Curate’s sermon: Matthew 11.2-11. Advent 3

A few years ago my fried Fran invited a group of friends to her husband Nick’s Birthday party. The invitation did not say ‘Please come to celebrate Nick’s Birthday’; instead, Fran got creative and said, ‘Nick completes his 35th rotation around the Sun’. I thought of this as a good illustration of the fact that our life is movement. If Nick literally sat still for a year since his previous Birthday he still would have made a full circle around the Sun, which, if you are interested, is a journey of approximately 584 million miles. Whether still or active, both Nick and each one of us will have physically moved and travelled some impressive distances as time went on, without even noticing!
In the context of classical physics, it is possible to be still and to move at the same time, because motion is relative. It depends on the observation point and the system of coordinates that we use to track the direction of motion. For example, one body may be moving in relation to another that is either still or moves at a different speed, but this same body will be still in relation to another body if it is moving with exactly the same speed. In other words, if I am sitting on a train, I will be moving in relation to the trees outside but I will be completely still in relation to the train because we move at the same speed. I promise you, all of this is relevant to what I am planning to say! Please bear with me.
At this point we find ourselves in the middle of Advent, and in the last two weeks the Vicar and I have encouraged you all to wait well and to make space. On the surface, this may sound like an invitation to stillness or perhaps even idleness but it isn’t. Or rather, it isn’t just that, because stillness and movement, as we have just heard, are not mutually exclusive. Every week of Advent, as we wait and make space, is also a step on a journey. As we seek stillness and space for spiritual reflection and preparation, we simultaneously travel in the direction of Christ’s coming.
And as we travel, we count our steps. You may be counting by opening little doors in an Advent calendar or lighting an Advent candle at home every day. In the church, we count weeks, and every week is marked by a new theme and a new candle.
Today we have lit the third candle on the Advent wreath, the rose one, and have heard two portions of Scripture: from Isaiah, about the joy of the redeemed, and from Matthew, about the greatness of John the Baptist and the kingdom of God seen through Christ’s ministry – through healings and miracles. So, in line with these readings, today’s step on the journey invites us to contemplate joy and the significance of John the Baptist as the maker of the way for Christ.
Traditionally, the third Sunday in Advent is known as the Gaudete Sunday, the day when we celebrate joy at the coming of Christ, and to emphasise this, the candle is a different colour. The theme of joy appears alongside those of hope, peace and love on other Advent Sundays. Alternatively, the four themes marked by the four successive Advent Sundays are the Patriarchs, the Prophets, John the Baptist (celebrated today) and the Virgin Mary.
The Church’s themed approach to Advent indicates that at each step, as we are moving in the direction of Christmas, we should be pausing to reflect on something, to learn something, to be shaped and prepared to meet Christ – to make a journey or, if you like, a spiritual pilgrimage. This pilgrimage has its stations and its order. So, we should not be talking about Christ’s miracles and John making the way today if we hadn’t heard his invitation to repent last week. We should not be thinking of the joy of meeting Christ if we have not considered the terrors of the final judgement and the price we pay if we are not prepared to meet him, which we read about in Matthew 24 in the first week of Advent.
In today’s reading from Matthew Jesus and John confirm each other’s identities. Jesus tells John’s disciples that he is indeed the Messiah, whose arrival John was proclaiming, and to his own disciples he affirms the greatness of John as a prophet. The interesting twist comes in verse 11 where we hear that John is the greatest of all people, but the least in the kingdom of God are still greater than him. This can be interpreted as an affirmation that despite the lack of greatness in terms of fame, influence and following, despite not being chosen as prophets and messengers of God, those who choose to follow Christ and through this become citizens of his Kingdom can obtain greatness that is otherworldly, and with it find joy, truth and every possible blessing, as well as everlasting life. Looking at the passage from Isaiah 35 through the lens of the New Testament, we can also interpret the Way of Holiness as Christ and those who walk the way as his followers. The redeemed will walk on this way, says Isaiah, everlasting joy will crown their heads on arrival and there will be no more sorrow.
In Advent, we are practicing this walk, doing this with a particular awareness of each of our steps. We are constantly in motion, but being conscious of it and taking stock of what we learn on each step gives us a chance to grow through the process.
Even the Advent prose which we hear in the beginning of each service is a narrative: it is a journey from the people’s sin, grief and desperation in the first verse, to confession, to affirmation of God’s righteousness, and finally, to his forgiveness.
The readings appointed by the Lectionary also take us on a journey from the end times, which we read about in week 1, to the beginning, because next week we will be hearing about Joseph’s acceptance of Jesus as his son just after his birth. This journey has been designed so as to go through the stages of repentance and understanding. We cannot accept Jesus as the Son of God unless we do this.
All this means that the very process of a journey is a critical attribute of Advent but it does not require us to physically go anywhere. We are journeying as we are sitting still in these pews or at home – waiting and making space. And this is where I would like to return to Newtonian physics.
As Christians, we live simultaneously in two systems of coordinates: we seek to belong both in this world and the next. Measured against this world, we may be seen as lacking progress, energy and any sense of ambition when we pray, when we are still in God’s presence, when we make space for spiritual growth and preparation. But in Christ’s Kingdom, this is exactly when we are moving. As everything in Christ’s Kingdom, it is a paradox for the world we live in. As Christmas is approaching, we get busier, we rush and tend to move more, often in a chaotic manner. But if we were to stop, to pause, to make space, we would still be journeying in Christ’s Kingdom, racing ahead towards the main prize, as Paul says. Our time of stillness is in fact another step on the Way of Holiness that brings us closer to Christ – not just to the moment of his birth but to him as our teacher, Lord and Saviour. Amen.