Preacher: Canon Graham
Date: 29/11/2020
Advent
Give us grace to put on the armour of light… this is the season for Active Anticipation and Renewed Hope
These last few days I have been getting really excited. I love driving around and seeing how many ‘new’ sets of Christmas lights are going up all over the town. Walking home from the church yesterday afternoon, the town had a sense of purpose as I turned into Cricklade Street and enjoyed the sounds of excited children with their parents looking at the Christmas lights.
These last few weeks, the lovely thing about having the church open for personal prayer is that people are drifting in to simply sit in the quietness, and take a moment for themselves.
The writings of the prophet in today’s reading, reminds us that we are indeed likened to Clay in the hands of the master modeller.
The changes and chances of this fleeting world perhaps brought about by the challenges that Covid places upon all of us; accentuates our vulnerability, and perhaps highlights just how far we ourselves have wandered from the path.
Perhaps we can feel the tears glistening on our cheeks as we ponder the state of the world around us…? We live in a time of broken heartedness, we live in a time when most people know that we need to do things differently. We attempt to stem our hurt and pain by trying to cover things up by running away from the truth whatever we perceive truth to be, and concern ourselves with material things… we know deep down these material things will not satisfy in the long term, they are but just a mere distraction.
It is now, during Advent that God’s people summon the courage and the spiritual strength to remember that the holy, breaks into the daily.
In tiny ways we can if we choose, open our broken hearts to the healing of God’s grace.
Advent is the season for active anticipation and renewed hope. We do not lose heart, we live with our hearts broken open so that compassion, caring, and God’s reckless love can find a way into our hearts and the heart of the world. Make straight in our hearts the highway for the possibilities of love and peace.
It is this spirit of discernment that gives us the where-with-all to make a difference… that is if we choose to.
The choice is ours we are called upon to be faithful and open to the revelation of Jesus Christ in and through our lives. Excitement and Jubilation… we need to Stop wallowing in our moanings… and see beyond the present moment.
Paul reminds the people of Corinth of the height depth and breadth of the deep well of God’s love for his people….
This is not about guilt, not from Paul at any rate, it is more about revisiting our roots and being thankful. This Scripture set before us is a reminder of the eschatological hope… a reminder that we are living between Advents…. a stark reminder that God will show up in the most unlikely of places… when we least expect him to do so…
Living in these end times as we do, the signs will become clear. Indeed perhaps they have started to become clearer, our stewardship of relationship and resources does not exactly cover us in glory!
Most of us, do not need to be reminded to keep awake… on the contrary we are often found to be busying ourselves with so much, that we fail to notice that we are often so over scheduled, our diaries simply brimming with busyness.
We need to take seriously this opportunity to stop and ponder our lot, and take stock spiritually about where we are. Advent provides this opportunity.
The world’s busyness and that of our own at this time of the year, is so often pointed towards Christmas, and not the coming of the Christ Child.
We can often miss the most obvious things when we get caught up with the moment. In our wakefulness to worldly ways, we fall asleep. The picture of the fig tree reminds us that in the tenderness of the young shoots that produce the fruit, if neglected they wither and potentially, the whole plant will die…This is perhaps, the wakeup call that we need in terms of tending to our spiritual lives.
Today’s Gospel reminds us to be awake to God in the world. Advent is the time for us to wake up and stop taking things for granted. The first lockdown really shocked us, and those values of humility, genuine concern for our neighbour and the wellbeing of ourselves and the world around really figured highly in the minds of most people.
Then the relaxation through the summer, the selfishness that sweeps in to fill the vacuum, the mass gatherings on Bournemouth Beach, the selfish individuals holding the ‘Rave’ at Yate, just a few examples of how easy it is to slip into old habits… ignoring our spiritual needs which are often greater than our material needs.
We kid ourselves that a lavish Christmas is the fix all… nonsense it merely serves to suffocate the life out of us and swamp the baby in the manger.
For ourselves and the sake of humanity, we need to be Watchful at all times. Watchful in the sense that we really need to hold onto the things that matter, and our spirituality is the most important.
If we ourselves are not prepared and alert to the moment, how can we get excited and gather others around us to share this spiritual journey and the joy that will flow?
Be awake, be alert, and be watchful at all times.
Advent is a call to remind us about Gods generous love.
Advent is about a time of re-wakening to the possibilities in relationship…
Relationship with the world around us, and of course our relationship with God.