On John the baptist
I would like to start with talking about our community. Just recently I have had the chance to interact with our local community. Which is after all, part of my role within our benefice. This has been in the form of attending the switching on of the lights in Cheriton, where people were quite willing to talk while I was wearing my collar. This is not always the case. They asked about the Churches I serve and were quite surprised that there was 3 Churches in our benefice with one Priest and one curate. Some of the questions I was asked was, what is the cost for a Baptism, another was cost of a Blessing of the marriage vows after 50 years of marriage. They were very surprised that there was no cost.
For me this is us – The Church being seen outside the walls. Something we as a church are keen on encouraging. I am hoping to spend sometime time at the Community Hub in Cheriton. This will hopefully start in the New Year. The aim being that I will be there to listen, some of these people are on the margins and need a voice. I am not looking to be able to change major things, but maybe help or direct them to somewhere that can help them.
Another activity, I have been privileged to be part of, was being asked to be the Chaplain for our local Sea Cadets who are located opposite KAP. Last Monday, I was talking to them about waiting and how as the Church we are in advent, which is about waiting. I asked them do they know what we are waiting for, A young Cadet put his hand up and said Father Christmas. I have the honour to speak with these young woman and men, and in the summer months to take part in some of their training. I am not expecting these young people to come knocking on our church doors, but along with the community hub, we as a benefice are slowly showing that Jesus is there, and they can come and explore if they choose to do so.
Going forward, I aim to be engaging more with our community.
In our bible reading we hear that John went out and was proclaiming repentance in the form of Baptism. I am not aiming to walk around Cheriton doing the same. I feel I may well be put in a nice quite padded room if I did.
Now John was waiting for the word of God to come to him. In fact, he was born for this. Living in the wilderness, becoming strong in spirit, waiting for the day that he would be called to appear publicly to Israel. And now, that day has finally come. The word of God has come, to John the Baptist, in the wilderness.
The word of God comes to us, too, and in many and various ways. The word of God comes to us in whatever way that God wants, I suppose, because God is God. But it is worth asking today, what are some of these ways? John was in the wilderness, waiting for this event. He spent his whole life waiting for this moment. But what about us? When and how has the word of God come to us?
How about Jonah? The word of God came to him at various times, but most famously in the belly of the great fish. God had to work a little harder to get through to Jonah. But God doesn’t give up. Not if Jonah teaches us anything. Sometimes, the word of God comes to us whether we want it to or not. We learn this from Jonah.
Then there is Elijah, fleeing from Jezebel, who has vowed to kill him. Alone in a cave. Scared. Uncertain of what to do, or where to go. Desperate for a word from God. And the word of God came to him – not dramatically, like in the wind or the fire or the earthquake, but rather in the still, small voice of the Lord.
In my case I was hiding form God, in as much as that I kept putting up barriers. But our God Lord, kept taking them down, and I final accept him as my saviour.
There is a poem by Ann Weems called ‘’ The coming of God’’ I would like to read this to you:
Our God is the One who comes to us
in a burning bush, in an angel's song,
in a newborn child.
Our God is the One who cannot be found
locked in the church,
not even in the sanctuary.
Our God will be where God will be
with no constraints, no predictability.
Our God lives where our God lives,
and destruction has no power
and even death cannot stop the living.
Our God will be born where God will be born,
but there is no place to look for the One who comes to us.
When God is ready God will come
even to a godforsaken place
like a stable in Bethlehem.
Watch . . .
for you know not when
God comes. Watch, that you might be found
Whenever, wherever God comes.
When God is ready God will come. To a stable in Bethlehem, and so anywhere. Our God comes. It’s why we are here, after all. To listen again to the word of God as it comes to us. And to focus ourselves back on what truly matters. And when we do this, we find again the thread that can lead us through the labyrinth of this life. The thread that shows us the way. The way that helps us to hear the still, small voice. The way that leads us to turn aside to see the burning bush. The way, above all, that leads to a life like no other, the life that is promised to all who desire it, the life that comes from life with Jesus.
Isn’t that all that John the Baptist is really saying to us today? Prepare the way of the Lord. By waiting. By watching. By listening. Let us follow this way always. To the glory of God.
