Scripture Readings: Isaiah 43:1–7 | Psalm 29 | Acts 8:14–17 | Luke 3:15–22

​“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; 
I have called you by name, you are mine. 
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; 
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; 
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, 
and the flame shall not consume you. 
For I am the Lord your God, 
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” (Isaiah 43:1b-3).

How hard is it to ask for help? 

I guess it depends on the context, doesn’t it? Personally, I know there are lots of times when I can find it pretty easy to ask for help. Like when I’m in an unfamiliar store, and looking for something specific. In that instance, I’d much rather just ask someone else for directions than waste my time wandering around.

Of course, there are other times when asking for help seems a whole lot less easy… like when I think I already know how to do something… or when I want to prove, either to myself or to those around me, that I am capable and strong enough to handle the challenge I’m facing all by myself. That’s when my pride certainly gets in the way of asking for help. 

Or when I simply don’t want anybody else to know what I’m going through… when I am too ashamed to share my struggles… and worried that others will think less of me, or look down on me if I let them know about my weaknesses. That’s when shame stops me from reaching out.

Now we all have our own times when, and reasons why we might find it really hard to ask for help. But the reality is: there are some problems we will face in life that are just too big for us to face alone.

The Good News is, of course, we don’t have to face them alone! We are not simply left to fend for ourselves in this life. Our Saviour stands with us always. 

Today we Christians celebrate the Baptism of the Lord: retelling the story of how Jesus Christ, God’s Son chose to step into our shoes… wade into the waters that threaten to overwhelm us, and share the lot of us sinners… to save us.

The Baptism of Jesus marks the beginning of His earthly ministry… His first steps along the path to become the Saviour and Redeemer of the world. 

But long before Jesus stepped into the Jordan River… long before He was born of Mary… the Living God had been preparing His people for Christ’s arrival... revealing Himself not only as their Almighty Sovereign, but also as their Divine Helper.

The whole story of Scripture depicts Yahweh, the Living God, as the One who longs to rescue the oppressed… to bind up the broken, lift up the lowly, and set the captives free. And all throughout Israel’s story, God proves to be their faithful deliverer. The One who comes to their aid, and who refuses to abandon them, despite their many mistakes… allowing them at times to face the grave consequences of their sins, but at the same time, always eager to step in and show them His mercy and steadfast love.     

And this is the context for our first reading from Isaiah 43. God’s people had been in the Promised Land for several centuries… enjoying God’s great generosity and divine protection from their enemies. But despite this, Israel had also turned away from the Lord in their hearts, and in their daily lives: worshipping idols, perverting justice, oppressing the poor, and refusing to walk in God’s holy ways. Much of the writings of Isaiah make it clear that Israel had made a big mess of things, and so they would have to face some big consequences: Exile was coming. God would allow His unfaithful people to have everything taken from them… their land, their possessions, their communities… and they would have to live as strangers in the land of Babylon.
 
But even so, Isaiah shared the Good News that God would not abandon His people. Far from it. And in today’s reading we hear God’s words of promise, that despite all of their sins, the Lord Himself would deliver them. 

Isaiah 43:1-3, “But now thus says the Lord, 
he who created you, O Jacob, 
he who formed you, O Israel: 
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; 
I have called you by name, you are mine. 
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; 
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; 
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, 
and the flame shall not consume you. 
For I am the Lord your God, 
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”

And further down, verses 5-7, 
“Do not fear, for I am with you; 
I will bring your offspring from the east, 
and from the west I will gather you; 
I will say to the north, “Give them up,” 
and to the south, “Do not withhold; 
bring my sons from far away 
and my daughters from the end of the earth— 
everyone who is called by my name, 
whom I created for my glory, 
whom I formed and made.”

With these words, and many more like them, God called His people throughout the Old Testament to trust in Him, and to turn back to Him, even when they’ve completely messed up everything… God Himself would be with them. He would stand by them… and not forsake them. He would come to their rescue. 

And so, many centuries after God’s people returned from Babylon, and tried to rebuild their lives in the land… at the right time, God sent John the Baptist to prepare His people for the arrival of their Saviour King. John’s ministry of baptism at the Jordan River stood as an invitation for God’s people to seek the Lord’s forgiveness… to seek out a new beginning, a fresh start, both as individuals, and as a renewed community.

It was a call to humble themselves. To let go of their pride and acknowledge that they all really needed God’s help. To confess that they could not turn their own stories around alone. That they needed His salvation.

And it was a call to own up to the brokenness of their own lives. To publicly own the fact that they had really messed up and sinned… falling far short of the glory of God, and His holy purposes for His people. It was a call to face their own guilt and shame, and bring themselves honestly before God seeking His mercy.

John was calling God’s people to draw near to the Lord again, and to stop playing games… to show up as themselves… as those in desperate need of help, turning to God with their whole lives in the hopes that He really would save them.

That invitation echoes down to us today as well. In whatever mess we may find ourselves in… in our times of distress and desperation, we too are called to draw near to God… not as we wish we were, but as we are… with our worries and weaknesses… with our mistakes and failures… we are invited to trust, and turn our eyes to the Lord, and to wholeheartedly seek His help.

But as we read on in the Gospel, we find that God offers us so much more than the help we might ever have expected, or dare to ask for… and nothing could really prepare us for the surprising scandal of what happens next. 

For Jesus Christ, God’s perfect, sinless Son, does not just come to the river to pardon and extend forgiveness to those who turned to God in faith. That would be wonderful enough… but He does so much more! 

He steps into the waters Himself. Jesus identifies Himself fully with those who had turned their backs on God, and rejected His holy ways. Jesus wades into their messed up circumstances and chooses to make them His own. He doesn’t stand by while His people and His world struggle to stay afloat… in His baptism, Jesus binds Himself to those who are drowning, doomed, and completely dependent on the mercy of God alone to deliver them.

And John doesn’t miss the point, or the scandal of it all, which is why in St. Matthew’s account, John is so confused by Jesus’s actions.  John knows that Jesus doesn’t need to turn Himself around to be at one with God like everyone else… and that in fact, it’s John himself that needs to be set free by God’s Messiah… the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

But Jesus knows that this is how God’s great deliverance will be made complete: by binding Himself completely to sinners, so that they can be saved in and through Him.

And Jesus is right! This is God’s will for His beloved Son. And as Christ is baptized, John sees “the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21-22).

In this moment of public humility, but also incredible compassion and grace, stepping into the place of us sinners, Jesus is fully in line with the heart of His Father in Heaven, and filled with the Holy Spirit. The Living God, the Triune Lord is completely on the same page: choosing to be bound to our broken world, to become it’s blessed Saviour.  

Of course, Jesus’ baptism is just the beginning of this great act of deliverance… a journey that would lead to the crisis of the cross, where Christ joins Himself not only to desperate sinners seeking forgiveness, but to those already condemned to die… to be plunged into the depths of the grave for their sins… to become like them, lifeless, and completely powerless to rescue themselves. At the cross, Jesus binds Himself to us all, to our world at its very worst… choosing to lay down His life… to die bound to us… so that we might be raise up with Him.

Jesus trusted that His Father’s saving love was far more powerful even than death, and that His Father would not abandon Him, but would raise Him up again.

And the Good News of the Resurrection is that Jesus was right! After three days in the grave, God the Father raised up His Son as the new beginning of a New Creation… no longer susceptible to sin and death… but set free forever.

And this is the New Life that Jesus had opened up for us, and offers to us all in His name: to share in His death to sin, and also to share in His glorious New Life, now and forever.

And in light of Jesus’ baptism… His act of love, binding Himself to us in the waters of the Jordan River, and ultimately at the cross… our own baptisms bind us to Him in faith… as our tangible response to what He has already done for us at the cross to save us, and to unite us to Him, and to all God’s people, creating a renewed community, committed to living here and now as His beloved children.

This is not possible for us all on our own. But it is possible by the power of God’s Holy Spirit, working in us to bring about God’s new life, and helping us to walk in His ways… binding us to Jesus, and setting us free in Him.

The practice of baptism for disciples of Jesus today is not simply something that we do ourselves… sort of a religious rite of passage… something we just go through, because that’s what’s expected of us. Baptism is a gift for God’s people… inviting us to be open to God’s life-giving Spirit, once and for all… to spend all our days trusting in what Jesus has done for us at the cross, and in the mercy and saving love of the One who is now our Heavenly Father as well.

In a moment, we will have the chance to respond to all this by affirming our faith using the Baptismal Covenant, found on page 158 of the Book of Alternative Services… reaffirming our wholehearted commitment to the One who bound Himself to us in mercy and love.

And in the days to come, may we believe that even in our deepest struggles and trials, God will not leave us alone… He has bound Himself to us, so that we might be rescued in Him.

May we trust that what Jesus has done for us is far more powerful than all of the messes and mistakes we have made, and that in Him, God really has come to bring us the help we all really need.

May our lives reflect this wonderful reality. May these not be merely words that we repeat, but by the Holy Spirit’s help, may we continue to be transformed by this Good News. 

May we be set free from the pride and shame that keep us from seeking help to live God’s way in the world. 

And may the saving love Jesus, shared with us when we were at our very worst, turn our lives around, so that we can share His saving love with those in our lives. Amen.

This week we commemorate the Baptism of the Lord, when Jesus Christ stepped into the Jordan River, joined Himself to sinners seeking God's mercy, and was in that moment affirmed as the beloved Son of God.

​Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, and Sermon can be found here:

​And our Songs for this week can be found here:

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 60:1–6 | Psalm 72 | Ephesians 3:1–12 | Matthew 2:1–12

"Arise, shine; for your light has come, 
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. 
For darkness shall cover the earth, 
and thick darkness the peoples; 
but the Lord will arise upon you, 
and his glory will appear over you. 
Nations shall come to your light, 
and kings to the brightness of your dawn." (Isaiah 60:1-3).

Happy Epiphany everyone!

The season of Christmas has come to a close, and now the Church turns to the next chapter of Christ’s story: to the joyful revelation that Yahweh, the Living God, is not only determined to be the God of Israel, but the God of all the earth… the divine sovereign of the Gentiles too.

Today we proclaim the Good News that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is both Israel’s Messiah and the Lord of All, drawing all peoples to Himself, and to one another in His name. 

Two thousand some odd years on, this may not seem like that big of a deal to us. After all, we Christians have, from very early on, seen the Gospel of Jesus as a having worldwide implications. But if we sit with this claim for a while, in the light of both our own circumstances in the world, and the story of Scripture, the surprising message of Epiphany may begin to shake us up. 

I mean, how often do we really reflect on the idea that the Living God is not content with just one people or nation… one little corner of the world… and instead to believe that God is actually after all of us?

Not in the sense of what we could call colonialism… the process of one country or empire deciding that it’s their right and duty to simply take over other peoples and nations… forcing others to serve the empire’s interests against their will. But, rather in the sense that the Lord cares deeply for the true wellbeing of the world that He has made… and that He longs for His estranged but still beloved creatures made in His image to be reunited… reconciled both to Him, and to one another… and willingly making incredible and costly sacrifices to make that possible. 

This vision of God’s worldwide concern… God’s cosmic Kingdom… stands in such contrast with the kinds of ‘kings’ and ‘emperors’ who are throwing their weight around the Earth today.

More and more it seems, those who are rising to power these days are intentionally pulling back from any sense of international co-operation, and mutual responsibility... empowered by stirring up suspicions, fears, and hatred of others, instead of pursuing justice and peace for all. 

This is no surprise, I suppose. After all, insecure tyrants have always tended to lash out against anyone… even the most vulnerable and lowly, in order to preserve their own power.

But Epiphany reminds us that our Saviour Jesus Christ chose to become both vulnerable and lowly in order to bring about God’s good Kingdom… laying down all Earthly power and glory, to rescue the world that He loves.

The story of Epiphany is told in the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 2. We hear that strangers from the East, non-Jewish scholars and astrologers, see a new star in the sky, and set out after it, seeking to honour the newly born King of Israel. 

In some ways, this episode might be a surprising story for St. Matthew to include in his Gospel, which spends a lot of time focussing on Jesus as Israel’s Messiah… the fulfillment of God’s promises to His covenant people to rescue them from their oppressors, and to bring about God’s holy reign at last.  

But even though St. Matthew clearly wants us his readers to believe that Jesus truly is Israel’s Messiah, He also wants us to see from the start that God’s Kingdom is much greater than we might have imagined… and that what God was doing in and through Jesus might be centred on Israel at first, but would one day come to encompass all nations, to the very ends of creation!

And even though we tend to think of the Old Testament story as basically Israel’s story, from the start it’s a the story of the Living God’s work to rescue and be reunited with His world. 

The people of Israel, Abraham and Sarah’s descendants, were of course chosen to play a pivotal role in God’s great rescue plan… but this was not because of their own elevated status or moral perfection. No, the Scriptures make clear that God loves to choose the least likely… the lowly, and vulnerable, to be lifted up… defying all expectations of what is possible to draw humanity back to Himself.

And St. Matthew’s account of this episode in Jesus’ life highlights this contrast between our ways and God’s ways… between our sense of how the world really works, and what God alone can and will do to bring about His Kingdom.
 
In Matthew Chapter 2 verse 1 we’re told that the magi, or wise men, arrive from the East and head straight to the capital city, Jerusalem, expecting to find the newborn king within the local centre of power, in Herod’s royal court. But King Herod is caught off guard by their visit. He saw himself as the sovereign over those lands, at least, as long as the Emperor in Rome could be appeased. 

So, Herod hears of this new child king only as a serious threat to his authority… a challenge to his own power… and from his own experts, he learns that God’s promised Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. Ironically, Herod believes just enough to trust the prophecies about where God’s chosen King would come from, but not enough to bend his knee and offer up his allegiance. 

How many today are still towing Herod’s line? Believing just enough to recognize that Jesus is the One sent from God, but not enough to actually change our ways and offer Him all He is due?
 
Back to Matthew Chapter 2, King Herod tells the magi to go to Bethlehem, find the child, and then let him know where this newborn King can be found… so that he too may worship Him… or so he claims.

The wise men go, and find Jesus, not among the wealthy or glamourous, or powerful… but among the common folk… the poor and seemingly insignificant ones. Jesus, the Son of God had become wholly unremarkable… that is, apart from the witness of the star shining high above the holy family’s home… recognizable only to those with eyes to see.

And as St. Matthew tells it, these strangers, these Gentiles, these non-Jews see, and they believe. They don’t know the whole story yet, far from it… but they know that this is the One that they’ve been searching for.

So they respond: They give Him gifts, and worship Him, and return home without a word to King Herod, serving as a first glimpse of how the whole world will one day search for and find their Saviour, and bow their knees to this One who was once a little boy born in Bethlehem.

And this is how God’s Saviour King comes into the world… His world: mistrusted and rejected by the ones who claim to be faithful, but selfishly cling to power… and honoured by strangers and outsiders… drawing near those who are far off, and dwelling with the poor and lowly… entering into the truly dark and dangerous circumstances of our world to save us. 

St. Matthew’s Gospel goes on after our reading today to recount how King Herod, enraged that the magi would defy his plans to get rid of Jesus, orders the execution of all the boys born in Bethlehem two years old and under.
Sit with the horror of that for a minute. Just a minute. Give thought to those innocent toddlers and infants. These truly vulnerable ones… and their families… Herod’s own subjects… put to death just because of one man’s selfish ambition… out of his fear of surrendering control.

Maybe in some ways, this brutal, self-centred desperation calls to mind some of the decisions made by leaders across our world today… those who seem willing to burn the world down… to abandon or brutalize their neighbours… and even sacrifice the lives of their own people, if they think it’s in their own interests.

But Epiphany reminds us that Jesus the Messiah, God’s Son, and our world’s Saviour King, is so unlike the leaders of the Earth. He came in complete humility, and deep compassion for the lowly. He brought God’s light into the darkest places, setting free those bound by shame, and illness, and brokenness of every kind. He gave His life at the cross, not only to rescue His friends and followers… or even simply His own covenant people… but to bring God’s forgiveness and New Life even to His enemies… even to you and me.

Jesus Christ, God’s Son, our Saviour King gave His life in love, once and for all, to save us all! So that all who turn to Him in faith may share in His eternal life.

And we who believe and follow Him today, are tasked with sharing this Good News… with passing on the story of Jesus, and all that He has done to the world all around us, and living out the story of His Kingdom in our daily lives.

The truth of Epiphany, that Jesus Christ has come to be the Saviour King of all the Earth, calls us all, like the magi all those years ago, to offer our own responses: we too are summoned to lay down what we have… our allegiance… our choices… our lives at His feet, and so to honour Him not only with our words, but with all we do.
 
So if Jesus our Saviour King drew near to and brought help and hope to strangers and the lowly, what are we to do?

If Jesus our Saviour King rejected the ways of selfishness and pride, and the worship of power, what are we to do?

If Jesus our Saviour King gave His life in love, not just for those who were closest to Him, but for those farthest away… for even those who hated and rejected Him… how are we called to share His holy saving love with our world? With those both near and far?

Jesus our Saviour King will come again, and before Him every knee will bow, from the lowest to the highest. So, with the Holy Spirit’s help, may we live today as lights shining in the dark, showing the world around us even a glimpse of what God’s good Kingdom of self-giving love really looks like, so that they too might come to see and believe. Amen.​

This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of Epiphany, when we commemorate the Good News that Jesus Christ God's Son has come not only to be the Saviour of one nation, but for all the peoples of the Earth.

​Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, and Sermon can be found here:

​And our Songs for this week can be found here:

Due to unsafe weather conditions on Tuesday, our Parish had to postpone our Christmas Eve service of Lessons, Carols, and Communion until today (Sunday December 29). As such, our In-Person service this week will closely follow the At-Home Christmas Eve & Day service posted earlier this week, and found here:

For those seeking additional At-Home worship resources this week, you can find a Morning Prayer service for the First Sunday After Christmas, Songs to go along with this service, our Weekly Bulletin, and a Christmas message from Archbishop David Edwards below:

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 62:6–12 | Psalm 97 | Titus 3:4–7 | Luke 2:1–20

“But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.’” (Luke 2:10-11).

Merry Christmas everyone! 
Jesus Christ is born. Heaven’s glory has entered into Earth’s dark night, in the tiny body of Mary’s boy. Today we celebrate the birth of our Saviour. The first breaths of the One who has come to be our Saviour… and the Saviour of our world.

Of course, we still have so many reminders all around us that our world is still longing to be set free. To be delivered from the darkness and selfishness and sin that continues to wreak havoc among us. In many ways, our world ignores the Good News we celebrate this day. But we who believe that in Jesus, who is God Himself right here with us, in the flesh… we celebrate despite the darkness, because we know that the Saviour has come… that at the cross, He has won… and in Him, our world’s deliverance is forever assured. 
​
In our Gospel reading today, we hear of the shepherds, out in the fields late at night. Everyday people, just going about their lives, with no sense that anything strange and wonderful was in the works. 

They were people living far from comfort… sleeping rough out in the fields with their sheep… living in a troubled corner of the world, far from the centres of power and influence… mostly preoccupied with simply making it through to another day… perhaps with a sense of longing for the ancient promises of God to be fulfilled.

And then, there in the darkness, God’s brilliant and terrifying glory suddenly bursts into their little world! Angels announce the Good News that the Christ has been born… that God has given to us a Saviour at last… and then the heavenly choir bursts into song, praising the Lord , and proclaiming peace on earth.

Imagine the shepherd’s sudden excitement! The hope that was suddenly lit within them… the promise of peace at last for their troubled and oppressed people… the joyful realization that the Living God was at work in their little corner of the world… that this Good News was for them to share in… and that God’s faithful love was reaching out to rescue and to embrace those sitting in darkness.

“the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11).

Good News of great joy for all the people: a Saviour has been born this day. The Child King of God’s eternal Kingdom has come to set them free. To set us all free.

And so they go. They hurry off to see the One all this Good News of great joy is about.

And they see Him. And they believe. And along with Mary and Joseph, and maybe a few animals, these unknown shepherds are the only ones on earth who celebrate the very first Christmas… humble witnesses of the Son of God beginning His saving work.

And then they go again. As wonderful as that moment was, they could not stay in that stable forever. They have to go back to their sheep, and their fields, and their everyday lives, carrying the Good News of the Saviour’s birth with them. 

And this Christmas, as we celebrate the Good News of Christ’s birth, so many centuries later, and in our own quiet little corner of the world… we too must soon go back to our lives. But we need not go back unchanged. Untouched by the Good News we celebrate this day. Because the Good News of Christmas is the Good News of Christ: the Saviour who came to set us free. Who gave His life at the cross, and rose again from the dead to deliver us all from the powers of darkness, in all of its forms… and to bring God’s glorious light and eternal life to us forever.

So may we go with the Good News of Christmas always: with our hopes rekindled… with God’s peace calming our troubled hearts… with joyful expectation… and with full assurance of God’s faithful love… carrying the story of Jesus, God’s Son and Saviour of our world… and may we share this blessed story with all those around us. Amen.

Here is our Christmas Day sermon, 
inviting us to carry
​the Good News of Christmas
with us always.

Scripture Readings: Micah 5:2–5a | Psalm 80:1–7 | Hebrews 10:5–10 | Luke 1:39–55

“And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” (Luke 1:45).

What does love look like? 

The Christmas season is full of things that our society associates with love: gifts are offered and received. Time is spent together with friends and family. People share in special meals, and take part in all sorts of traditions, and celebrations. And all of these practices are seen to affirm our affections, and strengthen the bonds between us.

But even though Christmas is just one short season of the year… these practices are intended to point towards a deeper reality that we hope exists year-round. In short, we’re not only loved during Christmas, but always… even without all the gifts. Even when we are far away from our family and friends. Even when we find ourselves hungry, or a bit lost, or burdened by sadness or grief. 

Our outward experiences… be they gifts, get-togethers, or celebrations… can help us remember that we are loved… but we can be and are loved even without them. But in order for that love to take root and shape us inside and out… day in and day out… whether we feel it or not… whether our circumstances confirm it or not… we have to actually believe it. We have to trust that we are loved. 

As we know, throughout the four weeks of Advent, we are called to contemplate and to share in four important themes that are all central to the Christian life: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. 

And while we all have our own ideas about what these things are, and how they fit into our lives… Advent asks for our attention… for our openness to new ways of understanding… and participating in the Christian story. 

And so, while we all have our own ideas about what love is, and how we share in it, this Sunday we are reminded that the Christian story points us in a particular direction when it comes to love… inviting us to reevaluate all our ideas about love from this starting point… to learn to trust… to believe in this kind of love, so that we can then begin to put it into practice.  

In our reading this morning, from St. Luke’s Gospel, we heard about a joyous family reunion: Mary, the soon to be mother of our Lord meets up with her cousin Elizabeth.

Right before our reading today, St. Luke tells of how the angel Gabriel had visited Mary, and announced that the Lord had chosen her to give birth to the Messiah, the long awaited the Saviour King sent to set His people free. 

And while Mary was trying to wrap her head around what this all means… and how this could even be possible… Gabriel assures her that she won’t have to believe this wonderous news all on her own: he tells Mary that her cousin Elizabeth has also received a miracle child. Like Abraham and Sarah, their people’s ancestors, God was giving Zechariah and Elizabeth a son who would share in the story of God’s great rescue mission… even though they were both quite old, and well past the years of natural parenting. And Gabriel says that this is a sign for Mary, to remember that nothing is impossible with the Living God. 

And so Mary races off to Zechariah’s house, where she is greeted by her very pregnant cousin Elizabeth, who joyfully confirms the gift that God had given to Mary. 

Luke 1:41-45, “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” 

“Blessed is the one who believed… that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” Mary trusted God’s word to her, and her life was changed forever.

St. Luke goes on to tell us how Mary responds to this greeting: with some powerful words of her own. Echoing the prophetic hopes and convictions of God’s people throughout the centuries, Mary starts to speak of the great things God has done, and will do to set things right at last. 

Luke 1:50-51,
“His mercy is for those who fear him 
from generation to generation. 
He has shown strength with his arm; 
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, 
and lifted up the lowly; 
he has filled the hungry with good things, 
and sent the rich away empty. 
He has helped his servant Israel, 
in remembrance of his mercy, 
according to the promise he made to our ancestors, 
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” 
 
A lot can be said about Mary’s words, and the hope, and peace, and joy that they inspire. But today, I want us to think about how these words help us to understand God’s love… how God has committed to put His love into action in our world.

Mary believes that the Living God has drawn her into the story of His great rescue mission: acting to end the oppression of His covenant people, by overthrowing the unjust tyrants of the world, and rescuing those in dire need.
She speaks of mercy, strength, and faithfulness shown to the lowly, the hungry, and the lost… lifting up the humble to new heights they had never dreamed of. And she speaks of God scattering the proud… bringing down those in power… and sending away those who are rich with nothing… completely turning the tables on those who use their positions and possessions to abuse others.   

And Mary was right. This is what the Lord was up to, and would do through this Child that Mary carried within her. But Mary would not get to see all this take place… at least, not in the ways that she first imagined. 

She had to share in this story by faith… by believing what the Lord had told her… trusting Him to be true to His word, and that He would truly bring to a good end all that He had begun in her womb.
 
For her son Jesus would come to overthrow not the powerful sinners who were ruling in the world, but rather striking at the powers of sin itself at the source, disarming them once and for all. And He would come to bring down the greatest foes that hold people everywhere in fear and bondage… the enemies of death and the demonic rebels that seek to ruin God’s good world. And Jesus came to send away all that is in us… the self-centredness, and greed, that keeps us from walking in God’s holy ways… in order to lift up those who are lost… to reach out and embrace the broken, and the broken-hearted… to share His saving love not just with Israel… but with His whole world.

This is of course, the Good News of God’s Kingdom. The Good News of God’s King, Christ Jesus our Lord… that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16).

Advent calls us to remember that God’s love is a Christ-shaped love. That Jesus is Himself the love of God in the flesh. And that, if we want to know what God’s love looks like… if we want it to transform our lives, inside and out, than we must look to Jesus, and believe.

To believe in Him: in God’s Son, who laid down His life at the cross to give us sinners the gift of forgiveness, and who rose again to give us God’s blessed New Life.

We are to believe in what He is doing: gathering together a new world-wide family, the Church… who, despite our differences, and struggles, are bound together in Jesus as God’s own sons and daughters… drawn together by His grace to care for each other… comfort each other... challenge each other… and encourage each other.

We are to draw near with faith to Christ’s table, and sharing in the sacred meal of Christ’s own body and blood… saying yes to all that He has done for us, and longs to do within us… taking part week after week, in this meal shared with generations of believers… and celebrating God’s great saving love for us, and for everyone.

In Jesus Christ, God’s love has truly come among us… raising up all that is lowly within us… and bringing down all those areas of our lives that still stand against His holy, life-giving ways. And God’s love is at work in and through us Christ’s people today, drawing us into the story of His saving love, not just for our own sake, but for our world… challenging oppression, injustice, and evil… reaching out to bring help to the hurting, the hungry, and all those that God puts in our path… learning what real love looks like, so that we can share it with everyone around us.

Our part is to believe, to trust in what Jesus’s story tell us… to believe the story of God’s self-giving love… and to live it out along with our Christian sisters and brothers… especially when we’re tempted to listen to all of those other stories being told around us: Stories that tell us that we’re unloved. Stories that try to get us to turn against our neighbours. Stories that would have us fixated on our circumstances, fears, and doubts… and forget Jesus, our Saviour King and everything that He has done for us… especially at the cross.

And so, as Christians we look to the cross, and see there what God’s love truly looks like. We look to the cross, and remember the wonderous lengths Jesus went to embrace us and to heal our broken world. We look to the cross, and we can believe that no matter what may come, nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:39). 

And so as Advent draws to a close, and the season of Christmas draws near, how can we help one another to believe… to truly trust in the story of God’s saving love? Not just as an abstract idea, but as our lived reality… as the story that shapes our minds, and hearts, and all that we say and do?

And how might we then help those around us to hear and hopefully believe this story too? How can we help them to come to know that they are loved by the Living God? And that Jesus Christ gave His life to rescue them? To forgive them? And to set them free? How can we bring down the obstacles that keep our friends and neighbours from understanding the Good News? How can we help lift them up in their times of need so they can experience God’s love at work in their lives?

However we might respond to these questions this Advent and Christmas season, may the Holy Spirit of God guard our hearts and minds, and guide our words and actions… and fill us with the life-changing love of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

​And our Songs for this week can be found here:

Scripture Readings: Zephaniah 3:14–20 | Isaiah 12:2–6 | Philippians 4:4–7 | Luke 3:7–18

​“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” 
(Philippians 4:4).

Well here we are already: the Third Sunday of Advent. More than halfway through the season of preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ. And this Sunday we take time to reflect on the theme of Joy in connection with Christ and His coming Kingdom. 

And while Joy itself is a big part of the New Life of God, and the Good News of Jesus Christ, and even though it is something that most people in our world are longing for in one form or another… I personally find that Joy is one of the hardest Advent themes to discuss… to clearly define what it is, and how we can prepare to experience it.

I think that at least part of the reason this is so hard is because we tend to confuse Joy with Happiness. The two are of course, deeply related, and yet there remain some important differences. And so before we go too much further, I’d like to suggest the following distinction between Happiness and Joy that I hope will be helpful:

Happiness we could say is a feeling of positivity that depends on the ‘close up’ story… on our present, immediate circumstances. We feel happy when we experience moments or seasons of comfort, security, pleasure, satisfaction, fun, and so on. These are all good things… but in this life, they are also all temporary. And so because feelings of happiness are closely bound up with the experiences of the moment, they can be easily lost when our circumstances suddenly change… when we come face to face with serious conflicts, challenges, or loss. 

But if happiness is the experience of the close-up moment, Joy has more to do with living in the ‘big picture’ story… the uplifting feeling that comes when we are deeply connected, not just to our current circumstances, but when we are able to take everything into account, and start to experience our place in a much wider context. If we think of it like a movie: happiness is what we feel when we’re watching a positive scene… but joy is what we feel when we can see that the whole film is heading towards a positive ending. Even if the current scene may be difficult to watch, we can still experience joy when we recognize that the story’s far from over.

This may sound fairly simple at some level, but joy can be hard to hold onto at times, especially as our lives become more complicated, and challenging.

Generally speaking, we could say that children tend to experience joy a bit more easily, in part because their world is smaller: their perspective on life doesn’t need to be as comprehensive or detailed as adults… who are easily caught up in other concerns… and juggling lots of pressing matters. The more we see about our world, and the more problems we seem to encounter… the more people tend to feel overwhelmed and disheartened by the story of our world. 

This is why some people attempt to find joy by trying to shrink their world… by ignoring or downplaying all of the negative or challenging parts of life, and pretending they have no part to play in their stories. Of course, the problem with this kind of denial is that reality always finds us sooner or later. The truth is: there are lots of moments or seasons of life that are far from happy.

And this is why joy is so important… and so needed these days. But Christian joy is not about living in denial, or trying to shrink our world… trying to mimic a childlike innocence that is largely ignorant of the big problems we all must face.

No, in fact Christian joy is actually about getting an even bigger perspective… it’s about seeing how all of our hopes and fears… all of our lives fit within the Good Story of God’s saving love… and responding to this wonderful reality with how we live everyday.

In our first Scripture reading today from Zephaniah, and in our responsive reading from the book of Isaiah, we heard two of Israel’s prophets calling for God’s people to rejoice: to respond to the great works of the Living God by lifting up their hearts in joyful praise. 

“Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! 
Rejoice and exult with all your heart, 
O daughter Jerusalem!” (Zephaniah 3:14).

“Sing the praises of the Lord, for he has done great things,
and this is known in all the world.
Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy,
for the great one in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel.” (Isaiah 12:5-6).

Now neither of these prophets could be accused of being oblivious to the real world issues of their day… they were witnesses to Israel’s deep struggles, and anticipated the world-changing issues God’s people would have to face. 

And yet, even as they warned God’s people of the great perils to come because of their unfaithfulness to the Living God, their messages also gave Israel reasons to rejoice… to remember that what they could see around them in any given moment was not all that there is to consider. To remember that the One who was with them through it all, and who would still see them through, if they would only trust in Him, was stronger than any adversary they could face, and that one day His good Kingdom would be victorious.

The prophets call us to remember what the Living God has already done… the mighty acts of His saving love, and they also point us forward to what He will do in days to come. 

Turning now to our Gospel reading for today, and the challenging words of St. John the Baptist, as he fulfills his ministry preparing the way for Jesus the Messiah.

Like the Old Testament prophets before him, John is well aware of the complexities and challenges of life in general. But here in Luke Chapter 3, we see him delves straight into the complicated realities facing the individuals around him.

And a key part of his message… his ministry, preparing the way for Jesus, was to call God’s people to repent… to change and turning around… not just in mind and heart, but also in their actions… choices… and all of daily life.

Of course, this is an important lesson for all of us today: Joy does not simply fall from the sky. It is a gift, but one that comes to us along with lives shaped by faith… as we believe the Good News of God’s saving love, and take action according to those beliefs.

In other words, joy is a byproduct of the life of faith. Real joy can’t be manufactured… it flows from our trust in the Good News, and our trust in the One the Good News calls us to follow… trust that reshapes all that we say and do as we seek to live within the story of God’s saving love in Jesus Christ.

Of course, this isn’t always easy. Sometimes the troubles we face really shake our faith, and the choices we’re called to make as Christians can at times feel overwhelming. Where do we turn when we can’t seem to see a way forward anymore, or when the Lord’s saving love feels far away? 

How can we experience joy in the midst of our struggles?

Joy is not based on, or limited by our circumstances… it is a result of our connection to the Living God. And so, as St. Paul reminds us in our second reading today from the Letter to the Philippians, when we’re struggling, and our faith is shaken, we are able to turn to God Himself to help us remember and trust in the Big Story of God’s saving love: the Good News of Jesus and all He has done for all of  us.

Philippians 4:4-7, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” 

In prayer and supplication, we are always invited to turn to the Lord with all that is a burden to us. We are invited to believe in His great compassion and infinite mercy, and to go to Him with all that is on our hearts and minds. Trusting that, no matter what we might face, and even if we must go through the valley of the shadow of death, as Psalm 23 puts it… the Lord is near. He is with us… and He will turn all of our sadness into joy.

And we can believe this because of Jesus. Because He already upended the powers of death and darkness, and sin and “who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2).

Jesus endured the cross because He knew the ending of the story of God’s saving love. And because of His resurrection from the dead, so do we!

In Him, we can have joy even now… knowing that God’s love is even stronger than the grave. That His life-giving power can turn the worst failures into truly world-changing victories. We can have joy knowing that we are invited to be a part of Christ’s story… turning darkness to light… despair to hope… and brokenness to peace. 

But as Christians, our joy is to be a Christ-shaped joy… joy that flows from being faithful to the Living God… joy that is the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit at work in us, reshaping our lives to share in Jesus’ own life… walking in His ways.

If we seek the joy that comes from being connected to the big picture of God’s saving love… the story of Jesus Christ, and the Good News of what He has done… then by God’s grace, our lives really must become a part of that story… sharing in and shaped by the life of our Saviour King.
Turning back to our Gospel reading again:

How did John invite the people he baptized to get ready for the Messiah? How were they as individuals meant to prepare to share in the story of the Christ and His coming Kingdom? What does John tell the people to do? 

Those who have more than enough should share with those who don’t. Tax collectors should not try to cheat their neighbours, and soldiers should not use their power to extort others either. Essentially, John tells the people to stop being so selfish! Stop being self-centred, and instead turn to their neighbours with compassion and self-giving love. And this is how we too are to live within the Big Story of God’s saving love: by loving those around us. By sharing God’s holy, self-giving love with the people in our lives. 

If we want to experience real joy today, to be shaped by the big story of God’s saving love freely given to our world in Jesus Christ… then we must step into this story, and choose again and again to stay in this story.

We must choose to believe, to trust in what Jesus has done for us, and why: that is, God’s saving love… and let this reality sink in, and shape the ways we relate to the Lord Himself, to those around us, and even to ourselves. 

We can rejoice always because we know that Jesus loves us, and He invites us to let Him rearrange our lives around God’s saving love.

We can rejoice, even when things are bad, because we know that we aren’t facing these challenges alone… and we can always turn to our Heavenly Father and bring all of our burdens to Him.

We can rejoice with one another, sharing in the fellowship of God’s family, united forever as sisters and brothers by God’s Holy Spirit.

So let us rejoice always, as especially as we celebrate Advent, sharing in the joy of our Saviour King, as we prepare for His return. Amen.

​Today we celebrate the third Sunday of Advent: a season of anticipation and preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ, both in His birth at Christmas, and in His future return to reign forever over a renewed creation.

Each week in Advent, we reflect on an important aspect of the Christian life as we wait faithfully for our Saviour, and serve His kingdom even now. The third Sunday of Advent, we reflect on the theme of Joy.

Scripture Readings: Malachi 3:1–4 | Luke 1:68–79 | Philippians 1:3–11 | ​Luke 3:1–6

“By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” 
(Luke 1:78-79)

Peace is a precious thing… and it always comes with a price.

In the ancient world, the price of peace for one people or tribe was usually the use of violence against another rival group. This kind of ‘peace’ was won by the sword, and would only last as long as your tribe managed to stay on top… kind of like that old game called “king of the hill”, where kids try to push their way to the top of snowbanks, and then fend off all challengers to win. 

The Roman Empire was famous for this approach to peace. The Pax Romana, the “Peace of Rome” was praised as a great gift to the nations they conquered… there was stability within the boundaries… protection for those who went along with the Empire’s interests… that is until the occasional rebellion started, or a neighbour invaded, or a civil war broke out… then the legions were summoned to crush and to crucify anyone who stood in the way.

Looking around today, in many ways our world still seems stuck in that same mindset: only envisioning peace to be possible once all who get in our way are gone… brought low underneath the feet of our side in the conflicts we face. This week saw yet another wave of violence, as Syrian rebels rapidly advance towards the capital city of Damascus, hoping to overthrow the oppressive government they have been fighting against for more than a decade. We witnessed the attempt to institute martial law… military rule in South Korea, as a means of resolving the political conflicts among those in power. 

Over and over, and all over the world, we humans keep using force and the threat of violence try and establish stability and security… thinking that the sword or the gun… or the bomb… is the only way to bring about the peace we all really need. 

But the season of Advent invites us to reflect on… and to practice another kind of peace. A peace that’s not won through violent force, but which also comes with a price. 

In our Gospel reading today, for the second week of Advent, we hear about the ministry of St. John the Baptist… the son of Zechariah the priest, and Elizabeth, and the cousin of Jesus our Lord.

John’s whole life was set apart for a particular mission: to prepare the way for God’s coming Messiah… serving as a kind of prophetic herald, calling God’s people to get ready for their King. 

At his naming ceremony, St. Luke tells us that John’s father Zechariah prophesied over his child, and the role he would play in God’s great rescue mission: Luke 1:76-79,

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; 
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 
to give knowledge of salvation to his people 
by the forgiveness of their sins. 
By the tender mercy of our God, 
the dawn from on high will break upon us, 
to give light to those who sit in darkness 
and in the shadow of death, 
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

But this high calling also came with a high price. Like most of the prophets before him, John was not your typical religious leader. He was an outsider. Literally. He lived outside… in the desert on Israel’s border region… far from the cities and centres of power… dressed as one at home in the wilds… and seen as a bit radical and extreme. 

And John’s message was not exactly a comfortable one either. He was sent to call his people to get ready for God’s Chosen One! Calling them to repent… to turn around and leave behind the ways of life that had taken them down the road of sin… and calling them to start again as God’s people. To remember God’s faithfulness and gracious deliverance in the past… and to walk in His ways again… humbling themselves, admitting their brokenness, and seeking God’s forgiveness… not in the Temple in Jerusalem… but at the Jordan River, where Israel first stepped foot in the Promised Land… symbolically starting again from the very beginning, to get ready for God’s coming Messiah.

Of course, John’s message and ministry was not well received by many of those among the leadership of Israel at that time… the priests and scribes based at the Temple, and the strict Pharisees, who saw themselves and their practices as the best way to be faithful to God. And he was not popular with those who had aligned themselves with the Roman Empires’ way of doing things either… with people like Herod Antipas, and his followers, who profited greatly from close ties with Rome.

But far from playing it safe, and trying to appease those in power, John’s ministry completely rocked the boat… he was upsetting the status quo… shaking up a complacent and compromised community by calling them to change… to do something different… to repent, restart, and get ready for real.

And many flocked to his message, upsetting and radical as it was. Why? Because they believed… they believed that John was right, and they knew that they needed peace.

Real peace, not simply the absence of discomfort, or conflict… but peace in the deepest biblical sense:    Peace that comes from completeness… from wholeness… from holiness… from having their lives realigned and in sync with the good will of the One who had created them, and loved them, and longs for them to experience the fullness of life… a peace that the world around us promises us constantly… but which it can never deliver.

John’s listeners knew that their lives were off base, broken, and incomplete. They knew that their communities were needing to be realigned and set right again. They knew there were many proud mountains that needed to be brought low… as well as many lowly valleys that needed raising. And so, they responded to John’s call to repent by being baptized… submerged in the Jordan River, seeking the forgiveness and faithful love of the Lord, and trusting in His divine mercy to bring about His peace among them. 

And as John would remind them, this peace would not be painless, or easy. But it would be well worth it! Turning our lives around and walking in God’s holy ways takes work, and will involve real struggles, and ask us to say no to ourselves again and again. But the peace we need is only possible through God’s cleansing hand at work in our lives.
 AS we heard in our first reading today from the prophet Micah (3:2-4),

“But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.”

John was calling his people to get ready for God’s coming King by seeking God’s peace… God’s own gracious cleansing, purifying, sanctifying power, to set their lives back on track so they could fully participate in His coming Kingdom.   

And this invitation is not just meant for those who stood by the Jordan River in John’s day… but for us as well… for those of us who know we need God’s peace at work in our lives.

How might John’s call to repentance apply to us as a Church community? Here at St. Luke’s? As a Diocese? As the Anglican Church, and as a part of the whole body of Christ? Are there ways we as believers have gotten off track, and are in need of cleansing and new beginnings?

Perhaps John’s message is connecting with us in a more personal way this morning. For those of us who may still be exploring the Christian story… John’s calling might offer us an opportunity to respond to the invitation to be baptized… to offer our lives in faith to Christ Jesus, God’s Son, and to receive the gift of forgiveness and new life in His name.

And for those of us who have already been baptized, but who may have walked away from God for a time, and are now sensing the deep need for our lives to be set right again, John’s calling might offer us an opportunity to formally renew our baptismal vows… to reaffirm our faith in Jesus, and our need for Christ’s peace to rule in our lives.

If you’d like to explore either of these invitations to baptism, or to reaffirm your baptism, please let me know, and I would be happy to meet with you, to pray with you, and to walk with you through this process.

But even if that’s not where you are this morning, John’s message is truly for all of us. Wherever we are in our walk with God, we are to get ready for the Messiah… remembering that God’s true and lasting peace also came with a high price. 

This peace was not won through force or violence… or through unjust compromises, or by avoiding conflicts, or through anything else that our world has to offer… but through the work of Someone even more radical and world changing than John himself was prepared for… through Jesus Christ, God’s Chosen King… the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Throughout His ministry, Jesus disrupted the status quo… not only bringing low the proud mountains… challenging those who thought they were on the right track, but had in truth abandoned God’s good ways… He also lifted up the lowly valleys… reaching out to the hurting, and the desperate… and preaching God’s peace to sinners… to people whose choices and compromises had set them apart from their neighbours, marking them as outsiders in their communities… but not beyond the bounds of God’s love. 

And Jesus practiced peace among deeply divided communities… pulling together people of all walks of life, and making them one, united to one another by their devotion and connection to Him.

Jesus Christ practiced God’s peace… even when it would require the highest cost. He refused to play the world’s game… to rally armed forces to Himself, to bring about His Kingdom by force. No, in self-giving love Christ Jesus surrendered Himself to those who would crush, curse, and crucify Him… pleading for their forgiveness, even as they called for His death… and paying for the sins of the whole world through His blood shed at the cross.

But far from ending in utter defeat, we know that the cross became the sign of God’s great victory… breaking the power of guilt and shame by cleansing us of sin… disarming the threat of death, which all tyrants depend on… and assuring us that we no longer need to be estranged from the Living God, or from our neighbours created in His image. In rising again from the grave, Jesus has shown the world that His death for our sake has paid the price once and for all for our peace… and through His Spirit at work in us, we can now put this peace into practice. 

As Christians, our peace must be a Christ-shaped peace… a peace that is willing to stand out, and shake up the status quo… not by using force to get our own way, or by compromising with injustice and evil, but by trusting that no matter what others might do, they cannot shake or take away the new life that Jesus Christ has share with us, and longs for us to share with one another as we await His return to set our whole world right again.

Christ Jesus has paid the high price for God’s true peace to break into our broken world even now, and as His people today we are to practice His peace… to live God’s way here and now, no matter what it might cost us… which we can do with hopefulness and joy because we know that it will be well worth it!

In time, St. John too would experience the high price of seeking God’s peace. His ministry would set him at odds powerful people in the world, who would eventually call for his head.

We don’t know what it might cost us to devote our lives to the way of God’s peace today. We might risk losing friendships and relationships. We might experience great disappointments or pain. We might even end up losing our lives, as many of our sisters and brothers still do around the world.

But whatever the price may be, in Jesus Christ the Risen Lord, we know that the reward is well worth it all. Our Lord has already paid the ultimate price for our peace, not just for a short season of life… but to share the blessed life and love of the Living God with us forever.

So may the peace of Christ rule in our hearts this Advent season, and beyond. May we not simply seek to stay comfortable, but to be made complete and holy in Him. May we trust that what He did for us all at the cross is powerful enough to put an end to all that keeps us cut off from God, and from our neighbours. And with the Spirit’s help, may we seek ways to practice God’s peace in our daily lives, and with those all around us. Amen. 

Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 33:14–16 | Psalm 25:1–10 | 1 Thessalonians 3:9–13 | ​Luke 21:25–36

“Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28).

Are you ready?

I don’t often remember my dreams, but occasionally I will have one that stands out. Actually, it’s more of a recurring dream: in it, I find myself writing a math test… scrambling to finish what I know should be simple and straightforward, but still feeling completely lost… and worried that everything else in my life will now be somehow in jeopardy. I feel like I’m about to lose everything all because I didn’t prepare. 

But then I wake up and realize I haven’t taken a math class in over 20 years. That I’m not about to fail… and lose everything I care about. It’s all just a dream.

But even so, I’m left with the feeling that there’s things in my life that I’ve been neglecting… that something’s not in order… that there’s something I have been avoiding, and that I really should get on top of. Maybe I’ve been too distracted by other matters…or too discouraged by the fear of big challenges ahead… and so I’ve just been putting off something pretty important… a strategy which doesn’t tend to do me much good.

And so, even though it doesn’t leave me with a very pleasant feeling… these dreams can sometimes kind of serve as a wake-up call for me to stop putting things off. Reminding me to do what I can to be ready… to prepared for what I know is ahead of me… so that I can look forward, not simply with dread, but with some anticipation.

One thing I know many people around us are anticipating these days are the holidays. As all the stores and advertisements online remind us, Christmas is right around the corner… just over three weeks away. And if you’re like me, there’s still lots to do to get ready for it. Lots of details to straighten out. Lots of plans to finalize… and of course lots to look forward to. Like this afternoon, as we gather for our annual Parish All Ages Advent celebration… as well as the many other special traditions and events that this time of year has in store.

But of course, it’s important for us to remember not to rush too far ahead this time of year. There’s lots to do before Christmas to get ourselves ready, not only in practical ways… but in spiritual ways as well. 

As we know, today is the beginning of Advent, a season of preparing for the coming of Jesus Christ the Son of God… not just in the cradle in Bethlehem… but as the Crucified and Risen Saviour King, who is coming again to set God’s world right again, once and for all.

From the start, Advent is a season of anticipation… of looking forward… of preparation. Getting ready to take part not just in Christmas… but in the Kingdom of God.

But even though the Church has been in this state of anticipation and preparation for around two thousand years, Advent reminds us that what we are preparing for is not in our control, or bound by our own expectations. It requires us to pay attention… to remain engaged… to be willing to pivot, and adapt, and to be ready to do whatever needs doing… not sitting idle, or building our own little kingdoms. We’re called to always be ready.
But be ready for what? What are we waiting for? 

I can recall times when I heard the Christian hope talked about in ways that remind me a lot of that sinking feeling I’d get from my math-test dreams: a sense of deep urgency that I know I need to be ready, and even deeper sense of unease that I’m totally helpless and lost.

Sometimes we Christians can get so fixated on our own fears, and forget the Good News we’ve been entrusted with. We can talk about the need for ‘being ready’ as a way to scare ourselves, and each other, into ‘being good’… just making sure our own hands are clean, and becoming preoccupied with our own eternal security.

Now, you’re not going to hear me start advocating for getting your hands dirty… or to ignore the importance of having a clean conscience before God, or trying to live a life of true holiness. Quite the opposite. But I know that this kind of fear-focused approach to faith leads us only to spiritual self-centredness… and ends up encouraging us to start placing our hope in our own ability to ‘be good’. 

But as Christians, our hope always requires our active preparation, but our hope is never placed in our own preparations. Our hope is in the One we are preparing for! Our hope is in Jesus Christ, our Saviour King.

And our Scripture readings today call us to be ready… to be looking forward to Jesus’ return in ways that help us remain engaged in His Good Kingdom here and now.

In our first reading this morning from the book of the Prophet Jeremiah, we are reminded that despite how dark our circumstances may get, we really can place our hope in the Living God. 

Our reading takes place at a time when things weren’t looking all that great for God’s faithful prophet. Jeremiah was stuck in prison, unjustly persecuted for speaking out against Jerusalem’s unfaithful kings, priests, and leadership, and for prophesying that Babylon, who already had won a great victory against Jerusalem, and sent many into Exile, would indeed come back and utterly overthrow Judah, as the LORD God had commanded him to. 

And while other prophets were preaching peace, and Judah’s smooth recover and return to greatness, God had again assured Jeremiah that the Exile would not be ending anytime soon, but would in fact get worse. God’s people had turned their backs on the LORD and His ways, and so they would have to face the dark consequences of breaking faith with the Almighty One. 

Looking around him, and his bleak prospects, Jeremiah might have been tempted to give in… to give up taking his stand, and just try to get on with what was left of his life. When we face dark times, we too have to deal with these kinds of temptations. We can get discouraged by how things in our own lives and our world turn out in ways we had not anticipated. And we can be tempted to get too invested in things that don’t really matter… or get distracted by our own concerns, and forget about the gift of hope we have received. 

And God knows that about us. God knows we need something to hold onto. Something firm to stand on when our world is shaken. Something trustworthy and true to stay focused on when our troubles and cares demand all our attention.

And so God gives us what we need in times like these: He gives us His Word. He reminds us of His steadfast love… His complete faithfulness… and His promise to do what is right… and He calls us to trust Him. To put our faith and our hopes in Him to redeem and rescue us. 
 
And so, in that dark time, God also assures Jeremiah that this darkness will not be the end for God’s people. The LORD Himself will not abandon His promises: though in the days to come, it may seem to all like Jerusalem’s royal line and priesthood would fail, God would raise up His people again. Beyond all hope, He would raise them up.

Jeremiah 33:10-11, “Thus says the Lord: In this place of which you say, ‘It is a waste without human beings or animals,’ in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without inhabitants, human or animal, there shall once more be heard the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord: 
“Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, 
for the Lord is good, 
for his steadfast love endures forever!” 
For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.”

And then as we heard this morning in Jeremiah 33:14-16, “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: 'The Lord is our righteousness.'”
 
The Lord is our righteousness.

At the right time, the Living God would raise up a righteous descendant of King David… One who would set things right once and for all, and bring God’s salvation to His people. 

Now Jeremiah Himself would not live to see these words fulfilled. But he would hold onto this hope in his darkest moments, and pass it on to others who trusted in it too. And one day, God did raise up One from David’s line who did bring God’s promised salvation to the world.  

Turning now to our reading from the Gospel of Luke, and the word of Jesus Christ our Lord, warning His disciples, back then and today, about the dark times that lay ahead of them.

As His own time of suffering drew close, Jesus saw serious challenges ahead for His disciples. He knew they would face lots of discouragement and reasons to doubt… And He warned them against becoming distracted from their mission by alarming events in the world… or tripped up by the many pressures and preoccupations of everyday life.

And so, Jesus calls them, and those of us who belong to Him today, to be ready… to not give in to the distractions, or to despair when things got dark… but instead, when everything seems to be falling apart, He says to us: “stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28). 

And Jesus did not just talk about this kind of hope. He lived it. He embodied it. He was fully prepared to face death for us… placing His hope in His Heavenly Father’s steadfast love, which is even stronger than death. 

Jesus faithfully endured the horrors of the cross for us all, laying down His sinless life to rescue us and our world from the powers of darkness, and to bring us the gift of His freedom and forgiveness, made possible through His blood shed for us. And His hope did not disappoint!

Christian hope is Christ-shaped hope: hope, not that we will somehow manage to avoid suffering and evil in this life, but that the life-giving love of God is able to save us from its power, and to raise us up with Jesus to share in God’s holy love forever.

And in our second reading this morning, St. Paul shows us what that kind of hope looks like in practice… what it means to get ready and be ready for the coming of our Saviour.

1 Thessalonians 11:13, “Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.”

Our hope in Christ our Saviour is expressed… is practiced through sharing in His holy love together. Through Christians gathering for fellowship, and learning together, and worshipping together… Not as a distraction from, or as a denial of, the many difficulties around us, and indeed ahead of us… but as a way of sharing in the life of God’s Good Kingdom even now, through God’s Spirit at work in us… and of encouraging one another to stand firm in the Good News we have been entrusted with: the Good News that, no matter how dark the night might get, the glorious day of the Lord will dawn, and our Redeemer, Jesus, the Saviour King, will return to set this world right.

Being ready for Christ’s return is not a call to panic and obsess over the state of ourselves… but to actively put away all that might keep us from sharing God’s holy love with one another, and with those all around us. There is no cosmic pop quiz waiting for us, but there are His commands already made known: to love God, to love one another, and to let God’s holy love have its way in us today.

So today, as we enter into the season of Advent together: may we place our hope in the steadfast love of the Living God for our messed up world, and in Christ’s promise to return to set it right again once and for all. 

May this hope help us to keep our heads held high… not trying to deny the darkness around us, but empowering us to stand firm against it… focused on remaining faithful to our Saviour, and walking in His ways until He returns.

And may this hope help us to get ready, and stay ready for eternity… to do what we can to strengthen and encourage one another… in worship, fellowship, and mutual support. And through God’s Holy Spirit, may this hope help us to put God’s holy love into practice here and now… committed to keeping alive the light of the Gospel in our dark and despairing world… so that those all around us may also come to know the Good News of Jesus our Saviour King. Amen.

Today we celebrate the first Sunday of Advent: a season of anticipation and preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ, both in His birth at Christmas, and in His future return to reign forever over a renewed creation.

Each week in Advent, we reflect on an important aspect of the Christian life as we wait faithfully for our Saviour, and serve His kingdom even now. The first Sunday of Advent, we reflect on the theme of Hope.


Our service of Morning Prayer, Bulletin, and Sermon can be found here: