This is the record of John

Sermon preached at Choral Evensong at St Alphege, Solihull on Sunday 13th December – Advent 3

Readings: Isaiah 35: 1-10 Matthew 11: 2-11
Choir Anthem: This is the Record of John by Orlando Gibbons


Before I arrived at St Alphege Church, three and half years ago, I had had very little exposure to serious church music. Well, over the last three and half years, I have had quite a lot of exposure and I am very grateful for it, and I have enjoyed it far more than I expected. And now that I have been here some time I have started to notice how certain pieces of music come round and different times of the year the Churches calendar and I start to look out for them and to enjoy them all the more.
Our anthem today is just one such example. This is the record of John by Orlando Gibbons. I find it a particularly distinctive anthem because of the very demanding countertenor solo, and we are very fortunate to be able to sing it. The composer is Orlando Gibbons, who lived from 1583-1625 and was one of the outstanding Anglican musicians of his period. Apparently his is particular known as a master of counterpoint, which is where more than one tune is being sung simultaneously by different parts. Nigel was explaining to me earlier that This is the record of John is written for five parts. There are places they are all singing different tunes, and then there are sudden contrasts when all the voices come together, as though to emphasise certain lines.
This is the record of John is a perfect anthem for the third Sunday in Advent when we think particularly about the John the Baptist and the preparations her urged for the coming of Jesus. Gibbon chose English over Latin and the words come from King James’ Authorised Version of the bible, John chapter 1, verses 19-23. These words come up in the gospel reading for Advent 3 in year B of the Revised Common Lectionary. John explains to the priests and Levites that he is not the Christ, nor even a prophet. When John is pressed to explain who he is he says, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord.” Here John the Baptist is quoting from the book of Isaiah, chapter 40. In Advent we always read a great deal from the prophet Isaiah. At present the OT readings set for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer are both ploughing their way through different sections of the prophet Isaiah. At Morning Prayer in Advent we say a canticle every day based on the words that we have already heard in this service from Isaiah 35.
The reason that we read so much Isaiah in Advent is that the book of Isaiah, especially that part of it which the scholars attribute to second Isaiah, is full of promises about the coming Messiah; God’s anointed one. Second Isaiah was writing in the sixth century BC when the Jews were in exile in Babylon. They were in a very bad way, utterly oppressed, unable to help themselves and a long way from their home in Jerusalem and the Promised Land. Into this experience of desolation God speaks a message of hope. God pours out this message through the prophet Second Isaiah, but he also pours it out through other prophets like Ezekiel and Daniel. Even the prophet Jeremiah, who is all doom and gloom in the build up to the exile, starts to preach a message of consolation and hope once the worst has occurred.
When we read these prophets from the exile period, and their great message of hope, it always a little bit difficult to pin down exactly what the hope is. There is lots of promises about joy and celebration. There is a great deal about the restoration of the Jews in Jerusalem. There are lots of promises about the strengthening of the weak, the healing of the deaf the blind and the lame, the uplifting of the oppressed. The Isaiah 35 that we read today also talks of environmental miracles; the wilderness blossoming with flowers, dry deserts being filled with water so that they can grow with beautiful trees and gardens that we might normally associate with Lebanon or Carmel. Although the hopes are not always clear, it is clear that many of them revolve around this Messiah, the anointed one of God.
It is also very difficult, reading these prophets’ messages of hope during the exile, to pin down exactly when these hopes and blessings might be realised, when they might come about. Some of hopes were spectacularly realised in 539 BC when Cyrus, the king of the Medes and Persians mounted a surprise attack on Babylon. He conquered the Babylonians and promptly announces that he wants the Jews to go back to Jerusalem. This was undoubtedly an extraordinary moment, but other promises remained unfilled and the Messiah figure was still awaited.
Then, eventually, John the Baptist bursts onto the scene, preparing the way of the Lord. His ministry is a great success, with many people coming for baptism and great expectations about the Messiah. When Jesus comes to him for baptism and John recognises him as the Lamb of God, the Son of God, the one on whom the spirit of God descended (John 1: 29-36) and from this point Jesus’ ministry grows, and John’s starts to shrink. Eventually John is put in prison, and it would seem that while in prison he starts to have doubts about whether Jesus really was the Messiah. In the reading we heard today John sends his disciples to Jesus to check if he is the Messiah. Jesus doesn’t give a simple “Yes” answer, but he does point to the evidence. The after John’s disciples are gone, we hear Jesus’ testimony about who John is. Jesus describes him as the greatest of all born of women. Meanwhile John is languishing in jail, full of doubts, and is eventually beheaded. The price of being a top-dog in the kingdom of heaven is very high.
As we leave here, let’s take with us those words of John’s which we heard in the Anthem, “Make straight the way of the Lord”. Jesus is coming. We need to get ready. We need to make straight his way, so that we can enter into our hearts. Are there crooked aspects of our lives that we need to straighten out? Are their relationships where healing and reconciliation is needed? Are there hurts or disappointments that we need deliverance from, which we need to move beyond? Advent is the time for this. Advent is the time to humbly lay these things before God, to offer the pain to God, to seek his healing. We can do this in prayer. Often it becomes more real if we talk about it with someone we trust. We can do this before a priest in confession; I’m going to confession next week. Above all we need to do it before God so that we can be filled with the promise Advent and of all God’s good gifts to us in the coming of Jesus.

Waiting on God

Thought for parish pewslip
Sunday 18th May 2008 – Trinity Sunday (Year A)

Readings: Isaiah 40: 12-17, 27-31 2 Cor 13:11-13 Matthew 28:16-20


On Trinity Sunday we reflect on the great mystery of God, who we say has three “persons”, perfectly united in the one essence of God. It was around 200 AD before the Church started to use the term “Trinity”, and the Church’s understanding of the Holy Trinity continued to develop over the next centuries. However, both of our New Testament readings today clearly show us that the understanding of God as three Persons was present right at the beginning of the Church.
Our reading from Isaiah is a reflection on the great majesty of God who is beyond all understanding and who displays such great power in creation. All nations, all peoples are as nothing when compared to God. The passage is written during the period when the Judeans were in exile in Babylon (6th Century BC). The Judeans had been calling on God to deliver them from exile, and the prophet assures them that God has not forgotten them and he will renew the strength of those who wait on him. God will do something new and they will rise up with wing like eagles.
Sometimes we can feel that God has forgotten us, or forgotten the society that we live in. Isaiah reminds us to renew our trust in the almighty, unknowable God, and to wait on him. The deliverance that we pray for will come. – Fr Gerard

Waiting for Deliverance

Preached at St Alphege, Solihull at Choral Evensong, 6.30pm 09/12/07 (Advent 2)

Readings: Isaiah 40:1-11 Psalm 80 2 Peter 3:8-15a

There is a theme of waiting for deliverance in our scripture readings today.
First of all the choir sang for us psalm 80. This psalm was clearly written during one of the low points of the history of the Jewish people, perhaps during the period when exile in Babylon in the 6th Century BC. The psalmist pleads with God to come and save his people. The psalmist compares Israel to a vine which the Lord brought out of Egypt and established in a fine vineyard, such that it prospered and grew and extended. It sent our branches to the sea, and shoots to the river. But now it feels to Israel as though God has abandoned the vine. The vineyard wall have fallen down and any person or animal who wants a grape can just stroll in and strip whatever they want from the vine.
So, the psalmist pleads with God, “You have taken so much trouble over this vine, gone to such lengths to nurture it and to help it flourish, why now have you abandoned it? Look down from heaven and have regard for this vine that your right hand has planted. Put away the vine’s enemies and restore the vine, so that Israel may be saved [paraphrased].”
Our reading from Isaiah chapter 40 comes from the later end of this traumatic period when the Jewish people were in exile. The prophet tells the people that comfort is at hand. They should take heart. Jerusalem’s penalty has been paid. She has served her term and has paid double for all her sins. Now, at last, God is coming. Prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight a highway for our God. Lift up the valleys, lay low the mountains for the Lord is coming and his glory shall be revealed. Because even though human beings come and go like grass, and grow up and fade away like the flowers of the field, the word of the Lord stands for ever. So stand up on the high mountain and proclaim the good news. God is coming with great might, and when he comes he will take care of his people, like a gentle Shepard taking care over his flock.
For Christians this prophecy is most perfectly fulfilled in the coming of Christ, but it is also fulfilled in the end of the exile in Babylon. This came about in a dramatic and extraordinary way. In 555BC the Persians and Medes conquered Babylon. Soon afterwards King Cyrus of Persia encouraged the Jews to go back to Jerusalem and to start rebuilding the temple. (Ezra 1:1-4)
This theme of waiting for God to come and deliver his people is also picked up in our New Testament lesson from the second book of Peter. Peter, and indeed all the church have been waiting for the second coming of Christ. Jesus had always been very clear that nobody, not even Jesus himself, knew the time of the second coming, but despite this there was a clear expectation in the early church that it would happen quickly. But the years went by and after a time scoffers had appeared, saying “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” In other words, “You should forget him, he’s not coming”.
Peter responds by telling us that 1000 years in God’s sight is like a day, and a day is like a 1000 years. The Lord is not being slow in making good his promise, rather he is being patient. He is allowing time for people to come to repentance, so that no one may perish. Peter remains adamant in his expectation that the whole earth will be destroyed by fire, but we await the new heavens and the new earth where righteousness is at home. Therefore we should continue to wait for the coming of the Lord, living lives of holiness and godliness, without spot or blemish and be grateful that the Lord is so patient.
Well 2000 years have gone by and we are still waiting. Surely God is being extremely patient!
But we must not underestimate what has happened in the last 2000 years. Christianity has spread from the original 12 disciples to cover about a third of the world’s population. And it is important to notice that Christianity continues to move forward and grow, especially in Africa, in the former communist countries and particularly in China. In the UK, and in much of the Western Europe we might well feel that Christianity has been in decline for 100 years, but that decline has no more significance than a big wave reseeding when the worldwide tide is still coming firmly in. So we should not underestimate the value of 2000 years of patience.
But let’s remind ourselves of Peter’s advice about this time of waiting. Peter describes it as a time to come to repentance, in which we should live lives of holiness and goodness. He says that we should strive to be found by the Lord at peace, without spot or blemish. What does he mean by this? What does it mean to come to repentance?
Let’s stop for a moment and think about this word, repentance. It is a word we use a lot in Advent, but what does it mean? Well I think it means many things.
Repentance means putting God in the first place in our lives and making sure that everything else (family, job, house, car, friends) finds its rightful places in our lives under God.
Repentance means knowing our need of God. It means remembering that it was God who created us, it is God who sustains us and it is above all God who wants our good. He wants to share with us the life of heaven.
Repentance means letting to of our own will, in order to follow the things that God wills for us. He made us, and knows better than we do, what is good for us.
Repentance means turning away from sin and all rebellion against God, in order to be obedient to God and to follow him in all that he wants from us.
Repentance means owning up to our sin, our human frailties, our fears, our inner hurts and entrusting all these to God’s mercy and compassion. In this way we become free of sin, from fears, from hurts and they cease to have power over us. This allows us to walk in the way of God without carrying loads of baggage.
Coming to repentance is therefore a process rather than an event. It takes time, so we can be grateful for the time that God has given us on this earth. Over time we orientate ourselves ever more perfectly in God’s love for us. Little by little we become more precise in our adherence to God’s will. Step by step we let go of our baggage that gets in the way and learn live in the freedom of God’s love.
So this use the time we have this Advent to come to repentance. Let’s make sure that God is in the first place in our lives, and other things find their right place under him. Let’s be ready to let go of our own will, in order to follow the things that God wills for us. Let’s own up to our sins and put them behind us. Living repentance will bring us to live lives of holiness and godliness, peace without spot or blemish, just as Peter recommends. And if we do this we prepare ourselves well for the second coming of Christ, or indeed for our own deaths if these should come first.