Sunday service for 19 December 2021, fourth Sunday of Advent
19 December 2021, 4th Sunday of Advent
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse phone: 632143
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
To hear the audio recording of this service, please phone 01475 270037. It’s a local landline number so minutes should be included in your phone plan.
Prelude Music
Welcome and Announcements
Lighting the Fourth Advent Candle
1: In the depths of night, God’s grace lights the way.
2: In the shadows before dawn, God’s life lights the way.
3: In the confusion and chaos, God’s truth lights the way.
4: In the longing and waiting, God’s Word lights the way.
All: God is coming, and the world will never be the same!
~candle is lit~
O come, thou Wisdom from on high,
who orderest all things mightily:
to us the path of knowledge show;
and teach us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
Prayer
Your glory shines, Holy One, yet we confess that we find it easier to live in the kingdoms of this world than in yours. We understand how the systems work, and we admit that though the price the powers and principalities demand is high, still we choose them. We confess that we have fallen into the trap of speaking one way and living another — we claim the truth of your word and at the same time live as if the empires of this world have ultimate power and sway. They obscure your grace and love, and we admit that in the fog and shadows we have gotten turned around, so we find ourselves serving the death-dealing powers rather than your life and light. Forgive us and turn us again to your way, enlightened by your truth and grace. We ask in the name of the one who forever bound word and action together, your Word become Flesh among us, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Online Hymn 274: Comfort, Comfort, Now My People
Children’s Time (in person only)
Reading: John 1.1-18
For several weeks, we have been reading from the prophets, with their concerns and promises for the people in exile, looking for God’s presence and call in unfamiliar territory. Today we transition from the Hebrew Bible to the New Testament. From now through Easter we will be reading from the Gospel According to John, which was written between 90-100 CE to a community struggling with how to differentiate themselves in an increasingly hostile environment, as they no longer fit into synagogue life but were also threatening to the Roman Empire. Each of the four gospels has a unique perspective as they tell the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. We might think of John as looking at Jesus from above, from a cosmic perspective, seeing a big picture rather than small immediate details. We’ll hear this from the very beginning, as the gospel opens with an overture that, just like a musical overture, hints at the themes that are to come. I am reading from chapter 1, beginning at verse 1, from the New Revised Standard Version.
~~~~~
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
And 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. (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.” ’) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
~~~
For the word of God in scripture,
For the word of God among us,
For the word of God within us,
Thanks be to God.
Sermon: The Word Became Flesh
This time of year means that everything I read or see calls a song to mind…this week I’ve been non-stop humming
God of God,
Light of light,
Lo! he abhors not the Virgin’s womb;
very God,
begotten not created;
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
In just a few sparse lines of poetry filled mainly with words we rarely use anymore, the carol gives us a summary of John 1: the Word was God…light shines in the darkness…the Word became flesh, loving and blessing this human body…and when we see, we will orient our lives around praise.
A few weeks ago, when we read from Isaiah 9 about “the people walking in darkness have seen a great light,” I said that the shining of the light doesn’t change the path on which we walk or the obstacles in our way, it changes us and our ability to navigate the journey to which God calls us.
John’s understanding of the light is the same. The Word, who is the light of all people, became flesh and lived among us, moved right into our neighbourhood and set up home and shop in our community…and we have seen his glory. That glory, that light, illuminates the world around us, showing us things we might not have seen before. Just the same way that a stream of sunshine through the window can highlight the dust floating in the air or the fingerprints on the windows, the light of the world highlights the things we live with everyday without even noticing. Things that the empires of this world want us to not see.
The Word became flesh and lived among us, and in the light of his glory we can see that we are children of God — our ancestry is not the determiner of our status in God’s family. The empires of this world want us to believe that where we’re born, or what we look like, or who our parents are, determines our value, and our place in the world, and how we ought to relate to other people. They have even used this ancient poetry to claim that dark skin is inferior to light skin, so we have to be careful when we use these powerful metaphors. Because the truth is that being a child of God, made in God’s image, has nothing to do with any of that. When we see that truth, we can live differently, walking in the light of life for all people.
The Word became flesh and lived among us, and in the light of his glory we can see that there is power in humility. John the baptiser recognised that though his role was important, he was not the light. He saw his job was to point the way toward the coming Christ, rather than trying to gather fame and power and wealth for himself. And even Jesus did not try to elevate himself or take equality with God for granted, but humbled himself. Which reminds me of another carol:
Hail, the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail, the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that man no more may die,
born to raise the sons of earth,
born to give them second birth:
Hark! the herald angels sing,
‘Glory to the new-born King.’
The empires of this world want us to focus attention on ourselves, and on what we can gain or earn, how we can get ahead, not on God himself laying his glory by the wayside. But when we see the truth of our place in God’s story, we can live differently, pointing the way to the one who is greater than we are.
The Word became flesh and lived among us, and in the light of his glory we can see that even those seemingly small roles matter. John was certain that his task was small and temporary — he wasn’t the light, he was a witness, and he wasn’t the first or the last. But he still went about his ministry faithfully, doing what God needed him to do, and it mattered. It made a difference to the people he baptised, the people who heard his teaching, the disciples he sent to follow Jesus, and even the religious and political leaders who were so disturbed by him. The empires of this world want us to think that small efforts make no difference, that if we can’t solve everything in one go, we should simply give up and let them carry on with their destructive ways. But when we see the truth of our place in God’s story, we can live differently, confidently doing even the smallest thing God asks of us, trusting it matters to God’s kingdom or else God wouldn’t call us to do it!
The Word became flesh and lived among us, and in the light of his glory we can see that flesh and blood matter, these bodies matter. Surely God could have sent the Word in any number of intellectual or spiritual ways, but God chose to take on a body, to live with the pains and joys and limitations and senses of a human body. Our bodies are not incidental to God’s story, they are a gift, a blessing, and it’s through a human body that God blesses the world. The empires of this world want us to separate mind, body, and spirit, and to believe none of them are good enough, to measure ourselves against some impossible standard so they can sell us more things. But when we see the truth of God’s emBodiment, we can live differently, treasuring the gift of physical presence and honouring and taking care of this body God gave us for a purpose.
The Word became flesh and lived among us, and in the light of his glory we can see that the darkness itself is already past, despite what the empires of this world think about themselves. This reading uses only past-tense words to say “the darkness did not overcome it” while the light shines in ongoing present tense verbs. The powers of this world, which do not have grace and truth at heart and are not serving God’s kingdom, want us to think they are the ultimate reality. I’m reminded of that old quip about “he’s a self-made man, and he worships his creator” — that’s what the ways of the world are like. They think they are the self-evidently correct, ordained since the beginning of time, or even only possible way things could be. And people uphold them because we can’t see any other way, so we assume it’s true that this is just the way things are, nothing to see here, nothing we can do about it. But ultimately that’s idolatry — the empire worshipping itself as if it’s the only way.
In the light of God’s Word, we see that they are past tense, holding on only by keeping us in the dark. When we see the truth of God’s ongoing life, we can recognise what is truly ultimate reality…and then we can live our lives in light of that reality instead of the one the world so desperately wants us to believe. Some do not see, despite the light shining. Some don’t accept the vision the light reveals. Some choose the shadows, because it’s easier and more profitable. But the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. The light overcomes the confusion and obfuscation, offering clarity we can only describe as grace upon grace.
In which kingdom would we prefer to live? Christ was born to shine the light of truth, not from far off but from right here, as close as God could get — pitching a tent in the back garden, moving in to the kitchen, meeting us at the front door — so that we could see God’s glory, up close and personal. This Christmas, and beyond, may we see, and walk, in the light.
Amen.
Online Hymn: Emmanuel – Living Word (by David MacGregor)
In Person Hymn 308: Behold the great Creator makes (vv. 1, 2, 3, 5)
Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
We take a deep breath and feel your spirit in our lungs, O God.
We feel your breath expanding, filling, stretching us, bringing us to new life.
We give thanks for these bodies you have gifted us.
As we place our hands on our legs,
we are grateful for muscles and joints,
and for assistive devices like sticks and chairs,
that bear heavy loads,
that move us from place to place.
We pray this day for those who feel trapped, unable to move.
We lift up those who are confined to home or hospital,
those who are self-isolating,
those who live with pain in their joints or muscles,
those who mourn the loss of freedom or mobility.
May they be upheld and moved by your strength.
As we place our hands on our stomachs,
we are grateful for all that goes on inside of us, out of sight.
We thank you for all the organs that keep us going,
for the way you have knit us together
and created a body that cares for itself.
We are fearfully and wonderfully made!
We pray this day for those who do not have enough to eat,
whose tummies rumble and whose systems suffer from lack.
We lift up our neighbours who are ill and awaiting tests or treatment,
whose stomachs are full of butterflies and nerves as they wonder what the future holds.
May they be fed and healed by your power.
As we place our hands on our arms, wrapping ourselves in your gift,
we give thanks for the ability to feel, to know you through our senses.
We are grateful for wonder and tenderness, compassion and joy,
there for us to experience in every way.
We pray this day for those who are starved for touch,
who are lonely and longing for a hug.
We lift up those whose senses show them only pain,
who are surrounded by fear or shadows or abuse.
May they be cared for by your love.
Your word is the foundation of reality,
your grace pre-dates history,
and still you choose to reveal yourself to us,
still you call us your children.
We come, longing to see your glory,
praying you will once again speak life into being, O God,
and call us to walk by your light.
We ask in the name of the Word made Flesh, Jesus the Christ,
the light and life of the world, who taught us to pray together:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.
In Person Hymn 313: See! in yonder manger low (vv. 1, 2, 5)
Benediction
May you walk in the light of grace and truth this Christmas. And as you go, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you. May the Spirit of God go beside you to be your companion. May the Spirit of God go before you to show you the way, and behind you to push you into places you might not go alone. And may the Spirit of God go within you to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine. May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. Go in peace. Amen.
Sung Benediction Response (John L Bell, tune Gourock St John’s)
Now may the Lord of all be blessed,
Now may Christ’s gospel be confessed,
Now may the Spirit when we meet
Bless sanctuary and street.
Postlude Music
Announcements
* This Advent our theme is “EmBodied” — encountering the Word Made Flesh, in our own bodies and in our own places where God has planted us.
* Follow your St John’s Embodied Advent Calendar! There’ll be a Facebook Live for some of the St John’s Advent Calendar too.
* Bring your Reverse Advent Calendar donations to church or to the manse and we will get them delivered.
* Christmas worship Schedule:
Longest Night (a quieter Christmas service recognising the darkness in which the Light shines) on 21 December at 7:30pm
Joint services for Christmas Eve at 7:30pm at St. John’s and 11:30pm at Old Gourock and Ashton
Christmas Day, 11am, on ZOOM with all of Connect
Sunday 26 December, 10:30am, joint service with St Ninian’s Larkfield and OGA, at Old Gourock.
* All worship is online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print) and we also meet in person, subject to the usual protocols for distancing, hand hygiene, mask wearing. We can now welcome up to 85-100 people for worship with 1m distancing between households. No booking is required. Masks are required at all times inside the building, including while singing. If you are able, please enter by the front door in Bath street, and only those who need step-free access should use the back door.
* Tonight we will gather with Christians across the nation for evening prayer on the Connect Facebook Page, led tonight by Teri. Log on at 6:58pm to join in.
* The Kirk now has online giving! If you have not already set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online by clicking here. If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Peter Bennett, our treasurer, or Teri and she can give you his details. You can also send your envelopes to the church or the manse by post and we will ensure they are received. Remember: no one is coming to your door to collect your envelopes, so please stay safe!
* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email devotions! Midweek you can watch Wine and the Word on Youtube, pray with video devotions on Facebook, and consider a new angle on something with a devotional email. Feel free to share with your friends, too!
Sunday Service for 5 December 2021, the second Sunday of Advent
5 December 2021, 2nd Sunday of Advent
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse phone: 632143
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
To hear the audio recording of this service, please phone 01475 270037. It’s a local landline number so minutes should be included in your phone plan.
~~~
Prelude Music
Welcome and Announcements
Lighting the Second Advent Candle
Teri: In a time when breath has been short, or dangerous, or obstructed,
we call on the breath of God to fill us and bring us to life.
1: Breathe in the hope that God offers to those who don’t quite know how to hope.
(deep breath)
2: Breathe in the peace that passes all understanding.
(deep breath)
3: Breathe in the winds of the world, the creation itself.
(deep breath)
4: Breathe in the promise of the restoration of community.
(deep breath)
All: God is coming, and the world will never be the same!
~candle is lit~
O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer
our spirits by thine advent here;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
and death’s dark shadows put to flight:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
Prayer
Come, O Breath, come and breathe upon us, that we may live.
When we are feeling disconnected —
from traditions that we have had to lay aside for now,
from people we long to see,
from the creation itself —
reach out and re-member us by your powerful hand.
You are a God who creates and re-creates,
who gets your hands dirty and who puts pieces together
and who takes on flesh and lives in a human body.
You are Holy, yet not far off…
you care about this physical world, your creation,
and you choose to dwell among us in this place.
We confess that we are prone to separating our bodies and spirits,
this world and your kingdom.
We admit that we think of ourselves as different from the rest of your created world,
and that sometimes all that thinking keeps us from being fully present with you in this place. Forgive us when we forget that this life, in all its mess and beauty,
is your gift, blessed by your breath.
Forgive us when we become so separated in mind and body
that we end up numb to your presence among us.
Re-integrate us, that we may know your grace in our very bones.
Bring us up from the dry valley
and set us firmly on your path toward hope and peace,
following the One who was, and is, and is to come.
Amen.
Hymn: O Come, Divine Messiah, Come
Children’s Time (in person only)
Invitation to a Generous Advent
During the season of Advent, many people traditionally open a door of an Advent calendar to find a treat of some kind. This year we are invited to a different kind of advent calendar, in which each day we do something. Connect is gathering together for a Reverse Advent Calendar in which we put something into a box each day, and then those things are donated to the food bank and starter packs — these will be collected at our family film night on Saturday the 18th at 4pm at the Lyle Kirk, or you can bring them to church or the manse that weekend so we can get them to the right people — a tangible way to put Jeremiah’s instruction into practice. St John’s also has an advent calendar to help us explore the them of an EmBodied Advent, and each activity will help us go deeper into living out what we hear in scripture on Sundays. These advent calendars are available in print and online.
As this is also a season of gift giving and generosity, I also encourage us all to consider our spiritual practice of generosity and perhaps to make a special gift to the ministry of the church in this place and time, as we seek to serve our community in new ways that put Jeremiah’s words into practice. You can give a one time gift, change your regular offering, or create a new standing order either by talking to Peter, giving online, or arranging things with your bank. Or if you use envelopes or prefer cash/cheque donations but are not able to join in-person worship at this time, please let us know and we can arrange a collection. Thank you for your generosity, at this time and every time of year, as we try to be faithful to God’s mission for us.
Reading: Ezekiel 37.1-14
Last week we heard from the prophet Jeremiah’s letter to the people who had been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon. That first wave of exile involved the royal family, the nobility, the priests, the artisans and merchants, and other cultural influencers and power people. Included in that group was a priest named Ezekiel. A few years into their exile in Babylon, God showed Ezekiel some very striking visions, and asked him to do some symbolic actions to get the attention of the people who were beginning to lose hope and forget God’s way. Ezekiel’s visions and prophecies are often confusing, full of images that are hard to imagine and sometimes even a bit scary to picture. Remember that a prophet is not someone who sees the future, a prophet is someone who sees with God’s vision…and sometimes that’s hard for us to understand! Today we hear about a conversation between God and Ezekiel that takes place in an unusual location. I am reading from Ezekiel chapter 37, in the New Revised Standard Version.
~~~~
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’ Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’
So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’ I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
Then he said to me, ‘Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.” Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.’
For the word of God in scripture,
For the word of God among us,
For the word of God within us,
Thanks be to God.
Sermon: Not Another Zombie Movie
For a while, a few years ago, it felt like zombies were everywhere in pop culture — zombie movies, the Walking Dead television show, and constant social media memes about the coming zombie apocalypse and who among your friends was most likely to be useful, or get eaten, or whatever.
I have to confess that zombies have never really been my thing…I’m more of the vampire type myself.
Zombies and vampires do have something in common, though: they’re both dead. Or rather, undead. They walk, talk, and have survival instincts, and in many ways act much like normal people, with feelings, thoughts, and even relationships.
On first glance, today’s story seems a bit like a zombie story. God tells Ezekiel to prophesy and bring to life a mass grave full of bones…these bones have been there for so long they’re completely dried up and disconnected, basically just a jumble of bleached bones in a valley, with no sense of who they were or what happened to them, or what their lives had been like.
Remember that Ezekiel was talking to his fellow exiles — people who had been taken from everything they knew, whose homes and Temple and lives had been destroyed, people who were certain that they were alone, abandoned, hopeless. These are the people who gave us the lament “how can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” The light had gone out from their eyes, the songs had fled from their lips, and they may as well have been dried up and dead. Ezekiel’s vision begins in a mass grave, the bones jumbled together and dried out, not even a possibility of hope.
Sometimes life feels like that, doesn’t it? Like we just have nothing left to give, or like nothing is turning out how we imagined. Our dreams seem shattered, our expectations have not been met, and all we can think about is what was, or what should have been…and in comparison, what is and what might be are just not worth singing about.
Or sometimes maybe we feel like Ezekiel — God asked him to prophesy to the bones, even though it seems like bones wouldn’t be able to hear a word he said. They’re just piles of dried up old bones, after all. And Ezekiel found that he didn’t exactly feel hopeful himself…but he wasn’t so hopeless that he just laughed in God’s face either. He said “Oh God, you’re the one who knows what’s possible…” and somehow that tiny smidge of not-hopeful-but-not-completely-hopeless-either was enough for him to speak into that silence where it seemed nothing would make a difference.
When Ezekiel speaks God’s word to the valley full of bones, several things happen. The first step is that God pulls this jumbled mess of bones together, bone to its bone, in the right order so they can be whole. But just a complete skeleton is still not a body. Sure, we might have all the right pieces, but that doesn’t make us ready.
The second step is God putting flesh and sinews—holding together the bones with tendons and ligaments, muscles and fat, organs and tissues. Bones by themselves aren’t much use, really. They only stick together if they’re immobilized, like in a museum. This second step makes movement possible, so we’re not a museum piece, but still not a whole body either—though it’s starting to look familiar!
The third step is God covering the bodies with skin. The largest organ in the body, skin not only holds everything in, but protects too. We may want to get moving, but without skin the body is susceptible to injury, infection, and falling apart. This step may be uncomfortable, because we don’t like boundaries. But without them, bacteria multiply and pieces fall out.
At this point, stuck together with all the right pieces, we’re chomping at the bit, ready to go! This is the moment most of us as both individuals and churches get to, and then we’re off. We look like the body, feel like the body, and feel perfectly put together and prepared. Three steps is just right for our attention span and for our capacity for waiting for God to get to work already.
So we walk around, doing things, trying our best, and still can’t figure out why people aren’t flocking to churches or why there’s a budget deficit or where the families are going. We listened when God called us together, so how come things still aren’t the way they used to be, when children always grew up to be better off than their parents, when we had a strong community with lots of opportunity, when pews and classrooms and offering plates overflowed? God promised to restore us, so why aren’t we reliving the good old days yet?
At this point in the process, we’re not jumbled up skeletons, but not full of life either. That’s still exile. Yes, we go about our daily lives, we do what we’ve always done, we get by…but there’s nothing transformative happening. It’s just day in and day out. We don’t experience life, we’re not touched or changed, we just…are. Just exist. The Israelites in exile seem to have swung between these two positions—dried up and hopeless, and just waiting out life without expectation.
Because at just three steps, that valley is full of zombies. And zombies are, by definition, living in the past. All the undead can do is try to re-live the lives they once had, over and over again.
And the undead are different from the living in one major way:
They don’t breathe.
Scripture tells us over and over, God is a God of the living, not the dead, and not the undead — and God’s word of life points us forward, not backward. God’s promise is not just that we’ll walk through life, but that we’ll breathe life. God’s promise is not just that the bones will organise into skeletons and be covered with flesh and skin, but that they will be filled with breath, coming from the four winds, blowing into their bodies and hearts and minds and souls so that they can love God and love their neighbour with everything they’ve got. God’s promise is not that we’ll be undead, God’s promise is Everlasting Life Abundant, even when we can’t see how it could be possible.
And God keeps promises. Every time. Even impossible ones. Even ones we hesitated to speak, even ones we weren’t sure we could stand to hear. If my options are to go through the motions like a zombie or to feel the stretch and burn of God’s breath in my lungs, I’ll take the breath of life every time.
The Hebrew word for breath is ruach, the same word that’s translated as wind and spirit. When the wind blows, that’s the breath of God. When we breathe, that’s the Spirit of God filling our bodies. The very air we breathe, in other words, is God’s presence, God’s promise, God’s hope, entering our lungs. When God tells Ezekiel to call the breath from the four winds, that’s the Spirit that comes rushing in, from every corner of creation, bringing life and hope and possibility and love — and setting us in motion to live for the future God has planned, rather than simply re-living the past that’s dead and gone.
The first sentence God gives to Ezekiel is “I will cause breath to enter you” and the last is “I will put my Spirit within you.” This entire story is literally filled with the ruach, the breath of God blowing everywhere, in and around and through the people who thought there was no hope, the prophet who spoke even though there was no point, the place that was dead and then undead and then alive. No longer a jumble of bones, no longer zombies, but life in all its fullness — for everyone.
May it be so. Amen.
Hymn 291: When Out of Poverty is Born
When out of poverty is born
a dream that will not die
and landless, weary folk find strength
to stand with heads held high,
it’s then we learn from those who wait
to greet the promised day:
‘The Lord is coming; don’t lose heart.
Be blest: prepare the way!’
When people wander far from God,
forget to share their bread,
they find their wealth an empty thing,
their spirits are not fed.
For only just and tender love
the hungry soul will stay.
And so God’s prophets echo still:
‘Be blest: prepare the way!’
When God took flesh and came to earth,
the world turned upside down,
and in the strength of woman’s faith
the Word of Life was born.
She knew that God would raise the low,
it pleased her to obey.
Rejoice with Mary in the call,
‘Be blest: prepare the way!
Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
You promise peace,
not merely the peace of the grave but the peace of resurrection life.
You restore your people, O God,
and we give you thanks for knitting us together,
piece by piece, thread by thread, bone by bone.
We pray this day for those whose hope is lost,
those who feel cut off,
those who have been left behind or left out,
those whose lives have dried up from the inside out.
Lift them in your hand, hold them close, and bring them to your heart.
We pray this day for those who speak words of encouragement they do not yet feel,
those who share good news they can’t allow themselves to hope,
those who look through half-open eyes at the future you are creating, even now.
Put your breath in them, and your word in their hearts, and give them a glimpse of your vision.
We pray this day for those who can’t get a deep breath,
whose anxiety or grief or illness makes it impossible to fill their lungs,
who live in danger or uncertainty that makes it safer to hold their breath.
Set them free from constraint and fear, heal them in body, soul, and situation.
Hymn 303 verse 4
And you, beneath life’s crushing load
whose forms are bending low,
who toil along the climbing way
with painful steps and slow,
look now! for glad and golden hours
come swiftly on the wing;
oh, rest beside the weary road,
and hear the angels sing.
We pray this day for your creation,
winds and waters and mountains and valleys,
for the gifts it gives in supporting us,
and for the burden it bears under our weight.
May your breath revive your earth as well as your people.
When we don’t know how to hope, you lead us.
When we can’t see our way to peace, you lead us.
When we feel dismembered and alone, you lead us.
We give you thanks for you always keep your promise.
Hymn 303 verse 5
For lo! the days are hastening on,
by prophet bards foretold,
when, with the ever-rolling years,
still dawns the Age of Gold,
when peace shall over all the earth
its ancient splendours fling,
and all the world give back the song
which now the angels sing.
We bring our gratitude and longing to you,
in the name of the One who embodies your truth, Jesus the Christ,
who taught us to pray together:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.
Benediction
Take a deep breath, and feel the Holy Spirit bringing you to fullness of life, setting you in motion to move forward into God’s future. Take a deep breath, and get ready to speak God’s word even into the most hopeless of situations. And as you go, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you. May the Spirit of God go beside you to be your companion. May the Spirit of God go before you to show you the way, and behind you to push you into places you might not go alone. And may the Spirit of God go within you to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine. May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. Go in peace. Amen.
Sung Benediction Response (John L Bell, tune Gourock St John’s)
Now may the Lord of all be blessed,
Now may Christ’s gospel be confessed,
Now may the Spirit when we meet
Bless sanctuary and street.
Postlude Music
Announcements
* This Advent our theme is “EmBodied” — encountering the Word Made Flesh, in our own bodies and in our own places where God has planted us.
* Follow your St John’s Embodied Advent and your Connect Reverse Advent Calendars! There’ll be a Facebook Live for most of the St John’s Advent Calendar too.
* The Youth Organisations are again running the Christmas Post — drop cards in at the church on the 5th or 12th of December for delivery by the 19th to addresses in Gourock and Greenock West End, 30p per card with all proceeds going to youth ministry. If you can’t get to the church, let us know and we may be able to make arrangements to collect!
* Connect is hosting a family film night on 18 December at 4pm at the Lyle Kirk (Union Street). Bring your Reverse Advent Calendar with you so we can take the donations to the Foodbank and Starter Packs!
* Mark your calendars for Christmas worship: Longest Night (a quieter Christmas service recognising the darkness in which the Light shines) on 21 December at 7:30pm Joint services for Christmas Eve at 7:30pm at St. John’s and 11:30pm at Old Gourock and Ashton Christmas Day, 11am, on ZOOM with all of Connect Sunday 26 December, 10:30am, joint service with St Ninian’s Larkfield and OGA, at Old Gourock.
* All worship is online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print) and we also meet in person, subject to the usual protocols for distancing, hand hygiene, mask wearing. We can now welcome up to 85-100 people for worship with 1m distancing between households. No booking is required. Masks are required at all times inside the building, including while singing. If you are able, please enter by the front door in Bath street, and only those who need step-free access should use the back door.
* Tonight we will gather with Christians across the nation for evening prayer on the Connect Facebook Page, led tonight by David. Log on at 6:58pm to join in.
* The Kirk now has online giving! If you have not already set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online by clicking here. If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Peter Bennett, our treasurer, or Teri and she can give you his details. You can also send your envelopes to the church or the manse by post and we will ensure they are received. Remember: no one is coming to your door to collect your envelopes, so please stay safe!
* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email devotions! Midweek you can watch Wine and the Word on Youtube, pray with video devotions on Facebook, and consider a new angle on something with a devotional email. Feel free to share with your friends, too!
Sunday Service for 20 December 2020, fourth Sunday of Advent
Worship for 20 December 2020, 4th Sunday of Advent
Prepared by the Rev. Teri Peterson, Gourock St John’s
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland (dot) org (dot) uk
~~~
Hymn #303: It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
Reading, Sermon, Prayers
Hymn: My Soul Cries Out With A Joyful Shout (Canticle of the Turning)
~~~~~~
Lighting the Fourth Advent Candle
In the darkest times we cannot see to make our way…
our eyes adjust, but still everything is shadowed and grey.
We reach out, desperate
for comfort
for balance
for the familiar
for hope
In the darkest times,
even a faltering light can be just enough:
the flame flickers, twinkles, dances—and it is dazzling!
For in its light, we see light: God in our midst.
~Candle is lit~
However impossible it seems,
God’s promise will be fulfilled —
and blessed is the one who sees the truth of God’s kingdom in our midst.
Come, O come, Emmanuel, God with us, and we will rejoice.
Reading: Luke 1.46-56
Today we pick up right where we left off last week, with Mary visiting her relative Elizabeth. They’re both pregnant and Elizabeth has blessed Mary for her trust in God’s word to her. I’m reading from the gospel according to Luke, chapter 1, beginning at verse 46, from the New Revised Standard Version.
And Mary said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’
And Mary remained with her for about three months and then returned to her home.
For the word of God in scripture,
For the word of God among us,
For the word of God within us,
Thanks be to God.
Sermon: Mary Sings
This week I read a startling news article. Did you know that 2020 is the year that human-made things literally outweighed nature? This is the year that all the stuff we have created — our built environment of concrete and metal and glass, machinery, waste, everything we own — all of that now weighs more than all the entire biomass of the earth. Plastic alone weighs more than all the animals on land and sea! And the vast majority of that mass has been created since the second World War.
Reading about this definitely gave me pause when I was shopping for Christmas gifts. How can we celebrate the Christ who turns everything upside down and at the same time not add to this heavy footprint on God’s beloved creation?
I also had Mary’s song at the front of my mind as I was reading about the study titled “poverty linked to higher risk of Covid death” showing that those living in poorer health board areas of Scotland were more likely to have severe cases of Covid requiring intensive care, and because fewer critical care beds were available in those areas, people in economically deprived areas are more likely to die. We’ve seen the effects of that in Inverclyde through this pandemic, and the statistics nationwide bear out that more poor and disadvantaged people are dying—both from Covid and from other things going untreated as the health service tries to cope.
And again, the news this week is full of the epidemic of drug misuse in Scotland, and here in Inverclyde a rising rate of drug use and deaths. Of course we know that drugs and deprivation go hand in hand, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to us.
Into the middle of this reality, where hope seems impossible, Mary sings.
Like all of us, she begins from her own personal experience. Though she was not a person of power or status or wealth, just a poor teenager in an out-of-the-way town in an occupied land, God noticed her. God loved her. God called her. And she sang of her gratitude, her awe and wonder, her praise. This thing that God had done — called her to be a prophet and the mother of the Messiah — would not be easy, yet she said that God had done great things for her! She may have been scared, as anyone in her position would be, but her confidence in God’s goodness was enough to raise her voice.
And then, halfway through, Mary recognises that her own personal experience, her own little life that has been unremarkable, is also part of something bigger. Something that God has been doing for a long time, and will continue to do through her and her son, and on into the future: upend the systems of this world and make them look more like the kingdom of God.
From generation to generation, God works with power and mercy, through the lowliest and the marginalised, to fulfil the promise that changes everything: scatters the proud, brings down the powerful, and sends the rich away empty, while lifting up the lowly and filling the hungry with good things.
This is the Word that becomes flesh in Jesus. This is the promise that Mary is bearing in her body, the fruit of her faithfulness. This is who God is and what God does — from the earliest days of scripture to the very end of the book and beyond.
I wonder how many of us would join Mary in praising God for these things … given that we are far more likely to be the proud, powerful, and rich in this scenario? We are, globally speaking, at the top of this system that God is turning upside down. We are the ones whose lifestyles have created a situation where our stuff weighs down God’s creation. We are the ones who stand at arms length from the realities of deprivation and wring our hands and make a donation here and there and pray for something to change.
We should be careful what we pray for, because the song Mary sings is definitely about change. It’s about an upending of a system that is, frankly, immoral and against the values of God’s kingdom. Which is not to say that those of us who benefit from the system are bad, but rather that the entire system is. We can’t even claim that it’s broken, because the reality is that it’s working exactly as it’s been designed — to privilege the few at the expense of the many, to lift up some on the backs of others. And that system is exactly what God in the flesh will challenge, insisting on valuing every person as a beloved child of God, deserving of enough to eat and inclusion in the community and compassionate care…and that challenge is what will get him killed by the powers that do not want to be scattered or sent away empty. But the Mighty One who looks with favour on Mary will not be thwarted. Not this time, not ever. This is a promise that cannot be broken, and God will find a way to fulfil it, even if it means breaking the power of death to do it.
If this is what God is doing in Christ, then we who are called the Body of Christ had better be ready to be a part of it. If we celebrate Christmas and then nothing is different afterwards, we haven’t celebrated the Messiah that Mary is singing about today. Her words echo through the generations calling us to the kind of impossible Christmas that changes the world. What does the Word of God Incarnate have to say to those who live in such dire poverty that drugs seem the only comfort? Or to those who get richer while the poor get poorer? What does the community of those who love Mary’s son have to say to those who care more about their ability to shelter money in tax havens than about the lack of critical care beds in our hospital? How does the magnificat sound to the earth that groans under the weight of our economy’s need for constant consumption?
I’m sure I’m not alone in wishing Christmas was just about celebrating a birth and then getting back to normal life, just like any other birthday party. But what God is doing in Christ is saving the earth and all that is in it, even if that means saving us from ourselves. This is an act of love so monumental that it turns everything upside down. Who are we to wish that God would…what, love us a little less so we could go on as before? It’s impossible for God to do anything but love, and to fulfil promises, and this is the promise that makes Mary rejoice and that hopefully brings us the same kind of joyful commitment to God’s call that we, too, will be willing to bear God’s word in our bodies—and into the world that is desperate for the good news to be more than just pretty words or songs or cards or presents.
May it be so. Amen.
Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer
God who has created and is creating,
through all of history you have been making things new.
Your vision of justice and peace, compassion and community,
has always been and will always be.
Remember your mercy, O God,
and fulfil your promise of new life for all.
In this season when we prepare for your coming among us in the flesh,
we pray for all who cannot afford to wait any longer for justice —
for those yearning for peace;
for those facing holidays with an empty stomach;
for those whose physical and mental health is suffering;
for those whose Christmas list asks only for a safe place to call home.
Remember your mercy, O God,
and fulfil your promise of new life for all.
We pray too for those at the other end of the Magnificat —
for the rich, that they may learn true generosity;
for the full, that they may know the gift of emptying;
for the powerful, that they may use their position to do justice;
for the proud, that they may experience wonder and extend grace.
Remember your mercy, O God,
and fulfil your promise of new life for all.
We give you thanks, living God,
for your faithful people who have taught us your way.
For those who have recognised your work in our lives,
offering encouragement and blessing when we most needed it.
We thank you for friendship unconfined by generation,
for voices that cause our spirits to leap,
for the family of faith that nudges us to the next step on your path.
Remember your mercy, O God,
and fulfil your promise of new life for all.
Nothing will be impossible with you,
and so we ask for the blessing of trust that we might follow wherever you lead,
in the name of the One who is making all things new, Jesus the Christ,
who taught us to pray together
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever.
Amen.
Benediction
Go into your week committed to God’s call, to bear the word of God into a world that needs the good news to be lived and enacted by us all. And as you go, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you; may the Spirit of God go beside you to be your companion; may the Spirit of God go before you to show you the way and behind you to push you into places you might not go alone; and may the Spirit of God go within you, to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine. May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. Go in peace. Amen.
Announcements
* If you would like to attend in-person worship in the sanctuary, you will need to book a place as we can only safely accommodate 35 people at a time under current distancing guidelines. Please phone Cameron (630879) on a Friday morning between 10-12 or Anne Love (07904 617283) on a Saturday morning between 10-12 to book in for that Sunday. If we reach our capacity, you’ll be given the first seats the following week.
Inside the church: face coverings must be worn, you may give your offering at the door rather than by passing it through the rows, we will ask you to sit in a particular seat to ensure everyone’s safety as there is a one-way system in place, and the service will be around half an hour with no singing but with instrumental music. Families are welcome, and children should stay in the service for the whole half hour — there will be a children’s time for them though! If you’ve been out of the area in the past 2 weeks, or if you have any symptoms that could be covid, please plan to worship online rather than in person.
If the government Tiers or regulations change, that could affect our services. Should that happen, we will contact everyone who is booked in for a service, and will use all our regular communication channels to advise of any new restrictions or procedures or plans.
* Online and audio recording-by-phone (call 01475 270037 to listen to the service) worship will continue, and the print version will continue to be available on request.
* The theme for Advent is “The Blessings of an (Im)possible Christmas.” You may want to have a candle handy when you worship at home during Advent, so you can join in the Advent Candle Lighting.
In addition, there is a daily devotional for Advent, written by members of the congregation. Print copies are available, and it is also posted each day on our Facebook page.
Teri will be doing a “carol calendar” throughout Advent via Facebook Live, too!
Christmas Services:
We will have online services for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the first Sunday of Christmas (27 December, led by the Moderator of the General Assembly, no in-person worship that day).
We will also have an in-person Christmas Eve service at 7pm, with all the usual protocols in place — please book by phoning/texting/emailing Teri no later than 21 December (manse: 632143, mobile 07549866888, email tpeterson@churchofscotland.org.uk).
* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email devotions! Midweek you can watch Wine and the Word on Youtube, pray with video devotions on Facebook, and consider a new angle on something with a devotional email. Feel free to share with your friends, too!
The Boys Brigade is again meeting in the large hall — if you know any boys from P1 – S6 who would like to explore what it’s all about, please contact Alan Aitken: alanandrewaitken at gmail dot com. There are spaces available in all sections (Junior Section on Mondays at 7pm, Anchor Boys on Tuesdays at 5:30pm, Company Section on Fridays at 7:30pm). The Guides are working on their plans and hope to start up after Christmas. For information, contact Gillian Dick: gndick at hotmail dot com.
No other organisations or groups are currently using our halls, so that we have time to adequately clean and ensure the space is safe for everyone. This will be reviewed after Christmas.
The Kirk now has online giving! If you have not already set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online. If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Peter Bennett, our treasurer, or Teri and she can give you his details. You can also send your envelopes to the church by post or with a neighbour who is coming to in-person worship and we will ensure they are received. Remember: no one is coming to your door to collect your envelopes, so please stay safe!
Sunday service for 13 December 2020, third Sunday of Advent
Worship for 13 December 2020, 3rd Sunday of Advent
Prepared by the Rev. Teri Peterson, Gourock St John’s
Email: tpeterson at churchofscotland dot org dot uk
Reflection Music to Begin Worship: Hymn #285 The Angel Gabriel
Hymn #287: No Wind At The Window
Reading, Sermon, Prayers
Hymn 320: Joy to the World
classical version
or praise band version!
Lighting the Third Advent Candle
In the darkest times we cannot see to make our way…
our eyes adjust, but still everything is shadowed and grey.
We reach out, desperate
for comfort
for balance
for the familiar
for hope
In the darkest times,
even a faltering light can be just enough:
the flame flickers, twinkles, dances—and it is dazzling!
For in its light, we see light: God in our midst.
~Candle is lit~
However impossible it seems,
here we are, the servants of the Lord, both perplexed and joyful —
and blessed is the one who trusts that with God all things are possible.
Come, O come, Emmanuel, God with us, and we will rejoice.
Reading: Luke 1.26-45
Today we transition from a season of reading from the Old Testament to the New, beginning the gospel according to Luke, which we will read from now until Easter.
The first two chapters of Luke’s gospel are like an overture, setting the scene for the story of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection. Luke’s primary themes are all present in the overture, so we have a hint of what is to come.
Luke begins with the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, who are elderly and childless. Zechariah is a priest who receives a visit from the angel Gabriel, telling him that Elizabeth will bear a son and they are to name him John. Zechariah is doubtful, and Gabriel takes away his ability to speak until John is born. Today’s reading from Luke chapter 1 begins at verse 26, six months after Elizabeth became pregnant. I am reading from the New Revised Standard Version.
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.
In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’
For the word of God in scripture,
For the word of God among us,
For the word of God within us,
Thanks be to God.
Sermon: Three Wise Women
Every single time I read this story, I think about how much Gabriel sounds like an alien when he greets Mary. Instead of “hello” he says “greetings favoured one” — and she was much perplexed. Of course she was perplexed — who talks like that? Even in ancient Palestine, I’m fairly certain people did not go around saying “greetings favoured one” to each other.
Aside from the strange stilted alien phrase, though, there’s more to be perplexed about. Why does the angel address her as “favoured”? She must have wondered what he was talking about, or if he had picked the wrong girl. After all, she was betrothed but not yet married, likely a young teenager. In Nazareth the tradition says that Gabriel met Mary at the well — a tradition which connects Mary to a long line of women in the Old Testament whose marriages were made at the well, including Rebekah who became the wife of Isaac, Rachel and Jacob, and Moses’ wife Zipporah. While Mary would know those stories, she would never have expected to be part of one! She was a poor teenager from a nondescript family in a town far from the centres of power, in an occupied land. For an angel to address her as “favoured” would be confusing indeed — favoured by whom? In what sense? Not in any of the usual ways.
While she was still pondering this strange word, Gabriel explained that actually, he meant favoured by God. He doesn’t say why, though. What was it about Mary that drew God’s attention? She wasn’t anybody important, just a girl at the well. But she barely had time to think that thought before Gabriel said she was going to be a mother!
So often our pictures of Mary are of a quiet, shy girl who keeps her eyes down and submits to whatever she’s told. But Mary’s first out-loud question proves her to be a bit more practical than we usually give her credit for. She wants to know how this is going to work — the mechanics of the situation. She doesn’t yet live with her husband-to-be, so…what’s the next step?
Gabriel’s answer that she’s going to be filled with the cloud of God’s presence, like the cloud that filled the Temple when it was built, or like the cloud that covered Mount Sinai, may or may not have been very comforting. But as Gabriel insisted that nothing is impossible with God, Mary spoke up again: Here am I, the servant of the Lord.
A lot of prophets have answered God with this same phrase — in Hebrew it’s “hineini”. Here am I. Moses says it, and Samuel, and Isaiah — and all of them said it before God actually told them what he was calling them to do. This is the answer of someone who trusts their relationship with God enough to say yes, even though the fullness of the task is not yet clear to them.
Mary is the first woman to ever be recorded saying “hineini” in response to God’s call. She agrees to carry God’s Son, without yet knowing the full picture of what that will mean — including the risks to her own physical health, to her safety in her family and community, or the challenges of parenting, let alone parenting the son of God! Like the prophets before her, she trusts God, and that will have to be enough even though she doesn’t have a map.
Gabriel did give her a hint, though, when he mentioned Elizabeth. Mary headed straight there, apparently by herself, to get some advice from her older relative. It was a fair distance from Nazareth into the hill country, which is the area that includes Jerusalem and Bethlehem and other surrounding villages. When she arrived, Elizabeth too joined the ranks of the prophets, filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking truths neither she nor Mary understand yet. Over the next three months they will have many such conversations, passing knowledge from generation to generation, sharing the experience of growing a world-changing child in their bodies, blessing each other with the companionship of women while the men of the story are silent on the sidelines.
I originally titled this sermon “Three Wise Women” as a balance to the wise men of Epiphany. Those travellers came from afar and symbolise the whole world recognising the Messiah who has been born…but before those wise men can set out on their journey, before the star shines in the sky, before any of the Christmas story can take place, we need the three wise women of this story first! And I can hear you wondering, because there are only two women named in the story. Of course Mary was wise enough to trust God’s impossible word. And Elizabeth wise enough to recognise God at work in and through Mary’s life. And the third….is the Holy Spirit! In the Hebrew of the Old Testament and the Aramaic which Mary and Elizabeth spoke, the word for Spirit is a feminine noun, ruach, so would usually use the pronoun “she” or “her”—and even better, in the Old Testament the Spirit is sometimes personified as God’s wisdom, and so the third wise one appears in the story! God’s Spirit fills Elizabeth and she speaks God’s wisdom.
I particularly love Elizabeth’s last Spirit-filled line: “blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
How often we need this encouragement! From one generation to another, to be reminded of the blessing that is born of trust, even in something that seems impossible. It’s a blessing that only asks we take the next step, even if we aren’t sure what the one after will be. Mary says “here I am” and then visits Elizabeth, and slowly the path begins to unfold before her, one step at a time. And it turns out that what seemed impossible before isn’t really, because with God, nothing is impossible.
Perhaps in this season where so much normality feels out of reach, we too can trust God enough to take just the next step and see what God unfolds after that. Or perhaps this is a season when we are the ones who are called to speak with the Spirit’s voice and encourage those who are struggling with what the next step might be. Whether that’s across the generations or across other divides, can we reach out to one another and find the blessing together?
May it be so. Amen.
Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer
From generation to generation,
your world-changing grace passes, O God —
one to another, telling the story
and sharing the hope.
You send messengers to young girls
and fill old women with your Spirit,
you speak through songs and dreams,
and even when we are perplexed
you entrust us with your Word.
May we, today,
believe there will be a fulfilment of your promise.
May we, today,
have the courage to take the next step
even when the whole path is unclear.
May we, today,
be ready for your disruptive blessing
for us and for the world.
In the midst of all the difficulties,
we pray you would send your peace.
In the midst of all the grief,
we pray you would send your comfort.
In the midst of all the uncertainty,
we pray you would guide us.
We are grateful for your gifts this season,
especially for the gift of scientists
and their perseverance and cooperation,
as they have sought ways to bring an end to the pandemic.
We thank you for their hard work
that has brought the first vaccines.
We thank you for those who have supported them,
at home, in the scientific community, in government,
and those who have worked so hard
in health care to save lives up to this point.
When it seemed impossible,
they trusted that they could take the next step
toward your bigger picture of health and wholeness for all.
We thank you for all who have sacrificed so much during this time,
for the ways people have showed love for their neighbours near and far.
We thank you for the unexpected gift
of time and space to evaluate our priorities.
We pray for the courage to insist
on a healthier future for all your people,
to advocate for those who are
suffering under austerity and from isolation,
to reach out to those who have been pushed to the margins,
to work for a day when all can live without fear.
We hear you calling, O God,
and we want to be the ones who say “here I am”
even if we’re nervous about what you might ask of us.
Remind us again that nothing is impossible with you,
and that your blessing will carry us through.
We ask these and all things in the power of the Holy Spirit
and in the name of Christ, the coming king,
who taught us to pray together:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever.
Amen.
Benediction
Go into your week trusting that the blessing of the first step will carry you forward into God’s future, remembering that nothing is impossible with God! And as you go, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you; may the Spirit of God go beside you to be your companion; may the Spirit of God go before you to show you the way and behind you to push you into places you might not go alone; and may the Spirit of God go within you, to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine. May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. Go in peace. Amen.
Announcements
* Young Adult Bible Study meets on Zoom at 1pm (BYOPizza). We are reading chapter 12 of Revelation today! If you’d like login information, contact Teri.
* If you would like to attend in-person worship in the sanctuary, you will need to book a place as we can only safely accommodate 35 people at a time under current distancing guidelines. Please phone Cameron (630879) on a Friday morning between 10-12 or Anne Love (07904 617283) on a Saturday morning between 10-12 to book in for that Sunday. If we reach our capacity, you’ll be given the first seats the following week.
Inside the church: face coverings must be worn, you may give your offering at the door rather than by passing it through the rows, we will ask you to sit in a particular seat to ensure everyone’s safety as there is a one-way system in place, and the service will be around half an hour with no singing but with instrumental music. Families are welcome, and children should stay in the service for the whole half hour — there will be a children’s time for them though! If you’ve been out of the area in the past 2 weeks, or if you have any symptoms that could be covid, please plan to worship online rather than in person.
If the government Tiers or regulations change, that could affect our services. Should that happen, we will contact everyone who is booked in for a service, and will use all our regular communication channels to advise of any new restrictions or procedures or plans.
* Online and audio recording-by-phone (call 01475 270037 to listen to the service) worship will continue, and the print version will continue to be available on request.
* The theme for Advent is “The Blessings of an (Im)possible Christmas.” You may want to have a candle handy when you worship at home during Advent, so you can join in the Advent Candle Lighting.
In addition, there is a daily devotional for Advent, written by members of the congregation. Print copies are available, and it is also posted each day on our Facebook page.
Teri will be doing a “carol calendar” throughout Advent via Facebook Live, too!
Christmas Services:
We will have online services for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the first Sunday of Christmas (27 December, led by the Moderator of the General Assembly, no in-person worship that day).
We will also have an in-person Christmas Eve service at 7pm, with all the usual protocols in place — please book by phoning/texting/emailing Teri no later than 21 December (manse: 632143, mobile 07549866888, email tpeterson@churchofscotland.org.uk).
* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email devotions! Midweek you can watch Wine and the Word on Youtube, pray with video devotions on Facebook, and consider a new angle on something with a devotional email. Feel free to share with your friends, too!
The Boys Brigade is again meeting in the large hall — if you know any boys from P1 – S6 who would like to explore what it’s all about, please contact Alan Aitken: alanandrewaitken at gmail dot com. There are spaces available in all sections (Junior Section on Mondays at 7pm, Anchor Boys on Tuesdays at 5:30pm, Company Section on Fridays at 7:30pm). The Guides are working on their plans and hope to start up after Christmas. For information, contact Gillian Dick: gndick at hotmail dot com.
No other organisations or groups are currently using our halls, so that we have time to adequately clean and ensure the space is safe for everyone. This will be reviewed after Christmas.
The Kirk now has online giving! If you have not already set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online. If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Peter Bennett, our treasurer, or Teri and she can give you his details. You can also send your envelopes to the church by post or with a neighbour who is coming to in-person worship and we will ensure they are received. Remember: no one is coming to your door to collect your envelopes, so please stay safe!
Sunday Service for 29 November 2020, the first Sunday of Advent
29 November 2020, First Sunday of Advent
Worship prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson,
St. John’s Church of Scotland, Gourock
Contact: tpeterson at churchofscotland dot org dot uk
Music: O Come O Come Emmanuel
Reading, Sermon, Prayers
Hymn 291: When Out of Poverty is Born
~~~~~
Lighting the First Advent Candle
In the darkest times we cannot see to make our way…
our eyes adjust, but still everything is shadowed and grey.
We reach out, desperate
for comfort
for balance
for the familiar
for hope
In the darkest times,
even a faltering light can be just enough:
the flame flickers, twinkles, dances—and it is dazzling!
For in its light, we see light: God in our midst.
~Candle is lit~
However impossible it seems,
God’s mercy is from everlasting to everlasting,
and blessed is the one gifted with God’s vision.
Come, O come, Emmanuel, God with us, and we will rejoice.
Hymn: O Come O Come Emmanuel
Children’s Time
Reading: Joel 2.12-16, 26-29 New Revised Standard Version
The prophet Joel was a learned interpreter of sacred text—he quotes the Torah and other prophets many times in his short book. He spoke to people in Jerusalem, warning them of the consequences of not following God’s way, and painting beautiful word pictures of God’s promise and faithfulness. Today’s reading from chapter 2 begins with the words “Yet even now” which signal a big change, a complete turnaround, that needs immediate attention. I am reading from the New Revised Standard Version.
Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
and relents from punishing.
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain-offering and a drink-offering
for the Lord, your God?
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sanctify a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
gather the people.
Sanctify the congregation;
assemble the aged;
gather the children,
even infants at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her canopy.
You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other.
And my people shall never again
be put to shame.
Then afterwards
I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female slaves,
in those days, I will pour out my spirit.
Sermon: Yet Even Now (Blessings of an Impossible Christmas 1)
This may seem like a strange reading to start the season of Advent. We don’t read from Joel very often, though bits and pieces might sound familiar from other times of year — sometimes at the beginning of Lent we hear the call to “rend your hearts and not your clothing” and of course Peter’s sermon on the first Pentecost quoted this bit about “I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.” Maybe Advent was feeling left out, and didn’t want to be the only season with nothing from the prophet Joel!
The first chapter of the book of Joel describes a nation losing hope — he talks about a plague of locusts, which could be about ecological destruction or a metaphor for an invading army, which brings its own kind of environmental damage. The first chapter of Joel is all about a land that has been ravaged and has nothing left to offer, and a people who don’t see their own part in bringing the story to this point or how they can play a role in the unfolding of God’s future story either. The world was turned upside down and everything was uncertain.
And that is when Joel says: Yet even now.
Even now, when you’re anxious and worried.
Even now, when it feels like you have nothing to offer.
Even now, as you try to figure out how to manage everything going on.
Even now, with this situation and these rules and restrictions and under these circumstances.
Even now, when it feels impossible.
Yet even now, says the Lord…return to me with all your heart.
Your heart that has been broken again and again in this season — as we have had loss upon loss, of life, of livelihood, of relationship, of security, of celebrations, of hope, of time. Bring it all.
And then…though it feels like our hearts can’t take anymore, God invites us to be broken open one more time. But this time it’s just that, a breaking open— a chance for all that is in us to be revealed, and for all that God offers us to be received.
In that open space, God will leave a blessing, even if we aren’t sure what that means just yet.
But isn’t that just what Advent is about? An opening, a making space, a preparation for God to come into the world and do a new thing. An impossible new thing, the divine becoming human, taking on flesh and living among us…even now.
The prophet called the people to come and worship, in the midst of all the devastations of the year — and remember, worship involved bringing offerings of the land to the Temple. But there was nothing to offer, the land was ruined, the crops and animals gone. They were empty-handed. They could not worship the way they were used to…but still all of them, even the people usually left out, were to bring what they had: their hearts, their minds, their strength, all broken open. God would take care of the rest, though maybe not in quite the way they expected.
Perhaps this is not such a strange reading for Advent after all.
This year when so much we are used to feels impossible, God is still calling us to break open and make space…to turn to God with all our heart, and find that there is a blessing we never expected, poured out.
Into all those open hearts, God was pouring out the Spirit — not just on church people, not just on leaders, not just men, not just adults, not just on those who were ready or worthy — on all flesh. God coming to earth wasn’t just for some, but for all. We might hear the word from strangers or outsiders, we might hear it coming from our own mouths, we might hear God speaking through the people on the lowest rung of society, in a different accent or a completely different way of communicating. Joel calls us to be ready, to open our hearts to receive the truth that God is in our midst — even if God comes in a peasant baby born to an unwed teenage mother in a borrowed stable in an occupied foreign territory.
This Advent season, can we stand to break open our hearts one more time? To listen for the voice of the Spirit coming from unexpected quarters, in the midst of a devastated land?
Perhaps we might listen for the Spirit speaking through those who show us our complicity in that devastation — something the people of Joel’s time couldn’t see, and something we too often turn away from. When we recognise our part in the destruction of the land we can also recognise our part in its healing — the visions poured out on the young and the old can show us a way forward for living in harmony with creation.
Perhaps we might listen for the Spirit speaking through those who are imagining a way of worship that meets the challenges of a new day and a new generation — in Joel’s time they were forced to change because they physically could not do what they use to do. How familiar that feels today! Will the visions and prophesies poured out on young and old show us a path toward encountering God anew?
Yet even now, says the Lord: return to me with all your heart.
Yet even now, says the Lord: you shall know that I am in your midst.
Yet even now, says the Lord: I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.
This may be an Advent and Christmas like no other…but in the most important way, it’s the same as ever: in the disruption, in the darkness, in the wondering and the waiting, Emmanuel, God is with us.
May it be so. Amen.
Hymn#291: When Out Of Poverty Is Born
Prayer
Come, O come, God, and be with us.
We are longing for your presence
in the midst of all that is going on this year.
Our preparations look different,
our plans are scaled down,
our hopes and dreams and visions uncertain.
Still you promise, though.
You promise that when we turn to you,
we will find you were already here.
You promise to come and dwell with us,
to open our eyes and hearts to see and know your grace.
We pray this day that you will be faithful to that promise,
and help us to be faithful to your call in return.
Through the shadows, we hear your voice of grace and mercy, Holy One.
You call all people to yourself, and we are unprepared.
We confess that rending our clothing is easy,
for we are accustomed to performing outward displays.
Rending our hearts is harder.
We do not want to feel exposed —
not even to you, and especially not to the others you call.
We admit that we are wary of your spirit being poured on all flesh,
that we are not sure about those people we don’t know,
who are outside our community
(or outside our institutional control)
speaking your word to us.
We confess that we’d like your visions and dreams to be safe
and confined to the story we already know and love,
that children can act out while we snap photos —
and edit them —
to show our friends.
Rending our image is hard, O God.
Allowing others to speak words that challenge our image of you is harder.
Forgive us.
Give us courage to be honest with you and one another,
and to find your blessing in the midst of that truth.
We give you thanks for your mercy and steadfast love,
seen in your creation and your continued call.
We thank you for the blessing of your voice,
and even more for your Word made flesh,
born on the margins,
teaching words some did not want to hear,
healing those overlooked,
dying at the hands of the state,
rising to embody your power of life,
and coming again even now as prince of peace.
We pray for your peace and justice,
your healing and hope,
your comfort and compassion
for all who are in need in this season.
And we pray you would open our ears and minds and hearts
to hear you crying out from the earth and its people —
in Yemen, Syria, and Afghanistan, as violence and hunger collide,
in Ethiopia and Nigeria as war inches closer
across central America after devastating hurricanes,
in India and Taiwan amidst protests,
in hospitals and care homes, schools and offices, where people worry and wait for relief,
and in every place where your people are suffering.
May all see your vision and dream your dreams.
May all know and live as if you are indeed our God.
And may we, your church, be made
into a blessing that finds its way into every open space,
that we may indeed rejoice in the name of the One who is coming in the flesh.
We ask these and all things in the name of Jesus the Christ,
who taught us to pray together,
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever.
Amen.
Benediction
As you go into this Advent season, may your heart be open to receive whatever blessing God has for you, and may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you; may the Spirit of God go beside you to be your companion; may the Spirit of God go before you to show you the way and behind you to push you into places you might not go alone; and may the Spirit of God go within you, to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine. May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. Go in peace. Amen.
Announcements
* The theme for Advent is “The Blessings of an Impossible Christmas.” You may want to have a candle handy when you worship at home during Advent, so you can join in the Advent Candle Lighting.
In addition, there is a daily devotional for Advent, written by members of the congregation. Print copies are available, and it is also posted each day on our Facebook page.
Teri will be doing a “carol calendar” throughout Advent via Facebook Live, too! So Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email devotions! Midweek you can watch Wine and the Word on Youtube, pray with video devotions on Facebook, and consider a new angle on something with a devotional email. Feel free to share with your friends, too!
* The Gourock churches are sponsoring a Christmas Window competition for those who live in Gourock! The theme is Christmas Carols — so choose a carol, decorate a street-facing window in that theme, and send in your entry form by 10 December! The judging begins on the 11th and prizes will be announced later the following week. We may not be able to sing together at a carol service, but we can have a visual carol service as we walk around our neighbourhoods, so let’s make the whole town festive together! You can enter online here, or you can get a paper entry form and either snap a photo and email it in, or return it to the manse.
* If you would like to attend in-person worship in the sanctuary, you will need to book a place as we can only safely accommodate 35 people at a time under current distancing guidelines. Please phone Cameron (630879) on a Friday morning between 10-12 or Anne Love (07904 617283) on a Saturday morning between 10-12 to book in for that Sunday. If we reach our capacity, you’ll be given the first seats the following week.
Inside the church: face coverings must be worn, you may give your offering at the door rather than by passing it through the rows, we will ask you to sit in a particular seat to ensure everyone’s safety as there is a one-way system in place, and the service will be around half an hour with no singing but with instrumental music. Families are welcome, and children should stay in the service for the whole half hour — there will be a children’s time for them though! If you’ve been out of the area in the past 2 weeks, or if you have any symptoms that could be covid, please plan to worship online rather than in person.
If the government Tiers or regulations change, that could affect our services. Should that happen, we will contact everyone who is booked in for a service, and will use all our regular communication channels to advise of any new restrictions or procedures or plans.
Online and audio recording-by-phone (call 01475 270037 to listen to the service) worship will continue, and the print version will continue to be available on request.
* The Boys Brigade is again meeting in the large hall — if you know any boys from P1 – S6 who would like to explore what it’s all about, please contact Alan Aitken: alanandrewaitken at gmail dot com. There are spaces available in all sections (Junior Section on Mondays at 7pm, Anchor Boys on Tuesdays at 5:30pm, Company Section on Fridays at 7:30pm). The Guides are working on their plans and hope to start up after Christmas. For information, contact Gillian Dick: gndick at hotmail dot com.
No other organisations or groups are currently using our halls, so that we have time to adequately clean and ensure the space is safe for everyone. This will be reviewed after Christmas.
* The Kirk now has online giving! If you have not already set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online. If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Peter Bennett, our treasurer, or Teri and she can give you his details. You can also send your envelopes to the church by post or with a neighbour who is coming to in-person worship and we will ensure they are received. Remember: no one is coming to your door to collect your envelopes, so please stay safe!