Advent 3: Give Hope
14 December 2025
Bible readings
Psalm 146:5–10
The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow...
Matthew 11:2–11
...the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with a skin disease are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.
Songs and hymns
- Advent candles tell their story (StF 165)
- Christmas is coming (StF 166)
- Colours of day (StF 167)
- Hark the glad sound! (StF 171)
- My Lord! what a morning (StF 179)
- O come, O come, Immanuel (StF 180)
- Praise to the God who clears the way (StF 183)
- There’s a light upon the mountains (StF 188)
Opening liturgy
Gift-giving God, may Advent be for us a time of giving and receiving.
Heavenly God, you speak to us through messengers, words and deeds, the rhythm, the beat of your gift never ceases, never stops or falters or fails. Your gift is for life, not limited by time or space.
Gift-giving God, may Advent be for us a time of giving and receiving.
Heavenly God, you challenge us to be the heartbeat of love to our community. You challenge and call us to be a constant power for good. You inspire us to be the bringers of good news.
Gift-giving God, may Advent be for us a time of giving and receiving.
Heavenly God, may we be up to the challenges you set before us. May we give you time in our busy days, in our list making and our shopping, so that we are buzzing with your Spirit as your gift to all we meet.
Gift-giving God, may Advent be for us a time of giving and receiving.
Symbol: Poinsettia
Background notes
Psalm 146:5–10
This is the first of the final five psalms that serve as a conclusion to the whole book.
Today’s lectionary reading gives us the second half of the psalm, which opens with the bold declaration that God is both our hope and our help.(1) It then offers reasons why God is worthy of such trust.(2)
In verse 6, we’re reminded that God is the creator of all things – even the sea, which in Scripture often symbolises chaos and evil. Yet the world is not as God intends it to be; creation is marred by oppression, injustice and poverty (v.7).(3)
Having named this disorder, verses 7b–9 go on to describe God’s mission to set things right: liberating the oppressed, giving sight (at least metaphorically), lifting up the downtrodden, welcoming strangers, and upholding orphans and widows. God loves the righteous (those who join in this mission) but will bring the wicked, those who perpetuate injustice, to ruin.
The psalm concludes with a celebration of God’s eternal reign. The reordering of creation described here is not temporary. It is the way things will be, for evermore.(4) Praise the Lord!
Matthew 11:2–11
In this passage, we return to John the Baptist, but much later in his story. No longer is he preaching in the wilderness; now he is imprisoned and questioning whether Jesus is truly the Messiah.(5)
Jesus responds by sending a message to reassure John: a gift of hope. He offers a collage of prophecies from Isaiah, verses that both he and John likely held dear. These were words that pointed to a new age of liberation and restoration. It’s clear that both John and Jesus had a deep love for Isaiah 61: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me…”(6) Jesus is saying that in him, these ancient promises have come to life.(7) The long-awaited eschaton has dawned.(8)
Everything Jesus mentions in his reply reflects what he has been doing throughout his ministry, as recorded in Matthew chapters 4 to 10. This passage serves as a kind of summary of the work of God through Jesus.(9)
Notably, Jesus is selective in his use of Isaiah. He omits any verses that focus on punishment, even though such themes are present in the original prophecies. Instead, he highlights healing, restoration and good news.(10)
He speaks of the blind receiving sight, perhaps metaphorically as well as physically, as people begin to perceive the unseen world. The lame walk, the lepers are cleansed (a striking expansive addition, since lepers are not mentioned in these Isaiah texts), the deaf hear – again, maybe also metaphorically – as people finally begin to ‘get it’. The dead are raised, and, most significantly, placed where emphasis falls, the poor receive good news.(11)
And so too can we offer gifts of hope to those around us. As we live a Methodist Way of Life we can:
- share insight and understanding (pray, learn, notice)
- inspire people to get up and follow Jesus (tell)
- offer a deep confidence that life is stronger than death (live)
- proclaim good news to people experiencing poverty serve (challenge, flourish, serve) – although we must also remember, as verse 6 reminds us, that not everyone is ready to hear it – yet.
(1) Brueggemann and Bellinger, Psalms, p. 607.
(2) Weiser, The Psalms, p. 832.
(3) Brueggemann and Bellinger, Psalms, p. 530.
(4) ibid. p. 608.
(5) Walter Brueggemann, Charles B. Cousar, Beverly R Gaventa, James D. Newsome, Texts fo Preaching Year A, (1995) Kentucky: Westminster John Knox, pp. 25–266.
(6) Craig A. Evans, Matthew p. 233–234
(7) Douglas R. A. Hare, Matthew, (1993) Kentucky: Westminster John Knox, p. 121.
(8) Schweizer, The Good News according to Matthew, p. 256.
(9) Davies and Allison, Matthew, pp. 174–175.
(10) Schweizer, The Good News according to Matthew, p. 256.
(11) ibid. p. 256–257.
Questions for discussion
Doubts
John the Baptist expresses doubt from prison – “Are you the one?”
- What does this moment teach us about faith, doubt and hope?
- How do you respond to times when God seems different from what you expected?
All good
Jesus selects verses from Isaiah that focus on healing and good news, leaving out judgment.
- What does this tell us about the nature of Jesus’ mission?
- How can we reflect this in how we speak and act?
The poor receive good news
- What does “good news” mean to people experiencing poverty or exclusion today?
- How are we called to be bearers of that news?
You are a gift
Jesus’ message to John becomes a gift of reassurance and hope.
- In your own life, how might you offer gifts of hope to others?
- Which aspects of the Methodist Way of Life (pray, learn, tell, serve, challenge, etc) help you do that?
Hands-on activities
Healing hands wreath
Materials: Paper hand shapes, markers, string or hoop for wreath.
Activity: Trace each participant’s hand on paper or foam. On each hand, write or draw ways to show God’s healing and care (eg welcoming strangers, helping the oppressed, sharing good news). Assemble the hands into a wreath as a sign of community working together to bring restoration.
Reflection: Reflect on God’s mission and how we can join in with ‘healing hands’.
Award badges
Materials: Order a set of badges from methodistpublishing.org.uk
Activity: Invite several people to pick a badge to award to someone in the congregation who they think lives out that practice well.
Gift the community
Materials: Appropriate gifts and cards.
Activity: Reflect on the places in your community that may appreciate a gift at this time eg: a care home, school, doctors surgery. What gift could you make or give that would express thanks for all they do for the people in their care? Some ideas: bake some cupcakes, give a poinsettia plant, a tub of sweets or chocolates.
Reflection: Wonder together about how the Church could or does serve hand in hand alongside these local places.
Prayer ideas
Hope in the headlines
Invite people to silently call to mind a news story or place in the world where hope is needed. Read aloud a few current headlines (without commentary), then allow space for silent or spoken prayer for those situations.
The world needs...
Invite people, one at a time, to finish the sentence: “The world needs…” (eg compassion, laughter, justice, healing). After each word is spoken, the congregation responds together: “Lord, bring it through us.”
People prayers
Cut out a paper chain of people by folding a sheet of paper and cutting around the outline of a ‘person’ shape from the folded edge. Write on each ‘person’ someone in your community who cares for others: eg a teacher, a nurse, a carer, a refuse collector. Pray for them and the work they do. Create a long chain with all the people taped together to represent your community.
Global prayers
Invite people to share in the prayer of the Revd Felipe Cortés, the National Ecclesiastical Secretary of the Iglesia Metodista de Chile.
Hope is seeing growth and flourishing among the droughts of our lives.
Hope is feeling that a new world is possible and that human beings can change.
Hope is trusting that justice, goodness, forgiveness, peace and reconciliation always triumphs over every sign of evil.
Hope is feeling that Christ acts among us and with us, placing that new world in our hearts.
Amen.
The good news to get across
The world badly needs your gift; you can bring hope. Lift others up, and speak good news, especially to those the world overlooks. Hope is here.
Ways people can respond
Ask people to dwell on the twelve Methodist Way of Life practices, perhaps using the Pocket Guides. Ask God to make one practice stand out, the one that they can focus on this week as a way of being a gift to other people. For example, they might Pray for their work colleagues each morning, or make an effort to be Open to new people that they encounter.