Weekly Bible Notes and Worship Resources
Advent 3 Year A, Colour = Purple
Introduction
What do we do when we feel God lets us down?
Do you ever wonder why God allows certain things to happen? Do you get angry when good people suffer, or when the wicked seem to benefit from bad behaviour. The existence of suffering in the world is an enormous problem for all of those who put their trust in God and understandably some things make us question our faith.
In Matthew 11 John the Baptist had the same kind of doubts
about Jesus. John the Baptist was in a remote prison, King Herod would soon
have his head chopped off. Meanwhile Jesus was going around speaking words
of comfort and forgiveness to the very 'chaff' whom John thought should be
judged and burned up. What was the point of Jesus saying he would release
the captives when John was still behind bars?
John the Baptist wanted Jesus to raise an army and take charge, just as we
sometimes wish God would intervene and right the worlds wrongs. However Jesus
never promised to set up a kingdom on this earth which would overcome evil.
Indeed Jesus said that his kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36).
The Kingdom of God will come in all of its fullness, but we
have to wait. Those who put their trust in Jesus will not be protected from
the evil which is still present in the world. This is obvious from the life
Jesus himself lived which was not that of an earthly king, but instead
walking the road to crucifixion.
So for now we must wait and trust in the promises of Jesus that he will come
again and his kingdom of justice and peace will be established. We know this
to be true, because His reign has already started in the hearts of those who
know the love of God and the blessing of forgiveness.
Opening Verse of Scripture Luke Chapter 1:46
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. My Spirit rejoices in God my Saviour
Collect Prayer for the Day — Before we read we pray
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. CW
God for whom we watch and wait, you sent John the Baptist to prepare the way of your Son: give us courage to speak the truth, to hunger for justice, and to suffer for the cause of right, with Jesus Christ our Lord. CW
First Bible Reading Isaiah Chapter 35:1-10
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus 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. Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.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.’Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 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; 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. 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.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.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. NRSV
Second Reading James Chapter 5:7-10
Be patient, 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. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. NRSV
Gospel Reading Matthew Chapter 11:2-11
When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to Jesus, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: 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. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’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? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces.What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 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.” 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.’ NRSV
Post Communion Prayer
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 CW
Commentary
What do we do when God is a disappointment?
In Acts Chapter 16 Paul and Silas are in prison. But not for long! By the
super powerful work of the Holy Spirit an earthquake opened the prison doors
and they walked free! So - is that what we can expect from God, someone who
will always rescue and protect us? A short answer - no.
In the reading from Matthew Chapter 11 today, John the Baptist is in prison.
Josephus (Ant.18.5.2)tells us that John was imprisoned at Machaerus, Herod's
wilderness palace, East of the Dead Sea. It is from this remote prison that
John begins to question within himself who Jesus is. Verse 3: "Are you the
one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?"
We need to understand what was behind this loss of faith which in John
had in Jesus. John the Baptist was a good man. He had no time for the wicked
and he cared little for his personal safety. He was unafraid to take on the
bad guys, even if that meant going head to head with King Herod himself. He
would not bow to intimidation, threat or force. John was a special man,
Luke's Gospel tells us that even before John and Jesus were born, Mary
visited her relative Elizabeth, John's mother. Matthew tells us that when
John preached, Jesus presented himself to John for baptism, and that after
the baptism, the heavens opened, the Spirit of God descended like a dove,
and a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am
well pleased" (3:17). But after the baptism of Jesus, John must have been
devastated. He had called people to repent telling them that imminent
judgement was at hand. "Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees."
He saw bad people and believed that God was about to burn them with
"unquenchable fire." This is good old traditional fire-and-brimstone stuff.
But, instead of God swinging the axe, John finds himself locked up in
prison. Surely if Jesus was the Messiah, then why was John behind bars?
Ultimately John would be beheaded by Herod, did that mean that Jesus was a
complete and utter failure? John wanted and expected a God of fire and
brimstone and what he got was Jesus, who preached full and endless
forgiveness to the very “chaff” John expected to see burned. Jesus had
spectacularly failed to live up to expectations. Instead of calling down
fire and brimstone, Jesus had been all too forgiving. He pronounced
blessings on the poor in spirit, the meek, and peacemakers (5:1-11). He
called his disciples to love their enemies (5:42-48). He warned disciples
not to judge others (7:1-5). Jesus was more interested in healing than using
that axe.
People like John wanted a powerful leader, a Messiah, who would restore the
image of Israel. Jesus did show anger at some things, like hypocrisy. But
his ministry was much more to be characterised by binding up the weak.
Bringing the poor good news sounds quite dull compared to axe swinging
justice, but Jesus was convinced, it was the poor, the oppressed, the
broken-hearted, who really mattered to Jesus. Captives and prisoners were
important but not necessarily the ones behind physical iron bars.
There are powerful lessons for us to learn today. The first and most
obvious truth is that we can be really sincere in serving God and still
get our heads chopped off. Loyal service and faithfulness to God does not
make us immune from wickedness in the world. Yes, the Kingdom of Jesus is
with us, but we still live in a very nasty world where dreadful things
happen.
This brings us to the second truth. We can feel really badly let
down by God when we come face to face with the reality of suffering and
death. John the Baptist had to try and understand this paradox, the
existence of a Saviour God and yet the ongoing presence of evil.
John wanted Jesus to explain why he had not done something to stop the rot.
Today we might ask the same kind of question, if God exists then why does he
allow good people to suffer? Jesus tells John that his power has a different
way of working. The response of Jesus is to draw attention to the
characteristics of his ministry "Go and tell John what you hear and see: 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."
The ministry of Jesus is less about judgement and more about forgiveness.
The implication is clear, if we put our trust in Jesus hoping for someone
who will make bad things go away, we are sure to have our hopes dashed.
Jesus is the leader who ended up on the cross. This might have implications
for our prayers. Charles Royden
Meditation
On the 10th of December 1948 the United Nations adopted the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”. These excerpts show some of those rights, and we can think of people in different parts of the world who do not share our own experience of human rights being respected.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
No-one shall be held in slavery.
No-one shall be subjected to torture.
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
Let us pray:
Lord, it’s good to be actively concerned about the abuses of human rights in other countries, but I must not lose sight of the mis-treatment of others closer to me. Most particularly, Lord, point out to me my own failings in lacking respect for those who come into my daily life. I readily condemn slavery, but help me to liberate those I know who are overburdened.
I condemn torture, but lead me to discourage the use of cruel words and actions to those I will meet today. Remind me that those who degrade others are themselves diminished. Enlighten me
so that I do not jump to conclusions about people, or be judgmental. Lead me always to respect individuals for who they are, realising that their experiences may be different from my own, as each follows paths in life that are particular to them. May I grow in appreciation that those who think differently from me can hold equally valid views. In these and other ways, Lord, may I grow in respect for all people. This day, may others respect me as much as I respect them. Amen
Hymns
- Joy to the world
- The trumpets sound
- Darkness like a cloud (See below)
- Christ be our light (See below)
- All earth was dark
Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead
"Prayer is a plant, the seed of which is sown in the heart of every Christian.
If it is well cultivated and nourished it will produce fruit, but if it is neglected, it will wither and die."
Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead
All-powerful God, increase our strength of will for doing good that Christ may find an eager welcome at his coming and call us to his side in the kingdom of heaven, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Prayers for Advent and the week
ahead.
Pour upon us, O Holy Spirit, your sevenfold gifts: of understanding that we
may be enlightened; of counsel that we may follow in your footsteps; of
courage that we may face the enemy; of knowledge that we may discern the
good; of piety that we may be compassionate; of fear that we may draw back
from evil, and of wisdom that we may taste the sweetness of your love. Amen
St Bonaventure, 1217-1274
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, O Promised One: Once again we come to this
time of Advent and await your presence. Give us patience to seek the meaning
of these busy days. Give us courage to wait in times of pain and trouble.
Give us the compassion to wait for one another. Give us the faith to wait
for the Messiah when we are threatened by the Herods of this world. Give us
the hope to wait for the Saviour even when we cannot hear the angels
singing. Give us the love that does not wait when it meets Christ in our
neighbour . Amen.
O God to those who have hunger give bread. And to us who have bread give the
hunger for justice..
Modern prayer from Latin America
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic
walls;
Where words come out of the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert
sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action
—
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) India.
Lord teach me to forgive with real forgiveness, which forgets even where the
hatchet was buried.
Additional Resources
Commentary
Readings: Isaiah 35:1-10; Psalm 146:4-9; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11
The passage from Isaiah is thought to have been written about the time of
the Exile, and what the prophet is promising to his audience is vindication
with a difference. The people have suffered much, and God promises to make
their future glorious. In a sense, this is recompense for all that they have
had to endure and put up with; but it goes far beyond that. The image which
has been set in front of the people is one of the absence of fear for the
frightened, one of sight returned for the blind, one of hearing restored for
the deaf, and one of agility regained for the disabled. The prophet goes on
to speak about the way back through the desert after liberation from
Babylon, and then of peace, security and unity with all the created order,
when God returns with his people to the land which he had originally
promised to them.
Psalm 146 celebrates God, who is both the Creator and the Saviour of all.
There is no distinction in the work of God: he both brings into being and he
puts things right. This idea is found in the Magnificat, where the theme has
been developed much further. The Magnificat also has a lot in common with
the song of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2, although Mary seemed to be able to take
Hannah’s sentiments further. Whereas Hannah was content simply to note that
God makes some people poor and other people wealthy, it is Mary who began to
develop the idea of human redemption within the context of connections and
mutuality; it is the poor who are raised in dignity as the greatness of the
rich is put into perspective. This idea was also developed in the reading
from the Epistle of James who urged patience for those who are poor, for the
coming of the Lord will put to right all the grievances and injustices of
life.
We should not be surprised that John the Baptist doubted whether Jesus was
‘the one who was to come’. According to the Gospel accounts, John had
announced that Jesus was the one whom his disciples should follow, but the
Kingdom of God had not yet dawned. John was in prison for having offended an
unjust king and, as we know, his cause was to end in his death. So John
wondered whether he had got it right, ‘Are you the one, or should we look
for someone else?’
Jesus, the master teacher, never the dogmatist, did not answer the questions
of John’s disciples directly, but invited them to look at what was going on.
What they saw was precisely what the prophets had said would happen, and
what the writers of the Psalms had sung: ‘the blind received their sight,
the lame walked again, the lepers were healed, the deaf could hear again,
those who had died were brought back to life, and the poor had the Good News
brought to them. All these happenings had occurred in the previous chapters
of Matthew’s Gospel. Thus Jesus challenged John’s messengers, and thereby
John himself, to consider the place of Jesus in the scheme of things: ‘…
blessed is anyone who take's no offence at me.’
We cannot know what John made of all of these events, but his place in the
divine scheme of things had already been assured. Because John had fulfilled
his calling to be the messenger who ‘prepared the way’ for God’s coming he
has to be considered as having a very special place in God’s plan. However,
there is a further surprise in this passage, because we find it says,
‘(even) the least in the kingdom is greater than he’. What on earth could
Jesus have meant? Could it mean that what is in store for all those who
respond to God’s invitation to receive the promises of the Kingdom of God,
will outdo, outstrip, and outshine anything and everybody which went before.
If this so, then our riches are great indeed! The Reverend Peter
Littleford
Meditation
Do you ever wonder why certain things can possibly happen if Jesus is God?
Are you prepared to find God in the unexpected?
"A dear friend of mine who was quite a lover of the chase, told me the following story: 'Rising early one morning,' he said, 'I heard the baying of a score of deerhounds in pursuit of their quarry. Looking away to a broad, open field in front of me, I saw a young fawn making its way across, and giving signs, moreover, that its race was well-nigh run. Reaching the rails of the enclosure, it leaped over and crouched within ten feet from where I stood. A moment later two of the hounds came over, when the fawn ran in my direction and pushed its head between my legs. I lifted the little thing to my breast, and, swinging round and round, fought off the dogs. I felt, just then, that all the dogs in the West could not,and should not capture that fawn after its weakness had appealed to my strength.' So is it, when human helplessness appeals to Almighty God. Well do I remember when the hounds of sin were after my soul, until, at last, I ran into the arms of Almighty God." -- A. C. DIXON.
Meditation: Choices
Many of you will have been watching ’Band of Brothers’ a television
series depicting a group of American troops in World War II which concluded
last week. Three weeks ago it showed events of this day in 1944, when the
Germans started their last major counter-attack of the Second World War.
They took advantage of heavy mists that lay over the Ardennes region on
Germany’s border with Belgium and Luxembourg. The Germans were thought no
longer capable of launching a major offensive, yet they managed to reach 50
miles within the Allied lines before they had to retreat. One of the leaders
of the American forces of this “Battle of the Ardennes” (also called “The
Battle of the Bulge”) was General Omar Bradley.
Some years after the end of the Second World War, and as some nations were
spending vast amounts of money on stock-piling nuclear and other weapons,
General Omar Bradley spoke the following words:
“We have too many men of science, too few men of God. We have grasped the
mystery of the atom, and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. The world has
achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a
world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we
do about peace; more about killing than we do about living.”
General Omar Bradley mentioned the “Sermon on the Mount”. Those words of
Jesus include the “Beatitudes”, which are a set of 8 statements of choices
which lead to a person being happy or blessed. We can perhaps reflect and
pray today, using the words of those Beatitudes:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be
filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all
kinds of evil against you because of me.
Most holy and most loving Christ, let me behold your crown of thorns in
every tear-filled eye; your bleeding and naked body in every suffering soul;
your nail-pierced hands in every forgotten prisoner and your wounded feet in
every lost and broken traveller; and take me to the place of my healing and
theirs, even your holy cross. Amen. Thomas Traherne, 1637-1674
Hymns
Ding Dong
We really want to thank you Lord
Hark the glad sound
In the bleak mid-winter
What child is this (Tune Greensleeves)
Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead.
- Lord, I believe in Thee, help Thou mine unbelief.
- I love Thee, yet not with a perfect heart as I would.
- I long for Thee, yet not with my full strength.
- I trust in Thee, yet not with my whole mind.
- Accept my faith, my love, my longing to know and serve Thee,
- my trust in Thy power to keep me.
- I wait Thy blessing.
- Through Jesus Christ my Lord.
- Malcolm Spencer
Grant unto me, O Lord, to know what I ought to know, to love what I ought to love, to praise what delights Thee most, to value what is precious in thy sight, to hate what is offensive to Thee. Do not suffer me to judge according to the sight of my eyes, nor to pass sentence according to the hearing of the ears of ignorant men, but to discern with true judgement between things visible and spiritual, and above all things to enquire what is the good pleasure of thy will. Thomas à Kempis, 1380-1471.
Father in heaven! When the thought of thee wakes in our hearts let it not
awaken like a frightened bird that flies about in dismay, but like a child
waking from its sleep with a heavenly smile. Søren Kierkegaard, 1813-55
Hymns
Darkness like a shroud
Darkness like a shroud covers the earth;
Evil like a cloud covers the people.
But the Lord will rise upon you,
And His glory will appear on you-
Nations will come to your light.
Arise, shine, your light has come,
The glory of the Lord has risen on you!
Arise, shine, your light has come,
Jesus the Light of the world has come.
Children of the light, be clean and pure.
Rise, you sleepers, Christ will shine on you.
Take the Spirit's flashing two-edged sword
And with faith declare God's mighty word;
Stand up and in His strength be strong.
Refrain
Here among us now, Christ the light
Kindles brighter flames in our trembling hearts.
Living Word, our lamp, come guide our feet
As we walk as one in light and peace,
Till justice and truth shine like the sun.
Refrain
Like a city bright so let us blaze;
Lights in every street turning night to day.
And the darkness shall not overcome
Till the fulness of Christ's kingdom comes,
Dawning to God's eternal day.
Refrain
Christ be our light
Longing for light, we wait in darkness.
Longing for truth, we turn to you.
Make us your own, your holy people,
Light for the world to see.
Chorus
Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light! Shine in your Church
Gathered today.
Longing for peace, our world is troubled.
Longing for hope, many despair.
Your word alone has power to save us
Make us your living voice.
Chorus
Longing for food, many are hungry.
Longing for water, many still thirst.
Make us your bread, broken for others,
Shared until all are fed.
Chorus
Longing for shelter people are homeless.
Longing for warmth, many are cold.
Make us your building, sheltering others,
Walls made of living stone.
Chorus
Many the gifts, many the people,
Many the hearts that yearn to belong.
Let us be servants to one another,
Making your kingdom come.
Chorus