The voice of one crying out it the wilderness.
Can you remember where you were on the 8th August 1991? This was the day that John McCarthy was freed after being held hostage in Beirut for five years?
I was on holiday in York with Fiona and Peter, my children. I remember that it was a warm sunny day and people were mingling around the Shambles and street entertainers were drawing crowds, crowds who were happy to stop in the sunshine and watch for a while.
Suddenly, the Town Crier came into earshot - first his bell then his voice - "Oyez! Oyez!." The Town Crier with the message that John McCarthy had been freed. I don't know who the messenger was, I didn't need to, he wasn't important; it was his message that we needed to hear. The town crier was the bringer of messages; that was his raison d'tre.
And so it was with John the Baptist; his role, from the outset, was to witness to Jesus, he was sent ahead, sent ahead by God, as a lamp coming ahead of the true light, preparing the way. Preparing the way, bearing witness to Jesus so that all might believe in him.
When the Jews asked him "who are you" he said that he was a voice, it was the voice that was important not who or what he was. Never mind what I am, listen to what I say, never mind who I am, what is important is to listen when I speak to you of Jesus Christ. The message not the messenger.
The message that, at last, the Messiah that Israel had been expecting, was coming now, that the promises of Abraham were finally to be fulfilled. That there would be a new, an everlasting covenant and the prisoners would be led out of dark dungeons into full daylight and the Lord God would cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all nations.
Augustine speaks of John the Baptist as 'marking the boundary between the Old and New Testaments' being both a representative of the past and a herald of the new.
The voice of one crying out in the wilderness.
We were not there to witness the event but we have the Holy Spirit, scripture and 2000 years of tradition to guide us, inspire us and build up our faith. We have the testimonies of the many Christians who down the centuries have given witness to Jesus, Christians, who in great and small ways have followed the example of John the Baptist, living lives worthy of their calling, putting Jesus first and being examples to us to follow.
Unlike John the Baptist we don't have to follow the literal call to cry out in the wilderness, - in fact we may find ourselves in a spot of bother if we did! But we are called to bear witness in our words and actions - the way we live our lives. As we await the return of Jesus Christ it is our message that is important. Like John the message is more important than who or what we are. Like John the Baptist our lives and witness should always point away from ourselves and towards Christ.
Each year the season of Advent reminds us of that waiting for the return of Jesus as we prepare to celebrate his birth on Christmas Day.
This year, it seems to me that there is a sharper focus to our preparation, a sharper focus to the growing needs of our troubled and divided world where man's inhumanity to man appears to know no bounds. And a world where the old established business and finance rules no longer appears to apply. This year the waiting and watching seems to have more urgency. As we sang in our introit hymn 'thick darkness broodeth yet'.
And in the waiting and the watching there is always a light, faith teaches us that - we only have to look for it. And I found it this week, found it as one often does - in children. On Wednesday in Westminster Abbey, some of our young hero's of today were recognized in the Children of Courage Awards. It was not Gordon Brown or the television personalities or even Prince Harry who were centre stage. No, it was the children, children who had accomplished extraordinary achievements for others not themselves. One child, a seven-year old boy cares for his mother who suffers from multiple sclerosis, and a ten year old girl raises money to send presents to British soldiers serving in the Middle East - people she has never met in a place she does not know. Their achievements are exemplary examples of caring for others following the example given to us by Jesus. Their tasks, like John the Baptist's focusing away from themselves.
Their message - their voice crying out in the wilderness.
And it seems very appropriate to acknowledge achievements such as these as we approach Christmas and the birth of the infant Jesus - children being witness to Jesus.
Children, children, who are our present and our future, the next generation. Behind me in our All Saints window we have a strong reminder of the children, a powerful witness - the Holy Innocents slaughtered by King Herod. And we will celebrate their Saints day, their witness 3 days after Christmas.
This is also at this time of year that we can glimpse a sense of the 'otherness' in children's faces as they look in wonder in the dark at Christmas lights, at Christmas candles. Didn't Jesus say to the disciples "unless you change and become like children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven".
We all have been called to witness to Jesus, to be voices calling in the wilderness.
It was Saint Teresa of Avila who wrote:
God has no hands but our hands to do his work today.
God has no feet but our feet to lead others in his way;
God has no voice but our voice to tell others how he died,
And God has no help but our help to lead them to his side.
Shouldn't we, when we recognize these witnesses to Jesus pray and give thanks for them.
Sermon by: Christine Barclay