2nd Sunday in Advent - Preparation in this year’s wilderness
Service Sheet (pdf)
Call to worship
Advent is a time of preparation and already well underway. In the busyness it is easy for us to forget to prepare for Christ’s arrival. The impact of his coming on our lives can only be as much as we have prepared for.Reader 1: So much to be done – the list is getting longer, time is getting shorter.
Reader 2: But all of it can wait. Make straight his paths, the Lord is coming.
Reader 1: I’ve had to buy all my presents online this year; and they still need wrapping. And with the constantly changing Coronavirus restrictions, I don’t know when I’ll get chance to deliver them!
Reader 2: But all of it can wait. Make straight his paths, the Lord is coming.
Reader 1: We must get things done, we need to be ready! Oh yes, our preparations must begin for the King.
Reader 2: That cannot wait. Make straight his paths, the Lord is coming.
Reader 1: Get ready.
Reader 2: Prepare your hearts. Make straight his paths -
Readers 1 & 2 together: The Lord is coming!
Song
Let’s sing his praises! Let’s indeed sing the praises of Jesus our King with our first hymn. Hymn HP 246 – There’s a light upon the mountains. You might like to sing or reflect on the words of this hymn.
Talk
So, welcome to this service on the second Sunday of Advent. A day when we consider the message of John the Baptist and think about how we can prepare ourselves properly for the arrival of Jesus.For those that don’t know me, I’m John Darnbrook – a Local Preacher at Baildon Methodist Church. Thank you to my wife Caroline for her part in the Call to Worship; and we’ll be hearing later in the service from our son Sam, and from Daniel Barrett who I am mentoring on his journey to becoming a Local Preacher himself.
So, preparation. So much still to be done before we are ready for Christmas. Who’s bought and wrapped all their presents already and sent them off to Santa? Who’s written all their cards? Who’s already given their house a really good clean? Who’s either bought or ordered all their food? So much still to be done! But there is still time, because it’s not Christmas yet. This, is Advent.
And we should spend time in Advent making sure our hearts are ready not just our homes, ready to receive Jesus. Because Jesus is not just a baby in a manger at Bethlehem. He lived and died and rose again to prove to us that he is our Lord and Saviour. For he himself said that he is the Bread of Life; the Light of the World; the Good Shepherd, and the way to eternal life. He wants to be all this to me ..... and guess what? He wants to be all this to you, to all of us. And he will be, if only we are ready and prepared, not just to give and receive presents at Christmas, but also, and most importantly, to receive Jesus himself afresh into our hearts and lives. That’s the most important thing for us to prepare for this Advent!
Prayers
Let’s think about that as we say our prayers.Let us pray. Gracious God who comes to us, that we might come to you, we proclaim your glory as the prophets did before us. We let go of that which would hold us back. We straighten our paths and clear the way. So that for a moment, at this time, we might meet you and glimpse something of your majesty, and encounter the one who came so that eternity might be changed. And we dare to ask that as we prepare our hearts for you today and in the coming weeks, we might become better people, having felt your touch upon our lives.
Lord, we remember that you have been favourable to us, but often we have been less than grateful. Yet you forgive and remember our failings no more, but we are quick to judge other people and slow to forget our grievances. You have spoken to us of peace, but we have pursued division. It’s so easy in these days of widespread use of social media, for us to judge and openly criticise other people, when we don’t understand their situation and the stresses and pressures they are dealing with. You have given what is good and been generous to us, but we have been selfish when other people have needed our help. You ask to be part of all aspects of our lives, but we are slow to make you room. So, gracious God, help us to make straight the paths and prepare the way, so that we are ready to receive you into our hearts this Advent.
We thank you Lord God for all that is good in our lives: for our friends and our families; and for your love and your forgiveness. For we bring our prayers to you in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer.
Readings
Old Testament – Isaiah 40: 1-11
Comfort, O comfort my people, speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice cries out in the wilderness,”Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low. The uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and the people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”A voice says “Cry out” And I say “What shall I cry?” “All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand for ever.”
Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings. Lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem herald of good tidings. Lift it up, do not fear. Says the city of Judah, “Here is your God! See, the Lord God comes with might and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms and carry them in his bosom and gently lead the Mother Sheep.”
Gospel – Matthew 3: 1-6, and 11
At that time, John the Baptist came to the desert of Judea and started preaching. “Turn away from your sins,” he said, “because the kingdom of heaven is near!” John was the man the prophet Isaiah was talking about when he said, “Someone is shouting in the desert, ‘Prepare a road for the Lord; make a straight path for him to travel.’”John’s clothes were made of camel hair; he wore a leather belt round his waist and his food was locusts and wild honey. People came to him from Jerusalem, from the whole region of Judea and from all the country near the River Jordan. They confessed their sins and he baptised them in the Jordan. He said to them, “I baptise you with water to show that you are sorry for your sins, but the one who will come after me will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. He is much greater than I am; I am not good enough even to carry his sandals.”
Song
Hymn HP 84 – On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry. You might like to sing or reflect on the words of this hymn.
Sermon
So here we are, on the first Sunday in December, coming to the end of this strangest of years. We’ll never forget 2020 will we?! Normally at this time of year, the season of Advent would be gathering pace, restaurants would be serving endless repetitions of Christmas meals, the round of office parties would be in full swing and Christmas decorations would have appeared in streets and houses. When I put this service together, we were still in Lockdown 2, and by the time we share in this act of worship, we should hopefully be out of lockdown and back into the appropriate tier of coronavirus restrictions. And who knows how that will enable us to get everything done for – whatever Christmas may be like this year!So much is, necessarily, different this Advent. Yet one thing is the same. Christians are called at this time simply to “prepare”. But how, and what for? Perhaps if we make our preparation active, it will assume a greater significance. The sparseness of John the Baptist’s message recounted by Matthew in our Gospel reading may seem to be in direct contrast to the usual busyness and extravagance of the build up to Christmas. But maybe this year, his message might speak very clearly to us. For John was active with his message. As Sam read for us earlier, John came from the desert to help people prepare for the Messiah. His words echo those of the prophet in Isaiah chapter 40 as read for us today by Daniel, which are tender, yet full of activity.
So let us consider what we need to do to be ready, and how we might help others to prepare also. I’ve given this service the theme of, “Preparation in this year’s wilderness”, and I’d like us to consider:
- What are we preparing for?
- What is our wilderness from which we are looking to escape?
- What should we do now?
So firstly, what are we preparing for? For this, let’s look again at our Gospel reading. Matthew gives an account of John the Baptist in the desert repeating the words of the prophet Isaiah to “get ready” for the one God is sending. The reader of the gospel is given a sharp challenge with the words, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths”. As we heard right at the beginning of our service, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord”. In order to prepare the people for Jesus’ arrival, this moment in history, this monumental event in Israel, indeed to prepare for a new Israel, John began a movement of national repentance with a ritual of mass baptism in which people confessed their sins in anticipation of receiving God’s forgiveness. But whilst John baptised with water, the one whom John spoke about would come after him and baptise people with the Holy Spirit. So the great story begins with an urgent call to preparation.
One thing we do at this time of year is buy presents for our loved ones. Yet one of the most special presents I’ve ever received from Caroline was not at Christmas but on our wedding day. Knowing I love the music of the rock group Queen, Caroline bought me a gold disc of their lead singer Freddie Mercury’s song, “I was born to love you” – awww - how very appropriate and how romantic! I used to have that song as the ringtone on my mobile phone when Caroline rang me. Then I changed my phone, and my ring tone is now ... [“Soul Limbo” – the theme tune for cricket on the BBC!] ... those who know me well won’t be surprised!!
Are any of you like me and use your mobile phone as an alarm clock and a diary? Not only to wake me up on a morning, but also to remind me to do certain things at certain times, which, without my phone, I’m more than likely to forget! And then I would be unprepared for the things I need to do. But we don’t need a mobile phone to enable us to be prepared for Jesus. We hear the message from John the Baptist and we should act upon it with the same urgency that John urged the people of his time. For he didn’t say, “Listen – Christ is coming” but “Prepare – Christ is coming” So we should prepare actively now, not later, or not at all.
So our first point – what are we preparing for? Just as John urged the people of his day to repent of their sins, receive God’s forgiveness and prepare themselves for Jesus, so we should do exactly the same, at this time of Advent. For we are preparing our hearts to receive Jesus afresh, and also preparing our lives for his scrutiny when he returns in glory. For when Jesus returns to earth to bring about the fullness of God’s Kingdom, we want him to find us active in his service, living our lives the way he wants us to, which means treating other people fairly, and with love, generosity and forgiveness. There’s a challenge for us!
So Advent is a time for putting our hectic lives within the context of Christ’s timelessness; for setting the insecurities of the future within the knowledge that he is already there, waiting to greet us; for placing the weirdness of the year 2020 within the story of Jesus’ ultimate victory over all illness, all disease and even victory over death itself! And by doing this, we can be uplifted by knowing that Advent is the season to be fully aware that Jesus is present today, and that the Lord of eternity can meet us in the here and now. WOW!
And our second point - what is our wilderness from which we are looking to escape? We heard Isaiah cry out, “Prepare in the wilderness a road for the Lord”. But rather than a geographical desert, what kind of wilderness might we find ourselves in?
If by chance you feel like that, then bless you for choosing to share in this service and hear this message. For I understand how difficult it can be to do what we used to enjoy doing – worship together and hear the Word of God – in a new and different way.
Right now you might be thinking, “How long will John be going on? I could do with switching off and getting my lunch!” If that’s the case, and you’re still here . . . and you’re still here when this service ends in a few minutes time, bless you for sticking with it!
For whilst sometimes during worship we might find ourselves clock watching, occasionally we may get to the end of worship saying to ourselves, “That was brilliant – I could have listened to that preacher for ages.” Maybe on those occasions, it’s not so much the brilliance of the preacher, but the openness of our hearts to hear the message God has for us. When we approach worship – and this season of Advent – in that way, God will speak to us.
Each person’s experience of how they have spent their time in lockdown will be individual to them; but we’d all benefit from taking a look at how we spend our time, and see whether it is well spent or wasted, and whether we can make more time for Jesus, at this time during Advent and in the rest of our lives. Our wilderness will be individual to each of us, especially this year – but we need to recognise it in order to do something about escaping from it and moving closer to the oasis of Jesus’ love for us.
And so to my third and final point, if Advent is a time of preparation, what should we do now? There is nothing wrong with the traditions of Christmas – having a beautifully decorated tree, presents and – in normal times – family gatherings. For after all, if we don’t actively celebrate Christ’s birth, who will? But we should never lose sight of the real meaning of Christmas, and – as I’ve said, and it’s worth repeating – we should make use of this time of Advent to ensure that our hearts are ready to receive Jesus; and that, if he was to return tomorrow, we would be happy for him to find us living the way we are.
Christmas is coming. Hark the glad sound of whispered enquiries, of rustling paper. The mounting tension of excited children; the desperate search for somewhere to hide what we have bought for our loved ones; the strict instructions – you must NOT look in the “empty” suitcase, in the drawer under the bed, behind the wardrobe, at the back of the garage, in the loft or at your mother’s house! Caroline and I have been married and lived together for 14 years now and I’m running out of places to hide things! How frenzied our work, our hurried preparation, swept on by the sense of growing momentum – or last minute desperation! Was Robert Louis Stevenson right? Better to travel hopefully than to arrive? Is the pleasure all here in anticipation, in imagination, in our expectation of how good it will be?
Advent is all about waiting. Waiting to celebrate once again the birth of Jesus; but waiting also for his coming in glory. But what do we do while we wait for this? As we’ve considered throughout this service, Advent is really about preparing. Not just buying and wrapping all those presents, or ordering and preparing all that food; but clearing our minds, opening our hearts, in readiness for something deeper than whatever social fun and family reunion we are allowed this year. All may travel hopefully, but only those who go in their heart as far as Bethlehem shall find arrival better than the journey. If, while we wait for Christmas to come, we open our hearts afresh to God’s love, then we will be overwhelmed by what we receive. Advent then is a time for preparation, a season for getting ready. A time to face up to things we could have done better, confess our sins and recognise that at times we have fallen short of what Jesus expects of us. It’s a season for preparation, for readiness, for fresh commitment. A time for renewing our relationship with Jesus and for re-ordering our priorities, so that when he returns in glory, he will find us ready and active in his service!
And so in conclusion, we hear today the prophet Isaiah and the herald John the Baptist each calling us to make a straight path for the Lord. After all, a straight path is the most direct route between two places – something the Roman road builders knew very well. And by opening our hearts afresh to Jesus this Advent, we are taking the most direct route to all that he offers us, which we discover the fullness of throughout the rest of the Christian year and the rest of our lives. But the journey starts here and now, at Advent. Preparation in this year’s wilderness will mean something different for each of us, but preparing ourselves afresh for Jesus is something we all need to do, if Advent, Christmas and the whole of our lives are to reach their true potential.
How will you choose to prepare this Advent? Amen.
One thing we do at this time of year is buy presents for our loved ones. Yet one of the most special presents I’ve ever received from Caroline was not at Christmas but on our wedding day. Knowing I love the music of the rock group Queen, Caroline bought me a gold disc of their lead singer Freddie Mercury’s song, “I was born to love you” – awww - how very appropriate and how romantic! I used to have that song as the ringtone on my mobile phone when Caroline rang me. Then I changed my phone, and my ring tone is now ... [“Soul Limbo” – the theme tune for cricket on the BBC!] ... those who know me well won’t be surprised!!
Are any of you like me and use your mobile phone as an alarm clock and a diary? Not only to wake me up on a morning, but also to remind me to do certain things at certain times, which, without my phone, I’m more than likely to forget! And then I would be unprepared for the things I need to do. But we don’t need a mobile phone to enable us to be prepared for Jesus. We hear the message from John the Baptist and we should act upon it with the same urgency that John urged the people of his time. For he didn’t say, “Listen – Christ is coming” but “Prepare – Christ is coming” So we should prepare actively now, not later, or not at all.
So our first point – what are we preparing for? Just as John urged the people of his day to repent of their sins, receive God’s forgiveness and prepare themselves for Jesus, so we should do exactly the same, at this time of Advent. For we are preparing our hearts to receive Jesus afresh, and also preparing our lives for his scrutiny when he returns in glory. For when Jesus returns to earth to bring about the fullness of God’s Kingdom, we want him to find us active in his service, living our lives the way he wants us to, which means treating other people fairly, and with love, generosity and forgiveness. There’s a challenge for us!
So Advent is a time for putting our hectic lives within the context of Christ’s timelessness; for setting the insecurities of the future within the knowledge that he is already there, waiting to greet us; for placing the weirdness of the year 2020 within the story of Jesus’ ultimate victory over all illness, all disease and even victory over death itself! And by doing this, we can be uplifted by knowing that Advent is the season to be fully aware that Jesus is present today, and that the Lord of eternity can meet us in the here and now. WOW!
And our second point - what is our wilderness from which we are looking to escape? We heard Isaiah cry out, “Prepare in the wilderness a road for the Lord”. But rather than a geographical desert, what kind of wilderness might we find ourselves in?
- It could be the wilderness of apathy – where we are trying to persevere with our faith amongst people for whom faith is meaningless; who think Christ has no relevance for them or for the world in today’s society. Especially this year, it’s easy to find ourselves surrounded by such people, at school, at work, in our circle of friends – online and in the real, physical world. In which case, we need to be strong in our faith and treat these people with true Christian love, so that by our actions as we live out our faith in our daily lives, they will see just how relevant and how important Jesus is. In the ever changing weirdness of 2020, this year has given us a fantastic opportunity to show people that Jesus is the one constant who helps us get through these unfamiliar times. If we remain strong in our faith in Jesus, maybe, other people too will come to him and receive him this Advent.
- For some people, their wilderness could be that of being too busy. One way in which we can effectively prepare ourselves for Jesus is to actively get rid of the clutter in our lives that might be preventing us from having a full and meaningful encounter with Christ. But for some of us this year, our wilderness could be the feeling of “what if I’m never busy ever again?”
If by chance you feel like that, then bless you for choosing to share in this service and hear this message. For I understand how difficult it can be to do what we used to enjoy doing – worship together and hear the Word of God – in a new and different way.
Right now you might be thinking, “How long will John be going on? I could do with switching off and getting my lunch!” If that’s the case, and you’re still here . . . and you’re still here when this service ends in a few minutes time, bless you for sticking with it!
For whilst sometimes during worship we might find ourselves clock watching, occasionally we may get to the end of worship saying to ourselves, “That was brilliant – I could have listened to that preacher for ages.” Maybe on those occasions, it’s not so much the brilliance of the preacher, but the openness of our hearts to hear the message God has for us. When we approach worship – and this season of Advent – in that way, God will speak to us.
Each person’s experience of how they have spent their time in lockdown will be individual to them; but we’d all benefit from taking a look at how we spend our time, and see whether it is well spent or wasted, and whether we can make more time for Jesus, at this time during Advent and in the rest of our lives. Our wilderness will be individual to each of us, especially this year – but we need to recognise it in order to do something about escaping from it and moving closer to the oasis of Jesus’ love for us.
And so to my third and final point, if Advent is a time of preparation, what should we do now? There is nothing wrong with the traditions of Christmas – having a beautifully decorated tree, presents and – in normal times – family gatherings. For after all, if we don’t actively celebrate Christ’s birth, who will? But we should never lose sight of the real meaning of Christmas, and – as I’ve said, and it’s worth repeating – we should make use of this time of Advent to ensure that our hearts are ready to receive Jesus; and that, if he was to return tomorrow, we would be happy for him to find us living the way we are.
Christmas is coming. Hark the glad sound of whispered enquiries, of rustling paper. The mounting tension of excited children; the desperate search for somewhere to hide what we have bought for our loved ones; the strict instructions – you must NOT look in the “empty” suitcase, in the drawer under the bed, behind the wardrobe, at the back of the garage, in the loft or at your mother’s house! Caroline and I have been married and lived together for 14 years now and I’m running out of places to hide things! How frenzied our work, our hurried preparation, swept on by the sense of growing momentum – or last minute desperation! Was Robert Louis Stevenson right? Better to travel hopefully than to arrive? Is the pleasure all here in anticipation, in imagination, in our expectation of how good it will be?
Advent is all about waiting. Waiting to celebrate once again the birth of Jesus; but waiting also for his coming in glory. But what do we do while we wait for this? As we’ve considered throughout this service, Advent is really about preparing. Not just buying and wrapping all those presents, or ordering and preparing all that food; but clearing our minds, opening our hearts, in readiness for something deeper than whatever social fun and family reunion we are allowed this year. All may travel hopefully, but only those who go in their heart as far as Bethlehem shall find arrival better than the journey. If, while we wait for Christmas to come, we open our hearts afresh to God’s love, then we will be overwhelmed by what we receive. Advent then is a time for preparation, a season for getting ready. A time to face up to things we could have done better, confess our sins and recognise that at times we have fallen short of what Jesus expects of us. It’s a season for preparation, for readiness, for fresh commitment. A time for renewing our relationship with Jesus and for re-ordering our priorities, so that when he returns in glory, he will find us ready and active in his service!
And so in conclusion, we hear today the prophet Isaiah and the herald John the Baptist each calling us to make a straight path for the Lord. After all, a straight path is the most direct route between two places – something the Roman road builders knew very well. And by opening our hearts afresh to Jesus this Advent, we are taking the most direct route to all that he offers us, which we discover the fullness of throughout the rest of the Christian year and the rest of our lives. But the journey starts here and now, at Advent. Preparation in this year’s wilderness will mean something different for each of us, but preparing ourselves afresh for Jesus is something we all need to do, if Advent, Christmas and the whole of our lives are to reach their true potential.
How will you choose to prepare this Advent? Amen.
Song
Hymn HP 85 – O come, O come Immanuel. You might like to sing or reflect on the words of this hymn.Prayers of intercession – written by Daniel Barrett
Let us pray. Lord we thank you for being with us through these uncertain times. We ask of you Lord that you keep showing us your love so that in your name we can stand bold and strong through these times. Lord we ask that you show us your never ending love so that through these times here on your earth we can spread the joy of your love and comfort to those who are in need at these times.Lord we give our thanks to you that you have never left us. We give thanks that your spirit lives and breathes through us everyday; that we can always be with you through the toughest things that life throws our way. We give thanks that even though we can no longer meet at the moment in your churches that we have the ability to still stand united together through the technology you have given to us and that we are able to support one another through these channels through your giving of love. Without you Lord our troubles would seem never ending.
We give all we are to you Lord and thank you that through you we able to carry on with every day being strong, resilient and loving to each other. We ask you Lord to show your guiding light to each of us here on earth. We ask that the guiding light beckons us to see you and understand you that all you have shown us is the greatest light of love in our hearts and that love deserves to be given to all we meet under any circumstances. Show us all Lord that we are all brothers and sisters of each other and show us that we came from the spirit of you and that we are all able to live a fulfilled life with you always in our hearts, souls and minds.
We give thanks that when the days seem glum and too hard to bear that we can remember your teachings and hand over our worries, our problems, our anxiety to our Father in Heaven and he will lift us up in our spirits and guide our days in happiness. Lord we ask for you to remember those in need today and everyday. We pray for all those who have lost loved ones through this pandemic and that their hearts be filled with your love and peace be theirs through you Lord. We pray for all those who are away from their loved ones at this time. Those who are constantly out there Lord risking their own lives to make those who have contracted this disease Coronavirus better. Those in our hospitals, those who work in the community for social services helping those who stay at home. We pray for those Lord who are looking after those people who are homeless and in need of your love.
Lord as we look deeply into our lives we ask you to give us joy in our lives; we ask for us to remember at this time in our lives we still have your love and your guidance and all we have to do is ask for you and it shall be given to us through you. Lord we ask that through each of us there is always comfort to be found in each other; we ask that we remember that we are there to spread the joy of your life, that your power is upon us to give and rejoice in you. We ask in the name of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
Song
Hymn HP 267 - Our closing hymn is one of my all time favourites Love divine all loves excelling. Whenever I choose this in my normal services when we are physically gathered together, I always hope to have an excellent organist and an enthusiastic congregation of singers. For then, after a verse or two to really open up my vocal chords, I feel able to sing with joyful gusto and attempt to hit those high notes in the second half of each verse!We may be longing to break free from this year’s wilderness and rediscover the joy of worshipping together in person once again. I share that longing with you. But one of the joys of virtual worship is that you can sing along quietly or indeed with great gusto and it doesn’t matter if you hit every note or not!
So feel free to join in our closing hymn, in whatever way you choose. As we prepare ourselves this Advent to meet Jesus afresh, may his love come down, enter our trembling hearts and change us from glory (the glory we currently share with Jesus in a limited way) into glory – the glory of being perfectly restored to him, as we find ourselves lost in wonder, love and praise!
Blessing
Lord, we dared earlier to ask that as we prepare our hearts for you, we might become better people, having felt your touch upon our lives. So help us now to make a straight path for the arrival of Jesus – in our hearts and in our society.And may the peace of God be with us and those we love and cherish, now and forever. Amen.
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