A reflection for Advent II 2021 by Canon Dean Fostekew

“My old man said follow the van

And don't dilly-dally on the way.

Off went the van with me 'ome packed in it;

I followed on with me old cock linnet.

I dillied, I dallied;

I dallied, I dillied;

Lost me way and don t know where to roam.

Oh! You can t trust a special, like your old time copper, when you can t find your way  ‘ome.”

Today, is all about trusting the  old time coppers  or more precisely the old time prophets, the messengers of God.

Malachai, the last of the prophets to appear in the Old Testament tells us this morning, that:

“The Lord will send his messenger, who will prepare his way before him.”

St.Paul, similarly, encourages the Philippians to prepare the way forward by living lives which are pure and blameless.St.Luke, recounts the ministry of the last Old Testament prophet; John-the-Baptist and how he urged the Israelites to repentance and preparation in order to meet the Christ, face to face.

How well were these prophets of old heard?

How well do we hear their voices, today?

Luke also challenges us with his quote from Isaiah, in relation to the Baptist:

“ … like a voice crying in the wilderness.”

Is this the answer we give to my questions?

I don’t know how many of you have been into the desert? It can at first sight appear to be a dry, barren place where at night the silence is deafening. I have been into the Sahara, and into the area around Massada, in Southern Israel. Both places were wildernesses, desolate places full of unseen dangers, loneliness and death. These are the images that come to my mind when I hear John's voice crying in the wilderness.

It can, however, be just as desert like and desolate in the middle of the city or within a dying relationship - when you have no one to relate to. Think back to the times when you may have felt  a bit down  and longed to see someone, or to engage in stimulating conversation with a friend and no one has called. How painful and isolating that can feel. This is as much a barren, empty, wilderness as the desert.

Scripture, however, teaches us that in order to reach the ‘Promised Land’  we first have to cross the wilderness. We have to seek out and heed God’s word and respond to it. The wilderness we have to cross, is the one within our own hearts. We have to allow God into this barren place, so that he can renew us and liberate us from our guilt and fears, thereby enabling us to grow. To grow into him.

The Baptist’s call, this morning, is a challenge. He is urging us to repent of our sins and to open our hearts to the Lord. It is a dangerous challenge because if we open our hearts to God, we will surely be changed; and any change is scary, difficult to accept and not  always easy to deal with. It is easier and safer to stay as one is - it’s comfortable and secure.

BUT be warned!

If you do not change, you will not grow, and you will effectively keep God out of your life and never maturing into the whole person, that God calls you to be. It is hard to change and even harder to convince non-believers that they too need to listen to God's word. Being a Christian in the early years of the 21st century is a bit like living in the wilderness. The values that the church stands for, or should be seen to stand for are on the whole counter-cultural to the understanding of the majority of the population:

Honesty

Kindness

Gentleness

Respect for others

Unconditional love and acceptance of one s neighbour

Caring for the weak and needy

Putting others before self

All too often our values are dismissed as irrelevant or even totally rejected as being inappropriate. It is not true to say that all of Society is like this but there are people in our world who believe that 'Looking after number one' is the only important thing to so. Why care for the less fortunate? It is their own fault anyway. Don t worry who you have to step on in order to get to the top, just so long as you succeed.

Perhaps we Christians are the odd-balls, out of sync’ with everybody else? Well, if we are, then that's okay with me. I would rather try and follow the  ways of Jesus and meet God face to face in the faces of the people others reject or see no value in than to pursue a life of selfish and lonely self-satisfaction.

Jesus responded to the Baptist’s call and was baptised. We the baptised must seek to take our example from him. We must learn to pray and ponder Scripture, seek to spend time with God in prayer and put into practice those things which the Gospel commands us to do. Like Jesus, we must proclaim God’s love in both word and deed.

We are God’s prophets today and we have a Gospel to proclaim in our society. We have 'Good News' to share and we must ensure that this news really is good. We must be prepared to take risks for the sake of that Gospel and not to be over cautious and careful - for it is easy to end up doing nothing but staying in a comfortable rut.

John-the-Baptist, challenges us today to both listen and respond to God’s word.

Try and use this Advent season to ponder how it is that God is calling you to water the desert and to make the wilderness blossom.

How are you being led to journey through life?

What are you hoping for?

What path are you being shown?

What is the voice in the wilderness saying to you?