SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT Year B December 10, 2017
Isaiah
40:1-11 • Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 • 2
Peter 3:8-15a • Mark 1:1-8
To set the scene for where we are at
today I feel the need to sing…People Get READY
People get ready, there’s a train a
comin’
You don’t need no baggage, you just
get on board
All you need is faith, to hear the
diesels hummin’
Don’t need no ticket, you just thank
the Lord
I wonder how many people have heard
these words and sung them without knowing the extent of Gospel meaning it
contains. IN the same way many enter
this season of Advent getting prepared for all the physical demands of
Christmas and with little or no thought about why we celebrate each year. And THAT reason is …… there’s a train a comin’…
I want you to imagine yourself, as a
child, playing outside in the hot sun… getting grubby, hot and bothered… and
fun times turn into squabbles as you get tired.
Then mum calls you in for dinner and you grumble and complain about what
was going on in the playground, expecting mum to intervene, but instead she says,
“There, there – It’s all over now… go wash up and get ready for dinner”.
Same scenario happens as adults. We get involved in our lives and we play in
the dirt of the world… it can be hard and rewarding, but sometimes just
hard. As we get tired we get into more
squabbles as we try to make sense of it and of course – no one wins. We long for words of comfort and for someone
with a bigger view of things to tell us that it is time to rest from our
troubles… “go wash up and get ready for dinner”.
THANK you
for being here…. In this space in this sacred place.
The first piece
of Good News for us all today is that it is time for that rest from our work and
for us to be comforted. We are the people
of God, and our readings begin with a request to comfort God’s people…. Not once but twice …. “Comfort, O comfort my
people”.
God wishes
you to be comforted and to know that he has seen your hard times. He also declares that the penalty for sin has
been paid. Time to rest. Let go of the hurt and the struggle.
Have you
rested, or are you still trying to justify yourself or working hard at being
good enough?
I stop and
ask this because sometimes we find the Good News that we are forgiven and
accepted by God unconditionally, hard to really believe. We hear the message that Jesus paid for our
sins, but do we really know this deep in our soul? This is the first part of the message in our
readings and you can only really be truly comforted if you understand this. The Song tells us, “you don’t need no baggage…..” You can put all those ifs and buts aside
because God declares that your sins have been doubly paid. So drop that baggage… the other baggage that
we often carry is the things we do to try and be good enough for God…. You don’t
need that baggage either…. All you need
is faith, and to get on board.
There is
NOTHING keeping us from the love of God – It is time to come in from the “Play
ground”, listen to the words of comfort and get washed up for dinner.
The key
phrase in both our Old Testament reading and in the New Testament is; PREPARE
THE WAY OF THE LORD - Just as we prepare
for dinner by washing up, we find something similar in our Gospel reading.
John was a
man in Jesus time, who hung out in the wilderness, wore strange clothes and ate
strange food, and proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of
sins. You’d think people would avoid him…..
but no, people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of
Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan,
confessing their sins.
Baptism was
not foreign to these people, it was a ritual that was commonly used to signify
a new path in life. Baptism came from
the practical practise of dipping fabrics in dye, permanently changing their
colour, so the symbolic emersion in water for life changes made sense. It makes sense for us too, if we recall the
need to wash up in preparation for dinner.
John
specifies that his baptism was one of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins. It is vital, that in our preparing the way of
the Lord, we need to let go of the
things that come between us and God. We can’t say we have faith in the life and
work of Jesus Christ, but then be thinking that we are sinners who need to earn
God’s acceptance. Acceptance and love
has been gifted to us… it would be like being given a priceless gift and then
insisting on paying for it, but there is no way that we can ever afford
it. We need to, as the song says, have faith
in Jesus and thank him for the gift and then “Get on board”… that is all.
Each advent,
the church remembers the fulfilment of prophecy in the coming of the messiah,
Jesus, but we also recall that Jesus said he would come back again. The prophetic request, to prepare the way of
the Lord was a message for the people in the time of Isaiah, but it was also
informing the people about the messenger who would prepare the way for the
Messiah.
The New Testament Christians thought Jesus was
a long time in returning, how much more so our current society? Our second reading explains His delay by
stating that, with God, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years
are like one day. Today, the prophetic request, to Prepare the Way of the Lord,
is in no way diminished, but requested of us
as we wait for the second coming of Christ.
As the
people of God’s church there is also a challenge and warning in these
readings. We should ponder why it was
that lone figure in the wilderness that declared, “Prepare the way of the Lord”,
and not the “Church” of John and Jesus time?
And this should cause us to pause and ponder, “Are we, as the church, in
danger of failing to proclaim the message “prepare the way of the Lord” for
Jesus second coming”?
It isn’t
that the Jews were not reading the scriptures that declared the coming of a
promised Messiah, they did do this. So
what was different about John and why was his ministry so effective in
comparison? Those in the church of that time, didn’t
really know if John was harmless or a heretic, but certainly while many
Pharisees were hearers and proclaimers of the word of God, John the Baptist was
also a “doer” - He answered God’s
specific call for his life…. His actions followed through, and it is our
actions that tell people what we really do believe.
You may or
may not know that I’m involved in Street Chaplaincy. With this ministry we have very specific boundaries. We do not ever proselytize. Some churches think that we are not doing
what God calls us to do because of this, but I love the quote and always tell
people that we Preach the Gospel at all times…. And if we have to we use words.
People come
up to us on Chaplaincy and say, “I know why you do this… you do it because you
are a Christian.”
People hear
the message of God in our actions, and while we are out there being the face of
God on the streets, I ask you to pray that we never misrepresent God.
If we keep
our Christianity for Sunday and for our church friends, we are burying the
talent that God has given us. It is a
safe thing to do, because stepping out can be scary, but remember the parable
of the talents…. The one who buried his
talent was certainly not rewarded for his caution.
St. John
baptised in water. The people understood
that baptism was a conversion of heart and mind. In the year 2017, I believe we need reminding
of who and what we are.
We are called
to be the voice in the wilderness of society’s confusion, declaring “Here is
your God”, but we are also those who need to PREPARE the way of the Lord by comforting
by making known the Good News of salvation.
BUT we need to know it by heart ourselves.
Just like
the mother who embraces and comforts the child all grubby and cranky from the
dealings in the playground, God comforts us with redemption. Jesus has paid completely for us. It is time to let go and wash up in
preparation for that heavenly banquet.
We are washed clean by the shed blood of Jesus.
Water reminds
us to prepare – it reminds us that we are clean.
Water is all
around us, but next time you pour yourself a refreshing cup of H2O, or wash
your hands, I challenge you to remember your own baptism and that you are already
completely washed clean and are the precious chosen child of God, called and
gifted with eternal life.
People, it is time to get ready,
there’s a train a comin’ – in fact it is here already, but a bigger one is
coming. You don’t need no baggage, - get rid of the guilt and doubt – the stuff
that weighs you down…. Christ set you free….you just get on board – enjoy the
ride.
All you need is faith, to hear the
diesels hummin’ - Don’t need no ticket, you just thank the Lord!
