Richard's Sermon at the Advent Carol Service 3-12-2017

Advent Carol Service 2017

“Making Room” – Waiting for the coming of the baby

I’ve always been a sucker for advent – the little doors to open each day on the calendar, the ever dimming of the sun’s light that is overtaken by the growing beam of the Son’s light, and the sense that somewhere just over the next rise good news awaits. Christmas is for children, they say, but Advent is, in many ways, a grown up season, in which we are asked to dwell a little on the coming of Jesus at the end of all things and the four last things – death, heaven, hell, judgement, as a means of readying ourselves for Christmas and the coming of baby. The coming of Jesus at the beginning and the coming of Jesus at the end begins another Christian year. There is that dual focus in Advent – birth and death, as T.S.Eliot famously reminded us in his poem ‘The Journey of the Magi.’

In many a year I might have been tempted to dwell a little with those grown up themes but this year I’ve been particularly drawn to the idea of a season that ends with a birth because on Wednesday I was the Palace to learn about giving birth and midwifery. Before too many conclusions are drawn I should say that the palace was The Bishop’s Palace in Wells and that each year the clergy are invited to receive hospitality and spiritual refreshment there at a pre-Advent retreat. This year the talks were given by Tina Hodgett who is the advisor in the diocese for evangelism and her theme was ‘Midwifery, mission and metaphor’ Tina was speaking brilliantly and beautifully about the whole idea of birthing as a metaphor for the new things that God is doing – different forms of church ‘fresh expressions’ ‘pioneer ministry’ – the process of giving birth to these and changes we might have to go through during that process.

But it is surely a happy coincidence (or maybe not coincidence) that these are great Advent themes also. We often talk of Advent as a season ‘pregnant’ with great meaning. And after all, what does it end with? – a birth and the impact which that must have on us.

I was talking with Rosie Hasler as I gave her a lift to a meeting the day after, Rosie is, of course, a midwife herself and she pointed out that in midwifery you can’t do it on behalf of the patient but you can give them the tools and support to do it for themselves.

And just so we can’t and shouldn’t command presence of Jesus into lives, into situations, into world ourselves; but we can prepare our own hearts and help prepare hearts of others to receive him when he does. And that is why God has given us Advent.

The act of bringing new life into the world involves a great deal of waiting. You can’t hurry the baby along. During a pregnancy there are nine months (hopefully) of not being in control. May be you are able to know beforehand the gender of the child but at the moment that’s about it when it comes to knowing the identity of the person you have created. Mostly you just have to wait and wait. That’s somehow important. Sometimes babies are born early, too early, but you can’t decide after five months of a pregnancy – I can’t wait any longer, let’s get this baby out. The baby comes when its ready. All you can do is ready yourself and wait.

In one of those lovely coincidences that sometimes happen when you are mulling over a sermon, Lois Burn came up to Joy and myself at the Christmas Market yesterday and spoke of how she has bought some presents for two grandchildren, or great grandchildren. She wanted to know if there was a name for gifts given during advent. We decided in the end that ‘gifts of expectation’ fitted the situation, the time and the theme perfectly. Expectation is an Advent word but that is so difficult when all the time outward pressures are forcing us into anticipation.

Expectation is about waiting while anticipation is about bringing the longed for event forward. And we live in a society that is good at anticipating but not so good at expecting. It is easy to have a lazy rant about modern society but social media and ever faster communication, means that we can have things ‘now’. I love Amazon Prime and next day delivery and goodness knows it has saved my bacon on numerous occasions but it is a sign of an impatient society. I wouldn’t want to go back to it but there was something about waiting for that packet of photographs to come back from the chemist!

I’ve already mentioned the Christmas Market and it was, as ever, a super occasion but I have to say that a part of me was a little uneasy as I heard the carols sung by the children and played beautifully by Bill Sutton and saw Mike Gelder in that ridiculous Santa top!

After all it wasn’t yet Advent! That’s one of the difficulties of this ‘not yet’ time – we are pulled in different directions and perhaps we need to learning again what it is to wait and expect and not to anticipate

It is the job of Advent to remind us all how to wait and it is perhaps the job of church to remind the world how to wait.

Jesus comes when he is ready, not necessarily when we are ready for him.

Another thing about expecting a baby is the way that the impending birth forces everyone to make room. We have to make room in our calendars for this tine scrap. We have to make room in our houses – nurseries are created, rooms are mobbed around, space is found in cupboards for all that stuff that babies come with. And, of course the woman has to make room in her body. We make room for babies, which is why it is so symbolic that our Advent story ends with there being ‘no room’ for a baby. There is no room for you Jesus. We’re not ready.

Barn request – can’t accommodate you. Irony struck me as I pressed send. No room at the inn.

There is a poem that I have used before in this service by an anonymous seventeenth century author about how we do or don’t make room for Jesus: -

‘Yet if his Majesty, our sovereign Lord,

Should of his own accord

Friendly invite himself

And say ‘I’ll be your guest tomorrow night,’

How should we stir ourselves, call and command

All hands to work! ‘Let no man idle stand!

Set me fine Spanish tables in the hall,

See they be fitted all;

Let there be room to eat,…

…. But at the coming of the King of Heaven

All’s set at six and seven:

We wallow in our sin,

Christ cannot find a chamber in the inn,

We entertain him always like a stranger,

And, as at first, still lodge Him in a manger’

.

The little booklet Love Life Live Advent has a task or a focus for each day of Advent – this is what it says for the 1^st of December,

‘The importance of preparing yourself for God when he appears is a theme that runs throughout the Bible’ Going into the wilderness was one way of preparing (John the Baptist), since it removed distractions, allowing people to focus on God for whom they waited. Most of us can’t go into the wilderness but we can make a space that helps us to focus on God.’…Make a place in your home where you will think about Advent and make it special. Put your Advent calendar, candle, wreath etc there.’

And then there is the fact that pregnancy is a time of huge growth. Think of how much the baby grows in those 9 months from something smaller than a full stop to the fully formed mini human being.

Growth is often seen as a sign of health – growing plants, growing children, growing churches but it is difficult to grow if you are not putting energy in. They often say that a pregnant woman is ‘Eating for two’ don’t they and the reason that the baby is able to grow so rapidly is because of the energy that the mother puts in.

Like many families we have pictures of our children just after they had been born. They are very bonny and full of life but their mother looks gaunt and drawn. Over those nine months the little beggars had taken the lot from her (and from then on also!). They had taken every opportunity to grow.

Advent is also a time that has such potential for growth and it is important to use those opportunities to feed yourself. It is a shorter period than it often is this year – just three weeks so use it well. Feed yourself through times of worship, through times of quiet prayer, through joining a home group to learn with others, through reading, perhaps through looking at what ‘Love Life, Live Advent’ lays out or the social media and internet campaign #Godwithus

 But most importantly this Advent Wait, Make Room, Grow – the baby’s arrival will be all the better for it.