Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas! 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 tonight to Bunny, Beth, Amanda, Cor, Jenny, Taye, Dave, and Heather!

PRELUDE: “Coventry Carol” (English Traditional)

LIGHTING THE CHRIST CANDLE

The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness shall never overcome it.
Perfect light escapes the stable,
surrounding us with love’s pure light.
Source of ALL THAT IS, shine on us tonight,
that we may worship the Light of the World.
Amen.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
all peoples in one heart and mind;
O bid our sad divisions cease,
and be for us the Prince of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

OPENING PRAYER

Come, all of you who wander weary in this world—
join your hearts and minds,
and listen to an ancient story.
Come, all of you who search for meaning,
all of you who yearn for love.
Come, all of you who search for hope,
all of you who seek shelter from the storm.
Come, all of you, rejoice,
for in our midst has come the Promised One of old.
For on this night is born in hope
the festive dream come true,
the one who breaks the chains
of our sorrows and our fears.
The breath of God, the smile of joy,
the face of one we only dreamed we’d see.
In Bethlehem is born the one who is for all.
Amen.

HYMN OF PRAISE: “Joy to the world!”

Joy to the world! the Lord is come:
let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare him room,
and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.

Joy to the earth! the Saviour reigns:
let all their songs employ,
while fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy,
repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
nor thorns infest the ground:
he comes to make his blessings flow
far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found,
far as, far as the curse is found.

He rules the earth with truth and grace,
and makes the nations prove
the glories of his righteousness
and wonders of his love, and wonders of his love,
and wonders, wonders of his love.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

God of sultry stable air,
God of frosty wind and snow,
we come to you this wintry day,
yearning to be swaddled
against the raw chill of separation,
loneliness, lovelessness.
Thaw within us whatever keeps us
from echoing the angels’ praise.
Warm our moaning
with the shine of your glory,
as you fill the empty stable in our hearts
with your outpouring of home and love.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

Light of nations, veiled in history,
born of woman’s flesh and blood,
calling to the depths of mystery
restless hearts that seek the good.
Healing every human story,
Word made flesh reveals his glory.

FIRST READING: Galatians 4.4-7

4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

SPECIAL MUSIC: “What Child Is This”

SECOND READING: Psalm 96

Sing to God a new song;
sing your praise, all the earth.
Sing and bless God’s holy name,
tell the glad news of salvation from day to day.
Declare God’s glory among the nations,
among all the peoples God’s wonderful works.
For great is God and greatly to be praised,
to be revered above all the gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but you, O God, made the heavens.
Honour and majesty attend you,
strength and beauty are in your sanctuary.

Ascribe to God, you families of peoples,
ascribe to God glory and strength.
Ascribe glory to God’s name,
bring an offering and enter God’s courts.
Worship God in the beauty of holiness,
and let the whole earth stand in awe.
Say among the nations: It is God who reigns!
The world is made firm and cannot be shaken.
God judges the peoples in equity.

Let the heavens rejoice, and the earth be glad;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
let the fields exult, and all that is in them.
Then let all the trees of the forest sing for joy,
for you come, O God, to judge the earth.
You shall judge the earth in righteousness,
its peoples with your truth.

THIRD READING: Matthew 1.18-25

18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

23 “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”

which means, “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

HYMN: “Twas in the moon of wintertime”

‘Twas in the moon of wintertime,
when all the birds had fled,
that mighty Gitchi Manitou
sent angel choirs instead;
before their light the stars grew dim,
and wandering hunters heard the hymn:
Jesus your King is born,
Jesus is born,
in excelsis gloria.

Within a lodge of broken bark
the tender babe was found,
a ragged robe of rabbit skin
enwrapped his beauty round;
but as the hunter braves drew nigh,
the angel song rang loud and high: R

The earliest moon of wintertime
is not so round and fair
as was the ring of glory on
the helpless infant there.
The chiefs from far before him knelt
with gifts of fox and beaver pelt. R

O children of the forest free,
the angel song is true,
the holy child of earth and heaven
is born today for you.
Come, kneel before the radiant boy,
who brings you beauty, peace, and joy: R

REFLECTION

Do you wish you could wake up to discover that 2020 was just a bad dream?

It worked for Pam and Bobby. An entire season suddenly became moot, the ultimate TV do-over. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you need to find someone over 50—quick. And not to outdone, the show Newhart ended the series with Bob and Emily discussing the strange dream Bob just had—in this case, he dreamt an entire series. Again, over 50, you know the drill.

Dreams are strange things. Freud said that dreams constitute “wish fulfillment,” which is a fancy way of saying you wish you could work out the vexing thing that’s troubling you. I dropped first-year psychology, so I can’t really say if Freud’s right. If you’re like me, however, and you’re working out vexing things in the middle of the night, the last thing that’s happening is sleep.

The Bible makes pretty strong case for dreams as a means to receive divine messages. Jacob dreams of a ladder, with angels descending and ascending, and receives an affirmation of the covenant with Israel. Joseph dreamed of a future, when famine would ravage the land and he would have an opportunity to help his family. And Joseph also had the power to interpret dreams, something that came in handy in the court of Pharaoh. Leaping over today’s dream, we learn of Peter’s dream, a blanket from heaven covered in all kinds of creatures. The Lord blesses them in the dream and commands Peter to eat.

And then there is the story of Jesus’ birth. It begins with a vision, where Zacharias learns that Elizabeth will bear a child—the one who will one day baptize Jesus. And then there is the passage Bunny read, where Joseph is seeking a way to save Mary the hardship of ending their betrothal, when an angel appears in a dream, saying:

“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

At this point, Matthew breaks in and reminds his readers that all this was also the subject of a prophecy, when Isaiah said a young woman would bear a son, and he would be named Emmanuel, God-with-us. I think you can already see the problem with dreams: Is it Jesus, ‘for he will save the people from their sins,’ or is it Emmanuel, God-with us?

Well, it appears this child will have many names, with Isaiah suggesting Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace—just to name four. And this list is helpful, because it shows us that (in fact) Jesus has one name, but many titles. And that’s just on the night of his birth.

Why so many titles? I would argue that when we “put on Christ” (as Paul tells us) we also put on something we need. Dwelling in shadow? You need the Light of the World. Hungry for the food that truly nourishes? You need the Bread of Heaven. Feeling lost? You need the Good Shepherd. Jesus is ever near, to find us, feed us, illuminate us—and save us.

The dream is clear: “You are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” There’s more here, though, since Jesus is literally a Joshua, which the translation from Hebrew, to Greek, and to English, gives us Jesus. Now Joshua was a common name in the time of Jesus, but the reason was clear: it means “God is salvation,” or “God will save us.” Jesus’ name is both a prayer and an answer to prayer. Add Emmanuel—God-with-us—and it becomes even more fervent. God will save us and God is with us—Jesus is the hope and the answer.

And it begins with a dream. It begins with the dream of a world-made-new, where God enters the world to be our salvation. From that moment, and for all time, we can trust that God will save us and God-is-with-us. Whatever peril we face, we are not alone. Whatever circumstance confounds us, we are not alone. Whenever we are shadowed, hungry, or lost, we are not alone, for God will save us and God-is-with-us. Amen.

SOLO: “The First Noel”

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Gracious God,
help us hear the song of the angels,
and to go in heart and in mind to Bethlehem,
to see the loving-kindness of our God,
the babe lying in a manger.
On this night we are grateful,
that you love the world as to take human form,
and that you hear our prayers, and listen
as we pray for the needs of the whole world.
We remember especially
those whose lives are disrupted by the pandemic,
and by all other forces beyond their control…
We pray for peace and goodwill among the nations…
Let us pray for the earth,
as it longs for the promise of God’s new creation…
Let us remember before God all who are poor, hungry or cold…
all who are oppressed by circumstance or by other people…
all who are sick or dying, all who are lonely or frightened,
and all for whom Christmas is a time of sadness…
Lastly we remember, O God,
those who have gone before us,
whose company and voices we miss,
but who, in the grace and goodness of God,
still share Christmas with us.
With them, and with the multitude of angels
and God’s faithful of every time and place,
we celebrate the hope and the mystery
that Jesus Christ is born.
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: “Silent night, holy night”

Silent night! Holy night!
All is calm, all is bright
round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy infant so tender and mild,
sleep in heavenly peace,
sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night! Holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight:
glories stream from heaven afar,
heavenly hosts sing Hallelujah,
Christ the Saviour is born,
Christ the Saviour is born.

Silent night! Holy night!
Son of God, love’s pure light
radiant beams from thy holy face,
with the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Alles schläft; einsam wacht
Nur das traute hochheilige Paar.
Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!

BLESSING

The light that enlivens all the world,
the light that darkness cannot overcome,
love’s pure light in Jesus Christ,
shine on you and in our world this night. Amen.

Still, still, still: the night is calm and still.
The Christchild in his crib lies sleeping,
angels round him watch are keeping.
Still, still, still: the night is calm and still.

Sleep, sleep, sleep: sweet Jesus, softly sleep,
while Mary sings and gently holds you,
safely in her arms enfolds you.
Sleep, sleep, sleep: sweet Jesus softly sleep.

Joy, joy, joy; glad tidings of great joy!
For through God’s holy incarnation
Christ is born for our salvation.
Joy, joy, joy; glad tidings of great joy!