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
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. AMEN
This is the Church’s prayer for the third week of Advent. In this month before Christmas there is a wonderful opportunity to pause and reflect both about the wonder of Jesus starting life as a tiny and helpless baby totally dependent on his parents, and also our own personal faith journey. This prayer talks about the role of John the Baptist.
The prayer does worry me slightly because it can come across as patronising. We are all disobedient. I believe everyone, including the ‘ministers and stewards of your mysteries’ needs to pause and think. Mark’s Gospel starts with the role of John the Baptist. Mark links this to the prophecy of Isaiah, where God says: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way. A voice of one calling in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord make straight paths for him.”. Mark goes straight on to say: “and so John came...”.
John’s preaching was of a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. By linking to Isaiah’s words, I believe this shows that this preparation is personal within each one of us. We are to prepare again to receive Christ. It is very easy for the ‘debris’ of life to get in the way of our faith.
John in his gospel takes it one stage further by saying clearly, that John the Baptist was sent from God. So, this encouragement for each of us to take stock and walk with God comes direct from God himself.
Another way of looking at this is to imagine that we have two strands of life. The first is our own relationship with God, reflected in our prayer life worship, reading and reflection. This relationship is with our soul and not our brains. The second, is the outward-facing strand of our daily lives, including our thoughts, words and deeds and our dealings with others. These two strands are closely related and are both guided by the Holy Spirit. It is necessary to keep the strands in balance. Stress, tiredness and worries can distract us from caring for the first strand.
John Ortberg, in his book ‘Soul Keeping’, talks about a beautiful stream supplying fresh water to a village. The life of that village depends on the health of that stream. The stream needs a stream keeper to keep it clear and healthy. He suggests that the stream within each of us is our soul, and we are therefore the stream keepers.
Advent is a time to pause and clear the debris, to ensure the stream is clean and pure. Many of us have travelled from University to our homes or friends, and this gives a good opportunity, away from the day-to-day business of University life, to take stock, rest and regroup before the festivities begin. As I said in a recent blog, God’s gift to us of Jesus his son is perfect in every way. Let us be ready to receive this gift.
Wishing you a happy and peaceful Christmas.
Nigel Rawlinson, University Chaplain
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