As we gather, we recognize that we live, work, pray, and play
in the traditional, unceded lands
of the Cowichan Tribes and Coast Salish People. 
We continue to commit ourselves
to the work of reconciliation and relationship-building
with our First Nations neighbours.     

Call to Worship:

Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
All flesh shall see the salvation of God.

Luke 3. 4, 6

O Come. Let Us Worship. 

The Second Sunday of Advent focuses on Peace; it also is about preparation.

Gathering 

Almighty God,
to you all hearts are open, all desires known,
and from you no secrets are hidden.
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the
inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ, our Lord. Amen. 

Collect for Today 

Almighty God,
who sent your servant John the Baptist
to prepare your people to welcome the Messiah,
inspire us, the ministers and stewards of your truth,
to turn our disobedient hearts to you,
that when the Christ shall come again to be our judge,
we may stand with confidence before his glory;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Canticle -  Luke 1. 68-80

⁶⁸ ‘Praised be the Lord God of Israel,
    for he has looked favourably on his people and redeemed them.
⁶⁹ He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
    in the house of his servant David,
⁷⁰ as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
⁷¹     that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
⁷² Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
    and has remembered his holy covenant,
⁷³ the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,
    to grant us ⁷⁴ that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,
might serve him without fear, ⁷⁵ in holiness and righteousness
    before him all our days.
⁷⁶ And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
⁷⁷ to give knowledge of salvation to his people
    by the forgiveness of their sins.
⁷⁸ By the tender mercy of our God,
    the dawn from on high will break upon us,
⁷⁹ to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    to guide our feet into the way of peace.’

The Proclamation of the Gospel:

Luke 3. 1-16

May the words of my lips and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable to You, O Lord.  Amen.

" Christians, Hear Peace " 

Malachi 3:1-4
In Malachi today, we read of the wonderful story of the prophecy directed to the priests in the Temple. The priests, at this point, have replaced the prophets and have become close to the people of God, but at the same time, the priesthood has encountered problems. 

The prophet speaks in God’s name.
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Philippians 1:3-11
And in our reading in Philippians today, it picks up right after the salutation when Paul is thanking God for the Christians at Philippi, for sharing in the community of faith and in their diligence and their living a faith that is evident on their hearts, a faith that will transform to godliness and bring them to a God-like life. 
________________________________________
Luke 3:1-6
We have this foretelling of the coming of the one who is to be born in Bethlehem. We hear John’s mission to bring this good news to the world.

And so, my question for today is, keeping in mind our title: “Christians—Hear Peace” -- “What do we need to do to be able to hear peace?”

First thoughts—go back to one of those sayings where we often say: “Now children, play fair in the sandbox.”
    
What do we need to do to play fair? What does our society need to do to be a people of peace—a people wanting to bring peace to the world?
    
Possibly this has something to do with the Gospel for today.

He (John the Baptist) went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 
    
In today’s world of ‘so-called’ freedom, to speak of repentance, this is not an easy topic—it’s not a popular topic—it’s not a topic that would necessarily attract an audience. in the public square.

Modern society deems the subject of sin and repentance at best uncomfortable. In fact, they may even consider the topic unacceptable. 
    
Except the Bible does not.
In fact, the Bible is quite clear on the subject of both: sin and repentance. 
    
As Christians, we must not suggest when we use the word “society” it is exclusive of those who are outside looking into Church on Sunday morning.
    
In Hebrew, the language of the OT, the word is ‘shub.’ 
Any idea how many times it is used in the OT alone? It’s used over 1000 times.
In our common language of English, the translators interchange with the words  “turn” and/or “return,” meaning to turn from evil and turn to good, or to turn from evil and return to good. 
    
After last week’s sermon, would that not work for the world?
    
Eerdmans Bible Dictionary defines repentance as a “complete change of orientation involving judgement upon the past and a deliberate redirection for the future.”
      
If Christians are to hear peace, if the world is to hear peace, the world needs to adopt a spiritual ‘about-face.’ The world—it is essential to see faith as something which is life-giving and lifesaving. 
    
In essence, it means turning to Christ, also not a popular topic in mainstream society today.
    
Yet, the truth is—repentance and faith walk hand-in-hand. We may even say they need to be
‘holding  hands' with each other.
    
For when we do that, then we may find peace.

One problem, admitting wrong is not simple. 
Admitting that we make a mistake from time to time is not easy.

My experience tells me, one of the greatest difficulties with repentance, though, is the acceptance of God’s grace. In other words, the penitent who says, “How do I know that God has forgiven me? How do I see it? How—I can’t read it? How do I know it’s there?”
    
The most important step to hearing peace then is to have change of mind and heart concerning our sin, and Christ’s atonement for it. 

And we need to believe.
    
Another step to hearing peace is to turn and return to the right path from wrong.
    
Or as we hear in Scriptures, “to make our path straight.”

Psalm 51 is one of the greatest examples of hearing the Holy Spirit’s effect on our life.

Psalm 51  (for the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery.)

So, here we have David pleading to God for a change in life—a redirection, you might say.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.

You see, David believed—David knew, I believe, that the God of our lives is a God that is merciful—a God that forgives—that can show us a way to peace—a way to hear peace—a God that is full of compassion—a God that can blot out our transgressions.

2 Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
    and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

And so, we plead for God to take delight in our sacrifices, and to take our burnt offerings and to rejoice in our turning, in our making or paths straight.

In the Good Friday liturgy and again at the Easter Vigil we hear this verse from Psalm 51 repeated:

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
   

Another familiar message of peace comes from Colossians:

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.”
 

Finding peace or hearing peace is not an easy task.
    
At the same time, as Christians, we are called to hear peace, a biblical peace. 

It is a peace that needs to reside in our hearts, not that which we experience on the outside.

The idea is when we find biblical peace, what happens on the outside will be easier to deal with. 
    
Acknowledging we live in the world—a world  which at first glance appears not able to find peace. At the same time, we can look around and see—there is peace in the hearts of many people in the world.

We see people who have personality traits expressing they live with their glass half full.
    
In this time of Advent, it is crucial we allow the peace of Christ to rule in our hearts—to allow the voice of peace which comes from Christ to be heard in our lives.
Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let Us Pray

The Prayers of the People   

In the second week of Advent,
we get ourselves, and our world ready, to be completely changed by God, transformed from a place with suffering and injustice into a place of freedom and peace.

We want to be ready so we begin now by practicing how to live in a way that is fair for everyone, and takes care of all God’s creation – the earth and the sky and the seas and the plants and the animals and the people.

Holy God,
You promise that love is stronger than hate, happiness is stronger than sadness,
life is stronger than death. Bring justice to your world.
The day is coming. We are getting ready.

Holy God,
Bring joy to your world. 
The day is coming. We are getting ready.

Holy God,
bring peace to your world. 
The day is coming. We are getting ready.

Come, Lord Jesus, Come. 
Come, Lord Jesus, Come. Amen.

Wonderful simple words--words to guide our lives in this week.

As our Saviour taught us:
Our Father,
who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heaven. 
Give us today our daily bread. 
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those who trespass against us.
And lead us  not into temptation,
but deliver us fom evil.  
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power and the glory,
forever and ever.  Amen.

Faithful God,
we thank you for weekly feeding us in that heavenly banquet that you offer to us so freely. 
May we always hear the prophet’s call
May we always hear our Lord's voice calling to hear peace in our hearts;
in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord.

The Blessing: 

The peace of God,
which passes all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and
love of God, and of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

And the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be with you, and remain with you, always. 
 Amen.