Second Sunday in Advent St Andrew’s Milngavie 2024
Today we celebrated the second Sunday of Advent accompanied by Alison.
Yesterday we received the sad news that our dear friend Hilda has died, peacefully in Westerton Care Home. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family at this time. Her funeral details to follow.
Advent Devotions – it’s not too late to take part in any of our Advent Devotions.
All welcome to take part in the online Ignatius Spirituality Centre Advent Course which runs throughout the season available by accessing the ISC website.
We are also invited to join All Saints for their Advent course which runs on Tuesdays at 2pm in their hall. The book we are studying is “Do not be afraid” The joy of waiting in a time of fear by Rachel Mann. Many of us are enjoying receiving a daily email from Deirdre depicting a window form her superbly embroidered Advent Calendar. If you would like to be included in this, let me or Deirdre know.
The Christmas Tree Festival at St Paul’s has now finished. It was a great success. Thank you to all who supported and helped with it – especially Jackie.
Please note Milngavie Choir Christmas Concert , Sunday 15th December, 4pm St Joseph’s Church.
TICKETS ON SALE NOW or available on the door
This Week
Tuesday 10am – Prayer Group in Garden Room
2pm – Advent Course, All Saints in their hall
Thursday 10am – Said Holy Communion followed by coffee in Friendship House
Readings for next Sunday – 3rd Sunday of Advent – Zephania 3:14-end Philippians 4:4-7 Luke 3:7-18
Today’s readings – Malachi 3:1-4, Philippians 1:3-11, Luke 3: 1-6
One of the greatest frustrations in life is not being able to recall instantly, when required, certain words or names for which one knows perfectly well but just can’t quite remember…..and so we wait until it eventually comes to us which it mostly always does….but usually after the moments passed.
In the same way, we could say, we wait for the word of the Lord to come to us as we wait for our prayers to be answered and for the spirit to guide us.
In the gospel John was waiting for the word of the Lord to come to him. This was after all his vocation, living in the wilderness, becoming strong in spirit, waiting for the day that he would be called to begin his ministry. And now, that day has finally come.
There are many examples from scripture of when and how the word of God came to people. In the OT Moses was watching his flock when the word of God came to him out of a burning bush. Exodus 3:5
And then there was Samuel, a boy when the word of God came to him as he slept. The priest Eli, instructed him not to ignore the voice; but instead say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” He did, and the word of God came to him. 1 Samuel 3
The word of God also came to Jonah the prophet at various times, but most famously in the belly of the great fish. Having been initially reluctant to listen to God, Jonah eventually resists no longer proving that the word of God can be very persistent.
Then there is Elijah, fleeing from Jezebel, who has vowed to kill him. Alone in a cave, scared, desperate for a word from God, it comes to him – not dramatically, like in the wind or the fire or the earthquake, but rather in the still, small voice of the Lord.
In the NT in the nativity story the word of God came to the father of John the Baptist and the mother of Jesus. Both Zechariah and Mary were approached by an angel. And so were the shepherds.
Sometimes, the word of God even comes to us in miraculous ways.
And then there is Jesus himself. The word of God came to him, too, in many and various ways, but one well-known time was when he was baptised by John in the River Jordan. After his baptism he heard a voice from heaven say to him, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” Luke 3:21
The word of God can come to us in traditional ways, too, through the scacrements of baptism and communion. But also in difficult and often exacting circumstances like illness and bereavement, so many different ways, some welcome, some not. But the word of God does come, often calling us to new ways of living and looking at our life.
When God is ready, he will come. So, watch, as Jesus tells us in the gospels, for we know not when that will be. Watch, so that we might be found whenever and wherever this happens. Isn’t that all that John the Baptist is really saying to us today? Prepare the way of the Lord. By waiting. By watching. By listening.
He is inviting us to repent. To clean up our hearts. And to focus on our relationship with Christ. His call to repent is really a call to turn from all the stresses of our earthly life, and simply return to the Lord.
It’s why we are here, after all. To listen again to the word of God and to focus ourselves back on what truly matters. And when we do this, we find again the thread that can lead us through the labyrinth of this life. The thread that shows us the way. The way that fills our valleys and makes low our mountains. The way that helps us to hear the still, small voice. The way, above all, that leads to a life like no other, the life that is promised to all who desire it, the life that comes from life with Jesus. Let us follow this way always. To the glory of God. Amen.