Sermon: Advent III (C) – Sunday 15th December 2024 – St Mary Magdalene, Outwood (Eucharist / Adult Baptism)
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”
Well, we are zipping through Advent…
It’s not Christmas… yet….
Plenty of well-meaning people ask me about my Christmas preparations…. I make polite noises… but, I want to say… “We haven’t actually reached Advent 4 yet, thanks very much…!”
Ah, the dangers of sounding too pedantic, and rather judgemental, I think!
Quite the opposite of what I am feeling and thinking about this… perhaps you too?
Why do Christians go on and on about Advent – not being Christmas?
We do tend to lean heavily on scripture and tradition for guidance with this…
It’s that sense that, we wait… and prepare – our souls and hearts – and we wait some more, and wonder what else we might do to be ready…
Ready for what?
I don’t mean shopping and making ready for a big meal with family – presents and jumpers, crackers and indigestion!
Those are traditional plans and memories, and a hope that, some other magic will happen – to bring happiness and a soul-warmth that, in turn, creates more memories … preferably good ones!
And we are not preparing solely for our Nativity stories of a baby born in a stable, two thousand years ago… a very special story, to hand on to children and the next generation…. To give their lives some meaning …..if only they could sit still for five minutes and listen … or stop looking at their phones etc…. Insert your own lament for the modern generation here!
Surely it is something else …
It is a journey… a pilgrimage to the Light….
We have committed our lives to Christian discipleship and this is another moment when we just might see things a little differently…. Possibly even pass that on to someone else… as a gift..!
If we make our sense of readiness only about a particular day or event, then we are wishing our time away… whereas the now of the everyday is waiting for us to act….!
The church has had a long time to ‘get ready’ to witness to the Word made flesh, the light of the world…. Several thousand years of getting it mostly wrong and sometimes right….
Offering us the foundation for our human societies – ‘Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with the Lord’ – if we could only be bothered to look beyond self-interest, greed, war, nationalism, and all that turns us away from hope….
I don’t think anyone could say of our world right now:
- Everything is fine!
- We have great leaders and receive many blessings – the fruits of our labours!
- We have deserved good things and good things have fallen into our laps, at no cost to us…. We are worth it!
Oh no… says John the Baptiser!
I love a baptism!
There is something joyful about being present when someone is baptised.
It feels dynamic!
A clearing away of the old – a refreshing with the hopeful and new.
Some years ago, I discovered my Baptism card.
I was Baptised 59 years ago last week, by my father during a Sunday Eucharist!
Perhaps you celebrate your baptism in some way – if you were an adult, you will probably remember it.
Whether one is presented as a baby or a grown-up…
There is a sense of hope – of making a life into preparation…of being made ready… not knowing for what… but ready for God!
On a pilgrimage in 2008, I stood ankle-deep in the River Jordan and ‘refreshed’ my baptismal vows, as an adult. I didn’t need to, yet at that moment, it felt right to make a connection with history and location, and wonder what would come next, in my life – what did God want from me?
Those who came out to be baptised by John, wanted to be a part of Gods hope for Israel;
They were to carry the light, make a difference…. And John told them of the Christ to come – our hope in ages past and for all our futures…
They all asked: What should we do?
John’s clear ‘commands’ to those who asked, pushed back against their reliance on their own comfort and privilege:
- Have you got two coats? Let one go…
- Plenty of food? Give it away, share it!
- Soldiers… (not Roman soldiers, but those in Herod’s army)… Soldiers and Tax Collectors, do not use your authority to oppress and extort…
That all sounds like basic instruction for all of us, doesn’t it? But how is it being ready?
John wasn’t the ‘main event’ – He knew that, and he knew that someone was coming… who was going to change everything!
John doesn’t take the questions of the crowd, and his responses, as his “own teaching” – John isn’t seeking “followers” of his own.
As the prophet that calls out to make straight the way of the Lord… to be ready… he will have accomplished his mission when he is no longer needed – success through redundancy!
This messiah to come would need our readiness for the Kingdom of God – whatever that might look like!
And us…?
What should we do?
I think we know what we must do – in bearing witness as Christian disciples – for our neighbours, whether they believe or not – for strangers, friends, family, everyone….
Again: ‘Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with the Lord’.
We love God and we love our neighbours as ourselves… however this might manifest itself to us on a daily basis.
We too can be prophetic in our lives…. A visible Gospel of Christ that hopefully others will see – in our commitment, our actions, the reality of how we try to live, and how we try to love – entirely through God’s grace!
We are called to be beacons in the darkness – not trying to ‘get it right’ and seeking moral certainty to prove a point… but to be truthful to ourselves before God.
We will get it wrong…. But if we speak of God as being love, of Christ as being the light of the world, of ourselves as humble, real and vulnerable – then maybe we will be prepared for the Word made flesh… for the stable…. For the light…. And for all our futures.
So, I like Baptisms and I like Advent…
Part way through Advent, the Winter Solstice passes by and, at Christmas, a tiny bit more light enters our days…
Just as the Light of the World enters our lives…
Great is our joy – ready or not…. But hopefully the Christ comes to us, and abides in us and with us… our souls a place of welcome, refuge and hope.
My sisters and brothers – embrace your baptism and all that you have endeavoured in the name God. May the deep peace of Christ be with you this Christmas.
Amen.
Zephaniah 3.14-end / Philippians 4.4-7 / Luke 3.7-18
Image: The Baptismal Legs & Feet of Marlene and Simon Beresford (SB, Jordan River, 2008)