Preached at St Stephen’s Church Burnley
Philippians 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Luke 3:7-18
John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’
And the crowds asked him, ‘What then should we do?’ In reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’ Even tax-collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.’ Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.’
As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’
So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.
It’s been quite a year one way and another. I wonder what your memories might be of 2024? One of the highlights, and I say that with a degree of cynicism, was a General Election. Remember that? Back in July? The right to vote for our leaders – something our ancestors fought for.
Thing is though, I wasn’t really inspired by the leaders competing for my vote. I couldn’t really work up much enthusiasm for any of them. Yes of course, I did my civic duty and voted, though our “First Past the Post” system means it wouldn’t count anyway.
But to be positive, I do realise that the leaders standing in our elections are a good deal better than the ones offered to those in many other parts of the world. But really….
For a while now I’ve come to think that the whole system around the world’s broken. After the horrors of World War Two the United Nations was founded, designed, and I quote:
“to end war and promote peace, justice, and better living for all humankind”.
And for a few decades, even if it was a bit imperfect, it delivered that.
But now, does it still work? Or does no-one take any notice of the UN? Watch the news and make up your own mind…..
I really do feel that we need a rethink of our politics and our governance; new, selfless and better leaders, a fresh start, a promise of a brighter future for all in the world, and an end to the feeling that everything’s broken.
But because we’re here to talk about Christianity not politics, we must come to the reading from Luke. And what I’ve just been talking about, all that disillusionment; isn’t that just how the Israelites were feeling as they waited for the promised Messiah? They too had had enough of false promises. They were ruled by Roman conquerors, were second class citizens in their own land; and where oh where was the long promised Messiah?
Could it be this strange, wild character John? Luke tells us
“All were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah”.
Despite his wild looks and his rather uncompromising comments, this guy looked promising. He had a good backstory. Born of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Foretold of by Isaiah. Signposted in the scriptures. And he’d already attracted quite a large group of followers, who wanted something different, a leader they could really believe in. Could he be the one?
Well no actually. Though there are shades of Jesus about him. The brood of vipers speech, or rant, that’s actually very Jesus. Look at those verses again; I think we can imagine Jesus getting angry and saying that.
But the answers to the questions of the crowd, the tax collectors and the soldiers. Well they’re not incorrect answers, but Jesus just didn’t answer questions in that way. And John tells the people, from his own mouth – that he is NOT the Messiah. The Messiah, in the form of Jesus, is still to come to the Israelites. They must keep waiting.
We too, are still waiting. For Jesus. Not for his first coming, but his second coming, his return in Glory.
We’re always eagerly awaiting that second coming. All the time. But it’s in this season, Advent, where we intensify our focus to that coming again of the saviour.
And waiting, is hard. Let’s be honest, it’s hard. We all of us sometimes find ourselves forced to wait, not knowing how long we’ve got to wait, and don’t know what to do to fill in the gap. What do we do while we’re waiting for Jesus?
Well the reality is that some people won’t wait, and quickly move on to something that gives instant gratification. Others wait for a while but soon get bored. And far too many just stop believing that what they’re waiting for actually exists.
What do we do while we’re waiting for Jesus?
Well one answer comes from St.Paul. Really? Yes! When you think of Paul, you might think of detailed, and sometimes heavy, theology, such as the Letter to the Romans. Or you might recall his lists of detailed rules and instructions; I’ve mentioned before about you ladies not wearing hats in Church But Paul, his Letters are full of instructions not only
to love each other, but to Rejoice.
“Rejoice in the Lord always; Let your gentleness be known to everyone.”
Our Diocesan Advent reflections for this year, “The Lord Will Come”, is based on Paul’s two Letters to the Thessalonians. And the very first reflection, written by the Rt.Reverend Tony Porter, tells us that the Church in Thessalonica is based on Faith, Hope and Love.
Faith is directed towards God, Love towards each other, and Hope towards the future, in particular the return of Christ. Let’s add another word to that. The first word in our first reading. REJOICE. Rejoice in the Lord always says Paul. Always.
Today is Gaudate Sunday, a joyful holiday. Our Leader wears pink with gold trimmings, we light the pink candle. We have joy in our hearts because Jesus is our saviour and he will come again in Glory.
But we must wait for that time, whenever it is. But we do not wait as if frozen in time, inanimate and lethargic. We wait with a lively faith, we have hope, we go out of our way to love each other, and we rejoice.
Because John the Baptist was right, one more powerful than him did come. And he will come again. And when he does, what rejoicing we shall have.
St Peter's Church 