12th. December. 2021. Service.
Service of Worship 12th December 2021
Third Sunday in Advent
Prelude Zion hears her watchmen’s voices
Bible Introït 65 “Jubilate, everybody!”
Collect
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honour and glory, now and for ever. Amen.
Hymn 281 “People look East”
Call to Prayer
Joy is the celebration given by God.
Joy is the celebration at the birth of the Christ Child.
Joy is the celebration when the angels sing “Glory to God in the highest.”
We celebrate the joy of Christ coming again.
Light the Advent Candle of Joy
Prayers of Adoration and Confession
Gracious God, you are the Source of all Light, and we rejoice that the light of your love shines with life-giving joy in our lives and in the world today.
Father, we are determined to be people of faith, to share with all your gospel of hope, love and grace.
Yet, it is hard to remain hopeful in a world that is broken and failing. It is hard to be filled with love for the other when loss and fear suffocates us and them. And how can there be grace when hate buries love?
And yet, you call us to rejoice. And so, we remember that no matter how dark the present hour, you are with us. Your mighty arm protects us, your spirit fills us. You will never forget or forsake us. This we know: even in the absence of all other hope or love, you are with us., Emmanuel.
And so, rejoice we shall, no matter what rages around or against or within us. Our souls shall magnify you O Lord, for you are with us, even when all else that we trust is gone.
Lord, we gather here so that the fire you have planted in each of us will strengthen and grow: becoming a mighty flame that brings hope where there is none, encouraging love to grow where it has too long been gone, and extinguishing fear in the hearts of all.
We rejoice in each other. We rejoice in our faith. We rejoice in your Gospel. we rejoice in your presence here this morning.
Prayer of Confession
Gracious God, with joy You brought us into being.
You created the world and called it good.
And yet we have done so much to quell that goodness:
we have fought with one another and failed to live in peace;
we have shut out the stranger and disparaged the immigrant;
we have ignored the needy and judged the poor;
we have fallen short of Your command to be Your Beloved Community.
Forgive us, Merciful God, and bring us back to the joy we find in You.
Assurance of Pardon and Forgiveness:
The prophet Zephaniah reminds us of these truths:
God rejoices over us with gladness;
God renews us in love;
God will exult over us with loud singing.
And in the name of Jesus Christ, all our sins are forgiven.
Prayer for Understanding:
Your word today commands us to rejoice in you always. May your spirit help us to understand and realise this in our inmost being, that our worship and our service be suffused with your eternal and unclouded joy. We thank and praise you for the blessings of this Advent season through Jesus Christ, the Saviour who comes to us full of grace and truth. In his name we pray,
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, For ever. Amen
Intimations
On Sunday 19th December the Children’s Nativity Services for the whole family will be held at the usual times in both congregations.
On Christmas Eve there will be a joint Carol service in Inverkeithing at 6:30 pm. Worship will be as usual on Boxing Day in both congregations.
Invitation to the Offering
We make our offering today with joyful hearts, anticipating our celebration of God’s gift to us in Christ Jesus. Know that our gifts may touch lives in deep need this season with the joy we have received in Jesus’ name.
Prayer of Dedication
Just and joyful God, we bring our gifts with hearts that rejoice in your goodness to us, in Christ and in creation. Send your Holy Spirit to bless them and us with the power to shine the light of Christ into lives where Jesus can turn despair into joy. Amen.
All Age Talk
Look at these beautiful Christmas gifts. Are there gifts under the tree at your house? Have you looked to see how many of the gifts have your name on them?
There’s a story about a young boy who checked the presents under the tree every day. He loved looking through them, arranging them, and counting them. One day, he discovered that his sister had more gifts than he did. He ran to his mother very upset.
“Katie has more presents under the Christmas tree than I do!” he cried.
His mother explained that getting gifts under the tree isn’t what Christmas is really all about because Jesus is our greatest gift.
- Have you ever felt the way this boy did?
- How did that experience affect your joy in that moment?
Christmas should be a time of joy. Today, we’ll learn our true joy is in Jesus’ birth, not the presents we get. In fact, God tells us that giving is even better than receiving.
In the Bible, John the Baptist was sent to prepare people for the coming of Jesus. He told them to repent of their sins and prepare their hearts for the coming of our Saviour.
“What should we do?” they asked.
John replied, “If you have two coats, give one of them to the one who has none. If you have food, share it with those who have none.”
This message is for us, too. If we want to experience the real joy that Jesus wants for us, then we must learn to share. By sharing what God has so generously given to us, we will receive an even greater gift — the gift of joy.
- What is one way you can give others joy during Christmas?
Dear God, help us to learn that it is through remembering Jesus’ birth and giving to others that we receive true joy at Christmas. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Hymn 282 “Christmas is coming” (chorus & verses 1-3) *
Reading Zephaniah 3:14-20
14 Sing, Daughter Zion;
shout aloud, Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
Daughter Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away your punishment,
he has turned back your enemy.
The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you;
never again will you fear any harm.
16 On that day
they will say to Jerusalem,
‘Do not fear, Zion;
do not let your hands hang limp.
17 The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.’
18 ‘I will remove from you
all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals,
which is a burden and reproach for you.
19 At that time I will deal
with all who oppressed you.
I will rescue the lame;
I will gather the exiles.
I will give them praise and honour
in every land where they have suffered shame.
20 At that time I will gather you;
at that time I will bring you home.
I will give you honour and praise
among all the peoples of the earth
when I restore your fortunes
before your very eyes,’
says the Lord.
Hymn 344 “On Jordan’s bank
Reading Luke 3:7-18
7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptised by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.” For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The axe has been laid to the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.’
10 ‘What should we do then?’ the crowd asked.
11 John answered, ‘Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.’
12 Even tax collectors came to be baptised. ‘Teacher,’ they asked, ‘what should we do?’
13 ‘Don’t collect any more than you are required to,’ he told them.
14 Then some soldiers asked him, ‘And what should we do?’
He replied, ‘Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely – be content with your pay.’
15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, ‘I baptise you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.’ 18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.
Amen, this is the word of the Lord, to Him be all glory and praise.
Sermon
Last Tuesday at the Royal Navy Association Carol Service at HMS Caledonia, I kept thinking, “Am I singing the right words?” because it sounded as if I was at odds with everyone one else. We were singing “O come all ye faithful.” Several times I found myself checking the service sheet, It puzzled me for a while and then I let it go. Afterwards I was speaking to the former Lord Lieutenant of Fife, Mrs Margaret Dean, who said to me, “Christmas always begins for me at this Carol service when I sing “O come all ye faithful,” and I always sing it in the original Latin. She had been standing in front of me and her “natum videte, laudem angelorum, venite adoremus” was what had confused me.
Here’s some more Latin for today: “Gaudete in Domino semper,” Rejoice in the Lord always.” These are the words of St. Paul in the epistle reading for today, and they stand out like a trumpet blast in the Old Testament lesson. But what does it mean–this command, this exhortation from both parts of the Bible?. From it we get the name of this Sunday, Gaudete Sunday and today we have lit the Gaudium Candle, the Candle of Joy.
Joy is the emotion which pivots the word of the Old Testament into the New Testament. It was anticipated by Zephaniah the pr0phet when he declared, “Sing, Daughter Zion, shout aloud, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem! And it spills over in Luke’s account of the revelation to the shepherds as the angels declared, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.’ St Paul’s exhortation, Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice! In one form or another, “rejoice occurs 282 times in the Bible. Why are we to rejoice? It is because we possess the words of Eternal Life in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
When we read the gospel today, what were your thoughts today, did the passage conjure up images of joy for you? John standing on the bank of the river Jordan as crowds of people gathered to be baptised. I felt slightly alarmed at having to preach from this passage on a Sunday dedicated to joy, especially as the passage ended the And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them. My initial reaction was how ironic, John is haranguing and almost insulting people, yet Luke declares that he is proclaiming good news God spell, gospel.
We like to divide things by contrast, black or white, smile or frown, dance or dawdle, good news or bad news. But things are not as simple as that. Many times the thing we call bad news is actually good news. That is, the bad news is good news in the long term..
If just before we leave on a long journey we notice a fault in a car tyre, we may react as if it were bad news. But in fact discovering that fault is good news it might well save our life.
When a ceiling fell in when we were renovating our flat, we discovered a slow leak in the roof which would have brought it down eventually. Our initial reaction was, Oh no! but in the long term it was fortunate.
If a doctor says: “I’m afraid we must take out your appendix” we may react as if it is bad news. But in truth it is very good news; it’s wonderful that what can be a life-threatening situation can so easily be rectified.
If a young woman working on her thesis is told by her supervisor: “You will have to widen your scope of research and tighten up on your argument if you want to get this thesis accepted,” she may feel it as very bad news. But of course in terms of her goals it is excellent news. So good news is not necessarily “nice” news. Good news may be uncomfortable news. In some cases it may involve considerable cost. It may bring distress and pain.
That was the case with John’s preaching. He was pointing out flaws in people’s thinking about their life in relation to God and warning them to do something about it. Whether it is yet another predicted storm, or iteration of the Covid-19 virus, to be forewarned is always a blessing because it gives us a chance to do something about it.
In the past epidemics storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions swept over populations without warning. Early warning is always good news. How we react is something else.
John made his warnings specific to the people he was dealing with. People came for a ritual baptism, to them he said,
Baptism, the outward form is not enough. Just because you have been baptised do not mean you have really repented.
Nor is your heritage enough. Don’t tell me you are the sons of Abraham. God can make sons out of the wilderness stones if God so wishes. (Here there is a play on words. benayya are sons and abnayya are stones.) God is not dependent on your favour. Trust in religious heritage is not enough.
What should they do then?
John’s answer is to call for repentance, but it must be real. Penitence can be limited to feeling sorry, a little weeping and lots of self-justification, then do nothing about it. We are all good at that, oh well I will start the day after tomorrow.
Real repentance is the bad very-good news. It is the pain that can heal. It involves taking drastic action; it is usually difficult. It means a fundamental about turn; a painful turning away from self-interest to face God and God’s interest. Repentance means a drastic “sea change” resulting in a changed direction and a new kind of behaviour. Repentance means new deeds.
John demanded that they show evidence of repentance.
To the ordinary people he says: “If you have two suits, share with the person who has none. If you eat well, share with those who go hungry.”
I wonder how far we are prepared to heart hat hard word that still blasts our indifference?
To the Jews who were employed by the occupation army of Rome to gather taxes, John the Baptist insisted: Repentance meant giving up extortion and only collecting what was fair. Repentance was a costly business.
To the occupying Roman soldiers, even some of them responded and were baptised, He said to them, “Stop bullying people. Stop taking bribes.” Repentance was a costly business.
These of course are examples of good news which reduces to this
Our reason for rejoicing is that God has come with a call to reconcile, to receive forgiveness, a fresh start and the promise of his grace, his love, his presence and his joy
For Christians, real joy is to let yourself be found by the generous, supreme love of God in Jesus Christ.
Joy is to know the love of God, to be treasured and cherished by the very Spirit who is the source of our existence.
Joy is to lose the anxiety which is bred by religion, or arid godlessness, and to find the liberty of the children of God.
Joy is to know that in success or failure, sickness or in health, poverty or wealth, youth or old age, living or dying, our lives are in the hands of amazing grace.
Salvation has two meanings: rescue and healing. Both of these apply. Christ rescues us from all the illusions and bondages that characterise those who are lost souls. Also, Christ, like a laser of grace, heals the depths of our being, restores us to health. He enables us to relax and delight in the affection of God.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the immense, rescuing, liberating, healing love of God focussed in one human life. He is Immanuel, God-with-us. That is what we are preparing to celebrate as we draw near to Christmas.
For there are many who frankly don’t feel particularly joyful this Sunday. Some are unemployed and desperately need money, not just for Christmas, but for today’s dinner. Some are suffering even more profound loss who have lost a spouse or parent or child. Others may have memories of Christmas past in which family breakup or even drug or alcohol-fuelled argument and violence are the primary features. The admonition to “rejoice” sounds pretty hollow, even cynical to such people
The problem, of course, is that the secular world gives a different definition to “joy” than the Christian should. For someone to whom this world of time and space and things is the primary reality, the word “joy” means “en-joy.” It is the world’s way of saying, “take pleasure.” “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” I recall a movie character talking about “sucking the marrow out of life.” Sensory pleasure controls such a mentality, and it is a dangerous one. I have known people in the church over the past fifty years for whom festivals like Christmas or Easter have to be perfect for them to have joy. I have known brides, or their mothers, whose wedding day was in their thinking a “disaster” because something went wrong, as happens in this life. Instead of the joy of entering a loving committed relationship, the outward celebration is more important.
The reason for this, of course, is that sensory pleasure is something that comes from outside us. My “feeling good” has a lot to do with whether or not I have money to afford the comforts of life – holidays the best gifts, food, drink and entertainment. People who equate j0y with enjoyment where it has a lot to do with whether they have strong health so that they can go out on an evening and indulge their desires and survive the night so they can wake up the next morning “Feeling good” is a low level of joy. If we indulge in the wrong sorts of “fun,” we could end up sick, or in jail, or even hospitalized or dead.
Joy must be experienced on a higher level. So there are many who seek joy in the company and adulation of other people. We seek awards; we work to accomplish things that will get our names in front of the public. We hang bling on our walls and our bodies. We want to be well thought of by others. That’s a reason many people work hard at their jobs; that’s also a reason people associate themselves with worthy causes that do good for others. It is what motivates many people, but it is still not enough.
If our joy is rooted in a need for others to develop a good opinion of us, then our joy is conditioned on external realities–how much we can accomplish, how much we can earn, how many people we impress. And it can disappear in a heartbeat if we fail, or people don’t notice.
No, the joy that Zephaniah and St. Paul encourage us to have is internal joy. To understand how to attain that joy, we must turn to the Holy Gospel, to the words of St. John the Baptist. Holy joy comes from ignoring our own desires and glorification. Holy joy first comes from being content as St Paul tells us later in Philippians 4:11-13 I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. When we attain that happy state, we realize that anything beyond what we need for ourselves we can afford to share with other people.
Someone remarked to me this week that there are fewer Christmas cards in the mail because people are giving the money to charities instead. That is evidence of real joy.
So this Christmas, attain joy by realizing that true joy is an internal reality, not something that comes from outside. Instead of lusting after more of anything of what we think will bring us joy, whatever that may be, be content, spend time and resources helping others. Bring the Holy Family into the inn. Make your kindness known to everyone. Then you will have internally, in your mind and heart, that best of all Christmas gifts, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.
One last thought. There are several words in Latin for joy, my favourite is “gaudimonium” It means a time of jollity, a festal day. I hope that your Christmas is truly gaudimonium and not pandemonium! Amen.
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
O God, our Strength and Salvation, we claim our birth-right of joy and thanksgiving in Jesus Christ today
as the beauty of this season unfolds with starry nights and sparkling frost, with faces that smile and generosity that grows
even after a long, hard year struggle with the pandemic
Through the kindness of your Spirit, unite us in love and joy as we share the good news of our salvation in the stories of the birth of the Saviour. Refresh our community and congregation with the joyful anticipation of your gift to us in Christ changing lives and bringing peace on earth and goodwill amongst all people.
Generous God, send your joy to the world again.
Tender God, we pray for those who are finding it hard to be joyful this year, remembering people who are facing illness in spirit, mind, or body, and others waiting for a diagnosis or treatment, with growing anxiety. Give them peace of heart and mind and send your joy to the world again.
(Keep a brief time of silence)
We pray for people who are lonely or in mourning,
For everyone who has been touched by tragedy or violence, whose daily life has been disrupted or changed.
(Keep a brief time of silence)
We pray for people who are searching for work, struggling with rising costs, or deeply worried about their security. Restore their peace and joy.
(Keep a brief time of silence)
And we pray for all who are working to bring justice to the discouraged and defeated, and those doing their best to care for the earth you love as the challenges of pollution, over exploitation and climate change ravage the plane. Keep us safe in storm and epidemic and let us rejoice in your eternal safety.
(Keep a brief time of silence)
This Christmas use us to bring to joy to others through our friendship, generosity and understanding.
Generous God, send joy to the world again. Hear all our prayers in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hymn 286 “Tell out my soul, the glories of the Lord”
Sending out and Benediction
The peace of God, which passes all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds
in the knowledge and love of God
and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord;
and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always.
Amen.
“May God’s blessing surround you each day”
Postlude “No wind at the window”
*Regrettably not all our C of S Advent Hymns are available on YouTube.