Advent Sunday
Welcome
Lord Jesus Christ
your world awaits you
Come Lord, desire behind our greatest needs
Come Lord, liberator of humanity
Come Lord, O come Immanuel
Hymn 273 O Come O come Emmanuel
Lighting the Advent candle
Hymn 282 Christmas is coming v1 and choruses
Prayer
Open our eyes, Lord.
Some of us may be tired of looking
Some fear to see too much
For some yesterday, today and tomorrow are much the same
Some only see what we want to see
Open our eyes, Lord
to see the lives we live
the homes we have
the world we live in
and to find signs of hope there
that we can fasten onto and encourage
Give us a bigger vision of what you can do
even with hopeless cases and lost causes
and people of limited ability
Show us the world as you see it
riddled with debt, deceit and disbelief
but also full of possibility
for recovery, renewal and redemption
Help us to see real possibilities for change
in our everyday situation
Open our eyes in yearning for Jesus
On the mountains
in the cities
through the corridors of power
and streets of despair
to help, to heal
to confront, to convert
O come, O come Immanuel
Hymn 291 When out of poverty is born
Reading Psalm 25: 1-10
Reflection
We’re now into Advent. No doubt, without looking it up on their phone, someone could tell us how many shopping hours there are till Christmas, when the deadline is for posting cards with Second Class stamps, or where to get the best bargains for pigs in blankets. We hope for more freedom this December than last, but it will still not be like the ones we knew only a few years ago. Some people are still wary about going out and mixing with others, some Christmas functions are simply not happening this year, and many will be struggling to plan for Christmas when ordinary living costs (for example heating) are so much higher. Nevertheless, despite all that, it is likely that life in most homes will be fairly hectic over the next few weeks. December, Advent, usually is busy.
It was pretty much like that when Christianity became established across the Roman Empire. Newly converted Christians were happy to celebrate Christmas with their Christian friends, and also Hannukah with their Jewish ones, and a whole set of others with their pagan ones. November and December were a time for parties and getting drunk. In a way very good for intercommunal relations. But church leaders worried that many were totally missing what the message of Christmas was – that God came to experience human life in order to redeem humanity and change the world. So Advent was born. Initially it was a period of 40 days beginning on 11 November, Martinmas, but in time was cut back to the four Sundays before Christmas.
The main lectionary readings for Advent Sunday usually focus on judgement, the end of the world and looking forward to Christ returning in glory, but the Psalm set for today encourages us to think about our inner preparation for Christmas, and our personal relationship with God – which is pertinent for any time of the year:
- It begins by declaring trust in God. Trust is the solid foundation on which any relationship needs to be built. The Psalmist envisages a relationship where trust in God comes naturally, presumably based on years of experience
- God is one we can turn to when we feel vulnerable, isolated or threatened. Jesus is our most faithful friend. He will never abandon us. He will always stand by us and affirm us. He will shine a light on our failings and shortcomings, but he does so to help us address them, not to humiliate us
- Like all relationships, our relationship with Good, through Jesus, is something we have to work at. We can’t take it for granted. We have to make time for God, we need to be open to his guiding – whether through prayer, reading the Bible, study or reflection. We also have to be ready to put God’s guiding into practice. It’s no use God showing us what he’d like us to do, and us turning round and saying, ‘I don’t want to do that’, or giving up when things get hard
- Looking forward, whether in our own lives, in the life of the church, or the life of the world where there are so many challenges – from disease to poverty, to climate emergency, to the rise of authoritarian states and intolerance towards anyone who is ‘different’ – our hope is in God. It isn’t just to give us a nice and cosy ‘well, I’m OK’ feeling, but something designed to undergird our actions as we seek to build the Kingdom, to establish a world of peace and justice
- Our faith, our hope is grounded in God’s past action and faithfulness. We look back to what he did through Jesus, to what he has done over the centuries, to our own experiences. We know that he is a loving, caring God who forgives us and gives us a new start when things go wrong
- We are called to be his faithful people. To live by his ways, to walk humbly in the path that our God has set for us
However busy or otherwise our December is, our God calls us not just to reflect on what happened so long ago, but on how our relationship with him is now, and what he wants us to do in the task of building the Kingdom.
Prayers for others and Lord’s Prayer
Heavenly Father
There are many times –
especially this year –
when we can echo the prophet’s words
“Why don’t you tear the sky apart and come down?”
We want change, we need change
but we feel powerless to bring it about
there are even times we doubt
whether you can do anything
or want to do anything
whether you care
In this season of Advent
we are reminded that you do care
that you have responded to our cries
not by coming in might and majesty
but in the vulnerability of a new baby in a stable
We bring before you all
who are struggling with life and its problems
who share that longing for you to intervene
to bring peace, justice and hope
We pray for all who are ill,
those who look after them
and those who worry about them
those waiting for or receiving treatment
and those for whom there is no treatment
those who are lonely, feeling down, or grieving a friend or loved one
those who are worried about home, work or money
a friend or a relative
those who are living with the after-effects of natural disasters
those who do not have enough to eat, or somewhere to call home
those who long to live in peace and safety
those who have fled from their homes seeking safety
We pray for the Queen, the Government
all in positions of leadership in this and every land
We pray for your church
the worldwide church
the wider church in Dumbarton
our own congregation
We bring to you our prayers for people and situations of special concern to us
We bring our gifts of money, we bring ourselves
take and use them, take and use us
And we sum up our prayers in the words of the prayer Jesus gave us
Hymn 283 The voice of God goes out to all the world
Blessing
Look forward in hope
to the coming of your Saviour
prepare the way for Christ your Lord
welcome him with love and faith
when he comes in glory
and the blessing of God Almighty
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
rest and remain with you,
today, and every day, and for ever. Amen
Pingback: Sunday Worship, 28 November 2021 – Dumbarton: Riverside