Advent 2, Dec. 5, 2021(full size gallery)
We had 21 in house and 8 online. It was like a homecoming as Denise and Mary returned for this Sunday. Both made major contributions to the choir in former years. It was the first time they had been to church in 2 years. We also had Woody and Cherry to advertise their party on Dec. 19.
Jan and Larry Saylor brought their crèche collection which spans Africa and South America and was well as pieces from Jan’s family. The will be in the windows during Advent. We will have pictures later of the collection. Many thanks to them
The sermon was about the idea of return of God, a promise which we are looking for fulfilment. “Now we too stand up and look toward the East, for we are watching for the fulfillment of the rest of God’s promise to us; Jesus, our King of Glory, coming again in glory and completing God’s everlasting reign of peace and love on this earth.
“So as we wait, let’s promise to take off the garments of our sorrow and afflictions, and exchange all the misery in which we clothe ourselves for the beauty of the glory from God.
“Let’s promise to put on our robes of righteousness, being right with God and with one another. And let’s put on our crowns that shine with God’s everlasting glory. ”
We also announced some results from recent collections. We raised $899 for the Village Harvest which will cover 4 months of expenses for the Village Harvest food ministry. We exceeded our goal of $500. Separately, the men have collected over $900 for their Thanksgiving and Christmas donations to the local social services. Finally, the UTO fall ingathering brought in $268.87 during November.
We had coffee hour in the pavilion. It was not as warm as expected but ham and varieties of cheese and salads warmed people up!
Today’s readings affirm the coming of a deliverer, the Messiah—Jesus!
Baruch was secretary to the prophet Jeremiah, and claims to have been written during the exile in Babylon to the people who remained in Jerusalem (1:1-4). The book, which is addressed to a people in dispersion, has been dated anywhere from the Maccabean period, about 175 BCE, to the period after 60 BCE. He calls for the exiles to celebrate their return home. Jerusalem will be glorified and will receive a new name to mark her destiny. All God’s dispersed children will be gathered again, and the Lord will make a path for them.
Malachi (“meaning my messenger”) announces the approach of God’s messenger, who will refine like fire. Malachi is concerned for the purity of worship and worshipers at the temple and for the fulfillment of the responsibilities of the priesthood. He condemns the same moral and religious abuses that Ezra and Nehemiah reformed; hence he was probably active before their time, about 500–450 BCE.
The “messenger” (or ‘angel’) to be sent may refer to the Jerusalem priesthood or may be a way of speaking of God’s own appearance in human affairs. In the gospels this title is applied to John the Baptist, whose preaching uses the same images (Matthew 3:10-12). Malachi looks forward first to the purification of the temple priesthood and then to the transformation of the temple sacrifice.
Paul reminds us to wait for Jesus’ return in glory. In today’s gospel, John the Baptist prepares the way for Jesus’ public ministry, calling his listeners to repentance.
John the Baptist was the last and greatest Old Testament prophets. “He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
John the Baptist spoke of repentance as a radical turning from sin that inevitably became manifest in the fruit of righteousness. John’s ministry was to call Israel to repentance in preparation for the coming of Messiah. His baptism did not produce repentance, but was its result (cf. Matt. 3:7, 8). Far more than a mere change of mind or remorse, repentance involves a turning from sin to God (cf. 1 Thess. 1:9), which results in righteous living. Genuine repentance is a work of God in the human heart (Acts 11:18). for the remission of sins.
John’s rite of baptism did not produce forgiveness of sin; it was only the outward confession and illustration of the true repentance that results in forgiveness (cf. Luke 24:47; Acts 3:19; 5:31; 2 Cor. 7:10).
Repentance and faith are inextricably linked in Scripture. Repentance means turning from one’s sin, and faith is turning to God (cf. 1 Thess. 1:9). They are like opposite sides of the same coin. That is why both are linked to conversion (Mark 1:15; Acts 3:19; 20:21). Note that the works John demanded to see were “fruits” of repentance. But repentance itself is no more a “work” than faith is.
The symbolism of John’s baptism likely had its roots in OT purification rituals (cf. Lev. 15:13). Baptism had also long been administered to Gentile proselytes coming into Judaism. The baptism of John thus powerfully and dramatically symbolized repentance. Jews accepting John’s baptism were admitting they had been as Gentiles and needed to become the people of God genuinely, inwardly (an amazing admission, given their hatred of Gentiles).
By comparing the Gospels we find John notes three types of baptism at this climactic moment:
1. with water unto repentance. John’s baptism symbolized cleansing;
2. with the Holy Spirit. All believers in Christ are Spirit-baptized (1 Cor. 12:13); 3. and with … fire. Because fire is used throughout this context as a means of judgment (Luke 3:10, 12, 16), this must speak of a baptism of judgment upon the unrepentant.
John, the forerunner of Jesus, came baptizing also. But this was not Christian Baptism, because—
1. John was the last Old Testament prophet, and not a New Testament apostle (Luke 1:17);
2. He did not baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;
3. His baptism was unto repentance, not into the faith of Christ;
4. He did not by baptism introduce men into the fellowship of the Christian Church, as the apostles did at Pentecost (Acts 2:41,47);
5. Those baptized by John were baptized over again by the apostles when they were admitted to the Christian Church (Acts 18:24–28; 19:1–5). As were the baptisms performed by his disciples previous to the crucifixion of the Lord (John 3:22; 4:1,2) like the baptism of John, they were a purifying rite, binding to repentance, and preparing the way for the coming kingdom.