Advent 2012 (The
Prophets)
Baruch 5:1-9
Philippians 1:3-11
Luke 3:1-6
+ In the
name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
It’s Christmas time again! Yes, it’s
that time of year when, wherever you turn, you simply can’t escape the fact
that it’s Christmas. Those lovely twinkling lights that are all around town at
the moment. Seasonal window displays enticing us to part with our cash or maybe
just put it on the credit card and pay it off later. The adverts on the TV
helpfully reminding us to go to this store or the other to buy the latest “must
have” presents. And of course the annual treat of turning the radio on and
hearing Mariah Carey singing “All I Want for Christmas is You”. It’s all a
wonderful reminder that we are in the Christmas season!
Except of course that we are not. Not
yet! We may be forgiven for thinking that we are, given that everywhere we turn
we see images or hear sounds that tell us otherwise. In the church’s calendar,
this second week of Advent (not Christmas) focuses on the prophets. Advent is a
time of preparation and anticipation, so perhaps to go mad with excitement just
now is a bit premature. I know where I work at Sainsbury’s we have been in
Christmas mode for some time now, and the looks I get from people when I try to
explain that there is actually a distinction between Christmas and Advent are
usually quite blank. The only Advent connection that many people make is
opening the window on a usually very non-religious Advent calendar and
devouring the enclosed chocolate.
Today’s gospel reading speaks of “The voice of one crying out in the
wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” Those
words initially taken from Isaiah are speaking of course about John the Baptist
whose role it was to declare the coming of Christ and get the people ready for
the one who was to come.
Now I’m certainly no building
engineer or architect but I’m pretty sure that this wonderful building we
worship in today didn’t just appear overnight. Plans were drawn up, the land
was made ready and foundations were dug. Each step in the process took time,
and if any part of that process had been skipped over the actual building just
would not have been able to take place. To just hastily erect a church (or any
building) without a very thorough period of preparation would have simply been
a recipe for disaster. This church and its community didn’t just come out of
nowhere. Just as the church building required much preparation and work, so too
did the community which meets here, which today is us.
What if Jesus had just
suddenly appeared completely out of the blue? What if the Bible we have today
consisted solely of the twenty seven books of the New Testament and nothing
else? No historical context, no back-story, simply the sudden appearance of a
baby in a manger who turns out to be the Son of God! How very different our
story would look then. Sometimes that seems to be the way the whole Christmas
story is presented to us, as a great spectacular event that seems to come out
of nowhere. Yet the whole of the Bible in its many different ways prepares for,
and leads up to, the coming of the one who, in the Incarnation, brings God into
the messiness of our world.
Over generations the ground
was laid and made ready until the time was right for the event that was to
change the whole of creation.
I have to confess, I’m not the
greatest in the world at waiting for things. There are times like going on
holiday, my birthday yesterday.....and yes, even Christmas when I’m like a big
kid and just want it to happen now! Occasions like these are among the few
times that even now I actually bounce out of bed in the morning at stupid
o’clock full of excitement and wanting it to happen now. Loathe sometimes as I
may be to admit it, the build-up, preparation and anticipation is all part of
what makes these times so special. They don’t just suddenly appear as isolated
moments in our life.
Here in this Second Week of Advent we
come together not simply as a group of individuals, but as a community. A
community on a shared journey of wonder and discovery as we gradually get
closer to the moment when God came and dwelt amongst us, sharing our humanity
and inviting us to be partakers of his divinity, something we will shortly
experience a we meet with Him in the Eucharist.
Let us not rush that journey. When all around
us seem to be frantically looking for instant satisfaction, let us take a
moment to slow down and savour this time of waiting. Step away, even if it is
only for a few minutes each day from the busyness of our everyday life and be
still with our Lord.
A time of reflection, of anticipation. A time
of joy.....and yes, of gradual excitement. Events such as the Beach Hut Advent
Calendar on Hove sea-front over the next few weeks are an excellent opportunity
to present the Advent story as one of looking forward with hope to our Lord’s coming.
May those who visit the beach huts come away with a sense of wonder at the
message they hear.
As John the Baptist prepared
the way for Christ so let us also prepare ourselves. Let us prepare ourselves
to welcome the one who comes to be part of our world and our lives in all its
messiness. The crib has gone up and we await His arrival.
If you are visiting us today
we invite you to join us over the next few weeks (and maybe beyond) as we make
that journey through Advent and towards Christmas together.
May we all in these coming
weeks have that sense of awe and wonder as God reaches out and invites us ALL
to see and partake of his salvation.
+ In the name of God, Father
and Holy Spirit.
AMEN
