O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!

May the Word of God be spoken, may the word of God be heard and may the Word of God by each one of us be obeyed. Amen

One of the things I have been doing since coming here as your curate has been to visit the uniformed organisations based at St Michaels and here at P and P.

It has been good to be able to get acquainted with Scouting again having gone through the organisation as a child and thoroughly enjoyed the expeditions, mountain climbing, map reading and cooking over an open fire.

I have seen many things here; the Beavers making sandwiches, the Guides practising Carols and the Cubs have visited the church, climbed the tower and on one occasion were visited by ferret!

I have seen our young people using the neckerchief that they wear as a triangular bandage as part of their First Aid training.

You never know when an emergency is going to happen. But the members of our uniformed organisations can live up to their motto of Be Prepared and are ready for anything.

We hope for the best, but it is good to consider the fact unexpected things do happen and to plan for the worst.

In our gospel reading Jesus put this into a short story,

If the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.

Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at and unexpected hour

In other words, be prepared for anything.

Jesus is referring to himself when he warns us to be prepared for the coming of the Son of Man.

keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. The first Christians took the literal meaning of these words and expected that the coming of the Son of Man would be a physical return of Jesus to earth.

But when the first generation started to pass away and Jesus didnt come, some started to become disillusioned.

Yet at the start of our gospel Jesus tells the disciples that about that day and hour no ones knows...only the Father.

It is clear that it is not our duty to speculate about the time of Christs second coming, but it is our duty to prepare ourselves and to watch.

So we live in an in-between time.

We look forward to Christs second coming and look back to Christs revelation of God in his first.

Our task is to follow Christ, to learn from him, so that we may walk in his paths.

In this season of Advent we prepare ourselves to celebrate at Christmas Christs incarnation. We look back at the promise of his coming, when Gods plan was announced through the prophets. We see Gods plan for our salvation which is centred in Christ and realised through him.

Our first reading was from the prophet Isaiah and no doubt Jesus knew it very well. Isaiah kept the hopes of the people of Judah alive in very dark times. He says,

come let us walk in the light of the Lord

Advent is a wonderful opportunity to respond to these words.

During Advent the readings from Isaiah are concerned with the Messiah and the messianic times.

In todays reading the prophet Isaiah has had a dream of universal peace. He dreamt of a time in which people from all nations would stream to the Lords mountain. To mount Zion in Jerusalem on which the temple was built.

People would no longer hurt or harm one another. There would be no more war or preparing for war. People would be filled with the knowledge of the Lord and would walk in his ways.

Isaiahs vision is a marvellous one.

Some believed it would be realised at Christs first coming. Some that it would be realised at his second, while still others thought it was mere day dreaming.

But there are some who believe in it and who work towards it.

Even though the vision is unlikely to be realised fully on earth, the vision of it can shape our lives. Each one of us can play our part in bringing people together in love and helping to make our world a happier and more peaceful place. Each of us can respond to Isaiahs urging to walk in the light of the Lord.

But what in practice does this entail?

There was once a wise and learned rabbi who turned to his pupils and asked,

How can you tell when the night is passed and the day is on its way back again?

When you see an animal in the distance, and you can tell whether it is a sheep or a goat, replied one.

When you see a tree in the distance, and you can tell whether it is a fig tree or a peach tree, replied another.

When you can see a person in the distance, and you can tell whether it is a friend or an enemy, yet another replied.

There were other answers, but the rabbi was not impressed. So his pupils pleaded with him, Tell us what your answer is rabbi

And he replied as follows,

It is when you can look at the face of any human being, and see the face of a brother or sister, because if you can not do this, then no matter what time it is, for you it is still night.

We are a people on whom the light of Christ has shone and still shines.

So this advent; as we prepare to celebrate Christs first coming, and watch for his second, let us

love our neighbours as ourselves

and look to find Christ coming to us is those we meet day by day.

There are many ways of doing this.

The kind word, the helpful deed, the thoughtful visit.

We can do this by being welcoming towards others, especially outsiders, as well as seeking reconciliation with anyone we have quarrelled or fallen out. The work of reconciliation begins with a simple gesture that those who do not normally speak to one another should begin to do so. Let us try to live out the words of the hymn we will sing during the distribution, to feel for the people we most avoid the strange or bereaved or never employed

We can not do it without God. He has not left us alone but has sent his Son to inaugurate his kingdom and walk with us. So let us recommit ourselves to strive to walk in the light

- the light of truth and life, the light of justice, love and peace.

Amen