Today our reading is from the great 40th Chapter of Isaiah.

This chapter is set at a point of transition in Jewish history. The prophet is addressing a new reality. The Children of Israel were now in exile.  There was death and destruction back in Jerusalem.  Bondage and no future lay ahead in Babylon.  Even traditional worship seemed useless.  As the lament of Psalm 137 states about this period: “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” Even if they were able to sing that song, surely it wasn’t true?  It couldn’t be true – the promises of God’s lovingkindness, all that covenant talk, were just a cruel joke as they looked around them in the midst of despair, bondage and hopelessness.

The chapter itself has two emphases: the first is a clear pastoral emphasis; the second, is a challenge: a challenge to have a clear eyed look at what is going on. The chapter begins very gently. It offers comfort and solace. So the chapter begins with those wonderful words:

“Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God”

It goes on to offer hope:

“A voice cries out:
In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert the highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up
and every mountain and hill shall be made low.”

However, the chapter soon turns to the essence of the concern of the Children of Israel: where is God in this gloom and destruction?  And so it has an edge to it, indeed a challenge. This is our reading today. The prophet sees there is more to this situation than, ‘We are having a rough time, please help, O God.’  To which the response could just be “there, there – you will be all right” or  “Comfort, O comfort my people says your God”. And that is all. The issue for the Hebrews has moved to that there is now no God; they have in fact  lost their faith – and this needs to be addressed head on. For the Children of Israel their situation has moved from a social or political calamity to a profound theological crisis.  Where is God now?  And the prophet needs forthrightly to take up this issue up.

So our reading today picks up chapter 40 at verse 21 – but the key verse is verse 27.  There the  prophet says:

Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”?

The prophet gets to the heart of the matter: Why, even in these dreadful circumstances of the destruction of Israel, exile and bondage, are you feeling, well, abandoned by God; feeling that God is hidden – that even, there is no God?

The prophet endeavours to answer this not unreasonable view of the exiles by pointing to the presence and continuing existence, even the unchanging nature, of God.  The rhetorical flourishes of the prophet in the face of this existential angst of the exiles may to our ears be a little grating, but I think we get the drift of the prophet’s argument:

“Have you not known? Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?” (v21)
“It is God who sits above the circle of the earth.” (v22)

. . . and so on.

Even as you face your exile, know God is the creator; God stretches out the heavens like a curtain – it’s God who oversees the passing of empires and of kings; or the passage of time in the fields and crops. God is there; God the creator is still at work. As the prophet says,

“God does not faint or grow weary; God’s understanding is unsearchable.”(v28)

There is a timelessness about God; God is beyond our knowing – but it is that same God, but you know,  God

“Gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.” (v29)

That God, also may touch your lives – may affect you personally even as you face such a profound tragedy and disaster.  Here the prophet is clearly saying

• There is still a God.
• God is the creator – just look at the world around you.
• But know that the creatures are different to their creator.
• God acts dramatically in history – nations rise and fall – and that will happen again.
• And God will continue to sustain you.

The message of the prophet, then, is wait; be patient; don’t let despair overtake you. Do not jump to conclusions so soon. Wait. And then her is assurance:

“Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run [not just survive, run] and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (v31)

The waiting, that expectant waiting puts a gap, a distance between what you might think is right for you, between your own thoughts, and God’s love and will for you.  Don’t jump to conclusions too quickly. Wait. Theology takes time and only rings true, perhaps makes sense, with hindsight and patience.  God is not for those who want instant gratification, or immediate answers in the face of disaster and destruction. Wait – and again you will be rising above it all – as if you have eagles’ wings; you will be running, you will have energy – and not grow weary.

Indeed, this I believe is also the message from our Gospel passage this morning.  This first chapter of Mark sets the scene for the rest of Jesus’ ministry, his pattern of working – and the content of his message – his new kingdom – his new rule of God.

So today we have an action-packed couple of hours in Capernaum: teaching in the synagogue, healing many with unclean spirits, then in our passage, healing Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, then all the sick and unwell of the town who appear at the house’s door.  Indeed the next morning, while it was dark, he withdraws to a deserted place to pray.  The disciples, his minders of the time, lose him and can’t find him.  Then verse 37:

“When they found him, the disciples said to him “Everyone is searching for you.” But as if he wasn’t listening, he answered,

“Let us go on to the neighbouring towns that we may proclaim the message there also.”

Why was everyone searching?  Jesus suspects it’s because there was more work to do in Capernaum, more people to be healed, more unclean spirits to cast out. The task would be endless. He would never finish the task to address human misery. So he says, ‘No. We are moving on.’

Here is the flip-side of not having any obvious sense of the presence of God; God being hidden, absent – like the exiles in Babylon felt.  Here in Capernaum there is, well, just too much ‘spiritual activity’.  So many people are being healed in a frenzy – but, it would seem no one is understanding what is going on; understanding the big picture of what this was all about, how this all fitted into the kingdom of God. (Although interestingly, according to Mark, the unclean spirits knew! And only the unclean spirits got this big picture view.) Jesus was keen to move on – leave the awkwardness, the misunderstanding as to what he really is about, and get on with proclaiming the totality of his message throughout Galilee. Jesus was reacting to the clamour for the quick miracle. . . and indeed this becomes a constant theme in his ministry. Such a clamour for miracles was to misunderstand the whole purpose of God.  Christ’s message of love, of God’s love and the fullness of life, touched all parts of human existence (and not just the sick of Capernaum) – it affects our health, but also relationships, power structures, society and even religion were affected by this new Kingdom of Heaven.  God’s vision was greater than what we humans might ever dream or suspect.  This was the vision that Jesus wished to share.  He had to get on and tell the world about it.

The message from these two texts might simply be to think more broadly, have a greater understanding and vision. Have a theologically attuned attitude of thinking globally but still acting locally  – to take a popular phrase.

I would however, be the first to say that is easier said than done. Would we really be any different to those exiles in Babylon; having to face personal and certainly communal trauma, horrors and loss. Such would try anyone’s faith. It is often said that the precipitating event for the loss of faith in the West were  the horrors, and carnage of the First World War . . and we never really recovered. And at a personal level, when confronted with illness, death, tragedy, a grief – our faith is sorely tested. The response of the prophet is very helpful. First and foremost there must always be the loving response, the pastoral reaction – Comfort, O comfort my people. Yes there is a time to say – “There, there.  God is with you.” But then when it comes to the big theological question – the message is simply wait . . . give it time. Yes it seems that God is absent. We can understand that. But just wait – and again you will know and experience the presence of God. By waiting you will have a perspective to put all the pieces in place. . .  and before you know it “you will renew your strength, you shall mount up with wings like eagles, and you shall run and not be weary, you will walk and not faint.”  The message is not to force or demand belief again. Simply wait.

Nor are we any different to the good folk of Capernaum. We too would clamour for a piece of the action with the latest celebrity who offered healing and miraculous deeds. We too would download their U Tube video clip, or get their Apps, or follow them on Twitter, or actually go to see them and join that movement. In our sort of culture, we want instant transformation without broader understanding or commitment to what is going on. As I observe from afar the Republican Presidential Primary race in the US, or what now passes for political discourse in my own country – today we just want the simple, quick answers – for me personally, for my needs, for my aspirations and my hopes – I don’t want to hear any broader understanding or implications than what I want to hear. We do not readily put such promises into a broader context of the nation’s direction, or the world’s direction – let alone a concern for the environment, or our children’s children, or the future, or of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus, after this frantic day when the whole city was at the door: withdrew, reflected and prayed and quickly saw – no, there was a bigger context he had to consider – the whole of his gospel message throughout all of the land. But first he withdrew when it was dark. He waited.

For ourselves we find the big picture difficult to grasp, especially if our lives seem to be running their own course –out of control because we are overwhelmed by the events around us, or that we are swept up in the demands of career, culture and lifestyle. Today’s message is simply wait. Don’t obviously enter a period of permanent inaction – but wait, withdraw occasionally, pray – and understand afresh God’s presence in your life and this world of ours.

In the gospel of Mark’s sharp and terse style, the evangelist records the story of John the Baptist, the baptism of Jesus, his temptation in the wilderness and by just verse 14 Jesus is beginning his ministry in Galilee proclaiming the good news of God saying “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has come near, repent and believe in the good news.”

Of course the rest is history.  . . well I believe it was history. Jesus became a very successful preacher and leader. For his troubles, he was eliminated by the Roman authorities with the help of the Jewish leadership of the day  . .  but his message and impact lived on among his followers. And their message became his message; the very simple message, in that terse style of Mark

“The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has come near, repent and believe in the good news.”

The proclaimer became the proclaimed.

At the same time, I am gripped both with excitement – and huge trepidation when I read this. Excitement that in a simple few words we are getting at the essence, the basis of Christianity – but at the same time there is an enormous ache in my heart that such a message today  – baldly stated, just as Jesus said, or even unpacked a little, even unpacked a lot, just would not cut the mustard today. “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has come near, repent and believe in the good news” would not be understood, probably would not even inspire – and hardly would give rise to a religious movement .

Of course I may be wrong. Times and circumstances can change – but is there something we can say about our time today which may gives us hope as we endeavour to bring this message of the gospel to our community?

Mmm – it is difficult, even when you examine more closely this simple summary verse about Jesus’ mission and ministry.

“The time is fulfilled” carries within it a huge depth of meaning, history and possibility. It is like, but so much more,  than one of the best known and, at least, best remembered political slogans of recent generations – the “It’s Time” campaign that led to the election of the Whitlam Labor Government in 1972. With Jesus this moment had been in anticipation for hundreds and hundreds  of years. The twenty three years out of office for the then Labor Government hardly ranks. The great prophets of the Jewish people had anticipated a new dawn, a new way living, a new leader – the Messiah, the Christ would come among them. Jesus is simply saying – all of those hope, aspirations, dreams and visions are now fulfilled.

Of course such dreams and visions arise in hard and difficult times. In times of oppression or when a nation loses its way, that is when messianic movements arise. People have a dream, a determination and will to take their people to a different place, a better place. And this seems to be the case with Jesus. The Roman Empire was at the height of its power. People were the subjects of the Emperor, and they were to serve the might of the Empire itself.  The “time is fulfilled” was not just putting into reality a spiritual hope, there was a strong political edge to it as well. Whether Jesus himself fully accepted that mantle is of course debatable, but certainly for his listeners, even followers  – their excitement would have been palpable with “the time is fulfilled” part of his message.  There was a powerful contextual edge to what he was saying.

For folk like us, in a land like ours, and a free and easy culture we have – there is little or no contextual edge to our Christian message. It is certainly is very different in the developing world today, where Christianity is growing strongly. There, there  is a strong need for  a new  vision, a new way of living and new inspiration.   .  . and the time is fulfilled part of Christ’ message strikes a chord. And of course it can strike a chord  for you individually – when you are at a time of desperation, grief,  abandonment and confusion. The context  could very well be propitious as you hear the message “the time Is fulfilled”.

Jesus then says “the kingdom of God has come near”.  Not only is it the right time – there will also be a new rule in your life. God will come into your life in a different way. God will not be remote – but will be with you, within you – shown in how we live. God’s presence will be evident through love. Wrapped up in all of this, is what call the incarnation – or understanding God as the Trinity or Triune God – with Jesus as God’s son, born of the Virgin Mary”. There are huge themes here – which we in the church have no doubt made very complicated and difficult to understand – but Jesus in this message, and in his prayer that he taught us “Your kingdom come on earth as in heaven” was simply wanting to show in all his teaching, in his parables “the kingdom of heaven is like  . . .  a mustard seed, yeast, or a treasure hidden in a field and so on” and in how he himself related to the ill, the outcasts, the children and the women with love and compassion  - that this was in fact “the kingdom of heaven coming near”.

Apart from us ever diminishing number of republicans getting caught up in using language of a monarchy, the great problem – as it was in Jesus’ times, is with the hypocrites. It is the religious one’s who do not evidence that in fact the kingdom of God has indeed come near, but rather still wish to have power and control, and live without  love, compassion and truth.. they are the problem. One thing I greatly love about my land is that we as Australians  can quickly pick out deceit, the hypocrite, the person who is full of themselves. We will lop them down to size, quick smart. Peter Hartcher in his book The Sweet Spot,  I referred to it a couple of weeks ago, gives a very basic illustration of this. Attending the cricket in Sydney a year or so ago at the SCG, was the former PM John Howard, then PM Kevin Rudd, Cardinal Pell and a couple of other worthies all lined up in a break in play, waiting to go to the loo. No special favours, no express lines here – and they and we as a nation, would not have expected it otherwise.  So when there is child sex abuse, strident damning and criticizing people, failing to be true to “the law of love”, this has meant that people simply do not believe the kingdom of God has come near, even if they believed in God.

And an absence of the belief in God leads into difficulties with the next plank of Christ’s message, just one word – repent. If we don’t believe in God, we as sure as eggs will not believe in repenting. On Thursday last there was handed down a report on the recognition of our indigenous brothers and sisters in our constitution. As the expert panel notes our constitution was written in a time when racism was accepted and the superiority of the so called white race over indigenous  people was assumed. It was thought to be unremarkable. As we now begin the long overdue national dialogue over this issue – the sticking point will be, how far are we as Australians prepared to go to repent, to say sorry and actually give that some teeth. It would seem we are hard wired to assume we are right, and others were wrong, or that it has nothing to do with me, or it is someone else’ problem or I do not have to change – others will have to do that. Jesus says that in this new life – our past will not necessarily determine our future, God’s love and grace will do that, but we must move from that past, acknowledging the past and begin to live differently.

Any call to repent will not be heard kindly.

Finally, Jesus encourages his hearers – to believe all of this. Have belief in his message – and I guess for us, to believe in him, Jesus, the proclaimer of this message. Believe. Belief is not popular today.  People either are not sure what to believe any more, or they see belief being trumped by science, rationality and obvious truth.  . . .as our new atheists like the late Christopher Hitchens or Richard Dawkins would contend.  This is not a time to join issue with them – but simply to observe Jesus calls for belief, and yet today belief is not a category of knowing which our sort of community readily jumps to or aspires to. Indeed it is a reason why we endeavour to conduct our Carlton Conversations – drawing on interesting people across the life of our city and simply asking – what do they believe and why.  To make a discussion of belief something we again engage in.  But generally the message of Jesus to believe – will not be openly, readily received.

So what do we do? It looks grim.

Well the story Jonah  – who we usually associate with stories of a great fish, and being a bad luck charm – actually could help.

This is an interesting story – with a possible historical germ of truth in it – but a good story all the same. It is a story which sets out possibilities – but has a warning in it as well.  Today we heard the centre piece of the story. Jonah eventually, after trying to run away, gets to deliver his “word of the Lord” to Ninevah.

Now this task of Jonah would seem to be more difficult a task than we might have in telling our community about Jesus. Ninevah was the capital of the Assyrian Empire.  The Assyrians were recognised in history as a particularly gruesome outfit. They obviously were not Jews – and Jonah was a good Jew. Also his message was even more draconian and difficult, than we might see about ours today:  “Forty days more and Ninevah will be overthrown!”  That was it. And when he came to deliever it, he even did not deliver it to the whole city. He stopped just a third of the way into the city.

And yet Jonah was successful. Everyone came to believe God, they repented – the king to the lowliest – even the animals. And God relented. The city was saved. The improbable happened. It is a story of God’s power, of new life – a new heart. All things are possible with God.  God’s love and grace is boundless. As Jonah correctly discerned about God when he says “you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love”.  (Jonah 4:2) This is still our God and it is like our context. We should not give up hope.

However, the story of Jonah is not primarily about telling us again that God “abounds in steadfast love” – but that, to quote from the very next verse after what we heard this morning  - “this was very displeasing to Jonah and he became angry”. Jonah’s religious properness was affronted. The Ninevahites were worthy of punishment – the good old, bombed out of existence line – than being given another chance. Jonah was in a huff.  So the story concludes with a reproach for Jonah – who just wants to sit outside of Ninevah and watch it die. When God doesn’t do that – and even the bit of shade that God provides Jonah also dies,  Jonah  himself wants to die.  So the story finishes with God sort of  shaking his head – you do not understand my mysteries and my ways.  And that is it.

The parallels with our own challenges in sharing the gospel – the gospel we are called to share here and beyond are many.  So briefly

Let us not underestimate God’s power. . . the message of the gospel , and of Jesus. Ninevah was changed!

God will take our efforts and use them – even the part completed task of Jonah was used.

In the face of the enormity of the task, let us be careful we do not get annoyed and frustrated, or even think these people don’t deserve this: all this hard work of our love and grace – all those programs we offer here at CAN; or feel resentful that others seem to be making headway and we are not

And certainly do not countenance dying like Jonah did – that is dying as a Christian community with a particular message . . .  because this partnership with God, in our sort of world is puzzling and hard.

Remember the gospel:

“The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God has come near, repent and believe in the good news.”

Today we are reflecting on our calling in life – prompted by this great story of the call of the young boy Samuel, but also by that wonderful psalm: Psalm 139.

The first observation I make is that the call of Samuel begins with an intriguing verse:

Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The work of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.  (I Sam 3:1)

Such a verse indicates that the people in this late period of the Judges were – well – losing the plot. Certainly as we soon find out in the story  –  Eli and his sons were corrupt and it was to be part of the calling of Samuel to tell Eli and his sons this was the case. No longer did people sense they had any calling from God. An old word we used to use to refer to such a calling was vocation. . . . based on the Latin “to call”.  Indeed you may be old enough to have received vocational guidance while at school. The shift to it being “career counseling” was significant.   A vocation is literally a calling, which reflects who you are – but has a dimension that it arises from beyond you. You have been called – indeed called by God; for God’s sake and for your community, and for you, you have been called. A career is the direction you set for your life – you are not called forward; you push yourself forward.

In those days of the young Samuel –there was no sense of vocation in the nation. Folk just thought of themselves – their own pleasure and their own aggrandizement .   .  .like Eli’s sons.  Young Samuel changed that – he sensed that from beyond him, after a couple false starts, he was being called by  God. He, unlike others around about him, had a vocation.

Christians, all Christians, very much have a vocation. It is more than just a job, or even a career like I have – there is a sense you are called into a particular activity, being a particular sort of person – yes for your own  fulfillment – but because you matter for others, you matter for God. And another feature of the story was that Samuel – had to test is calling with the old priest Eli. Literally Samuel was not quite sure where his calling was coming from. It is good to check our calling out with another or others.  . .  . and confirm that it may be from God.

As we know, we call this being called in other contexts being part of the body of Christ. We bring our own special gifts and graces to the presence of the church within the world.  All gifts and graces are important, all vocations are also important.

So today what is you vocation?

The second point I would wish to make is that this idea of each of us having a calling – like that of a Samuel  – is just a part of a broader understanding that God is always there for us – right through our life.  Psalm 139 tells us this

Lord, you have searched me out and known me;
you know my sitting down and my rising up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You trace my journeys and my resting places
and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even from the time we are in our mother’s womb.

Our calling, how we live our life is just a part, albeit a significant part of our relationship with God.  However, God is always there for us in our calling and all aspects of our life.

It is the season for new beginnings. The new year brings out that sort of hope and promise in us all. At least at this time we all have the sense the we have permission to try new things and do things a little differently .

So what do our readings today teach us about new beginnings: a reading about, the first beginning, the big one  – the creation of all; and the second, about the beginning of Jesus’ ministry with his baptism by John the Baptist in the Jordan.

However, before I get underway  I hear you cry . . . I am perfectly happy with my lot. I do not need to change. How about a bit of peace and stability. There is too much change, I do not need another. No new beginning for me!

Indeed during the week there was a fascinating article in the Age about how today we are all too electronically connected today, and find our lives driven by the demands of contemporary technology. The gist of the article was that there is in fact too much change and we need that peace and stability. Apparently the average American spends eight and a half hours a day in front of a computer screen, while the average American teenager sends or receives 75 text messages a day. We are so well connected, and the pressures are so great to be connected, there is no time left to just step back and have a break. The author suggested the need for some sort of “internet Sabbath”, and in fact seemed to be encouraging us all to have some quiet time, like he does, in at his local Benedictine monastery.  He quotes with approval the words of a monk by the name of David Steindl-Rast about the need to have happiness, “ that kind of happiness that doesn’t depend on what happens.”

I think we can resonate with the call not to be swept up in all the technological change around about us and the pressure to be connected. We do need a break from it. Even my new year’s resolutions to become connected on Twitter and Facebook perhaps were on this basis wrong- headed. However, here is the irony. For most of us not to be swept up into all of this change, or being connected, will require a new beginning. Are we actually looking to find that happiness that doesn’t depend on what happens. . . . but because we hae that peace within us.

And it would seem to be particularly important for us as Australians.

One of my Christmas reading books, has been The Sweet Spot by the journalist Peter Hartcher.  The book is basically about how Australia at the present time, seems to be doing so much better than the rest of the world – at least economically. Hartcher’s contention is that this is happening  not because of the mining boom and the role of China in that. Luck if you like. Rather it has been because of government policy directions that have been taken – recently and also over the last 20 years. Even Brian Howe gets a favourable mention for the sort of more targeted welfare reforms that were introduced when he was in government. This has all been a part of the mix of the good management . .. . although obviously the focus of Harcher’s analysis is on economic  policy decisions. These sort of decisions, and not just the good fortune of sitting on the abundance of minerals, has meant we as a nation are in the position we are in today.

What fascinates, even troubles  Hartcher however, is that we don’t seem to excited by this, even believe this. He thinks we will become complacent as a nation. There is always something else which grabs our attention, and usually it is something the tabloid media whinge about – the crime rate or refugees are two examples. In trying to understand this, he uses data from a study of voter surveys over the last 50 years. He concludes

“For Australian voters it’s about the future, the future is always bleak, and the government won’t make a difference anyway.”  (p 232)

So despite surviving the Global Financial Crisis, or by all accounts in international surveys about lifestyle and the quality of life, being on top or near top in comparison to other nations, we remain highly critical of government and unreservedly dark in our outlook for the future.  Hartcher calls for – well  a new beginning – with regard to this attitude. As he observes, apart from being unrealistic and factually wrong, it is also dangerous and reckless. To quote him again

“It’s reckless because it is an invitation to politicians to discard good policy. (His major fear at this current time.) If the electorate will not reward good performance, why bother performing? It’s much easier to deal in cheap populism than good policy, to run fear campaigns rather than reform agendas, to demonise the rival party than propose better alternatives.”

I guess my point is – new beginnings are always needed, even though things may seem OK. Complacency can if left unchecked be quite insidious.  As the great cry of Reformation said  – semper reformanda, which in the Latin means “always reforming” – we need to be alert to new starts, new beginnings in our own life or national life.

So in this regard it it is not a surprise we would turn to Genesis Chapter 1. This after all would seem to be the account of the ultimate beginning: an account – at least from a theological perspective – of the creation of all things. Now usually when we see this text it reads

“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth”

which is a legitimate translation of the Hebrew.  There was a point when it, everything, the whole box and dice, all began. . .  a sort of theological big bang theory. Prior to the big bang there was nothing  . .  and after the big bang it began to all unfold.  . .  and is still unfolding.  The Hebrew however, can also be translated as

“When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void etc etc”

Here we have a theological  “steady state cosmological theory”  in which creation doesn’t in effect come from nothing, but there has always seemed to be something around.  That “something” here was  the “darkness covering the face of the deep” or the “face of the waters”.  Now the deep and the waters for the ancients always represented chaos, disturbance and disorder: something to be feared.  You just didn’t sail too far from land the sea monster would get you. Water, the deep represented the primeval fear of the unknown.  On this reading creation brings order out of this chaos, out of this fear. In the beginning – the first step, the first day in bringing this order, was to shed light in the midst of darkness. The first day of creation, is not about producing  something – like that happened on the busy fifth and sixth days when all creatures of the sea and land, including humanity, were created. Creation simply begins by shedding light into darkness. The new beginning happens by shedding light into darkness.

And how does this occur? Well this happens “while the spirit or wind of God blew across the face of the deep” . And while this wind or spirit is blowing, “God said”, God spoke – and there was light. Divine action, indeed the divine word, brings about the new creation.

The baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist may seem far removed from the creation of all that there is, as we have just read in Genesis, however, the parallels with his beginning in his mission are strong. Genesis is about the very creation of life; Jesus is beginning his ministry which is about the offering of new life.  On this occasion the difference is the creator, enters God’s own creation.

Again water features prominently.

Baptism may have been for John and his follows just a sign that they had repented, they were washed  and cleansed of their past sins , and were now henceforth prepared to live different lives. But as John himself was at pains to point out. The one who would come after him would baptize not with water, a sign or marker of a personal decision to  live one’s life differently, he would be baptizing with the holy spirit. However first Jesus himself would enter the waters of chaos of the deep in Genesis 1. It is not unreasonable to say the new life of Jesus arises out of the disorder and chaos of humanity’s life.

For Jesus, having entered the waters of the Jordan, it was like the waters blowing across the face of the deep –, “And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit decending like a dove on him.”   (Mark 1: 10) This time it was not on the primeval deep – but on the first born of all creation – the Spirit descended. And as with the Genesis  – God spoke – though this time it was “a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.”  Of course the prologue of John’s gospel takes the parallel even further with

“What has come into being in him (Jesus) was life, and the life was the light of all peoples. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:3-4)

The first day of this new creation, the new beginning for Jesus – was new life, but also light amidst the darkness.

So for us? Well there is our belief in Jesus, and like Jesus our own baptism, and like with Jesus new life. As we will shortly do, we also will remember our own baptism, a sign and symbol of our own new beginning in Christ. We will recall this baptism , like the baptism of Jesus – which was not just with water, but in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is even today a sign of the new life we may receive – of indeed light amidst the darkness. In a sense we perhaps do not need to begin again – that has already happened. What we need, is to be able to recall how God has already spoken into our life, and that in Jesus we can have this fullness of life.

More prosaically however, as we face difficulties and situations in which we do need to begin again – there are things to learn from texts today.

!. A new beginning is not just a tinkering at the margins – or doing what we have always done and expect a different outcome.  Isn’t that the definition of madness and folly – doing the same thing – being the same person, and expecting a different outcome. Complacency can be a problem.

2. The new beginning is first and foremost order out of chaos; it is understanding, light, being shone on the darkness.  If you take my opening example of all the technological possibilities today – it is not getting more of the same; rather it is stepping back and seeing what us actually going on. Happiness, true happiness is really doesn’t depend on what happens – but it depends on you yourself being at peace.

3. And change, a new beginning – obviously will involve ourselves – but really it will depend on your openness to the spirit of God blowing across the waters, blowing across your life, and guiding and transforming your life. This is what happened for Jesus himself. It is indeed what his spirit offers.

4 And finally, one does not just drift into a new beginning. John the Baptist saw that, and hence he had his so called water baptism. And we do not just drift into being Christians, or a new life. If nothing else our baptism and its recollection, are markers and sign that we have begun afresh.

As I began – it is a season of new beginnings.

People will have different reactions to today – New Year’s Day. There will be those of us who have been eagerly looking forward to this day – to 2012. They can hardly wait to be rid of last year, 2011. For them 2012 offers so much more – they perhaps  are already a aware a milestone awaits in the year ahead – the completion of university degree or even a proposed wedding, perhaps even a birth. At the other end of the scale there are those who find such a day as this insignificant – meaningless really. Today is not different to any other day – why all of the fuss? In between there are those who appreciate any excuse to have a party – and New Year’s is one of the classic times to party. Of course none of those folk are here this morning – they are either still out partying of recovering.

There are then those who find a time such as this as good as any to stop, reflect and ponder life and I guess think of the year, or even years, ahead.  And to certain extent that is the view of our lectionary, when it relates to the readings for New Year’s Day. As I have already pointed out – because  New Year’s day is a Sunday this year, today could be many things. It could be the first Sunday after Christmas, it could also be the day we remember the Naming of Jesus, and if you we really enthusiastic – also Epiphany, the 12^th day of Christmas, 6 January, which occurs this coming Friday. If that were the case we could have special readings about the coming of the wisemen, as well. Today we have just some readings for New Year’s Day, and the gospel reading, for the first Sunday after Christmas.

What I want to do is to focus on the Old Testament reading, that famous reading from Ecclesiastes  that speaks of  different times in a person’s life; a passage that seems quite appropriate for such a day as this. It is indeed a biblical passage, improbably made famous by a popular song – some of you will remember it being sung by Peter, Paul and Mary – way back last century. It was known as Turn, Turn, Turn. Listen again – as we begin this year.

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep  and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather they,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and time to give up,
a time to be silent and time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and time for peace.

Now it is fair to say the book of Ecclesiastes, from where this poem comes, is enigmatic.  It is just not quite clear as to what the book is on about, and how  well it  fits in the Bible itself. There are several books in our bible which have a similar reputation – for example the books like the Song of Songs, or  James or the book of Revelation. Needless to say – in our three  year Lectionary cycle the reading today  is the only occasion we hear from the book – and then only because New Year’s day falls on a Sunday!  It is not a favourite.

Well why is this book – sometime called Qohelet, or the Preacher or Teacher who the author describes themselves as being – so problematic?  To begin with it is not quite clear what the Teacher, Qohelet is trying to say, and in particular what Qohelet is saying about our relationship with God, and indeed the role of God within life generally. So for example, our Preacher, is pretty dark on wisdom . The whole book, without any introduction, begins with the stirring cry

Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanities of vanities, All is vanity.

Wisdom, a well known virtue within scripture, is said to be “just chasing after wind”. Here is a direct challenge to the constant quoting of pithy statements, like there are collected in the book of Proverbs, which tell us how to live our lives. Perhaps the Teacher is challenging the reduction of the profound a perplexing thoughts about life to just some short sharp aphorism. Certainly Qohelet challenges the idea that just following all these proverbs, that is wisdom, will bring one closer to God.  And as to God – well, the Teacher simply observes life is just full of toil and, our lives are ultimately determined by fate. In fact this book is virtually the only place in all of scripture where the term “fate” is used. Qohelet makes the point life is not determined by our wishes or behaviour, like all the good we may do – rather it is just by fate.  Fate – this is real for the Teacher – it is sort  of decreed by God.   And so here within this writing is the profound tension – the nub of all religion really – what is the appropriate balance between human responsibility and divine power.

As you can see one would want to stop and ask more about this book. It is puzzling.  One commentary I have read  however, says this:

Ecclesiates is actually not a book about God; it is a book about ideas. (So the book really has an ideology and not a theology.) Its ideas are about human survival in a world in which work is a pain, overwork is foolishness, pleasure soon pales in the face of death, and wisdom – all of those proverbs and pithy sayings – is unable to comprehend even the simplest sequences that would make possible real understanding of the world. Such a world is absurd – suggests the Teacher. (New Interpreters, vol 5, 283)

And so at this level Ecclesiastes has a very contemporary ring about it. It seems to describe what is going on in our world and our lives at this time . . . especially as we begin a New Year. How do we approach the future?  That cry, “Vanities of vanities. All is vanity” – could be our contemporary slogan.  . . but it is not going to get us very far!

But through the book,  Qohelet, with gritted teeth perhaps and shouting carpe diem, seize the day or some such, snatches a few shreds of superficial happiness, or lives a few fitful moments of bright joy against a relentlessly dark background. And yet it is just this sort of place Qohelet, comes as the Teacher with a sober and caring words, ready to help his pupils deal with such a world. So he holds God in profound respect, but will never claim to know too much about God. In particular, he will not be like Job’s friends, and commit God to a program of simple distributive justice. Remember these folk who argued with Job that all of his problems, the dreadful things that happened to him, were obviously happening  because he had sinned, and really done something dreadfully wrong. If you are good, good things happen; if bad things happen then you must have been bad. Job, and Qohelet challenge this all very mechanical view.  But then, what about Qohelet’s God? Is Qohelet’s God  just? Is Qohelet’s God, even good? Qohelet does not tell us, and perhaps cannot tell us. As I said, this is not so much a book about God; but about ideas.

However, when you look at our passage today about all those different seasons you find that God is ultimately in control. So in verse 11

“God has made everything suitable for its time; moreover God has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from beginning to end. “

God is inscrutable – unknowable. And yet throughout the book, the charge that God is capricious, or just plain absent, pale beside the positive assertion that by, taking charge of  what one can in one lives , human beings can find joy and happiness. So also from our reading today we have this

“I know there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in their toil” (3: 12-13)

Which is sort of summed up with the understanding that in the midst of a maddeningly absurd world in which the fatal shadow of death hangs over equally the wise and the foolish (remember for everything there is a season, a time to be born and a time to die), human beings can have happiness and fulfillment, if you are prepared to seize that possibility, so long as one has respect for the unknown and an all determining God. At the end of the day Qohelet says there can be divine sovereignty and also human freedom!

And within the extremes of life – from being born to dying, to planting and plucking, tearing and sewing, loving and hating and so on there is a predictability, a stability – a security that  - God is there. Time is not out of joint. At the start of New Year, the future is not be feared. Life will ebb and flow – surprises will happen in the year ahead – but God will be there. . . . but at the same time, don’t just sit on your hands.  There is actually a structure there in life and because of that structure, certainty, individual moral decision making is possible. The message – take heed and act accordingly.

There is however, something that is lacking in all of this coming from the Teacher . . . . and we might call this missing ingredient,  hope. For Qohelet there is just a certain doggedness about  living in the midst of the absurd.  . .  like perhaps trying to be sane, normal and balanced in that very skewed and unbalanced  nation of North Korea today.  When you saw the film o f the funeral of the late dear leader, you were just left shaking your head – is this real.  But then is our world real – do we just need to doggedly  be good folk believing in God, and that is all that lies in prospect – say in prospect for the year ahead. And it is here where the Christian message – or more particularly the message of Christmas fits in.

And this importance of hope, is none more evident in the words of Simeon, a righteous and devout contemporary of Jesus’ parents in Jerusalem. For Simeon, life was more than just being content with the absurdity of life because he had a belief in God, and then quietly going on living a blameless and righteous life – like Qohelet might have said. Simeon actually had a hope in God that there would be a different life and world. His short prayer – we call the prayer the Nunc Dimittis – the first words in Latin of the prayer

Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace according to your word … and remember he is holding Jesus in his arms as he says this (and if you are ever feeling a bit down, imagine you are a Simeon, holding Jesus in your arms) …
for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to you people Israel.

Jesus’ birth, offers to us so much more than just prospect of a good upright life: a light of revelation to begin with. Unlike with poor old Qohelet who would neither confirm or deny anything when it came to God – Jesus sheds light into our absurd world, even glory. He brings hope.

As we start this new year,  amidst the changing seasons of life, not only is God present – but we believe in Jesus, there is meaning and joy and life eternal!

Well we might say – have a happy New Year.

One of the transformations of Christmas celebrations in recent times, has been the advent of the Christmas letter. Once we used to just exchange cards – although someone would occasionally insert a  stray piece of paper when you ran out of space on the back of the card writing all of your news. Nowadays, Christmas communication is not complete unless one has a complete photo gallery of the year past and a blow by blow account of the year in a Christmas Letter.  And of course it is delivered electronically, and not by the postie.

One of our friends also sees the Christmas letter as an opportunity to launch into poetry and collect thoughts and ideas not dissimilar to what you might have once seen on desk date pad calendar. So this year, our friend  Boni ends, I guess a little cryptically, with

So this Christmas , let’s seek to strip away the difficulties we bring on ourselves.

Certainly a different message to the saccharine sweet Merry Christmas we used to get on all those cards.

I think we understand what my friend was getting at. Life accumulates all sorts of superfluous needs, demands and priorities – and Christmas affords an opportunity to stop, reflect, and as she says – “strip away the difficulties we bring upon ourselves” – and live life differently, do things differently – understand afresh something of the hope , peace, joy and love of Christmas. I am sure you can imagine the sort of things you would need to strip away.

And certainly on the other hand there is a Spirit of Christmas. It is palpable. It is a good time to do this sort of thing. There is a cheerfulness and friendliness we don’t see at other times. We can greet others, sometimes complete strangers with Christmas greetings and enquire “what are they doing for Christmas.” People are generous – as we year in and year out discover here at Church or All Nations, as folk donate to our Christmas Appeal – from all over the State; or contribute in a variety of ways to our programs through donations and gifts. Each year we give away hundreds and hundreds of toys to families who otherwise would not be able to give such gifts to their children. All of these toys have been donated.  It is an amazing sight.  There this is something about Christmas – even in our increasingly secular age – which means, at least for a short time, we can live life differently.  And we can take this time, to do things differently. Just last week I was walking back up to Carlton from town , and there was a man in front of me – perhaps with cerebral palsy. He was gamely making slow progress up the hill, using two crutches and wearing a back pack and another pack over his front.  I stopped and asked if he needed a hand. “No I am all  right, my doctor tells me I need  to exercise.” We exchanged Christmas greetings and had a chat. I doubt if the incident would have happened at any other time of the year.

Yes we can have some success in doing things differently at this time of the year, but perhaps thus far my examples are trivial, superficial – barely touch the real cause of our problems and difficulties today. One only has to think, not of Christmas Day – but of Christmas Island, and we enter an area where we lack the courage to “strip away the difficulties we bring on ourselves”.  It would seem that our government and opposition are not in the mood to strip away anything and expose an attitude towards asylum seekers that is not just, compassionate and hospitable.  Rather both seem content to promote fear, and not peace on earth; despair not hope; and profound and unutterable misery, even death and tragedy instead of joy. Indeed it would seem to be impossible for us, perhaps for us even as a nation, to “strip away the difficulties we bring on ourselves”.

Not that we shouldn’t try – but there just do seem to be intractable issues in our lives today: large and complex issues of which we are a part, but we do not seem to be able to solve – or even to begin to strip away the difficulties. So there are disputes between people of a different ethnic or religious persuasions; there is the  monumental impact of greed  – and the failure of our international economic system being played out in global financial turmoil of the moment; or there is glacial action, more often inaction, being undertaken with regard to climate change.

Being nice and good just Christmas just does not seem to cut the mustard in the face of these difficulties. These are substantial issues. . .  and stripping away our difficulties seems fraught. As the apostle Paul once said –  “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do” (Romans 7: 18). Something else takes over – pride or stubbornness; selfishness and greed – whatever. Paul of course calls it sin – sin that prevents us from each and every one of us having a full and meaningful  life, and us living in a community which is supportive and loving.

Now you may think these are rather heavy themes for such a day as this – and probably you are right. Sorry  – however, I do have a simple message today.  Christmas has a deeper and richer meaning  than us – you and I – even for a day, perhaps for a longer period, even into next week  – being happy and full of cheer and goodwill. Or even as my friend suggests – of using Christmas as a time, an opportunity, even an excuse,  for  the  stripping away the difficulties we cause ourselves.  By all means have a joyous and happy Christmas with your friends and family, take stock of your life – reprioritise how you live. . . . but the message of Christmas runs much deeper.  It is about pure gift and grace, addressing that underlying sin which drives us to do the very things we want to do or achieve, but somehow don’t!

Each Christmas  – the church have set in our lectionary readings,  as the epistle reading for this day – a passage from the small, and often not referred to, Letter to Titus. Indeed in all my Christmas sermons – over 25years of them, I have never used it as a text for this day. We heard it read before.  It does not seem to have much to do with donkeys, stables, mangers – even shepherds watching their flocks by night, and angels announcing tidings of great joy. It is not our familiar theme of Christmas. But it does cut to the chase as to what Christmas is about.

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared – a clear reference to birth of Jesus –God saved us, not because of any works of righteousness  that we had done, but according to God’s mercy through the water of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit. This Spirit God poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour” (Titus 3: 4-6)

Christmas celebrates our salvation, or at least the birth of our savior  – “Born this day in the city of David is a Saviour who is Christ the Lord” as the shepherds were told. And we often forget this aspect of the story. All those problems and difficulties we encounter in trying to do the right thing, like stipping away the difficulties we bring on our selves; even the lamentable efforts of the Australian government in working out what to do with people fleeing  for their life from persecution and oppression – are included within the scope of what this day means.  As our letter to Titus says:

“It ultimately is not because of any works of righteousness that we had done” – it’s about God’s love and grace. It is God who brings about a renewed relationship with God’s own self or, a world in which there is righteousness, justice and peace. This is not to say we should not ultimately share something of this love and grace with others – show Christmas goodwill all year round if you like. However, Christmas is as much about the whole of the life, death and resurrection of Christ –  as it is about his birth. That whole life – as the letter to Titus indicates – is about big, broad Christian themes of being justified by the grace of God. It does begins with a birth – but it can involve so much more.  And that birth in which this child’s future destiny is already mapped out to be our Saviour – gives clues to what that salvation and new life looks like.  It comes unexpectantly and we might say miraculously, as a virgin gives birth; it occurs in a surprising place, a stable  – and the news of its happening is shared with surprising people, shepherds of all people and even nature  – with its star responds . It is joyous and hopeful; it is to be celebrated.  It is our new start for a full life.

So Christmas makes us think – makes us do things differently. However, it has broader – cosmic significance – our Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, has been born.

In Isaiah 9.6 we read:

“For unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulders, and his name will be called ‘wonderful counselor, to an original understanding of what is a vigil is. Remember I said,

Tonight in our vigil – we seek, new hope, a new basis for living – a new start.  . .  and we believe the birth of Jesus is a basis for such a hope.  “For unto us a child is born.”

I wish to go back a step however. We began  this evening reflecting on what is a vigil – a candlelight vigil. And I referred to several significant vigils that have been held this year. You might feel this service tonight is in fact different – and in a sense you could be right; but I would like us to get back to an original understanding of what is a vigil is. Remember I said,

“In general terms a vigil is an occasion of keeping awake, of keeping alert – for some special purpose – like hoping and praying for a recovery of a person, or remembering a tragedy and hoping for a changed  or renewed situation.”

There is also a meaning that a vigil is just the service a day before a major religious festival. Tomorrow is Christmas – and so this is the Christmas vigil, or on Holy Saturday at Easter, the Easter vigil, is just the service before the celebration of Easter day, or for our Catholic sisters and brothers – there so called Saturday night mass, is in fact the vigil for the coming day – the Sunday when we again, week by week, celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

I have noticed a trend, however, we  seem to be having more and more vigils these days. At least there is more and more public displays of the outpouring of grief when a well known personality dies or is taken ill – and a vigil is mounted. There are flowers left, candles lit and people gather in a sombre and subdued mood. Who would ever forget the death of Lady Dianna Spencer? It is a related phenomenon to the erection of white crosses at the scene of a car accident fatality in memory of the one who died.  Sometimes the white cross and a vigil are combined.

Something is not right – there is an inexpressible grief – there is a hope for a better day – we remain awake and alert, keep vigil, for a new future and as a sign of respect. We want to do something.  So tonight, what are we hoping for?

The prophet Isaiah kept vigil for his land of Judah.

It was a time of high drama in the middle east – and sadly it always seems to be the case. The Assyrians were in the ascendancy: a particularly brutal outfit. Now the states of Israel – that is just the northern tribes (the children of Israel were divided into two nations – Israel in the north, and Judah in the south); well just Israel and Syria formed an unholy alliance against the Assyrians and in the meantime sought to defeat Judah. Meanwhile in Judah, the southern kingdom,  there was a new, young king, Ahaz, on the throne. What should he do? Should he give into the invaders from the north of Israel and Syria, or seek outside help. Perhaps even seek help from the dreaded Assyrians?

It was at this point, a dark moment in the nation’s history, that Isaiah confronted the king with a simple message: “Trust in Yahweh; trust in God. Be quiet; keep calm.” Wait – if you like,  keep a vigil.  Ahaz however, was not so sure. Yes he would trust in God, but then God had no army. He wanted a sign. A sign that Yahweh could be trusted; a sign that the power of Yahweh could be his hope. This sign did not have to be a stupendous miracle – something even from the ordinary course of life would suffice. He wanted however, to base his hope on something.

So Isaiah mentions a sign. Quite simply a child would be born to a young woman; he would be called Immanuel “God with us”. Hence the prophet could make the claim “unto us a child is born “. And the child? Well Isaiah most probably was merely referring to the queen, Ahaz’s wife, and her child, Hezakiah, the next king of Judah.

Simply,as the nation waited during these dark days, Isaiah affirmed that the birth of a child from the house of David, was a sign that God was with them. It was as if his prayers through  this painful vigil were answered.

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them light has shined. “

Christians of  course have simply appropriated this reading and seen it refer to the birth of Jesus  - which I guess is fair enough – but we must first understand what is happening when we do this.

Tonight – if you like, at its darkest point, in the middle of the night  –  we await a new light. We look around us, we reflect on our lives, we ponder our world and our community. From deeply personal tragedies, to local, communal and world-wide despair – we keep awake – we want a better world. This night we seek the assurance things can be different.  We await the in breaking of God into our lives and the world.

Of course all around us there are signs of hope, if we care to look; and we can see signs that God is indeed with us, even if this world does seem somewhat dark and grim. This is more than just being optimistic  – seeing the glass half full, when those around us see a glass half empty. The friendly greeting and the care of a neighbour; the commitment of volunteers – here at CAN or in so many fields and facets of our community life; and the birth of a child – even today, all are indeed signs that God is with us. But as we know this vigil is for God – in the form of the Christ child that we remember and keep awake.

Why would be await of all things the birth of a baby – surely there are more significant things to await. However, as the prophet says , for this child, their “authority would grow continually. There shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom.” (vs 7) We are talking about that quaint phrase “the government shall be upon his shoulders”. This is about political power. Hope here, had a hard edged – a political side. And the birth narrative of Jesus  – surprisingly also has a political edge. In Matthew’s gospel – all that argy bargy between Herod and the wisemen was deeply political. We are talking here about a child, an unknown child, and the might of the Roman Empire and their political lackeys like Herod. Even the angels in Luke’s gospels were bringing the good tidings at a quite specific time. Luke sets the story very specifically “in those day a decree went out from Emperor Augustus”. The empire dominated all life – and yet there was hope. Life would be different.

However, this new rule, will not be with might; an army that might confront the Northern Kingdom of Israel, or Syria or even Assyria. This new king will “establish and uphold his kingdom with justice and righteousness from this time onward and forevermore.” (vs7)

Justice and righteousness – not power and might would be basis of this new hope. We in this vigil, seek, a world which is respectful and inclusive. For the angels outside of Bethlehem, this new kingdom will be of peace. (2:14) The sign was not a mighty army massing in the City of David. Rather the angels said:

This will be a sign for you; you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.

Tonight it is dark. Our flickering lights, fight against that darkness. However, we have hope. We seek a better world. We await the birth of the Christ – who will not bring about  change with just the click of the fingers – it will be with justice and righteousness.

Let us – just take this time in silence to ponder, to ponder – to mount our vigil and wait.

mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace.’”

Tonight in our vigil – we seek, new hope, a new basis for living – a new start.  . .  and we believe the birth of Jesus is a basis for such a hope.  “For unto us a child is born.”

I wish to go back a step however. We began  this evening reflecting on what is a vigil – a candlelight vigil. And I referred to several significant vigils that have been held this year. You might feel this service tonight is in fact different – and in a sense you could be right; but I would like us to get back

At the heart of the Season of Advent is that we trust God; we believe God is faithful and just; we have have something to believe God comes among us – again and again. In our despair and our longing for a better world, God in Christ again will come, just as God all of those years ago, came in the birth of that tiny child – Jesus of Nazareth.

In short we trust God and we have hope.   And why, or perhaps more likely how, do we trust and have hope. I simply want to suggest that on this day we can do this because of who we are as this congregation; these people who gather here and are the body of Christ in this place, give us confidence for the future.

First of all – to set the scene – I would like to refer to Psalm 126.

Now this psalm is thought to date from the time of the return the Children of Israel in exile in Babylon. A familiar context we have heard in recent times. Yes it was great to be free from bondage in Babylon, but the returning  home was not easy – indeed very difficult: a situation not dissimilar that is being played out through Northern Africa and the Middle East at this very moment. Freedom and revolution has been hard wrought – but that is nothing like the struggle like establishing a new nation, a new culture and new structures of governance.  And so it was for the Children of Israel s they returned to Jerusalem – the place was still in ruins, including the temple, and nothing was normal, or just plain ordinarily boring again.

What this simple short psalm does is simply recall the past as being a basis for the future. God was faithful once, God will continue to be faithful – even though the present does not seem propitious or in any way promising.

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion then were we like those who dream.

(Look God was there in our difficulty – indeed rescued us and saved us beyond our wildest dreams.)

Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy.

(We recall how we felt then – we were filled with joy.)

Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them”

(Indeed such was the joy of Israel – others noticed. So they shout. . . )

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad indeed.

So with such thoughts, memories, and experiences in mind – the Children of Israel turned to their current predicament.  With confidence they could say:

Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the watercourses of the Negev.
Those who sowed with tears will reap with songs of joy.
Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.

Despite all  – despite the tears and anguish – again one day we will laugh and share in joy. It will be like a dry riverbed – springing to life when the water again begins to flow. There will be life again.

And this is how we operate. We will continue to use a trader, or tradesperson, or professional because of past experience. We trust them. We have confidence for the future because of past

Today we have confidence for the future, a future in which we will experience God presence – God’s Advent will break into our lives, or the life of this community  – because we see God’s grace and love shown in the lives of people we know. And of course today we think of Ethel – our beloved and honoured matriarch here at CAN. Ethel is my sermon illustration that God is faithful and just – and because of Ethel – we hope and confidence for the future. It is not because Ethel has to do it – though note the only reference to 90 year olds in all of scripture is the barren Sarah – Abraham’s wife. But we won’t go there. Rather we want to affirm our confidence for the future because of what we see God has done through our life together.

Mac, another saint of our community, who has known Ethel and her late husband Doug the whole of their time they have been here, will present some glimpses of Ethel. AS we hear them may we share in them with joy and like the psalmist acknowledge “The Lord has done great things” for us and we are glad indeed” – and with that knowledge be confident God will come among us again in this Season of Advent.

(Presentation by Mac about “Glimpses of Ethel”)  

Faithful, thoughtful, dependable friend for forty years.

                Always encouraging, always respectful.

                Immaculately clothed and coiffured.

Eminently sensible and practical.

Lover of beautiful things ….music,   flowers,   harmony among people.

A risk-taker, open to new experiences….. Tai Chi, …. water aerobics,         community activism,…….Taize…..  Italian classes.

Some images of Ethel over the years

On the front doorstep, casserole in hand, lovingly prepared for a family struggling with illness and anxiety

At the organ, practising at unearthly hours, wonderfully high standards of performance, self-critical, persevering against incredible odds, producing sublime sounds on Wednesday and Sunday mornings and all the days between, opening up the church door before dawn on a cold winter morning, not only practising for the benefit of the congregation but engaging in a daily ritual of love for the music and for the One who is the source of it all

Ethel enquiring after the welfare of children and friends no longer at CAN, always interested and encouraging

Ethel at the foot of a poplar tree in the park sending up food on a rope to a lone protester who was living in the tree to save a stand of poplars threatened by the plans for the new Legends stand

Ethel arranging those beautiful orchids into a stunning flower display for Sunday morning

Ethel, a foundation member of the Wednesday morning 7.45 Eucharist service in the Fullerton Chapel, started by Barry Prior years ago and now a much valued feature of our CAN life

Ethel as hostess to retired ministers groups meetings for over two decades at 66 Garton Street, warmly welcoming, constantly checking on who has what to eat and drink, absorbing the latest news of births and illnesses and deaths, all the while keeping an eye on the coffee pot and whether there are enough chairs for us when we all sit down

Ethel gently rebuking Doug if he kept talking a bit long in introducing a speaker or making a point,…..a cheeky side of Ethel that came as a bit of a shock. “Oh, come on Doug. Let’s hear the guest speaker.”

Ethel as an equal part of that team , Doug and Ethel, that pair that made such a profound contribution to the welfare of so  many of us through the seventies, eigthies, nineties, and naughties.

Ethel and Doug at the Myer Music Bowl, eating a late February tea  while awaiting the MSO symphony concert, then enthusing at interval about the glory of the concerto we had just heard

Ethel in recent years, the gutsy eigthty- plus  widow, determined to stay fit, tackling a hip operation and getting out of bed on the next day to begin rehab, returning home and refusing to use the chairlift except to send the washing basket upstairs while she tackled the twenty five stairs on foot

Ethel , faithful disciple of Christ always open to making new discoveries of faith and life, humble in the best sense of the word

Ethel as mother and grandmother and great grandmother, so proud of her diverse and scattered family, flying off and exploring the wonders of Italy, of Malaysia, spending a weekend picking olives with the family at St.Andrews, keeping in close touch with that wonderful family of four generations,

 that  family  which has all grown from the  1940’s

when a courageous  young  Methodist missionary and rugby enthusiast

 met  a beautiful, gifted young concert pianist.

Ethel, faithful servant of Christ, good and generous friend to so many of us, we love you dearly and we honour you this morning for all that you are and all that you have given us.

The Song of Mary, or what we call the Magnificat, re-inforces this perspective, but adds a new dimension. Just as the past brings confidence for the future, like Mary says:

You have mercy on those who fear you, from generation to generation.
You have shown strength with your arm and scattered the proud with their conceit. . .  and so on

But Mary seizes on the fact that a new thing, in particular, the birth of a child, in this instance the birth of the Christ child, brings hope. . .  and such newness also “proclaims the greatness of the Lord”.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for you Lord, have looked with favour on your lowly servant.        

In any time, in any circumstance the birth of a child brings hope – there is a new generation, things can be different – the world can be a better place. Imagine a worl in which there were no children – no future. Indeed the prophet Isaiah, in that passage often read at this time – says as much

For a child has been born to us, a son given to us; authority rests on his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counsellor, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Is 9:6)

Of course Christians have appropriated this text to refer to the birth of Jesus, but in the time of the prophet it actually was referinge to a child in the royal house – that in a particularly dark time, things would be different; could be different. The people could have hope.

Now Winsen, is not a babe in arms, nor particularly from a Royal House – in fact he is a mature 21 years and now a qualified physio-therapist! But I think you follow my theme here – he is not 90 years of age – and thus we can look back and see God’s faithfulness, but rather Winsen is a hope for the future. . . although a hope which will not be in this congregation – but somewhere else in a far off place like Singapore, or Djakarta – although perhaps one day back here.

So there are glimpses of Winsen 

(Jean and Sue present glimpses of Winsen)

It is the Season of Advent  – almost Christmas. Why do we still get excited at this time.  Well it is a good time of the year – but even in our own small community, let us feel assured we can trust God; and see hope for the future.   This small body of Christ here tells us that.

What more could we want

Come, O come Emmanuel!

Isaiah 40:1-11 

Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 

2 Peter 3:8-15a 

Mark 1:1-8

At this time of Advent there is a familiar range of themes and characters we encounter in our readings each Sunday: the second coming – as we had in our readings last week; the prophets – typically Isaiah  – always proclaiming that God is faithful and will come to God’s people with hope and salvation; and then there is Mary, a devoted child of God who in trust and hope bears the Christ child. Today however, it is John the Baptist’s turn.

I like John the Baptist.  There is a boldness and eccentricity about him that I find attractive. A boldness that eventually leads to his death when he challenges Herod over his marital arrangements; an eccentricity that relates to his choice of clothing and diet. However, today, on this second Sunday of Advent, we particularly recall his role as the forerunner; the one who prepares the way; points to the One who is to come – the one whom John feels he is not worthy to untie his sandals. He is the one who is crying out in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord, pointing to Jesus.

This side of Christmas, he is a good person to consider, as we again come to celebrate the coming of the Christ into the world. He help us with our remembrance and celebration of the birth of Jesus.

And so there are several obvious things we could say at this point. Christmas does require preparation. Certainly that is the case when we consider the meal, the presents, the travels and all our trappings of the festive season.  However, understanding who Jesus is for us today also requires preparation. A revolution may be spontaneous, but it requires a context in which to take root. That context usually is usually one in which the grievances are articulated, and the people understand them, indeed experience them, and thus want change . . .  desperately want change. There needs to be a build up – preparation for the change.

And this is why John was so significant for the story of Jesus, and indeed for the story of the church. The coming of Jesus, the Jesus revolution, the Christian story – requires preparation. John also is significant for us today, as we need again to speak to a secular society which has lost the language of spirituality and faith, and in our supposedly Christian land, has forgotten the story of Jesus, or at least finds its story is drowned out in so many different ways. The lessons John the Baptist teaches us about “preparation” are important.

To begin with John obviously touched a nerve in his society. As I noted in my regular email during the week, the people at the time came to hear him in droves: the whole of Judea and all in Jerusalem, in fact. The whole population was affected by his message. Something was just not right – and obviously in his preaching he was able to put his finger on it – and express it clearly. Mark’s gospel does not go into the same detail that Matthew and Luke’s gospel do at this point, but it seems he was saying it is not about just resting on one’s laurels, and assuming all is well – or saying “we have Abraham as our father” when your own personal and community life fall short of God’s will. I suggested during the week that the Occupy Movement, was today similarly tapping into a community mood that something is just not right across our society, indeed across the world. The ninety nine percent, are feeling excluded from power and are just being  used, and abused for the sake of the other one percent. People, are expressing their disquiet. Something is not right here. However, I suspect John may have dug a little deeper. The Occupy Movement is in danger of just sounding greedy, and at bottom just wanting to have the money, wealth and power that the one percent have, and as a consequence not really change anything. And such would be pattern of so many revolutions: you just would be swapping one set of tyrants for another. After generations of convincing us that the only measure of the human person is their economic worth, and that money is the only pathway to a good life, and that the whole of life is about the economy stupid – the answer is not necessarily going to be solely an economic one. In part it has to be that, but what about how we treat the environment (and the assumption we must always have economic growth), what about human self worth or if you like human rights and dignity, and what about spiritual matters of peace and love – if you like, relationships.

Well at the turn of our era, John had a message, that in his age – things were not right in the context of living in the midst of an imperial power; and that organised religion lacked integrity; and that people themselves seemed aimless and lacked meaning. In short, life could be better. People wanted to hear this. But John was at pains always to point out, he was not the solution – that would come from the one coming after him; that would involve a person’s baptism in the Holy Spirit. His baptism – a good old standard washing in the river Jordan, was just that a water baptism, marking that there was a recognition that all was not right in their life. Indeed he called this baptism a sign of their repentance; their turning around; their beginning to live life differently; of recognizing things could not go on as they used to. Jesus, however, into this situation, would then provide the spark, a way through, an answer even.

And so this was the second feature of John’s pattern of preparation. Not only was there  his being able to say – change is needed; but he required the personal commitment that individuals had in fact changed. He used that awkward religious word – repentance. John required repentance; a complete turning around. His baptism was for “the repentance and the forgiveness of sins”.  

Repentance is not a popular concept today. As individuals and even as nations, we are not into repentance. We assume we can continue along in our own lives, just tweaking it here, adding an apps there, and all will be will. A root and branch change is not in our nature. “Heaven forbid, you can’t say you were wrong!” The economic and environmental mess the world is in today is that the West, and particularly the West, is not able to repent; change and make a start afresh. So we assume continued extraordinary growth and profits must, can go on forever, and that government services can always increase – without us having to actually pay any increased taxes (or for some large corporations or wealthy individuals pay taxes at all), or meet any of the environmental consequences or change how we are all to live our life (science will fix that up).  Now this is an awkward example for a current city slicker to use – but in my defence, I have lived in a town on the Murray River. So take the current issue over water policy for the Murray Darling basin. I would argue that for the Murray Darling to continue to live and sustain us – we need to repent. Change our life. Use less water. Treat the river differently. But what do we find. People will say, that is fine – but they over there must repent, not us; certainly I can’t change because I have my way of life to maintain.  Or after all science will find a way – so why worry. And so we have this impasse. No one is prepared to change!

Today, as I think it has always been, we find repentance, and the admission of sins – difficult; well nigh impossible. For so long we have been able to mask human failing, with scientific measures; or the real breakdown of individual responsibility and community support for each other – especially in the context of a city – with the performance of those tasks by the state (because of the rise of our national wealth). Repentance cuts through all of the arguments. At the end of the day you have a responsibility; and you need to change.  If you want a different life; well take charge of your life – and at least acknowledge you can turn it around, and be open to God’s grace in Christ.

John the Baptist challenges us to be ready for the coming of the Christ child. Jesus – Christmas if you like – will not change a thing unless you first acknowledge there needs to be change – unless you repent. John helps us see the essence of Christmas more clearly. He also provides a wonderful challenge for the church today as it addresses the world as we face issues today affecting our life together. We have a John the Baptist like role of preparing for the way – a different way of life. A way of life sees being fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth – a way of life our our Muslim brothers and sisters see being fulfilled in the way of following Mohammed. However, in this I think we would agree – someone like John the Baptist is important to prepare the way for a different life.

Isaiah 64:1-9
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Mark 13:24-37

The season of Advent is not Christmas. Christmas is the joyous celebration of “the day of the Lord”; of the birth of the Messiah; of God coming among us; of being born to a young woman in a remote part of the Roman Empire. Our carols today by and large joyfully proclaim this event of the Saviour’s birth.

Advent, on the other hand, is waiting for, anticipating, even wanting “the day of the Lord”.
And there is the problem. How do we understand a season of waiting, when what we are waiting for has already come? It does not make sense. Yes preparation for our celebration of “the day of the Lord” – that would work; but simply to recall what it was like to await the birth of the Messiah all those years ago, does seem a little remote.

It is thus understandable that wrapped up in the season of Advent is not just preparation for the birth of Christ, but the second coming, as we say, the parousia, the end of the age, the end of time, or the end of the world or some such phrase.   Advent is just not about the first coming, but also the second coming. And we see that in our readings, like the one we have just heard from Mark. These are foreboding readings about the sun being darkened and the moon not giving light and the Son of Man coming in the clouds.  And that is why I think we have a problem about trying to understand this time of the year.

This second coming stuff is the province of the looney fringe of our faith – especially when we hear it will be a particular time and place for only special people. But if we just focus on such mechanical questions we will miss out on the richness of what this time  of Advent offers. You see, people at times in the their life, or in the history of communities – will experience and feel deeply that God is absent. There is no tangible sign that God is around. Life is meaningless.  They feel abandoned.  This may because the person or persons perceive they have indeed sinned.   . .  and are well, being punished. They are stewing in their own mess as we might say. Or it may be that just everything is aligned against them.  This in fact is how the community felt in our Isaiah reading. They had in triumph returned from exile in Babylon to Jerusalem –but it all then went belly up! It was still desolate, there was no temple, and there was no ongoing sign of God’s presence among them. “God, tear open the heavens” and show yourself, was their plea. And perhaps it was no different for Mark’s community in our gospel reading. We are here talking about events around the year 70 of the common era. Again the temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Romans, the infant church, this fragile group of followers of Jesus, was greatly threatened – and their hope, was that Jesus again would come among them; God would be all in all. At the time they were feeling abandoned. A second coming was an act of hope, not just judgement.

Advent is a season of hope; hope that we have not been abandoned; God is not absent in our lives – or even absent in our increasingly secular community, or from this church. God spectacularly came among us in Jesus (or was it meekly and quietly came among us in Jesus) – once. As we recall that, indeed look to celebrate that at Christmas, do we actually now see God acting and living among us today. Are we  awake enough to see it, and ready enough to receive God’s presence.

Advent is about our hope that Christ is always present, and is there for us.