Sunday 5 December 2010

RCL Reading Sunday 12 December 2010
Isaiah 35:1-10
Psalm 146:5-10
James 5:7-1-
Matthew 11:2-11



Just as there is a rising sense of ‘Christmas is coming’ in our communities so there is within the readings for this coming Sunday an increased sense that God’s coming radically transforms the whole of human life and society.

The set Psalm (146) sets God’s whole agenda in ten verses! Opening with praise and the commitment to a life of praise (vv1-2) the psalm moves on to the ground of our trust and hope being placed in God – the God of all creation who is faithful and trustworthy (vv3-5). Make this the starting point of your prayer this week. The verse that follow set out clearly the priorities of God: justice for the oppressed; food for the hungry; freedom for the imprisoned; sight for the blind; strength for the overburdened; care for the stranger, the orphan and the widow. Why do these themes so consistently appear in what I write as I comment upon the scriptures week by week? The simple answer is because they are there right through the scriptures, they are at the heart of the heart of God and they need to be at the heart of our life and commitment. Identify specific people & situations which fall under these headings to pray for and consider in the light of your prayer what action you will take. How does our/your nation and national life look in comparison with the priorities of God as revealed in this Psalm?

The task may seem beyond us and we may feel crushed by it. Read Isaiah 35:1-10 where the same themes are addressed set in the image of a wilderness/desert. Yes it can seem dry and barren but God’s coming causes a blossoming (v2) and streams to flow (v6). Where are the dry places within your life, within our community, within the wider world? What are the signs of God’s coming? How are you and I ‘preparing a way’ for God’s coming? Pray for a greater vision of what God desires to do and a sense of God’s calling/summoning us to be part of it.

The Gospel reading (Matthew 11:2-11) is one of those so human moments that it brings hope and courage to me. John the Baptist, whose confidence and strength we saw in last Sunday’s reading (3:1-12), is now in prison and the doubts have crept in. Was he right? Was Jesus the Messiah? In the life of faith, for many, there do come those moments of nagging, even haunting, doubt. How does Jesus respond? Not by castigating John for his doubts but pointing him to the sings of the Kingdom breaking in – signs he knew John would recognise and know their significance (vv4-5). Jesus goes on to praise and affirm John’s ministry (vv.7-11). So take heart even if/when the doubts come. Notice and point others to the signs of God at work.

All of this needs to be lived out in the practical aspects of our daily lives (James 5:7-10): patience; endurance; no grumbling against one another. You can’t get more direct than that! It is the bigger perspective painted by the three other readings that will enable us to have patience, endurance and not to grumble – pray for a glimpse of God’s bigger perspective and be patient, endure and don’t grumble.

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