This week’s Readings and Sermon for Advent Sunday
The Collect for This Week
Almighty God, as your kingdom dawns, turn us from the darkness of sin to the light of holiness, that we may be ready to meet you in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen
The Post Communion Prayer for this week
O Lord our God, make us watchful and keep us faithful as we await the coming of your Son our Lord; that, when he shall appear, he may not find us sleeping in sin but active in his service and joyful in his praise; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Psalm 122
1 I was glad when they said to me,‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’ 2 And now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem; 3 Jerusalem, built as a city that is at unity in itself. 4 Thither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as is decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord. 5 For there are set the thrones of judgement, the thrones of the house of David. 6 O pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May they prosper who love you. 7 ‘Peace be within your walls and tranquillity within your palaces.’ 8 For my kindred and companions’ sake, I will pray that peace be with you. 9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek to do you good.
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 2, verses 1 to 5
1 The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. 3 Many peoples shall come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 5 O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The New Testament reading for this Sunday is taken from the Letter St Paul to the Romans, Chapter 13 verses 11 to 14
11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; 12 the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; 13 let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. 14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires
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 24, verses 36 to 44
Hear the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to Luke Glory to You, o Lord !
36 ‘But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39 and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. 42 Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.
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 are various traditions with regard to the order of the lighting of advent candles, and what they symbolise; Whatever the order, over the next few weeks you will hear of peace, joy, hope and love. Today we will begin briefly with peace, but also in the context of light. Each Sunday we light another Advent candle, and on Christmas Day, we light the fifth and central one.
Apart from light, a theme today is peace. In our reading from Isaiah, we encounter a prophet who, amidst all the dire warnings, reaches out with wonderful visionary thinking. We have one of these thoughts at the end of our short passage. He looks to a time when ‘nation will not lift up sword against nation, and there will be war no longer. They will beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks’. Some think this was a phrase that was doing the rounds then, because Isaiah is not the only prophet to use that phrase. Do you know who the other one is?
The peace for which Isaiah yearned is far off. we need to pray fervently that there may be peaceful resolutions to the terrible conflicts around the world. In our prayers this week let us pray- and pray hard - for true peace.
Today we are celebrating a birthday and New Year. Let’s start with birthdays. I had a chaplain at school who on Advent Sunday used to say to pupils, ‘happy birthday’. You all remember that Queen Elizabeth for many years had an official birthday and a real birthday, which fell on different days. I presume the same is happening with King Charles.
I think the same is true of the church. The ‘real’ birthday is at Pentecost, when the church came into being. But the ‘official’ birthday is today when the church year begins. There are three cycles of readings - A, B, and C. Which year begins today? John’s Gospel is read across all three years, but Matthew, Mark and Luke each has his own year, when most of the Gospel passages through that year come from one of those three. Which Gospel have we just completed, and whose Gospel is the prominent one in the year ahead?
On the subject of birthdays, there are only a couple of references in the Bible, one in the Old Testament, and one in the New. Can you name these? Neither birthday ends happily for one individual in either case. Can you name the two people for whom this was not a happy birthday?
Let’s turn to the New Year. Is this really New Year? Is there mention of New Year in the Bible? Not really, although Paul warns against pagan festivals and New Moons. Where can we find that reference?
We are reaching the end of 2025 which is 45 squared - 45 times 45. The next perfect square ,46 times 46, will be in 2116 - when the climate, at the rate at which we are going, will be dramatically different and where some parts of the world will be uninhabitable.
Of course the Bible does not use the calendar we use. Certain months of the year are named in the Old Testament, and Jewish traditions arise from these. What is the Jewish New Year called? As noted, we are reaching the end of 2025. What year is it in the Jewish calendar, in the year that has just begun? According to ancient Jewish calculation, that is when the world began. If you look in the margins of the King James Version of the Bible, it will tell you that the world began in 4004 BC. That was the calculation of a certain Bishop Ussher in the 18th Century. In reality the earth is probably some 4.5 billion years old. Before leaving the subject of New Year, there was a time when we moved from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. Who made that change and when? There was a correction needed which occurred in September 1752 when the month was shortened by 11 days to make the adjustment. So when the 1st January comes around there is a history to all that.
What feast day is kept on 1 January? It is thought unlikely that Jesus was born on 25 December, but that is the tradition. Based on that, circumcision happened 8 days later, so 1 January. 40 days after that was the presentation in the temple, so 2 February. The feast of the Annunciation to Mary is kept on 25 March, exactly 9 months before Jesus was born. The bible says that John the Baptist was born 6 months before Jesus, so his feast day is on 24 June. Funny how all this dating depends on a date which may not be reliable. The midwinter date for the setting of Christmas Day only came about in the early 4th century as an attempt to. Christianise a pagan midwinter feast. Let us try to stop Christmas becoming a pagan event once more!
Before we leave the calendar behind, this is the new year of the church calendar. We move through Advent, preparing For Christmas, and then through Christmas, Epiphany with the wise men, to Lent and the memory of Jesus spending 40 days in the wildness. Lent is followed by Palm Sunday, and then Easter, commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus, followed by the Ascension and Pentecost. The long Trinity season follows with the colour of green for growth as we grow in our faith as we study the life of Jesus, this year mostly from Matthew. Then we come full circle to Advent, a year from now.
Today, 30 November, is also a saint’s day in the church. Which saint? It is a bank holiday in Scotland tomorrow. Andrew is often associated with mission. In the first 3 gospels, Jesus calls Simon Peter and his brother, Andrew. from their occupation of fishing. In John’s Gospel, Jesus finds Andrew who then goes to find his brother Peter, hence the association with mission. Let’s sing a couple of verses from a hymn about Andrew.
As we enter Advent, there is one person who will receive a focus over the next couple of Sundays, whom we have already touched on. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. John pointed to Jesus, saying always that Jesus was the greater person, whose laces he was not fit to tie. ‘I must grow less’, said John, ‘he must grow greater.’ That is why John features now at Advent, because he is pointing to Jesus. In the frantic run up to Christmas, let us focus our thoughts on our Saviour and the way he came to be among us, followed by what happened when he was among us.
Let’s listen to a poem and end by listening to a wonderful hymn by Stuart Townend, who also wrote a hymn we sing often, ‘In Christ alone’. This hymn is called ‘From the squalor of a borrowed stable’.
Amen.