"In order that we might have hope..."

"Everything written in the Scriptures was written to teach us, in order that we might have hope through the patience and encouragement that the Scriptures give us."  (Rom.15:4)

I am always in two minds about special Sundays, and special days in general.  There's no-smoking day, take your kids to work day, Aids day.  In the URC there is Youth Sunday, Education Sunday, Vocations Sunday.  Any others....?

Today is Bible Sunday, and my fear is that to have such a Sunday allows us to have a bit of a splash on December 10th and then forget about it again until Advent 1999.  By giving anything a special day, you marginalise it.  To have one no-smoking day seems to imply that the other 394 days are smoking days; to have one healthy-eating day seems to imply that for the rest of the year you can stuff your face with whatever you like!

Bible Sunday must not be like that.  To celebrate Bible Sunday gives us an opportunity to celebrate what is already going on, to celebrate the centrality of the Bible here in our worship and out there in our day-to-day living.  And the passages set for this week give us a glorious opportunity to do just that.

"Everything written in the Scriptures was written to teach us, in order that we might have hope through the patience and encouragement that the Scriptures give us."  (Rom.15:4)

As we continue to prepare ourselves through Advent for Christ coming into our lives, we are offered a portrait of two stunningly rich and diverse characters - Isaiah and John the Baptist - and their reactions to the news that a saviour is coming.

"A new king will arise," says Isaiah, "just as new branches sprout from the stump of a tree that has been cut down."

"Someone's shouting!" yells John, "prepare a road for the Lord; make a straight path for him to travel!"

Both of them are filled with expectation.  Both of them are bursting with the news that a saviour is coming.  Both of them are overflowing with joy at the news that God has not abandoned his people.

Isaiah is writing against a backcloth of superpower conflict.  His people are cowering in fear tossed from one dominant neighbour to another, with no realistic expectation of them ever being able to make choices about their own life as a nation, no real hope of true freedom.

John is writing at a time when the voice of God was thought to have fallen silent.  Again the people of Israel are overshadowed by a superpower - the might of the Roman Empire - they live in occupied territory.

"Everything written in the Scriptures was written to teach us, in order that we might have hope through the patience and encouragement that the Scriptures give us."  (Rom.15:4)

What can we learn from Isaiah and John here?  What is our world like?  We may not feel that we are overshadowed by superpowers anymore, yet so many people have a desperate sense of powerlessness, a desperate feeling that they cannot break out of the mould that society has made for them, that they are locked into a life that falls so short of what it could be.

What about you?  Are you one of those who needs to hear the message that Isaiah and John are proclaiming?  "A saviour is coming!  God cares!"  Life is tough for you just now.  God seems very distant, he hasn't been around for a long time, his voice seems to have fallen silent.

Or are you one of those who needs to be doing the proclaiming?  Where is it in your day-to-day life that you should be proclaiming the advent God - the God who has not abandoned us, the God who cares, the God who has come and is coming?

And Isaiah describes his vision of paradise.  He describes a perfect king.  He will have God-given wisdom, knowledge and skill...he will not judge by appearances and the poor will get a fair hearing, he will defend the rights of the defenceless.  And more than that, his perfect reign will spark of a chain-reaction of harmony which will allow wolves and sheep, lions and calves to live together in peace.

It's not really a vision we can cope with in the 20th Century is it?

"The lion and the calf shall lie down together but the calf won't get much sleep." (Woody Allen)

But let's give Isaiah a little credit for sophistication.  I don't think he ever expected literally to see what he described.  Let's dig a little deeper.  What is it that makes this paradise possible?  It was a righteous king and a land as full of knowledge of the Lord as the seas are full of water. Isaiah describes a ruler who perfectly obeys God and a world in which God perfectly rules.  In that world all creatures, including humankind, have returned to the relationship with the creator and with one another which existed "in the beginning", or, as God intended it to be.  It's a vision of a world before sin brought conflict, violence and fear.

It is a yearning much like the yearning that Jesus expresses in the word's of his prayer - "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

Isaiah is describing the indescribable - what would the world look like if God's will were perfectly done, on earth as it is in heaven?

But hang on.  We know the answer to that question don't we?  We know what the world looks like when God's will is perfectly done on earth - God has shown us that in Jesus Christ.  When Jesus came, he proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of God.  "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15)

Have you ever been to one of those in-store demonstrations of the latest wonder-product?  It used to be those lethal chopping boards didn't it, or the miracle car-polish where they polish the car then set it on fire and the paintwork isn't damaged!

Well, here's the thing - you and I, as part of the people of God throughout the world are called to be an in-store, on-the-spot, no-holds-barred demonstration of the Kingdom of God, and what's more, it is a non-stop demonstration.  There's no sign saying "Next demonstration at 2:30pm - Gone for Lunch" we are on show all the time.  We are supposed to demonstrate the absence of conflict and the chain-reaction of harmony that Isaiah describes.

By the way we love one another, by the way we offer our lives in service to the world, by the way we walk step-by-step humbly with our God in the steps of Jesus, we demonstrate the Kingdom of God and bring advent hope to the world.

Meanwhile, what of John the Baptist?

John was a real celebrity.  His preaching created a widespread revival movement, and there was still a movements within Judaism who called themselves "The Followers of John" well beyond New Testament times.  In fact Josephus records more about John's ministry than he does about Jesus ministry.  But, despite all of that, John's ministry is not focussed on himself, it is focussed of Jesus - the one who is to come.  In the passage that John read for us, John's preaching is preparing the way Jesus' ministry, and providing the setting for the launching of Jesus' mission.

And John's message can be summed up in one word - any guesses? - REPENT!

Repent means more than merely "sorry" or even "change your mind"; it echoes the Old Testament prophets' frequent summons to Israel to "return" to God, to abandon their rebellion and come back into covenant-obedience.  To "repent" demands a radical conversion, a complete turning-around.

On the Emmaus course, we spent some time exploring the story of the prodigal son.  He strayed far away from his father and his home until eventually he reached a point in his life when he realized that he had to turn around and head back for home, leaving behind the mess he had made of his bid for independence.

"Everything written in the Scriptures was written to teach us, in order that we might have hope through the patience and encouragement that the Scriptures give us."  (Rom.15:4)

Maybe that's what the scriptures have to teach you today.  Maybe you have wandered far away from God, maybe your faith has gone a bit stale, maybe you've put your faith on the back-burner for a few years, maybe your walk with Jesus Christ is at the bottom of a long list of other urgent priorities to be attended to one day when you are less busy.  Maybe you need to hear John's clarion call.  "It will not wait!" he cries, "Do it now!"

Or maybe not.

"Everything written in the Scriptures was written to teach us, in order that we might have hope through the patience and encouragement that the Scriptures give us."  (Rom.15:4)

Maybe for you there is a different message to be heard.  Maybe, for once, it is you who needs to do the shouting rather than the listening, maybe, for once, it is you who God wants to be the proclaimer of his radical, life-changing, advent message.

John pulled no punches, he minced no words.  Pointing to a group of Sadducees and Pharisees - "You hypocrites!  You snakes!  Brood of vipers!"  (he was obviously a forerunner of Peter Tatchell!) ... He warns tax collectors not to collect more than what was legal; he calls upon some soldiers not to abuse their power...

Maybe the scriptures are urging us today to go and find the hypocrites, the snakes, the broods of vipers and to call them to account.  Maybe you will respond to that call by sending off these postcards to John Major and Peter Mandelson; maybe you will respond to God's call by taking a letter-writing guide and putting mighty pen to paper; maybe you will respond to God's call by joining us to meet the manager of Tesco's on Saturday to make it clear that we want change in the way big supermarkets do their business with overseas suppliers; there are countless ways of responding to John's example.

And all of this because we must make plans, because the world must make plans for coming of the Kingdom of God - the same thing that inspired Isaiah - the beginning of a chain reaction of harmony, the coming of our advent God in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let us pray...