Advent 3 - Giving and living for, and like, God

I am so very often surprised by the number of people who appear to miss the fact that John the Baptist (who we focus on today as the third Sunday in Advent) is loud, proud, and not just a little bit rude with his message. When they ask him what they should do to prepare for the coming of the Messiah his response is simple: "STOP SINNING!"

What else could he say to them? Take a look at those who come to him in today's Gospel (Luke 3.7-18):

To the crowds he points them to God, not the fact that they are Jews. Does this thinking apply to us as Christians? Be afraid, for I think that it does! Are we producing fruit 'in keeping with our repentance'? Does the gratitude for our salvation have any substance in the way we live or do we think that attending church, wearing a cross (fish), and dropping money in the offering makes us fit for heaven?

Do you think the crowds were asking themselves how much bad stuff they were laying up alongside, or instead of, the treasures they should have been storing up in heaven?  Yet this is what John was calling them to focus on. John was calling them (and us) to look at the ways they (we) can raise their game and live differently.

Are these the choices that those around John the Baptist were thinking of when they ask: "What should we do then?" How do you reckon they respond when he tells them to share what they have (two shirts is just a starting place) with those who have nothing? 

When John tells the crowd, "Be generous and give to those who have need as God gives to our needs,” how do you think they respond? 

When the tax collectors asked John what they should do his answer was simple: "Stop stealing." There’s no wiggle room there, is there?

When the the soldiers came and asked what they should do, they were told to act rightly (we call this Professional, Appropriate, and Lawful in our armed forces). Justice, mercy and humanity (Micah 6) also spring to mind here.

He didn't tell anyone that God wanted them to be happy doing what they saw as fit and right to do (regardless of what the Bible might teach). He didn't tell them to give more money - because God doesn't want your money, He wants your hearts and lives filled with love and generosity in things, actions, and in spirit.

He told the people before him to live a godly and righteous life in the things and the places they were returning to after the show - and that is exactly what the prophecy of Malachi some four hundred years before called the people to do. And they didn't and so, with the arrival about to be made public, John is trying to get the people to get their lives in order so they look at least a little bit presentable. This is not a harsh rebuttal but an act of generosity for it’s giving those hearing his words the chance to turn around (that’s a clever use of ‘repent’ innit?) – and this is what we are also doing when we encourage people to change their lives before it’s too late.

Living our lives well, looking and sounding and acting like Jesus, in the world is one of the most important witnesses we can make to our being people of faith. You don't need a dog collar or a title or a medal - you need to exhibit the generous heart of God and that needs a cross – and gratitude, rejoicing in the freedom from sin and reconciliation with the godhead that that brings. Here we find the fruits of gladness become made real in our generous and right living. It’s so simple really, isn’t it?

And on a day when we are called to rejoice - For the third Sunday of Advent is called 'Gaudete' Sunday (Gaudetemeans rejoice) – rejoicing is the natural response to the fact that God has taken away the punishment of his people and has ‘turned back’ their enemy. The reality in the words of Zephaniah given some time around 620 BC is the same reality that Jesus’ death on the cross brings for the Christian too. Jesus’ death brings defeat for our enemy (satan) and he (Jesus) bears in His body the punishment for us. He takes our place. What love. What generosity to pay a bill that wasn’t His to be paying! Jesus is the mighty warrior who save; them one who no longer rebukes but rejoices over us with songs of deliverance.

And the Apostle Paul gets into the act with his letter to the church in Phillipi, a communication which I think affirms all we have here, for when he says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice,” he is nodding towards the fact that to rejoice is a choice of attitude. It is the expression of our gratitude for all God has given and done for us. The outworking of this for your lives is to, “Let your gentleness be evident to all.” 

So we are righteous and holy people who are living out they love of God in gentleness (gentle as dove and cunning as serpents – we are not pushovers). We trust God and pray, ask, thank and experience a peace that no one, and nowhere, provides.

What a great set of readings we had before us today.

How do the words above and the readings below shape us as Christians?

What do they say to those who claim to have no faith and how do we communicate what the words here have for them?

The Collect
God for whom we watch and wait, you sent John the Baptist to prepare the way of your Son: give us courage to speak the truth, to hunger for justice, and to suffer for the cause of right, with Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Zephaniah 3.14-20
Sing, Daughter Zion; shout aloud, Israel!Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem,“Do not fear, Zion;  do not let your hands hang limp. The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

“I will remove from you all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals, which is a burden and reproach for you. At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you. I will rescue the lame; I will gather the exiles. I will give them praise and honour in every land where they have suffered shame. At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honour and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,” says the Lord.

Philippians 4.4-7 
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!   Let your gentleness be evident to all.
The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Luke 3.7-18
John said to the crowds coming out to be baptised by him, You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.” For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The axe has been laid to the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.’

‘What should we do then?’ the crowd asked.
John answered, ‘Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.’

Even tax collectors came to be baptised.  ‘Teacher,’ they asked, ‘what should we do?’
‘Don’t collect any more than you are required to,’ he told them.

Then some soldiers asked him, ‘And what should we do?’
He replied,  ‘Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely – be content with your pay.’

The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. John answered them all, ‘I baptise you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.’ And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.

A different version to the Steeleye Span I usually turn too.
Lots of reverb but not that bad :-)

Post Communion Prayers
We give you thanks, O Lord, for these heavenly gifts; kindle in us the fire of your Spirit that when your Christ comes again we may shine as lights before his face; who is alive and reigns now and for ever. Amen.

Advent Course - Week 3

So here we are with the third week of our Advent Course and again the numbers keep creeping up! 

As always, we start with the Acts 2.32 - 47 passage as a reminder of what, and why, we are doing.

And this is followed by our 'Holy Habits' prayer.

Before we watched this:

And having discussed what we saw, felt and thought.

We moved on to read this passage from Matthew:

After which we considered the 'nasty stuff' we find in the Bible and in the world around us:

By which time we had focussed on so many of the things that make us sad at the state on humanity and the sinfulness and cruelty that is reality (As one person put it, "The Bible reports the stuff and we then need to learn from it and respond differently.") and the sadness of human nature.

So we watched this and took heart from the kindness and generosity of others:

And, as always, we asked questions - discussed stuff in our groups - shared our thoughts and considered where our response to it all could mirror God's love and provision:

And WoW, was it a great discussion!!!

So there they were, thinking, reflecting, asking questions and wondering what they could do.

So we sent them home to make it theirs with a few pointers:

And we all prayed this one with a bit of passion thrown in (how unAnglican!).

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This ‘Generosity’ thing

It seems that there is a danger of us getting so bound up in making the word ‘generosity’ in the context of Church, that collective term for believers, all about money. The reason for this might be as simple as one of my (extremely financially comfortable) friends made it out to be when they said, ”The problem with money is that those who have little or none of it think it’s more important than it really is!”

Over the years I have seen people stand up and beg, bully, insult, plead, command as they (in more ways than I can list) attempt to influence those before them to give more. “The Lord loves a cheerful giver,” they cry. And this is a true saying which comes from 2 Corinthians regarding giving to meet the needs of struggling believers elsewhere. The gathering of believers in Corinth have taken up the call to help and now the Apostle Paul is ‘encouraging’ them to ‘put their money where their mouth is’ as it were.

In 2 Corinthians 9, Paul writes: “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” “

We are encouraged to give ‘from the heart’ not from compulsion. The words in italics in the passage above are taken from Psalm 112. This is here as a reminder from the Old Testament to give credibility and an anchor to the words Paul writes. It is him saying that his words are valid because they are grounded in the sacred writings that are the Old Testament - it’s not him banging the drum but teaching what has already been written.

The reality is that we have a wonderfully generous God. Look at creation, the gift of life, the joy of love, the freedom and fullness that is to be found in following Jesus, the Christ, and the reconciliation that His (Jesus’) life, given up for us on the cross, between us and the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) brings. We have a generous God - this is not an exaggeration - who wants for us also to act generously.

Our generosity is to be from the heart. Something that occurs from the joy that we have not the duty or the person that compels us.

“I am so tired of you Christians. You’re always out there with your begging bowls. Mend our tower, repair our organ, give generously! But why should I? Do you come to my door and say, “Here’s some money to get your car working so you can get to work next week?”

Those words came from someone (who was not a Christian) in response to a Christian who had just thrust a collecting box into their face as they walked along Hounslow High Street. As I engaged them in conversation they asked me:
“How comes this God of yours who is supposed to have so much needs to beg from me who has so little?”

“What a good question,” I thought. “How the hell do I answer that?”

Well the answer was an act of generosity! I asked what was wrong with their car and having listened to their need and the description of their problem, I offered to pop over with my tools and have a look. So they gave me their address and a couple of hours, and a new set of spark plugs and distributor points later, the job was (to quote a friend) ‘a good un!

Now I’d love to say that as the engine started they fell to their knees and gave their life to Jesus - but they didn’t. In fact our paths never crossed again. But my act of giving came ‘from the heart’ - an act of generosity which engaged with a man and met his need just as God had met my need in the love of Jesus. An act that cried out, “Cheer up, God has heard your cry! Start your engine and go to work!”

This is what generosity is. There might be money involved somewhere in it, but the essence of generosity is to be found in the giving of ourselves. Jesus didn’t ‘splash the cash’ to rebuild the relationship sin had broken - He gave of Himself, shedding His blood for each and every one of us.

As we engage with ‘Holy Habits’ be careful not to confuse or limit generosity by focussing on money - it’s not an opportunity to increase the giving and pay the parish share but an opportunity to develop that same generous heart and lifestyle that Jesus calls us to exhibit.

And on a personal note: Whenever God has prompted me to act generously I have found that the time given never returned - it was gone forever - and yet when I had a need, others generously gave of their time to help. Whenever God has prompted me to act where money was involved, I have almost almost always ended worse off. And yet over the years I have also received generosity from others   in the shape of things our finances couldn’t afford that appeared.

There are times in our lives when God enables us to be His cashpoint machine - that’s a seasonal thing perhaps - but being generous in ourselves is something that speaks of the love and generosity of the God we serve, love, and live for. Don’t confuse love and generosity with money!

As we see in Jesus, God made man. It is being flesh that makes God’s love real for us - there is power in being there in the flesh for others for in exactly the same way. Let’s not cheapen our generosity with mere money.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust
destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6. 19-21

Second Sunday in Advent - Bags packed

This is an outline of the sermon preached om the second Sunday of Advent 2018 The theme of the second Sunday of Advent is ‘The Prophets’ and so today we turn to the prophet Malachi and his words and ask ourselves, “What do these have to do with ‘Gladness and Generosity’?” The words before us are not a Hallmark card, gentle Jesus, moment are they?

If I were to give you tickets to a fantastic holiday what would your response be to my act of generosity? I’m guessing that you’d be out there buying clothes and getting the stuff you needed for the event. I reckon you’d probably be packed and ready and raring to go long before the day came. You’d find out about what you needed and what it would be like so you could be prepared.

Malachi’s words speak of the coming of the Messiah. That hope which the Jewish believers look, and cling, to. He asks the people, ‘Are you prepared? Are you ready For the ‘day of the Lord’? Are your bags packed and your tickets safe? Malachi points to the actions of a generous God who is sending the most amazing present the world can envisage.

And then, as his words die away, nothing more is heard for some four hundred years. Then the generosity, the kindness, the consolation of Israel comes to this earth in the shape of a child born in odd circumstances (and a stable as delivery room is certainly odd) who will soon become a refugee (as the family leg it to Egypt) and eventually end up whipped, kicked, beaten and crucified.

The Jews looked to a great and victorious king – bringing peace and judgement – the marriage of gladness and concern (for here fear is a natural response made less fearful because of the love that surrounds it). They also expected it to come quickly – but it didn’t and so the four hundred years of silence brought the need for someone to stand and say to them, “This is it!” Or they would have perhaps stopped being excited as the bags were unpacked and the tickets (and the enthusiasm) misplaced and forgotten.

The messenger? With the benefit of hindsight we see is as John the Baptist, don’t we?
The refining and purification that looked to making a holy people was, for those hearing Malachi, about the restoration of a people who had been bruised, broken, exiled and returned. And for those hearing John it was about a heart response, a change of direction (which what ‘repent’ is).

It’s about responding to God’s generous giving with a gladness (a joy that knows no limit) and a refining (which requires heat) to make us (Jew and Gentile alike) ‘ready to meet Him’.

Perhaps we need to change our Christmas message to: Jesus is coming – be afraid?

Or better still we could just look at the self-examination that is the purple season of Advent and, pointing to Jesus in all that He is and merely ask the question, “Are you ready to meet Him?

And our New Testament reading, about those followers of Jesus in Phillipi. Paul, telling them, tells us, about the importance of sharing the Good News (the Gospel) with each other and those outside the family. We need to keep reminding ourselves of God’s generosity and tell those who don’t know about it and this takes more than words: It takes the giving of ourselves as generously as Jesus came, took in flesh, and gave Himself.

We need to tell of God’s marvellous act of salvation made real for all humanity in the Christmas gift that is Jesus. We need to take upon ourselves the life of a believer: Generously serving others.

We need just to love, give, and live for Christ and like John the Baptist, we need to proclaim that very same message Malachi started us off with “Stop what you are doing and turn away from the wrong stuff.” Get your spiritual bags packed. Put your tickets behind the clock on the mantelpiece (or wherever we put things now the fireplaces have gone) and nod towards Isaiah and his words about flattening hills and making straight path – for the journey to Jesus (with regard to the disability that is our sinful  nature) is truly disability friendly – even the most sin damaged person has access to the Christ and the following of Him with gratitude for our reconciliation to the Godhead through the generous gift of God that is Jesus the Christ.

And that truly should make us glad enough to live like Him in the family that is Church and in the lives of those yet to find His overwhelmingly kind (and frightening) love. And he offerings we bring (ourselves) will truly be acceptable in the sight of the Lord.

Pity we are Anglicans, in other places that would truly be worth a ‘Hallelujah’!

Malachi 3.1-4
“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.

Philippians 1.3-11
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Luke 3.1-6
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,  make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in,  every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all people will see God’s salvation.’”

Post Communion Prayer
Father in heaven, who sent your Son to redeem the world and will send him again to be our judge:
give us grace so to imitate him in the humility and purity of his first coming that, when he comes again, we may be ready to greet him with joyful love and firm faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Collect
Almighty God, purify our hearts and minds, that when your Son Jesus Christ comes again
as judge and saviour we may be ready to receive him, who is our Lord and our God. Amen.

Advent Course - Week 2

So here we are with the second week of our Advent Course and (encouragingly) the numbers crept up a little from the first week! 

As always, we start with the Acts 2.32 - 47 passage as a reminder of what, and why, we are doing.

And this is followed by our 'Holy Habits' prayer.

Before we read these two accounts of Jesus' birth through the eyes of the Shepherds and then the Magi:

Giving from what you have. There's a challenge because what, if like the smelly Jewish Shepherds, you have nothing? And if you're able to afford a long journey on the back of a camel with gold, frankincense and myrrh - then surely whatever you bring is not as costly as you might imagine.

So we watched this video:

And having watched it, the conversations (ably assisted by the words below) began.

And they continued and the noise and the passions and the possessions conspired to put a cherry on this a lively evening. And then, with us wound up and thinking passionately. We took away these thoughts to ponder and resolve over the coming week:

And we prayed and thanked God for the stuff we have - and the stuff we didn't need.

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Advent Sunday 18 - All Age

The 'All-Age' service (a café styled service) for Advent Sunday where we focussed on the things that make us 'Thankful' and created a 'Gladness Advent Calendar'. Its was a real insight  (and challenge) to see how some people struggled to find things they were thankful for.  Others filled a sheet of paper with things that brought gladness and had no difficulty in creating their Advent calendars. 

Take a look at the powerpoint slides below and as you reflect on them have a think about how you'd communicate our responses of Gladness in the light of your own life and the generosity of God and the people, places, events and realities of your life using this as a mirror.

Time to think about the things that make us thankful:

And to reflect upon God's word.

Before we got to make an Advent Calendar - 25 Days of opportunity to reflect on the good things, places and people in our lives.

And to present to the church and to launch 'Follow the Star' - the CofE's 2018 Christmas campaign.

After which we had a chance to sing and worship  our God for His generosity in the coming of Jesus, the Christ.

And we lit our first candle - the journey to the stable noted, marked, and begun.

And we prayed

And prayed

Ending with the Lord's Prayer.

And then we left, hopefully ready, able and willing to reflect on our gladness and thankfulness for God's immense and amazing love - and to begin our Advent journey.