Preparation for Worship at Home. When worshipping at home, set aside a time and a place each week for worship. During the Advent season (today through Christmas Eve), set out four candles. One candle will be lit for each Sunday that passes as we approach Christmas Day.
May the following serve as a guide in your worship of God.
The Worship of God
Passing the Peace
Say to one another, “May the peace of Christ be with you.”
And reply, “And, also with you.”
Advent Candle Litany
light three candles
We light three candles today:
one candle to remind us
that God is our everlasting and constant abiding hope,
a second candle to remind us
that this God’s hope brings peace to our weary and troubled hearts,
and a third candle to remind us
of the always present possibility of joy that comes from God.
For the One who makes the gateways of the evening and the morning sing for joy,
who clothes the desert pastures and hills with pure joy,
who causes the countryside and the trees,
the valleys and the meadowlands to shout for joy,
this One sustains us, forgives us, and stays with us.
Therefore, let your hearts rejoice.
God will clothe us with joy,
God will water our souls with rivers of pure joy,
and God will help us sing and shout for joy again.
May the Lord increase our joy!
Opening Prayer
Holy One,
Builder who delights
in making spaces of safety and beauty,
fill us today with the gifts we need
to join you in your life-sustaining, hope-giving work in the world;
let us share your joyful vision
of beauty and justice
in this world you have created and loved.
In the name of the One who is coming,
Amen
Hymn of Praise
The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns
Author: unknown; trans. John Brownlie
Tune: MORNING SONG (John Wyeth)
The King shall come when morning dawns
And light triumphant breaks.
When beauty gilds the eastern hills
And life to joy awakes.
Not, as of old, a little child,
To suffer and to die,
But crowned with glory like the sun
That lights the morning sky.
The King shall come when morning dawns
And earth’s dark night is past;
O haste the rising of that morn
Whose day shall ever last.
And let the endless joy begin,
By weary saints foretold.
When right shall triumph over wrong,
And truth shall be extolled.
The King shall come when morning dawns
And light and beauty brings.
Hail, Christ, the Lord! Your people pray:
Come quickly, King of kings.
Psalm 126
Common English Bible
When the Lord changed Zion’s circumstances for the better,
it was like we had been dreaming.
Our mouths were suddenly filled with laughter;
our tongues were filled with joyful shouts.
It was even said, at that time, among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them!”
Yes, the Lord has done great things for us,
and we are overjoyed.
Lord, change our circumstances for the better,
like dry streams in the desert waste!
Let those who plant with tears
reap the harvest with joyful shouts.
Let those who go out,
crying and carrying their seed,
come home with joyful shouts,
carrying bales of grain!
Prayer for Others
Pause after each paragraph to give voice to prayers as prompted. Let us pray,
Merciful God, who shelters us and guides us,
we give you thanks for….
God who comforts,
receive those who are fearful and lonely….
God whose love is steadfast,
be refuge for the ill, the dying, and those who care about them.…
God of righteousness,
we ask for your wisdom and ways of justice to prevail
in our community, this nation, your world….
God who seeks our trust, grow us and guide us in your ways
that are life-giving in your world. Amen.
Choral Anthem
Joy!
Author: Isaac Watts
Composer: Glenn Wonacott
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 nature sing.
Joy to the earth! the Savior reigns:
let us, our songs employ;
while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy.
No more let sin and sorrow 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 the curse is found.
He rules the world 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 of his love.
Luke 1:46b-55
Common English Bible
Mary said, “With all my heart I glorify the Lord!
In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.
He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.
Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored
because the mighty one has done great things for me.
Holy is his name.
He shows mercy to everyone,
from one generation to the next,
who honors him as God.
He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.
He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty-handed.
He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
remembering his mercy,
just as he promised to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.”
Reflection on the Gospel
Dr. Rev. Jeffrey Vickery
Fifteen years ago we were visiting Disney World in Florida with our family. It was early Spring in 2006 and we spent part of a day at the Disney Hollywood Studios. The movie version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe had just been released a few months previous. I remember walking through a plain set of doors into what looked like a warehouse and instantly the sunny spring day outside was transformed into the snowy white paradise of Narnia. Disney had re-created the set of the movie to look as it did when Lucy walked out of the wardrobe for the first time and into the winter snow of Narnia. I know it’s a bit cheesy, but it really did seem like Disney magic. The idea that on one side of this small door was spring and the other was a make-believe winter that looked and felt so real was startling.
In some ways, Advent and Christmas are times to venture more deeply into God’s alternative reality. We live too much of our year thinking that what we see is as good as it gets. We forget that on the other side of the door is a version of God’s Way of life and love. If we spend too much time unaware of the world as God sees it, we can become unaware of the promises of light and salvation. We think we have to accept reality as it is, or at least as we think that it must be.
Even more troublesome, it is easy to wonder if what is happening in the world that we see is what God really wants. Maybe if my car’s transmission failed then maybe God intended it. Maybe if my cousin contracted COVID then maybe God intended it. Maybe if I lost my job then maybe God intended it. When we only measure God’s purpose and presence by the reality we see around us then we will be tricked into accepting the status quo as God’ Holy Way. Advent and Christmas both pull back the curtain. God does not intend human suffering. God is not the author of sin. God does not secretly command evil or empower the ungodly. It is easy to confuse God’s intent and God’s knowledge. In all its messy and sinful state, this reality is what we may have to endure but it’s not the reality that God intends.
Right here is where Mary’s words in Luke 1 come into the mix. Mary reminds us of what she can see of God’s Way even before Jesus is born. It’s a vision of faith in God and hope in God’s very real world. This young Jewish woman has something to teach us even after all these years.
The storyline goes something like this: The angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah, a Jewish priest, and tells him that he and Elizabeth will have a son that they are to name John. Zechariah is rendered speechless, Elizabeth ends up pregnant, and together they await their son. A few months later, the same angel, Gabriel, visits Mary and asks her if she is willing to be the mother of the Messiah. She agrees, and her obedience changes the world. In the first trimester, Mary decides to travel and visit Elizabeth in the hill city of Hebron, presumably a 60-mile journey. Mary was clearly not timid. When she arrives and greets Elizabeth, two things happen: the not-yet-born John jostles with joy and Elizabeth is filled with the Spirit of God. Under holy inspiration, Elizabeth explains the importance of Mary’s child and the blessing that falls upon Mary as a result of her courage and trust in God. While this is the Advent week of joy for many reasons, we cannot overlook Mary’s courage and trust in God because acting on these are what amplifies her joy.
Everything Mary says in vv. 48-55 helps us see God’s alternative reality. Mary is not simply being an optimist, she gives voice to a reality that is both the foundation and the future of her life. Yet her words stand in counterpoint to what the current circumstances of her life must have been like. Consider the following.
Mary is young, poor, unknown, and of no social status. While famous beyond measure today, she was of “no account” as they might say in my native SC. No one other than Elizabeth would look upon her and think that her small “yes” to God was going to matter to anyone other than her. Yet she can see enough of God’s reality to say (vv. 48-50) “God has looked with favor on the low status of his servant. Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored because the mighty one has done great things for me. Holy is his name.”
Mary is uneducated, certainly illiterate, isolated in her Palestinian Jewish homeland, and unable to know or understand the world at large. She would not have owned maps and books. Did not sit at the feet of teachers. Didn’t wait in the marketplace to hear the stories of travelers or the escapades of soldiers and they came through the town. Yet she can see enough of God’s reality to say, (v. 50) “God shows mercy to everyone, from one generation to the next, who honors him as God.”
Mary lives on land that is hers in name and history but is occupied by a Roman pagan government. She walks through streets and down highways that are frequented by Roman soldiers. She has no rights from the government including almost no ability to choose her own way of life. It is bad enough that she can’t do anything about the political power imposed on her personal life, she also has to tolerate Jewish patriarchy from her own religious leaders. Yet she can see enough of God’s reality to say (v. 51-52), “God has shown strength with his arm. God has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations. God has pulled the powerful down from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.”
Mary was poor and common, frequently surviving on only one meal a day, two on good days, but far from enjoying abundance. She knew hunger herself, and likely saw others who were even hungrier. Yet a few were rich and received their unfair portions as the expense of others. Even more found wealth through corruption and theft and fraud and using others for their own gain. Sound familiar? Yet she can see enough of God’s reality to say (v. 53), “God has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty-handed.”
Mary has not been educated enough to read her own scripture. That itself is a travesty. She would not have been allowed a Bat Mitzvah when she was of age because only boys had Bar Mitzvahs at that time. She had to learn to know and love the Torah stories by listening and remembering scraps and pieces from Sabbath blessings and Jewish festivals and traveling rabbis. Yet she can see enough of God’s reality to say (v. 54-55), “God has come to the aid of his servant Israel, remembering his mercy, just as he promised to our ancestors, to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.”
Mary is not in denial about the difficulties of her everyday circumstances. She knows that, on a day-to-day basis her son soon to be born will not change these parts of her life. At the same time, she is keenly aware of God’s view of reality. She can see that the divine perspective is an alternate reality. It is very real but no longer overlooked by her. Its promises help her endure to the point of knowing a joy that last beyond a moment’s sorrow or happiness.
That’s all good for Mary. She was after all the Mother of God, Jesus’ first disciple, and a first-hand witness to God’s salvation. She communicated much of the book of Luke and kept alive the sayings and doings of Jesus. So again, that’s all good for Mary, but what about us?
Oh, how much I want to see the world through Mary’s eyes. This Advent we are called to catch a vision of God’s reality. Especially when the circumstances of the everyday are dimmed by despair, when the future is muddied by uncertainty, when our anxieties and fears are exaggerated by the actuality of another crisis, we need to see this world within God’s holy alternative reality. For in God’s world all our troubles do not disappear, but they are re-focused. God thinks highly of us. God shows mercy to us. God knows the sin of the arrogant and powerful and in God’s reality they have no sway over us. God will satisfy all our needs and the greedy will be left in want.
May we know God’s joy this Advent season for as we prepare for the coming of God, we are peering over the edges of the day and looking to time in which God’s Way becomes our life and our hope and our joy.
Questions for Reflection
- What do you think that God wants in our world that we don’t see or hear enough?
- How does “Joy” become part of lives at times other than Christmas?
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Thank you, God for constant love. Please help our church family grow deeper and deeper in your love. Amen.
Song of Faith
Mary Gladly Told Her Cousin
Author: Carolyn Winfrey Gillette
Tune: IRBY (“Once in Royal David’s City”) / Gauntlett
Mary gladly told her cousin, “Praise the Lord! My spirit sings!”
Young and humble, she’d been chosen! God was surely changing things!
God of love, her words ring true As we sing her prayer to you:
“Now my soul is gladly singing At the greatness of the Lord.
I rejoice, for God is bringing His salvation to the world.
All who live will say I’m blest Even in my lowliness.
“God is mighty, just and holy, And he’s done great things for me.
Those who fear him know the mercy That God gives us endlessly.
Mighty ones are brought down low; Lowly ones find blessings flow.
“God has filled the poor and hungry, And he’s sent the rich away.
God is active here in history, In a real and wondrous way.
God has promised, and I’m blessed, For I know God’s faithfulness.”
Sending Out
May the blessing and peace of God uphold you,
May the compassion and love of Christ enfold you,
and may the vitality and power of the Holy Spirit embolden you,
today and always.
Amen.
Closing Song
Blest Be the Tie
Tune: DENNIS (Nageli)
Author: John Fawcett
Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love.
The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.
When we are called to part, it gives us inward pain;
but we shall still be joined in heart, and hope to meet again.
This glorious hope revives our courage by the way;
while each in expectation lives and waits to see the day.
Acknowledgements: Artwork by Elizabeth. The Opening Prayer is provided by the United Church of Christ (www.ucc.org). The anthem was played by Tonya on the piano with Mindy, Laura, Tonya, Ally, and Elizabeth singing. Tracy played the organ and Mindy sang the hymns. Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE with license #A-724755. All rights reserved. All writings have been used by permission from the posting sites or authors.
Cullowhee Baptist Church 
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