Sunday's coming!

  Philippians 1: 3-11 and Luke 3: 1-18. Advent is a strange time. It is about getting ready to celebrate Christmas – but that preparation doesn’t mean all the stuff we all think we have to do – cards & presents & food and all that. It means reflecting on what it really means to say that God is with us in Jesus Christ and asking what difference it makes in our lives. Last week's Advent 1 readings were about warnings of the End Times - a reminder that God is in charge of human history, and that the coming of Jesus is part of a larger plan. Advent has a timeless quality, in that it relates to then (the birth of Christ), now (our preparations) and what is to come (God's unfolding plan & eventual kingdom in its fulness). We can’t celebrate Advent and not ask ‘what difference is it making to us here and now? What new things is God going to do this Christmastime?’ Luke's gospel today tells us of the coming of John the Baptist. Here’s an odd bit of the C...

So.. if I was preaching each Sunday of Advent what would I say? Week 1, as you have seen, was 'Hope'. Week 2, I think, will be 'Repent' taking Philippians 1: 3-11 and Luke 3: 1-18. I know the lectionary splits John the Baptist's story in two but really, I think we can get too much John the Baptist in the lectionary (he must have a good publicist!). Week 3 would be 'Rejoice!' Taking Zephaniah 3: 14-20 and then 'borrowing' the Magnificat (Luke 1: 39-45) from next week's lectionary Then week 4 is 'Prepare' - we're left with Micah 5: 2-5a but to be honest I think we're wall-to-wall carol services by then as we're only 2 days off the great day itself. In a multi-church situation, such as the one I'm in here, it's hard to maintain a 'series' over a number of weeks, but I wanted to think the season through in my own mind. Life is getting full of celebrations - but I will try to post sermons/reflections ...

Jeremiah 33: 14-16 Luke 21: 25-36  Today is Advent Sunday. Christmas really is coming. Four more Sundays to go…23 more days…love it or loathe it, Christmas is coming and it will soon be time to celebrate the coming of Jesus. So it’s time to get ready to celebrate. But what are we celebrating? An event of 2000 years ago, that still has some attraction to us? A chance to meet up with family & friends and have a holiday? Or dare we actually hope for something new to happen – for God to act here and now? Jeremiah prophecies that the day will come – the day will surely come when God will cause a branch of David to spring up : “and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety”. God does not just promise a king, he promises a king whose kingdom, whose rule, will mean peace and justice and a new world order. God’s people have to wait and hope that in all the mess of their lives – as other world powers battle...

         ( 1 Samuel 2: 1-10, Mark 13: 1-8) Just when we need Corporal Jones most, news came to us the week before last that Clive Dunn, the actor who delivered those memorable lines, is dead. It seems our world is full of bad news – whether it’s the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria, renewed violence between Israel & Palestine, or the fact that there’s just over 5 weeks to Christmas… it’s enough to make us panic. This is nothing new – Jesus lived in times of great uncertainty. Sickness and death were far commoner than they are for us, the land of Israel was permanently ruled by the Roman foreign power, and Jesus’ whole ministry is punctuated with questions and resistance. No wonder Jesus’ followers wanted to find something solid and reliable in their lives – and they turned to the temple. “ Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!”. But Jesus wants them to understand true solidity and reliability. First they need t...

Mark 12:38-44 As he taught, Jesus said, ‘Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honour at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.’ He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.’ I love this reading – Jesus says “beware of those who like to walk around in long robes.. and have the best seats….” ( I will at this poi...

Revelation 21: 1-6a John 11: 32-44 It was All Saints' Day on Thursday and I heard on the radio a short piece by The Rev Richard Coles, who is a broadcaster and who has written a book called the Lives of the Improbable Saints. In the broadcast he outlined the roles of some of the less famous saints and described how to pray to the patron saint of car parking, Mother Cabrini: "Mother Cabrini, Mother Cabrini, please find a space for my parking machinery." I can see you’re not a bit convinced. So what is the point of saints? I love the description from the US theologian and writer, Frederick Buechner “In his holy flirtation with the world, God occasionally drops a handkerchief. These handkerchiefs are called saints.”. The image Buechner is conjouring up is of the young woman, trying to catch the eye of the young man, who  ‘accidently’ drops a handkerchief so that he can pick it up and engage her in conversation. God wants us to know that his love and con...

Mark 10: 46-52 I find the story of Jesus and blind Bartimaeus an amazing one. It’s amazing that when everyone else in the crowd is telling the blind beggar to shut up, Jesus notices him calling out & stands still. Even though Jesus & his followers were just on their way out of the town of Jericho, Jesus stops & says ‘call him here’. It’s amazing that Jesus can and does heal Bartimaeus – Jesus somehow makes him to see again, and then instead of sitting and begging, Bartimaeus can decide to follow Jesus. But I think the most amazing bit of the story is when Jesus asks Bartimaeus, a blind man who cannot work and who just manages to scratch a living, the question ‘what do you want me to do for you?’. It might seem obvious what Bartmaeus is asking for – but Jesus takes time not only to listen to his call and to heal him, but he takes time to find out what Bartimaeus wants. And Jesus asks us that today. ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Our answer t...

A sermon for One World Week: Hebrews 5: 1-10; Mark 10: 35-45 Thanks to the BBC show about famous people’s family trees, it’s maybe not so bad as it used to be for someone to say ‘who do you think you are?’. But it’s all in the tone: ‘who do you think you are?’ can be a warning that you’re thinking too highly of yourself, that you’re putting on airs and graces. Like James & John in today’s gospel reading. They want to be great: they want places of honour in this kingdom Jesus keeps talking about. “ Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” But what does this glory look like? What does Jesus think greatness looks like?   IF James & John think they want to be Jesus’ right and left-hand men, perhaps they should have listened more carefully to Jesus talking about who he is. Jesus warns the 2 brothers that he cannot grant them the positions of honour they long for – though he can promise them they will share in what will ...

A cure for the post-harvest blues? There is something about harvest-time that always leaves me a little bit unsettled. I don’t think it’s just the thought that with harvest safely behind us and the autumn colours really starting to take off we can settle down for the coming winter. I’m left with what I can only describe as the post-harvest blues. It’s good that once again we have remembered to give thanks for the fruit, the flowers, all our food. And although the harvest has not been a bumper one, and we know that world food prices are up, even so we can give thanks that we have enough.. and more. But somewhere I am left with a feeling that thanking God for the harvest is alright as far as it goes. I think I’m always left wondering quite where the Good News is in the harvest message of simple thanks to God who made all that we have. So I was glad of today’s readings which have encouraged us to think about the beauty and wonder of creation, but also to think about th...

Joel 2: 21-27 Matthew 6: 25-33 It would be easy to be smug today, wouldn’t it? The church looks beautiful, the weather’s picked up again, and of course Ellie is gorgeous – and the rest of us have scrubbed up Ok too. Is there really anything more to say than ‘aren’t we lucky!’ and maybe ‘thank you God’. But I think there is a bit more to say than that – as we’ve heard from our Bible readings   - one kept saying ‘be not afraid’ the other ‘do not worry’.   On the face of it they’re not very cheerful and ‘harvesty’ – nor are they particularly good news for a baptism. But actually if we were to wish Ellie anything at this start of her journey of faith, then freedom from fear and freedom from worry would be a pretty good start. We meet surrounded by flowers and fruit and we heartily give thanks for all the gifts with which God has blessed us. But we are reminded that people do worry about the harvest, that they are sometimes afraid that there won’t be enough...

Mark 9: 30-37 As we’ve been plodding through Mark’s gospel in the last month or so this question has kept coming up one way or another:  What does it mean to be a disciple? Marks’ gospel is 16 chapters long, so more than once you might have heard me say in a sermon on chapters 8, 9 or 10 ‘we’re about half way through Mark’s gospel’. You might have heard me talk about tipping points, or see saws, or points of no return. Mark’s gospel spend the first half talking about what Jesus said & did & where he went, and then from chapter 11 it’s the entry into Jerusalem & down hill all the way. Chapters 8 & 9 & 10 have a special, in-betweeny feel about them, and some things just keep coming up. Who is Jesus? What does it mean to follow Jesus? Who are his disciples? How do we walk God’s way, not our way? And today’s passage covers a lot of this ground. Jesus talks about his suffering and death The disciples don’t understand They argue among...

Mark 8: 28-37 Jesus has a question. It may not seem like it at first, but it is a vital question. ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Don’t you think it’s interesting that no-one gives the obvious answer – son   of Mary & maybe of Joseph (though the rumours are that Mary was already expecting before the wedding). Jesus the rabbi, the teacher. Jesus the miracle-worker. Jesus of Nazareth. Clearly the disciples understand this is an important question – Jesus isn’t looking for the obvious answers – he wants to know what it is about him that makes people want to follow. It’s a question which asks ‘who do you think you’re following?’ Some say John the Baptist, other Elijah, or one of the prophets. This is not just a carpenter’s son   - this is someone one worth following, not just a teacher – a prophet – maybe the great prophet Elijah, maybe a more modern prophet like John the Baptist. But who do you say that I am? asks Jesus. Peter blurts out the right answ...