READINGS (COI & paired as between the Gospel and the Old
Testament readings)
This Sunday is ‘Gaudete Sunday’. The term comes from the
opening sentence (or ‘introit’) in the Eucharist as it has been celebrated over
many centuries in the Western Church in Latin. It reads:
Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete.
This means
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice
and is taken from
This advice is taken up once again by St Paul in his letter
to the Christians at Thessalonika an extract of which is read today. He writes:
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Joy is a difficult thing to define or measure. It is felt
more than seen. It is seen more than heard. It is heard more than measured. No
market value can be put on joy. Neither can it be equated to satisfaction. It
is not quite the same thing as happiness. Joy is joy. And it emerges in the
simplest ways at often unexpected moments alone or with another or others. If there is a way of telling what God is like
and how God is present, then joy is the way though we need to be wise and
restrained in rushing to conclusions on the basis of human intuition or
feeling, alone.
If you pass by some older churches on the outside at night
you may notice that they are sometimes lit up from inside. The light shines out
through stain glassed windows. However, it is hard to tell from the outside
what these figures in the windows mean.
Houses and buildings lit up in this way at night time have an
attraction.
We are more inclined than not to pass by the places that are
in darkness. Nobody is in. Light signals warmth, life, company and protection. There
is a chance that someone might stop and might even visit the church. On the other hand, darkness is isolating and
possibly even threatening. So it is with people.
In this passage, John tells the listeners that the Baptist
was not the light but rather a witness to the light. We are invited to share in
that light and reflect it onto a world overshadowed by darkness. Sometimes those
around us have no other light to walk by. It may even come to pass that our
gentle presence and concern at a vital moment can – literally – save a life
that others may believe through us.
Darkness can be overwhelming. News of conflict, disaster, the
fall-out from Brexit, threats in the world around us and the ongoing scourge of
covid can add to our inner unease to create a sense of gloom. We are called to
be witnesses to the light: to joy and not sadness. We must wear our faith in
our attitude, faces and acts of compassion and care.
It is said, and I think it to be true, that 80% of
communication is facial, 17% tone of voice and 3% words. By our attitude and genuine – really genuine
– concern for others we help others to recognise in us the truth and the light
and the life and the joy that Jesus has sown within us. If we think that we
lack these – wait for it, pray for it, be open to it and carry on believing and
acting anyway as if these goods were within us already in abundance.
In His peace we have resolve and clarity to go forward.
At this time of year, some are given to citing a famous but
little known poem, God Knows,
which was used by the King of England (George VI) during his
Christmas Message of 1939 at a defining moment in world history. It has
particular poignancy, perhaps, for all of the United Kingdom at this time. The poem was composed by Minnie Louise
Haskins (1876 – 1957) and contains the following:
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.
Gaudete!
Let us rejoice in the Lord!
Without this joy we are missing the most important piece of Christmas
even in the midst of darkness and suffering.
Let us be a cause of joy for others!
(words above = 762)
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Short Gospel commentary
Preliminaries
The text found in those opening verses of John’s Gospel
concerning John the Baptist and his teaching and witness is paralleled in the three
‘synoptic’ Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.
Each evangelist felt compelled to set the record straight concerning the
role of John the Baptist and his relationship to his cousin Jesus towards the
beginning of their rendering of the Good News.
6-8:
John was given his role in the plan of salvation
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.
Jesus is the true Light of the world. If John the Baptist
was not the light but a witness to it then so are we – witnesses to light or
the means of reflecting the light. Do we let the Light of Christ shine out
through us? If there is no light in the
church building then those passing outside will see nothing when it is dark.
Likewise, if there is no light lit in our souls how can others see any spark of
light through us?
Are we credible witnesses, like John, to the light so that
‘all might believe’? Is our love and our
joy contagious and effective in helping others to realise that God’s love is
well and truly alive here and now?
19-21:
John is not the one
This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, ‘I am not the Messiah.’ And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’
All
four Gospels are clear about the self-identification of John the Baptist. ‘I am
not’ is how Jesus puts it in the Gospel of John. And this is as much for the
edification of the community or communities for which the Gospel of John was
written as it was for the priests and Levites sent from Jerusalem.
22-24:
John prepares the way for another
Then they said to him, ‘Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ He said, ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
“Make straight the way of the Lord”’, as the prophet Isaiah said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.
At
the heart of scripture is a call and an invitation to walk with God. In the
first place, this call which is taken up by John the Baptist and then in the
ministry of Jesus is not primarily a call to sign up to some set of statements
or actions. It is, rather, a call to prepare a way for the coming of God’s
kingdom in our mixed up worlds.
25-28:
The meaning of John’s witness and baptism
They asked him, ‘Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?’ John answered them, ‘I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.’ This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
John baptised with water; Jesus baptises with the Holy
Spirit.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.