This week’s Readings and Sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent
The Advent Collect
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness and to put on the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility; that on the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
The Collect for This Week
O Lord Jesus Christ, who at your first coming sent your messenger to prepare your way before you: grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready your way by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at your second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in your sight; for you are alive and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
The Post Communion Prayer for this week
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
Psalm 146, verses 4 to 9
When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish. 5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith for ever; 7 who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; 8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and shall be forever. Amen
The Old Testament Reading for this Sunday is taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, Chapter 35, verses 1 to 10
1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus 2 it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. 3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 4 Say to those who are of a fearful heart, ‘Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.’ 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. 8 A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God’s people; no traveller, not even fools, shall go astray. 9 No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. 10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The New Testament reading for this Sunday is taken from the Letter of St James, Chapter 5 verses 7 to 10
7 Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. 8You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. 9 Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! 10 As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The Gospel reading for this Sunday is taken from the Gospel of St Matthew, Chapter 11, verses 2 to 11
Hear the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to Matthew Glory to You, o Lord !
2 When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ 4 Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 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. 6 And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’ 7 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? 8 What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 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.” 11 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.
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to You, o Christ !
Note :All readings are shared from the Church of England Lectionary App and are subject to copyright . © The Archbishop’s Council
The sermon this week is delivered by Rev.Chich Hewitt
‘There is nowhere in the Bible where doubt is seen as a virtue’. These words were spoken by a lecturer when I was training for the ministry. That is probably true; At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, just before the giving of the Great Commission, a number of people saw the risen Jesus. We are told many believed, but some doubted. The apostle Thomas is rather unfairly given the title ‘doubting Thomas, when he was not with his companions on the night of the resurrection when Jesus appeared to his disciples.
This morning I want to address doubt and a way of handling it. What happens when there is someone who has doubts as a member of a lively congregation where everyone seems to have a strong faith? Believe me, this happens and it can be a lonely place. You can feel you do not have the faith of those around you, and that you are lacking something which everyone else has. As an analogy, I remember writing an exam where I was not sure how to start an essay. A candidate next to me was concentrating and writing furiously. Here was someone who know how to answer the question, and I was battling. I later learnt that this person did no better than I did, and for all I know was writing rubbish. With regard to doubt, we might be assuming that everyone around us has a faith we do not have, but that may not be true, and we might be digging ourselves into a hole. I remember a parishioner in my first parish, who seemed to have this abundant faith, and was critical of others. She eventually broke down, because she had created a facade which could not be maintained.
I have chosen this topic because it relates to our Gospel passage; If ever there was a key figure related to Jesus, it was John the Baptist. He belonged to neither the Old Testament nor the New. Or perhaps he belonged to both. He was a mighty transitionary figure, who was part of God’s plan in the revelation of Jesus. His ministry was extraordinarily successful, and rather than attend temple or synagogue he preached outside and had a huge following. He was confident in his preaching, and he spoke of someone to come whose sandals he was not fit to tie. He pointed to Jesus and baptised him. He knew his role and was certain in it. That is, before he was unfairly imprisoned.
Listen again to the opening words of today’s Gospel. ‘When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “are you the one to come, or are we to wait for another?”’ It seems as if John had a wobble. He had a moment of doubt. He was in prison, and if we refer to Mark’s Gospel, it seemed that he went to prison before Jesus’ ministry began. In fact in Mark’s account it was the arrest of John that was the action point for Jesus’ ministry to begin. So it was not likely that he had witnessed Jesus art work. Was all that he had so far done on the right path? In the loneliness of prison he had a moment of doubt. If it could happen to John, it could happen to anyone.
Doubt can result from a number of causes. Impatience is one cause. We await something that should happen soon and doesn’t. Rather like a small child for whom the days leading up to a birthday or Christmas seem to drag, the birthday and Christmas ultimately arrive, but for John there seemed to be no future. Had this ministry gone horribly wrong? In Old Testament times, King Saul was awaiting the arrival of the prophet Samuel at a difficult time, and so he went ahead and performed a sacrifice. Just then Samuel arrived, and Saul was reprimanded for not waiting. Then there was Elijah who had seen God working in a remarkable way before the false prophets of Bael. Surely that was an unforgettable triumph? But under the threat of King Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, Elijah was in despair as he fled from her into the wilderness. Burn out or a violent swing in emotions? Either way, he experienced loneliness and self pity. So if doubt can assail great people, can it not assail any of us.
We can get help from John the Baptist himself, and from Thomas. The secret is that John didn’t keep his doubt to himself. He did not pretend that everything was fine in his life when it wasn’t. He decided to contact Jesus via his disciples. It seems he chose more than one person to go to Jesus with his message.
The case of Thomas was also interesting. His fellow disciples met in a upper room when for some reason he could not be present. Jesus appeared to them through locked doors, and commissioned them for ministry. When Thomas found this out, he probably felt isolated, annoyed and alone. He could have said to the other disciples, ‘wow that is fantastic news’. This would have covered up his frustration at being the odd one out; it would also have given the impression that he was really delighted at this news. Clearly he wasn’t. He was honest and spoke out his feelings to the others. ‘Unless I see the marks in his hand, and put my hand in his side, I will not believe;. A week later he got his answer. He was with his disciples in a similar situation and Jesus appeared again in a similar way, and provided the proof that Thomas sought.
And when John’s disciples came to Jesus asking him if he were the Messiah, Jesus told them to go back to John with a message of hope. Presumably they did this, so that John could be at peace before the awful death he was to suffer.
The lesson seems not to keep your doubts to yourself, but rather to share them. this is not always easy to do; we run the risk of being scorned or dismissed, if others do not handle our doubts with respect or love. This is a risk, but one probably worth taking. Yet talking something through with another may relieve our loneliness and help us move forward. With both John and Thomas in the examples given, they appealed to Jesus. That, too, might be a place to start. St Mark recounts the story of a man desperate for his son to be healed. Jesus said to him that all things were possible for the one who believed. The man responded by saying, ‘Lord I believe; help thou my unbelief.’ This man’s faith was tinged with doubt, and such a person is by no means unique. That would be a good starting point and indeed a continuing.prayer - ‘Lord I believe; help thou my unbelief.’
If the messengers who came to Jesus from John reported back , as we assume they did. John received an answer. Thomas received an answer, although not instantaneously. An approach would be to share our doubts honestly with the Lord (who knows them anyway) and share them with those whom we trust. We will find we are not alone and that there may be a path forward.
There is one closing thought of comfort. Jesus reported back about his ministry and healing work to John. He ended with a surprising remark. ‘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.’ Because of Jesus and who he his, those who become partakers in Jesus’ kingdom, rank even more highly than John. This is not because of who they are - they might be quite lowly like ourselves- but because of what Jesus won for us, and for what Jesus is making us to be. These are words of truth to bring hope to doubting hearts. Hope is an Advent theme for today. In the words of the writer of the letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament; ‘faith is the assurance of things hoped for; the conviction of things not seen.’ If we ask God to help our unbelief, we can also ask Jesus, just as his disciples are recorded as doing in Luke’s Gospel, ’Lord increase our faith.’ I close with words of Paul; ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing’.
Amen.