Sermon for the 2nd Sunday of Advent: ‘Are you ready?’; preached at the Eucharist, Sherborne Abbey on Sunday, 8 December 2024 by The Reverend Rebecca McDonnell (Malachi Ch 3: v 1 -4; Luke Ch 3: v 1 – 6)
I have given two ‘mindfulness jars’ to our head chorister and senior chorister- one of these is mud suspended in water, and the other of glitter. They will shake them now, and then leave them to settle, and by the end of this sermon they should be clear water with the sediment at the bottom. I use these with children, to encourage them to calm their minds, as our brains are often like these busy jars, full of thoughts and worries swirling around, and it’s good to learn to try and quiet all that noise.
I feel this is so much like Advent, our minds are so full of shopping lists, present lists, diaries chock full of events and social occasions. If you have young children or grandchildren, it seems the list of nativities, fairs and concerts at school is never-ending, accompanied by things to bring and bake. There are many wonderful services to attend here at the Abbey, and many of you will have important roles to play in those too. There are drinks do, family gatherings, and the many preparations to make. But Jesus calls to us through the noise, to ask us to settle, and calling for us to be transformed.
Our Old Testament reading today is from the prophet Malachi, as on the second Sunday of Advent we think about the prophets, how they foresaw the coming of Christ, pointing to his coming, and guide us today in the faith. In this reading Malachi raises a challenging question: Who can endure the day of his coming? Are you ready? In the prophetic tradition, the day of the Lord’s coming ushers in a period of righteous judgement and God’s victorious Kingship. The prophets talk about the Lord’s coming with dramatic language in a way that is both inspiring and fearful.
Malachi says he is sending ‘my messenger’ to prepare the way before me; the name Malachi itself translates as ‘my messenger’ so he might be referring to himself, but also more broadly the prophetic function of bearing messages. This also then applies to the last in the line of these prophets, John the Baptist, who in our Gospel reading is harking back to the tradition in which he stands but looking forward to the coming of the Lord. He follows also on from the messenger Malachi, being the voice calling in the wilderness, ‘prepare the way of the Lord.’ The prophets are pointing to this pivotal moment in time, when Jeus is born, God with us. But I won’t dwell too much on John the Baptist as his Sunday is next week, so back to his predecessor Malachi.
The message is clear; the Lord is coming! The ‘Lord of hosts,’ hosts being a military term, roughly translated to ‘YHWH, he creates armies.’ But this isn’t an invasion, God is doing nothing by force, instead Malachi is prophesying a time of purification and refinement. We must be changed, and ready to receive the Lord. Historically, Malachi is speaking to the priests and inhabitants of Jerusalem after exile and temple rebuilding, encouraging a time of renewal. The renewal comes by refining, like metal in the fire, purifying the silver. And also, like fullers’ soap? Soap seems like a funny metaphor, like God’s great laundromat, or the divine washing baths, washing everything clean. It’s also because in the Hebrew soap, ‘borit’ sounds quite like the word for Covenant, ‘berit.’ It is the soap that restores us to covenant faithfulness. By cleansing and refining, we can be restored to perfect relationship with God, pure like our mindfulness jars will be after a period of stillness.
Our job in Advent isn’t just to receive Christ as a gift from God, but also to still, to purify, to refine ourselves, so that we are changed in that relationship, ready for that moment when divine and human meet. We might not think of ourselves as prophets, they are old and wise and sit on the tops of the mountains or in the temples. But here today in Sherborne, chatting in the street, wondering the aisles of Sainsbury’s, at coffee mornings, at school and at work, we are all called to be prophets. To continue the great prophetic tradition. Because we are called to point the way to Jesus, to say ‘prepare the way of the Lord.’ The Lord who comes at Christmas and will come again.
If we look at our mindfulness jars, they should have settled and cleared by now. So, I would invite you, as much as is possible as I know only all too well how busy this time of year is. But just to find some moments of stillness, some moments of wonder this Advent. To ask God to work on us, to refine us, to clean and purify us; we reflect and prepare we should ask ourselves, are we ready?
Amy Pye – ‘Prepare the Way for the Lord.’
Prepare the way for the Lord
He’s coming again
To earth; to our hearts
So that his people might know
Salvation
Lasting freedom
The forgiveness of sins
A clean slate
Wrongs put right.
Through God’s tender mercy
The rising sun comes
From heaven to earth
Shining through darkness
Illuminating our way.
Even in the shadow of death
He guides our feet
Into the path of peace.
Come, Lord Jesus.
Come, Lord
Come.