are challenged to take an honest look at our own shortcomings and to pray for God’s loving forgiveness. Set free, as St Paul says, from the burden of guilt, we find new confidence and energy, strengthened by God’s grace to follow more closely in the steps of Christ. May this Advent be a time of blessing for us all. Revd Rosemary Kobus van Wengen
