Advent 2

Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near.

! Prepare the way for the Lord.

! Make straight paths for him.

!

It wasn't a diamond.

In fact, it wasn't any kind of jewel.

So what was it that made this 24.7 kilograms piece of rock so special?

It was a meteorite from Mars.

Now, there are quite a few of these, not a lot of them,

but there are a few of them around,

but this reckons to be the largest known piece of Mars on planet Earth.

And it was not without controversy as to whether it was right to sell it

and who bought it and all the rest of it,

but that's not really the point that I want us to think about right now.

The point that I would invite us to think about

is how there is so much fascination

over the notion

of something not of this world

entering our world.

Hold on to that image.

The message of John the Baptist,

the message of Advent,

and why we celebrate,

why we engage this season

as Christmas approaches,

it's not something we just do

for the sake of having a liturgical calendar.

It's something that we do

as a reminder that is an important thing

that we need throughout our whole lives,

throughout the whole year of our lives,

every single day.

And that is to be refreshed in

and reminded of the importance

of getting ready,

of being ready,

of being prepared.

And as John's message was one

of pointing towards the coming

of the ministry of Jesus on Earth,

so that dynamic of expectation

is set before us

as the very thing that we need

to kindle every single day

of our lives.

Getting ready to meet

with the ultimate visitor

to this world.

Getting ready to meet

with the one who enters this world

who is not of this world.

Not to meet with a chunk of rock

from Mars,

or even a living thing

from Mars,

but to meet

with the living one

who created heaven

and earth

and Mars

and everything

in the whole universe.

The theme of getting ready

is something that is

a very widespread message

in wider media

as Christmas approaches.

But it tends to carry

that meaning

of getting ready

for hosting a big party.

And the more we kind of

look into that

and read into it

and see what people

have to say about it,

the less it has to do

with the kind of

expectation

and getting ready

that God would probably

want us to be engaged with.

A few weeks ago

I was reading in the,

I'm not sure if it was

the November or December

edition of Good Housekeeping.

Yes, I did say that.

I'm not a subscriber.

I get it from a mum

who does enjoy reading it.

And when we were visiting her

and it's always a copy

laid out there,

I'll fess up to it,

I do quite enjoy reading it.

But there was an article there

entitled

How to Prep Your Home

for Guests

with Christmas on the Horizon.

I'm just going to

briefly read through

these 22 tips.

Number one,

consider the layout

of your home

before you do anything.

Number two,

there's a whole load

I'm missing out here

and I'm not even going to do it,

I'm just giving you

the headline points.

Number two,

always clean

before you put up

the decorations.

Oh, help.

Number three,

be proactive

about pine needle pickup.

If you have a real tree,

invest in a tree skirt

to catch fallen needles.

Number four,

leave room for outer wear.

Create a designated space

for your front door

for guests' coats

and shoes.

That way no one

will end up

tripping over a rogue boot.

Number five,

lay out the dinner table

before the big day.

Number six,

prepare what food you can

in advance.

Number seven,

declutter your fridge

before you do

the Christmas shop.

Eight,

clean the fridge

while it's mostly empty.

Nine,

make use of other rooms

for food storage

if you can.

Ten,

empty the freezer.

Two,

eleven,

inspect your cookware

ahead of Christmas Day.

Twelve,

clean your oven

in advance of the day.

thirteen,

make the beds

with care.

This is hilarious.

Number fourteen,

create a space

for guests

to store their clothes.

Clear a shelf

and rail

for them

and add velvet hangers.

Number fifteen,

welcome your guests

with beverage stations.

make a travel kettle,

move a travel kettle

or a pod coffee machine

and cups into the guest room

to create their own

little hot drink station.

Milk and sugar

make a nice addition too,

although you'll need

a mini fridge

for the latter.

Sixteen,

provide a laundry bag

for dirty washing.

Seventeen,

fluff the towels.

Eighteen,

if you really want

to go to gold,

oh my word,

you could provide

dressing gowns

and slippers.

The things we love

to wear at home

but that are impractical

to pack in a suitcase.

Nineteen,

leave amenities

out for your guests.

It's a thoughtful touch

to provide soap,

shampoo

and toothpaste.

Twenty,

deep clean the toilet

ahead of their arrival.

Scrub the seat,

lid and bowl

with a dedicated

bathroom cleaner.

Twenty-one,

we're coming to the end now.

Literally.

Don't forget

about the toilet brush.

Deep clean this

by filling the holder

with hot soapy water

and swilling it around

with the brush in place.

Tip that away

and rinse the brush holder.

Repeat with cold water

and a couple of drops

of bleach.

Soak for ten minutes

then pour away

and rinse.

And finally,

last but not least,

number twenty-two,

give the shower

a deep clean too.

Well, I trust you've done

all that already.

I mean, come on.

The irony is

that the first,

that appears towards

the end of that

particular edition,

the first half

is full of articles

telling you

how to relax

and not be stressed

written by

fully qualified

life coaches.

How

might Advent

as a theme

that's not just

confined to December,

how might it

help us

to get ready

in a genuine way?

How does God

want us to get ready

and to be ready

for him?

How might this

truly be a time

and an invitation

to reconnect

with God

in a deeper,

deeper way?

I just want to

draw attention

to these words

of John the Baptist.

Repent

for the kingdom

of heaven

has come near.

prepare the way

for the Lord

and make straight

paths for him.

That breaks down

into three parts.

The first is repent.

To turn round,

literally,

is what it means,

but to turn around

not just as a

one-off thing

that we do

at the point

where we become

a Christian,

at that point

of conversion,

but rather

that call

to turn round

is an ongoing

thing every day

of our lives.

It's a daily

call,

not just a one-off.

And I guess

the question

it puts to all

of us

is every day

to ask.

When we think

about turning

around,

are you walking

away from God

or walking

towards him?

I can't answer

that question

for you.

Only you can.

My guess is

if you were told

that over there

there's a chunk

of rock in the

corner

that's arrived

from Mars,

you'd probably

be a little bit

interested.

You probably

wouldn't want

to pay

three point

something million

pounds for it.

But my guess

is you'd walk

towards it.

If the

fundamental

claims of

the Christian

gospel

are true,

that the

author of

heaven and

earth

has entered

earth,

why would

we want

to walk

away from

him?

So as

we think

of those

words of

John the

Baptist

that say

repent,

turn around,

let that be

a daily

question.

In our

actions,

our decisions,

our values,

our thought

patterns,

are we

walking away

or are we

walking towards

him?

Second

thing is

that John

goes on

to say

the

kingdom

of heaven

has come

near.

I'm not

sure that we

really recognise

that in our

daily lives.

That we

live in

that time

in history,

perhaps this

becomes eclipsed

by the fact

that some

2,000 years

has passed

since Jesus'

earthly ministry

and the words

of John the

Baptist,

but we

tend to

lose sight

of the

fact that

our time

on earth

in history

is actually

really,

really short.

But that

has been

preceded by

Jesus'

time on

earth,

by his

life,

his death

and his

resurrection.

And our

time here

in this

space is

preceded by

that which

he has

already done.

and therefore

the kingdom

of heaven

is a

continual

reality that

shines over

every single

day of our

lives here,

but we just

don't wake

up to it.

The kingdom

of heaven

is here.

So much

of what is

happening in

our lives

spiritually,

because it's

invisible,

we don't

necessarily see

it, we

don't perhaps

connect with

it, but it's

there and

we need

to be

aware.

And I

would suggest

that being

ready, being

prepared, is

about knowing

that God

is active,

even when we

can't see how

he is being

active.

Let me read

to you a

true story

that it

goes back

to 1990,

before the

start of the

Bosnian

War.

Malcock

family lived

next to a

small lake

in the

northwestern

village of

Jezero.

One day

in 1990,

Smejo

Malcock

returned from

a trip to

Austria with

an unusual

gift for his

teenage sons,

David and

Katib.

It was an

aquarium with

two goldfish.

Two years

passed before

Bosnian-Serb

forces advanced

on Jezero.

The women

and children

fled and the

men stayed

back to

resist the

attacking

soldiers.

Smejo

Malcock was

killed.

When his

wife,

Fahima,

sneaked

back into

the destroyed

village to

bury her

husband and

rescue what

remained of

her belongings,

she took

pity on the

fish that

was still

there in

the aquarium.

She let

them out

into the

nearby lake,

saying to

herself,

this way,

they might

be more

fortunate than

us.

Fast forward

to 1995.

Fahima

Malcock

returned with

her sons to

Jezero.

Nothing but

ruins remained

of their home

and their

village.

Through misty

eyes, she

looked towards

the lake.

Glimpsing

something strange,

she walked

over to the

shore.

The whole

lake was

shining from

thousands of

golden fish

in it, she

said.

It made me

immediately think

of my husband.

This was

something he

left me that

I'd never

hoped for.

During the

years of

killing all

around the

lake, life

underwater had

flourished.

After their

return,

Fahima

Malcock and

her sons

started caring

for and

selling the

goldfish.

By 1998,

homes, stores

and coffee

shops all

over the

region featured

aquariums

containing fish

from Jezero.

The Malcock

house, rebuilt

on its original

site, was one

of the biggest

in the village,

with two new

cars parked

in front, and

the family

saying that

they have enough

money to quit

worrying about

the future.

David

Malcock said

it was a

kind of special

gift from

our father.

All the

while, it

seemed that

there was

just war,

chaos and

destruction in

all directions.

Things were

happening

underneath the

surface.

And our

focus can be

so much on

what is going

wrong with

the world

and what

might be

uncertainties

and within

our own

lives, tragedies

even.

Let's not

lose sight

of those

words of

promise.

The kingdom

of heaven

is at

hand.

It is

near.

Far, far

nearer than

we tend

to

realise.

And the

invitation to

be ready

to meet

with Jesus,

to encounter

him and

his Holy

Spirit in

our daily

lives, I

would suggest,

is an

invitation

to draw

closer and

closer to

that truth,

to ask

God daily

to connect

us even

deeper to

the things

that we

cannot see,

to open

our spiritual

eyes and

ears and

hearts and

minds.

to what

God is

doing.

So repent,

says John,

turn around,

come near.

Because the

kingdom of

heaven is

near.

It's about

nurturing a

sense of

expectation.

Not a

sense of

expectation and

excitement that

you're going to

suddenly encounter

a chunk of

rock that has

entered our

planet from

another planet

but that

sense of

expectation that

in our

daily lives

we can

meet with

the creator

and sustainer

of the

universe.

The thing

is, is our

dispositions, our

life experiences

or whatever,

lead us perhaps

not to have such

a heightened

sense of

expectation.

There's a story

of two sons,

they were twin

brothers and

one was an

optimist and

the other was

a pessimist

by disposition.

There's an

experiment,

the parents

decided to

carry out

an experiment

one particular

Christmas.

They bought

them both a

new bike

but they

decided that

they would

hide one

bike away

and wrap

the other

one up

and so

they gave

the pessimist

the bike

on the day.

He opened

it up,

opened up

this box,

saw the

bike inside,

pulled the

box around

from it and

took it out of

the box and

said, oh

thank you,

thanks,

this looks

great.

It looks like

it's probably

going to rain

though.

I probably

won't be able

to ride this

today and

I'm not

sure I

might fall

off.

I'm a

little bit

nervous about

this but

I'm sure

everything will

be okay but

I kind of

might not be

very good at

riding this and

I'm a little bit

nervous about

this but

hopefully I

won't fall

off and so

it went on.

His brother,

the optimist,

had an

identical looking

box, he

opened it up

and inside

there was just

a load of

straw.

And he

pulled out

the straw,

there was

no bike

in sight.

Immediately

shot out of

the room and

he was running

around in the

garden looking

in all directions.

His parents

thought, what on

earth has

happened to him?

He looked so

excited.

Eventually they

managed to

catch him,

called him

back in and

said, what

are you

doing?

He said, I

just know

there's a

pony out here

somewhere.

We're all

different and

I'll leave

you to

decide which

personality

type, which

disposition you

come into.

But regardless

of what our

natural disposition

may be, no

matter how we

may have been

shaped and

formed by the

experiences that

life has brought

us, the same

gospel invites us

to shift that

perspective.

And that can

be hard work,

but we are

called to be

expectant, to

know that the

kingdom of God

is indeed at

hand.

So, we're

called to

repent, to

turn around, to

walk in the

direction of the

one who's come

to us, from

outside of this

world into this

world.

We're called to

live like the

kingdom is near,

that it's at

hand to be

expectant.

But John

says, prepare

the way for

the Lord, make

straight paths

for him.

What might

that mean?

I want to

suggest that it

simply means we

pray.

And we pray.

And we

pray.

That we pray

without ceasing.

To make

straight paths

for him

means praying

not just as an

isolated activity,

something that we

do if we come

to church, or

as a one

point in the

day when we

put time aside

to spend time

in prayer, as

vital and as

important as all

of those things

are.

But that we

seek that

continual

connection through

practicing the

presence of

God and

knowing the

presence of

God throughout

our day.

To make

straight paths

for him.

To pray.

To know that

we are not

just connecting

with somebody

from another

planet, but

with the

author of the

whole universe.

watchman knee

said this

about prayer.

Our prayers

lay the track

down on which

God's power

can come.

Like a mighty

locomotive,

his power is

irresistible,

people.

But it

cannot reach

us without

rails.

Let's be

clear.

All that

God does

for us is

God's

initiative.

It's in

his power,

it's in

his sovereignty.

It's not

about us

manipulating

him.

But

neither is

our relationship

with God a

passive thing

where we

have nothing

to do.

The invitation

to follow

Jesus,

the invitation

to repent

and to live

like the

kingdom is

near,

to make

straight paths

for him,

is that

invitation to

lay down

those tracks

on which

God's power

can come.

So let's

do that now

as we

pray.

Let's

pray together.

Lord,

as we

think of

these words

of John

the Baptist,

firstly we

hear the

words that

call us

to repentance,

to turn

around.

We say

to you

that we

are sorry

for when

we have

walked away

from you

rather than

walked towards

you.

forgive us

for our

words and

our actions

and our

inactions

for when

we have

not lived

the lives

that you

would have

us live.

Lord,

we thank

you that

that call

to repent

is an

invitation

that you

call us

back to

you,

to walk

towards you,

that we

may know

that we

are forgiven

and that

we are

restored.

So Lord,

help us in

our daily

lives to

live in

that sense

of expectation

knowing that

your kingdom

is near,

that heaven

is at

hand in

ways that

we may

not see

straight away.

Help us

to live in

a way that

is expectant

and hopeful.

Lord,

when we

are prone

to think

negatively

or

despairingly,

break through

those barriers

and enable

us to live

with a sense

of hope

and expectation.

Lord,

help us

to make

straight paths

for you.

Help us

to connect

with you

every day.

that your

gospel of

hope,

the good

news,

all that

you would

have for

your people

may come

to us

and come

through us

into the

lives of

others.

Lord,

fill us

afresh with

your Holy

Spirit now

and as we

come to

share communion

together

and in

the time

to come.

in

Jesus

name

we

pray.

Amen.