Sunday Worship - Advent 2
All are welcome to join us at St Thomas' Church at 10 am for a Parish Eucharist on the Second Sunday of Advent. For the safety of all, we ask that you continue to wear a face covering if you are able to.
For those who are unable to be with us in person, the Gospel, reflection and prayers are shown below.
Our first hymn this morning is "On Jordan's Bank the Baptist's Cry"
Today's Gospel
Luke 3:1-6 John the Baptist Prepares the Way
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"
Reflection
“… the Word of God came to John, son of Zechariah in the wilderness.” Luke 3; v 2
Airport terminals are strange places. They have a mixed-up atmosphere that seems to come from the excitement of holidays, the weariness of business trips, the anticipation of returning home, the boredom of some prolonged waiting at strange hours of the day or night. They have the clinical feel of a waiting room – except that you have to buy your own magazines. Even the shops selling exciting things such as watches, souvenirs and huge bottles of whisky cannot distract you for long from the fact that there is nothing to do except shop. And then, there are endless loud speaker announcements trying to find people who have got lost somewhere between the check-in and the take-off. In an airport, you are in a kind of geographical limbo – it is as if you belong neither to the country you are leaving, nor yet to the country you are going to. For however long you have to wait, you are neither here nor there, and there is little you can do except listen eagerly for your gate to be called.
The Bible has its own geographical limbo: the wilderness. Much more than a place of dust and rocks, the wilderness has a special spiritual significance in the relationship between God and his people. It is in the wilderness that God calls Moses from the burning bush to lead his people out of Egypt: and it is in the wilderness that the Israelites wander for forty years while they learn what it means to be the people of God. After his baptism, Jesus is led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, and filled with the power of the Spirit.
So, when we read that the word of the Lord came to John, son of Zechariah in the wilderness, we know that something of real importance is about to happen. John has spent the best part of his life in this geographical and spiritual limbo; just a chapter earlier we read that he was in the wilderness from his childhood until the day he appeared publicly to Israel. Even allowing for the fact that we do not know how old John was, we can make a good guess that that is a long time to be hanging about in a desert. It is a measure of the importance of John’s future work that he required the kind of spiritual preparation that only the wilderness can give. And when the word does come to John, it sets off something that will change the world.
John’s call is the drum roll that announces that salvation is near, that something really new and really good is about to happen. It is a turning point in time, which is perhaps why Luke takes such care to locate this event in history, by giving us the names of the rulers of the day. John hears his call and sets off into public life to call people to repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and to baptise them as a mark of their decision to lead a new life. And so, he becomes John the Baptist, preparing the way of the Lord.
We all know what it is like to be in limbo: to feel that we are neither here nor there. Generally speaking, we are creatures who love to have a purpose, and we get restless and unhappy when we lack one. It may be that this “wilderness” is a stagnant time in our lives: a dead-end job, or relationship. Some people talk of retirement as a time when they feel lost and useless after many years of work. Some parents speak of feeling strangely empty when their children leave home, and for some children the school years have a kind of aching boredom that can also be described as a kind of wilderness.
Our experiences are all different, but the thing to note is this: that just like the airport, the wilderness is a place where things are about to happen, a place of preparation. It may be a long wait; it may seem painfully boring; it may seem pointless, but the wilderness is where the seeds of change are sown and nurtured. It may not be an easy time (although for some it may be too easy, and that can be a problem with it) but it is a time to embrace. It is a time for waiting and listening carefully to the voice of God. And when it comes, who knows where God might lead us?
David
Our Prayers
Forgiving God,
We confess that we often fall short of expectations,
Your prophet, John the Baptist, cried out from the wilderness
and proclaimed a baptism for the repentance of sins.
He came to pave the way and clear the path for your coming.
Help us to listen to his words
that implore us to turn to you and away from our sinful ways.
Guide us along the path to righteousness and goodness,
That leads us to welcome you into our daily lives
As we wait patiently for Christ our hope and salvation.
Amen
This morning's final hymn is "Long Ago, Prophets Knew"
