31st December 2023
Reflection (readings are below)
Rejoice! Rejoice in the Lord says Isaiah.
Yet when we listen to the news we may feel there is little cause for rejoicing. War, injustice, poverty, overstretched health systems, floods and storms, and the hypocrisy of politicians telling us that they have our best interests at heart, that they are doing so much to safeguard the environment, to help the poor and vulnerable!
As we hear again the Christmas stories from the Gospels, we realise that things weer not so very different then. Power was in the hands of a few, and their wishes inconvenienced others. Yet God’s message of salvation and hope was passed onto the poor – shepherds, carpenters, overstretched innkeepers – and was sought out by those seeking wisdom and truth, those who were prepared to travel long distances, willing to make detours and backtrack. And there was mass murder, there were refugees, there was poverty.
Today’s psalm echoes the themes of the Magnificat – healing the broken hearted, lifting up the lowly: salvation is about transformation and restoration, healing and growth. It is God’s word, God’s command, that effects this. It is a message we mustn’t forget. It reminds and reassures us that just because the world is in a bad way, that that is not how God will’s it to be; rather God desires that this bad state of affairs be transformed, be turned upside down. God is so committed to this that God took on our human nature so that we could see the God-given potential that humans have.
If we look around, we can see signs of hope: the people and the governments demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, the continued provision of food banks and homeless shelters, the expansion of renewal energy in Uruguay (98%), states challenging Trump’s right to stand for a second term as President, the reduction in air pollution in London as a result of the ULEZ scheme, a funded project to protect and enhance the UK’s Celtic rainforest.
If both Isaiah and the Psalmist can praise God with an absolute certainty that righteousness will spring up like plants in a garden and that salvation will blaze forth like a torch, can we too embrace that confidence too? Can we recognise the God-given potential in ourselves and in others to achieve this? Here we are on the cusp of a new year, what resolutions can we make?
The passage from John’s gospel tells us that it is the light that will transform the world; a light that cannot be overcome. It is a light to which John the Baptist testifies; he can do no other. John’s calling is to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth! He speaks truth to power. He speaks with an honesty that is clear that he is just a messenger: the gospel message – the light – is so much greater. John knows that there are others who will choose not to hear the truth, who will deny the validity and the importance of the message. Others who will put forward an alternative – false – message. Yet that will not stop John proclaiming what he knows to be true, and it will certainly not prevent the light from being eternally present.
For climate activists this calling to proclaim a message of truth that many do not want to hear, that those in authority wish to suppress, the reality that John faced will come as no surprise. And such truth telling is needed. Governments are not truthful about the scale of the climate and ecological crisis. Oil companies are not truthful about their commitment to ending fossil fuel extraction. Judges do not allow the truth to be heard when climate activists are on trial.
Hopefully today’s gospel will be an encouragement for them, an acknowledgment that they are but the next generation of a long line of those called to proclaim the salvific promises of God.
Isaiah 61:10-62:3
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
my whole being shall exult in my God;
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the earth brings forth its shoots,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
to spring up before all the nations.
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out like the dawn,
and her salvation like a burning torch.
The nations shall see your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;
and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.
You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
Psalm 147
1 Hallelujah!
How good it is to sing praises to our God! *
how pleasant it is to honour him with praise!
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem; *
he gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted *
and binds up their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars *
and calls them all by their names.
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power; *
there is no limit to his wisdom.
6 The Lord lifts up the lowly, *
but casts the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; *
make music to our God upon the harp.
8 He covers the heavens with clouds *
and prepares rain for the earth;
9 He makes grass to grow upon the mountains *
and green plants to serve mankind.
10 He provides food for flocks and herds *
and for the young ravens when they cry.
11 He is not impressed by the might of a horse; *
he has no pleasure in the strength of a man;
12 But the Lord has pleasure in those who fear him, *
in those who await his gracious favour.
13 Worship the Lord, O Jerusalem; *
praise your God, O Zion;
14 For he has strengthened the bars of your gates; *
he has blessed your children within you.
15 He has established peace on your borders; *
he satisfies you with the finest wheat.
16 He sends out his command to the earth, *
and his word runs very swiftly.
17 He gives snow like wool; *
he scatters hoarfrost like ashes.
18 He scatters his hail like bread crumbs; *
who can stand against his cold?
19 He sends forth his word and melts them; *
he blows with his wind, and the waters flow.
20 He declares his word to Jacob, *
his statutes and his judgments to Israel.
21 He has not done so to any other nation; *
to them he has not revealed his judgments.
Hallelujah!
Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7
Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian.
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.
John 1:1-18
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'”) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
The Green Tau 