Sunday Service for 27 November 2022, first Sunday of Advent
Sunday 27 November 2022, NL1-13, Advent 1
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse: 632143
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
Prelude Music
Welcome and Announcements
Sanctuary Hymn 477: Lo, He Comes With Clouds Descending
Lighting the Advent Candle
One: In the midst of this world, here and now:
All: God is with us.
One: In the astonishing
and in the impossibly hard;
in the shadows
and in the absolute clarity:
All: God is with us.
One: Take heart, for even now
All: a new thing springs forth!
One: In the midst of this world,
All: God’s word is fulfilled.
One: Because Emmanuel, God is with us:
All: We see hope and share the vision.
Sanctuary — All Sing:
As we light the advent candle,
with the light of hope burning bright,
faithfully we wait for his coming,
faithfully it shines through the night!
In our humble hearts, a fire burns as well;
hear the prayer these flames would tell:
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel.
All: So much feels impossible, O God.
We are looking for what you will do,
longing for answers, for help, for inspiration.
You offer a vision of hope,
simpler than we imagined yet beautiful enough to keep us going…
And you call us to not only stand there and look for ourselves,
but to share it, so all may be encouraged.
In the midst of everything,
bless us with the grace to see and to hold hope for others.
Amen.
Hymn 273: O Come O Come Emmanuel
Prayer
In you we have every reason to rejoice, loving God, for you are our strength and our salvation.
And also in the world we see so few reasons to rejoice.
We confess that we would rather ignore the hard parts, and focus on the positive.
We find it easy to demand cheerfulness and smiles,
and harder to admit that not everyone feels cheery or wants to fake a smile for us.
We confess that we are uncomfortable with the upheaval all around us,
and uncertain what it means for the world to turn upside down
when we are at the top of the global ladder,
so we focus on shallow happiness instead of the full depth of reality.
Forgive us for ignoring the whole truth.
Forgive us for focusing on ourselves and our comfort
at the expense of knowing our neighbour enough to love them.
Give us courage to be honest about the unraveling of the world,
that we may experience both depths and heights together,
trusting your presence to lead us onward.
We ask in the name of Emmanuel, God with us. Amen.
Sanctuary Sung Prayer hymn 318 verse 2
You are our God beyond all praising,
yet, for love’s sake, became a man;
stooping so low, but sinners raising
heavenwards, by your eternal plan:
you are our God, beyond all praising,
yet, for love’s sake, became a man.
Sanctuary: Children’s Time (O Little Town verse 4)
Reading: selections from Habakkuk (New Revised Standard Version)
Today’s reading is from the prophet Habakkuk, who lived around the year 600-ish BCE, after the destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians, but before the Babylonian empire rose to full power and took over the Southern Kingdom of Judah. This was a time of great uncertainty among God’s people as they were not sure of their own safety or future, the leadership was poor, and so their faithfulness and hope was faltering. The prophet speaks to God, reports the words of God in response, and also speaks to others about God. We will hear selections from all three chapters of this short book, and we are reading from the New Revised Standard Version.
The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw.
O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not listen?
Or cry to you ‘Violence!’
and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrongdoing
and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
So the law becomes slack
and justice never prevails.
The wicked surround the righteous—
therefore judgement comes forth perverted.
Look at the nations, and see!
Be astonished! Be astounded!
For a work is being done in your days
that you would not believe if you were told.
For I am rousing the Chaldeans,
that fierce and impetuous nation,
who march through the breadth of the earth
to seize dwellings not their own.
Dread and fearsome are they;
their justice and dignity proceed from themselves.
I will stand at my watch-post,
and station myself on the rampart;
I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what he will answer concerning my complaint.
Then the Lord answered me and said:
Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so that a runner may read it.
For there is still a vision for the appointed time;
i
t speaks of the end, and does not lie.
If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
i
t will surely come, it will not delay.
Look at the proud!
Their spirit is not right in them,
but the righteous live by their faith.
His glory covered the heavens,
and the earth was full of his praise.
The brightness was like the sun;
rays came forth from his hand,
where his power lay hidden.
Before him went pestilence,
and plague followed close behind.
He stopped and shook the earth;
he looked and made the nations tremble.
The eternal mountains were shattered;
along his ancient pathways
the everlasting hills sank low.
Though the fig tree does not blossom,
and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold
and there is no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
and makes me tread upon the heights.
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: Public Hope
Sometimes — more often than I would expect, honestly — when I meet with families to talk about a loved one’s funeral, they say things like “they just got on with it, never complained about anything.”
For the avoidance of doubt: no one will ever be able to say that about me. If they do, you should be very suspicious that they are actually talking about someone else, or that they don’t really know me at all…or possibly it’ll be their secret code for trying to say I’ve been kidnapped or something, because it’s so patently untrue. I mean, I try not to be completely miserable with never a good thing to say, but I am definitely also a complainer. And having read the beginning of the book of Habakkuk, I have decided I’m in good company.
In fact, this is something of a common theme through the Bible — there are many moments in the history of God’s people where they have been brutally honest about their complaints. After all, God made big promises, and did amazing things in the past, and the people didn’t hesitate to remind God what God had promised. How long do we have to cry out for help? How long do we pray for peace yet see only violence? How long will there be so much slack — so many loopholes — that there might as well be no law at all for some people who get away with anything and the rest suffer? How long, O Lord?
God’s people were desperate for help that did not seem to be forthcoming. The average person was growing poorer while the rich grew richer, people were trying their best to survive while the weather didn’t cooperate and the fields were bare. Their leaders were corrupt and enriched themselves while selling out the rest of the country. And because their leaders were not faithful, that culture trickled down the way wealth never seems to do. If the people at the top don’t do what is right, why should we? The only way to get by is to participate in the injustice and violence.
But at least the prophet knew that God called them to a different kind of life…but he lifted up his voice to complain that God wasn’t doing anything to help them get there. Where was God’s voice, God’s presence, God’s intervention? How were they supposed to go against the grain if God wasn’t going to give them the strength to do it?
That longing threatened to overtake their hope. And yet still the prophet stood and waited for God to answer.
Sometimes we jump straight from longing to despair to “I’ll handle it myself.” We have such an addiction to instant gratification that waiting for God to answer feels antithetical to our way of life. But it is that waiting for God that is at the heart of Advent — and at the heart of a life lived on God’s way. When we give in to the temptation to handle it ourselves, we find ourselves straying from the path. It’s easy to see how the Israelites fell into following those leaders who promised a lot, even though they never delivered — because sometimes we all long for easy answers to our complex questions, and it can feel like our complaints go unanswered so we want to just do something, even if that something is actually hurtful to others, ourselves, our community, or the planet.
But the prophet stood on the watchtower and waited. And sure enough, God had an answer.
Unfortunately sometimes the answer is not what we wanted to hear!
After all, if I was looking out at a barren land, where the crops failed and there was violence all around, I would not want to hear God say “I’m raising up another nation to do my work, since you won’t.” That sounds like bad news instead of good news, however true it may be that sometimes God’s people abandon the work God calls us to do. Though I suppose it is good news in that God will not be thwarted, even by our unfaithfulness.
But the next thing God says is maybe even more difficult actually:
God says to make the vision clear even to people who are just running by.
Not just to have private hope, nurtured in our hearts but kept inside…but to share it in such a way that literally anyone and everyone can see it.
Now I don’t know about you but when I’m in complaining mode, the last thing I want to do is figure out how to be hopeful in public. But that’s what God offers: a promise that God will act in God’s time, no matter how late we think God is, and a calling to make hope visible.
There is still a vision, and it is not a lie. This vision is true and trustworthy. And if it feels like it’s slow in coming, then your job is to keep holding it up for people to see, to keep living as if it is true and bringing everyone who passes by into its promise.
Everyone who passes by. Not even just the people we purposely interact with, not just the people who are looking for us and what we have to offer, but everyone. Even a runner may read it — the people who are hurrying past, on their way to somewhere else. And not just the hurried but the harried too, full up on stress, busy taking matters into their own hands, going every which way trying to keep up, minds going a million miles an hour, not interested in one more thing clamouring for their attention. All those people should be able to see, at a glance, the vision of hope God has given us to share.
That’s a tall order! That kind of public hope is hard work.
If we try to draw that hope from within ourselves somewhere, or from the world around us, it will be impossible work. If we try to draw that vision from the leaders in politics or corporations — however compelling their Christmas adverts may be — it will be impossible work. Why are we able to have hope and share it? Because Emmanuel. Because God is with us. There is no other well deep enough to draw joy even when all we see around us is bleak. There is no other source that can sustain us even through our most justified complaints. There is no one else who can lift us up when we are so weary from carrying on that we don’t know if we can do it anymore.
When the earth is starved, when our eyes see only wrongdoing and trouble and violence and destruction and strife, when even the rest of God’s people have abandoned their posts and God is raising up someone else to do the work…God calls us to write the vision so plainly that even the briefest of glances will inspire enough hope to get back on track, to slow down and keep waiting and watching for God’s kingdom to come in, for it will come, in God’s time, and God is showing us so we can show others.
That will require being clear about the vision and hope ourselves, or else people will get mixed messages from us instead and the vision will be obscured. There is no time in the year when we have such an opportunity, when the story of God With Us is so accessible to people who normally have no idea or connection…and also no time in the year when people are more hurried and more harried and caught up in instant gratification… no time when we are more in need of a message of hope, of light in the darkness. No time when we have a greater chance to invite people into a vision of the different world that God makes possible, and to watch and work for it together. This is when God calls us to have the most public hope.
Why? Because Emmanuel. And in the midst of it all, we are called to share the vision so clearly that anyone and everyone whom we encounter can see it and be lifted up and encouraged to live in God’s way now. There is no better time.
May it be so. Amen.
Hymn: Everlasting God (praise band)
Sanctuary: Offering
Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
Your presence is amazing, O God,
and powerful, un-making and re-making the world you so love.
We thank you for your promise,
fulfilled in your time.
And we pray for those who live now in barren places,
where the trees do not blossom and the crops fail,
those affected most as the creation cries out
and the warped ways of this world yield suffering and fear.
May they know your providing,
in the hands of friends and the commitments of the global community,
and in the actions we all take to help.
We pray for those who cannot see the vision,
whose minds and hearts have become clouded with pain or illness or grief,
whose lives are too harried and hurried that they don’t have time to look,
whose bodies have grown weak and their souls tired.
May their burdens be lifted
and may they know the possibility of joy in the sharing of the common life.
We pray for those whose glimpses of joy are not enough to sustain them,
and for those who have closed their eyes to anything but good news.
May your fullness of life be theirs.
As we await your new world coming into being,
strengthen and uphold us,
give us the tools and courage to share the vision with others,
and guide our feet into your path of hope.
We ask in the name of the coming 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.
Sanctuary Hymn 479: View the Present Through the Promise
Benediction
In the midst of it all, God is with us. In the midst of it all, Christ is coming. In the midst of it all, the Spirit is revealing a new vision of hope. Hold onto that vision, and go to be a blessing to others by sharing it with all whom you meet.
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
* The season of Advent begins today! Any organisations or groups with announcements to share for the season of Advent or month of December should please send details ASAP for the weekly emails and monthly intimations sheet.
* Young Adult Bible Study meets in the manse TONIGHT and on the 2nd and 4th Sundays at 7pm for a meal and a study of the gospel according to John. If you’d like more information, for yourself, a family member, a friend, or neighbour who is in their 20s, please contact Teri for the dates/times and other information.
* The Contact Group meets on Tuesday the 29th of November at 2pm, to hear from Bruce Newlands of Inverclyde Shed and Shore Street Gardens. All are welcome.
* You are invited to join in reading the Bible in a year-ish for 2022 — immersing ourselves in God’s word throughout the year. We get together to discuss each week on Wednesday at 7:30pm in the manse at 6 Barrhill Road. All are welcome, no experience necessary! Feel free to invite a friend, too! Anyone who has ever wondered just what the Bible actually says and what it has to do with us is welcome.
* Old Gourock and Ashton Parish Players Panto is this week! This year it’s Jack and the Beanstalk and shows are from Wed 30th November to Sat 3rd December. Evening performances start at 7.30 on Wed, Thur and Fri. Tickets for these performance cost £9. The matinee on Saturday starts at 1pm and the early evening performance starts at 5pm. Tickets for these performances cost £6. If anyone is interested please contact Avril on 07713 625750.
* Our Advent Appeal this year is supporting “A Little Box of Love” for Mind Mosaic Child and Family therapies. They are asking us to fill a shoebox or gift bag with items such as winter clothing, small toys or arts-and-crafts items, perhaps a few sweets, gift/food vouchers, baby items, gift sets, etc — there are three age categories: babies and toddlers aged 0-3 and their parents, children aged 3-12, and teens aged 13-18. If you would like to fill a shoebox (with NEW items only please), label it with the age and gender child it’s for, and bring it and place it under our Christmas tree up until the 15th of December, please do.
* The Christmas Post will again be carried out by our youth organisations — you can bring your cards between December 4 and 18, though the earlier the better please! The cost will remain at 30p per card, with all proceeds going to support ministry with young people at St John’s.
*Gourock Schools and Churches Together will host a carol service on Sunday 4 December at 6pm in Old Gourock & Ashton’s sanctuary, with music provided by all our local schools, carols to sing together, and refreshments afterward.
* We worship in the sanctuary on Sundays at 11am, and all Sunday worship is also online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print). 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. If you feel unwell, please worship online, to protect both yourself and others in our community.
* Did you know that it costs us about £10,500 per month to do the ministry we currently do at St. John’s? That includes heating and lighting the building and keeping it in good repair for church and community groups, programming and pastoral care for people of all ages, our contribution to minister’s stipends, and other ministry costs. 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 be 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!
* The Church Notes, which will celebrate what has been going on at St John’s for the past few months, will be coming soon. If you have stories to share from an organisation or group or ministry from the summer or autumn activities, please send them to Seonaid Knox as soon as possible.
* Greenock Philharmonic Choir are holding their Christmas Concert on Sat. 10th December at 7-30pm, in the Lyle Kirk, Union Street. The choir will be joined by the very talented and entertaining Riverside Youth Band. Tickets are priced £15, and this includes refreshments. Tickets are available by calling Calum on 07847 250529 or by emailing info@greenockphilharmonic.co.uk. Tickets are also available at the door on the night.
