Sermon

7th December 2025

Last Sunday, we lit the first candle on our Advent wreath and remembered the Patriarchs, the great founders of our faith tradition from around 4000 years ago.  Logically, we should move to the Old Testament prophets today but, for some reason, the song on our service cards jumps to John the Baptist and then back to those earlier prophets next week.

At the time that Jesus was born, Judaism in Palestine was in a state of turmoil. There were still the traditional groups, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, but there were many others.  Some Zealots looked forward to a revolution, including many who hoped for the coming of a Messiah who would be like a second King David, and who would lead them into battle against the hated Roman occupiers.  Others just wanted to get away from it all, including the Essene community at Qumran, of whom we know from the Dead Sea Scrolls, who formed a monastic community near Jericho where the River Jordan finishes its journey south as it enters the Dead Sea.

Our gospel reading tells of an eccentric radical preacher who is calling folk to repent and be baptised by him in the River Jordan.  I believe that the location is significant.  Both the Essenes and John the Baptist have returned to that very place where, some 12 or 13 centuries earlier, their forefathers had entered their promised land.  Remember how the Hebrews had had a miraculous escape from slavery in Egypt: led by Moses, they had seen the waters of the Sea part for them in the event we know as the Exodus.  Then they had spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness, receiving the Ten Commandments, and being prepared for their future as a nation.  Finally, after the death of Moses on Mount Nebo, Joshua had led them across the River Jordan to conquer the land of Canaan, starting with winning the battle of Jericho.

But despite warnings from the many prophets that God had sent them, they could not be faithful and obey God’s will.  Now, with the Romans occupying their land, there were those who saw this as God’s punishment for their infidelity.  The nation had to make a fresh start.  Men and women had to repent and be baptized, thus making a fresh start in their own relationship with God.  This then is the nation into which Jesus is born.  John the Baptist is one of the first to recognize him as the Messiah, and it is he who will baptise him in that same River Jordan.

So, today we light our second candle, thanking God for John’s preaching and praying that we who have been baptised may be ready to welcome Jesus afresh this Christmas.  I’ll say a prayer, and then we will sing just the second verse of that song on the back of your service cards.

God our Father,You gave to Zechariah and Elisabeth in their old age a son called John.  He grew up strong in spirit, prepared the people for the coming of the Lord, and baptized them in the Jordan to wash away their Sins. Help us who have been baptised into Christ to be ready to welcome him into our hearts, and to grow strong in faith by the power of the Spirit.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, The Light who is coming into the world.

Amen

Light the Advent candle two,

think of John the Baptist, who

tells us all, ‘Prepare the Way’

for the great Nativity.