‘lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say ‘Here is your God!’ Isaiah 40:9
‘Land ho’ cries the ships watchman excitedly, ‘Land ho’. You’d taken passage on a ship which promised the most amazing destination you could possibly imagine! The sight of land is what you have been watching and waiting for for what seems like an age; in fact from the very moment when a friend—or was it a family member?— banged on your cabin door and shouted ‘Wake up!’ However, the journey has been a long one, and one night you’d had a glass of wine—or maybe a bottle of wine—and you’d slept soundly for far longer than you should. Thank goodness someone woke you or you’d have missed out completely. You see, the strangest of things about this ship, is that the Captain only stops long enough to let off those who are ready, who have their bags packed and are waiting on deck. For those down in the cabins, still sleeping off the night before… well, when they do wake they find they have missed out completely. So thank goodness someone woke you. However, almost as soon as you had arrived on deck, your team leader was encouraging you to go back downstairs and to start banging on doors. More people needed waking, you see, before the boat had docked. Well all that was very well but it wasn’t long before the storms came, and you felt like all you could do was hold on, let alone read the instructions or listen to your team leader, certainly banging on cabin doors seemed almost impossible. The storms were long and hard, and frankly you’d almost given up hope when the shout came, ’land ho’.
Come back now to this world, for here as well the storms are all around us. The ‘storm’ called ‘Pandemic’; the ‘storm’ which came out of it called ‘Lockdown’; the ‘storms’ which came after it called ‘Waiting Lists’ and ‘Ukraine’; and the ‘storm’ we’re in now called ‘Cost of Living’. Amidst these storms we’ve lost people, family and friends to the grave, and some who have simply given up hope, turning away from their faith. And so perhaps it was—perhaps it is—understandable that people have turned to things to get them through the storms like alcohol, retail therapy, burying themselves in work, or other gods. For sure, many are asleep in their cabins, while we are huddled on deck being bashed by the storms of life barely holding on ourselves, let alone stirring the will to get about Our Lord’s business of waking others up. Amidst these storms how is it possible to hold on, to stay awake, let alone wake others? To these and other questions on this Fourth Sunday in Advent, the Church gives us our three readings, with three tips for not only surviving but thriving in the storms.
How can we hold on?: First, pray! That’s verse 6 of our second reading from Philippians (4:4-7): ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.’ ‘Pray’ says Paul,‘and find in prayer your hope and your salvation’. Remember we do not pray to a God who keeps Himself safe from the storms of life, but a God who came to earth, who has stepped onto our ship, and has been through many of the storms Himself. Think now of the Holy Family, at the centre of which is the divine infant, Jesus. No place to stay! Sleeping out in cold and strange places! Threatened by the government and king of their day to such an extent they had to flee to another country; and all of that is before we even begin to consider Jesus’ life as an adult and all that Good Friday would bring. Oh, this God of ours understands, He has been through the storms of life and He stands now ready and willing to listen to those who humble themselves and cry out to Him in prayer. ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.’ So first pray! Pray throughout the storm, and you will find a steady comfort, and a warm embrace.
Second, ‘comfort others with God’s promises’ says Isaiah. Look at our first reading and verse 9: ‘You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, ‘Here is your God!’’ The Scriptures are our guide and help, not just in the good times, but also the bad. To be sure, if we’re to tell others of the promises and the hopes contained in the Scriptures we need to be reading them ourselves; which is why on the second Sunday in Advent we were reminded to be reading them daily, and why the diocese produces daily readings each Advent-tide. People are struggling all around us, some on the edge of giving up the Christian faith all together, we dare not keep silent, we must share the hope we have that hope which is free to all. So keep reading God’s promises in the Scriptures, and be sharing them with those who need to hear them.
‘Pray’, says St Paul. ‘Share God’s promises’, says Isaiah. Third, adds St John, ‘Look around and look up’. It’s easy, I guess, when you’re on the deck of a ship, the waves are crashing and the storm has been going on for some time to focus on your own problems and to keep your head down. However, we will find neither hope nor help down there! ‘So’, says St John, ‘look around,’ that’s v26 of our Gospel reading: ‘‘I baptise with water,’ John replied,‘but among you stands one you do not know.’ John is talking to the religious leaders who are so focused on what is going on in front of them, that they are not looking around apparently the Messiah is among them, He is with them in the crowd, He is, perhaps, inches from their faces, but they haven’t seen Him, because they are looking in the wrong direction. Now, certainly, to see Jesus—to look Him in the face as I look at you—was possible in those few years of the first century, but only if people were looking around. Most people missed Him all together, focussed too much on getting through the day, surviving their problems, or distracting themselves with entertainments. And, true enough, seeing Jesus like that is not an option for us, but look around and you will still see Jesus if your eyes are open for Him. You will see Jesus in those who love Him. In those who—because of their faith—give to the food bank, deliver to the housebound, who pray for the needy, and who share their faith with the lost. To see this, however we must be looking around. However, looking around is not enough, says St John, we must also be looking up, v.27: ‘He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’ ‘Yes, look up,’ says John, ‘look to the horizon and you will see—faintly perhaps at times, but nevertheless you will see—that for which you long’. For those on the deck of a ship it will be land on the horizon, but with the eyes of faith—purified by prayer, and guided by the Scriptures—the Christian will see the coming of Jesus, to finally calm every storm, and do away with every injustice. As Christians we must watch out for each other, we must lift each others’ eyes, by sharing with one another the promises of God, and keep our eyes from dropping to the floor. John’s very helpful reminder, this morning, is to look around and to look up, for it is only then, that we can see that which is approaching.
Brothers and sisters, Christians are those who travel on the ship which we know as the Church, we have been woken up and have climbed up on deck. And we’re waiting, amidst the storms of life, for the coming of our king, the arrival of our ship at the promised land. As we struggle and strain we are called to be waking up others, reminding them of the promises of God, and calling on them to look up for the One who is to come. Nevertheless, the struggle is still real, and we—all of us—time and again, will cry out in our hearts, if not through our lips, ‘O Lord helps us, O lord come’. It is in this reality that we find ourselves this year, on the Fourth Sunday in Advent, and it is this reality, mixed with this hope, and amidst this suffering, that we cry out: ‘O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here, Until the Son of God appear’. And because we know that He is not too far off—maybe as little as just a week away—we can, with St Paul, sing out to all those who are hoping still: ‘Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.’ Amen. (from Fr Mike).
All Saints Church Chorley 