Like the wise called to journey
In those early dawning days,
Help us to strive and search
Like the prophets old and new
We cry out.
We light a candle for peace and pray for the courage to stand up for it.
We light a candle for peace. May it light the way.
Song “Coventry Carol”
Confession
Let us change our ways and believe in the good news, and prepare ourselves for Gods coming again to renew us
Silence a time of reflection
Help us loving God to sort out our lives and ourselves and be ready to receive you again and to be made ready for the task we have to do. Amen
The Lords Prayer in our own language
Song “Advent”
Reflection Luke 3v1-6
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 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. He would turn people back to God and restore families.
John the Baptist 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 driven world, hope of peace between Muslim and Christian, 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 “Long ago prophets knew”
Come to us Holy one
shatter our coldness
Whisper through our lives
Scatter the darkness
Be born in us today.
