Advent is a time of waiting – and we often find waiting very difficult. Time can seem to go so slowly when we are waiting for something; we even can find it quite hard to count and wait for a minute! James 5:7 reminds us that we need to wait like the farmer who has to learn patience when growing crops. First of all, he must prepare the ground and then sow seeds:

After this comes irrigation (watering the seed, often easy in this country because of our frequent rainfall!) and using fertiliser to feed the crops:

Only then, after about nine months, does the farmer reap the benefit of all this hard work in harvesting the crop.

Waiting for God’s promises to be fulfilled can take a very long time! For Abraham, it was 25 years between God first giving him promises and the birth of Isaac; for those waiting for the promised Messiah, it was more like 700 years between Isaiah’s prophecy in Is 7:14 and the birth of Jesus. We have to wait with expectation, however, for God always keeps His promises (see 2 Cor 1:20)

Advent is the period of time when we wait for the birth of Christ; we remember again that first arrival in Bethlehem. But James 5:7-8 is written in the context of us waiting for the Lord’s return, and James urges us to be patient as we wait for His coming. We wait also in our everyday lives for God’s help (Is 64:4) and cry to God out of the depths of our despair at times (Ps 130:1-6).

What can we do as we wait? Jude 1:20-21 reminds us of the need to build ourselves up in faith through God’s word (see also Acts 20:32). We pray in the Holy Spirit (see Eph 6:18), engaging with God, and as we pray, we ask God to guard our hearts and keep us track so that we are not derailed (e.g. by a love of money, as 1 Tim 6:9-10 warns). If we wander from God, we will not wait, but if we learn to wait with expectation for God, confident in His promises, we will receive all that He has promised.

Stephen spoke this morning from Ex 33:14, where the Lord, speaking to Moses, said, ‘My presence will go with You, and I will give you rest.‘ December is a busy time of year under normal circumstances and we often feel as though we have so much to do in terms of preparation for Christmas. This year has been so unusual that the sense of dislocation and busyness is probably greater than ever, so it is profoundly important that we learn to spend time in God’s presence and learn to rest in Him.

Pentatonix’s version of the carol ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ conveys something of the flurry and hustle and bustle of this tme of year, but the carol itself reminds us that there is rest to be found in the good news of Jesus Christ and tidings of ‘comfort and joy’ (which we surely all need at this tumultuous time.) If God Himself rested on the seventh day as an example to us, then we too need to take the time to rest in Him, to lay aside our busyness and the distractions which abound and come in simple focus on Him, knowing that His presence with us is what will carry us through.

God rest ye merry gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember Christ our Saviour
Was born on Christmas Day
To save us all from Satan’s pow’r
When we were gone astray
Oh tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
Oh tidings of comfort and joy

In Bethlehem, in Israel
This blessed Babe was born
And laid within a manger
Upon this blessed morn
The which His Mother Mary
Did nothing take in scorn
Oh tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
Oh tidings of comfort and joy

Fear not then, said the Angel
Let nothing you affright
This day is born a Saviour
Of a pure Virgin bright
To free all those who trust in Him
From Satan’s pow’r and might
Oh tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
Oh tidings of comfort and joy

God rest ye merry gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember Christ our Saviour
Was born on Christmas Day
To save us all from Satan’s pow’r
When we were gone astray
Oh tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
Oh tidings of comfort and joy. (‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’)

This week’s additions to our Jesse Tree at church continued to tell the Christmas story which stretches way back in time, long before the New Testament was written.

Jacob’s ladder reminds us of God’s covenant with Jacob (grandson of Abraham), who dreamed of a ladder reaching from earth to heaven, with angels ascending and descending. (Genesis 28:10-22) Jacob’s later encounter with God earned him the name Israel, the name by which the whole nation came to be known.

The sheaves of wheat remind us of the story of Joseph (Gen 37-50). This important Old Testament story shows how God can use every situation for good, for Joseph was sold into slavery and later thrown into prison, even though he was innocent, yet God used him to protect Israel from famine. The story of Joseph reminds us that God is always working for our good, even when bad things happen to us. Bad things happened to Jesus too (King Herod wanted to kill him because of jealousy and Jesus was later crucified by the Romans), but God was able to work out His plan of salvation even through these terrible events.

Moses’s staff reminds us of this great Old Testament leader who rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt. The parting of the Red Sea was one of the greatest miracles recorded and this great rescue looks ahead to the rescue from our sins which Jesus’s death and resurrection bring.

The stone tablet reminds us of God’s Ten Commandments, given to Moses. These were God’s rules for how to live at peace with God and with each other. God spoke to Moses face-to-face and made a covenant or promise with him to be with His people always. (Exodus 24:4-8). These are the Ten Commandments:

1. I am the Lord your God, and you shall have no other god before me.

2. You shall not worship any statues or other images.

3. You shall not use the Lord’s name without reverence and respect.

4. You shall keep the Sabbath day holy.

5. You shall respect your father and mother.

6. You shall not kill other people.

7. You shall not be unfaithful to your husband or wife.

8. You shall not steal.

9. You shall not speak falsely about other people.

10. You shall not envy or want what someone else has.

These are good rules to live by (Exodus 20:1-17). Ultimately, though, none of us can keep these rules perfectly, which is why we need Jesus. He is both fully God and fully human, and therefore He can live a perfect life and give Himself as a sin-offering for us.

This morning as we walked in Goldthorpe and prayed for our community, we also distributed 41 Advent Angels knitted and crocheted for us as part of the Dearne Churches Together Advent Angel Trail. We hope that these angels will remind us of the message of hope and good news which the angels brought that first Christmas and that they will help to bring a smile to the faces of those who find them and take them home!

Before we even got home, we were thrilled to receive a photo from someone who had found an angel!

Sometimes it’s the little things in life that can make a big difference. We pray these Advent Angels will bring hope and joy into people’s lives this Christmas.

For the past two years Dearne Churches Together have left knitted sheep or nativity figures in local shops in Thurnscoe, Goldthorpe and Bolton-on-Dearne as a visible reminder to local residents of the Christmas story (and the chance to win a hamper by finding their names.) It’s been more difficult this year with lockdown, but instead of leaving knitted figures in shops, church members have been busy making angels! These will be distributed in strategic places in Goldthorpe (and other places if we get more angels!), and if you find an angel, please take it home with you and let it be part of your Christmas festivities this year – and beyond.

You might think this is quite a silly thing to do, but we believe that the symbol of the angels who feature so prominently in the Christmas story is not silly at all. The message those angels brought to the main characters in the story – to Zechariah and Elizabeth, to Mary and Joseph and to the shepherds who were among the first visitors to Jesus – is a message we desperately need today. It’s a message of hope and good news, always starting with the words, “Don’t be afraid!” It’s a message of joy and delight, because the angels came to announce the arrival of Jesus, a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths perhaps, but Jesus, the One who would take away the sin of the world and who would be Immanuel, God with us. It’s a message of peace and a reminder that God cares about us and is working in our ordinary situations to bring good things out of the chaos and light into the darkness.

We need these reminders today, when we have felt so alone and afraid because of the pandemic this year. We need to know there is hope, that we are not consigned to this strange new world of self-isolation, social distancing and face coverings for ever. We need to know there is peace and that we don’t have to live in fear. We need to know that there is joy to life because Jesus has come and will come again. So our Advent Angel Trail is not perhaps as foolish as it sounds and can bring excitement and anticipation to your hearts if you will seek and find.

We wish you all a very happy Christmas – and remember, Christmas begins with Christ.