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Serving God and Sharing Good News |
Weekly Bible Notes
Advent 2 Year A, Colour = Purple
Introduction
John the Baptist is insulting, angry and uses violent language. It isn't
really what we want in church in the run up to Christmas! But John was fed
up with religious pretence and with religion which was only skin deep, full
of the appearance but devoid of the substance of real faith. Calling people
snakes, John used this image to make his message understood, - we either
live lives which are worthy of the Christian Gospel or we are just
deceivers.
Most churches will tone all this it down a bit for Sunday service, but the
message should still be the same. The kingdom is here, now let's start
living like we mean it. Pointing out the need for repentance and recognising
the austerity of John, is not easy at Christmas, when we are more concerned
with putting up trees and making/ eating cakes. But it is part of the real
Christmas message which tells us to sort ourselves out
Opening Verse of Scripture John Chapter 8 v 12
Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
Collect Prayer for the Day — Before we read we pray
O Lord, raise up, we pray, your power and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness we are grievously hindered in running the race that is set before us, your bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit, be honour and glory, now and for ever. Amen
Almighty God, purify our hearts and minds, that when your Son Jesus Christ comes again as judge and Saviour we may be ready to receive him, who is our Lord and our God. Common Worship Shorter Collect
God of all holiness, your promises stand unshaken through all generations and you lift up all who are burdened and brought low: renew our hope in you, as we wait for the coming in glory of Jesus Christ, our Judge and our Saviour, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. Methodist Worship
God of all time and space, who are we, that you should come to us? Yet you have visited your people and redeemed us in your Son. As we prepare to celebrate his birth, make our hearts leap for joy at the sound of your word and move us by your Spirit to bless your wonderful works. We ask this through him whose coming is certain, whose day draws near, even your Son, Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen. Methodist Worship
First Bible Reading
Isaiah Chapter 11:1-10A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD - and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.
(Reader : This is the word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God)
Second Reading Romans Chapter 15:4-13
For everything that
was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance
and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God who
gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among
yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you
may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another,
then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. For I
tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's
truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs so that the Gentiles
may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: "Therefore I will praise
you among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to your name." Again, it says,
"Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people." And again, “Praise the Lord, all you
Gentiles, and sing praises to him, all you peoples." And again, Isaiah
says, "The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over
the nations;
the Gentiles will hope in him." May the God of hope fill you with all joy
and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the
power of the Holy Spirit.
(Reader: This is the word of the Lord - All: Thanks be to God
Gospel Reading Matthew Chapter 3:1-12
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and
saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." This is he who was
spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert,
'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' "
John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around
his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from
Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their
sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. But when he saw many of
the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to
them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to
yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these
stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The axe is already at the root
of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut
down and thrown into the fire. "I baptize you with water for repentance. But
after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not
fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His
winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor,
gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable
fire."
(Reader: This is the word of the Lord -All: Thanks be to God
Post Communion Prayer
Father in heaven, who sent your Son to redeem the world and will send him
again to be our judge: give us grace so to imitate him in the humility and
purity of his first coming that, when he comes again, we may be ready to
greet him with joyful love and firm faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Commentary
John the Baptist adopted a very specific lifestyle, and a very public
ministry . He was unafraid to point the finger at leaders of the people who
let people down and behaved badly. Very forcefully he made his most vehement
statements against the spiritual elite. . Everybody had to 'make straight
paths for the Lord.' We are tempted sometimes to think that scriptures are
directed at people outside the church, to imagine that we are the good ones
and that the challenge is to people who are outside the church. The
teachings of John the Baptist and Jesus of course, were always strongest to
those who were most religious 'you brood of vipers' he said to the
professionally religious. His parables taught that the wheat and the weeds
were mixed together in the field, the sheep and the goats also shared the
same field. Perhaps the greatest challenge from the reading today is to us
who think that we are OK.
So we ask ourselves this morning whether we have paths which are suitable for the coming of our Lord this Christmas? Is our religion lifeless and boring? Our religion should be life changing, about a meeting with the living God, that is when it becomes a real faith, not just a set of rules and practices. How many Christians have slipped into a non-threatening cosy religion, like an old pair of slippers which fit us nicely. How easy it is for us to become accustomed to our Christianity, so that the words of Jesus no longer challenge and frighten us.
Yes, John the Baptist would be speaking to us this morning, us inside church, not those who are in bed sleeping off Saturday night. He would ask us to say how our religion was changing us and making a real difference. If it is not doing this, then sing no more hymns, say no more prayers, God does not desire our religion, he wants so much more.
John the Baptist tells us to make our paths straight. The Kingdom is not a far off event, the kingdom is here and now. It breaks into our lives every day and we do not need to ask when it will come. The kingdom seizes us, embraces us, challenges us, in the ordinary events of life. A sick friend, a discouraged spouse, a troublesome person on the telephone, a demand which is made on us which we think to be unfair. Situations which cause us to question how we will respond. Times when we can perhaps do much good with very little effort. How we react determines and tests our faith and questions our membership of the Kingdom. These are the places where we really show God's loving power coming through in our lives.
It is as we do this of course that we become like John the Baptist in declaring God and proclaiming the coming of our Lord. Our life, our deeds our words, all speaking of the Kingdom of God. It is when we do this that are perhaps the most powerful advertisement for our Lord, in so doing we make straight paths which perhaps allow others to see more easily the living Lord, the worship of whom transcends human religion. Charles Royden
Meditation
When Christ comes again in His risen glory to judge the world His first
questions to us might not be ‘What have you done and how have you lived?’
but ‘Are you ready?’ Advent is a time of looking forward and being prepared
for the future festivities, both temporal and spiritual. How ready we are
may well depend on the preparations we have made. Sam Cappleman
When Light in the Darkness
Without Christ at the centre of our lives, helping us focus on God, life can
seem a desolate wilderness, a dark and hopeless place where we are trapped
by our own humanity. As we open ourselves to Jesus, the light of the world,
He releases us into new life and restores those places in our lives that
have been marred, or even devastated by the effects of the darkness of the
world. As Advent passes into Christmas we look to the light of Christ, who
will return in a great blaze of glory to complete that work of restoration,
but who first came as a small pinprick of light in a stable in Bethlehem.
For some, all they ever see is the pinprick of light at Christmas and for
the rest of the year the Christian faith means little to them. For others,
the light in the stable at Christmas is the dawning of the realisation of
Christ in their lives, lives which continue to be changed, transformed and
restored by His incarnation. We are called to point to that light, and
reflect its transformation and glory in our lives.
The Christingle reminds us of that light which came into the world. The
orange represents the world. The gospel writer John reminds us that ‘Jesus
was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did
not recognise Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not
receive Him’. (Jn 1 v 10 – 11). The red ribbon of the Christingle represents
the blood of Jesus which was shed for us so that our sins may be forgiven.
‘But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with
one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from every sin’.
(1 Jn 1 v 7). The fruits and sweets on the four skewers represent God’s
gifts to us, the fruits of the earth and the four seasons. ‘As long as the
earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day
and night will never cease’. (Gen 8 v 22). The lighted candle, pushed into
the centre of the orange, represents Christ, the light of the world. ‘He
[Jesus] said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never
walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”.’ (John 8 v 12).
The coming of Christ at Christmas is an event for the universe. It is an
event for history and an event for each of us in our daily lives. His
teaching and His light penetrates the darkness of the Genesis world and our
Genesis lives. It invites us to evaluate our lives and transform them in the
light of His Advent and Christmas coming. Sam Cappleman
Hymns
Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead
- "Prayer is a plant, the seed of which is sown in the heart of every Christian.
- If it is well cultivated and nourished it will produce fruit, but if it is neglected, it will wither and die."
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Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead
Additional Resources
Commentary John The Baptist
The Gospels do not offer much biographical detail concerning John the Baptist. Rather, we are given an impression of what John was like, what his preaching was like, and the effect that he had on the people of ancient Israel. The picture we get is of a prophet, i.e. a public preacher with a message from God.
John is portrayed as the fulfilment of prophecy (Matt 3.3 citing Isaiah 40.3). Note that this is a reinterpretation of Isaiah 40.3, which in its own context dealt with the return of the people of Israel from exile in Babylon. In Isaiah, the text emphasizes the way that God was preparing for the people to come home to Israel through the wilderness; Matthew's focus is on a person (i.e. John the Baptist) in the wilderness who is preparing the way for the coming of Jesus the Messiah.
John lived a life of asceticism (denial of the flesh/body) in the wilderness (Matt 3.4). In the Jewish tradition the wilderness symbolizes a place of repentance and purification (e.g. the people of Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years before they were permitted to enter the promised land). In other words, the wilderness symbolizes a place where human beings struggle with the powers that resist God.
John's work consisted of preaching and baptizing (Matt 3.1-2, 5-6). For background to the importance of the river Jordan as a place of cleansing, see the story of Naaman the leper in 2 Kings 5. John's baptism was an innovation: for example, its once and for all character differed from the daily washing for purification that was practiced among the Dead Sea Scrolls community at Qumran.
John's preaching and baptizing focussed on the theme of repentance (Matt 3.1-2, 7-10). Repentance (Greek metanoia) is not an instantaneous experience, and it is more than just a matter of emotions, more than just an act of the will: it means turning one's whole life toward God (cf. Joel 2.12-13). According to Matt 3.5, many people responded to John.
John recognized that someone far more powerful than he would come and baptize with the Holy Spirit those he had baptized with water (Matt 3.11-12). The coming of the Holy Spirit was connected with the end of time and the coming of the Messiah, based on Joel 2.28, Isaiah 44.3, Ezekiel 36.26-28.
John the Baptist is an appropriate person to focus on during the season of Advent: during Advent we prepare for the Lord's coming, and of course in the Gospels the story of John the Baptist is all about preparation. But preparation for what ?
John's whole work and his whole ministry was all about getting ready for the Lord's coming.
Of course it is easier to think of the reigning of God as being in some other world - so as not to have to change this world! Matthew used the word Heaven because of a Hebrew reluctance to say the word for God. If the reigning of God was "in Heaven" the urgency of John's preaching would make no sense - nor would the teaching of Jesus! John's urging is that people should, "make the way straight - here and now! Change your attitude - NOW!!" John used words like, "Change your society so that your personal change will make clear your conversion!" John's audience wanted a ritual (bath) and to keep on being selfish - and so he calls them "brood of vipers" and warns of the danger of depending on one's own efforts for salvation (Mt.3:7).
John came to baptise so that people would change their attitude and look for the straight path to which Isaiah refers (Is.40:4). The ritual of washing with water alone would not do it. People have to change their attitude and become less selfish and start to live a radical love. John had announced that the Liberator (the Messiah) was near with his shovel ready to separate the wheat from the chaff (Mt.3:12). Wheat is a source of nourishment and is kept for its value. Chaff is no good as food, and has no other use so it gets thrown out. The chaff, it seems, is an image of selfish people empty of love for others. The wheat is an image of people who are devoted to the needs of others. Charles Royden
Meditation - All Shall be well
In the late 1300s a lady called Juliana, living in Norwich, became seriously ill. As she was recovering, she experienced a number of visions of Jesus. She wrote down for others what she had experienced. For example:
"God showed me a little thing, the size of a hazelnut, in the palm of my hand... I looked at it with my mind's eye and I thought: 'What can this be?' And an answer came:
'It represents all that is made.' I marvelled that it could continue to exist because I thought that it would have crumbled to nothing, it was so small. And the answer came into my mind: 'It exists and always will because God loves it.' All things have their being through the love of God. In this little thing I saw three truths: the first is that God made it; the second is that God loves it; the third is that God looks after it."
Mother Julian of Norwich (as she is generally known) was making the point that God has made all things, that he loves all that he has made, and that in his love he looks after all that he has made. She also wrote that, in God's love, all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well."
God our Father, in your love you have a special care for all that you have made. May we grow in the faith that you "enfold us in your love" and that everything does work out for good for those who love you: that "all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well". Amen.
Hymns (Morning Worship Service Sheet and Mission Praise)
- O come, O come Emmanuel (493)
- Lord the light of your love is shining (445)
- All Earth was dark (8)
- Come thou long expected Jesus (102)
- A messenger named Gabriel (on notices)
Prayers for Sunday and the Week Ahead
We are sent In the name of the Father of the Poor; in the name of the Son of Justice; in the name of the Spirit of Love; To live God's promise that transforms and makes us new; to be signs of hope to all who struggle for a new world of justice & peace. Amen.
Teach us, O Lord, to love you, to trust you and for ever to praise you. Let us exalt your name both in the day and in the night. Let us serve you both in the house of prayer and in the world about us. Let us ascribe to you with all your saints both wisdom and majesty, both honour and glory, world without end. Amen. Henry Vaughan, 1621-1695
Our loving Father, we give thanks for your goodness and love; for the joy of home and family, and the companionship of friends and neighbours; for the strength that supports us and the love that surrounds us, both when our joy is complete and when it is touched by pain. We give thanks for your Son Jesus Christ: the glory of his humble birth, the graciousness of his selfless life, the obedience and trust that led him to the cross, and the triumph of his resurrection and ascension. We give thanks for your Holy Spirit at work in your Church and in our hearts, revealing your truth, renewing our lives, and bringing us to your eternal Kingdom. Alexander Siatwinda, Zambia/Halifax