Advent III

Gathered through the power of the Holy Spirit, we worship God with gladness. We encourage you to pray over the words that follow, and follow the links within the liturgy. Prayers in this service are adapted from Celebrate God’s Presence (UCPH). Thanks this week to Taye and Heather, and special thanks to Angus for sharing the Lord’s Prayer!

PRELUDE: “Angels We Have Heard on High” (French Traditional)

LIGHTING THE THIRD ADVENT CANDLE

The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness shall never overcome it.
We struggle to celebrate,
in the midst of all that we face.
Send us JOY, and light our way,
that we might find joy and share joy today.
Amen.

O come, O Dayspring, from on high,
and cheer us by your drawing nigh;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
and death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

OPENING PRAYER

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
to the empty-handed and the heavy-hearted,
to the despairing and the despised.
Enter this world,
giving love to the lowly and hope to the downcast.
Dwell among us, and teach us your ways,
saving the lost and strengthening the weak.
Be made incarnate within us,
that we might cast away fear and live boldly by faith.
With gratitude that you come to be with us,
we worship joyfully this day. Amen.

HYMN OF PRAISE: “It came upon the midnight clear”

It came upon the midnight clear,
that glorious song of old,
from angels bending near the earth
to touch their harps of gold,
‘Peace on the earth, good will to all,
from heaven’s all-gracious King!’
The world in solemn stillness lay
to hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come
with peaceful wings unfurled;
and still their heavenly music floats
o’er all the weary world;
above its sad and lowly plains
they bend on hovering wing,
and ever o’er its Babel sounds
the blessed angels sing.

Yet with the woes of sin and strife
the world has suffered long;
beneath the angel strain have rolled
two thousand years of wrong;
and warring humankind hears not
the love song which they bring.
O hush the noise, and cease your strife,
to hear the angels sing.

For, lo! the days are hastening on,
by prophets seen of old,
when with the ever-circling years
shall come the time foretold,
when peace shall over all the earth
its ancient splendours fling,
and the whole world send back the song
which now the angels sing.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

O God,
be not distant from our hearts.
Be near to us.
Hold us in your presence
as a mother who enfolds her infant
within her arms.
May we, restless children that we are,
wait and hope for you.
Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

The Good News of this Advent season
is forgiveness of sin and new life.
Let us commit our lives
to Christ’s way of hope and peace.

SPECIAL MUSIC: “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” (Traditional German Carol)

FIRST READING: Psalm 126

When God brought Zion’s captives home,
it seemed to us like a dream.
But then our mouths were full of laughter,
and our tongues uttered shouts of joy.
Then they said among the nations:
‘God has done great things for them.’
Truly God has done great things for us,
and therefore we rejoice.

Restore our fortunes, O God, as streams refresh the Negev.
Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping, carrying seed for sowing,
shall come home with songs of joy,
bringing in their sheaves.

SECOND READING: Luke 1.46b-55

My soul proclaims God’s greatness.
My spirit rejoices in God my saviour.
For you have looked with favour on your lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed.
You have done great things for me, O Most Mighty.
Hallowed be your Name!
You have mercy on those who fear you,
From one generation to another.

You took action with a strong arm.
You scattered the proud in their conceit.
You pulled the mighty from their thrones.
You raised the lowly.
You filled the hungry with good things.
You sent the rich away empty.
You come to the aid of your servant, Israel,
for you remembered your promise of mercy,
to our ancestors, Abraham and Sarah,
and to their children in every age.

HYMN: “Joy is now in every place”

Joy is now in every place,
Christmas lightens every face;
now be with us, in your grace,
O hear us, bless us, holy Jesus.

May the star that shone that night,
making your poor stable bright,
fill our hearts with love and light, R

Through the New Year let it stay,
leading us upon your way,
making Christmas every day, R

Now and ever may we find
your good news to fill our mind:
peace and love to humankind, R

REFLECTION

Margaret Keenan was the first person to get the “the jab,” as they say in the UK. The soon-to-be 91 year-old described receiving the vaccine as the “best early birthday present.” It was a lovely moment, but then came the second recipient, an 81 year-old with the unlikely name William Shakespeare.

Twitter erupted: “They really are prioritising the elderly,” one person wrote, “this guy is 456.” Someone called it “the taming of the flu,” while another said, “I’m surprised they let William Shakespeare have the vaccine. I thought he was Bard.” I should stop. But one more: reflecting on the fame these two have gained after getting the jab, someone noted, “A plague on neither of their houses.”*

Ignoring the bad puns, it’s easy to feel joy and relief in the face of this long-awaited turn-of-events. It has a “beginning of the end” feeling to it, and somewhat perfectly timed, as we reach what are literally the darkest days of the year. If this was a seasonal film, this would be the moment for someone to shout “it’s a Christmas miracle!” And it certainly feels that way.

And beyond the feeling, some remarkable things have taken place: the early word was that vaccines can take years to develop—this one took about ten months. The early word was that finding one vaccine would be lucky—there are already three or more. Even the manufacture of doses, something that was predicted to take months or years, was started months ago, on the off-chance that the vaccine would eventually be approved.

So we praise God that we are here, waiting for the day we can get the jab, and we praise God for the gift of medicine, along with the gift of insight and imagination. God has shown us once more what’s possible when we focus all our attention on a problem. We can do something revolutionary.

Revolutionary. Revolutionary is one of those over-used words that has lost some of its power—perhaps too many hair products or exercise machines have been described using the word. When something is revolutionary—like developing a vaccine in a matter of months—it turns the existing order on its head, and it changes everything.

And the word also reminds us of political revolutions, a changing of the existing political order into something else altogether. Again, the word is often misapplied, with the most famous example being the American Revolution. For a revolution that proclaimed “all men are created equal,” there remained the bitter reality that 700,000 African-Americans were enslaved at the end of the revolution, or nearly one-in-six Americans. And this number would grow to 4,000,000 before slavery ended in 1865.

Turning to Oxford to help us understand what revolutionary truly means, we get “involving or causing a complete or dramatic change.” Like the Song of Mary:

You took action with a strong arm.
You scattered the proud in their conceit.
You pulled the mighty from their thrones.
You raised the lowly.
You filled the hungry with good things.
You sent the rich away empty.

It’s no surprise that when Latin-American theologians were trying to describe “a theology of liberation,” they pointed to Mary. Between Mary and Moses, and some early Isaiah thrown in for good measure, we begin to understand the radical nature of scripture. These three embody complete and dramatic change. For Isaiah it was “swords into plowshares,” an idea so powerful that it is carved in front of the UN headquarters. For Moses, it was literal liberation, the power of God to free God’s people. And for Mary it is predictive, a revolution that begins in Bethlehem and concludes at Calvary.

Why concludes? I say it concludes at Calvary because the cross is a once-and-for-all event, an event to reconcile us with God, to end death, and to ensure our freedom in the Spirit. The world no longer has hold over us, and we are free to live with love and mercy. But every conclusion, of course, must have a beginning: and the beginning of this revolution is God’s desire to enter the world in the most humble way possible, as a baby. And this is truly revolutionary: no strongman, no advancing army, no tactical plan. Just a baby, the most vulnerable form God could possibly assume.

But before we shift all our focus to the birth of Jesus, we would do well to remember Mary. For our Roman Catholic friends, she is the patron saint of all humanity, the Queen of Heaven, and the Our Lady of numerous locations. Our Lady of Guadalupe, as an example, is the patron saint of the Americans. And for all Christians, as declared at the Council of Ephesus (431), she is Theotokos, the Mother of God. In addition, Mary is the only woman named in the Quran—mentioned 70 times—and exalted as “the greatest of women.” Listen again to the beginning of her song:

My soul proclaims God’s greatness.
My spirit rejoices in God my saviour.
For you have looked with favour on your lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed.
You have done great things for me, O Most Mighty.
Hallowed be your Name!

As prophetic utterances go, this one remains true. From her lowly station she becomes mother, guardian, guide, follower, and witness to the resurrection. She inspires and blesses all humanity, with her song of liberation and her life with God. She reminds us that whatever seems fixed, or certain, or impossible to change can be quite the opposite. And she reminds us that praise and gratitude are at the centre of a life of faith.

May God see us through the dark days ahead, and may we never lose sight of hope, with Mary to guide us, Amen.

*https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/12/08/shakespeare-britain-pfizer-coronavirus-vaccine/

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

We praise you, God of promise,
and give you thanks for Mary, a daughter of Israel:
who sang the songs of David,
who knew the deeds of Judith,
and held in her heart
the burning words of Isaiah.

Enter our hearts, as we praise you with thanksgiving:
for friends and family,
for meaning in our lives,
for warmth and food,
for a roof over our heads.
Hear us as we pray for ourselves and those close to us:
for the anxious ones,
and the hurting ones,
for the ill, and those who mourn.
Fill our hearts, as we ask your blessing upon the world
and all its people:
that peace may come,
that justice may come,
that joy may enter every heart.

We pray as Mary did:
may your name be holy,
may the hungry be filled,
may the proud be scattered,
and the oppressed raised.
May your love be ever with your people.
Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

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;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

HYMN: “The virgin Mary had a baby boy”

The virgin Mary had a baby boy,
the virgin Mary had a baby boy,
the virgin Mary had a baby boy,
and they say that his name is Jesus.
He come from the glory, (clap, clap)
he come from the glorious kingdom.
He come from the glory, (clap, clap)
he come from the glorious kingdom.
Oh, yes! believer! Oh, yes! believer!
He come from the glory, (clap, clap)
he come from the glorious kingdom.

The angels sang when the baby was born,
the angels sang when the baby was born,
the angels sang when the baby was born,
and they say that his name is Jesus. R

The shepherds came where the baby was born,
the shepherds came where the baby was born,
the shepherds came where the baby was born,
and they say that his name is Jesus. R

BLESSING

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless
until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Amen.
—1 Thessalonians 5:23

God be with you till we meet again;
loving counsels guide, uphold you,
with a shepherd’s care enfold you;
God be with you till we meet again.