Compline (night prayer) - Monday, 14 December 2020

Night prayer (compline) is the ultimate end to a day as we bring all that has challenged, blessed or burdened us and lay it all at the foot of the cross as we head for bed.

Can't make it to church - Sunday, 16 December 2018

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 to, "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.

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.

Pink Candle?

"You've got it wrong!" The congregation shouted as one, "The pink candle is next week!"
Actually I hadn't and today was the rose candle for we were rejoicing (gaudate).

Today was just massive, after all how can a day that starts with a BCP Communion be anything but cool?stamrt with the Decalogue and keep partying until the end - which was a wonderful Taizé Communion. Add a Common Worship Family Communion in the middle and that is indeed a recipe for a wonderful day - not sure why some consider it to be work, isn't it what we'd be doing if we hadn't been collared?

I find myself writing a sermon even when I'm not preaching because it's not only fun but makes me study and work to extend the stuff I know and that has to be good.

The engagement today was great and the opportunity to be pastoral presented itself in a number of conversations. I think it's a healthy sign to find yourself still in he church building over an hour after the service has ended because conversations are taking place. So impressed that one person has delivered 700 of the 1,000 Christmas card service leaflets - that is true commitment indeed.

Got to do some of the didactic stuff regarding 3rd Sunday of Advent and 4th Sunday of Lent - Gaudete and Laetare Sunday - two 'rejoices' in the penitential round.

Lord I think you for the opportunities taken today - help me to see where lines should be drawn and to say what I should and omit what I safely and confidently can. Help me to see past the obvious and head for the incredible and make me more like You this week,

Nd now it's almost 02:00 and there's a visit to the crem for 09:00 - smooth traffic, short queues and a job done well please -
And Lord help me to minister your grace in the funerals, visits, nativities and the like today - may You be seen in all I do,

Can't make it to church - 4 December 2016

It's the Second Sunday of Advent and as we head to Jesus’ birth in a Bethlehem we look at the prophets and the promise of Messiah – very different as our society has changed and evolved over the years, and yet, the insight that Christ’s birth has some important personal meaning for us as Christians, how does this change us?

 “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.”

Jesse – the father of eight sons, the youngest being David whose line is that from which Jesus comes; have a look at Matthew one for the full list!

What’s the stump? Who knows, there were so many times in the history of the Jewish people when the tree was chopped, broken and generally reduced to a stump: Exile, war, assignation, sin – you name it, it's there. Pick a time and you'll find somewhere the ‘stump’ label fits.

But today as we deal with Jesus and prophecy supporting his coming – and this passage is surely one of them as it speaks of the coming of someone who will change everything, what do we have?

The lion and the lamb lying down together – real image or political – who cares? There is an end to war!

There are within the Old Testament forty or so prophesies (my college notes say 44 but I couldn't find the page with the list on to check).

If you posted a letter with just a name and the location on it would it get to the person? The prophesies are a bit like that and yet I had an experience some years back where a letter addressed to "Vic in Tamworth, a Vicar from Ware," made it to my door.

The postman found me because it knew my name, where I was, where I came from and what I did. We know that Jesus is the Christ because we have forty-four (or so) things in the envelope that help,us find Him too!

Paul, as ever, does it different as he talks about what Jesus’ death and resurrection means to us but he does it using the prophets too. Starting with a ‘thumbs up’ to that which was written before, telling us that it was put there for our instruction, to give us encouragement and hope. The ‘us’ here are believers and  ‘God fearers’ – this is not, as I have heard some preach it, a supremacist statement regarding ‘the Church’ but is a statement written in awe that so many come under the shadow of the Cross. But there’s more as we read that Jesus, the Christ, “has become a servant of the circumcised.” Paul is His ambassador to the Gentiles (non Jews).

This is something that unites Jews and Gentiles – Jesus has come for all of us – now that's a Christmas present you won’t get at Argos! And Paul points to this by referring to prophecies (which is handy as that's today's focus).

Have you ever thought about the fact that our second coming expectation matches the first coming of the Messiah for the Jews? They won't be missing Him the second time I can guarantee it.

And then, with Paul, the job of bringing Jew and Gentile together into Church, and this needs love and hospitality and stuff, sharing, caring and being one together. Many different strands united in the one (realised) hope in Jesus – identified as followers of the Way. Our goal today as Church too!

So we come at last to the Gospel where John the Baptist gets the spotlight – this always strikes me as odd as next week, being all about him, sort of steals the thunder and gives us a bit of the same feel again next week. Perhaps that's because he's a bit important, more than many think.

The world is in a spot of turmoil as we find Trump, Brexit, Zac Goldsmith losing his seat in Richmond. The stability of the things around us has been shaken and removed. This is surely the time when we need someone coming to call us to change our ways and ‘seek the Lord whilst he may be found’.

A lone voice crying out to someone hoped for, that's what John the Baptist was. But the people were hoping for a Saviour then, and the Messiah and His hope and health-bringing presence were in every Person's psyche and thoughts. My question is, “Aren't they still today?” We just don't realise it!

The problem is that we have turned away from looking to Jesus and now look for this salvation in position, possession and power. We've made Christmas about Christmas, not Jesus, after all we've filled our churches and homes with trees and have probably picked up the Argos catalogue more than we have picked up our Bibles!

Could it be that we are now the people John is calling to repent?

Are we perhaps the brood of vipers that need to be washed clean and start again in our passion with renewed promise to deny ourselves and follow the Christ?

Are our hearts as cold as ice and have we become the Pharisees, that having found in our Bibles, are the people we so often detest?

John is a real partypooper as he appears at our birthday party for Jesus, asking each of us whether we really know Him!

Are we the gatecrashers and John is merely the security seeking to make prophecies real and make us real into the bargain? We want to party – he wants us to acknowledge who we aren't and who Jesus is in our lives so that the Christ’s pardon, won on the cross, might be ours and our hearts His?

Well?

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.

Romans 15.4-13
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.

As it is written,
‘Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles and sing praises to your name’;

and again he says,
‘Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people’;

and again,
‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him’;

and again Isaiah says,
‘The root of Jesse shall come, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles shall hope.’

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

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 baptised 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 baptise 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 baptise 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 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.

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.

Can't make it to church? 20 December 2015

Advent four and we've reached the last step in our Bible trail to Christmas with Mary as the focus. One of the true heroes of the faith, lauded by some and ignored by others and yet she is most definitely someone quite special indeed. as the fourth candle is lit we pray:

God our Father, the angel Gabriel told the virgin Mary

That she was to be the mother of your Son.
Though Mary was afraid, she responded to your call with joy.
Help us, whom you call to serve you, to share like her in your great work of bringing to our world your love and healing.
We ask this through Jesus Christ,  the light who is coming into the world.

Blessed be God for ever.

So what is it all about this morning? The simple answer is the promise of God that He will send His solution to all the world's problems - Jesus - and that the means of His coming will be more than a little out of the ordinary.

Jesus is the one prophesied about in Micah - the promised son who is to be a steadfast shepherd of the flock. He is, in effect, the one true and final sacrifice which has come into the world - which accounts for the problems some have with the Hebrews passage! The reality is that in Jesus the need for ritual and sacrifice was coming to an end and in its place there was going to be relationship instead. Sacrifices, needing to be repeated every year were not perfect, if they were then there would only be need of such a thing once - but in Jesus we see an atonement (a reconciliation) which needs occur but once for ALL creation. Simple when we look at it like that, isn't it?

And how will this gift to the world come about? 

By the simple yes of a young woman, Mary, who accepts the role of 'god bearer' (theotokos) even though her 'Yes' could be the path to disgrace and even death. When she accepted the commission for the angel she had nothing other than 'Yes' - how would we fare in her place?

This what makes the Gospel so good today as we encounter two women at opposite ends of fertility who both experience miraculous goings on it the baby department and we have in this the first encounter of he who is to be John the Baptist and Jesus, the Christ. We have a desperate nation in Micah who are told that their consolation will come and the recognition that this is to be found in one who will the the once and for all perfect sacrifice. So today, wherever you find yourself, regardless of what it is, listen to God as He says that He has plans to rescue you for the isolation and oppression and replace them with steadfastness and a joy which comes through the Spirit of the Living, once and for all time sacrifice, Jesus.

And so we begin our reflection and prayer using the words of the Collect:

God our redeemer

who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the mother of your Son:
grant that, as she looked for his coming as our Saviour,
so we may be ready to greet him when he comes again as our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen

one couldn't - one shouldn't - God did!

Micah 5.2-5a

The Lord says,

“Bethlehem Ephrathah, you might not be an important town in the nation of Judah. But out of you will come for me a ruler over Israel. His family line goes back to the early years of your nation. It goes all the way back to days of long ago.”

The Lord will hand over his people to their enemies.  That will last until the pregnant woman bears her promised son.  Then the rest of his relatives in Judah will return to their land.  That promised son will stand firm and be a shepherd for his flock. The Lord will give him the strength to do it.  The Lord his God will give him the authority to rule.  His people will live safely. His greatness will reach from one end of the earth to the other. And he will be our peace…

Hebrews 10.5-10

So when Christ came into the world, he said,

“You didn’t want sacrifices and offerings. Instead, you prepared a body for me.  You weren’t pleased with burnt offerings and sin offerings."

Then I said, ‘Here I am. It is written about me in the book. I have come to do what you want, my God.’ ”

First Christ said,  “You didn’t want sacrifices and offerings. You didn’t want burnt offerings and sin offerings.  You weren’t pleased with them.” He said this even though they were offered in keeping with the law. 

Then he said, “Here I am. I have come to do what you want.”  He did away with the shadow of the good things that were coming.  He did it to put in place the good things themselves. We have been made holy by what God wanted.  We have been made holy because Jesus Christ offered his body once and for all time.

Luke 1.39-55

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in Judea’s hill country. There she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.  When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby inside her jumped. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she called out, 

“God has blessed you more than other women. And blessed is the child you will have! But why is God so kind to me? Why has the mother of my Lord come to me? As soon as I heard the sound of your voice, the baby inside me jumped for joy. You are a woman God has blessed. You have believed that the Lord would keep his promises to you!”

Mary said, 

“My soul gives glory to the Lord. My spirit delights in God my Saviour. He has taken note of me even though I am not considered important. From now on all people will call me blessed. 

The Mighty One has done great things for me. His name is holy.

He shows his mercy to those who have respect for him, from parent to child down through the years.

He has done mighty things with his powerful arm.

He has scattered those who are proud in their deepest thoughts.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones. But he has lifted up people who are not considered important.

He has filled with good things those who are hungry. But he has sent away empty those who are rich.

He has helped the people of Israel, who serve him.

He has always remembered to be kind to Abraham and his children down through the years.

He has done it just as he promised to our people of long ago.”

Post Communion Prayer

Heavenly Father,
who chose the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the mother of the promised saviour: fill us your servants with your grace, that in all things we may embrace your holy will and with her rejoice in your salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Baptism of Jesus, the Christ

Man on the radio talking about baptism
Bishop on the telephone
Chap in the studio
All wanting a baptism that works
Words need to be right or it doesn't work
Well that's what they say

Elsewhere
Two thousand years ago
Two thousand  miles away
There are two men standing in a river
No worry about words
Or Accessibility
Or Indices of Multiple Deprivation
Or Cultural attitudes

Just the call to 'Come'
Come and repent
Come and renounce evil
Turn away from our sins
Choose God not the Devil

But that was then and so today
Here and now
They are
Words that are rejected
And in their rejection there's rejoicing
But not from God

But back to the river

It's not about the words used
It's about the Word made flesh
It's not about the christening gown
Nor the cake the Grandmother's made
Nor the party that's waiting
Nor being popular with those outside the door

It is so simple really:
It's all about repentance - turning from sin
(Never been popular)

It's all about belief
(Not that popular - nothing new here either!)

It's all about submission
(Can we say that?)

It's all about obedience
(Which is good if others obeying I guess)

About joining
Joining in - signing up - being part
(Discipleship comes later)

Receiving the Holy Spirit
(Equipped, enables, released to be who we were made to be)

Baptism of Jesus
The beginning of a ministry
The acceptance of a calling to be, do, think and act
To live with, and for, and through God, with love

Beginning of the earthly ministry of Jesus

Beginning of end for John the Baptist

Daily Office -June 24

The Birth of John the Baptist

Psalm 80
Hear, O Shepherd of Israel, you that led Joseph like a flock;
Shine forth, you that are enthroned upon the cherubim, before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your mighty strength and come to our salvation.
Turn us again, O God; show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.
O Lord God of hosts, how long will you be angry at your people’s prayer?
You feed them with the bread of tears; you give them abundance of tears to drink.
You have made us the derision of our neighbours and our enemies laugh us to scorn.
Turn us again, O God of hosts; show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.
You brought a vine out of Egypt;
You drove out the nations and planted it.
You made room around it, and when it had taken root, it filled the land.

The hills were covered with its shadow and the cedars of God by its boughs.
It stretched out its branches to the Sea and its tendrils to the River.
Why then have you broken down its wall, so that all who pass by pluck off its grapes?
The wild boar out of the wood tears it off, and all the insects of the field devour it.
Turn again, O God of hosts, look down from heaven and behold;
Cherish this vine which your right hand has planted, and the branch that you made so strong for yourself.
Let those who burnt it with fire, who cut it down, perish at the rebuke of your countenance.
Let your hand be upon the man at your right hand, the son of man you made so strong for yourself.
And so will we not go back from you; give us life, and we shall call upon your name.
Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts;
show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.

Psalm 82
God has taken his stand in the council of heaven;
in the midst of the gods he gives judgement:
'How long will you judge unjustly and show such favour to the wicked?
'You were to judge the weak and the orphan; defend the right of the humble and needy;
'Rescue the weak and the poor; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
‘They have no knowledge or wisdom; they walk on still in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
'Therefore I say that though you are gods and all of you children of the Most High,
'Nevertheless, you shall die like mortals and fall like one of their princes.’

Arise, O God and judge the earth, for it is you that shall take all nations for your possession.

Malachi 4
See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

Remember the teaching of my servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.

Matthew 11.2-19
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. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John came; and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. Let anyone with ears listen!

‘But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one another,
“We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
   we wailed, and you did not mourn.”
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon”; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.’

The Collect
Almighty God,
by whose providence your servant John the Baptist
      was wonderfully born,
and sent to prepare the way of your Son our Saviour
by the preaching of repentance:
lead us to repent according to his preaching
and, after his example,
constantly to speak the truth, boldly to rebuke vice,
and patiently to suffer for the truth's sake;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Prepare the way of the Lord

So there they were,
a nation who hadn't heard from God for a long time,
not a word from Him,
not even a postcard!
No, not for a very long time indeed,
four hundred years to be exact.
They'd made religion what they wanted it to be;
there were those who were religious,
those who were 'right' and,
well you know -
those who just wanted to live their own way!
And then,
from nowhere it seems,
this bloke,
this 'nutter' dressed in bits of Camel,
eating locusts and honey,
and (to be honest) in need of a bath, shave and haircut,
comes shouting out of the wilderness.
He says he's the front man for,
for God's solution!
Would you believe it?
Nothing for all that time and then,
there there he is,
shouting about repenting,
turning around and walking away from their sin.
making twisted ways straight,
talking about one who was coming,
and something about sandals and laces too!
Talking about:
judgement,
justice,
the Messiah;
talking about the end of the world.

What on earth did he know of the Mayans?