Prayer for a New Year

As the dawn breaks on a new year, let us give thanks for all we hold dear: our health, our family and our friends. Let us release our grudges, our anger and our pains. Let us live each day in the most loving ways, the God-conscious way. Let us serve all who are in need, regardless of race, colour or creed. Let us keep God of our own understanding in our hearts and to chant God's name each day. Let us lead the world from darkness to light, from falsehood to truth and from wrong to right. Let us remember that we are all one, embracing all, discriminating against none. May your year be filled with peace, prosperity and love. May God's blessings shower upon you and bestow upon each of you a bright, healthy and peaceful new year, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Jesus said to them “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49)

Four days ago we celebrated the Nativity of Our Lord. The birth of the baby Jesus, to Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem. This Sunday our gospel reading moves us quickly on to when Jesus is visiting Jerusalem with his parents for the Feast of the Passover. We are not told anything about the intervening years. That is left to our imagination.  We are however specifically told that Jesus is now twelve years old. This is extremely important for our understanding of this narrative.

It was laid down by the law that every adult male Jew who lived within fifteen miles of Jerusalem must attend that Passover.  A Jewish boy became a man when he was twelve years of age. 

When his parents returned Jesus lingered behind. It was not through carelessness that they did not miss him. Usually women in a caravan started out much earlier than the men for they travelled more slowly. The men started later and travelled faster. The two sections would not meet until the encampment was reached. No doubt Joseph thought he was with Mary and Mary thought that he was with Joseph. 

Imagine what it must have been like for them. They returned to Jerusalem in haste to begin searching for him.

For the Passover season, it was the custom for the Sanhedrin to meet in public in the Temple court to discuss - in the presence of all who wished to listen - religious and theological questions. I expect that Jesus was listening to the discussions, asking questions and searching for knowledge and understanding. 

What follows next is fundamental in the life of Jesus. “Your father and I” said Mary, “have been looking for you anxiously”. “Did you not know” said Jesus “that I must be in my Father’s house?” What is striking is how very gently but very definitely Jesus takes the name of “Father” from Joseph and gives it to God. At some time Jesus must have discovered his own unique relationship to God. It is most unlikely that he would have known this when he was a child in the manager or a baby at his mother’s side. 

As the years rolled on we can only surmise that Jesus began to have such thoughts. At this his first Passover with manhood dawning there came a blaze of realisation that he was in some unique and mysterious way the Son of God. 

But let us not forget our other readings today which can easily be overlooked. 

In Colossians we are told to “clothe” ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and above all with love, which “binds everything together in perfect harmony”.

There is another young man in our Old Testament reading, Samuel. All we are told is that he was ministering before the Lord and that his mother used to make him a little robe and take it to him each year when she and her husband went up to offer the yearly sacrifice – not unlike that which Jesus and his family did. The thought of Hannah, his mother, year by year, remembering how big her son had been last year, making a robe a bit bigger and allowing room for another year’s growth, is so touching.  It speaks of love, tenderness and longing.  She has sacrificed this first son, Samuel, so that she can have others, but he is still her son. 

Now what does this remind us of?

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my saviour…”

You can get over-familiar with sacred texts. They can become like unrestored old master paintings, covered in a dark brown layer of varnish – beautiful in a safe, decorous way; familiar, unchallenging. I’d like to remove a bit of the varnish this morning, by focusing on that word “rejoices”. It is the usual translation of a Greek word which is a whole lot stronger and gutsier than “rejoices” might suggest. This is not restrained, dignified rejoicing – this is the letting out of a yell of joy, an unrestrained cry of exultation. “My spirit whoops for joy at God my Saviour”. And suddenly we see not a serenely meek Raphael Madonna, but a big-hearted, full-blooded teenage girl shouting “Yay!” and punching the air in delight. 

And I use the word “Yay!” advisedly, for the reason that we focus on Mary when we celebrate the fourth Sunday in Advent is that she said “Yes” to God, was willing to accept the consequences and received the Grace and the strength which empowered her to say “yay!”

That is astonishing, when you consider Mary’s position at that moment in her life. Mysteriously pregnant in a society in which women who conceived children out of wedlock risked being stoned to death. Uncertain of the future, not yet knowing the strange, terrible, heartbreakingly surprising dance that her unborn son would lead her in – to the foot of the cross, to the empty tomb and beyond. Yet she speaks as though God’s saving work is already accomplished – piling past tense upon past tense…

“He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.” 

That repeated use of the past tense offers us a clue as to why Mary was able to say a full-throated “yes” to God’s purposes for her. She had been brought up in the Jewish faith. She was practiced in prayer. She was familiar with the Hebrew scriptures – the Magnificat riffs on the Song of Hannah in the first book of Samuel and also on Psalm 113 which includes this verse:

“He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap…”

This context of faith and devotion helped her to assent to God’s purpose for her. It was a context of faith in which it was possible to tell her story to Elizabeth knowing that she would get a sympathetic hearing rather than condemnation and scornful rejection.

That is the context that we seek to sustain in this place, aware that our beliefs and practices are not as widely shared in this country as they were sixty years ago. While we aren’t in the perilous situation in which Mary found herself as a result of saying yes to God’s calling, we do live in a culture where religious belief attracts scorn, ridicule and critical hostility. Yet there are signs that the secularist tide is turning. One of the outstanding podcasts of 2024 was by the Christian commentator Justin Brierley. It’s called The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God and it’s based on a book with the same title. It explores the ways in which the militant atheism of Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett and others which was very influential in the aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11 has given way to a more thoughtful and receptive attitude to religious belief and the fact that Christianity is attracting new converts among the educated classes in Britain and the USA who have previously poured scorn on it.

This is encouraging news for us as we seek to share the Gospel; to be “yea sayers” in a culture which still has plenty of “nay sayers” but which is now becoming more receptive to what we have to share. 

Mary’s full-hearted “yes” to God and the “yay” of delight that she expressed in the Magnificat were the responses of an exceptional and saintly person to a supremely important calling. The lesson for us is that her “yes” and her “yay” were possible because her knowledge of scripture and her prayerful life had made her receptive to God’s calling. Those means of cultivating receptivity – prayer and reading the Bible - are open to us. To say “yes” to them can enable us to discern and respond to God’s calling and say “yes” to that. And that in turn will make it possible for our “yes” to become a “yay”. 

The readings throughout Advent focus our thoughts on Jesus’ first advent, the advent that we are living through today and his final advent that we pray for. All of today’s readings encourage us to rejoice, be happy and prepare for the joy we will find in Jesus Christ. Henri Nouwen, a 20th century theologian tells us that there is a difference between happiness and joy.

Happiness is dependent on external conditions, things that make us feel good. Joy is, however, the experience of knowing that we are unconditionally loved and that nothing, absolutely nothing can ever take that love of God away from us. Thus, joy can even be experienced in the midst of sadness.

Pope Francis said a few years ago that today, Gaudate Sunday (a Sunday for rose vestments and relaxing of the Advent strictures of fasting and penitence) should be a day of joy and he encourages everyone to stop fretting about all

they haven’t yet done to prepare for Christmas and instead to think about all the good things life has given you and the joy that brings. No wonder the reading from St.Paul, this morning calls us to rejoice.

There are many good things in our lives that we can be thankful for, even in the times when life is difficult. If we can begin to see these things they can often give one the strength to go on and to come through times of darkness and pain. It is a bit like when we lose a loved one. The pain is great but we often come through it by remembering the good times we had with them and the things that brought us joy when we were together. Nouwen is right we can find joy even in the depths of despair. It’s hard, but joy is never taken away from us if we look for it and remember it.

In today’s readings; Zephaniah, is reminding the Hebrews in the 7th century BC of the good things God has done for them, despite the difficult times they were living in. He calls them back from worshiping idols to worshipping the living God and he encourages

them to counter corruption and false teaching by remembering the joy they have in God’s love. That too, is as I have said, is exactly what St.Paul is doing in his words to the Philippians; come on he says there are good things in your lives to give thanks for and to be joyful over and they will out weigh the bad. St.Luke, likewise, uses the image of John-the -Baptist to remind his readers that in Christ much is promised and even more is delivered. As such Luke encourages us to share the things we have and to be just to those we have dealings with. Don’t demand more than is owed and from your treasures give to those who have less than you do. That to me is good marketing by our faith to encourage us to give to charities and those who need help. For in doing so we can make others rejoice and experience joy in knowing they are not forgotten.

Rejoice in the Lord, always and in doing so you will remember those things that bring you joy, for those are the things that can never be taken away. Because once God gives them they are ours for eternity. Our God is generous and loving and this Gaudate Sunday reminds us of

that fact. So enjoy today, really enjoy today and give thanks to God for all the good things you have been given.

Rejoice in the Lord, always, again I say rejoice.

Malachi, 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.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’s quote from Isaiah, in relation to the Baptist, remains very true:

“ … like a voice crying in the wilderness.”

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 never maturing into the whole person, that God calls you to be.