On our last Sunday in Advent the readings ponder over the sign God sends to assure us of God’s presence with us. King Ahaz asks the prophet Isaiah, 7:10-26, for a sign that God will be with his people as they face imminent military defeat.  Isaiah offers him this; a young woman is with child, she will bear a son who will be called Emmanuel, God is with us. This is not the sign that King Ahaz was expecting.  The divine presence he seeks is one of strength and power. The words of the prophesy are echoed in the story of Jesus’ birth in Matthew 1:18-25.  Once again, the birth of a child to a young woman is not easy to recognise as a sign of God’s presence with us. Joseph needs the angel Gabriel to explain it to him just as Ahaz needed the prophet Isaiah. With Christmas just a week away we too ponder what it means for God to come not in strength but in vulnerability, where is true divine power to be found and are we able to recognise and embrace it?

Our readings this morning look forward with hope and excitement to a time when God’s kingdom comes: a time of flourishing both for God’s people but also for the whole of creation: the blind will see, the lame will leap, the barren places will bear fruit. However, the route to this kingdom is not the one we might expect: The flourishing described by Isaiah 35:1-10 is to be found in the wilderness, a place of hardship and trial. In Matthew 11:2-11, Jesus castigates those who travel out into the wilderness expecting to find riches and power.

Today is the second Sunday in Advent, a day when we celebrate the prophets in every generation who call us to a better future. Prophets are not always popular because they almost always call us to change. John the Baptist, Matthew 3:1-12, is pretty terrifying: munching on locusts, wearing camel skins and warning us of “the wrath that is to come”. He calls us to repent (literally, turn around) and do things differently, to bear good fruit.

At 4pm on Christmas Eve church is transformed for our family Nativity service, complete with readings, carols and a full cast of characters in costume.