18th December 2022 10.30am – Fourth Sunday of Advent Eucharist

Posted on December 18, 2022December 22, 2022 by St Mary's

The Readings

Isaiah 7.10-16

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. Then Isaiah said: ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.

Matthew 1.18-end

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel’,
which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Scripture Quotations are from: New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

The Sermon
By Rev Dr Matthew Rhodes

Isaiah 7.10-16 and Matthew 1.18-25

My wife Cathy is the diocesan environment officer but before that she was an
obstetrician. Obstetrics is a very demanding but also very fulfilling profession. Over
the years Cathy has looked after hundreds of mothers and their babies. She has a
vast family of children that she has helped to bring into the world. As her husband I
have heard a bit about some of them. Always anonymously of course. Sometimes I
have baptised them, but on the whole I have been a bystander. One step removed
from these miracles of new life. And I’ve always felt a slight sense of a connection
with Joseph who appears every three years in the lectionary on this Sunday. He
stands on the edge of the story of Jesus’ birth. He doesn’t get many mentions and
then he fades into the background. We assume that he was older than Mary and that
he probably died before Jesus began his public ministry.

We don’t tend to read the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel. It starts with a long
genealogy from Abraham to Jesus via Joseph. It is important for Matthew, writing for
a Jewish Christians audience, that Jesus is a descendant of Abraham, and more
importantly of David. That’s why he was born in Bethlehem, David’s town, because
Joseph was of the house and lineage of David. But then we have today’s Gospel.
Which makes very clear that Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father.
So is this the punchline to a very elaborate joke on Matthew’s part or is this a way of
saying that Jesus was both human and divine? Matthew is ambiguous. As Paul puts
it in his Letter to the Romans, as to his human nature Jesus was a descendant of
David, but through the Spirit of holiness he was declared to be the Son of God.
In the very patriarchal culture into which Jesus was born, it was very important that
Mary was a virgin when she was married. Matthew sees this as the fulfilment of
Isaiah’s prophecy. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will
call him Immanuel. But this passage from Isaiah was written for a particular historical
context which deserves a bit of unpacking.

At the time, Israel was divided into two kingdoms, Ephraim in the north and Judah in
the south. Ephraim had joined forces with Syria to wage war on Judah. So far, they
had not been successful but the King of Judah, King Ahaz, was afraid that his
kingdom might be conquered. In our reading, Isaiah tried to tell King Ahaz to trust in
God because the alliance between Ephraim and Syria would fall apart. But instead,
Ahaz turned to their common enemy Assyria for help. He failed to trust in God. And
this was in marked contrast to Mary and Joseph who were able to trust.
In the passage from Isaiah, we have the Hebrew word almah which means ‘young
woman’ rather than virgin. In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old
Testament, this is translated as parthenos which does mean virgin, and Matthew
uses this translation too. In the past, the church has got very hung up about whether
Mary was a virgin or not. You may remember the controversies around David
Jenkins the former Bishop of Durham in the 1980’s. Nowadays with things like IVF
and egg and sperm donors and surrogate mothers we are less concerned about
whether Mary was a virgin or not. The way in which we treat Mary says as much
about us as it does about her. She reflects our humanity back to us which is
important for many Christians around the world. The only thing we have to watch is
that because Mary can appear to be a fairly blank canvass, her image has been
used to manipulate people, and especially women.

The reason why Isaiah talked about a young woman being with child is that the
timescale for what was about to happen to Judah was nine months. And this of
course is the time it takes for a woman to carry a child. At the end of nine months
Isaiah prophesied that the crisis would be over. By then it would be clear that God
had really been with Judah all the time and the name of the child would reflect this.
He would be called Immanuel which means God with us. Not only would the alliance
between Ephraim and Syria have broken down by then but Assyria would have
invaded them and scattered their people.

We are told that this child would eat curds and honey which sounds lovely. But if we
read on in Isaiah, we find that Assyria turned on Judah and scattered its people. The
reason why the child would eat curds and honey rather than bread and figs and
grapes is that the people became nomads, refugees, wandering the land with
perhaps just a cow or a few goats. Mary and Joseph of course became refugees in
Egypt and we see them in the lives of so many on the move today. As ever, the Bible
has echoes, not just within itself but through history.

The fall of Judah came as a great shock. The coming of Immanuel is not just about
peace and security. God is with us but if we do not acknowledge and trust God then
things can go badly wrong. In our Gospel Joseph is inclined not to trust God. Just as
Ahaz forms a strategic alliance rather than listen to Isaiah, so Joseph is initially
inclined to break off his engagement quietly. That would probably have been the
sensible, worldly thing to do. And yet Joseph does not do this. He takes Mary as his
wife and Jesus as his own son. Sometimes we too need to listen to dreams and
angels and step out in faith as Joseph and Mary did.

Every Advent and Christmas I am struck again by how different the story could have
been. How vulnerable Mary and her baby were. Birth in this country is not without
risk and around the world, maternal mortality is still very high. Being an unmarried
mother is not really an issue in this country but it is in many other parts of the world.
In the culture of his time, no one would have blamed Joseph for breaking off his
engagement. But he took a risk He played his part in the drama and took on Jesus
as his own. In the story of the nativity, God risks everything with the human race and
challenges us to take risks as well. Jesus comes to us in the vulnerability of a tiny
baby and he invites us to be vulnerable too. Amen.

11th December 2022 10.30am – Third Sunday of Advent Eucharist

Posted on December 11, 2022December 10, 2022 by St Mary's

The Readings

Isaiah 35.1-10

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,
and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.

Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
‘Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.’

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

A highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,
but it shall be for God’s people;
no traveller, not even fools, shall go astray.
No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Matthew 11.2-11

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.”
Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

The Sermon
By Joe P

Life has changed for John the Baptist since our last Lectionary reading.

The last we heard about him, he was the ‘new kid in town’ prophet, preaching – literally – in the wilderness to all who would come and visit him. We saw him referring to members of the religious establishment who were present as ‘a brood of vipers’ and asking people why they wanted to be baptised. He was also pretty ‘hard core’ about what might be expected; “Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” – and John reminded his audience that the fires were already being lit.

This was certainly what his audience would expect from a prophet, even if it was quite uncomfortable and scary!

But today – John’s in jail. Some of his preaching hit a little too close to home for King Herod, and John experienced the usual consequences of preaching truth to power.

But he is still in touch with his followers, and sends them out to find Jesus, who John has heard of. And the question he asks is “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”

Those of you with a long memory may recall that when I preached about John the Baptist some years ago, I mentioned the following observation made by John Meynard Keynes about Sir Isaac Newton:

“He was the last of the magicians, the last of the Babylonians and Sumerians, the last great mind which looked out on the visible and intellectual world with the same eyes as those who began to build our intellectual inheritance.”

Newton’s work started the changes in scientific thinking that led to where we are today. And similarly, John the Baptist; a wildman, a voice crying out in the wilderness, carried on in the prophetic tradition of God’s people, whilst at the same time looking forward to something new; the presence of God incarnate amongst the people.

Like Newton, John sits between two traditions; he is in many ways the last traditional Hebrew prophet, looking out on the relationship of God with His people like all the people and prophets before him. But he is also looking forward to the coming of Christ, and the changing of the relationship between God and His creation that Jesus’s coming will bring about.

In this season of Advent, John’s prophetic ministry provides a pause, a wait, a sense of anticipation between the Old Testament and the Gospel. And John is now doing that waiting in jail, hearing about what’s happening through his followers, unable to preach himself.

John’s followers turn up at one of Jesus’s gatherings. We hear:

Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’

They leave to go back to John and pass Jesus’s word on.

Now, does Jesus explicitly answer John’s question?

John asks is “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”

I get the feeling that John’s followers, taking Jesus’s message back to John, might have said to each other ‘John isn’t going to like this…’

After all, John has been preaching his version of ‘hellfire and damnation’ to the people. He’s been the wild man of the wilderness, preaching wrath towards those he felt needed it. He’s been threatening the unrighteous with God’s axe and winnowing fork, and reminding them that the axe is nice and sharp at the foot of the tree, and that the flames are good and hot.

And this Jesus fellow – who looks like he could be ‘the one’, is going on about healing people and preaching good news to the poor.

We don’t hear what John himself has to say, but after John’s followers have left, Jesus speaks to the people about John the Baptist – some of whom will have been to see John speak.

“A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.”

He suggests that what the people expected to see when they went to hear John is not what they got – we gathered that from our earlier readings about John’s preaching style. But they did go to see a prophet, and he was the prophet that spoke of Jesus’s own coming.

Not mentioned in our reading today, Jesus finishes his words to the crowd with the sentence:

“Yet Wisdom is shown to be right by what it does.”

Wisdom is shown to be right by what it does.

And surely – healing the blind, the lame, the deaf is good and righteous. It is a sign of Wisdom.

We should be able to see Wisdom by its actions. And it might not always be what we expect it to be.

He’s not said it explicitly to John’s followers, but I think that Jesus is expecting John to take heart from his words, that good things – life-changing, righteous worthwhile things – are being done for people by Jesus in his ministry.

John may be taken by surprise that Jesus’s way of bringing about the Kingdom of God is not what he expects – but he will have to admit that the good things that Jesus is doing are worthwhile.

And then there’s the last part of Jesus’s answer to John’s followers:

“And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.”

This is very reminiscent of the Beatitudes – we could add this on to the end of the Beatitudes with a small change:

“Blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.”

I think this is John’s answer.

Jesus is saying ‘Whatever I do that impacts you, that might cause you offence or dismay, don’t be offended by it. In fact, you’ll be blessed if you’re not offended.’

This sounds a bit strange – but we need to remember that Jesus is a rule breaker; a game-changer; He is here to radically change the relationship of God and man. With Jesus, God is with us – in the flesh. Jesus’s preaching and actions would give people as many questions and concerns as John’s would.

Many would be offended; but to follow Jesus, and be blessed by him – do not be offended by Jesus’s teachings.

A lesson that should also be aware of; Jesus’s teachings may offend our personal beliefs; we may be taken aback by some of the things He says and does, but by refusing to take offence and embracing His teachings – we will be blessed.

The Prayers
Prepared by Catherine

In joyful expectation of his coming to our aid

we pray to Jesus.

Come to your Church as Lord and judge.

Come to our local churches as we prepare for, and hold,

our Christmas services and events.

Come to the worldwide Church.

Help us to live in the light of your coming

and give us a longing for your kingdom.

Maranatha:

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Come to your world as King of the nations.

Come to this world where war, violence or environmental disaster have made deserts of places.

Come to this world of displaced, homeless and hungry people.

Come and enable our deserts to blossom.

Come into the hearts of governments and leaders.

Before you rulers will stand in silence.

Maranatha:

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Come to the suffering as Saviour and comforter.

Come to all who are without heat or comfortable homes this winter.

Come to those coping with illness or stressful situations.

Come to those known personally to us…

Break into our lives,

where we struggle with sickness and distress,

and set us free to serve you for ever.

Maranatha:

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Come to us as shepherd and guardian of our souls.

Come to all who mourn the loss of a loved one.

Give us with all the faithful departed

a share in your victory over evil and death.

Maranatha:

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Come from heaven, Lord Jesus, with power and great glory.

Lift us up to meet you,

that with Mary, Mark, John and all your saints and angels

we may live and reign with you in your new creation.

Maranatha:

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Come, Lord Jesus, do not delay;

give new courage to your people,

who trust in your love.

By your coming, raise us to share in the joy of your kingdom

on earth as in heaven,

where you live and reign with the Father and the Spirit,

one God for ever and ever.

Amen.

Common Worship: Times and Seasons, material from which is used here is copyright (c) The Archbishops' Council 2006

4th December 2022 10.30am – Second Sunday of Advent Eucharist

Posted on December 4, 2022December 4, 2022 by St Mary's

The Readings

Isaiah 11.1-10

A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Matthew 3.1-12

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,
‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.” ’
Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

‘I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’

The Sermon
By Rev Sue Hammersley

On this second week of Advent we are reminded of the prophets. Our first reading, from Isaiah, reminds us that true prophets raise our awareness of those whose needs are being ignored: they are the mouthpiece of the God of righteousness, justice and integrity. Listen to the words of some of the prophets in scripture:

ISAIAH “Seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” (Isaiah 1:17)

EZEKIEL - “Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.” (Ezekiel 16:49)

MICAH “ and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

Prophets are people of vision and purpose. They remind us that God comforts the distressed and distresses the comfortable. They challenge us to turn away from those things which are not godly and orientate ourselves towards God, for the good of others. This is what it means to repent – to turn around, to change our minds, to aim for better.

We are in great need of prophets today.

I suspect there are many prophets in our midst but we might not recognise them as such. There are also many who claim to be prophets whose message is far from godly.

I wonder whether you can think of anyone who might be seen as a contemporary prophet? It might not be someone famous, it might be a member of this church or someone you know; someone who speaks truth to power and isn’t silenced by the potential consequences. It will be a person of courage and vision, someone through whom God’s light shines, whatever their religious beliefs.

I thought of Greta Thunberg whose passion to halt climate change led her to disrupt school lessons and create an environment where people of all ages could see the emergency which faces us. She was (is) persistent, aggressive with her message that we have no time to waste now is the time to change policies and behaviour.

I thought of Marcus Rashford, the Manchester United footballer who challenged the government over their provision for children’s meals over school holidays. He used his public profile to become a children’s advocate. His voice had authenticity because he too had experienced poverty when he was growing up and if his community had not rallied round him he would not have been able to become the player that he is now.

I think of the women in Iran who have been campaigning for the freedom to decide what they wear. For many years there have been peaceful protests against the forced wearing of the hijab but in September a young woman called Mahsa Amini died in police custody. Following her death there was an increase in protests calling for regime change and political freedom.

Our Gospel draws our attention to John the Baptist. He is the prophet who came to prepare the way for one who is to come, one who was more powerful than him. He appeared in the wilderness of Judea proclaiming that God’s kingdom is near. He created a movement for change, drawing people to him from local towns and even Jerusalem. He challenged religious leaders to have integrity – to bear good fruit – a message which is repeated in the Gospels and Epistles as a religious revolution ensued.

When Paul writes to followers of Jesus in Corinth he talks about the gifts of the Spirit:

To one is given wisdom, and to another knowledge, to another faith, to another gifts of healing, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit. (Paraphrase on 1 Cor 12)

Prophecy is named as one of the gifts of the Spirit but, as with the other gifts, it is validated by the fruit it yields.

Later on in Matthew’s Gospel (chapter 7.15-18) Jesus warns people of false prophets…

‘…who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. …every good tree bears good fruit… A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.

A true prophet speaks truth to power and grace and love to those who are downtrodden; a true prophet challenges us to turn away from those things which are for self-gain and towards God’s kingdom, the liberating good news for all people.

Advent gives us the opportunity to pause and reflect upon our values, the principles which guide our decisions and actions. We are reminded of the voices of those who have prepared the way for God’s work amongst us and we are reminded that this is our calling too… We are all called to bring forth good fruit, in ourselves and for the benefit of the whole community.

Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord!

The Prayers
Prepared by Joe

We pray for the Church of Christ, for Bishop Pete and Bishop Sophie, our Archbishops Justin and Stephen, all here who lead us in worship and prayer, and all those whose time and talents are given to St Mary’s, St John’s and St Mark’s. We pray for the continued safety of Archbishop Justin and all those with him in Ukraine at this time.