Third Sunday of AdventPhilippians 4.4–7 Luke 3.7–18We continue the race towards Christmas. Race because we aim to reach the goal passing the hurdles that lie between us and the finish.John the Baptist had just come out of his time spent in the wilderness. He was proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. People from around the district were coming to him to confess their sins and to be baptised by him. But, some Pharisees and Sadducees came to him. He addressed them asking why had they come to him. He called them a ‘Brood of Vipers’, and accused them of fleeing from the wrath to come. The reference to vipers goes back to the story of Creation and the tempting of Adam by Eve at the goading of the viper there. He is alluding to them as descendants of the viper in the Creation story,The call to repent was a very personal one. It was a symbolic rite that one had to undergo to become Jewish. If the Jews were not willing to repent then they could not claim to be really Jews, they could not count on the personal blessing that God had made to his chosen people. No longer could they call upon their ancestors. The change that they were being called to make must come from their heart,The time was coming when the axe would be laid at the root of the trees which were bearing bad fruit or none at all. They had had their day. The trees had to be judged. The space that they took was valuable. There were trees that bore good fruit. The wasted space could better be used to plant more good fruiting trees. Why should badness stand in the way of goodness.Our journey through Advent is a journey of repentance. The goal is the coming of God’s Son and we will reach this goal by confessing our sins and turning to Christ. No longer do we squander our possessions. We are told that if we have two coats for instance, it is good to share one with someone who has nothing. Stores of food are another example. About us we see food banks which aim to provide food for those whom have to manage their income between food to eat and money to heat the house, for instance. A balance between eating and keeping warm. It can be a fine balancing act of life to be able to keep track of all expenditure, to be able to provide for the very basics of life. Here is where the food banks give opportunity for those with plenty to help others.It is also teaching us about how we lead our life. At the moment it is a very emotional subject as many people may find themselves facing severe tax demands, or taxation on goods and services, all of which may cause a re-think of their finances and living goals.Tax collectors were mentioned in the gospel and so too were Sadducees. They were told to use no more threatening behaviour, but to be satisfied with what they justly earn. In today’s world the same could be said towards our way of life. We earn wages, but those wages do need to be kept in line with today’s developments. Modest demands are acceptable, but excessive demands risk taking us down a similar path to that which the soldiers of Christ’s day were in danger of taking.The teaching is all about repentance in the first instance, and the love of our neighbour in the next. If we see our neighbour struggling, then it is our Christian duty to step forward and offer assistance where we can. Using the Biblical example, if we are nice and warm in our coat, and if we have a wardrobe full of them, then to take one and hand it over to someone whose coat is threadbare is neighbourly, and also Christian. Our love of God guides us through life. Our eyes are opened to see God’s love all around us.Bu it also allows us to see where others have taken this law and twisted it to their own benefit at a cost to others. Here we can step in by giving to charities, to food banks, by giving time to voluntary organisations. This is where our love of God joins with our love of our neighbour. Together we are all God’s children and so it is only natural that we look after, care for, each other.Here is what John the Baptist was teaching. The call for repentance was also a call to re-awaken our life. To be aware of the world around us. John was trying to prepare the way for one ‘who would come after’. By heeding his teaching and by his baptism the Jews would become ‘really Jews’. By us following that teaching we will be obeying the Two Great Commandments and be closer to God. Our path through Advent will progress, leading us to the coming of Jesus at Christmas.Collect for Third Sunday of AdventO Lord Jesus Christ,who at your first coming sent your messengerto prepare your way before you:grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteriesmay likewise so prepare and make ready your wayby turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,that at your second coming to judge the worldwe may be found an acceptable people in your sight;for you are alive and reign with the Fatherin the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and for ever.
Second Sunday of AdventBaruch 5 or Malachi 3: 1-4 Luke 3: 1-6We are now well into the season of Advent for another year. How is it being observed? Looking around we see many pointers all reminding us of the coming of Jesus Christ into the world. In the commercial world shops and stores have been full of Christmas promotions. For some months now we have been tempted to buy Christmas goods, ornaments, lights, the list goes on. The aim is to sell goods and to raise profits and income. Coming closer to home we just need to venture out in the evening to see how the sales have progressed. Some of the gardens of houses are crammed full of Christmas decorations all lit up, some of them moving. The Advent observance often spills out to continue to twelfth night. In all of these observances it could be argued that they are “Preparing the way of the Lord, making his paths straight.” In putting all of the decorations out and lighting them up they are helping others to realise that the day is coming. The time for their atonement is approaching. The meaning of Advent is reinforced.In addition the Advent observance can include the Posada. Here Mary and Joseph are paraded from house to house, looking for a place to stay, as it were, for the birth of Jesus. Each household hosts the holy family for one night before they are passed on to the next home. The meaning of Advent is being acted out in a very real way as the family move from place to place looking for a room to settle.Advent, then, is a time for preparation. We prepare our homes for the coming of Jesus at Christmas. In some homes the decorations do not make an appearance before Christmas Eve. In others they are there almost the whole year round. The key word has to be preparation. We are making our homes ready. It is good too if, at the same time, we are making ourselves ready.Spend a few moments of time reflecting on the past week or month. Have you always put the way of the Lord first? Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbour. These are the two laws that govern everything else. If we can look back and see occasions where we may have slipped up in our observance then we need to seek atonement for our misdeeds. In cleansing our soul, we are making ourselves ready to receive the Lord. By this we make the way straight. When the Lord comes he will not need to clear away the debris of our misdemeanours. The way to our heart will be open waiting for him to enter.Advent is not just a day in the calendar or a period of a few weeks when the world seems to go crazy. Advent is a time of preparation. An opportunity for us to cleanse our souls. The lights that we see around us help to remind us of what is to come. In the gardens we see figurines and animals, and we also see boxes, all brightly coloured, to make us feel excitement as we return home to find any addressed to us under the tree waiting for us to open them. It is this excitement that we all feel on Christmas Day when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the greatest gift that could even be given to us.Collect for the Second Sunday of AdventO Lord, raise up, we pray, your powerand come among us,and with great might succour us;that whereas, through our sins and wickednesswe are grievously hinderedin running the race that is set before us,your bountiful grace and mercymay speedily help and deliver us;through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,to whom with you and the Holy Spirit,be honour and glory, now and for ever.
Twenty-first Sunday after TrinityHebrews 5: 1-10Mark 10: 35-45At the end of September Gill and I went to Lincoln for the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Lincoln Theological College. It has now closed but it was where I trained for the ministry. The festivities were being held in Lincoln Cathedral with a Festive Choral Evensong followed by a reception in the Chapter House. All went swimmingly until we arrived at the cathedral to find it surrounded by cobbles. Cobbles and wheelchairs do not go happily together.After the service we went to the Chapter House to find that many had beaten us there and the place was full of clergy. Gill dumped my in my wheelchair in the middle of a fairly crowded area whilst she went to get some drinks. In her absence a bishop saw me ‘dumped’ and came running across asking if he could get me some cake. How kind, so I said, ‘yes please’. He was the only person there who came to my aid.Jesus was with his disciples, and James and John were asking for special favours over and above any granted to the other disciples. They wished to be seated next to Jesus, positions given to special guests when seated at a table for a feast. Jesus called them to him and explained how Gentiles may make great play on privilege and station in society, but among themselves that was not the case. Any who may be seeking positions of grandeur must firstly be prepared to cast such thoughts to one side. They must be prepared to ‘roll up their sleeves and dig in with everyone else’. In other words, be prepared to be with everyone else and serve others.We ought not to think highly of ourselves. As mentioned in last week’s homily it is not up to us to judge ourselves. We may place ourselves on a high pedestal for all about us to look up to us in our splendour. We may bask in the comments that we may hear about how grand we are, about how we engineered such and such an happening or event. All very nice it may be but, when we enter the kingdom of heaven, things may be not quite as we expect. It is God who will judge us and look at what we have done.Jesus is teaching that greatness comes at a price, and that price is service and humility. He taught, “whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.” Greatness comes through service.One of the things that we are taught in Theological College is that the first order of the ministry, the diaconate, is that of Deacon. Once you are ordained as a deacon then you are a deacon for life. The position of deacon is that of service. They serve others and care for their needs. The word deacon means ‘servant’. And so Jesus is teaching that the disciples must be servants first and foremost. He, as the Son of Man, came to serve. He was not there to be served, casting orders here and there, but he came to roll up his sleeves and get in there serving others. His ultimate act of service was to give up his life that many could be saved.That Sunday afternoon in Lincoln Cathedral a bishop, who is still a member of the diaconate, still a deacon, saw a need. He figuratively rolled up his sleeves, came running across, and offered to serve me by meeting my needs and getting me, not one but two pieces of cake. He embodied the teaching of Jesus by casting to one side his position as a senior clergyman and came over and served me. Thank you, bishop. Gill, she had to get her own! Well, she had disappeared.Collect for the Twenty-first Sunday after TrinityGrant, we beseech you, merciful Lord,to your faithful people pardon and peace,that they may be cleansed from all their sinsand serve you with a quiet mind;through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and for ever.
Sixth Sunday after Trinity2 Corinthians 12:2-10 Mark 6:1-13Quasimodo, a person popularised in a film and The Hunchback of Notre Dame also made popular, both share a deformity which sets them apart from society. In some ways they have been given a roguish character as we observe them going from one scenario to another. Yet all through the ages people have cropped up with disfigurement or deformity setting them to one side of society or placing them in a position with instant recognition.In the epistle reading from one of Paul’s letters to the Church in Corinth we are given a picture of Paul. He is ministering and having to manage a ‘weakness’ as he does so. The nature of his disability is not made clear by him although he does describe it as a ‘thorn in the flesh’. We can imagine what it must be like to have an actual thorn constantly digging in day after day. It would serve as a constant reminder of some accident or misfortune of birth. However, Paul looks upon his deformity in a positive way.Various possible states have been proposed as to the nature of his ‘thorn’, from epilepsy to any number of illnesses. In tackling whichever is his complaint he uses it in a positive way, to stop him from being too excited in his ministry. Instead, he claims to be content with his weakness, a weakness which he does not allow it to make him step back from his ministry, his proclaiming of his love of Christ.Paul, like many quite possibly, prayed to God to take his disability away. God always answers prayers but not always in the way that we would expect. In Paul’s case God did not remove his disability but instead gave him the power and the strength to bear it. This is often the way that God works. We are not spared that which is troubling us but he gives us the power to conquer them.It has been said before how one can gain strength from another. In the church congregation this is very true. It is possible to attend a church service feeling quite low and despondent. The last thing that you wish to do is to get involved, but here you are in church. Maybe it was habit that brought you here. Looking around you smiling faces can be seen. Ok, there may be the odd grumpy one, but they are always around. By being there you gain a spiritual strength so that by the end of the service you will be found in a lighter mood.In a similar way those around a disabled person can gain strength to handle their own problems by drawing upon the way that the disabled person handles theirs. Paul managed his own problems in the power of Christ. No matter what insults, persecutions, hardships, and so on, he continued and gained strength. So too can we, gaining strength through hardship and difficulties. Look again at Quasimodo and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, house names almost and uttered with not a little affection.Collect for the Sixth Sunday after TrinityMerciful God,you have prepared for those who love yousuch good things as pass our understanding:pour into our hearts such love toward youthat we, loving you in all things and above all things,may obtain your promises,which exceed all that we can desire;through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and for ever.
