Prepare the way of the Lord

Well I've written a few Advent reflections for the NRUC advent book this month - so I thought I'd share them with you in the lead up to the big day next tuesday....


Text: Luke 1:76 ‘And you child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways and to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins.’

Luke’s gospel gives an account of the birth and parentage of John the Baptist and links him firmly with Jesus. His birth, name, and office were foretold by the angel Gabriel to Zacharias, while Zacharias was performing his functions as a priest in the temple of Jerusalem. Zacharias’ wife, Elisabeth, was of the daughters of Aaron so John is automatically one of the priestly line. Elizabeth is Mary’s kinswoman, so John and Jesus are related. His family background gives him firm credentials to be pointing to who Jesus is. From before his birth John is set apart for a purpose, and in childhood this becomes clear to all who knew him for they could see that ‘the Lord’s hand was with him.’ (Luke 1:66)

From this point on, until he appears publicly in Israel, John goes to live in the Desert. (Lk1:80) When he appears again at the start of chapter 3 his mission is made clear in the words of the prophet Isaiah. He is ‘A voice of one calling in the desert ‘Prepare the Way of the Lord.’ (Lk 3:4) He comes to baptize with water, and to prepare the path for Jesus. Jesus is the one of whom he says: One more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Luke 3:16) For Luke, John the Baptist plays a central role in preparing the way of the Lord, in readying the hearts of the people to hear the message of the gospel as it related to their lives.

How can we follow in the footsteps of John the Baptist? Do our lives point to Jesus? Although we follow after Jesus rather than precede him, many in today’s world do not know the Christian story. For them, coming into contact with Christian people is like providing a light to their path, an example of why following Jesus is the way to freedom from oppression and ultimately salvation.


Prayer: Lord, may my actions be a reflection of your presence in my life. May I point the way to Jesus too so that others may see Jesus and want to follow in his path.

Zacchaeus and Summer Heights High

Yesterday I had a preaching Gig at our local parish and I thought I'd share with you some snippets from my sermon. The text for the day was Luke 19:1-10 the story of Zacchaeus. Ever one to use images of popular culture to open up ideas I decided to explore 2 ideas: firstly how Zacchaeus felt and why he needed to climb the tree - and secondly to use Ja'mie King as a juxtoposition to the way Jesus responds to Zacchaeus. I'm not going to repeat the whole sermon - but here are 2 of the key moments. Would be interested to see what you think!

Firstly: Comparing Zaccheus to the lonely playground guide in SHH

The clip I chose shows Ja’mie just after she arrives at the school. A girl from Summer Heights has been asked to show Ja’mie around the school and introduce her to her friends. There are a number of reasons I chose to show this clip. One of the things I like about this clip is that it evokes in us the feelings, the emotions of being an outsider. The little girl who is guiding Ja’mie around the school clearly wants to be her friend. This nameless girl is ostracised because she is “uncool” – she is small, pale, shy and has unruly curly hair. She tries to introduce Ja’mie to her own friends but Ja’mie decides that they are “so boring.” In fact Ja’mie is really only interested befriending the “beautiful girls” despite the fact that her guide tells her that Holly and her friends bully her. Did you see how by the end of the clip Ja’mie is standing with her back to the nameless girl and she is completely outside the circle? She does not fit in and recedes into the background. She is an outsider.

As satire, this clip makes us feel uncomfortable about the unnamed girl being pushed out of the circle. For a lot of us know how it feels to be pushed out of a social group. Because it is a part of life – as a teacher I’d say that just about every kid feels bullied or outcast at some stage. Most of us have experienced being pushed out at some stage in one setting or other – at school, in the work place, in our families or friendship groups, or even in the church. If we haven’t experienced it then most of us will know someone who has. We can sympathise with the nameless girl because we know how she feels.


In some ways Zacchaeus is just like this little girl. He is a small man and quite unpopular amongst the locals. He is an outcast in his local community. Zacchaeus is a tax collector. He is wealthy. Being a tax collector doesn’t seem so bad to us today: now a days tax collectors are merely accountants who are doing their job –with no reason to be despised at all. However Zacchaeus was a Jewish man working for the Roman rulers of the day. And if that were not enough to make him hated, being a tax collector was a position of significant political power. So we could think of Zacchaeus as being a bit like a modern politician on the take. Someone with significant power who is able to use it to unfairly disadvantage others. Zacchaeus is despised and cast out not only because he is wealthy, but because his money has been collected in a dishonourable way – at the expense of others. Life for Zacchaeus is mixed: He is wealthy, powerful and has status, but it he is lacking what is important: he is spiritually poor and is denied access to life in the community – he is an outcast.
Zacchaeus is unable to see Jesus for a number of reasons. Firstly he is a short man. But secondly, he is trapped behind a barrier of people who will not make way to let him in. When Luke points out that Zacchaeus can’t see Jesus on account of the crowd, he is making it very clear that Zacchaeus is a marginalised outsider. His wealth and status can’t buy him respect.

Secondly: The juxtaposition of Ja'mie with Jesus




how does Jesus respond to Zacchaeus up in the tree?
Firstly let’s go back to Ja’ime and her unnamed guide in the playground. When the girl points out to Ja’mie that Holly and her friends bully her and make her feel excluded Ja’mie immediately sees those girls as her new “in crowd”, the girls she wants to be friends with. She meets up with them, tells them how cool and beautiful they are and fits seamlessly into their circle. The unnamed girl is thus pushed out – literally to the back of the group: unwanted, small and alone.

And I think this contrast to Jesus’ response to Zacchaeus really shows us just how powerful Jesus’ action is. Jesus stops under Zacchaeus’ tree and before Zacchaeus even speaks to him he says “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” “I MUST stay at your house today.” This is the crux of the story.

Because Jesus is not only inviting himself to Zacchaeus’ house, he is inviting Zacchaeus back into the circle of social acceptability and belonging. He is inviting Zacchaeus into the Kingdom of God.

Anyway - that's by no means the entire sermon - but a bit of a taster!

Bye for now,
SB

Alas! The holidays are over!

Sadly the holidays are almost at an end. I did manage to achieve quite a bit: the house is much tidier and I've done some work on my thesis... and had many a pleasant lunch with friends.

I also took Jason who has been staying with us from Hanzhong (See BB's article about him here) up to visit nana at Mansfield. We had a lovely day with her, and also visited my aunts and uncles at Merrijig. Poor old BB had to stay home as his eye hurts at altitude - but we had fun without him.

On the way back I stopped and took this pic of a ruined house. I've often seen it on the way up and back from Mansfield and wondered who used to live in it. There's something rather picturesque and sad about ruined houses isn't there- I always wonder who lived there, who loved, cried, had children, and died there.

SB