Sunday Service for 12 December 2021, third Sunday of Advent

12 December 2021, 3rd 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 Third Advent Candle
1: Listen carefully — God’s word does what God intends it to do,
and all creation jumps for joy.
2: Seek faithfully — God’s mercy is beyond our understanding,
giving us abundant reason to rejoice.
1: Taste and see — God’s feast has room for us all,
offering delight that can’t be bought.
2: Feel the rain and sun, cold and warmth — God’s world reveals God’s way,
calling us to join the celebration.
All: God is coming, and the world will never be the same!
~candle is lit~

O come, thou Key of David, come,
and open wide our heavenly home;
make safe the way that leads on high,
and close the path to misery:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

Prayer
You are a God who sustains us when we faint from thirst,
who feeds us when we have spent our last penny.
Your table is full of good things we could never earn, and by your grace you invite us all.
As you nourish the earth and so it bears fruit,
we pray this day you would nourish us that we too may bear fruit.
For we confess that amidst the many voices of the world calling for our attention,
demanding for our time and energy, offering opportunities to spend and acquire.
we aren’t always sure which voice is yours,
so we often simply choose the one that’s easiest or most fun in the moment and call it you.
Forgive us when we have lost touch with your word, and so cannot recognise your voice.
Forgive us when we spend ourselves for things that can never satisfy.
Forgive us when we choose unsustainable ways that leave some starving and thirsty
while others gorge themselves yet feel empty.
In your abundant mercy, incline our ears to you, and turn us toward your better way,
that we may join all creation in accomplishing your purpose.
We ask in the name of your Word made flesh, Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Music
Online: Praise the God of Grace and Glory (Resound Worship)
In person: organ by Philip

Children’s Time (in person only)

Reading: Isaiah 55.1-13
Last week we heard from the prophet Ezekiel, who was a priest who was taken into exile with the leaders and elites of Jerusalem soon after Babylon defeated them. Today we hear from the second prophet Isaiah, who lived nearly a hundred years after the first Isaiah we heard a few weeks ago, and around 60 years after the exile began. This prophet was speaking to the people just before they were about to be allowed to return home. These were the children and grandchildren, or even great-grandchildren, of those who had originally been removed from Jerusalem, people who had grown up in Babylon and other cities of the empire. They had never personally known their homeland, but had heard their parents and grandparents speak of it often, and of the promise that God would rescue them and restore them…but it was a promise that felt far away, as they went about their lives in the only home they’d ever known. I am reading today from Isaiah chapter 55, in the New Revised Standard Version.
~~~~~

Ho, everyone who thirsts,
   come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
   come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
   without money and without price. 
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
   and your labour for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
   and delight yourselves in rich food. 
Incline your ear, and come to me;
   listen, so that you may live.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
   my steadfast, sure love for David. 
See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
   a leader and commander for the peoples. 
See, you shall call nations that you do not know,
   and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
   for he has glorified you.

Seek the Lord while he may be found,
   call upon him while he is near; 
let the wicked forsake their way,
   and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
   and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. 
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
   and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
   giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
   it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
   and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out in joy,
   and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
   shall burst into song,
   and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
   instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
   for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

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: From Heaven to Earth

For you shall go out in joy,
   
and be led back in peace;

the mountains and the hills before you
   
shall burst into song,
   
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Is anyone else imagining a hospital corridor, lined with nurses, doctors, and staff, all applauding and cheering as a patient walks or is wheeled through toward the door — clapping them out as they are discharged after a long stay and arduous treatment? Most of us have probably seen the videos, or perhaps even been the patient or a family member coming down the hall after a life-changing illness or injury, heading out into new life after such a difficult journey through trauma and anxiety and hard work. Or maybe we’ve been the hospital staff who have witnessed the whole thing, assisted with even the most private of daily tasks, cared through thick and thin, applied every bit of knowledge and imagination and compassion to get the person to this moment, when they walk back out into the world. There’s so much joy that no one can help themselves, they clap their hands and burst into song.

God says the whole creation will be like that when the people come out of exile and into the place and plan God has for them. The trees and mountains will line the corridor and clap and sing and cheer as God’s people finally, after they’ve been through so much, step out into new life. The joy will be uncontainable and irrepressible, literally just bursting out all over with excitement and wonder and glee.

I’ve talked before about this being my favourite chapter of scripture, and how much I love the picture Isaiah paints of the new life God is calling us out to. That everyone is invited to be nourished and nurtured without first buying or earning anything — not a transaction to be seen, it’s God’s grace upon grace, pulling up a chair at the table and feeding us in body, mind, and spirit. That this extends even to nations we do not know, all the peoples coming together across the various borders and walls we have built, because God wants one community together at this table where we can delight in God’s goodness. That when God calls the sinner, it isn’t for punishment but for mercy. And that every single bit of this is God’s gift to us, not something we can get for ourselves…and in fact what we have tried to get for ourselves is a pale imitation that costs us a lot but leaves us hollow and malnourished. The only way to truly be nourished and sustained and satisfied is to sit at the table God lays out for us and enjoy the feast together with all the others God has called out to new life, knowing that not a single one of us deserves to be there and yet God wants us all and calls us all.

We have a million arguments with this vision, of course. We claim it’s impossible, it’s naive, it’s silly to think that food and drink are a human right, or that everyone — even those people — should have a seat at the table. Or we think we, for some reason, don’t belong at the table. We hear this and think it’s about heaven, or maybe even like end-of-the-world heaven, what happens after the book of Revelation is done, perhaps. Or sometimes we decide it can’t be about actual physical food and bodies and nations and creation, so it has to just be a spiritual meaning. But ultimately all those arguments are like noise that make it hard to hear the message God is trying to give us, drowning out God’s voice. There’s no evidence in the actual scripture for any of them, they’re thoughts we’ve had but not thoughts God is having.

And so God says “incline your ear and come to me.” Like when you’re in a noisy room and you need to lean in a little to hear what your friend is saying across the table — incline your ear. Focus. Lean in and tilt your good ear and try to mentally block out all the chatter…listen carefully, so that you may live.

That’s what God wants for us — to come out down that long corridor into new life, even after everything we’ve been through. And the first thing we’ll see is a giant table with enough for everyone, even us.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, says the Lord. God is literally thinking about different things than we are. While our minds are full of reasons why this vision can’t be true, God is busy making it happen, turning word into action, even word into flesh, to make the impossible possible.

How, exactly?

Isaiah invites us to picture the heavens and the earth. The skies are far above us, just as God’s ways are far above ours…yet they are not disconnected, remaining far away and inaccessible. The rain and the snow come down and water the earth, so that it will bear fruit, as it is created to do — fruit that in turn feeds others in the creation. The heavens reach down to earth, and nourish it. And God’s word, too, reaches down, comes down, and feeds us, so that we will bear fruit, as we are created to do — fruit that in turn feeds others. It’s never only for us, it’s always continuing the cycle, expanding the welcome, ensuring no one is hungry or thirsty — for food or for justice or for love.

The earth can’t bear fruit that feeds others if it isn’t first fed by the rain. We don’t bear fruit that serves others if we aren’t first fed by the word and the table. And God promises that the word always bears fruit.

What celebration there will be, when we finally follow the voice that is calling us out to new life…the mountains and the trees will line the way, clapping and cheering and singing for joy. And God is persistent and insistent that the word will accomplish God’s purposes…so insistent that the Word will even take on flesh and live among us, to cut through the chatter and chaos to call us more directly, more clearly, to this table of plenty where, in accordance with God’s will, there is a seat for everyone at the joyful feast.

May it be so. Amen.

Online Hymn 316: Love came down at Christmas
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
star and angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead,
Love incarnate, Love Divine;
worship we our Jesus:
but wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token,
love be yours and love be mine,
love to God and all men,
love for plea and gift and sign.

in-person Hymn 277: Hark the glad sound!
Hark the glad sound! the Saviour comes,
the Saviour promised long:
let every heart exult with joy,
and every voice with song!

He comes, the prisoners to relieve,
in Satan’s bondage held;
the gates of brass before him burst,
the iron fetters yield.

He comes the broken hearts to bind,
the bleeding souls to cure;
and with the treasures of his grace
to enrich the humble poor.

The sacred year has now revolved,
accepted of the Lord,
when heaven’s high promise is fulfilled,
and Israel is restored.

Our glad hosannas, Prince of Peace,
thy welcome shall proclaim;
and heaven’s exalted arches ring
with thy most honoured name.

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.

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer

Your word always bears fruit, O God,
and we give you thanks that even now you are working toward your purposes in the world.
In the beginning you spoke and all things came into being.
Throughout time and in every place your grace falls like rain on your creation,
bringing forth your goodness and nurturing all that you have made.
In Christ you came to live among us, that we might see your glory,
full of grace and truth.

(Hymn 315 v. 2)
He came down to earth from heaven
who is God and Lord of all,
and his shelter was a stable,
and his cradle was a stall.
With the poor and meek and lowly
lived on earth our Saviour holy.

Draw near to us, Holy One,
as we come seeking your light in the shadows of this season.
We carry with us our neighbours
whose cupboards and tables are bare,
whose water is contaminated,
who hide their poverty behind a facade,
who live in food deserts or rely on the generosity of others.
May they experience the joy of plenty.
In your kingdom, there is enough for everyone,
so we pray for the will to participate in your reality, even now.

We carry with us our neighbours
who languish in loneliness,
whose spirits are parched,
whose energy is depleted with no source of renewal in sight,
who live with addictions that numb or fill them with empty promises.
May they experience the joy of connection.
In your kingdom, your grace calls together stranger and friend,
so we pray for the compassion to reach out in love.

We carry with us our neighbours
who suffer from a ravaged creation,
for whom rain and snow and harvest have become disconnected,
who long for the sound of trees clapping their hands
yet hear only the groans of an earth under strain.
May they experience the fruitful beauty of your world.
In your kingdom, the cycles of creation nourish us all in turn,
so we pray for the wisdom to live lightly in our rightful place in your world.

(Hymn 295 v. 1)
Who would think that what was needed
to transform and save the earth
might not be a plan or army,
proud in purpose, proved in worth?
Who would think, despite derision,
that a child should lead the way?
God surprises earth with heaven,
coming here on Christmas Day.

Restore your people, O God.
Send your word again to dwell among us,
to fulfil your purpose and create the world anew.
We ask in the name of Jesus 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.

In-Person Hymn 316: Love came down at Christmas
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
star and angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead,
Love incarnate, Love Divine;
worship we our Jesus:
but wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token,
love be yours and love be mine,
love to God and all men,
love for plea and gift and sign.

Benediction
Having been nourished by God’s word and table, go and bear fruit that feeds others. 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 (in person only)

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 by today, th e12th 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!