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The season of Advent is traditionally a season of waiting and expectation. For small children, it seems like the waiting goes on forever, as excitement mounts toward Christmas. For the lonely and bereaved, the waiting is of a different kind; perhaps more a time to endure. The theme of waiting and anticipation appears in our Advent readings. Texts from the prophet Isaiah recall the waiting of the people of Israel, as they longed to return from exile in Babylon and looked for      rescue. Isaiah also speaks of a future chosen one, a rescuer who would usher in a period of peace and prosperity and national renewal. But when would this be, and how long would the desolation of exile continue?

There are many in our world, daily dealing with the harsh realities of civil conflict or war or grinding poverty who continue to voice the question of the psalmist ‘How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?’ (Psalm 13). The waiting can seem interminable. It was like this also in the  early church communities, who were a tiny minority under severe pressure and persecution. In one of his letters, the apostle Peter writes to the suffering churches of Asia Minor these words:

do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed. Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God. (2 Peter chapter 3)

Peter’s words remind us that in Advent, as we wait to celebrate the first coming of Christ, so we simultaneously look forward to his second coming, when all things in heaven and earth will be made new. And that is very much worth waiting for.

Rev’d Philip 

In Luke chapter 21 Jesus warns his disciples of coming calamity: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues...  But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.”

This prophecy served to warn of the persecution to come for the early church. In the 21st century, Christians are still persecuted around the globe. The organisation ‘Open Doors’ conducts an annual report of the persecution of Christians, and this was recently presented to the UK Parliament.* It makes sobering reading:

More than 380 million Christians live in situations subject to “high levels of persecution and discrimination”.

1 in 7 Christians worldwide live in situations with at least “high” levels of persecution and discrimination, including 1 in 5 in Africa and 1 in 7 in Asia.

4,476 Christians were killed for faith-related reasons in 2024. Seventy percent of those killed were in Nigeria, where attacks on Christians have become more common since 2020.

Clearly, we need to keep praying for our brothers and sisters facing such hostility. We also need to pressure our MPs and government to keep this issue in the spotlight, rather than sweeping it to the margins. 

On a positive note, two churches In Mosul (Iraq) were reopened last month, eight years after they were destroyed by the extremist group ISIS. We pray that the congregations of the Syrian Orthodox Church in Mar Toma and the Chaldean Catholic Church will flourish and worship in freedom.

*Source https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2025-0076/

Rev'd Philip