second Sunday in Advent.

Transcription

1 Second Sunday in Advent Second Sunday in Advent 10 December 2017 The Mission and Discipleship Council would like to thank Joanna Love, Deacon, Resource Worker of Wild Goose Resource Group at the Iona Community, for her thoughts on the second Sunday in Advent. Joanna Love has produced material that can be used to gather in creative ways around Scripture. More sermon-based material is available in the attached pdf from our archive. Please note that the views expressed in these materials are those of the individual writer and not necessarily the official view of the Church of Scotland, which can be laid down only by the General Assembly. Introduction/Sermon ideas Waiting. One of the key themes of Advent is waiting. All four lectionary passages for today are rich messages about who we are waiting for and what we are waiting for. Here we find words about waiting for the more powerful One who will come after John the Baptist. Waiting for the Day of the Lord. Waiting for the God who will pick us up and cuddle us. Waiting for the Spirit who will soak us in her energising power. Waiting for the day when righteousness will be at home among us; when anger will be put away; when peace will be spoken and made real. Waiting for our restoration; for forgiveness; for our relationships to be renewed. Waiting for God to come and to bless. And more. This may be a Sunday for spending time lingering with these rich words of anticipation, then, rather than for preaching. What longings of our own do they speak to, for the world and ourselves, if we take time to let these words of scripture really get inside us? The suggestions below are tried and tested ways of doing something different with the Bible readings in worship. Think through the possibilities and see what would work in your place, to let your congregation wait before God and God s promises. Have four good readers stand in four different places around the sanctuary, distant from one another. Taking one passage each, they should read it through repeatedly, only as loudly as they would speak in conversation with someone near them. Invite the congregation to move around and pause to stand or sit near a reader and listen. They might stay and hear one passage a few times, or move to hear another, or all four. If you use a screen, you could have the words scrolling slowly on a loop. For those who wish to remain seated, you could provide a printed version of the four passages, on a leaflet with wide margins, and invite people to read them over slowly, taking in the words as fully as possible, perhaps underlining any phrases that stand out, or copying these out in the margins (a surprisingly powerful experience).

2 If space allows, you could have tables set up centrally with a white sheet (a single flat bed sheet is ideal) and colourful marker pens. Invite people to come and write, large and bold, a word or phrase that has struck them, so building up a giant wordle expressing how God s word has touched people. You could display this or add to it as the season of Advent continues. Alternatively, or additionally, invite people to write one question that is raised for them from what they have heard and read, or one longing they have for the world in response to what these Bible passages say. Another way to engage with the readings and contemplate what we make of them is to have a time of Conversation when people can pair up or form small groups to share their thoughts on a given question. You will find ideas for each passage in the sections below. Isaiah 40:1-11 See Intro section. Some Conversation ideas arising from this passage: When have we heard God speak tenderly and felt God gather us up like a lamb? When have we felt like grass fragile and fleeting? Who is especially in need of God s comforting words and care today? Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 See Intro section. Some Conversation ideas arising from this passage: What would our community be like if it was fulfilled that God s glory dwells in the land? How can we make this Advent a time when our neighbourhood becomes more like the picture this Psalmist is expressing? 2 Peter 3:8-15a See Intro section. Some Conversation ideas arising from this passage: In your experience, when has God seemed slow to act? When has God seemed patient with you or with others? In whom have you seen a life of holiness and godliness and what influence has their example had on you?

3 Mark 1:1-8 See Intro section. Some Conversation ideas arising from this passage: How can we help each other to prepare the way for Christmas? What are the paths that need to be made straight? What do we need to turn away from and what do we need to turn towards? What positive steps can we take towards lessening the disorder in our lives, with God s help? Time with children Prepare well before the service begins. Create some deliberate clutter, disorder and untidiness in the worship space such as a few upended chairs, scrunched paper on the floor, things out of their usual place. Try to include as many things as possible that the children will notice and are capable of putting right, with or without adult assistance! You could approach the lectern or pulpit at the beginning of the service carrying a plastic bottle which you carelessly drop on the floor on your way up. Begin by mentioning it s only two weeks more to wait until Christmas! Is the church looking ready for Christmas? When someone mentions the mess, get the children to come and tidy things up, with adult help if needed. Ask if anyone tidies up at home for a special occasion like Christmas? Talk about how long ago, when Jesus was grown up but nobody yet knew he was someone special, there was a man called John who told everyone, Someone s coming! We re waiting for someone special! While we re waiting, we need to get ready! and he said people needed to tidy up, to clear up the mess! They weren t to tidy up their house or their church or their clothes, but their lives! Ask the children if they have any ideas what John might have meant be as affirming as you can about however they respond. Invite adults to share their thoughts too. If you wish, you could also enlist the children s help in setting up the tables, cloth and pens, letting them know this will help people later in the service to keep doing what John asked as we wait for Christmas. Prayers Approach to God God, our mother and our shepherd, You come close when we need You and when we think we don t. Good and faithful God, You are beside us all the way when we notice You and when we don t. Tending, mindful,

4 leading and feeding, Your eyes never stray from us. Call us back again, God, to be with You in this hallowed time and place, blessed because we are Your people and You are pleased to be our God. Call us beyond our small notions, beyond our great dreams, to see beauty and potential where we haven t thought to look; to see Your Spirit alive and agitating where we thought it was all down to us. May these days and weeks be a true advent of new thinking, new experiencing, new communion with You, our Lord and our God. Amen. Thanksgiving Wise One You are wise, O God, in giving us waiting times. Thankyou for what we have learned in the waiting times. To trust while we have not yet received; to dig in and build resilience while we live without; to hang on tenaciously in the seeming nothingness. Thankyou for the chance to stop and question how ready am I? To take stock, prepare, reorder our priorities; to keep acting in accordance with our confidence in You; to do the things that help the birth of all that we hope for. God, You too are waiting. Thankyou for waiting for us waiting for our attention while we re preoccupied; waiting for our co-operation because you believe in the work we can do; waiting with Your story to retell and retell, because we always need to hear it again. Thankyou that You waited for the right time, and became one of us. Thankyou, Jesus, for Your waiting and preparing in nights of prayer and days of fasting, so that through You, we would see the life of God walking among us. Give us wisdom in this waiting time

5 so that when You come again, we are ready to welcome with open arms all that You have yet to offer and teach and give. In Your name we ask it, our Friend and our Saviour. Amen Confession Dearest God, constant in the face of our fickleness, covenant-keeper in the face of our betrayals, reveal to us again just how kind You are, and how forgiving. Where we are being too hard on ourselves, help us to learn tenderness. When we start raking over old hurts, picking the scabs of wounds that are trying to heal, teach us to soothe what is sore, and to trust that You are putting us back together again. You sit with us in all we find hard to move past in our own failings and the ways others have failed us. We look to You for the courage and grace to forgive. We look to You for the example of bearing grievance without hitting back. Make us merciful as You are merciful, generous in our warmth towards self and others. This we ask in Jesus name. Amen Intercession The chorus of CH4 276 Wait for the Lord may be used as a sung response as indicated. God who cares more than we ever realise, You created this wonderful earth, big enough, resourceful enough, diverse enough to be enough for every living creature. Yet as we feel the winter, while the south spins into summer, in too many places the cry goes up not enough food! not enough water! Come, Lord, stir those with the means to help; strengthen those who wait. Wait for the Lord God who desires justice more than we ever realise, You made us for relationship, to thrive on fairness, respect, harmony. Too many are enduring violence, danger and misery. Come, Lord, disturb those whose leadership serves to perpetuate wrong

6 and those whose petty or far-reaching crimes stoke the fires of conflict, Embolden those who confront and call out evil, strengthen those who wait. Wait for the Lord God, more invested in us than we ever realise, our most ordinary days matter to You, how we are, what we do, what keeps us going. Too many are worried about Christmas, fearing loneliness, debt, arguments, disappointment. Raise the profile of all who, by their work and lifestyle, ease the pressures, make room for community, show a simpler way to celebrate. Calm those whose waiting is anxious. Wait for the Lord God, bigger than we ever realise, You honour all our paths to understanding You. So this season will be marked for many reasons, and not be marked by all, but Your presence remains in every home and on every path. So whether we wait for the Christchild, or have no special sense of waiting, still, come and let love be shared. Wait for the Lord These and all the unspoken prayers of our hearts today, we bring in the name of Jesus. Amen Musical suggestions CH4 274 Comfort, comfort now my people a classic, lively setting to the words from Isaiah 40 CH4 275 Come now O Prince of Peace a prayerful plea for reconciliation CH4 276 Wait for the Lord with lyrics picking up sentiments of all today s readings. Or use the chorus by itself as a sung response in the prayer of intercession CH4 281 People look East. The time is near a bright song of expectation and preparation CH4 261 Father Eternal, Ruler of Creation an intercessory hymn with advent resonances CH4 271 Loving God, you see us here a simple prayer song suitable for children, recognising God s presence and care and expressing a desire to do good

7 CH4 597 Loving Spirit a gentle song encapsulating the theme of the Spirit and the tender, mothering nature of God of which Isaiah spoke CH4 494 Spirit of God, in all that s true I know you a song of confession with echoes of the reordering of our lives as John the Baptist called for CH4 786 May the God of peace go with us -or- CH4 798 The peace of the earth be with you a sung blessing of peace to close worship: consider using one that is different from your usual blessing or Amen

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