{"id":1033,"date":"2020-12-05T19:44:04","date_gmt":"2020-12-05T19:44:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oneking.ca\/wp\/?p=1033"},"modified":"2020-12-05T19:44:04","modified_gmt":"2020-12-05T19:44:04","slug":"advent-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/2020\/12\/05\/advent-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Advent II"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img src=\"https:\/\/oneking.ca\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image-1024x596.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1035\"\/><figcaption>Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Sermon of Saint John the Baptist, 1566, Sz\u00e9pm\u0171v\u00e9szeti M\u00fazeum, Budapest.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p><em>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\u2019s Presence (UCPH). Thanks this week to Dave, Cor, and Heather!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p>PRELUDE: \u201cIt came upon a midnight clear\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/oneking.ca\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/itcameupon-prelude.m4a\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>LIGHTING THE SECOND ADVENT CANDLE<\/p>\n\n\n<p>The light shines in the darkness, <br \/> and the darkness shall never overcome it. <br \/><strong> We are drawn to mayhem, forgetting we belong<br \/> to the Prince of PEACE.    <\/strong><br \/> Source of light, shine in our lives,<br \/> and in your world with your everlasting peace.<br \/> <strong>Amen.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/oneking.ca\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ocomeocome1verse.m4a\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n<p><em>O come, O Wisdom from on high, <br \/> who orders all things mightily; <br \/> to us the path of knowledge show, <br \/> and teach us in her ways to go.<br \/>     Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel <br \/>     shall come to thee, O Israel.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p>OPENING PRAYER<\/p>\n\n\n<p>Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, O Promised One, <br \/>\nwe come to this time of Advent awaiting your presence.<br \/>\nGive us the wisdom to see meaning in uncertainty.<br \/>\nGive us the courage to wait in times of pain and trouble.<br \/>\nGive us the compassion to wait for one another.<br \/>\nGive us the faith to wait for the Messiah <br \/>\nwhen we are threatened by the Herods of this world.<br \/>\nGive us the hope to wait for the Saviour <br \/>\neven when we cannot hear the angels singing.<br \/>\nGive us the love that does not wait <br \/>\nwhen it meets Christ in our neighbour.  Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n<p>HYMN OF PRAISE: \u201cThere&#8217;s a voice in the wilderness crying\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/oneking.ca\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/theresavoice.m4a\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n<p><em>There&#8217;s a voice in the wilderness crying,<br \/>     a call from the ways untrod:<br \/> prepare in the desert a highway,<br \/>     a highway for our God!<br \/> The valleys shall be exalted,<br \/>     the lofty hills brought low;<br \/> make straight all the crooked places<br \/>     where God, our God, may go!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>O Zion, that bringest good tidings,<br \/>     get thee up to the heights and sing!<br \/> Proclaim to a desolate people<br \/>     the coming of their King.<br \/> Like the flowers of the field they perish,<br \/>     like grass our works decay;<br \/> the power and pomp of nations<br \/>     shall pass, like a dream, away.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>But the word of our God endureth,<br \/>     whose arm is ever strong;<br \/> God stands in the midst of nations,<br \/>     and soon will right the wrong.<br \/> God shall feed the flock like a shepherd,<br \/>     the lambs so gently hold;<br \/> to pastures of peace will lead them,<br \/>     and bring them safe to fold.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>There&#8217;s a voice in the wilderness crying, <br \/>     a call from the ways untrod:<br \/> prepare in the desert a highway,<br \/>     a highway for our God!<br \/> The valleys shall be exalted,<br \/>     the lofty hills brought low;<br \/> make straight all the crooked places<br \/>     where God, our God, may go!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p>PRAYER OF CONFESSION<\/p>\n\n\n<p>When the Lord comes, <br \/> things now hidden will come to light,<br \/> and the purposes of the heart <br \/> will be revealed to a forgiving God.<br \/> Everything done,<br \/> and everything undone,<br \/> will be met with mercy.<br \/> Help us gather in the desert,<br \/> and heed the Baptist&#8217;s cry,<br \/> to learn true repentance,<br \/> and the way of new life in Christ.<br \/> Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n<p>ASSURANCE OF PARDON<\/p>\n\n\n<p>The Good News of this Advent season<br \/>is forgiveness of sin and new life.<br \/>Let us commit our lives<br \/>to Christ\u2019s way of hope and peace.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img src=\"https:\/\/oneking.ca\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image-4.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1043\"\/><figcaption>Mattia Preti, detail of St. John the Baptist Preaching, 17th century, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>SPECIAL MUSIC: \u201cThere&#8217;s a Song in the Air\u201d (Holland)<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/oneking.ca\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Theres-a-Song-in-the-Air.m4a\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>FIRST READING: Isaiah 40.1-11<\/p>\n\n\n<p>Comfort, comfort my people,<br \/>     says your God.<br \/> <strong>Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,<br \/>     and proclaim to her<br \/> that her hard service has been completed,<br \/>     that her sin has been paid for,<br \/> that she has received from the Lord\u2019s hand<br \/>     double for all her sins.<\/strong><br \/> A voice of one calling:<br \/> \u201cIn the wilderness prepare<br \/>     the way for the Lord[a];<br \/> make straight in the desert<br \/>     a highway for our God.[b]<br \/> <strong>Every valley shall be raised up,<br \/>     every mountain and hill made low;<br \/> the rough ground shall become level,<br \/>     the rugged places a plain.<\/strong><br \/> And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,<br \/>     and all people will see it together.<br \/> For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.\u201d<br \/> <strong>A voice says, \u201cCry out.\u201d<br \/>     And I said, \u201cWhat shall I cry?\u201d<\/strong><br \/> \u201cAll people are like grass,<br \/>     and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.<br \/> <strong>The grass withers and the flowers fall,<br \/>     because the breath of the Lord blows on them.<br \/>     Surely the people are grass.<\/strong><br \/> The grass withers and the flowers fall,<br \/>     but the word of our God endures forever.\u201d<br \/> <strong>You who bring good news to Zion,<br \/>     go up on a high mountain.<\/strong><br \/> You who bring good news to Jerusalem,[c]<br \/>     lift up your voice with a shout,<br \/> lift it up, do not be afraid;<br \/>     say to the towns of Judah,<br \/>     \u201cHere is your God!\u201d<br \/><strong> See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,<br \/>     and he rules with a mighty arm.<\/strong><br \/> See, his reward is with him,<br \/>     and his recompense accompanies him.<br \/> <strong>He tends his flock like a shepherd:<br \/>     He gathers the lambs in his arms<br \/> and carries them close to his heart;<br \/> he gently leads those that have young.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<p>SECOND READING: Mark 1.1-8<\/p>\n\n\n<p>The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:<\/p>\n\n\n<p>\u201cI will send my messenger ahead of you,<br \/>     who will prepare your way\u201d\u2014<br \/> 3 \u201ca voice of one calling in the wilderness,<br \/> \u2018Prepare the way for the Lord,<br \/>     make straight paths for him.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<p>4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel\u2019s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: \u201cAfter me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with[e] water, but he will baptize you with[f] the Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<p>HYMN: \u201cO day of God, draw nigh\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/oneking.ca\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/odayofgoddraw.m4a\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n<p><em>O day of God, draw nigh<br \/> in beauty and in power,<br \/> come with your timeless judgement now<br \/> to match our present hour.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>Bring to our troubled minds,<br \/> uncertain and afraid,<br \/> the quiet of a steadfast faith,<br \/> calm of a call obeyed.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>Bring justice to our land,<br \/> that all may dwell secure,<br \/> and finely build for days to come<br \/> foundations that endure.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>Bring to our world of strife<br \/> your sovereign word of peace,<br \/> that war may haunt the earth no more<br \/> and desolation cease.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>O day of God, draw nigh<br \/> as at creation&#8217;s birth;<br \/> let there be light again, and set<br \/> your judgements in the earth.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p>REFLECTION<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/oneking.ca\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/december6sermon.m4a\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>Who is about to be born, and in early middle-age, and about to begin a promising career, and apparently doomed?  <\/p>\n\n\n<p>If you answered Jesus, you would be correct.  If you answered Jesus in the season of Advent, you get a bonus point.  My riddle points to the mixed up timeline we\u2019ve entered, and the extent to which the season is trying to accomplish several things at once. <\/p>\n\n\n<p>Of course, the Bible is filled with biographies, stories of characters that give us a glimpse of the span of their lives.  Most famous, perhaps, is Moses: from the babe in a basket to an aged liberator, gazing upon the promised land.  Or David, a mere lad, out tending the sheep while God\u2019s anointed is being chosen.  We will see the span of his life too, victories, foundations, and personal defeats.  Or Esther, the beautiful young orphan who becomes queen, develops a mastery of court life, and saves the Jewish people from death.<\/p>\n\n\n<p>In each case, the story is told straight, a linear description from beginning to end: selected or saved for service, engaged in a crisis or conflict, and triumphant at the last.  In each case, of course, it is God that is victorious, and we give thanks.  What we don\u2019t do, in the course of telling these stories, is interrupt the order: we wouldn&#8217;t tell the story of the burning bush to explain why the baby Moses was set adrift on the Nile.<\/p>\n\n\n<p>In Advent, we enter a unique version of time.  Future is present, the past predicts the future, and the one for whom we wait is already here.  Heroes of the narrative occur in the middle of the story, but they help us prepare for the beginning.  The baby John the Baptist may appear in the time of Jesus\u2019 nativity, but now he\u2019s the fully grown John who will help us prepare for Jesus\u2019 birth.<\/p>\n\n\n<p>\u201cAfter me,\u201d says John, \u201ccomes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.\u201d  Again, these words fit the prelude to Jesus\u2019 baptism in the River Jordan, but they also describe our fondest hope, the time for which we wait.<\/p>\n\n\n<p>The glue that holds this story together is baptism.  John is practicing one aspect of baptism (\u201ca baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins\u201d) and Jesus another.  John\u2019s work, like Advent, is preparatory, allowing us to make room for Jesus to enter our hearts.  We must die to our old selves to welcome him in, to find new life in Christ.  St. Paul knew this better than most:<\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>Don\u2019t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Rom 3) <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p>In Athens, the wise ones would say \u201ctell us more, for you are bringing strange things to our ears.\u201d (Acts 17) It is strange, to conflate baptism and death, but remember that the timelines are not what they seem.  When we were baptized we entered the death and resurrection of Jesus, not some distant event, but the same death and resurrection that happens at every baptism, both now and in the future.  <\/p>\n\n\n<p>This is what John means when he describes our baptism as baptism with the Holy Spirit.  It exists outside of time, and it defies time, because new life in Christ never stops happening.  Maybe this is why Paul\u2019s Athenian friends were so puzzled.  Your life unfolded in a predictable manner: spun, measured, and cut, without any sense that it could be respun or uncut or measured in a different way.  Jesus takes away loom and tape and scissors, sets them aside, and says \u2018walk with me, and follow in my way.\u2019  Nothing about your life is set when we\u2019re talking about new life in Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n<p>Just now the practical people are crying out for something tangible, and for them, I have a confession.  Not an actual confession, though I do have a few. My confession is the abiding belief that confession is at the very heart of who we are and what we do.  In confession, we ask God to help us set aside the things we regret and the things that are holding us back.  <\/p>\n\n\n<p>But there is more than just that.  In confession we send a signal to others that it\u2019s healthy and appropriate to name the ways we fall short and seek forgiveness.  In a world of facades and falsehoods, we can be the voice that says \u201cwe all screw up, and we all need God\u2019s help to get by.\u201d  We can\u2019t self-pardon.  But when we model a way of being that includes humility and a realistic sense-of-self, it can start catching.  Maybe others will admit they\u2019ve failed, and fallen short, and that they need something outside themselves to make it right.  That is when the Spirit moves, and new life comes.  <\/p>\n\n\n<p>So John was right all along.  People enter the desert places longing for something, anything that can help them.  And he appears, practicing a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins\u2014which was always just a fancy way to describe confession.  They were busy making room: leaving cluttered lives and unresolved situations to seek the new life that only God in Christ can bring.  <\/p>\n\n\n<p>May God bless you as our Advent journey continues.  May you enter and reenter the story as needed, always aware that it leads to new life.  Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img src=\"https:\/\/oneking.ca\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1037\"\/><figcaption>Hieronymus Bosch, detail of St. John the Baptist in the Wilderness, c. 1489, L\u00e1zaro Galdiano Museum, Madrid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE<\/p>\n\n\n<p>\u201cA voice cries in the wilderness: <br \/>\nprepare the way of the Lord!\u201d<br \/>\nO God, we pray that in our hearts <br \/>\nyour way may be prepared, <br \/>\nthat the path among us, <br \/>\nby which your Spirit comes, <br \/>\nmay be made straight.<br \/>\nPrepare among us the path of peace.  <br \/>\nGrant the peace that comes in following your ways, <br \/>\nin opening our lives to you, and sharing our gifts for your sake.<br \/>\nPrepare among us the path of love.<\/p>\n\n\n<p>We pray for all who need to be embraced by love: <br \/>\nall who are cramped and narrowed in spirit; <br \/>\nall who have lost the ability to trust; <br \/>\nall who ache for a signal they are cherished;<br \/>\nall who gather in the desert wastes of this world  <br \/>\nbeset by longing or great need.<br \/>\nWe pray for those in need of hope today:  <br \/>\nall who mourn the death of a loved one; <br \/>\nwho grieve the end of a relationship; <br \/>\nwho are worried for a friend;   <br \/>\nall who are anxious for a family member\u2019s health; <br \/>\npeople who are overwhelmed by illness or disability; <br \/>\nwho live in the midst of social collapse, <br \/>\nwarfare or grinding poverty.<br \/>\nPrepare among us the path of joy.  <br \/>\nWe pray for those whose spirits need to be buoyed up<br \/>\nand who have forgotten childhood\u2019s gift <br \/>\nof taking delight in the simple things of life, <br \/>\nwhich come from you, O generous God.<\/p>\n\n\n<p>Hear our thanks and praise as our spirits turn to you, <br \/>\nand as we remember, in a moment of silence, <br \/>\nthe blessings we enjoy\u2026<br \/>\nO God of hope, peace, joy, and love, <br \/>\nwe honour you now and always, <br \/>\nthrough Jesus, your Anointed One,<br \/>\nand in the expectant power of your Holy Spirit.  <br \/>\nAmen.<\/p>\n\n\n<p>THE LORD\u2019S PRAYER<\/p>\n\n\n<p>Our Father who art in heaven,<br \/>\nhallowed be thy name.<br \/>\nThy kingdom come,<br \/>\nThy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.<br \/>\nGive us this day our daily bread;<br \/>\nand forgive us our trespasses<br \/>\nas we forgive those who trespass against us;<br \/>\nand lead us not into temptation<br \/>\nbut deliver us from evil.<br \/>\nFor thine is the kingdom,<br \/>\nand the power, and the glory,<br \/>\nfor ever and ever. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n<p>HYMN: \u201cOn Jordan&#8217;s bank, the Baptist&#8217;s cry\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/oneking.ca\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/onjordansbank.m4a\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n<p><em>On Jordan&#8217;s bank, the Baptist&#8217;s cry<br \/> announces that the Lamb is nigh;<br \/> awake and hearken, for he brings<br \/> glad tidings of the King of Kings.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>Then cleansed be every life from sin;<br \/> make straight the way for God within;<br \/> and let each heart prepare a home<br \/> where such a mighty guest may come.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>In you, we find abundant life,<br \/> our refuge in the midst of strife;<br \/> without your grace we waste away,<br \/> like flowers that wither and decay.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>Stretch forth your hand, our health restore,<br \/> and help us rise to fall no more.<br \/> O let your face upon us shine,<br \/> and fill the world with love divine.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>All praise to you, eternal Son,<br \/> whose advent has our freedom won;<br \/> and praise to God whom we adore,<br \/> with Holy Spirit evermore.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p>BLESSING<\/p>\n\n\n<p>Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way,<br \/>\nand may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless<br \/>\nuntil our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Amen.<br \/>\n\u20141 Thessalonians 5:23<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/oneking.ca\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/meetagainredux.m4a\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n<p><em>God be with you till we meet again;<br \/> loving counsels guide, uphold you,<br \/> with a shepherd\u2019s care enfold you;<br \/> God be with you till we meet again.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img src=\"https:\/\/oneking.ca\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/image-1-1024x595.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1036\"\/><figcaption><em>Pieter Bruegel the Elder, detail of The Sermon of Saint John the Baptist, 1566, Sz\u00e9pm\u0171v\u00e9szeti M\u00fazeum, Budapest.<\/em> Note Jesus on the right, waiting to be baptized.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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\u2019s Presence (UCPH). Thanks this week to Dave, Cor, and Heather! PRELUDE: \u201cIt came upon a midnight &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/2020\/12\/05\/advent-ii\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advent II<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1033"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1033\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}