I left
it rather late to walk the dog yesterday.
It
was already dark by the time we left the house and headed down to
the park...As you might have guessed from the temperature, it was a
very clear night so we had a good view of the moon, shining brightly
to light our way.
But
the amazing thing about the moon, of course, is that of itself it has
no light at all.
It
shines only with the reflected light of the sun.
If
that light were extinguished, the moon itself would shine no more.
And
here John the Baptist stands as the moon, to the sun that is Jesus.
He
was not that light, but was sent to bear witness to that light….
He
bore witness because he too shone with reflected glory….and he was
in no doubt that his role in the gospel was not centre stage.
His
calling was to be a sign, pointing the way to Jesus.
We too
share his calling to reflect the light of Christ and to so shine that
others can see the way…
There
was a man sent from God whose name was John.
Not
much of an introduction, but then John was not one who cared about
such things. He stepped out of his priestly heritage, shrugged off
the wonders that surrounded his own birth.
You
could imagine him saying, again and again “It’s not about me”.
John
was quite happy with a life of wandering in the wilderness, rough,
unfashionable clothes, basic food, and an unshakeable, uncompromising
message.
Uncompromising,
but compelling.
So
compelling that people assumed that he must be the Messiah, and were completely nonplussed when John said,
"No”
That
silences the questioners for a moment, but then they are off again.
“Well,
if it’s not you, where IS the Messiah? He must be close, if
prophets like you are abroad.”
"He
is here. He is among you," says John.
And
that was almost as startling as anything that had gone before.
Imagine,
you have been waiting and watching for the Messiah all your life
long, your people have looked for him for centuries, and now you are
told that he’s hear among you already. Surely not…
The
Messiah arriving unrecognised? Unthinkable…
But
John is insistent, absolutely confident in that he has heard God
aright, and that he knows his own place in God’s
Thus
he can say, with no false modesty,
"I am the voice crying in
the wilderness…Just as Isaiah told you,
the day of the Lord is coming –
prepare yourselves for it".
John´s
message is compelling,
He
believes it himself and is wholly committed to his task, in the
tradition of the great Old Testament prophets.
He stands alongside Isaiah, crying in the wilderness, and his words have authority because, of course, he points away from himself and towards Jesus.
He is
the moon, not the sun, remember..
"Among
you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me;
I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal."
And
this is the mark of all those who aspire to preach the true Gospel.
We must remember always that the Gospel is all
about Jesus, the Jesus who took as his mission statement, when he
preached in the synagogue at Nazareth, these very words of Isaiah.
“The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he
has anointed me to preach the gospel..”
John
points to Jesus, and Jesus comes, not with a teaching which would
imprison us with fear, not with words which would tie us up in knots,
but with tidings of great joy and unconditional love.
As the
way is made straight, as our lives are put right, so we can know that
the good news of hope and freedom is for us as well. This is the
promise we hear in Isaiah.
"He has sent me to bring the good news to the
oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted; to proclaim liberty to
captives and release to the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the
Lord´s favour." "to give them a garland instead of
ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning."
Isn’t
that fabulous?
No
wonder that this 3rd
Sunday of Advent is Gaudete Sunday, a day for rose vestments and pink
candles, a day when all we can do is rejoice...for joy overflows
here.
Those
words from Isaiah are both the mission statement for Our Lord, and our mission statement too.
The
Church exists to invite humanity into the freedom Christ brings – a
freedom that excludes nobody...
for
the gospel is liberation, justice and joy.
Not
hierarchy but equality and inclusion.
Not
fear but security hope and love.
REJOICE!
So,
today let us take John as our model, and share his task as we witness
to Christ in our loves, our words, our actions...To speak good news
and to BE good news as well
To point to Christ, knowing that any light we may
bear is reflected from him…
There
was a man (or woman) sent from God, whose name was ...
May
God strengthen us as we witness to the Good News each day.
(Reworking a sermon from my 1st year in Cainscross...which still says what I need to remember in this season and every season)
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