Patrick Comerford
Next Sunday, 15 December 2019, is the Third Sunday of Advent. We are in Year A in the readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, and during Year A we are working our way through Saint Matthew’s Gospel.
Throughout Advent, the Sunday readings as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, provide for only one set of readings on the Sundays.
The Readings: Isaiah 35: 1-10; Psalm 146: 4-10 or the Canticle Magnificat (Luke 1: 46-55); James 5: 7-10; Matthew 11: 2-11.
There is a link to the readings HERE
Introducing the Readings:
The Third Sunday of Advent is also known as ‘Gaudete Sunday.’ The day takes its common name from the Latin word Gaudete (‘Rejoice’), the first word of the introit of this day’s Liturgy:
Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete. Modestia vestra nota sit omnibus hominibus: Dominus enim prope est. Nihil solliciti sitis: sed in omni oratione petitiones vestræ innotescant apud Deum. Benedixisti Domine terram tuam: avertisti captivitatem Jacob.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Let your forbearance be known to all, for the Lord is near at hand; have no anxiety about anything, but in all things, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. Lord, you have blessed your land; you have turned away the captivity of Jacob (see Philippians 4: 4-6; Psalm 85: 1).
Throughout Advent, the spirit of the Liturgy is one of expectation and preparation for Christmas and for the coming of Christ. Gaudete Sunday in Advent is a counterpart to Laetare Sunday in Lent, and provides a similar break about mid-way through the season of preparation, and signifies the joy and gladness as the Lord’s coming comes nearer and nearer.
On Gaudete Sunday, rose-coloured vestments may be worn instead of violet or Sarum blue, and this is noted as an option in the Church of England in Common Worship.
On the Advent wreath, the rose-coloured or pink candle is lit in addition to the two violet or blue candles, that represent the first two Sundays of Advent. The readings emphasise the joyous anticipation of the Lord’s coming.
These candles, in sequence, are:
Advent 1: The Patriarchs;
Advent 2: The Prophets;
Advent 3: John the Baptist;
Advent 4: The Virgin Mary;
Christmas Day: Christ.
Isaiah 35: 1-10:
Each Sunday during Advent this year, we are reading from the Prophet Isaiah. In this reading, the prophet foretells:
● the restoration of the land to fertility
● the end of human suffering and sickness
● the restoration of hope and justice
● the joyful return of the exiles from captivity.
The exiles shall be restored, and the ‘desert shall … blossom,’ the fertility of Lebanon, Carmel and Sharon will be given to them as a sign of God’s favour and glory. The land once given over to wild beasts, including jackals and lions, will be cultivated once again, and the barren land will bloom.
Human life will be transformed, with the end of infirmity and disability. The feeble, the blind, the deaf, the lame and the speechless shall be restored, along with the restoration of justice and the return of hope. Waters and streams will make the land fertile again.
Finally, the exiles, who have been captives in Babylon, will return on a ‘Holy Way’ (verse 8) or a ‘highway’ in safety (verse 9) to ‘Zion’ (verse 10), the holy city, and there once again they will worship God in the Temple.
But none of these is an end in itself, for they are signs of and point to the hope that God’s rule is being restored and that his favour rests on his people.
Psalm 146: 4-10:
Psalm 146 echoes the theme of restoration in the reading from Isaiah, focussing especially on God’s justice. This is one of the Hallelujah psalms at the end of the Psalter, which contain a series of hymns of praise, each with a call to worship, a statement of the purpose for praising God, and a renewed summons to praise.
These Psalms all begin and end with the word Hallelujah, which is translated in the NRSV: ‘Praise the Lord.’
In contrast to human rulers, God’s reign is just. Those who trust in God are happy or blessed and have ‘hope.’ This psalm sings of God’s justice expressed in his care and action on behalf of the defenceless, the oppressed, the hungry, prisoners, the blind, the weak or humiliated, strangers, orphans and widows. When these are cared for, it is a sign of God’s just reign, and he is to be praised: ‘Praise the Lord!’
The Canticle Magnificat (Luke 1: 46-55):
When the Blessed Virgin Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth they are both pregnant – Mary with the Christ Child and Elizabeth with Saint John the Baptist.
The Virgin Mary has left Nazareth and travelled south to an unnamed ‘Judean town in the hill country,’ perhaps Hebron outside Jerusalem, to visit Saint Elizabeth. When she arrives, although he is still in his mother’s womb, John the Baptist is aware of the presence of Christ and the unborn child leaps for joy.
Saint Elizabeth too recognises that Christ is present, and declares to the Virgin Mary, with a loud cry: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy’ (Luke 1: 42-44).
The Virgin Mary responds to Saint Elizabeth immediately with the words that we now know as the Canticle Magnificat, one of the best-loved canticles.
So we see, side-by-side, two women, one seemingly too old to have a child, but destined to bear the last prophet of the Old Covenant, of the age that was passing away; and the other woman, seemingly too young to have a child, but about to give birth to him who is the beginning of the New Covenant, the age that would not pass away.
This canticle is a traditional part of Anglican Evensong ever since the Reformation. Offering it as an alternative to the Psalm on a Sunday morning gives people an opportunity to become familiar once again with a canticle that they may not hear very often as Evensong fades as a Sunday evening tradition in many parishes.
The hymn versions of Magnificat in the Irish Church Hymnal (see number 704, 712) offer creative ways of using this Canticle on Sunday morning.
James 5: 7-10:
Praying for the Messiah to come is a daily part of prayer in Judaism. At the heart of the Jewish prayer life is a prayer known as the Amidah (‘18 Blessings’). It is often said three times a day, and includes: ‘The offspring of your servant David may you speedily cause to flourish …’
The Yigdal, which is part of daily morning prayers in many congregations, focuses on the 13 Articles Of Faith that Maimonides says every Jew should believe in. The Yigdal inspired Thomas Olivers’s hymn, The God of Abraham praise (Irish Church Hymnal, 5th ed, No 323).
The twelfth principle of the Yigdal prays: ‘I believe with complete faith in the coming of the Messiah. And though he may tarry, I shall wait anticipating his arrival each day.’
Early Christians anticipated Christ’s return, the second coming, believing it was imminent and would be immediate, and that with it would come the Kingdom of God. Its delay – the tarrying of the Messiah’s advent – caused some difficulties and even some disputes in the Apostolic Church. Here, the Apostle James warns his readers not to be impatient. This impatience may lead to grumbling and division within the church, which will bring judgment, for with the second coming of Christ comes also the judgment of God. The second coming is a two-edged sword: its arrival is a comfort for and a warning to Christians (see Proverbs 5: 4; Hebrews 4: 12; Revelation 1: 16; Revelation 2: 12).
Instead, Saint James tells us to be patient in suffering like the prophets, to bide our time like the farmer who plants his crop knowing the rains will come in due time (verse 7). In the same way, the Kingdom is near (verse 8) – it may appear to be tarrying, but it will come in its own time. Though it may tarry, our impatience will not hasten its coming. But we can anticipate its arrival each day with complete faith.
Matthew 11: 2-11:
The Third Sunday of Advent is associated with Saint John the Baptist. The first purple candle on the Advent Wreath on the First Sunday of Advent reminds us of the Patriarchs; the second purple candle, on the Second Sunday of Advent, recalls the Prophets; the third, pink candle on the Third Sunday of Advent, is a reminder of Saint John the Baptist; and the last purple candle, on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, recalls the Virgin Mary.
We already meet Saint John the Baptist by the banks of the River Jordan in the Gospel reading for the previous Sunday, the Second Sunday of Advent (Matthew 3: 1-12, 8 December 2019).
John is taken aback when he first meets with Christ. He comes across full of confidence and certainty. He announces the coming of Christ with great hope and expectation, bursting with energy. Yet, when Christ comes to him to be baptised, is there even a hint that John is a little reluctant to baptise him?
Have you ever wondered why John does not know who Jesus is? After all, not only has he baptised him and hailed him, he is also his cousin. Considering how close to one another their mothers Mary and Elizabeth have been, why would John now not know who Jesus is? Is this not the same John who leaped with joy in his mother’s womb when he realised he was in the presence of the unborn Christ (see Luke 1: 44)?
Have you ever wondered why Saint John was not one of the disciples?
We move on quite a bit by the Third Sunday of Advent. It is a week later in the lectionary readings, but many months after Christ’s baptism in the River Jordan. Saint John the Baptist has preached himself hoarse about looking forward to one who is more powerful than he is. However, since then Jesus has not been wielding power in the way John may have hoped for or may have been expecting.
Now as John waits in prison, about to lose his head, perhaps he wonders whether he made a mistake in thinking Jesus is the Messiah. Perhaps he is feeling discouraged and doubtful, he sends messengers to ask Jesus: ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ (verse 3).
The simple answer for Christ might have been: ‘Yes.’ Instead, however, Christ points Saint John, the messengers and the crowd to the signs of the Kingdom. Echoing the Prophet Isaiah, he points out that the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the lepers are healed, the dead are raised and the poor receive good news.
These are not mere claims, but incontrovertible proof. Yet, apparently, there are some who take offence at Christ (verse 6). Perhaps even Saint John the Baptist has been disappointed because his expectations of the Messiah are not being fulfilled by Christ. He is hardly the king of the coming kingdom – after all, he is not ‘dressed in soft robes’ (verse 8). The term ‘soft robes,’ used twice in this verse, has resonances of self-indulgence.
Is this what gives rise to Saint John’s doubts?
Is it possible that Saint John was expecting for the wrong kind of Messiah?
Indeed, is Jesus the one John the Baptist has been waiting for?
When Saint John’s disciples return and tell him what Christ has told them, does Saint John conclude that Jesus is not the Messiah he has been waiting for?
Does John think he has been waiting for the wrong kind of Messiah?
How often have you waited expectantly – for Christmas, for a Christmas present, for a new job, for a major family milestone, for the move to a new home – only to face the realisation that your expectation has been unfulfilled? Another pair of socks? The wrong job with low pay, high expectations and bad conditions? The family milestone upstaged by a family crisis? The new home has horrid neighbours? Is the person I loved so many years ago really the person I live with now?
Picture Vladimir and Estragon in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, lonely and empty by the side of the road, waiting forever for Godot who never arrives.
Picture Eleanor Rigby in the lyrics of the Beatles, waiting alone at the window, alone among the lonely people.
Picture Saint John the Baptist, waiting in prison where he has been sent by Herod the Great.
Now he is tired. He has grown discouraged. He is questioning. He is like us. He jumps to hope with power and aggressiveness. But later, when he is dispirited, he has questions, and he has doubts. Is Jesus really the Christ he is looking for?
What happened to the John the Baptist who said Jesus would chop down fruitless trees and throw chaff into the fire?
Has Jesus spent his ministry throwing chaff into the fire?
No, it seems not. And so Saint John sends his own disciples, to ask: ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we wait for another?’
Saint John, who has devoted his entire life to preparing the way for Christ, now seems not to even recognise Jesus when he comes. Has Jesus come in a way that John does not expect? Should he and his disciples look for another?
Christ refers to the signs of the Kingdom in Isaiah. Saint John is ‘more than a prophet’ (verse 9), for he heralds the dawn of the final era of history and he announces the coming of the Kingdom. Now Christ validates Saint John’s ministry as a true prophet, quoting a prophecy from Malachi in verse 10, and then equating Saint John’s ministry with the returned Elijah (verse 14).
At that time, Jews believed the time of the prophets had come to an end. But they understood Malachi’s words to mean that Elijah would come again, heralding the advent of the Messiah.
Christ criticises the people who went out to see Saint John the Baptist in the wilderness with the wrong expectations. What they actually saw was greater than they could ever imagine. Yet even Saint John, as great as he is, only points the way to an even greater reality (verse 11). Now the fulfilment of this promise is beginning to be worked out and to be seen.
When we are disappointed, when our expectations of the coming Kingdom are dashed, is it because we are not looking for the signs of the Kingdom that are all around us?
The gift of Christ is precious, but does it always meet our expectations?
Are we prepared to look around and notice new places where Christ is working and living? If you were told: ‘Go and tell John what you see and hear,’ where would you say you see and hear Christ at work today?
I am not blind, lame, leprous, deaf, poor, downtrodden, dead … surely? Am I?
Christ comes in humility for the humble. He comes for those who do not have it all worked out for themselves. I am not humble; so often I think I have it all worked out.
Conclusions:
No, I do not agree with those who argue that Saint John the Baptist doubted whether Jesus is truly the Christ. Often, these arguments are built on ‘paperback psychology’ – thinking that fails to examine the person being discussed
It is not Saint John the Baptist who is a reed swaying in the wind, blown about by the happenings of the world and the persecution he now faces. It is the people who went to see him who are now being told they are like reeds swayed by the wind.
Saint John remains a prophet and more than a prophet – he rejoices to see the fulfilment of the Promise, and he knows that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, for he sees the Holy Spirit descending on him and remaining on him. He knows that Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. One of his own disciples, Saint Andrew, becomes the first-called among the disciples of Christ.
Saint Jerome says Saint John’s questions arise not out of ignorance but in the same way that Christ asks where Lazarus is buried, so that those who show him the sepulchre might be so far prepared for faith, and believe that the dead are raised again to life. So Saint John, who is about to be put to death by Herod, sends his disciples to Christ, ‘that by this opportunity of seeing his signs and wonders they might believe on him, and so might learn through their master’s inquiry’ (Jerome, Catena Aurea, Matthew 11: 2-6).
By sending them to question Christ about his mission, Saint John the Baptist offers his disciples the opportunity to become true disciples of Christ. This is the opinion of Saint Hilary, Saint Chrysostom, Saint Cyril and many other patristic writers.
Similar points are made by Saint John Chrysostom, who says ‘the Baptist did not doubt or slacken in his faith; for he is no reed swayed in the wind, but the new Elijah.’
Saint Gregory the Great holds that Saint John the Baptist truly questioned whether Christ was the one who would come. But this does not imply that Saint John doubted whether he was the Messiah, but only whether he was the one who would come – meaning the one who would come into Sheol to retrieve the souls of the just who are waiting. As Saint John realises his own death is near, he seeks consolation from Christ who is to deliver the dead from the power of death.
Matthew 11: 2-11 (NRSVA):
2 When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ 4 Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. 6 And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’
7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.”
11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.’
Liturgical Resources:
Liturgical Colour: Violet (or Pink/Rose)
The Collect of the Day:
O Lord Jesus Christ,
who at your first coming sent your messenger
to prepare your way before you:
Grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries
may likewise so prepare and make ready your way
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
that at your second coming to judge the world
we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;
for you are alive and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.
The Advent Collect:
Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness,
and to put on the armour of light,
now in the time of this mortal life,
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day,
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and ever.
This collect is said after the Collect of the day until Christmas Eve
The Collect of the Word:
Sustain us, O God,
with the power of your love on our journey
to meet the One who is coming: strengthen our weak hands,
make firm our feeble knees,
and open blind eyes to the dawning of your kingdom,
so that our hearts may rejoice
as we behold the majesty of our God.
We ask this through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Father,
we give you thanks for these heavenly gifts.
Kindle us with the fire of your Spirit
that when Christ comes again
we may shine as lights before his face;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Liturgical resources for Advent:
The liturgical provisions suggest that the Gloria may be omitted during Advent, and it is traditional in Anglicanism to omit the Gloria at the end of canticles and psalms during Advent.
These additional liturgical resources are provided for Advent in the Book of Common Prayer (2004):
Penitential Kyries:
Turn to us again, O God our Saviour,
and let your anger cease from us.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Show us your mercy, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Your salvation is near for those that fear you,
that glory may dwell in our land.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Introduction to the Peace:
In the tender mercy of our God,
the dayspring from on high shall break upon us,
to give light to those who dwell in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1: 78, 79)
Preface:
Salvation is your gift
through the coming of your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ,
and by him you will make all things new
when he returns in glory to judge the world:
Blessing:
Christ the sun of righteousness shine upon you,
gladden your hearts
and scatter the darkness from before you:
Suggested Hymns:
Isaiah 35: 1-10:
146, A great and mighty wonder
166, Joy to the world, the Lord is come
231, My song is love unknown (verses 1, 2, 4, 7)
104, O for a thousand tongues to sing
113, There is singing in the desert, there is laughter in the skies
377, You shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace
Psalm 146: 4-10
4, God who made the earth
125, Hail to the Lord’s anointed
92, How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
357, I’ll praise my maker while I’ve breath
97, Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
99, Jesus, the name high over all
535, Judge eternal, throned in splendour
363, O Lord of heaven and earth and sea
712, Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord
8, The Lord is King! Lift up your voice
376, Ye holy angels bright
The Canticle Magnificat (Luke 1: 47-55):
704, Mary sang a song, a song of love
712, Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord
139, The angel Gabriel from heaven came
373, To God be the glory! Great things he has done!
James 5: 7-10:
41, God, whose farm is all creation
535, Judge eternal, throned in splendour
281, Rejoice, the Lord is King!
601, Teach me, my God and King
Matthew 11: 2-11:
417, He gave his life in endless love
104, O for a thousand tongues to sing
136, On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry
324, God, whose almighty word
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.
The hymn suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000).
No comments:
Post a Comment