The Red Herring of Advent

Sermon preached at the Cathedral Church of St Augustine of Canterbury on the fourth Sunday in Advent

Suppose you want 

to stop a fox hunt

or a rabbit hunt.

What do you do?

One practice is to get

a smoked fish, 

wait until its gone

a bit ripe -

well, okay, a lot ripe,

and drag it across the track 

behind the rabbit

as it flees.

The stinky trail

will send the dogs off

in completely the wrong direction.

And which type of fish

would be best?

A herring!

And, if you leave it

for long enough,

it will turn red.

That's where 

the red herring 

comes from.

The red herring

is designed 

to throw us off the scent

and confuse us

so we don't see

what's going on.

Is St John the Baptist

a red herring?

[PAUSE]

The priests and Levites 

might think so.

There in front of them -

a man calling for them

to repent,

and not mincing his words.

Who is he?

Is he the Christ? 

No.

Well, that seems 

straightforward enough.

Is he Elijah?

No?

Except that he is.

God says through 

the prophet Malachi,

"Behold, I will send you 

Elijah the prophet 

before the coming of 

the great and dreadful day of the LORD."

God is not being literal

but identifying

the last prophet with Elijah

Jesus Himself

will say that St John

comes in Elijah's spirit.

But hang on!

All this is a red herring.

We are being side-tracked.

Do you see that?

[PAUSE]

What is the real issue?

Who is this John the Baptist?

We've just seen one red herring

perhaps this man is another.

Hear him,

"I am the voice of him

that crieth in the wilderness,

'make straight 

the way of the Lord!'"

That's as far from being

a red herring as you can get!

A red herring is

supposed put you 

off the scent 

not put you on it.

St John clearly 

points the way to Christ

so why don't the rulers

of Jewish society

go the way that 

St John is pointing?

The have received 

another red herring.

They are seeking the Christ

but they are not seeking Jesus.

Their senses have become

confused with the different

scents of the previous centuries.

Israel has erred and strayed

from the way of God 

like a lost sheep.

Israel has been overrun

and conquered

ruled by Emperors 

that think they are gods,

and by self-important kings,

like Herod,

who want to be gods.

The people of Judaea

seek the Christ,

but their eyes have become clouded

by politics,

and expectations,

and battles,

and protests,

and invasions,

and rulers in it for themselves.

This is the smell 

of the red herring,

one thrown into draw people

away from Christ

by the Devil

who knows that the time is near

when his head will be crushed

by a virgin bearing a child.

Only St John

in his rags,

poverty,

and disrespect 

for human vanity

points the way clearly

in exactly the same way

that the prophet Elijah might.

Only those

who sniff past

the stench of this world's

depravity and degradation

will smell the sweetness

of Christ Himself.

[PAUSE]

Our Advent has been spent

clearing our noses

from Hell's smells.

We smell the mulled wine,

the pine needles and mince pies 

the candles and the frankincense

but we know that 

they draw us on to the Lord

because we recognise 

His presence with us

despite the aroma of

the world outside.

[PAUSE]

The more we know Christ

the more we will be able

to sniff Him out

despite the red herrings

that are thrown at us.