Revelation 1 v 4b – 8 John 18 v 33 – 37

Next Sunday sees the start of the Advent season. The season that starts the Christian year and the time we look forward to celebrating the coming to earth and the birth of Jesus. Our first Bible reading carried in it a sense of looking forward too. In that reading from Revelation, the writer John is anxious to communicate some words of hope to some churches that were being persecuted for their belief in Christ. One day, John cries, the Lord will return on the clouds, look forward he says, and the dreadful sufferings of this age will come to an end. All will see Jesus and realise who he is. John points his readers in verse 5 to Jesus’ second coming “Look he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him”. In Jesus’ encounter with Pilate in our gospel reading Jesus speaks of his kingdom, the very same kingdom we pray will come each time we say the Lord’s Prayer.  

Thus as we meet on the eve of the Advent season we have a sense of looking forward; being part of God’s kingdom now and to being ready for when that kingdom is fulfilled on his return. This is of course, not an option, Jesus’ parable of the 5 wise and 5 foolish bridesmaids found in Matthew reminds us of the consequences of not being ready when He returns. 

I have with me, here in the pulpit, four visual aids which I hope will help us both in this coming season of looking forward and in our day to day journey with Christ.  

Firstly we have a cross. Have you ever noticed that if you turn a cross slightly to one side you get the shape of the letter “X”. As many of you will know an “x” usually written at the bottom of an E mail or card, carries a very personal and special message. A cross represents a kiss, a beijo, and it means I love you. Listen to these words from verse 5 of our Revelation reading “from Jesus Christ…to him who loves us”. We may have heard it a thousand times, that Jesus loves us, but somehow at times it’s easier to believe that he loves other people rather than to believe he loves me. After all, how could he possibly love me, considering all the things I have thought, said and done.

But with his help you can choose to believe that despite it all He does love you. We still love our children don’t we, when they upset us and let us down. We still love our country even though we see things in them, which we dislike. God could not love you any more or any less than He does right now. His love is so high, so low, and so wide that as an old children’s song declares, we simply cannot get round it. Being loved so much does not of course we can do whatever we like, God has given us rules and commands to live by. Advent is always a good time to reflect on how the past year has gone, and to determine ourselves to make changes and adjustments for the future. When our understanding of how loved we are by God grows, then so too should grow our determination not to hurt, by our sins, the one who loves us so much, and whose Son died on a Cross. Our first message for Advent, know yourself, loved by God. 

My second visual aid is this, a picture of a bird freed to fly. There was a time when you could buy in the UK all manner of Christian posters with Bible verses, and wise words written across them. One popular poster had a bird flying across a magnificent blue sky, along with the words “if you love someone let them go” . In Revelation after being told God loves us, we are told this v 5 “he has freed us from our sins by his blood”.  

A while ago, I visited some British prisoners in Bangu prison. While waiting on some steps for a prisoner to appear, I wondered how I would ever survive in such a place. I quickly concluded that one way would be to take delight in the glimpses of nature you can spot around the prison, including two pretty birds I saw in the bushes inside the prison wall. However after a while a prisoner appeared and placed two wooden cages on the gravel, into which happily flew the two birds, the doors were shut and the cages taken inside and hung up in the main office.  

Why didn’t those birds fly over the wall and up into the wooded hills? I don’t know, but equally how many of you hear the words each Sunday that you are truly forgiven but somehow simply can’t believe it. So we go back into our cages that speak of condemnation and guilt. When we are truly sorry, then God truly forgives us, and if we dare to believe in our minds that I have simply sinned too much and he can’t forgive me this time, then we are denying the truth that the blood of Christ was good enough to forgive. As we are freed from the punishment, condemnation and guilt sin brings, freed as we will see to serve. Know yourself loved, know yourself forgiven that’s our second lesson to take with us into Advent. 

My third visual aid is this…. a telephone. In Revelation, John goes on to say this in verse 6 “he made us into a kingdom of priests to serve His God and Father”. There is no redundancy, retrenchment, unemployment or retirement in the Christian faith. We are not just “called” to serve Him and build up his kingdom, for that implies it’s an option, but we are commanded to do so. That might sound hard, until we look at the one who is doing the commanding. The more you look at God, his person, his character, and the way he has created us and given us Jesus, then there is no doubting and room for complacency, He is truly worthy of our service. The great mother Theresa once said that in serving the destitute on the streets of Calcutta she saw in them the face of Christ. 

The telephone serves to remind us that serving can come in lots of different shapes and forms. You might not have the health, time and money to dedicate long periods of time for acts of service, but many of you could pick up the telephone and simply chat to someone you know who’s ill, lonely or in need. It’s very easy to think that unless an act of service is great with far reaching effects, somehow its worth less and counts less. I’m sure that God looks for obedience in His call to serve and not the size or the impact of the act. When we serve others we are serving God. Over the coming season of Advent look for ways to serve God, it may be a telephone call, it may be a visit, it may be to give more money, it may be to do something much bigger. Be open to, and allow God to show you, a willing and serving heart He will always use. That’s our third lesson for Advent. 

My fourth and final visual aid is a pair of headphones. In our gospel reading Jesus was in great trouble. He had been brought to the Palace of Pilate the Roman Official. Jesus was subject at first to some demanding questions. As always He used the opportunity to speak about the kingdom of God. It was a difficult encounter and one which troubled Pilate far more than it troubled Jesus. In the midst of their exchange, Jesus utters these most important of words v 37 “whoever belongs to the truth listens to me”. When you put on a pair of good headphones, then you can listen exclusively to whatever you like, you won’t get distracted by other noises around you. I know a family who have 2 televisions in their sitting room and if they want to watch different programmes, but remain in the same room, then out come the headphones. Each can listen to their own one programme alone, and not be distracted by the other. 

One of our Bible readings last week solemnly reminded us that others would come pretending and masquerading as Jesus. They would make all manner of claims and sadly many would be deceived. But we can equally be deceived by the spirit of the age we live in, if we listen to seemingly attractive voices that deny and distort the words and teaching of God. It takes us right back to the garden of Eden and the serpent saying to Adam and Eve “did God really say that?”. The Bible tells us clearly, if we choose to read and study it, what God does and does not say. Not just over the course of Advent, but on every day of the year, it is right and it is good to wear spiritual headphones, that enable us to listen solely and exclusively to the unchanging word of God. When we wear our spiritual headphones we will not be distracted by the other voices around us. 

Advent season will come to an end on December 24^th when we gather around the Crib andwelcome the infant Jesus into the world. Our Bible reading from Revelation points unmistakeably to the fact that another kind of ending is coming. The end of the world as we know it v 7 “look he is coming on the clouds! Everyone will see him” Just as preparations for Christmas gather pace and momentum, so too should our preparations for the glorious day our Saviour returns. I hope that this Advent box gives us all an indication of the shape those preparations should take.  

Know yourself loved, and know yourself forgiven. Reflect on those two facts by doing acts of service that glorify God and in everything listen only to the voice of the Master. 

Amen