{"id":3547,"date":"2019-12-15T11:20:37","date_gmt":"2019-12-15T11:20:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/?page_id=3547"},"modified":"2019-12-15T11:20:37","modified_gmt":"2019-12-15T11:20:37","slug":"sermon-15th-december-2019","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/information\/sermons\/sermon-15th-december-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon – 15th December 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sermons index<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third Sunday of Advent \u2013 morning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Sunday 15th December 2019 <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Advent 3 \u2013 morning
\nJames 5. 7-10
\nMatthew 11. 2-11<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"Maureen<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Today\nis Gaudete or rejoicing Sunday \u2013 that is why we light the Pink\ncandle on our Advent Ring today…. nothing to do with Mary, who we\nremember especially next<\/em>\nSunday. Today\u2019s readings tell of the transformation and new life\nthat God brings and that we are all looking forward to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\nwe all recover from the events of this week \u2013 whether we are filled\nwith delight and expectation at an outstanding victory \u2013 or filled\nwith despair and foreboding at what may be to come \u2013 or maybe a\nmixture of the two? Whatever our personal feelings, we could all do\nwith a bit of Joy in our lives and some hopeful anticipation of the\nfuture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nfriend of mine was once searching for the perfect birthday card for\nher husband. She came across a promising one. On the outside it read,\n\u201cSweetheart, you\u2019re the answer to my prayers.\u201d Then she turned\nto the inside, which was inscribed like this;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re\nnot what I prayed for exactly, – but apparently you\u2019re the answer.\u201d\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nam sure many of us would recognise that sentiment. Something or\nsomeone comes along and proves to be literally a Godsend \u2013 but they\nmay be very different from that which we would have chosen for\nourselves, given the power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, for thousands of\nyears, the Jewish people had been praying for a Messiah, a deliverer\nwho would conquer their enemies and establish a kingdom of\nrighteousness and might. They knew just what he would be like;\npowerful \u2013 a warrior and a king; someone who would bring them an\nage of prosperity and peace. Then along comes Jesus, a poor carpenter\nwith a curious taste in friends. And suddenly some are saying he is\nthe Messiah \u2013 but one who has come to set up a very different kind\nof kingdom. We can forgive even his close friends and family for\nasking, \u201cYou are the answer to our prayers? Really?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John\nthe Baptist had also been praying for and preparing for the Messiah\nhis whole life. John\u2019s idea of the Messiah was someone who would\nnot only preach fire and brimstone, but would baptise with fire too!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nas John sits in prison \u2013 probably knowing that his chances of\ngetting out alive are slim, he hears rumours of the way Jesus is\ntalking and behaving. Far from preaching fire and brimstone, Jesus is\nspeaking of God\u2019s compassion and doing acts of mercy. No wonder\nthat John seems confused, despite his acceptance of Jesus as the\nMessiah when he baptized him. So he sent some of his followers to ask\nJesus if he was indeed the one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now,\nif we are honest, I would guess that most of us have a hard job\nseeing Jesus at work in other people. We tend to have our own fixed\nideas. And so we judge some people worthy of our time, our money and\nrespect \u2013 while others are worthy of hellfire and damnation. It is\nnot easy to see Jesus in our enemy:\u2013 in our political opponent?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One\nday a small child was playing with some paper dolls. They were a bit\nspecial, because they were all Bible characters. Suddenly the child\nrealised that one figure was missing. Jesus was lost. She went to her\nmother, and together they searched the house, but with no luck. Later\nthat day, the little girl came to her mother triumphantly waving a\npicture in a magazine. She had found an image there that she\nidentified with the Jesus of her paper dolls. Her mother gasped as\nshe realise that the image her daughter had found was of a tall,\nbearded, homeless man, dressed in rags. Because of his long hair and\nbeard, he did resemble the paper-doll Jesus. Out of the mouths\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nwhat if today, that little girl had come running with a picture of\nanother bearded man? What if she had found a picture of Jeremy Corbyn\n(even the initials are the same!), and brought it to her mother,\nhappy that she had found Jesus? That scenario is a bit mind-boggling\nand throws up some of Jesus\u2019 own sayings \u2013 especially \u201cLove\nyour enemies and pray for those who persecute you.\u201d(Matt. 5)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nJohn\u2019s question was brought to Jesus, he might easily have said,\n\u201cYes \u2013 I am the one\u201d. Even \u201cI am the special one\u201d like\ncertain Football Managers who shall remain nameless!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nhe doesn\u2019t. Neither does he evade the question. As he often does,\nwhen confronted with a question, Jesus turns the question back on the\nquestioner knowing that an answer \u2013 if it is to count, must always\ncome from inside the questioner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\npossibility of salvation for Israel \u2013 and Palestine \u2013 and for\nourselves today in this land, seems remote, because we look for the\nwrong kind of salvation. Perhaps we all want a child\u2019s kind of\nSaviour \u2013 a parent-figure who will make things \u2018all better\u2019,\nwithout much effort on our part. Or perhaps we want a powerful,\nimpressive more omnipotent kind of Saviour \u2013 like those Jews who\nwanted to throw out the Roman occupation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nreally \u2013 to hear our answer \u2013 we need to let the world\u2019s ills\nbe thrown back to us \u2013 just as Jesus threw the answer back to John.\nLook and see what a difference it can make in our own life to try the\nslow and patient way of change \u2013 little by little \u2013 taking\npersonal responsibility and living out the Saviour\u2019s way of life.\nThis is slower and may be frustrating at times. It requires the\npatience our first reading today speaks of. The patience of the\nfarmer who waits for the crop to grow. Now you may tell me, those of\nyou who farm that your patience is being sorely tried \u2013 especially\nafter this last year, with conditions first of drought and now of\nwaterlogged fields \u2013 but when you are waiting for a crop, you can\u2019t\njust haul up the plants to check how the roots are doing. The slow\nway requires that same patience from each of us. But James also tells\nus what we must do while we are waiting \u2013 strengthen our hearts and\nfaith and not grumble against one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus\nanswered John the way God answers us \u2013 not as John expected. So it\nis with our prayers and expectations and hopes for the future\u2026 \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like\nso many children with their Christmas present lists, we bring our own\npersonal agendas to Jesus and he gives us back the Sermon on the\nMount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus\nanswered John with a quote from the prophet Isaiah. It isn\u2019t a\nstraight yes or no. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nmight have pointed to many Biblical prophecies. He might have\nperformed some dazzling miracle, but instead Jesus sends the message\n\u2013 \u201cGo and tell John the things which you hear and see: the blind\nsee, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised up\nand the poor have the gospel preached to them\u201d. Miracles yes, but\nall involving restoration and compassion \u2013 not a flashy\ndemonstration of power. We are reminded that the Christ, the Messiah,\ncomes for the hurting, the helpless and the overlooked among society.\nOur celebration of all the good things at Christmas can so easily\nseparate us from the true character of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps,\nas John the Baptist sat in his prison cell, stripped of all the\nthings that seem necessary for life, perhaps he discovered the one\nmost important thing: hope. John glimpsed the hope that the Messiah\nhad come to set up an eternal kingdom, a kingdom of justice and\nmercy, compassion and healing. A kingdom that was for all people.\nTruly the many and not just the few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No,\nit wasn\u2019t exactly what the people were praying for. It was so much\nmore than that. During this Christmas season, may we all discover the\nsame hope, and go forwards with healing in our hearts. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Third Sunday of Advent \u2013 morning Sunday 15th December 2019 Advent 3 \u2013 morning James 5. 7-10 Matthew 11. 2-11 Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs Today is Gaudete or rejoicing Sunday \u2013 that is why we light the Pink candle on our Advent Ring today…. nothing to do with Mary, who we remember especially next Sunday. … <\/p>\n

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