So we wait for his coming in glory
So we wait for his coming in glory
Normally, when we get to this Fourth Sunday of Advent, I’m almost buzzing with the anticipation of Christmas being less than a week away. The season of Advent has always gradually raised the anticipation levels, until I truly feel ready to welcome the Christ-child in a few days time.
This year, though, is different. And it’s health that’s getting in the way. I’ve been having a difficult time with my Angina — it’s the nature of the beast that it is cyclical. But now, despite both of us having our flu jabs, Liz and I have both come down with a dose of flu. Neither of us feel anything like ready for Christmas. Liz has had to miss the last week of school, when all the Christmas productions and parties have been happening. And, apart from managing the Advent Carol service, it has been quite some time since I’ve been able to get to Church. And I can’t tell you just how much I’m missing it.
Paul Routledge, on the Daily Mirror website yesterday, asked the question, “Is this the grimmest Christmas in living memory?” What he writes certainly does make for pretty grim reading, and makes my personal problems pale into insignificance — not that that stops me from feeling absolutely awful.
But Paul finishes his article on a positive note, something I’m kinda struggling to do; here are a couple of his final paragraphs:
But there are things that we can do without the politicians, and I hope Christmas 2008 will come to be seen as a watershed - not in dizzying levels of spending on the high street, but in the revitalisation of family and community values.
When Britons’ backs are to the wall, we have an amazing capacity to look to each other, to improvise, to reject the trashy unreality of consumerism.
Perhaps that’s one way we might see the Christ-child coming in glory this year, despite all the doom and gloom surrounding us, in the “revitalisation of family and community values”. And that would be no bad thing, would it?
Eternal God,
as Mary waited for the birth of your Son,
so we wait for his coming in glory;
bring us through the birth pangs of this present age
to see, with her, our great salvation
in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Additional Collect for The Fourth Sunday of Advent
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council
You sent John the Baptist to prepare the way of your Son
You sent John the Baptist to prepare the way of your Son
The Third Sunday of Advent is a day when we, traditionally, think about John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus’ coming at Christmas.
John the Baptist was a bit of a mystery man. He suddenly appeared in the wilderness, and nobody knew where he’d come from. He proclaimed a challenging message, telling people to make a fresh start. “Don’t rely on having been born a Jew,” he said in effect. “Repent” — which means change your attitude; “be baptised” — which means begin your life again as a child in the family of God. Then he warned them about a coming judgement, and told them to make up their minds before it’s too late. Who was he?
In the days when processions travelled at walking pace, a king would send someone running ahead to tell people they were coming. He was called the forerunner. “Get ready,” he’d cry. “The king’s coming, only about an hours travel behind me.” John said he was just a forerunner for Jesus: “Jesus is coming,” he cried out, “I’m just a voice telling you to get ready. And hurry up, there’s not much time left before he comes.” That’s who the mystery man was.
Perhaps we’ve got it all wrong about Christmas. It’s less than two week away, and what have we done to get ready? Shopped until we we’ve dropped? Bought expensive presents and decorations, and more food and drink than is good for us?
Of course, if we believe that the Son of God came down to earth at Christmas to give his life to save us, we’ve really got something to celebrate, and giving things to other people is a good way to do it. But with that goes the spiritual preparation.
What’s John the Baptist saying to you and I today? “Make a fresh start. Don’t rely on having been born a Christian. Repent, change your attitude. Begin your life again as a child in the family of God. Make up your mind before it’s too late.” That’s how to get ready for Christmas. That’s how John the Baptist is, still today, preparing the way for Jesus to come into our lives afresh at Christmas. Are we listening?
God for whom we watch and wait,
you sent John the Baptist to prepare the way of your Son:
give us courage to speak the truth,
to hunger for justice,
and to suffer for the cause of right,
with Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Additional Collect for The Third Sunday of Advent
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council