Worship
for the Lord’s Day
Third
Sunday of Advent
December
13, 2020
Announcements:
·
Our
sessions have suspended in-person worship until the first of the year.
·
If
you are a member/friend of the congregations you’ve already
received a packet for the Advent Season.
I will continue to post an adapted version online each day at this site, like I had
been doing with the daily meditations for most of this year.
·
We
will be doing a virtual Zoom Fellowship Hour next Sunday, December 20, at
11:00am. For members of the congregations, an invitation to that Zoom
meeting was included in this week’s packet.
·
We
will be hosting, regardless of weather, a drive-in parking lot Christmas Eve
Service at Floreffe Fire Hall on Thursday, December 24, at 6pm. Upon entering the lot, you will receive a battery-operated candle
for the candle lighting, tune into the posted FM radio
station to hear the service, and will remain in your cars throughout the
service.
·
There
will be an online service for Christmas Eve posted here, as well.
·
This Sunday marks the Third Sunday of Advent, if you have an Advent
Wreath, you can light your own candle during the service or enjoy the lighting
of our virtual one by clicking on the link below during the Lighting of the
Advent Wreath.
Let’s begin our worship
service together:
Prelude
Call to Worship
(if
you are worshipping with others in your house, feel free to have one person
read the regular text and all others read the highlighted text)
Longing for food, many
are hungry. Longing for water, many still
thirst. Make us Your bread, broken for
others, shared until all are fed.
Christ be our
light!
Shine in our hearts. Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our
light!
Shine in Your Church
gathered and scattered today.
Advent is a time to
awaken our spiritual senses.
We
stand in awe of Your deeds, O Lord, repeat them in our day!
Grant us vision to
behold Your glory.
We stand in awe of Your
deeds, O Lord, repeat them in our day!
Quiet us so we may hear
Your still, soft voice.
We stand in awe of Your
deeds, O Lord, repeat them in our day!
Make us vessels of Your
mercy, compassion, and grace.
We stand in awe of Your
deeds, O Lord, repeat them in our day!
For all of us eagerly
watching for Your glory in our midst:
Grant that we might
have the peace of Christ as we wait, the love of Christ as we act, and the
grace of Christ as we speak.
Today we light three candles. The first candle reminds us of those who find
themselves in a season of waiting, resting in hopeful anticipation for God to
act. The second candle is for anyone
feeling weakened and wearied b the circumstances of life. We echo the cry of scripture to renew their
strength and increase their power. The
third candle awakens our spiritual senses, challenging us to embrace the glory
of God, as we await our Savior’s promised coming.
Lighting of the Advent
Wreath
Hymn: The First Noel
Prayer of Confession
God of eternity, You called
faithful people throughout the ages to behold Your glory. We acknowledge that You call us to the same
awareness today. We confess at times our
spiritual senses are stifled. Rekindle a
new awareness of Your everlasting glory.
We stand in awe of Your deeds and ask You to repeat them in our day. We pray this in the name of Christ, our
Lord. (Silent
prayers are offered) AMEN.
Words of Assurance
In God’s love and mercy, we are given each new day for
the healing of the world. In the name of
Christ, you are forgiven. AMEN
Affirmation of Faith –
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God the
Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ His only Son
our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost; born of the Virgin Mary;
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended
into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall
come to judge the quick and the dead. I
believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life
everlasting. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer:
Give
peace to our racing hearts, O Lord. Bring
Your healing love into our lives. Help
us to be those who will bring justice into all of our lives! We sing our praises to You; to celebrate the
fast-approaching coming of Your Son; to learn ways of justice and hope for all Your
people. The time draws nearer for us to
welcome Your child as we welcome one another; those in our families and close
friendships, yet during that time there are people who live in hopelessness,
for whom there is no one to speak justice. There are those who do not dare raise concerns
for fear of retaliation. There are those
who have chosen not to believe in You, who can only respond to concrete,
visible demonstrations to Your presence. They dare not think that in everyday living there
are people who truly do care and respond for each other. This is a darkness that is difficult to
overcome, but You have called us to this. Empower our hearts and spirits, O Lord, to be
strong witnesses of Your presence in our lives. Lay Your loving hands of healing on all those
people who struggle with health issues, who grieve over the loss of loved ones.
Dance with those people who have found Your
love and power in their lives and who are involved in ministries of justice and
hope. We offer this prayer, along with
our silent requests
today.
Our Father, who art in
heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our
debtors. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. AMEN.
Hymn: Infant
Holy, Infant Lowly
Scripture Readings –
Old Testament: Isaiah
61:1-4, 8-11
The spirit of the Lord God is upon
me, because the Lord has
anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the
prisoners; 2to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of
vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3to
provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a
faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of
the Lord,
to display his glory.
4They shall build up the ancient
ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the
ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. 8For I
the Lord love
justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing; I will faithfully give them their
recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 9Their
descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the
peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people whom
the Lord has
blessed.
10I will greatly rejoice in
the Lord,
my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments
of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom
decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her
jewels. 11For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes
what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness
and praise to spring up before all the nations.
New Testament: John
1:6-8, 19-28
6There
was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came
as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through
him. 8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the
light.
19This is the testimony given by
John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are
you?” 20He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the
Messiah.” 21And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am
not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22Then
they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us.
What do you say about yourself?” 23He
said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the
way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said. 24Now
they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25They
asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor
Elijah, nor the prophet?” 26John
answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not
know, 27the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the
thong of his sandal.” 28This
took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
Sermon
–
Saving Space
We are just past the halfway mark through this season of waiting
on this Third Sunday of Advent, moving closer and closer to Christmas and to
the coming of Christ as one of us, as part of us. Unlike the culture that surrounds us, the
church should not be in any great hurry to get there. We should be the balancing act between
scripture and culture, forever holding both to the highest reckoning for all of
us. With the wisdom of centuries, our
tradition tells us that the journey itself is what we need as much as finally
reaching that shed outside of Bethlehem.
This season of Advent tells us to pause, to take stock, to lie on some
hillside a little distant from our destination and watch the stars. It tells us to empty our hearts so that there
is room in them for the birth of something new and altogether unforeseen.
“Clear
a road for the Lord,” Isaiah says, “prepare a highway across the desert for our
God.” While paving a highway may not be our idea of holy preparation, for a
desert nomad, or even for us during this strange year of navigating mountains
and hillsides we’ve never been through before in 2020, a smooth and straight
highway may seem like a piece of heaven; for all the valleys to be lifted up
and the mountains and hills be made low, for the rough travelled ground to be
made smooth. No more hard climbs or
knee-jarring descents, no bandits down in the valley or wolves around that bend
in the hill. No, according to Isaiah,
the way of the Lord is flat, and straight, and totally revealed. But that way is apparent only after
everything else has passed away, after the grass has withered, after the flower
has faded away and all the glories of the flesh have perished from the face of
the earth. Only the word of God will
stand forever, Isaiah says, which is the prophet’s way of telling us that
whatever else we get attached to, it will finally let us down. The only thing we can count on is God. Only God is forever. Only God will never let us down.
As
difficult as this year has been, Isaiah’s words don’t really comfort us. That everything we know and love is doomed,
and the one reliable object of our devotion is the word of a deity so much
greater than we are that we know virtually nothing about him? Hmmm…doesn’t sound like good news for us as
we wait for the Messiah from what we read in the Old Testament. So, let’s turn to the New Testament, which is
often called the Good News, to see if we indeed find Good News in today’s
gospel lesson.
Reading all of John 1:6-23
6There
was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came
as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He
himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9The
true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10He was
in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not
know him. 11He came
to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12But to
all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become
children of God, 13who
were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but
of God. 14And the Word became flesh
and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only
son, full of grace and truth.
15(John
testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after
me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) 16From
his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17The law
indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one
has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart,
who has made him known.
19This is
the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him,
“Who are you?” 20He
confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” 21And they
asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the
prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22Then
they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us.
What do you say about yourself?” 23He
said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the
way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said.
Hmmm, in the end, it brings us right back
to where we started in the Old Testament, doesn’t it?
So, what does it all
mean for us? Certainly, it is true that
most of us are waiting, if not for the day of the Lord then for something else
– for true love, for the return of health, for a job that challenges us, for a
house to call our own, for peace in our families, in our nation, in the world,
for EVERYTHING after this pandemic to just return to normal. But maybe we’re waiting for something more
than normal, something better, something extraordinary.
Most
of us are waiting for something, and many of us yearn for something better that
we can’t even name. Like the words from
Isaiah’s prophecy, a voice says, “Cry,” and we say, “What shall we cry?” The words escape us; all we know is that
there must be something more and that what we’ve gone through must reveal
something better.
That is what makes the prophet Isaiah
and John the Baptist our spiritual brothers: they too yearn for something
better they cannot name. For Isaiah it
is the revealed glory of the Lord, whatever that high mystery means for
him. For John it is the one who will
come after him, who is mightier than he.
Neither of them knows any details; John cannot even give his hearers a
name to listen out for. All that either
of them can proclaim is that the old ways of life are passing away and new life
is on its way. Without the luxury of
details, with no concession to our need to know what we are getting ready for,
they call us to prepare the way for that new life, to clear away anything that
might get in its way, and wait without knowing when it will come, or what it
will look like, or how it will change our lives.
One advantage we twentieth-century
Christians have over Isaiah and John is that we have heard and believed the
story of a particular birth, which gives us reason to think for a moment about
babies and about what goes into preparing the way for that form of new life in
our lives. All fortune-telling and
amniocentesis aside, most expectant parents do not know exactly what they are expecting. Even if they know the gender of their child,
they cannot know the rest: what it will look like, be like, how it will change
them. All they know for sure is that
nothing will ever be the same again, and the way most new parents go about
preparing for that is literally to clear a space – a nursery, or a corner of
their own room – a place for this unknown child to become a part of their
lives.
This year, we are expecting a baby –
maybe not a real, crying, bottle feeding baby, but something new and as
tangible has an infant. Unlike a real
baby when we can mark off the calendar days for when it might appear, this new
life, this new something that we are expecting, this better something, this
extraordinary something, we don’t exactly know when it will arrive, what it
will look like, or how it will change us.
But we are being called to prepare the way for new life (of some sort)
in our lives, to make room for it by letting go of our old ways, even perhaps
the things we’ve held most dear, as painful as that may sometimes be. It is either that or prepare ourselves for
the news that we have been passed over because there was no room in us, because
we weren’t willing to make space.
The title of a book has haunted me
throughout my thinking of this sermon, a book assigned to us during seminary
that I skimmed through and promptly forgot.
I hate to admit it, but I don’t even remember what the book was about,
but I do remember the title. It was
called Wait Without Idols, and whoever the author was, he or she might as well
have been Isaiah or John because that is at the heart of each of their
messages. The grass withers, the flower
fades, heaven and earth will pass away.
Each of them tells us that it is only when we stop believing in all of
these and stop looking to everything that is not God to save us, only when we
are able to empty our hearts and wait without idols, that there is room for God
Almighty to bring us himself.
I think that is the allure of most
reality shows – we want an Idol, we want a Hero, we want someone to emerge from
one of us to be great, to be perfect, to be someone for us to believe in. I don’t think it’s conscious. I think it’s a deceptive unconsciousness. We all need someone that we can believe in.
What is surprising is how deceptive
some of our idols actually are. Anyone
can turn and walk away from a golden calf, and I expect that most of us could
toss our savings out the window if we believed our souls depended on it. These are obvious idols. But what about, say, the idol of independence
– the belief that everything will be all right if we can just take care of
ourselves and not have to ask anyone else for help? Or the idol of romance – the belief that we
can face anything in life if we just have one other person to love us the way
we are, and to love in return? Or, as a
variation on that, the idol of family – the belief that if we can just gather
around us a close, committed family, our happiness will be unassailable? Then there is the most deceptive idol of all,
the idol of religion – the belief that if we go to church and struggle, really
struggle to live a life of faith, then our souls will be safe.
If
none of them appealed to you, name your own idols. The list is long: the idols of health, of
friendship, of patriotism…But, wait, aren’t these all good and noble things? They are quite different from money and
golden calves? Right?
Of course, they are
good and noble things. And that’s
exactly why they have become deceptive idols.
It’s the first criteria of an idol, that it gladden our hearts and
nourish our souls, because that is how we learn to believe in it and depend on
it, and finally to cling to it as the only possible source of life. The only problem is that as long as our
hearts and souls are full of what we know will sustain us, we have lost our
ability to receive the as-yet-unknown things that God has in store for us. We are then already filled up; there is no
room at the inn. God is looking for a
new space in us, for something new to be born.
During Advent we are invited to let
go, to open up – not to forsake the things we love and want for our lives, but
to forsake them as idols. That means
learning to hold them lightly, without clinging, and to be willing to give them
up when it becomes clear that they are taking up too much room. Because during Advent we are invited to
prepare the way for something new and unknown in our lives, brought to us in
person by the living God. So what will
it be for you? What might new life mean
for you?
But what has to go first?
What is taking up too much room?
It is all right if we do not know all
the answers, because that too is what Advent is about. It’s about preparing a place for something
new in our lives, for new life in us, and then waiting without knowing, waiting
with nothing but faith, hope, and love for company in the stillness that
teaches us how completely we live at God’s mercy, a mercy that promises
everything, that promises the advent of God himself to those who have saved him
room.
AMEN.
Hymn: While
Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
Benediction
The
trumpet of peace is sounding in the land. We have heard God’s word of healing love and
are challenged to go forth into God’s world with the good news of God’s abiding
presence with us. Go in peace and may
God’s peace always be with you. AMEN.
Postlude
