Sunday 12^th December 2010.

Matthew 11: 2 – 11

John the Baptist’s question of Jesus ‘are you the one, or is it someone else we are waiting for’, is one that people are still asking. John, who had been chosen by God to prepare the way for Jesus., who had foretold that someone else would come and baptise, someone so much greater than he; the one chosen to Baptise Christ in the River Jordan, for all his belief, when faced with prison the doubts crept in. If we are truthful - how very human John was, and not just very human but perhaps also quite comforting that someone chosen before his birth to prepare the way for Christ, could have doubts, could wonder if he had got it all wrong.

We can hardly be surprised by John’s question. He was certain he had been right that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah, but where was the power, where the fulfilment of the promise, that long awaited promise, for nothing seemed to have changed. When John called people to repent he really expected to see change, but the only change he could see was that he, himself, was now in prison and soon to face death. Surely that couldn’t be what the prophets of old meant when they talked about the coming of the long awaited Messiah. For John who had had such hope, such expectations, all really seemed to be lost.

It is, I think, just those emotions expressed by John who sums up Advent, for while we know there is hope, we know Christmas will come, but we are made to confront all that is wrong, all that is lacking both in our personal lives and in the lives of the church.

 It is a season in which the readings focus on the contradiction between the sometimes harsh reality of the earthly world and the hopeful dreams of the kingdom which is to come. In Isaiah, the image of the

 Wilderness as transformed by God’s hand is described quite vividly: ‘for waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground; springs of water.’ From the despair that is wilderness shall come hope.

As we think of those words we need to remember the fear the desert brought into the hearts of the Jewish people both in the time of Isaiah and John the Baptist, for they were true wildernesses., places of great danger, places to be avoided, places where you could die if you got lost.

I am sure many of us wish that our country was not so crowded, but it does mean that our environment doesn’t normally involve such a wilderness. However when the snows came unexpectantly the traffic jam on the A217 became unnerving, I suspect many people trapped there and on the M25 felt they were in a wilderness. The familiar views regularly passed at speed took on a whole new appearance in the middle of the night when it took perhaps two hours to cover a mile; the warmth of home seemed a far off place.

But the concept of the wilderness is not restricted to physical places, we can also feel we are in the wilderness in the safety of our homes, even when we are surrounded by friends, for the hardest wilderness of all is that spiritual wilderness which can so easily take a hold on people’s lives. And like the snows on the roads they can come suddenly and unexpectedly. How often when we see the bereaved, the home less, people suffering abuse can we see in their eyes that look of despair because of the wilderness they are in? And when someone we know is in that wilderness it is hard to not feel drawn into their despair.

And this is what the message of Advent is, it is that as a people, as Christians we are all facing the wilderness of the world we live in, but that we must not let is overtake us. It is what being a Christian is about. The passages we have heard today from Isaiah and Matthew called the people, call us today, to dream of escaping the wilderness, and not to just dream of escaping but to work for it. They challenged the people, and today we are still being challenged, to be believers of that better world which is to come.

So, how do we keep our faith, our hope and our dreams when we feel we are in the wilderness? We live in a world which worships success, power, wealth and beauty. We live in a world of expectations that are sometimes difficult, if not impossible to meet. As Christians, we must realize that many of today’s expectations are not consistent with Jesus’ life and ministry; they are not consistent with how we as Christians are called to live out our earthly life.

As Christians we are called to do as Christ did, promote love, justice, and compassion, but if we are not careful society can lead us into the wilderness of greed, deception, and selfishness. We are called to see it is the knowledge of the Kingdom which brings us out of the wilderness not winning the lottery.

Wherever there is love, wherever there is compassion and healing there is the kingdom, for there is God. We are warned that there will be set backs but slowly the kingdom will spread provided we do our bit. Provided we look beyond the baby in the manger to the Risen Lord, to that day when Christ will come in majesty to claim the world as his. The Jews thought Christ would come in majesty when he came, but Advent reminds us that His earthly life was not the end but the beginning. Christ set us on the path, but we now have to work to bring about the kingdom, so that Christ can return in majesty and glory.

We are called to stay on that narrow path, that path trod by faithful people through the ages. From the prophets, the desert fathers, monks of the Middle Ages, Reformation martyrs, those who fought for social justice, struggled for civil rights, there have been people in the Church who have devoted their work and lives to proclaiming love, justice, and compassion in the name of Jesus.

Advent is the time for us all to renew our commitment to this vision. If we are truly to accept the challenge of being followers of Christ, we must be dreamers, but we must be doers as well. We must be today’s visionaries, today’s reformers, today’s civil right workers, today’s people who are willing to be counted even if it means receiving criticism, being mocked, even abused. Being a Christian means we must be totally committed to a church that will bring the love, justice, and compassion of Jesus to the wilderness of this world. We cannot just sit on the sidelines and watch.

We must do this, because we know that Jesus over 2000 years ago Jesus came into a world that was sitting in darkness, a world lost in the wilderness. He came not in glory but in the form of a vulnerable child; a child like those children we see on TV, with no home but born into poverty like many thousands of children today.

And whilst we wait we must nourish ourselves through his body received in the Eucharist, and also by reaching out to those who are in the wilderness. By bringing the good news, by showing love and compassion, working for justice and peace - for that is where the kingdom will be found. We are all called to work and pray for the coming of that world which fulfils the ministry of Jesus Christ.

In the Advent Morning prayer there are three lines I wish to share with you for I feel they sum up Advent. ‘Now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed’. ‘Awaiting his coming in glory’ and finally ‘may the Lord when he comes find us watching and waiting’. Let us remember those words and pray that when Christ does return he finds us waiting. Amen