December 17, 2023

Lectionary Texts

Isaiah 61.1-11. The Spirit has anointed me to do God’s justice: to care for the poor and powerless and set people free. God says “I love justice.” God will cause righteousness to spring up like growing shoots.

Psalm 126 Thanks for recovery from disappointment. “May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. Those who go out weeping shall come home with shouts of joy.”

1 Thessalonians 5. 16-24 “Rejoice always.” In all circumstances rejoice and pray, be thankful, and hold fast to what is good as we await the coming of Christ.

John 1. 6-8, 19-28 John the baptizer is not the light, but bears witness to the light: “among you stands one who is coming.”

       See Advent Resources including Advent Candle Lighting Prayers,
       Advent Wreath prayers, and music including Eucharistic prayers
       and responses and weekly litanies, and more.

Preaching Thoughts

Isaiah
       “Good news for the poor” seems to be Jesus’ mission statement, as he announces in Luke 4. There are certainly echoes here of last weeks’ Isaiah reading: “Comfort, comfort my people….” But there are also the seeds of discomfort. Good news to the oppressed, liberty to captives and release to prisoners will not be good news for the prisons, oppressors and systems that support them. Both sides of justice are evident. So Advent comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable. Our preaching needs to do the same. As much as we expect people to want warm, comforting Christmas sermons in Advent, what scripture gives us is more transformative—hence, unsettling. Advent invites us to gently shepherd our listeners to be prepared to be unsettled, which is how you enter the new “way” God is preparing. The justice Isaiah anticipates here is a new world whose advent requires that we let go of the old one.

1 Thessalonians
       To “rejoice always” can sound sappy, and if misunderstood can encourage us to minimize our grief, ignore the real suffering others endure, and overlook the anguish caused by the injustice in which we are complicit. Happiness that is numb to the evil we suffer and the evil we cause is simply denial. But when we’re aware of the suffering hope and joy can be revolutionary and even subversive. Part of the power of oppressive systems is their capacity to instill resentment, despair and hopelessness in the oppressed. To rejoice in the face of suffering and to be at peace in the face of threats robs the oppressor of power. We are neither numb to evil or suffering, nor willing to let them define our response. Hope in the face of oppression is an act of resistance.
       It’s hard to “rejoice always” when we’re suffering. It’s also hard to remain sensitive to the suffering of others. So many of the shootings in America are committed by men who can’t bear the feeling of being wronged, threatened, or even merely inconvenienced, while other people’s suffering means nothing. This is an extreme example, but part of the nature of not knowing how to rejoice always and give thanks in all circumstances. Advent invites us into the paradox of holding fast to what is good even as we face what is evil, rejoicing even as we work against injustice ,and giving thanks even as we suffer. Our hope is not wishful thinking, but trust that the Coming One is already here at work.

John
       Religious authorities react against John’s message because it subverts religious power structures, but they’re also uncomfortable with John himself because he doesn’t fit their established categories. They don’t know what to make of him. We all have ways to judge and categorize people. The more entrenched our categories are, the more discomforted we are by people who don’t fit them. They threaten ours sense that we know what’s what. Witness people’s emotional reactions to trans people, drag queens and strong women. John represents a crumbling of our established stereotypes. Advent reminds us that God’s justice will require the dismantling of a lot of our judgments, stereotypes and power structures. Jesus won’t fit any of our expectations—not the warrior Messiah his contemporaries expected; not the nice, meek shampoo model we see posted in our Sunday Schools; not the defiant, muscled, gun-toting manly man white Christian nationalists wish for… Nope, he’s Something Else. Advent invites us to allow Jesus to be a new person, to come in a new way, and to initiate a new world. We long for confirmation of our beliefs. But God promises transformation of ourselves, our faith, our minds, and our world. Advent is a time of preparation through repentance.

Call to Worship

1.
See Advent Candle Lighting Prayers here.

2.
See Advent Wreath Prayers here.

3.
In the beginning was the Word.
The Word was the light of all people.
Prophets bore witness to the light.
We ourselves are given the light.
As we worship, God, kindle your light in us.
May we shine in this world as signs of your coming. Amen.

4.
Gentle Christ, you who have come among us in love, you are still coming.
Open our hearts, that we may prepare for you with lives of love.
Spirit of Life, you shone in the darkness, and still you shine.
Shine in us, that we may proclaim your coming in lives of joy and justice.
Incarnate God, in love and mercy you are continually coming into the world.
Bless us, that we may participate in your coming with deep and life-giving peace. Amen.

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
Loving God, you who are coming, you who are here: we await the coming of Christ, the ruler of the world and of our hearts. Prepare a way: give us courage to be a voice in the wilderness crying out for your desire. Lead us in the ways of justice. Open our hearts to the coming of Christ and his Reign of mercy and justice. Amen.

2.
God of life, as your prophet cries in the wilderness, we prepare a way in our hearts for your coming. We open ourselves to your presence, to your transforming Word, to your power in this world. Be our light in the darkness, our song in the silence, our star in the night, so that we might be your people in this world. Amen.

3.
Gracious God, you sent John the Baptizer to call people to repentance and to prepare the way for Christ. By your spirit, speak your Word to our hearts, and help us to repent of all our ways that injure life, so that we might bear your justice into this world, and bear your healing to those who are hurting, in the name of Christ. Amen.

4.
Gracious God, Creator of all things, you are still creating.
Receive our deepest longings with tenderness, and nourish them,
that we may plead for your coming in hope. Amen.

5.
Gracious and ever-present God, your prophets promised the coming of your reign of mercy and justice, and the healing of the world. We still our hearts and minds before you now, to listen for your Word, that this mighty transformation may begin in our own hearing. Bless us, that as your Scriptures are read and your good news proclaimed, we may hear, and our hearts may be healed, our lives changed. Amen.

6.
Gracious God, we bless you, for you hear our prayers and come to us, bringing light into the darkness of our hearts. Grant us, your people, the wisdom to see your purposes today and the opening to hear your will, that in our lives we may bear witness to Christ¹s coming and so prepare his way. This we pray, in the name and the spirit of Christ. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

Loving God, you bid us to pray without ceasing.
May our listening be prayer,
our breathing be praise.
God of peace, sanctify us entirely.
We are yours.

Prayer of Confession

Gentle God: to rejoice always, to pray without ceasing, to give thanks in all things, to abstain from every form of evil, these have been hard for us. Forgive us, heal our hearts, and renew your Spirit in us, that we may faithfully hold fast to what is good. May Christ be born in us, that we may become new people. Amen.

Eucharistic Prayer

See Advent Eucharistic Responses (Sanctus, Acclamation, and Amen set to familiar Christmas tunes.)
And see Advent Eucharistic Prayers, entire prayer set to familiar Christmas tunes.

[After the introduction, the body of the prayer may be read responsively with the presiding leader(s) and congregation, or by the leader(s) alone.]

God is with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the Holy One, our God.
It is good and beautiful to give God our praise.

It is always our delight to sing your praise, O God,
for when all was darkness and chaos, you brought forth light.
You made us in your image, with your light already within us.When we were lost and enslaved you came to us;
you condemned and overthrew the powers of oppression and set us free.You have spoken to us through the prophets and walked with us in love.Even in the darkest times you hid your light within us and your hope among us,your promise already given, the dawn already on its way.
Therefore we rejoice, and sing your praise with all creation:

            [Sanctus, spoken or sung:]
        Holy, holy, holy One, God of power and might,
        heaven and earth are full of your glory.
        Hosanna in the highest.
        Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God.
        Hosanna in the highest.
               [or alternate version]

Blessed are all who come in your name, and blessed is Jesus, your Christ.
Born in a rough stable, hunted by death squads, refugee to Egypt,
he walked with us in our darkest passages.
He brought good news to the poor, release to the captives and sight to the blind.Healing and teaching, gathering a community and crying out for justice,
he embodied your love.Crucified and buried, Christ bore the burden of human suffering.Raised from the dead, Christ embodied your overpowering grace.Christ lived as your promise among us, your hope given flesh,
the new world beginning even now.
This is our hope, our joy and our trust.

[…The Blessing and Covenant…]As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.
Therefore, remembering these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice,
in union with Christ’s offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery of our faith:

             [Memorial Acclamation, spoken or sung:]
        Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
                     —or—
        Dying, Christ destroyed our death. Rising, Christ restores our life.
        Christ will come again in glory.
             [or alternative]

Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Pour out your Spirit on us, that we may be for the world the Body of Christ.
May we live your promise with faith, giving thanks in all things.
May we be your light in this darkness.
May our lives be good news to the poor and proclaim release to the captives.
By your grace may Christ be born in us,
that we may be living signs of your coming.

     [Spoken or sung]
Amen.

____________
* The Blessing and Covenant
[I usually don’t print the words. I want people to be looking at the bread, not their bulletins.]

On the night in which he gave himself for us
Jesus took bread, blessed it,. broke it, and gave it to his disciples,saying,
“Take and eat; this is my body.”
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup,
blessed it with thanks and gave it to them, saying,
“Drink of this, all of you. This is my blood,
poured out for you and for many, in a new Covenant,
which is the forgiveness of sin.”
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.

Prayer of Dedication / Sending / after Communion

[Adapt as needed.]
1.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) Christ has prepared a way for you, in this meal and in this community. Changed by this grace, may we go out and do the work of justice, to prepare the way for your Empire of Love, in the name and spirit of Christ. Amen.

2.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) Loving God, born in our hearts and enfleshed in our community, be our hope our courage and our joy. Send us out as your light, in the name of Christ and the power of your Spirit, for the sake of the healing of the world. Amen.

3.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) You have fed the hungry; now send us into the world to share your justice, to bring your good news to the poor, and to shine your light in this world to make a way for your coming, in the name and the Spirit of Christ. Amen.

4.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) Blessed, transformed, and sustained by these gifts, we go into the world in your name to bring good news to the poor, to set the captives free, and to proclaim your grace. Send us in the power of your Spirit, with the blessing and the company of your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ, who even now is coming. Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)

Advent Table Songs, invitation to communion set to familiar Christmas tunes.

Two Weekly litanies, one verse per week; suitable for a call to worship, introduction or response to scripture, response to sermon, or other places in worship: Come, Bring your Light, and Shepherd of Israel

Come, Bring Your Light (Original song)
A dialogue between solo cantor and congregation.
The Cantor’s lyrics reflect the day’s lectionary texts; the congregational response is the same throughout Advent.)
Week 3:
Cantor:
The spirit of God is upon me,
for the Holy One has anointed me.

God has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
and to bind up the broken-hearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,
to declare the time of God’s favor and comfort those who mourn.

         Congregation:
        O Come to us, O come, Emmanuel,
         and bring your light into our darkened world.

The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world,
the Only Begotten, who is close to God’s heart, has made God known.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all things.
The God of peace will sanctify you and keep you
until the coming of the beloved, Jesus Christ.

         Congregation:
        O Come to us, O come, Emmanuel,
         and bring your light into our darkened world.


Shepherd of Israel (Original Song)
A dialogue between solo cantor and congregation.
The Cantor’s lyrics reflect the day’s lectionary texts; the congregational response is the same throughout Advent.)

Congregation:
Kyrie Eleison. Christe Eleison. Kyrie Eleison.
Come to us, and grant your peace.

Cantor:
1. Shepherd of Israel, come, restore your people.
Shine your face on us and save us, God.    … Kyrie…

2. Comfort, speak tenderly. Gently lead your people.
God, forgive our sins and make us new.    … Kyrie…

3. Pour out your Spirit, God, Heal the brokenhearted.
Love, prepare our hearts to see your light.    … Kyrie…

4. Grant us your mercy, God. Fill the poor with good things.
Guide our feet into your way of peace.     … Kyrie…


Child of Promise (Original song)

Child of promise, oh, child of hope, prophets spoke of you:
visions treasured but unfulfilled. Shall our dreams come true?
Help us wait for you.

Child of woman, oh, child of God, birthing us anew,
make a room, oh, make a womb, in our hearts for you.
Help us wait for you.

Child of patience, oh, child of pain, suffering ills we do,
heal, forgive and help us be gentle child, like you.
Help us wait for you.

Child of wonder, oh, child of joy, you make all things new.
Re-create us, come again like the morning dew.
Help us wait for you.


Prepare Your Way In Me (Original song)

Prepare your way in me, God, prepare your way in me.

1. Make my rough places smooth, the crooked make straight, my God.
2. Lay your hand at my root, that I may bear fruit, my God.
3. Come and empty my heart of all things but you, my God.
4. Guide my feet in your Way. Fill me with your peace, my God.


Isaiah 61 (Tune: O Little Town of Bethlehem)

The Spirit of the Lord our God is strong in us and sure,
sent in God’s grace to be God’s face with good news for the poor,
to heal the brokenhearted, and set the captives free,
and to proclaim in God’s own name their deep new liberty.

We shall provide for those who mourn and broken lives repair,
for God demands that in our hands God’s justice we shall bear.
As earth brings forth new green things, our God will cause to rise
the righteousness that all shall bless, the dawn that greets our eyes.

December 10, 2023

Lectionary Texts

Isaiah 40. 1-11. Comfort, comfort my people. Prepare a way in the wilderness for God’s people to come home. God is coming with power to save and lovingly shepherd the people.

Psalm 85. Thanks for God’s grace and forgiveness, and a plea for God’s continued grace. “Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss.”

2 Peter 3. 8-15. God is not slow to keep their promise. The Day will come like a thief. How shall we prepare? By leading lives of holiness and godliness. We wait for new heavens and a new earth.

Mark 1. 1-8. Like Isaiah’s cry, “Prepare a way,” John the Baptist preaches repentance in preparation for “one more powerful” who is yet to come, who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.

Preaching Thoughts

Isaiah
      The pre-exilic prophets warned Israel they were about to suffer the consequences of their unfaithfulness. During the exile, the prophets had a different message: not warning but assurance— that God was still with them, and would bring them home again. The Gospel preaches both messages to us these days: warning that we’re reaping the harvest of our greed, violence, and oppression; and also comfort that God is with us to redeem, not to punish.
       Exile is a powerful image: people feel alienated, isolated and imprisoned, or at least not free. People on both sides of the political spectrum may feel exiled from their safe homeland, whether they see that as White America or a just society. Of course God’s longing is for the latter, not the former. Our anticipation of the coming of Christ is rooted in that longing for a safe home. But it’s not nostalgia. Think of the exiles who anticipated “returning” to Israel. Most of them had probably never actually been there. It was their parents more than a generation ago who had been sent into exile. So the “return” was a return to something new. So it is with God’s promise for us. To return from exile will be to enter a land where we’ve never actually lived—we’ve only seen far-off glimpses. (That’s what the church is supposed to be.) That’s why it matters that we prepare a way.

2 Peter
       This letter was written a couple generations after Jesus’ death, to people who thought Jesus would have returned by then, and he hadn’t. It assured them God was giving them more time to be ready. As dated as that concern sounds, we also might feel some despair that God hasn’t intervened in the evil of the world. We wonder: will God ever straighten things out? I think we can dismiss the idea that Jesus is going to “come on the clouds,” that at some historical moment God will bring about The Apocalypse. It’s been 2000 years. There’s no reason to think it won’t be another 2000. But the point of 2 Peter isn’t about the timetable: it’s the way we live. It’s the thought that by living lives of love and justice we bring about the world we hope for. I punctuate verses 11-12 differently than our translations: “Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be? Lead lives of holiness and godliness; waiting like this, we hasten the coming of the day of God.”

Mark
       John the Baptist echoes the call to prepare a way by leading lives of holiness and godliness. We “Way” means different things to different speakers. For Isaiah it’s a way for God to come into the world and enact God’s decisive will in freeing the exiles. And it suggests a way for the exiles to return home, a straight, smooth highway instead of the bumpy road they’ve been on. It also implies making a way for God’s will in our world, doing justice so God’s will is enacted. For Mark, John is preparing a way for Jesus. And for John the way is a reformed life of righteousness. All of that—the coming of God, the return of exiles, the doing of justice, the coming of Christ, and our preparations in our own hearts—is part of the Advent message. God, Cyrus, John, Jesus and we are all making a ways for grace to move in our lives and our world. Advent is a time to make space in our lives in which something new can enter, not unlike clearing a space in a room for a new piece of furniture. (And likely some old stuff has to go!) Mary & Joseph ended up in a stable “because there was no room for them in the inn.” Imagine what needed to be moved out of the stable to make room for them even there; what had to be cleared out of the manger to allow for the baby Jesus. What do you need to clear out to make room for grace in your life? What are barriers to grace that need to be leveled to allow it in? Prepare a way.

Call to Worship

1.
See advent candle lighting prayers here.

3.
See Advent wreath prayers here.

3.
In the darkness there is a light.
       In the wilderness there is a voice.
Your love, O God, leads us to you.
       Your wisdom leads us to life.
Gracious God, be our guiding star.
      Be our rising dawn.
      Prepare your way in us,
      that we may worship and serve in love. Amen.

4.
Light of God, rising in the wilderness, awaken us to your glory.
By your revealing light, may we see ourselves clearly, and repent.
Light of Christ, making level the uneven ground, awaken us to your way.
By your guiding light, may we free ourselves of all fear and hatred.
Spirit’s light, rising in our hearts, awaken us to the gift of love.
By your transforming light, baptize us with your Holy Spirit,
that we may prepare for your coming
with hearts full of love and lives of compassion.
Come, dear Jesus, come! Amen.

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
God of grace and mercy, you prepare a way to come into this world, many ways that we do not see. Prepare a way to enter our hearts now. In word and silence, in song and prayer and meal, make your way into our hearts and make within us and among us a new heaven and earth, in the Spirit and the Body of Christ. Amen.

2.
God of love, as we wait in the darkness, speak to us. Comfort us, make gentle what is rough in our lives, grant us your promise, and direct us in living out your good news. We pray in the spirit and company of Christ, who is here, and who is coming. Amen.

3.
God of the new dawn,
we gather, mindful of those who live in darkness.
Our hearts ache for your comfort.
Our sorrows cry for your healing.
Christ, O Patient One, you who are coming,
prepare your way in us.
Make our hearts patient, still and receptive;
that we may repent and love one another,
that we may go before you all our days.
O Holy Spirit, strengthen our hearts, that we may live in hope.
By your tender mercy, O God, may your dawn from on high break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace. Amen.

4.
In our darkness we look for your light, for a star in the night, for a candle in a window, for the rising of your dawn. In our weariness we long for your comfort, for an easy chair, for tender, loving arms. In our busyness we search for your grace, for a place to rest, for a promise of hope. In the presence of Christ and of one another, we have gathered to listen for your Word and to receive your grace. In the name of the One who is coming, speak to us; reach out to us, come to us. Amen.

5.
Eternal God, your prophet cries out to make a way for you in the desert. In the barren land of our wayward ways, lead us to life. Across the wasteland of our injustice, selfishness and fear, guide us in the way of peace and the path of justice. Through the dark valleys of our broken hearts, show us the way to your heart. Prepare your way in us, O God. Amen.

6.
Gracious God, you sent your prophets to prepare a way for your peace and justice. You sent Jesus to transform us into your faithful people. Send your Word now to us, prepare a way in our hearts for your presence, baptize us in your Holy Spirit, and guide our feet into the way of peace. Amen.

7.
Gracious God, Creator of all things, you are still creating.
Receive our deepest longings with tenderness, and nourish them,
that we may plead for your coming in hope.
Gentle Christ, you who have come among us in love, you are still coming.
Open our hearts, that we may prepare for you with lives of love.
Spirit of Life, you shone in the darkness, and still you shine.
Shine in us, that we may proclaim your coming in lives of joy and justice,
Incarnate God, you entered into Mary, and she bore you into the world.
Bless us, that we may participate in your coming with deep and life-giving peace. Amen.

8.
God, you who speak promises to us, you who are coming, we gather with you in silence and awe. Speak to us your Word, instill your promises in our hearts, and transform us by your Spirit. By Christ’s birth in our hearts, and the baptism of you Spirit, make us signs of your coming, by which the world me see, and rejoice. Amen.

9.
Gracious God, through all our doubt and despair prepare a way for hope.
Through our selfishness and fear, prepare a way for love.
Through our resistance and control, prepare a way for grace.
Through our anger and enmity, prepare a way for peace.
O You Who Are Coming, prepare your way in us.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

In the wilderness of the world,
in the wilderness of our hearts,
in the wilderness of this silence,
prepare a way, O God,
and move into our hearts.

Poetry

        Prepare Your Way

Holy One,
prepare your way in me.

Give me faith, like the stable,
to know your presence within me.

Give me courage, like Mary,
to let your life overwhelm mine.

Give me strength, like Joseph,
to protect what is holy, tender and growing.

Give me patience, like the shepherds,
to be still and listen.

Give me humility, like the magi,
to kneel before your presence.

Give me trust, like the child,
to let myself be borne into a new world.

Give me joy, like the angels,
to bring good news to the poor.

Give me love, like the manger
to hold Christ within.

Holy One,
prepare your way in me.

Eucharistic Prayer

See musical Eucharistic prayers set to Christmas tunes.
See Eucharistic prayer responses (Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen) set to Christmas tunes.
                   •

[After the introduction, the body of the prayer may be read responsively with the presiding leader(s) and congregation, or by the leader(s) alone.]

God is with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the Holy One, our God.
It is good and beautiful to give God our praise.

We thank you, God, for in the beginning
you made a way for light in the darkness.
You made a way for the Hebrews through the sea,
and a way for exiles to return.
You make a way for justice in this world,
condemning oppression and demanding freedom for the oppressed.
You have showed us a way through your prophets,
the way of faithfulness and mercy.
You have opened a way for us in Jesus,
the way of love and life that cannot die.
And still in Christ you make your way into the world,
always a new coming, in a new way.
Here at this table you make a way for us to love each other,
a way for you to enter our hearts.
Therefore we sing your praise with all the faithful:

            [Sanctus, spoken or sung:]
        Holy, holy, holy One, God of power and might,
        heaven and earth are full of your glory.
        Hosanna in the highest.
        Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God.
        Hosanna in the highest.
               [or alternate version]

Blessed are all who come in your name,
and blessed is Jesus, your Christ,
who prepared the way for your empire of grace.
Jesus is the way for those who are hoping,
and comfort for those who are weary.
His love makes smooth what is rough in our lives,
and straightens what is crooked.
In his death and resurrection is the Way of life eternal,
a grace that transforms our lives from death to life.

     (The Blessing and Covenant)

As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.
Therefore, remembering these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice,
in union with Christ’s offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery of our faith:

             [Memorial Acclamation, spoken or sung:]
        Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
                     —or—
        Dying, Christ destroyed our death. Rising, Christ restores our life.
        Christ will come again in glory.
             [or alternative]


Prepare the way of your Holy Spirit in these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Prepare the way of your Holy Spirit in us,
that we may be for the world the Body of Christ.
In this meal you have prepared a way to enter us;
and through us, to enter into the world.
Baptize us in your Holy Spirit,
that we may be made new.
May we make smooth the rough places.
May we bring comfort
to those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
that by your grace, through our faith, your glory will be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together.

     [Spoken or sung]
Amen.

____________
* The Blessing and Covenant
[I usually don’t print the words. I want people to be looking at the bread, not their bulletins.]

On the night in which he gave himself for us
Jesus took bread, blessed it,. broke it, and gave it to his disciples,saying,
“Take and eat; this is my body.”
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup,
blessed it with thanks and gave it to them, saying,
“Drink of this, all of you. This is my blood,
poured out for you and for many, in a new Covenant,
which is the forgiveness of sin.”
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.

Prayer of Dedication / Sending / after Communion

[Adapt as needed.]
1.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) In this meal you have made us new, and fashioned us as living promises of the world to come. Send us into the world to prepare a way for you in love and justice. May we be the way you enter the world, in the power of your Spirit and the loving presence of the Beloved, Jesus Christ. Amen.

2.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) You who are coming, baptize us in your Holy Spirit. Lead us in a new way of living, by the light of your Spirit in and among us, for the sake of the renewal of the world, in the name of Christ. Amen.

3.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) Send us now to go before you to prepare a way, to give the people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sin. By your tender mercy, may your dawn from on high break upon us, to guide our feet in the way of peace. Amen.

4.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) In this holy meal the light of your new dawn begins to rise in our hearts. Send us into the world to prepare your way and to give knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of people’s sins. By your tender mercy, may your dawn from on high break upon us, that we may bring light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. By your grace, guide our feet in the way of peace. Amen.

5.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) Send us into the world to bless without reserve, to love without fear, to serve without holding anything back. Our beloved chief, Jesus, you have come to us in the sharing of this meal. In our lives of love, come again, O Jesus, come! Amen.

6.
God of promise, we offer these gifts as symbols of our lives, given in gratitude for your grace and in preparation for your coming. Bless the gifts that through them your will may be done; and bless us that through our giving we may become living signs of your coming. We pray in the spirit of Christ. Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)

See Advent table songs (preparation for communion), Eucharistic responses, whole Eucharistic prayers, and songs of blessing. All set to traditional Christmas tunes.

Come, Bring Your Light and Shepherd of Israel are two weekly litanies, one verse per week; suitable for a call to worship, introduction or response to scripture, response to sermon, affirmation, or other places in worship. The Cantor’s lyrics reflect the day’s lectionary texts; the congregational response is the same throughout Advent.

Come, Bring Your Light (Original song)
A weekly litany. A dialogue between solo cantor and congregation.

Week 2:
Comfort, comfort my people, says our God.
Speak tenderly to them that their suffering is at an end.

In the wilderness prepare a way for God.
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

        Congregation:
       O Come to us, O come, Emmanuel,
        and bring your light into our darkened world.

The uneven ground shall become a level path,
and the rough places will be made smooth.

Then the glory of God shall be revealed.
For one is coming who will baptize you with fire.

        Congregation:
       O Come to us, O come, Emmanuel,
        and bring your light into our darkened world.

Shepherd of Israel         (Original song)
A weekly litany. A dialogue between solo cantor and congregation.

Week 2:
Congregation:
Kyrie Eleison. Christe Eleison. Kyrie Eleison.
Come to us, and grant your peace.

Cantor:
Comfort, speak tenderly. Gently lead your people.
God, forgive our sins and make us new.
             Kyrie…


Child of Promise        (Original song)
Child of promise, oh, child of hope, prophets spoke of you:
visions treasured but unfulfilled. Shall our dreams come true?
Help us wait for you.

Child of woman, oh, child of God, birthing us anew,
make a room, oh, make a womb, in our hearts for you.
Help us wait for you.

Child of patience, oh, child of pain, suffering ills we do,
heal, forgive and help us be gentle child, like you.
Help us wait for you.

Child of wonder, oh, child of joy, you make all things new.
Re-create us, come again like the morning dew.
Help us wait for you.

Comfort, Comfort              (Original song)
Isaiah 40.1-11. A dialogue between cantor and congregation.

Cantor:
Comfort, comfort my people,
speak tenderly to my beloved:
from your imprisonment, from your despair
you shall be released.
Congregation:
Prepare the way in the wilderness.
Prepare the way.
Prepare the way in the wilderness.
prepare the way.

Build up, build up a new way,
the rough and the crooked make even.
Build up a way where God’s justice may come.
Open up a way.
Prepare the way in the wilderness….

Cry, cry out the mystery,
for we are like flowers and grasses,
growing then fading when winter winds blow.
But God’s love endures.
Prepare the way in the wilderness….

Raise up, raise up your voices,
rejoice for your savior is coming.
God like a shepherd will gather us in,
guide us on in love.
Prepare the way in the wilderness….



Prepare Your Way In Me (Original song)

Prepare your way in me, God, prepare your way in me.

1. Make my rough places smooth, the crooked make straight, my God.
2. Lay your hand at my root, that I may bear fruit, my God.
3. Come and empty my heart of all things but you, my God.
4. Guide my feet in your Way. Fill me with your peace, my God.

December 3, 2023

Lectionary Texts

Isaiah 64. 1-9 —“Oh, that you would tear open the heavens and come down!” God will reshape us, as a potter reworks the clay.

Psalm 80 — “Give ear, O shepherd of Israel!” We are a vine out of Egypt that has gone to ruin. Restore us.

1 Corinthians 1.3-9 — We have every spiritual gift we need as we await Christ’s coming, for which God strengthens us so we’ll be ready.

Mark 13.24-37 — Jesus imagines the coming of God’s “Human One” with “signs in the heavens.” The New Human is near. Stay alert. Like servants ready for the homeowner’s return, Keep awake!

Preaching Thoughts

Advent
       Oh, how badly our people want to skip Advent and get right to Christmas! Part of the discipline of Advent is holding back, waiting, trusting, being patient—even being powerless. We experience our need for God to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. But it’s not a desperate waiting. Hope isn’t wishful thinking, it’s trust in what is already present but unseen. Let your people experience the discipline of waiting in trust: surrendering, being still, listening, Confession isn’t just enumerating bad stuff we’ve done. It’s also simply naming our need, our incompleteness without God.
      People want Christmas already—and they want Christmas carols. One way I’ve found to satisfy people’s hunger for Christmas carols in December and still stay in Advent is to set liturgical words to the melodies of familiar carols. I use them with table songs (preparation for communion), Eucharistic responses, whole Eucharistic prayers, and songs of blessing.
       We anticipate the birth of Christ on three levels: looking to the past, with Joseph and Mary we prepare for the birth of Jesus; looking to the present, we prepare for Christ to be born in our own hearts; and looking to the future we prepare for the coming of Christ to transform human history. Following along with Joseph and Mary and Elizabeth can help us practice a spirit of preparation and “hurry up and wait.” Listening to John the Baptist helps us prepare more than presents, food and decorations: we open ourselves to the transformation of our hearts. A quick perusal of the headlines as well as honesty about our own hearts makes it clear how badly we need God, how we need to be saved from the demonic power of our fears, desires and distrust. Even as we sometimes worry about the future and “where the world is headed” God’s promise is for blessing. We practice preparing for grace even when things look scary. Advent is a time when we re-tool how we think about the world, and our role in its healing.
       Often terrible things happen in December that seem to “spoil Christmas.” But in fact those terrible things are exactly why Jesus is coming, and where Jesus is needed. It’s those awful experiences that are really the “reason for the season.” If it weren’t for them we wouldn’t need Jesus. Advent is a time to get honest about suffering and injustice, about our hurts and wounds, our worry and despair, and the power of evil, selfishness and fear in our world. It’s in honesty about our brokenness that we prepare ourselves for the coming of the Healer of the World.

Isaiah
     Advent begins, even before the luminous promise of God’s coming, with the reality of our need, our deep hunger for God, for grace, for the restoration of life. Isaiah’s image of God far off, needing to burst the bounds of heaven to come to us, is not literally true. God is not distant. God is here, in everything. But the longing is real. We don’t sense God’s presence—or trust God’s presence when we don’t sense it. Our lack of trust is a veil that makes God seem distant. What needs to be “torn open” is our awareness. We long for God to burst through the veil of our inability to see, our inability to trust.
        Our awareness, of course, depends on our perspective. So often we want to sense God’s presence for our own comfort and reassurance. Because that’s self-centered, that’s not where we’re likely to behold God. But if we re-orient ourselves in love, then we see God! So what’s needed is not for God to move toward us but for us to turn around and face toward God. This requires more than a new thought: it’s a re-modeling of who we are. We need to be re-worked like a potter works the clay into a new vessel. In Advent we express our longing and anticipation in repentance.

Gospel
       Apocalypse. Jesus seems to have had a vision, consistent with apocalyptic thought, of God entering into human history in a concrete way on a certain day in the future. Such thought is common among persecuted minorities who believe human culture is unable to “evolve” to where God intends us to be, and nothing short of divine intervention will save us. “Apocalypse” doesn’t mean the end of the world. It means “revealing.” God reveals God’s true intent for human history, by dismantling the systems we have in place—taking apart the Legos of human society—and re-creating it the right way. It’s “the end of the world as we know it” only if we hang onto human power structures. If we let go and repent, it’s not an end at all but a new birth. The point of apocalypse is not the burning cauldrons and Hollywood special effects of death and destruction, it’s the new heaven and new earth. (By the way people who try to “bring on the apocalypse,” for instance by encouraging huge disasters like war or ecological collapse, are tragically deluded: the apocalypse is something God does in God’s own time, and we have absolutely no influence on God’s timing.) Advent is a time when we turn our eyes and our imagination toward the reality that God is revealing to us in Jesus, the life of love and justice. It’s a world that is not yet fully here. We await its coming.
       Apocalypse now. Of course Jesus isn’t concerned with some imagined future event that may or may not involve us. (After all, if it’s been over 2000 years, who’s to say it won’t be another 2000 before it happens?) He is, as always, directing our attention toward the present moment. If at some point God intends to bring human culture into harmony with God’s grace, what might that look like? Imagine that—and live that way now! Jesus’ parables aren’t about checking the timetables of God’s future appearance, they’re about living in harmony with God’s grace right now, this moment. One way to do that is to be aware of God’s grace at work in this world, here, now. Even in this broken, twisted world full of evil and injustice and suffering and grief, God’s grace is present and at work. Look for it. God’s love is powerful. Notice it. Keep your eyes open. Focus on the overwhelming power of goodness and kindness amid greed and violence. Focus on the courage and beauty that love gives to people in the face of fear and oppression. Stay mindful of injustice and how it works, and keep your eyes open for justice and how it rises, how it changes things. Advent is a time of increased focus in our awareness.
       The New Human. Jesus says the Son of man is near. “Son of Man” has a double meaning. It means both “one of us,” or “really human human being,” and it also refers to the character in Daniel’s vision that in Jesus’ time was given Messianic overtones: someone sent by God to usher in a new age. For Christians Jesus exemplifies both of those: he is an ordinary human, “one of us,” but also shows us the glorious and even divine nature of who it is we really are. He dies this not by claiming anything but by showing us: by enacting a new vision of what it means to be human, and thus ushering a new age of human experience. He’s the New Human. In Advent we observe the emergence of a new way of being; as thew prophet cries to “prepare a way” we acknowledge that Jesus is the way. So Advent isn’t just a time to look to the heavens for God to come intervene. It’s also a time to look at a new way of living, and new way of being human
       Stay woke. Conservatives have reacted against the idea of being “woke,” but being woke is exactly what Jesus is talking about: being awake, aware of what’s going on—“when you see these things taking place”—and in particular aware of justice and injustice, and alert to signs of God’s activity in righting wrongs and confronting injustice. Or in Isaiah’s words (that Jesus seems to love), the work to “bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners, and to proclaim the time of God’s favor” (Isa. 61.1-2). Such wakefulness requires painful self-examination for the ways we are complicit in injustice. People who demonize being “woke” are simply giving voice to our resistance. So Jesus coaches us: “Keep awake!” Stay woke. Advent is a season of waking up in the dark, and beginning to see the light.

       See Advent Resources including Advent Candle lighting prayers (two        series), Advent Wreath prayers and music including Eucharistic prayers and        responses and weekly litanies.

Call to Worship

1. See Advent Candle lighting prayers here.

2. See Advent wreath prayers here.

3.
O deepening darkness, make room for us!
       O gathering darkness, receive our prayers.
O luminous darkness, bring Mystery near.
       O welcoming darkness, let us find God.
We gather to worship, O God, seeking your light.
       We come by your invitation, led by your love.
Bless us in our worship, that we may see your light.
       Bless us that we may be your light,
       the light of Christ dawning in this world’s night. Amen.

4.
We are gathered here, led by the Spirit that has called us.
         We are led by our longing, longing for God,
         for God’s peace in our hearts and justice in the world.
Rejoice, and be glad, for God is near.
         God is coming, always coming into the world,
         and into our hearts.
God, you open our eyes to see signs of your coming.
         Even our longing is the voice of God.
God, we worship you in hope and in faith.
         Come, dear Jesus, come, and renew our hearts.

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
God of Eternity, God of this moment, we trust that you are coming. Come to us in scripture and in silence. Open our hearts to your grace, that we may prepare a room for the birth of Christ in us and among us. Awaken us, God, and keep us awake. Amen.

2.
God of Hope, we turn to you. In the darkness be our light. In the longing be our hope. In the silence be our Word. May your Promise be our light. Amen.

3.
Eternal One, we cry to you. A the darkness of night enfolds us, wondering and waiting. We long for light. We long for you. We long for the coming of Christ, your humble one, among us. Open the eyes of our hearts to look for your coming. Open the arms of our souls to welcome you. Lift up our heads to watch for your dawning. Amen.

4.
Gracious God, Creator of all things,
we give thanks that you are still creating.
Receive our deepest longings with tenderness, and nourish them,
that we may plead for your coming in hope.
Gentle Christ, you who came among us in love, you are still coming.
Open our hearts, that we may prepare for you with lives of love.
Spirit of Life, you shone in the darkness, and still you shine.
Shine in us, that we may proclaim your coming
in lives of joy and justice,
Incarnate God, you entered into Mary, and she bore you into the world.
Bless us, that we may participate in your coming
with deep and life-giving peace. Amen.

5.
God of hope and mystery, we cry out to you out of the darkness of winter and the darkness in our hearts. How we long for you to reveal yourself to us, to come and be with us! Open our hearts as we worship and as we live our lives, that we may hear again your promise, see signs of your coming and ready our hearts for your advent among us. We pray in the name of Christ, who is coming. Amen.

6.
God, sometimes it feels you are far away. Open the eyes of our hearts to see you are near. Open the ears of our spirits to hear your footsteps in this world. Strengthen the hands of our faith tp open the door to you, for you are coming, always coming, into this world and into our lives, in the person and the presence and the spirit of Jesus. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

1.
In the night
the dawn is barely perceptible
but we know it is coming.
So we know your grace is present
through we cannot see it.
Awaken our hearts, keep our spirits alert,
open to signs of your grace. Amen.

2.
In the night, just before dawn,
your gentle light rises in the east
of our hearts.
In stillness, watching, we wait.

Eucharistic Prayer

See Advent table songs (preparation for communion), Eucharistic responses, whole Eucharistic prayers, and songs of blessing. All set to traditional Christmas tunes.

[After the introduction, the body of the prayer may be read responsively with the presiding leader(s) and congregation, or by the leader(s) alone.]

God is with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the Faithful One, our God.
It is good and beautiful to give God our praise.

God of grace, we thank you,
for out of the chaos and darkness you brought light;
out of the shadows of slavery you brought us to freedom
out of the dark tomb you raised Jesus up to life.
And now in the darkness we look for your grace
we see your power at work, and we know you are near.
Entering into the brokenness of our world,
you transform and bring forth life.
By many signs you awaken us to your coming.
Therefore we join with all those who long for new life,
whose eyes are eagerly on the door of your grace:
together with them we rejoice at the promise of your coming,
and we sing your praise.
            [Sanctus, spoken or sung:]
        Holy, holy, holy One, God of power and might,
        heaven and earth are full of your glory.
        Hosanna in the highest.
        Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God.
        Hosanna in the highest.
               [or alternate version]

Blessed are all who come in your name, and blessed is Jesus, your Christ,
the flesh of your presence and the light of your coming,
Jesus loved the neglected and healed the broken,
gathered the outcast and gave hope to the despairing.
Jesus entered into the suffering of the world to redeem it,
and to redeem all who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

[The Blessing and Covenant…]

Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”
As often as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection until he comes again.
Remembering these, your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving
as a living and holy sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery of our faith:

             [Memorial Acclamation, spoken or sung:]
        Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
                     —or—
        Dying, Christ destroyed our death. Rising, Christ restores our life.
        Christ will come again in glory.
             [or alternative]

Awaken your Holy Spirit in these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Awaken your Holy Spirit in us,
that we may be for the world the Body of Christ,
transformed by your grace and confident in your coming,
to your eternal glory and praise.

     [Spoken or sung]
Amen.

____________
* The Blessing and Covenant
[I usually don’t print the words. I want people to be looking at the bread, not their bulletins.]

On the night in which he gave himself for us
Jesus took bread, blessed it,. broke it, and gave it to his disciples,saying,
“Take and eat; this is my body.”
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup,
blessed it with thanks and gave it to them, saying,
“Drink of this, all of you. This is my blood,
poured out for you and for many, in a new Covenant,
which is the forgiveness of sin.”
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.

Prayer of Dedication / Sending / after Communion

[Adapt as needed.]
1.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) You promise to enter into our suffering and the suffering of the world. By this meal awaken us to your coming and come to new life in us, that we may live as signs of your coming, for the sake of the healing of the world, in the power of your Holy Spirit and the name of Christ, who is coming. Amen.

2.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) In the depths of our hunger, you feed us with your promise. In the darkness of the night you enlighten us with your coming. May your longing in us be light for this world, for the sake of the healing of all Creation, in the name of Christ. Amen.

3.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) Help us to prepare for your coming again in hope and trust. Send us into the world, transformed by your grace into the Body of Christ, to be signs of your coming, by your presence in us, in the name and the Spirit of Christ. Amen.

4.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) You have filled us with the bread of hope, the bread of longing. Bless us that we may never lose our hunger for you. Send us into the world to plead for your coming with patience and faith, living prayerfully, and serving lovingly, in the name and the Spirit of Christ, who is coming. Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)

See Advent table songs (preparation for communion), Eucharistic responses, whole Eucharistic prayers, and songs of blessing. All set to traditional Christmas tunes.

Come, Bring your Light and Shepherd of Israel are weekly litanies, one verse per week; suitable for a call to worship, introduction or response to scripture, response to sermon, affirmation, or other places in worship. The Cantor’s lyrics reflect the day’s lectionary texts; the congregational response is the same throughout Advent.

Come, Bring Your Light       (Original song)
A weekly litany. A dialogue between solo cantor and congregation.

Week 1:
O God, that you would tear open the heavens and come down!
You are our maker, you the potter and we your clay.

We lack no spiritual gift as we wait for you, O Christ.
For you will strengthen us to the end.

       Congregation:
       O Come to us, O come, Emmanuel,
       and bring your light into our darkened world.

Keep alert, for you do not know when the Beloved will appear.
As with the fig tree, watch for signs of new life.

Heaven and earth will pass away but your words will not pass away.
Help us follow your call to keep awake.

       Congregation:
       O Come to us, O come, Emmanuel,
       and bring your light into our darkened world.


Shepherd of Israel      (Original song)
A weekly litany. A dialogue between solo cantor and congregation.

Congregation:
Kyrie Eleison. Christe Eleison. Kyrie Eleison.
Come to us, and grant your peace.

Cantor:
Week 1. Shepherd of Israel, come, restore your people.
Shine your face on us and save us, God. Kyrie…

Week 2. Comfort, speak tenderly. Gently lead your people.
God, forgive our sins and make us new. Kyrie…

Week 3. Pour out your Spirit, God, Heal the brokenhearted.
Love, prepare our hearts to see your light. Kyrie…

Week 4. Grant us your mercy, God. Fill the poor with good things.
Guide our feet into your way of peace. Kyrie…


Child of Promise (Original song)

Child of promise, oh, child of hope, prophets spoke of you:
visions treasured but unfulfilled. Shall our dreams come true?
Help us wait for you.

Child of woman, oh, child of God, birthing us anew,
make a room, oh, make a womb, in our hearts for you.
Help us wait for you.

Child of patience, oh, child of pain, suffering ills we do,
heal, forgive and help us be gentle child, like you.
Help us wait for you.

Child of wonder, oh, child of joy, you make all things new.
Re-create us, come again like the morning dew.
Help us wait for you.