Sermon - 29th November (Advent 1)

OK so I'm a bad man, haven't posted for a month, but here's my sermon from Sunday past.
It's actually another re-jig but I liked it so much I thought it would serve again.
Comments welcome!


This week the Christmas TV schedules were in some of the papers – although as one comedian observed, there are a lot of repeats: ‘To be confirmed’ is on several times a day! But this is the time that we get previews of the major Christmas specials – and I notice that the costume drama ‘Cranford’ is one of those.

Perhaps you watched Cranford a couple of years ago – maybe just one or two episodes, or the whole lot – or none at all. But I imagine if you watched any BBC at all, you saw several ‘trails’, adverts, promoting it, between other programmes.

Perhaps you got tired of being told that Cranford was ‘The one to watch’…

This year, the trail I noticed most often was probably the trail for David Attenborough’s programme. ‘Life… as you’ve never seen it before’

But whether you get fed up of trails, or are just itching for the programme time to arrive, they are doing their job –informing you of what’s coming up this week, something that the BBC at least considers important that you should see: “Here’s something new, something of quality, an interesting story, or actors in it you’ll recognise” – they’re working at getting the message across.

Or do you go to the cinema? Having young children, I can’t remember the last time I went to the cinema, though my wife and I used to go quite a bit.
Before the main feature, you get a series of trailers, perhaps a couple of minutes each, and at the end of each one, you get maybe just the name or even just the logo of the film. The film company, the film distributor, have put a lot of money and effort into this film, and they think it’s worth you spending your money on to come and see it, so they spend their money on this trailer, which might run for months before the release date, to keep it ‘on the agenda’ in the mind of the ‘cinema-going public’.

Now maybe you don’t watch TV or go to the cinema, but you’ll perhaps have been to a wedding where someone has announced at the reception ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, please be upstanding for the Bride and Groom’.

In each of these cases, you’re getting a foretaste of what is to come. It’s not a surprise to you that the happy couple then enter the room. You know in advance what the latest movie or TV programme is going to be and when it’s going to be on.

In our reading from Luke’s gospel, John is giving a trailer, an advert, for the coming Messiah. He is saying “Coming soon… someone mightier than I am”. And he has gone about it in an unusual way – going out to the desert or wilderness, dressing in odd clothes and eating things which may have been acceptable under Jewish law, but probably didn’t meet even that culture’s ideas of a balanced diet. In any case, it’s having an effect – he’s got (at least some) people’s attention, they are coming to hear the message that he’s trying to get across.

But it’s not just a matter of hearing the message – what do you do with it when you’ve heard it? What’s your response? If it’s the bride and groom coming in, you stand up. If it’s the TV or cinema – well, you make a decision about watching it, or avoiding it like the plague. You take a note of the time, and maybe you need to find out the cost. Some people might have to get a babysitter, or set the video/DVD recorder/Sky+ – anyway, if it’s a priority for you to see it, then you do what you have to do to see it. But apart from that, what else changes? Not much, life goes on as normal.

There’s the difference with John the Baptist. His ‘trailer’ is not just one you can ignore, or make a few arrangements for, then carry on as normal. It’s not just a case of standing up for a few minutes. He calls for change. Major, fundamental change.

The call to “Repent” is a word that probably now we just associate with old-time preachers, but the imagery conjured up by it at the time might best be represented by the phrase ‘Do a U-turn!’ In other words, you’re going the wrong way – stop, and go the other way.

John’s theme was ‘you’ve got to be ready for the One who is coming’, and that means living lives that are ethical, moral, lives that are in right relationship to God. ‘Sin’ is another word that isn’t used much outside the church, but we’re all familiar with the idea of failing to meet a certain standard – Quality Assurance, tests and exams, hearing someone say “I expected better of you” – or perhaps even feeling “I expected better of myself”. John is saying, in effect – your lives aren’t what they might be, and you need to recognise this – and here’s a public sign – a washing or baptism. He had taken a ritual which had been used by the Jewish faith and given it new meaning.

His message is particularly strong to the religious leaders – of both ‘parties’ of the time. You’ve got to show that you have changed – your lives have to produce ‘fruit’, evidence of your new thought and behaviour patterns, and he warns against complacency, or depending on history and heritage to save them from the consequences of their negative behaviour.

And what should they be doing? Luke ties John’s preaching up with a part of the prophecy of Isaiah, who also lists some qualities of the coming Messiah: wisdom, loyalty to the Lord, discernment, fairness to the poor and downtrodden, punishment to the wicked, justice, guidance and majesty. It wouldn’t seem too great a leap to suggest that those who have to produce ‘fruit’ should emulate these qualities – both internal and external, personal and relational – attitude towards God and attitude towards others.

To go back to our film trailers for a moment, one of the issues that people often have with trailers is the tendency to reveal if not the whole plot then certainly to show all the ‘action’ scenes in the trailer – and if the plot is thin or shaky to begin with then there seems little point in seeing the whole film. Some ‘James Bond’ movies have been accused of this.

But although there should be ‘no surprises’ about the fact of the movie being released, or the date of its release, it is probably good practice to not reveal the whole story in advance – impossible to do, with only a few minutes to give an impression.

This again has parallels in Scripture. There should be ‘no surprises’ for Judah, who have had not only John, but a whole series of prophets, including Isaiah, to tell them what God is saying, what God wants them to do, and that there is a Messiah to come in the future. However, the prophets are not the Messiah, and John makes it clear that he is not the Messiah. As prophets, they cannot see or tell the full story. John’s baptism is not the full baptism, the coming one will baptise in the Holy Spirit and fire – a prophecy that is fulfilled later, at Pentecost. The coming one is to ‘winnow’ to separate the wheat from the chaff. It is possible that this refers to (among other things) the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus takes on and extends the idea of ‘failing to measure up’ by looking at attitudes that lie behind deeds – that it’s the hatred of people that is the root problem, whether or not it inspires violence or murder. It’s the lustful thoughts that are wrong, not just the acts that they can inspire.
John’s baptism of repentance, of turning around people’s lives, is to prepare people for this teaching but it is not the full teaching, yet.

And what is our response to this trailer, this advance notice? We are looking back from the perspective of history, we are not hearing John at first hand. He can’t be preaching to us? No… and yes. In our Advent preparations, in a sense we re-enact and re-tell the Nativity story, we enter into it, and we too must examine ourselves to see if our lives are ready for the entry of God into the world. Further, Advent points us to the return of Christ, whatever form that will take – and in that sense we are in the same position as those who heard John’s message – “no surprises”, we know that this event will happen, but yes, some surprises – we don’t know the day or the hour, and so we must be in a state of readiness. If there are behaviours, attitudes, actions or lack of actions that do not line up in our relationship with God, or our relationship with people in the world, we need to review, revise and perhaps repent – turn ourselves around and go a different way, the way of the Psalmist, who put their trust in God, who asked for guidance, mercy, forgiveness, and help to follow God’s law.

The Reformers of our Church took as their motto ‘Reformed, yet always reforming’ – and this applies as much to individuals as to the church corporate. So let’s take some time to reflect and think about the trailers that we see and hear – which ones are we ignoring, which ones are we allowing to prompt us to make preparations, to think about our ‘fruit’, our behaviour towards others?

Prayers - 11th October

More recycling (from two different services - both Feb 08, placement 4) and both adapted of course!


Let us unite our hearts in prayer; Let us pray,

Lord God, we bring ourselves from a variety of situations, to this place and at this time, to pause, to draw close to you again, and to acknowledge that
You are God.

We may have a strong belief, or a new and slowly growing faith; we may have let things slip into mere habit, or be the most enthusiastic and committed member; but whoever we are, we say: you are the Almighty God, the Maker of our universe and our world, the One who wants to be in relationship with us, the One who would do anything for us, the One who did the utmost for us.

We cannot understand you or know exactly what you are like, except what you have shown us in the Bible, through the generations of the community of faith, and especially through your Son, Jesus Christ.

Thank you that your faithfulness is recorded from earliest times to now, from year to year, from century to century, from millennium to millenium. Help us to record and remember your own work in our lives, so that we can look back with surety and say ‘yes, God was there’, and look forward in hope, saying ‘yes, God will be there’.

We recognise that we continue to make mistakes, despite our best intentions, and we want to say sorry. Sorry for the times when we spoke but should have stayed silent, and the times when we stayed silent and should have spoken.
Sorry for the words and actions that didn’t match up. Sorry for the hurt caused to others – deliberate or accidental.
Sorry for the things left undone that would bring our family and friends closer to you, and that would bring your kingdom closer, here on earth.

Father God, we thank you that when we recognise our faults and failings, you forgive us and give us a clean slate to start again.
Help us to look back in order to look forward, to see your faithfulness and trust you for the future, and to spend more time listening for your voice and sharing our thoughts, hopes, dreams and lives with you.

We pray all these things in and through the name of Jesus, who taught us when we pray to say

Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil,
for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory,
For ever, Amen.



Prayer of Thanks and Intercession

Glorious and Almighty God,
We give you thanks for your written word, for all that we read in Scripture. For the ways in which your faithfulness to people is demonstrated. For the inspiration we can receive from reading from it daily or as we have opportunity. For the lessons we can learn. Please help us to take hold of it, trusting in your faithfulness, being lifted up by a daily thought or word, learning from it when we study it or preach it. Thank you, too, for your gifts to us - the water that we drink and the food we eat, and the living water of your love, grace, and mercy.
We bring you now our prayers for the church, for the world, and for others.
We pray for our congregation, parish, and area, that you will work through us and those in our neighbouring churches, so that our lives reflect our faith, and are attractive to our families, friends and colleagues. Help them to overcome images of Christianity that are wrong or misleading – whether gained from long distant experiences, or stereotyped portrayals in the media. Help our church locally and nationally to combine the best of tradition with the best new ideas, so that we remain faithful to the message yet communicate it in fresh ways, through new music and different forms of worship.

We pray for our world, remembering areas of war, tension, deprivation and disaster, whether at the top of the headlines or not: like Iraq and its many difficulties, including relationships with Turkey; like Zimbabwe and those who have either fled the country or continue to struggle in a very difficult economic situation. We ask for wisdom, help and encouragement for national leaders, for international organisations, and for mission and relief agencies – particularly the Disasters Emergency Committee and others working in Indonesia, the South Pacific and other disaster areas – and we ask for help ourselves to act, whether in changing our shopping habits, or writing to politicians and ambassadors. We pray, too for our politicians and other civic leaders, that with all that has happened over recent months, they will be enabled to rebuild public trust, and to work for the good of those on the edges of society.

We pray for those known to us – relatives, neighbours and friends, that are having a particularly hard week or month, or year. Be with those who mourn, those who are ill, in hospital, or housebound. Comfort those who are having a difficult time in a relationship. And give us wisdom, and eyes and ears to see and hear where we can help – to speak or to listen, to hug or to send a note.

We pray, Lord, that each person who is part of this congregation will hear your word, and grow in their relationship with You, becoming people whose words and actions are more like you would have them be.

We pray all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Saviour. Amen

Children's Address - Faithfulness

Although this is for today, 11th, it's not specifically tied to the (lectionary or other) readings for the day. Its original context was in a service whose readings were Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 and John 3: 1-17 (from Feb 08, Placement 4) but I haven't checked to see if it tied in with them either!

[Teaching point – God’s faithfulness to all, not just ‘then’ or just ‘now’ but all through time.]

Who has a family member here? A brother, sister, aunty, uncle, cousin, mum, dad, gran, grampa?

They’ve given you a lot – maybe birthday presents, Christmas presents, holiday presents? (Peter’s birthday – granny brought presents…)
And they do lots of other things for you too – especially mum & dad, gran & grampa – they make sure you’re not hungry, clothes, and that you’re ready for school. And they even bring you here!

What about your gran’s mum and dad, or your gran’s gran and grampa? Do you think they did the same thing before – they’ve looked after your gran, made sure she wasn’t hungry and went to school?

[Maybe show pictures of some of my family?]

Then talk about Abraham. Abraham is someone that lots of people in the world look back to. In a way, he’s where God started his ‘rescue plan’ for humans – God got Abraham to make a new start by moving to a new place – and Abraham did. Abraham started trusting God and did what God said. Now, that by itself might not have been much, but what happens next? Abraham passes it on to Isaac, his son. Not only does he make sure that his son is fed, clothed and taught lots of important things, but he tells him about God.
Isaac tells his son.
Each family passes it on down the line to their children.
Or to their nieces and nephews.
Or to their cousins or to their friends.
Right down to Jesus himself
And after Jesus, Jesus’ friends passed on the news about him to their children and their friends, down through the years, until it got to me and to you!

The great news is that God wants to know you, wants to speak to you and wants you to speak to him and to do the things he asks. And he wants you to pass it on – even now, to your friends, your cousins, and when you grow up, to your children too.

So let’s pray together – and if you like, you repeat each line after me.

Dear God
Thank you for family,
For the people who look after us and help us.
Thank you for Abraham
And for your rescue plan
Thank you for sending Jesus
and for speaking to us and listening to us.
Please help us
to live the way you want us to
and to tell others about you.
Amen.