Sunday 4th December 2011 - the Second Sunday of Advent

Prepare the way of the Lord

Introduction

Today, on this second Sunday in Advent we come to the ministry of John the Baptist.

Exposition

In some ways it is a bit strange to look at the ministry of John the Baptist now, in the period as we approach the Birth of Jesus, because John didn’t preach or teach in the months or years before Jesus birth. John was just six months older than Jesus and we read of his conception and birth in the Gospel of Luke. Zechariah John’s father was married to Elizabeth. They were both elderly people and were childless. Zechariah was a priest in the temple and one day went to offer incense in the inner part of the temple and whilst he was doing that had a vision telling him that he and Elizabeth were to have a son who would be like the prophet Elijah and ‘turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.' (Luke 1:17). Zechariah would have been well aware that these words come from the prophet Malachi who speaks a prophet who will prepare the way the messiah and be his herald and forerunner.

After John is born we hear nothing more of him until he begins his ministry. He goes out into the desert near the river Jordan as many prophets had done before him and begins to announce that God’s kingdom is at hand and that the Messiah will be coming soon. As a sign of getting ready for the coming of the messiah people are urged to publicly turn away from their wrongdoings and show that they had done this by being plunged beneath the waters of the river Jordan and emerging washed and clean.

Jesus himself comes and spends time with John and then sets out on his ministry. Some of John’s disciples become followers of Jesus. John is fearless in denouncing corruption and wrongdoing in high places and is eventually arrested, imprisoned and executed by Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee.

Application

When Jesus came he did not come to a world which had had no warning of his coming. The prophets of the Old Testament had spoken both of him and the one who would prepare his way. There were many who were ready to hear and eagerly received the message, but sadly there were many more who do did not.

As always it was the poor and the outcast who were able to listen to John and therefore get ready to receive Jesus when he came among them. But those who should have known better were exactly those who did not. Those who were absolutely convinced that they had got it all right were found to be compleatly wrong.

And that is what I want us to think about today. You see I am convinced that God is speaking to us loudly and clearly today, but I’m not sure we are listening. What do I mean by that?

As the author of the letter to the Hebrews said, God speaks in many and various ways. His primary means of speaking to us is through Jesus Christ his Son and through the scriptures which testify to him. But he also speaks through circumstances and people.

I believe that our Bishop, Steven, is one of the people that God is speaking to us through today. He is calling us to consider anew the priorities of our life together. He has written:

Following a period of consultation across the diocese, the November Diocesan Synod is being asked to affirm four priorities for our life together as Anglicans in Essex and East London. These are being presented under the title Transforming Presence and concern how we can:

·         Live a distinctive Christian life in the world

·         Share and communicate our faith more effectively

·         Hold ourselves accountable for developing a core agenda of ministries in each of our parishes, schools and chaplaincies

·         Re-imagine Christian ministry, so that at every level of diocesan life we are not just maintaining our presence but developing it so that the world can be transformed.

In other words this is about Christian lifestyle and spirituality; how we live our Christian lives each day; evangelism; and about our expectations of ourselves as Christian Communities. And it is about what sort of ministry we need for the future.

The November Synod did, indeed, affirm those priorities and they will form the basis of our exploration and action over the next 15 years. We could, of course ignore them and carry on with business as usual. Or we could throw ourselves behind our Bishop’s vision, get involved and act and change as a consequence; for yes, it will mean change and hopefully the biggest change will be a move from carefully managed decline to a new attitude and hope.

As with John the Baptist some will listen and some will miss the boat, and our future will depend on which road we take. Listen to what God is saying to us today:

Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.