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Sentence

Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

                                                                                                                             

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Collect  

Faithful God, you have appointed us your witnesses, to be a light that shines in the world:
let us not hide the bright hope you have given us, but tell everyone your love, revealed in Jesus Christ the Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

                                                                                                                                                      

Readings

This Week:

• Isaiah 58:1-9a
• Psalm 112
• 1 Cor 2:1-13
• Matthew 5:13-20

• Next Week:

• Exodus 24:12-18
• Psalm 2
• 2 Peter 1:16-21
• Matthew 17:1-9

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A Thought to Ponder

Epiphany 5


“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?
“You are the light of the world. Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”

Unsalted popcorn and an electrical power outage are all that we need to appreciate Jesus’ message in today’s Gospel reading (the continuation of the Sermon on the Mount). Through the images of salt and light, Jesus impresses upon his listeners the vocation of Christians: As I am salt and light to the world, so you, as my disciples, must reflect me to the world.
Salt and sun, of themselves, are not good for very much and can even be harmful. Their value is realized only when they mix or interact with other things. Their addition brings out the fullness of whatever they come in contact with.

A handful of salt brings out the natural flavour in every kind of food, from filet to popcorn. The four ounces of salt in our bodies enable our muscles to contract, our blood to circulate, our hearts to beat. Salt purifies and softens, cleans and preserves. Salt is an important element in making glass, building roads, manufacturing soap and shampoo, bleaching paper and cooling nuclear reactors. Salt is used both in freezing and in de-icing. There are over 14,000 uses of salt –but of and by itself, salt is useless. Eating a handful of salt does not taste particularly good – it might even make you sick to your stomach.
Light’s true beauty is realized only when we look away from its source and toward what it illuminates. Light transforms the cold terror of night into the warm assurance of day. Light enables us to discover, to study, to discern, to behold the beauty of our world and the wonders of God’s creation. Light warms, nurtures, sustains, reveals, cheers.
Salt is perhaps the humblest of all chemicals; light is among the most generous of all physical properties.
To be “salt for the earth” is to bring Christ’s compassion and hope into our homes, workplaces, schools and communities; our simplest acts of charity can be a “light” for our world and unmistakable evidence of the presence of God among us.

Jesus’ call to his followers to be “salt” and “light” for the world is a challenge to live the Gospel we have heard and profess to believe. Until our hopes for justice become our work for justice, until our prayers for peace and unity in the world are first lived in our own home and community, until our professed belief in God as Father of all affects every one of our relationships, we are as good as flavourless salt, we are as useful as light hidden away under a basket.
© Connections/MediaWorks. All rights reserved

Sermon

You can read the Pew Sheet here

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Sentence

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

                                                                                                                             

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Collect  

Righteous God, you confound the world’s wisdom by giving your blessing to the lowly and pure in heart:
give us such a hunger and thirst for justice and perseverance in striving for peace, that in our words and deeds the world may see the promise of your kingdom, which has been revealed in Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

                                                                                                                                                      

Readings

This Week:

• Micah 6:1-8
• Psalm 15
• 1 Cor 1:18-31
• Matthew 5:1-12

• Next Week:

• Isaiah 58:1-9a
• Psalm 112
• 1 Cor 2:1-13
• Matthew 5:13-20

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A Thought to Ponder

Epiphany 4


Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven …
Today’s Gospel is the beautiful “Beatitudes” reading from the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew’s compilation of the sayings and teachings of Jesus. The word “blessed,” as used by Jesus in the eight maxims, was written in
Greek as makarios, a word which indicates a joy that is God-like in its serenity and totality.
Specific Greek words used throughout the text indicate several important meanings:
‘The poor in spirit:’ those who are detached from material things, who put their trust in God.
“The sorrowing:” this Beatitude speaks of the value of caring and compassion — the hallmarks of Jesus’ teaching.
“The lowly:” the Greek word used here is praotes — true humility that banishes all pride; the “blessed” who accept the necessity to learn and grow and realize their need to be forgiven.
“They who show mercy:” the Greek word chesedh used here indicates the ability to get “inside a person’s a skin” until we can see things from his/her perspective, consider things from his/her experience mind and feel
his/her joys and sorrows.
“The peacemakers:” peace is not merely the absence of trouble or discord but peace is a positive condition: it is everything that provides and makes for humanity’s highest good; note, too, that the “blessed” are described as
peace-makers and not simply peace-lovers.
The Beatitudes call us to a very different set of values than those of our dog-eat-dog-success-is-everything-get-them-before-they-get-you-bottom line-based world. We are called, as Zephaniah (Reading 1) preaches, “to seek the Lord in all things.”
As a people of faith we are called to focus our lives on the “blessedness” of the Sermon on the Mount: to seek our joy and fulfilment in God above all things. Our “blessedness” cannot be measured by our portfolios, celebrity or intellect, but in our ability to grasp that we exist not in and of ourselves but by and in the love of God. The “blessed” of the Gospel have embraced a spirit of humble gratitude before the God who gives, nurtures and sustains our lives.

The “blessed” seek to respond to such unfathomable love the only way they can: by returning that love to others, God’s children, as a way of returning it to God.
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Sermon

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Sentence

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. Matthew 4:23

                                                                                                                             

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Collect  

Loving God, the light of the minds that know you, the life of the souls that love you, and the strength of the hearts that serve you:
help us so to know you that we may truly love you, and so to love you that we may faithfully serve you, whose service is perfect freedom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

                                                                                                                                                      

Readings

This Week:

• Isaiah 9:1-4
• Psalm 27:1-10
• 1 Cor 1:10-18
• Matthew 4:12-25

• Next Week:

• Micah 6:1-8
• Psalm 15
• 1 Cor 1:18-31
• Matthew 5:1-12

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A Thought to Ponder

Epiphany 3

Jesus said to Simon and his brother Andrew, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Galilee is the centrepiece of today’s readings.
In Jesus’ time, Galilee was the most populated and productive region of Palestine. The great roads of the world passed through Galilee, making it a strategic target for invasion. White-sailed ships crept up the Mediterranean coast from Alexandria and caravans travelled through the region from Mesopotamia and Egypt.
Galilee, unlike the rest of Palestine, had an international perspective, in touch with many non-Jewish ideas and influences. Josephus, the Roman historian, wrote of the people of Galilee: “They were fond of innovation and, by nature, disposed to change and delighted in sedition . . . The Galileans were never destitute of courage . . . They were ever more anxious for honour than for gain.”
In a few lines, Matthew sketches a new beginning in human history: the arrest of John and the end of the First Testament; the beginning of a New Testament in the teaching and healing ministry of Jesus in Galilee and the call of the first disciples from their fishing nets along the Sea of Galilee. Jesus’ beginning his public ministry in Galilee is, for Matthew, the fulfilment of an ancient oracle concerning the Messiah: that, through the darkness of Galilee’s Assyrian captivity, the “great light” of their deliverance will appear (Reading 1).
Like Peter, James and John, we are asked by Jesus to take on the work of discipleship; we are asked to leave our “fishing nets” – our own needs and wants – to follow the example of love and servanthood given to us by Jesus; we are asked to rebuild our lives, homes and cities in the justice and peace that Jesus proclaims.

Jesus calls his disciples of every time and place to be “fishers” of men and women, to use whatever “nets” we possess, in whatever oceans and seas we find ourselves, to catch the falling, rescue the endangered, gather in the lost and forgotten.
Christ is the light that illuminates our minds and souls with a new vision of the human condition: in the light of Christ, we are able to recognise one another as brothers and sisters, children of the same God; in the light of Christ, we realise our own need for healing and forgiveness and are then able to bring such transformation into our lives and the lives of others.
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Sermon

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Sentence

God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Cor 1:9

                                                                                                                             

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Collect  

Almighty God, whose Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, is the light of the world: may your people, illumined by your word and sacraments, shine with the radiance of his glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

                                                                                                                                                      

Readings

This Week:

• Isaiah 49:1-7
• Psalm 40:1-14
• 1 Cor 1:1-9
• John 1:29-42

• Next Week:

• Isaiah 9:1-4
• Psalm 27:1-10
• 1 Cor 1:10-18
• Matthew 4:12-25

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A Thought to Ponder

Epiphany 2

John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
The Fourth Gospel emphasises John the Baptiser’s role as the bridge between the First and New Testaments; he is the last great prophet who identifies Jesus as the Messiah. In his vision of the Spirit of God “resting” upon and within Jesus, the Baptiser realises this is the chosen Servant of God who has come to inaugurate the Messianic era of forgiveness and reconciliation (today’s first reading, the second of Isaiah’s “servant” songs, describes the mission of the servant: to bring Israel back to the Lord and, through her, extend the Lord’s salvation to every nation and people on earth).
By our baptisms, we are called to be witnesses and prophets of the “Lamb of God” along the Jordan Rivers of our homes, schools and workplaces.
Christ’s presence among us is a time for new beginnings: an invitation to walk from the shadows of hatred and mistrust to the light of understanding and peace, a chance for healing our brokenness and mending our relationships with one another, a call to be seekers of hope and enablers of reconciliation in our own time and place.
Through our own acts of compassion and generosity, of justice and forgiveness, we proclaim that “the Lamb of God” walks in our midst, the love and mercy of God has dawned upon us.

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Sermon

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Sentence

A voice came from heaven, saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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Collect  

Eternal God, at the baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan, you proclaimed him your beloved Son, and anointed him with the Holy Spirit:
grant that all who are baptised into his name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Saviour; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen

                                                                                                                                                      

Readings

This Week:

• Isaiah 42:1-9
• Psalm 29
• Acts 10:34-43
• Matthew 3:13-17

• Isaiah 49:1-7
• Psalm 40:1-14
• 1 Cor 1:1-9
• John 1:29-42

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A Thought to Ponder

The Baptism of Our Lord
After Jesus was baptised, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending on him like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Today’s Gospel is the final event of the Epiphany event: Jesus’ baptism at the Jordan River by John.
The Baptiser’s refusal at first to baptise Jesus and Jesus’ response to his refusal (a dialogue that appears only in Matthew’s Gospel) speaks to Matthew’s continuing theme of Jesus as the fulfillment of the First Testament prophecies. Jesus clearly did not need to be baptised. But his baptism by John is an affirmation that God was with this man Jesus in a very special way – at the Jordan River, Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled: “My favour rests on him.” Jesus has come to identify with sinners, to bring them forgiveness; hence the propriety of Jesus’ acceptance of John’s baptism.
Baptism was a ritual performed by the Jews, usually for those who entered Judaism from another religion. It was natural that the sin-stained, polluted pagan should be “washed” in baptism, but no Jew could conceive of needing baptism, being born a son of Abraham, one of God’s chosen people and therefore assured of God’s salvation. But John’s baptism – a baptism affirmed by Jesus – was not one of initiation, but one of reformation, a rejection of sin in one’s own life and acknowledgment of one’s own need for conversion. In Christ, baptism becomes a sacrament of rebirth, a reception of new life.
In all the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ baptism, all four evangelists use a similar description of the scene at the Jordan when Jesus is baptised by John: The Spirit of God descended and rested upon him, “hovering” over him like a dove – as the Gospel story unfolds, the Spirit of God’s peace, compassion and love, will be the constant presence dwelling within and flowing forth from the Carpenter from Nazareth.

In baptism, we claim the name of Christian and embrace all that that holy name means: to live for others rather than for ourselves, in imitation of Christ.
Our baptism made each one of us the “servant” of today’s readings: to bring forth in our world the justice, reconciliation and enlightenment of Christ, the “beloved Son” and “favour” of God.
In baptism, we embrace that same Spirit that “hovers” over us, guiding us in our journey to God.
Liturgically, the Christmas season officially comes to an end with today’s Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Now the same Spirit that “anoints” the Messiah for his mission calls us to be about the work of Christmas in this new year: to seek out and find the lost, to heal the hurting, to feed the hungry, to free the imprisoned, to rebuild families and nations, to bring the peace of God to all peoples everywhere.

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Sermon – not available this week

You can read the Pew Sheet here

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Sentence

God has destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:15-16

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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Collect  

Eternal God, in whose sight a thousand years are like a watch in the night: guide us now and always, as you have led us in times past, that our hearts may learn to choose your will;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

                                                                                                                                                      

Readings

This Week:

• Jeremiah 31:7-14
• Psalm 147:12-20
• Ephesians 1:3-14
• John 1:1-18

• Isaiah 42:1-9
• Psalm 29
• Acts 10:34-43
• Matthew 3:13-17

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A Thought to Ponder

Second Sunday after Christmas

Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” Matthew 2: 1-12

The story of the astrologers and the star of Bethlehem is unique to Matthew’s Gospel. Note that Matthew does not call them “kings” or does he give their names or reports where they came from – in fact, Matthew never even specifies the number of magi (because three gifts are presented to the Child, it has been a tradition since the fifth century to picture “three wise men”). In stripping away the romantic layers that have been added to the story, Matthew’s point can be better appreciated.
A great many First Testament ideas and images are presented in this story. The star, for example, is reminiscent of Balaam’s prophecy that “a star shall advance from Jacob” (Numbers 24: 17). Many of the details in Matthew’s story about the child Jesus parallel the story of the child Moses and the Exodus.

Matthew’s story also provides a preview of what is to come. First, the reactions of the various parties to the birth of Jesus parallel the effects Jesus’ teaching will have on those who hear it. Herod reacts with anger and hostility to the Jesus of the poor who comes to overturn the powerful and rich. The chief priests and scribes greet the news with haughty indifference toward the Jesus who comes to give new life and meaning to the rituals and laws of the scribes. But the magi – non-believers in the eyes of Israel – possess the humility and the openness of mind and heart essential to faith that leads them to seek and welcome the Jesus who will institute the Second Covenant between God and the New Israel.
Secondly, the gifts of the astrologers indicate the principal dimensions of Jesus’ mission:

• gold is a gift fitting for a king, a ruler, one with power and authority;
• frankincense is a gift fitting for a priest, one who offers sacrifice (frankincense was an aromatic perfume sprinkled on the animals sacrificed in the Temple);
• myrrh is a fitting “gift” for someone who is to die (myrrh was used in ancient times for embalming the bodies of the dead before burial).

Epiphany calls is to a new vision of the world that sees beyond the walls and borders we have created and to walk by the light which has dawned for all of humankind, a light by which we are able to recognize all men and women as our brothers and sisters under the loving providence of God, the Father of all.
The magi’s following of the star is a journey of faith, a constant search for meaning, for purpose, for the things of God that each one of us experiences in the course of our own lives.
What we read and watch and listen to in search of wealth, fame and power are the “stars” we follow. The journey of the magi in Matthew’s Gospel puts our own “stargazing” in perspective, calling us to fix our search on the “star” of God’s justice, peace and compassion.

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Sermon – not available this week

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Sentence

Because Jesus himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested. Hebrews 2:18

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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Collect  

Almighty God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature:
in your mercy, bring us to share the divine life of Jesus Christ, who came to share our human life, and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

                                                                                                                                                      

Readings

This Week:

• Isaiah 63:7-9
• Psalm 148
• Hebrews 2:10-18
• Matthew 2:13-23

• Next Week:

• Jeremiah 31:7-14
• Psalm 147:12-20
• Ephesians 1:3-14
• John 1:1-18

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A Thought to Ponder

First Sunday after Christmas
The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream: “Rise, take the child and his mother; flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you.”
Matthew’s Gospel continues his story of Jesus’ early years, focusing on the evangelist’s principal theme: that Jesus is the Messiah promised by God long ago. Matthew portrays the Holy Family as outcasts, refugees in their own country. Bound together by love and trust in God and in one another, they embark on the dangerous journey to Egypt to flee the insane rage of Herod. Jesus relives the Exodus experience of Israel: he will come out of Egypt, the land of slavery, to establish a new covenant of liberation for the new Israel.
Today’s Feast of the Holy Family calls us to re-discover and celebrate our own families as harbours of forgiveness and understanding and safe places of unconditional love, welcome and acceptance.
The Holy Family is a model for our families as we confront the many tensions and crises that threaten the stability, peace and unity that are the joys of being a family.
Matthew’s Gospel of Mary and Joseph’s escape to Egypt has been lived by countless families in every place and time. Today’s Feast of the Holy Family confronts us with the struggle of many families to escape the brutality and cruelty of the Herod’s of our time, seeking a new life in whatever Egypt they can find – and God’s call to us, as their brothers and sisters, to make a place for them where they will find safety, justice and dignity as God’s own.
Matthew’s Gospel of the Holy Family’s fleeing the murderous wrath of Herod portends what is to come: the Christmas crib is overshadowed by the cross of Holy Week, this holy birth is the beginning of our rebirth in the resurrection.

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Sermon – not available this week

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Sentence

A virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel: God with us. Matthew 1:23

                                                                                                                             

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Collect  

Gracious God, you chose the virgin Mary, by your grace, to be the mother of our Lord and Saviour:
so fill us with your grace, that with her we may rejoice in your salvation, and in all things embrace your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

                                                                                                                                                      

Readings

This Week:

• Isaiah 7:10-16
• Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
• Romans 1:1-7
• Matthew 1:18-25

• Next Week:

• Isaiah 63:7-9
• Psalm 148
• Hebrews 2:10-18
• Matthew 2:13-23

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A Thought to Ponder

Advent 4-
“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.”
The last week of Advent shifts our focus from the promise of the Messiah to the fulfillment of that promise in the events surrounding Jesus’ birth.

Today’s Gospel is Matthew’s version of Jesus’ birth at Bethlehem. This is not Luke’s familiar story of a child born in a Bethlehem stable, but that of a young unmarried woman suddenly finding herself pregnant and her very hurt and confused husband wondering what to do. In Gospel times, marriage was agreed upon by the groom and the bride’s parents almost immediately after the age of puberty; but the girl continued to live with her parents after the wedding until the husband was able to support her in his home or that of his parents. During that interim period, marital intercourse was not permissible. Yet Mary is found to be with child.
Joseph, an observant but compassionate Jew, does not wish to subject Mary to the full fury of Jewish law, so he plans to divorce her “quietly.” But in images reminiscent of the First Testament “annunciations” of Isaac and Samuel, an angel appears to Joseph in a dream and reveals that this child is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. Because of his complete faith and trust in God’s promise, Joseph acknowledges the child and names him Jesus (“Saviour”) and becomes, in the eyes of the Law, the legal father of Jesus. Thus, Jesus, through Joseph, is born a descendent of David. Matthew’s point in his infancy narrative is that Jesus is the Emmanuel promised of old – Isaiah’s prophecy has finally been fulfilled in Jesus: the virgin has given birth to a son, one who is a descendent of David’s house (through Joseph). Jesus is truly Emmanuel – “God is with us.”
In Christ, the Spirit of God who inspired the prophets to preach, who enabled the nation of Israel to enter into the covenant with Yahweh, intervenes and sanctifies all of human history.
The “mystery” of the Incarnation is not that God could become one of us – the inexplicable part is how and why God could love humankind enough to humble himself to take on the human condition and walk with us, talk with us, die for us.

We have reason to rejoice and to hope, for in our midst dawns Emmanuel – “God with us.”

Joseph, the “just” and “upright” man, is a model of compassion, forgiveness and faith for all of us who are mums and dads, children, brothers and sisters. God’s coming depends on “Josephs” – men and women of humility, selflessness and openness of heart and spirit – to welcome him and embrace his presence in our midst.

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Sermon

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Sentence

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.’ Isaiah 35:3-4

                                                                                                                             

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Collect  

Sustain us, O God, with the power of your love on our journey to meet the One who is coming:
strengthen our weak hands, make firm our feeble knees, and open blind eyes to the dawning of your kingdom, so that our hearts may rejoice as we behold the majesty of our God. We ask this through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

                                                                                                                                                      

Readings

This Week:

• Isaiah 35:1-10
• The Song of Mary
• James 5:7-10
• Matthew 11:2-11

• Next Week:

• Isaiah 7:10-16
• Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
• Romans 1:1-7
• Matthew 1:18-25

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A Thought to Ponder

Advent 3-
“Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.”
The picture of John the Baptiser in today’s Gospel is quite different from last Sunday’s thundering, charismatic figure preaching to the crowds along the Jordan. John has been imprisoned by Herod for publicly denouncing the king’s incestuous marriage to Herodias. Left to waste away in prison, John knew that his end was near. John had staked his life on proclaiming the coming of the Messiah, and his witness will soon cost him his life. Like any human being, John had to wonder if he had been deluding himself. John and the people of Judaism had been expecting a much different kind of Messiah than the gentle, humble Worker of wonders from Nazareth. And so, John sends friends to ask Jesus if he is, in fact, the long-awaited Messiah.
Jesus sends the messengers back to John to report all they have seen Jesus do, fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah and the prophets of old. While praising John for his faithful witness to the Messiah, Jesus tells his followers that great things will come to all who become prophets of the reign of God.
Advent/Christmas is the season of hope: The birth of Christ restores our dreams for “blossoming deserts” (Reading 1) and new harvests, for renewed relationships with God and with one another.
The Christ of Christmas comes to heal the divisions among families and friends, to re-create our world in the mercy and justice of the Messiah, to renew our lives in the joy and hope of the God of unimaginably endless love.
John’s question, Are you the Messiah? confronts us with the apparent silence of God in our secular, amoral society. We must come to recognize the Messiah in the humble, merciful, liberating person of Jesus, the healer and reconciler. The question Jesus pose – What did you go out to the desert to see? – challenges us to take on the hard and never-ending Advent work of conversion and re-creation, of rediscovering what we want are lives to be for and about.
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Sermon

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Sentence

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news. Mark 1:15

                                                                                                                             

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Collect  

God of all peoples, whose servant John came baptising and calling for repentance:
help us to hear his voice of judgement, that we may also rejoice in his word of promise, and be found pure and blameless in that glorious Day when Christ comes to rule the earth as Prince of Peace; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

                                                                                                                                                      

Readings

This Week:

• Isaiah 11:1-10
• Psalm 72:1-7, 18-21
• Romans 15:4-13
• Matthew 3:1-12

• Next Week:

• Isaiah 35:1-10
• The Song of Mary
• James 5:7-10
• Matthew 11:2-11

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A Thought to Ponder

Advent 2- Matthew 3:1-12

John the Baptist appeared, preaching the desert: “I am baptising you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
In today’s Gospel, John the Baptiser makes his appearance this Advent season, preaching a baptism of repentance and conversion of life.

Matthew’s details about John’s appearance are intended to recall the austere dress of the great prophet Elijah (2 Kings 1: 8). The Jews believed that Elijah would return from heaven to announce the long awaited restoration of Israel as God’s kingdom. For Matthew, this expectation is fulfilled in John the Baptiser. Through the figure of the Baptiser, the evangelist makes the “Old” Testament touch the “New.”
Matthew reports that John strikes a responsive chord in the people who have come from throughout the region to hear him at the Jordan River. He has strong words for the Pharisees and Sadducees who step up for his baptism but have no intention of embracing the spirit of conversion and renewal to make their own lives ready for the Messiah who comes.
In proclaiming the Messiah’s “baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire,” John employs the image of a “winnowing-fan.” A “winnowing-fan” was a flat, wooden, shovel-like tool, used to toss grain into the air. The heavier grain fell to the ground and chaff was blown away. In the same way, John says, the Messiah will come to gather the “remnant” of Israel and destroy the Godless.
In our own baptisms, we take on the role of prophet of Christ: to “proclaim” in our ministries, in our compassion and our kindness, in our commitment to what is right that Jesus the Messiah has come.
John’s message calls us to “live” our baptisms every day of our lives, growing in the “knowledge of the Lord” (Isaiah 11: 9) and living as “wheat” rather than lifeless straw (Matthew 3: 12).

Advent is the season for realising Isaiah’s vision of the “peaceable” kingdom: for seeking common ground, for recognising the humanity we all share and building upon our common interests, values and dreams.
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Sermon

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