From light comes life.
Deep in the earth, a seed begins to grow.
In our imagination, an idea takes root.
In a moment, love grows.
Safe in the womb, a baby turns.
Like the prophets old and new. We cry out.
We light two candles for peace and pray for the courage to stand up for it. May it light the way.
Song “Coventry Carol”
We say the Lords Prayer in our own language
Song “Advent”
Reflection on Matthew 3v1-12
Prophets are never popular people. They are not people to sit with at a dinner or a party. The Old Testament prophets spoke of a return to God. When God’s people wander away from their true calling, and forget the plight of others, they become aimless and empty, and their souls are not fed. Only God can satisfy the hungry soul, and so Gods prophets cry in the emptiness and chaos, because in their hearts is a dream which refuses to die.
The message of hope runs like a golden thread through the story of Gods people like a drama, Gods drama. Hope after a storm, hope of deliverance. The hope of the rainbow and the ark; the hope of the Israelites in Egypt; the hope for a king, the hope of deliverance from Babylon and finally the hope of the Messiah, the one who will come to deliver the people. Deliverance is a sub-text, the hidden agenda. Malachi speaks of a messenger who will prepare for the coming of the Christ, a prophet who will deliver the people, make the way straight.
John the Baptist, was an itinerant preacher who acted as a bridge between the old era of the Old Testament prophets and the new era that Jesus was to
bring in. He began to build the upside down kingdom and restore values to society. He was someone who was set aside to speak truth into a society that had lost its way (like many of ours). He would turn people back to God and restore families. John speaks from the edge of the narrative, the wilderness. The desert is the place where God speaks (Isaiah 40:3). Johns call is to prepare, repent, change direction.
God uses surprising people as a vehicle of hope. We may feel the presence of God suddenly, feel peace and strength and realize that God is with us in all things and especially in the crisis we face.
There can be nothing better than to hear words of hope. An infertility broken. A diagnosis wrong. A wrong forgiven. A brokenness mended. New possibilities imagined. Hope of a better covid, climate change driven world, hope of peace between in war torn devastated countries. Hope born of years in prison, or of a death for a dream. Of such things others have much to teach us.
This Christmas God is with us-Immanuel. For many of us we need to feel the brush of angels wings and the whisper of hope this waiting time. Today this message challenges us to live lives according to gospel values rather than those of the consumer capitalism that surrounds us. God given hope is not optimism, or sentimentality, based on ignorance or naivite. It is based quite simply in a trust in God. The God who brings light into darkness. and speaks to us. Prepare the Way! For Christ is coming again.
So we turn in the journey of our own lives this Advent to embrace
that call to change, to encounter Christ and hope rises, for this is the true meaning of Christmas. Amen
Song “I wonder as I wonder”
Come Holy Light, scatter the darkness
Come Holy Jesus, shatter our coldness
Come Holy Spirit, whisper through our lives
Come Holy God, be born in us today.
