Sermon for the third Sunday in Advent

Sunday 12th December 2004

Preached by Rev Brian Parker

Rejoice!

John the Baptist had his doubts so he asked the question: “Are you the One?”

On this third Sunday in Advent, traditionally called Gaudete Sunday, a day of rejoicing that the coming of the Saviour is near, the Old and New Testaments meet in the persons of John the Baptist and Jesus.

“The One” – the Messiah long promised, pictured in the Old Testament Scriptures is coming. ‘Gaudete’ – the first word in the Latin prayer for the day means ‘rejoice’. “Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say rejoice – the Lord is near”.

And in Matthew’s Gospel more than any other, Jesus affirms the value of the Old Testament tradition and declares his own work as the fulfilment of that expectation.

As someone put it- Jesus meets the Messianic job description of the Hebrew Scriptures. They testify of him. The parallels are clear between Isaiah’s hope and the ministry of Jesus. And the Incarnation is not so much about a baby born in a stable but rather about the ministry of the man Jesus, in our history, in our time, in our lives.

In Jesus, the One long expected, is seen the splendour of God. There is gladness and joy in His presence.

But John the Baptist doubts. His question is a question of confidence and trust. And can we blame him?

He had been in Herod’s prison for a year or more. A man of the countryside and used to the outdoor life he had been locked up in a tiny dungeon by a spiteful and immoral King. He was suffering a great injustice. He must have felt a terrible isolation.

The prophet Elijah had experienced the same kind of persecution at the hands of the evil Jezebel. Remember Elijah’s outburst? “Lord I have had enough”. He was afraid and ran for his life. He had lost all confidence in God.

In a spiritual sense Elijah came to a place far distant from faith and trust, a place of darkness and uncertainty. It was at that point that the Lord said to him: “Elijah what are you doing here? Go back the way you have come.” His confidence was restored and he went on to fulfil his vocation.

“Say to those with fearful hearts: Be strong, do not fear, your God will come”.

John’s lack of confidence in Jesus, his questioning doubts stem partly from the fact that this Jesus whom he had baptised was coming in neither the way that he had expected nor indeed in the way that he wanted.

Here he was in this stinking hell of a prison, left in the hands of a corrupt tyrant and Jesus was doing nothing about it.

Surely, John was thinking, if He is the One long expected He will come with judgement and vengeance, smash down these prison doors and set me free! And he will go on to rid the world of this evil. Divine retribution was high on John’s agenda.

But it wasn’t happening for him. His confidence was on the wane. So he sends his disciples to ask Jesus: “Are you the One?”

Jesus gives his answer. It is given in the context of the Old Testament vision of God working in the world.

Jesus encourages John to see beyond the darkness of his situation and to trust Him as ‘The One’ – even to rejoice in His coming.

John had to put aside his wants and his preconceptions and his ideas of what should happen.

“Go back and tell John what I am doing. Tell him what is happening.” In that response Jesus showed a deep understanding and compassion for John. The message was understood.

“Tell him what is happening”. These were things that the prophet had foretold, things that John had engrained in his soul and in his faith.

I like to think that when John heard this Good News it had a ring of truth about it that touched his faith and stirred his spirit.

He no longer wondered with doubt but was rather overwhelmed with wonder as the truth dawned on him. In this truth he found an inner peace and contentment. No matter what his personal circumstances he rested his case in the loving mercy of God.

In our worship and liturgical order we have opportunities to be silent. In the Holy Communion Service and in our prayers we set aside intellectual debate and denominational differences, preferences and prejudices and come together in silence.

We call it the numinous in worship – relating to the Divine, accepting the mystery of Christ with us.

“Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory, glory be to thee, O Lord most high”.

In the silence of Divine revelation John understood what was happening. His thoughts and feelings were called to a place far beyond his circumstances or his preconceived ideas.

The theologian Lowther Clarke called such times, “experiences of hushed adoration to which we faintly but firmly respond”.

Christ with us.

In the mystery of Holy Communion is our confidence, our hope, and our joy.

So St Paul calls us with confidence to “rejoice in the Lord always, for the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds”.

And the Body of Christ in the world is called to continue the ministry of Jesus, to embrace His vision of living the Good News – the news that can be seen and touched and felt and heard in the lives of people.

“Tell him what is happening”.

In today’s world there are many wastelands and deserts of despair and hearts and minds that seem far distant from God.

The challenges of poverty and disease, injustice and oppression are immense. We know all about the deafness to conscience and moral virtues in a secular society, the blindness to the needs and fears of the stranger: the rise in racism and the continuing bigotry in our society.

The vision of growing ‘flowers’ of hope and rejuvenation in such deserts sounds naive and unrealistic.

Nevertheless the seeds of hope must be sown with patience and trust. This is not a mere appeal to do good but rather a call to faith; to be confident in the Lord as the one who will make good as he has promised.

The Church is to minister in God’s world as Jesus did in Galilee.

So what is happening? How is the church responding? Are we putting the vision of an alternative world – a redeemed world – a Kingdom of love and justice – into practice?

The Franciscan blessing speaks of the Church working with ‘restless discomfort’ to go beyond superficial answers; working with ‘holy anger’ to overcome exploitation of people; working with ‘tears in caring’ for those who suffer from pain, rejection and starvation.

The blessing concludes: “May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really can make a difference in this world, so that you are able with God’s grace, to do what others claim cannot be done”.

“Are you the One?” We are called to question and in the questioning to grow strong in faith and to live confident of God’s help.

We are challenged to take up Jesus’ ministry. We can’t ask people to take our word for it –our actions or non-actions speak for us. Either we take up Jesus’ ministry or we don’t.

“Tell them what is happening”. Don’t tell the world about Jesus – tell them what is being done in Christ’s name – that’s the Good News of His coming into our world, patiently, with perseverance, with mercy and with love.

So our prayer is that the God of hope will fill us with all joy in knowing that we do his will.

Amen