Love and compassion

We all have lots of different relationships in life, don’t we?

We all play many different roles:

• Mother
• Father
• Child
• Sibling
• Grandparent etc

If your life is anything like mine, I’m sure you have relationships and connections that you find grounding?

You know, you’re busy daydreaming, thinking about the next Aspect of a project or worrying about some hypothetical situation.

Then after a conversation with a connection your back to reality?

Advent as we know, is a time of waiting with a joyful hope, a living hope! For the ultimate reality.

But what are we waiting for? The coming of the Lord and his Kingdom. That’s an idea most of us know, but what does it look like? Isaiah gives us some powerful imagery to unpack. It’s hard hitting from the start. I love idea of a branch sprouting from a stump in other words, life emerging from places where it logically shouldn’t.

Along with that we are shown, the idea of all life being connected, of there being no barriers between life, we are being shown a kind of Divine harmony, these images are more than a nice idea that make us feel warm and fuzzy. we are being shown the heart of the Most High, inside these words we see Gods hope for his children. Life of abundance here’s question for you is this something we wait for or something we participate in?

Both, it’s happening now and there is more to come and because we know God we are being called to participate in it. God’s love is always happening and is always about happen.

I guess the next question we need to ask ourselves is; what are doing with our hope?

• Are we taking time to reflect on it?
• Are we sharing it? And by sharing it, I don’t mean “Right, let’s go out and convert those sinners!”

I’m talking about connecting with others and sharing our stories.

• Are we using our voices to speak out about injustice?
• Are we walking with the poor?
• Are we celebrating with others when they have success?
• How are we participating in the great reversal?

The Gospel for this morning is a bit like when you’re in the middle of a dream and the phone rings or there’s a loud knock at the door. And bam! You’re awake.

There can be no doubt that John is telling his audience to check the condition of their hearts as the next stage kingdom life unfolds. He’s telling them to repent. It’s important to note, that repentance doesn’t just mean being sorry for sin it also means to rethink how we view and interact with the world.

Take a moment to think about how such an idea might apply to you.

I found the way Matthew has John talk about baptism interesting.

I think as Christians living comfortably in 21st century New Zealand; we can sometimes develop a romantic view of what it means to be baptised.

We are surrounded by image of families baptising children or people we know choosing baptism; and we think “oh isn’t that lovely, Jesus loves us”

Now, don’t get me wrong; of course, when we’re baptised, we are acknowledging the depth of the fatherly love God has for us; however as with the word repentance there is much more happening than we think.

In Matthew, John isn’t speaking to newcomers, he’s speaking to those with a knowledge of God. He’s telling those who know better to do better!

He’s all so telling them not to hide behind religiosity.

John is telling his audience that whatever they do in God’s name, it must mean something. Matthew has John speaking of baptism in terms of a A holy calling, a calling to live promoting justice, mercy and compassion as Jesus did.

What might that look like for you today?

As we wait with expectant hearts for the holy child, the child who will bring forth the reality of God, we are being asked to remember that this holy child, who comes into our world as a refugee, a peasant and an outcast; will be king. A king with difference, a king that will walk the road of the poor, the unimportant, the forgotten and the powerless! He will give them power, he will give them their place.

He will do that by transcending the barriers of his community, including those of his religion. Are we prepared to do that today?

That how we’ll see those beautiful words and images in Isaiah come to life!

As I said before, these are more than nice romantic words They are words that show us the purpose of the kingdom of God, a kingdom in which every single barrier to a life of wholeness is removed. And we as followers of the king are called to be involved in it.

Ask yourself what you think your involvement might look like.

Perhaps Tina Turner said it best when she sung “Love and compassion their day is coming”

Amen!