Worship Resources for December 25, 2022—Christmas Day

See additional resources for Lessons and Carols for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, along with A Spontaneous Nativity, the two-part dramatic dialogue What Can I Give? and a 12 Days of Christmas Calendar resource all on the Christmas Special Resources page.

Revised Common Lectionary:
The RCL gives three different readings, Proper I, II, or III, for Christmas Day. “Proper” refers to the specific reading for Christmas Day, as opposed to the “Ordinary” or constant reading (referring to each Sunday of the year), and comes from the Roman Catholic tradition. For most of Protestantism, this means we choose one set and follow it.

Proper 1: Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)
Proper 2: Isaiah 62:6-12; Psalm 97; Titus 3:4-7; Luke 2: (1-7), 14-20
Proper 3: Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalm 98; Hebrews 1:1-4 (5-12); John 1:1-14

Narrative Lectionary: Shepherd’s Visit, Luke 2:8-20 (Psalm 95:6-7)

For Proper I, we begin with Isaiah 9:2-7. In this portion known as First Isaiah, the prophet finds hope in the newborn king Hezekiah in Judah, for a war-torn northern kingdom of Israel. God was making a way for the people out of tyranny and bloodshed. The vivid images of battle—the boots from soldiers, the blood-soaked clothes—will be burned. The northern tribes had been taken into exile by Assyria, but this new king in Judah was born, a child of the line of David, whose reign would bring peace.

Psalm 96 calls the congregation to sing their praises to God and to declare God’s glory among all the nations, for God created the earth and heavens. Other gods are mere idols—there is only one God. The psalmist calls the congregation into worship, to give God all the glory and honor and praise that God is worthy of, calling the people to enter the temple and bring their offering. The psalmist concludes by reminding the congregation that all of creation worships God, and that God is coming to judge with righteousness and equity.

Titus 2:11-14 speaks of God’s grace that has come upon us, teaching us to renounce the world’s passions and instead live Godly lives. God’s salvation has come upon all people, and we wait with hope for the appearance of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. This is one of the few passages that directly speaks of Jesus as God, who gave himself up for us, so that we might be redeemed and be a special people for Christ, eager to do good in the world.

The readings for Proper I conclude with Luke 2:1-14, the story of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, as the time came for Mary to give birth and she laid him a manger. The angel of the Lord appears to shepherds nearby, who are terrified at this sight of the messenger of God, and the heavenly host—the army of God—filling the night sky. Yet the angels share a message of Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth, peace. Heaven and earth both are filled with peace and glory on this night, and the ones who know it are not the kings or emperors, but the shepherds. In 15-20, the shepherds find the babe as they were told, and go on to tell what they heard and saw, and Mary treasured what they said, pondering the message in her heart.

For Proper II, we begin in what is known as Third Isaiah with 62:6-12. The prophet is looking out for the people who have returned from exile. God is calling them to come through the gates, and vows to never again have their resources taken by their enemies—their food, their drink, their vineyards and grain will all be protected, because they are a holy people, and God has not abandoned them.

God’s power and might are shown through creation in Psalm 97. The whole earth trembles before God who reigns upon the throne of righteousness and justice. Those who worship idols are put to shame, because God is above all other gods, and the people of Israel rejoice because they worship God. The psalmist concludes by calling the righteous to rejoice, for God is with them.

In Titus 3:4-7, the writer speaks of God saving believers not through their actions, but because of God’s kindness, love, and mercy, in our renewal by the Holy Spirit through our baptism. Through Christ, we are heirs to the promise and have the hope of eternal life.

The readings for Proper II conclude with Luke 2: (1-7), 8-20. The first seven verses contain the story of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, as the time came for Mary to give birth and she laid him a manger. Verses 8-20 is more the primary focus, the visit of the angels to the shepherds, who in turn are the first witnesses beyond Mary and Joseph who know that for them a savior has been born, in the city of David, the city of the shepherd king. To the shepherds this is first made known; the shepherds are then the first to share this good news, “for all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them,” and later they “returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard, as it had been told them.”

For Proper III, we start with Second Isaiah in 52:7-10, where God has sent a messenger to the exiles returning, proclaiming peace, good news, and salvation to the people, for their God reigns. The lookouts at the city receive the people returning, singing together as God brings the people home. The prophet calls even the ruins of the city to sing their praise for God, who has brought the exiles home in front of all the nations: a witness of God’s reign.

Psalm 98 calls for the people and all of creation to sing praise to God, through musical instruments and through the sound of nature. The people have experienced a victory against their enemies, and the occasion calls for the people to praise God, who is the judge of the world. The psalmist claims the victory as assurance of God’s approval and greatness.

Hebrews 1:1-4 writes of Jesus as God’s ultimate messenger. In the past, God spoke through the prophets and our ancestors of the faith, but in these final days, God spoke to us through the Son, the light of God’s glory, the one who is greater than all other messengers. Christ is the one who can purify us from sin and is superior to all angels. In 5-12, the writer continues to show that Christ is the only one to reign over the kingdom, or reign of heaven, that God has established. The angels are made to worship Christ, for Christ is not their equal. Christ was present as the foundations of the earth were laid and will reign forever.

The Gospel lesson concluding the readings for Proper III is John 1:1-14. This beautiful beginning to John’s gospel tells of the Word at the beginning, the Word made flesh that dwelled among us. Everything created came through the Word and without the Word not one thing was created. John was sent by God as a witness to the Word, testifying to the light, the Word whose glory we have seen as of a parent’s only child, full of grace and truth. I highly recommend reading Rev. Dr. Wilda Gafney’s own translation of John 1:1-14 in A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, A Multi Gospel Single-Year Lectionary, Year W (pages 22-23), as Dr. Gafney uses the image of bleakness instead of darkness, so that darkness may not always be perceived as negative the way it often has in American context.

The Narrative Lectionary also uses Luke 2:8-20 as its Gospel text, focusing on the visit of the angels to the shepherds. They are the first witnesses beyond Mary and Joseph who know that for them a savior has been born, in the city of David, the city of the shepherd king. To the shepherds this is first made known, and the shepherds are the first to share this good news, “for all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them,” and later they “returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard, as it had been told them.”

The supplementary text for the Narrative Lectionary is Psalm 95:6-7, a call to the people to worship God by the psalmist, for we are God’s people, and God is our maker. We are the sheep of God’s hand—a shepherding image to accompany the shepherds who witnessed the birth of the Messiah in the hometown of their shepherd king.

It’s always hard to find something new to say at Christmas. Perhaps you have already decided to do a Lessons and Carols service, or a storytelling of the Nativity, some other way to share wonder and joy on a day when many people will stay home with family. But it is rare to actually preach this story: God did something unexpected and decided to show up in our lives as vulnerable and helpless as one of us. God decided not to tell the kings and emperors or even the great prophetic types, but shepherds out on night watch. The heavenly host—the army of God—decided to share a message of peace on earth while declaring glory in the highest heaven. Instead of going to war, God’s army shows up and says “We have good news! Peace on earth, goodwill to all!” Everything that happens in this story was completely unexpected. Even Mary didn’t know when her water would break and she’d go into labor. The only one who knew was God, and God actually kept this a secret until that moment. What a wonderful surprise!

Call to Worship (can be read or sung)
O come let us adore him,
O come let us adore him!
O come let us adore him,
Christ the Lord!
O come and worship Jesus,
Who reigns in us forever,
O come and worship Jesus,
Christ the Lord!

Prayer of Confession:
Almighty and Holy God, we confess that we cannot fathom how incredibly wonderful the gift of Your Son is to us. We try to keep this day holy. We try to be filled with wonder and awe and joy. We know we fail at times. Some of us experience grief and hardship, suffering and loss. Some of us are mindful of the state of the world, the despair and hopelessness that lies right outside these walls. Loving God, instill in us the spark of hope if it has died down. Keep the ember of peace alive in our hearts. Fan the flames of joy so that it may burn bright when the world tries to snuff us out, and may we continue to blaze with the fire of Your love, a fire that can never be quenched. You are the Alpha and Omega, the Eternal One, Who Was and Who Is and Who Is To Come, The Almighty. You are the greatest gift, Love Incarnate, Word Made Flesh, who lived and died and lives again, now and forever. Amen and Amen.

Blessing/Assurance
“Peace on the earth, goodwill to all, from heaven’s all-gracious King. The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing.” The heavenly host, the army of God, declares a truce. Embrace God’s peace. Know that you are loved and forgiven. Go and share the good news, on this day and every day. Amen.

Prayer
Ancient of Days, Storyweaver in our lives, may we live out the words of Dickens’ classic tale to honor Christmas in our heart, and try to keep it all the year. May we truly love and care for one another, sharing our gifts and resources, and living into Your ways of love, justice and peace, on this day and every day. Amen.

Worship Resources for December 18th, 2022—Fourth Sunday of Advent

Revised Common Lectionary: Isaiah 7:10-16; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25

Narrative Lectionary, Jesus as Immanuel, Matthew 1:18-25 (Psalm 23:1-4 or 23:4)

The prophet Isaiah spoke to Ahaz, the king of Judah, in Isaiah 7:10-16. Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, was attacked by the northern kingdom of Israel, but the attack failed. Soon after, the northern kingdom with its capital of Samaria would be sacked and taken into exile. Isaiah speaks words of hope to Ahaz about a new child to be born in his household, a sign of hope. Ahaz refused to ask God for a sign, so God told Isaiah to share the good news of an impending birth (most likely of Hezekiah who would become king), a child that would be named Immanuel, God is with us. While early Christians began interpreting these verses about Jesus (using the Septuagint rendering of virgin instead of young woman), reading through verse sixteen shares the context that this was hope for Ahaz and the people of his time. The two countries that threaten Judah will no longer be a threat before the boy is even grown. The sign that the current troubles will pass, and soon, is a heartening message to a king facing war.

Psalm 80 is a prayer of help. The psalmist leads the people in prayer to God who is their shepherd to come and save them as they face exile and destruction. Perhaps originating in the northern kingdom during the exile of 721 B.C.E., most likely this psalm was recited during the exile to Babylon in 587 B.C.E. Verses 17-19 call upon God to allow God’s power and authority to be “upon the one at your right hand.” This may have been referring to the people themselves to be restored to God, but it was also sometimes interpreted to be David, or of his lineage. The refrain, “Restore us, O God” was the congregation’s response, their call to God to come and save them.

Paul’s letter to the Romans begins with an introduction to himself and the Gospel (good news) that he proclaims of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Christ’s resurrection is proof that he is the Messiah, the Lord—the Son of God. And now through Christ, the faithful are called to share the good news to the Gentiles and to bring them into obedience with God’s ways, and the faithful followers of Jesus who are Jewish are also included with the Gentiles. Paul concludes his introduction by blessing those in Rome who are faithfully loved and called by God to serve in the name of Jesus Christ in grace and peace.

Both the Revised Common Lectionary and the Narrative Lectionary use Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus for this Sunday’s reading. Matthew 1:18-25 is vastly different from Luke’s account in Luke 1-2. There is no manger, no inn, no census by the governor. Before that, no Elizabeth and visit from the angel Gabriel to Mary. Instead, we have more of Joseph’s point of view. He was engaged to Mary, but before they were married he learned she was pregnant, and planned to dismiss her. However, he was warned in a dream to not be afraid to take her as his wife. The child was conceived from the Holy Spirit, and would be named Jesus, for he would save his people from their sins. Matthew quotes Isaiah 7:14 from the Septuagint (hence the use of Emmanuel instead of Immanuel transliterating from Greek instead of Hebrew and the use of virgin instead of young woman), as Matthew uses the Hebrew scriptures to prove who Jesus is as the Messiah prophesied, though often those scriptures are out of context. Again, no angels in the sky or shepherds visiting, just the birth of a son which Joseph named Jesus.

The Narrative Lectionary adds Psalm 23:1-4 (or just verse 4) as supplementary texts. The Shepherd’s Psalm has been associated with David for a long time, God as the one who tends and leads us to green pastures, still waters, and restores our soul. Even though I walk in the darkest valley, the psalmist declares, they will fear no evil, for God is with them. God is the one who brings comfort and protects them.

Though there was much to be afraid of, the angel told Joseph to not be afraid to be with Mary and to raise her son, for he was from the Holy Spirit. Isaiah told Ahaz to ask for a sign from God in the midst of war, but Ahaz was too afraid, so Isaiah told him what the sign would be—a new child born in his household, and the fears of the day gone in the near future. There is much to be afraid of, but when we call upon God, as the psalmists remind us, God will respond. God will come into our world and lives. God is already here. There is nothing to be afraid of, for even in the midst of our present struggle, as Ahaz and Joseph learned, God was with them. And God is with us.

Call to Worship
Look, here is the sign!
A young woman shall give birth.
Emmanuel!
Do not be afraid,
For the child is conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Emmanuel!
He is to be called Jesus,
For he will save us from our sins.
Emmanuel!
All this took place to fulfill what was spoken,
And God is still speaking.
Emmanuel!
God Is With Us.

(alternative idea: have different groups respond with Emmanuel, such as seniors, children, etc)

Prayer of Brokenness/Confession
God With Us, we confess that at times we feel very far away from You. War, poverty, racism, climate change—with all the struggles of the world, sometimes we wonder where You are, instead of asking the question of who we are in this world. We forget we are all Your children. We forget that You are with us, always, to the end of time. In the times of deepest struggle, may we remember that You promised us a sign of Your presence: Emmanuel, God With Us. Your covenant with us, to be our God forever, endures even when we forget. In this last week of Advent, as we draw near to Christmas, may we remember You are with us. As the promises of the world let us down, as the music stops and the celebrations cease, may we know You are with us, now and always. Emmanuel, God With Us. Amen.

Blessing/Assurance
Take a deep breath. With every breath, breathe in God’s love, breathe out your fear. With every breath, know that you come from God, and you return to God. With every breath, know that you are loved, and you love one another. Breathe deep, for the Spirit is in you. Breathe deep, knowing God’s love is within. You are made in the image of God. Breathe in hope, breathe out peace. Breathe in joy, breathe out love. With every breath, we wait for God, and know God is with us, always. Amen.

Prayer (in the northern hemisphere)
Creator God, this is the darkest week of the year. We enter this week with decreasing daylight, and we will end this week with the days beginning to grow long again. Help us in this week to know Your comfort and peace, that the darkness is a place of rest and renewal. The darkness is a place of hope, a space of growth, before the light returns. As we await the birth of the Christ-child, may we find where You are present, now, in this darkest time, a space where we are not afraid, but held in mystery: the cry of a newborn babe, the call of peace by the angels, the wonder of the shepherds, the musings of magi. Holy One, help us to sit in the dark and know You. Amen.

Prayer (in the southern hemisphere)
Creator God, as we approach our longest day, may we remember all the ways You touch our lives. May we give thanks for the year past and look forward, knowing that the days will grow short and there will be times of struggle ahead. May we hold on to the goodness in our lives and world and strive to live into Your reign on earth as it is in heaven. As we prepare for the birth of the Christ-child, may we live with the joy and wonder of the incarnation each and every day. Holy One, help us to live into Your wondrous story with the fullness of hope. Amen.

Worship Resources for December 11, 2022—Third Sunday of Advent

Revised Common Lectionary: Isaiah 35:1-10; Psalm 146:5-10 or Luke 1:46b-55; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11

Narrative Lectionary: Light to the Nations, Isaiah 42:1-9 (Matthew 12:15-21)

Today is Gaudete Sunday, which means “Rejoice.” Often, the third candle of the Advent wreath is a pink candle, or rose candle, as it is also called Rose Sunday. In the early tradition of Advent, the season was forty days, mirroring Lent, and a period of fasting. Gaudete Sunday was a day to break the fasting and celebrate, for Christmas is drawing near.

The readings from the Hebrew Scriptures continue to follow Isaiah in this Advent season. The prophet turns to hope of return from exile in 35:1-10. Before the “voice cries out in the wilderness” in 40:3, the prophet notes the wilderness and desert rejoice and blossom because of the glory of God. The prophet encourages the people to have courage because God is coming to deliver them, to lead them out of exile to home. Isaiah uses images of people with physical disabilities, including those who are blind, deaf, mute, or paralyzed, to symbolize spiritual limitations. In the time of Isaiah, people with disabilities were often excluded from the greater community, unable or unallowed to participate. The prophet uses these images to show that the limitations have been removed from the people. As twenty-first century readers, we need to focus on the liberation from the limitations of societal participation, for that was the image Isaiah was invoking, not a miraculous curing. All will be called to God’s Holy Way. The unclean—those who will not keep God’s ways—will fall away, but all others will follow God’s holy way into liberation.

Psalm 146:5-10 sings of God who made heaven and earth and is mindful of the most vulnerable among us. God is a God of justice: feeding the hungry, supporting those who are disabled, and removing oppression. God watches over the strangers and the widows and orphans, all those who are pushed to the margins of society. Those who do not follow God’s ways will meet their end, but those who are faithful will know God’s faithfulness.

An alternative to the psalm is Mary’s Magnificat in Luke 1:46b-55. Mary, echoing the Song of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2, responds to God working in her life and sings of God doing wonderful, mighty things for all the people. God’s justice flips over the tables and fills the hungry and sends the rich away empty. God’s justice brings down the powerful and lifts up the lowly. For those who are in places of privilege and have all the resources they need, this will not be good news, but for the oppressed and marginalized, God has come to help them. This is in accordance with the promises God made to their ancestors and to the people forever.

James 5:7-10 encourages the believers to be courageous and be patient, for the day of the Lord is near. James warns the believers not to grumble against one another, because God takes notice of everything. Earlier in the letter, James warned against judgment because God is the ultimate judge, and God is drawing near, so James repeats this warning. This passage concludes with James reminding the faithful of the endurance and suffering of the prophets before them.

John wonders if Jesus is the one to come, or if they were supposed to wait for another in Matthew 11:2-11. John, who was in prison at the time, sent word through his own disciples to Jesus questioning if he was the Messiah. Jesus’s response to the messenger was simply to tell John what he witnessed: the disabled are included and have good news, the dead are raised, and the sick are healed. In Jesus’s day, disabled people could not work, they could only beg. Good news was brought to those who had been left out, as they would not be left out of God’s reign. Perhaps John and others were still expecting a Messiah who would bring about a worldly kingdom, wearing the robes of kings or perhaps the powerful voice of a prophet commanding leaders, but Jesus was at work among the poorest, most vulnerable people. John the Baptist may have been the greatest prophet to be born, but the least in the kingdom of heaven would be greater than he—John could not envision a kingdom not of this world.

The Narrative Lectionary also focuses on Isaiah in 42:1-9, the first of the “Servant Songs” of Isaiah. While later Christians looked at these passages and saw Jesus represented, the people of Isaiah’s day, returning from exile, saw themselves—the people of Israel—as the one who had served God and had suffered. God’s spirit was among them as they returned from the exile, a witness to the nations around them. The people had survived and became a light to the nations, a witness of how God is the Liberator, the one who hears the cries and relieves the suffering. There is no other God, and God is bringing forth something new.

The supplemental passage is Matthew 12:15-21, in which the writer of Matthew’s gospel quotes Isaiah 42, linking the suffering servant to Jesus as he ministered among the people, healing those who were sick and suffering from disease. Quoting from the Septuagint, this translation suggests that “the Gentiles will have hope.” Looking at Isaiah’s time, the understanding would be that the hope was in understanding God as the God of liberation, the one who rescues and redeems the faithful, and that Israel was a light to all nations. For Matthew, the writer is trying to foreshadow Jesus’s own work in grafting the Gentiles into the family tree of Israel.

On this Sunday, we rejoice in God our Savior, a God who has remained faithful to all of us through the promises made to our ancestors in the faith long ago. God continues to work for our liberation from oppression in this world, the world we have made. God continues to pay attention and be most mindful of those our society often marginalizes and leaves out: those experiencing poverty, widows, orphans, disabled folks—and God prepares a way for them. When we see good news for all people, including the “least” among us, then we see the Gospel. If there isn’t good news for the poor, the disabled, all those who are pushed out, those who fear for their lives such as LGBTQ persons—if it’s not good news for them, it isn’t the Gospel. The Gospel is one who remembers and lifts up those who have been pushed out. We are still waiting for the day of the Lord, and in the meantime, as James warns us, we need one another. We need to find a way forward together, but especially for those we have often left out.

Call to Worship (from Luke 1:46b-47, 49, 52-52, 55a)
Our soul magnifies the Lord,
And our spirit rejoices in God our Savior.
For the Mighty One has done great things for us,
And holy is God’s name.
God has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
And lifted up the lowly.
God has filled the hungry with good things,
And sent the rich away empty.
According to the promise God made to our ancestors,
We worship our God of liberating love!

Prayer of Brokenness/Confession
God of the People, we rejoice with Mary’s song every year, yet we do not allow her words to break open our hearts. We still prop up the rich and powerful while the hungry beg on our streets. We still push people to the margins, especially the most vulnerable, and we imprison those who are in most need of help. May we hear Mary’s call, O God, and may our hearts break open. May we be challenged by these words and in our desire for peace and harmony recognize that if there are people oppressed among us, there can be no peace and there is no good news. May we live into Mary’s song and work to let the oppressed go free, to bring in those from the margins, to fill the hungry with good things and send the rich away empty—even if it means for those of us with privilege to let go. Help us to do this holy work, O God, and work in us this Advent season to live into Your reign here on earth and bring the good news. Amen.

Blessing/Assurance
In accordance to the promises God made to our ancestors of faith, may we know that God’s steadfast love never ceases and God’s mercies are renewed every day. May we seek in this season to repent and turn back to God’s ways, and repent to each other of where we have gone wrong. May we work to bring reparation and healing in our relationships and in this world. May we live into God’s love, made known to us in the Word made Flesh that dwelled among us, and know God’s forgiveness and restoration in our own lives. Amen.

Prayer
Joyful God, we rejoice in You this season! We are glad for the wonder and awe that Advent brings us as we prepare for Christmas. As we are still in a pre-post-Covid world, we’ve experienced much loss and grief in recent years. While we’ve eased up on some restrictions, we still take precautions, and we may be a bit timid in truly embracing joy. God, help us to know that while we may still be cautious, while we may still be careful for the well being of others and ourselves, we can fully rejoice in You, knowing that You are making all things new. We look to the future with hope, and we prepare our hearts to make room for You, for You are our Joy to the World! Amen.

Worship Resources for December 4, 2022—Second Sunday of Advent

Revised Common Lectionary: Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12

Narrative Lectionary: Esther 4:1-17 (Matthew 5:13-16)

For the second Sunday in Advent, the Hebrew scriptures continues a series in Isaiah with 11:1-10. The prophet Isaiah, having witnessed the corruption of kings that led to the northern kingdom of Israel’s demise and Judah’s own troubles, prophesies a new king who will come and lead as David led. While Isaiah was hoping for the new king Hezekiah in his time, the prophet’s hope is for all future leaders, that they would judge with righteousness and equity the poor and those in need. That a future king would not look to what benefited them but to the wisdom of God, and to seek God’s guidance in how they led. When the leader of the people seeks God, peace comes over the land, for there is no more competition with each other—it is only how they can best live according to God’s ways. The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard live with the goat—these symbols of peace in creation are representative of God’s abundant love. There is enough for all when we look to God’s ways. Other nations will look to Judah, to their king, and be drawn to them because of what God has done for them.

Psalm 72 is a blessing upon the coronation of a new king. The psalmist prays for God’s blessings for the new king, that God would grant them wisdom to rule with justice. The psalmist prays that the new king would remember the poor and those in need, and prays that the king would defend the most vulnerable, and that the king be blessed with long life and his reign with abundance and peace. The psalmist concludes by blessing God, for it is God alone who can accomplish peace and justice.

The Epistle reading continues in Romans with 15:4-13. Paul writes that the scriptures written before were to give us hope in the here and now, by God’s steadfastness and encouragement through the ancestors of our faith. Paul gives instructions to the church in Rome to welcome one another—indeed, throughout the letter Paul has encouraged the Jewish followers to welcome in the new Gentile converts. According to Paul’s explanation, Jesus was Jewish to confirm the promises made through the ancestors of the faith, but Paul also quotes the scriptures where it lifts up the Gentiles as people who also praise God. Finally, Paul quotes Isaiah, linking Jesus as the one who will come from the root of Jesse. It is important for us to remember that while Paul and other early Christians made this connection to Isaiah and Jeremiah, there are other interpretations among Jews about the Messiah, from before and after Jesus’s time.

The Gospel turns to John the Baptizer in Matthew 3:1-12. The writers of all four Gospel accounts link John the Baptist to Second Isaiah, where in 40:3 the prophet declares that a voice cries out from the wilderness. Second Isaiah was writing of the time when the people returned from exile in Babylon, around 520 B.C.E. However, the Gospel writers identify this as John centuries later, who came from the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Some scholars believe John may have been part of the Essenes, a group of Jews who gathered near the Dead Sea and prepared for the Day of the Lord to come. They had similar practices of not eating meat, and the Jewish practice of the mikveh, a ritual cleansing in water immersion, was practiced more rigorously by the Essenes. John came from the wilderness and proclaimed this baptism, and people from all along the Jordan came to him. However, when some of the Sadducees and Pharisees, two other different Jewish groups, came to be baptized, John warned them not to rely on their identity or ancestry, but that they must go through the inner transformation, to bear fruit worthy of repentance. John declared that one was coming after him who was more powerful, one whose axe lay at the foot of the tree and whose winnowing fork was on the threshing floor. The one coming after John would work on them and they might not like it, for anything bad would be cut off, anything chaff would be torn from the wheat and would be burned. In other words, the one coming after John was coming to purify and cleanse. The masks any of us wear for the world, the things we hide behind—our religious identity, our lineage, wealth, power—whatever it is, it will not hold up to the truth of God—it will be torn away. We can’t hide who we are from God. Too often we want to hide our faults and shortcomings. But if we allow God to work in us, God can help us bear good fruit.

The Narrative Lectionary turns to Esther, specifically chapter four. Esther’s cousin Mordecai went into public mourning at the gates of the city. Esther tried through her servants to get him to wear proper clothing, but he refused, and she didn’t know why he mourned. Mordecai was making it public that he was both Jewish and mourning for what would happen to the people, while Esther was comfortable in the palace, no one else knowing she was Jewish. When Esther finally was able to get a messenger to Mordecai, he told her about the decree Haman issued to destroy the Jews and told her she must go to the king and tell him what had happened. Esther replied that no one could go to the king without being summoned or risk being put to death. However, Mordecai warned her that she would not be safe, not even in the palace. If she refused to speak, someone else would come to their aid, but perhaps she ought to look at all that had happened to get her to the palace—perhaps she ought to recognize her privilege in this position might be for “such a time as this.” Esther recognized that it was indeed such a moment, and ordered that Mordecai let all the Jews in Susa know what was going on and to fast on her behalf, for she would risk her own life and go to the king to save her people.

The supplementary verses are Matthew 5:13-16, in which Jesus tells the disciples after giving the Beatitudes that they are the salt of the earth, the light of the world. They are meant to give flavor, to shine and not be hid. They are meant to be known so that God might be made known through them.

Advent means “coming into view.” This is the time when masks are falling off and our true selves are revealed. Either we are watching for the signs of Christ’s return in our world and in our lives, or we are still living in the ways of this world. The ways of this world call us to desire more and to consume more, to look for ways to increase our privilege and power. The way of Christ calls us to seek the welfare of others, to live into righteousness and justice. John prepares the way because John reminds us that we have to bear fruit worthy of repentance. That we can’t pretend we are faithful to Christ when we haven’t been faithful each and every day. It’s better for us to be honest with ourselves, that we have fallen short, that we have failed to seek God at times, and that we try to do better, than to put on the world’s mask and pretend that we are good and faithful people. John calls us to tear off the mask. Esther reminds us that even if we have privilege, we must use that privilege to help the most vulnerable among us and if we aren’t willing to risk it, then we’re still living with the mask on. We’re being fake, and we’re seeking the ways of the world and not God. We are called to get real with ourselves, for Christ is coming.

Call to Worship
Watch for it! It’s coming into view—
The ways of this world have led to dead ends,
but Christ leads us to life.
Wait for it! The signs are around us—
When we seek the welfare of the most vulnerable,
we seek the well-being of all.
The time is at hand! Repent!
It is time to recognize where we have gone astray,
Time to turn back to God’s love and justice.
We are almost there!
Let’s be real with one another: we need each other.
May we find a way to journey together in hope.

Prayer of Brokenness/Confession
Creator God, we confess that we put on masks in this world: masks of happiness to cover our depression. Masks of wealth to cover our emptiness. Masks of social status to cover up our feelings of inadequacy. We think some masks are better than others, when underneath it all we are simply bone and flesh, brought together by You. Help us to take off the mask and be our real self. Help us to acknowledge our shortcomings and mistakes. Help us to embrace our depression and illness so we can find ways of healing. Call us to look in the mirror and see our true self: the image of the Beloved One, the image of You. Help us to remove our masks, so we can truly view the world as it is, and work to repair what is broken. Amen.

Blessing/Assurance
We are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are tenderly cared for by our Beloved God. May we be tender with each other as we remove the masks of the world. May we help each other repair and heal, restore and make whole. May we love one another with the tender love of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we have life. Amen.

Prayer
O Come, Thou Wisdom from on high, and order all things far and nigh. To us the path of knowledge show, and cause us in her ways to go. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, God With Us, and lead us away from the ways of the world we have made, and into Your wisdom. May we listen to the prophets and sages of old, and hear the cries for justice in the hear and now. O Come, Desire of Nations, bind all peoples in one heart and mind. Bid envy, strife, and quarrels cease. Fill the whole world with heaven’s peace. May we rejoice in Your arrival in our hearts and world in a new way. Amen.

Worship Resources for November 27, 2023—First Sunday of Advent

Revised Common Lectionary: Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44

Narrative Lectionary: Faith as a Way of Life, Habakkuk 1:1-7; 2:1-4; 3: (3b-6), 17-19 (Matthew 26:36-38)

Happy New Year, Church! The first Sunday of Advent begins a new year in the Revised Common Lectionary, and we are beginning year A.

Isaiah 2:1-5 contains a vision shared with Micah 2:1-4. Both prophets witnessed terrible violence and the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel, but they had hope that the southern kingdom of Judah might learn and change their ways. The two prophets shared a hope that the people would turn back to God and gather in Jerusalem at the temple, a hope the people would turn away from violence and war and instead turn to God, and other nations would follow suit, with lessons learned going forth from Jerusalem: peace in God’s name.

Psalm 122 is a prayer for Jerusalem, the holy city, calling the people into worship and into God’s ways of peace. Both the temple for God and the throne of David were established in Jerusalem, and the psalmist calls the people into worship, into a litany of praying for peace for the city and its people. For the sake of God, the psalmist prays that those who gather in worship seek the goodness and well-being of the city.

For Advent, the Epistle readings follow Romans (except for the third Sunday when the reading is from James). In Romans 13:11-14, Paul writes near the end of his letter that this is the time to wake up. This is the time to pay attention to how we live and act in this world. Paul is hoping that Christ’s return is eminent, but even if it is not, this is always the time to live into the light, to live as if everything about us is exposed, and we have nothing to hide. Instead of acting in the way of this world and trying to mask who we are, Paul calls the believers to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, to let Christ be the face the world sees.

Jesus calls the disciples to keep awake in part of his final discourse in Matthew 24:36-44. Jesus shares the story of Noah as a warning, that people didn’t heed the signs of the flood and simply focused on living their own lives. For those who do not pay attention to what is going on and focus on only themselves, they can neither perceive where God is at work nor how evil is at work in the world around us. Jesus then tells of the coming of the Son of Man, where some are taken and some left—not a “rapture” as mythologized among some, but rather a metaphor to be ready, for Christ is at work in our world and lives and will be in a new, unexpected way. Like an owner of a house who would be prepared for anything if he was expecting a thief, so we must, as faithful followers of Jesus, be ready for Christ.

The Narrative Lectionary focuses on Faith as a Way of Life in Habakkuk. Part of Habakkuk was the reading for the Revised Common Lectionary’s second selection of Hebrew scriptures on October 2nd, and the first selection on October 30th. Habakkuk prophesied right before the Babylonians attacked Jerusalem. Habakkuk argues with God in 1:1-4, because all the prophet experienced was violence. He couldn’t see any hope from God to deliver him or the people from evil. Justice was not possible because the law couldn’t be upheld. However, in 2:1, the prophet remained faithful to God, keeping their position at the fortress, watching and waiting for God to respond in 2:2-4. God told the prophet to write a vision, so simple that a runner could read it, because there was still a vision for their time. Whether it was a vision of hope, or a vision of doom, is unknown, but God would answer if the people waited for it. For the righteous live by their faith and are justified, unlike the proud who live for themselves. In chapter 3, Habakkuk lifts up a prayer, and the language shifts to an ancient poetic understanding of God strolling along the earth, making it quake and tremble, with the power of destruction at God’s hands. The prophet concludes that even though there are no signs of goodness on the earth, they still rejoice in God, for God is their strength and salvation, in whom they have their whole hope.

The supplementary verses are Matthew 26:36-38, when Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane and asks the disciples to stay with him and stay awake while he prays, grieved and agitated.

Keep awake! This is the call of the prophets and of Jesus. Pay attention to what is happening in the world! Too many people want to bury their head in the sand. The world’s problems are too big. There’s too much evil in the world, too many things we can’t fix on our own. Far too often we’ve passed the buck on caring for creation to the next generation. It’s too difficult for us to change our ways so we hope the next generation will. Perhaps the next generation will hold the largest pollutants accountable because we haven’t. Someone else will figure out the debt crisis and healthcare and so many other things. Someone else will get our government to move past the stalemates and help the most vulnerable among us. Wake up! Jesus is calling out to us. Jesus is also calling to those of us who sit comfortably in our faith and believe we will have all the answers in eternity and we don’t need to do anything on this earth, in this life. Wake up! This very night your life might be demanded of you, as Jesus told in a parable in Luke 12:20. Wake up and keep awake, for Christ is at work in our world and in our lives, and we may be too stuck on ourselves to perceive it.

Call to Worship
Wake up! The time for dreaming is over,
It is time to live into our dreams and hopes.
Keep awake! Look for the signs,
Christ is already at work in our lives.
Be alert! Take notice where God is present,
For the Holy Spirit is stirring in our world!
Surprise! The time is now,
This is Advent, the Arrival, the Coming Into View,
For God is here, making all things new!

Prayer of Brokenness/Confession
God of Wonder, God of Light, we confess that we enter this season caught up in the busy-ness. One holiday ends and we have to prepare for the next. We get caught in the rush of wanting to preserve tradition, create new memories, and do all the things. Sometimes we’re also caught in waves of grief—what we have lost the past two years and who we have lost. Help us to be gentle with ourselves, Loving One. May we be tender with our hearts and allow us space to not do it all perfectly. Remind us to slow down and to experience the wonder and joy of the stories we tell this season, including the story of Your incarnation, the Word made Flesh. May we feel the magic of this time in a new way, to be transformed to love one another more deeply and to truly live into Your peace on earth, no matter how much or how little we find to celebrate. May we be wakened to what You are doing in our world and in our lives, so we might love one another as You loved us, enough to live as one of us. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

Blessing/Assurance
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. From the beginning we were never alone. From the beginning there was always life and light. From the beginning God speaks, and God creates, and God lives. God is always making everything new, including ourselves. You are loved by God. Go and share this love with one another, and the knowledge that God continues to move, mold, and shape us into who we are as God’s children: into new creations in Christ. Amen.

Prayer
“Stay here, and keep watch with me.” O Lord, You asked Your disciples long ago to remain awake and they could not. We know that we have been caught in the ways of this world and not simply in worldly measures of success, but the desire to make a better future for our children, to make things easier for our loved ones. Sometimes we sacrifice our ideals for a better world for others to focus on the here and now. Sometimes that is all we can do for the time being. Help us, O God, to wake up, and recognize where You are calling us in this world. Help us to wake up and be alert, when the world drags us down. Help us not to daydream for a better world but to build it, to live into it, for the sake of the most vulnerable among us. We pray all things in Christ, who calls us to wake up. Amen.

Worship Resources for November 20th, 2022—Reign of Christ Sunday, Thanksgiving Sunday

Revised Common Lectionary:

Reign of Christ Sunday: Jeremiah 23:1-6 and Luke 1:68-79; Jeremiah 23:1-6 and Psalm 46; Colossians 1:11-20; Luke 23:33-43

Thanksgiving Sunday: Deuteronomy 26:1-11 and Psalm 100; Philippians 4:4-9; John 6:25-35

Narrative Lectionary: Swords into Plowshares, Isaiah 36:1-3, 13-20; 37:1-7; then 2:1-4 (Matthew 5:14)

We have come to an end of the season after Pentecost, and both streams of the Hebrew scripture reading in the Revised Common Lectionary for Reign of Christ Sunday begin with Jeremiah 23:1-6. God has had enough of the shepherds who have not cared for the sheep. The shepherds who were supposed to learn from their ancestor David, a shepherd himself before he became king, have driven the people of Israel from God’s ways, and have allowed them to worship other gods. But God themself will gather the remnant of the flock in exile and bring them back. God will raise up shepherds who will actually care for them, and God will raise up a “righteous branch” of David—not those in name only, but someone who leads as David led—who will execute justice and reign wisely and in righteousness over the people of Israel and Judah.

The first selection pairs Luke 1:68-79, the song of Zechariah, who was finally able to speak once his son John was born. The angel Gabriel wouldn’t allow him to speak because he questioned the angel’s message. Once John’s name was known, Zechariah could speak, and he sang a song praising God for raising up a servant in the line of David, the promise of the ancestors fulfilled. Zechariah also sings a blessing for his own son John, who would be called the prophet of the Most High God, for his son would be the one to prepare the way and bring knowledge of the repentance of sins. Like the dawn breaking open, new understanding, new light would guide the people out of the shadow of death and into God’s ways of peace.

The second selection pairs Psalm 46 with the Jeremiah reading. When everything is falling apart, the psalmist praises God, for God is their refuge and strength and present with them in their troubles. God is right there in the midst of destruction, and God is the only one who stops war and violence, for God is above all on earth. The psalmist cries out to “Be still, and know that I am God!” The God of their ancestors is the same God over all nations, all people, and will not abandon the people.

The Epistle reading is a prayer and statement of faith, purporting to be from Paul to the church in Colossae in Colossians 1:11-20. Paul prays that the believers would be strong in faith and give thanks to God, in whom they now have an inheritance in the light. In the metaphor of light and shadow, they have been rescued from the shadows through Jesus Christ, in whose reign they now belong. Paul goes on to declare that Christ is the visible image of the invisible God, “the firstborn of all creation.” Everything on earth and in heaven, visible and invisible, was created through Christ and for Christ, and he is first of everything. Christ is the head of the church, and in whom “God was pleased to dwell,” the one who reconciled all things and made peace through his death on the cross.

On this Reign of Christ Sunday, we read the story of Jesus’s crucifixion in Luke 23:33-43. Only in Luke’s account do others crucified with Jesus speak, and while the soldiers mock him, so does one of the victims of crucifixion at his side. However, another victim of crucifixion rebukes the first, stating that they were condemned justly for their actions, but not Jesus, for he was innocent. That man asks Jesus to remember him when Jesus comes into his kingdom. Jesus declared to him that on that day they would be together in paradise. While Jesus was mocked as an earthly king, Jesus’ reign is beyond the border of life and death. Those who know and believe will know that this life and death do not have a hold on them. We know this best when we repent of our wrongdoing and turn back to God and God’s ways, relying on Christ, and believing that Christ will remember us in his reign.

For Thanksgiving Sunday, the Revised Common Lectionary begins with part of Moses’s final discourse to the Israelites, before they enter the promised land without him. In Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Moses instructs the people that when they do finally live on the land, they are to take the first fruits as an offering to God, bringing it to the priest. This is an act of remembrance. A long time ago, they had no home. Their ancestor was a wandering Aramean, and their family made it to Egypt, and grew into a nation that was then oppressed. They cried out to God, and God heard them and witnessed what they had suffered and delivered them out of their enslavement into freedom, and into this land that God had promised them. By offering the first fruits, they were remembering all that God had provided for them.

Psalm 100 is a song of praise, a call to worship as the people enter the courts of the temple. They are to enter with thanksgiving and praise, remembering that God made them, and they are the sheep of God’s pasture. God is faithful in love to all generations.

Paul nears the end of his letter to the church in Philippi with an exhortation to rejoice, and with an attitude of gratitude, make their requests known to God. Paul encourages the church to keep their hearts and minds on all that is good and inspires them to goodness and kindness, and to continue to do what they have learned from him. If they change their mindset, they change their actions.

Jesus, after feeding the five thousand men (plus women and children), addresses the crowd that has continued to pursue him in John 6:25-35. Jesus perceives they have come to find him not because they are coming to believe in him, but because they were not satisfied with the bread they received. Jesus instructs the people not to work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which he, as God’s Child, would give them. But the people continued to ask for signs to believe and spoke about the manna that Moses gave the people. Jesus reminds them that it wasn’t Moses, but God, who provided the daily bread. The true bread comes down from heaven and “gives life to the world.” The people then ask Jesus for that bread always, and Jesus declares that he is the bread of life. Whoever is looking for God will be satisfied with Jesus Christ, they will never hunger or thirst for God again.

The Narrative Lectionary focuses on Isaiah’s vision of swords into plowshares. In these selections from Isaiah 36 and 37, Jerusalem is attacked by Assyria, which conquered Israel to the north twenty years before. King Hezekiah shows public repentance and mourning by tearing his clothes and putting on sackcloth. But the prophet Isaiah tells Hezekiah not to lose heart, that the Assyrian king will withdraw, and the city will be saved. Isaiah, back in chapter two, has a vision of a time when war shall be learned no more, when they shall go back to farming, and there will be peace.

In Matthew 5:14, Jesus declares to the disciples and those who have gathered to hear his sermon that they are the light of the world, just as a city built on a hill cannot be hidden.

While Christ declared that his reign was not of this world, we know that we participate in the reign of God here and now in our love and care for one another. The work for justice in this world is kin-dom building work. When we minister to one another out of an attitude of gratitude, we are living into God’s ways. This world that we have made, a world where empire reigns, a world where pursuit of power—politics, wealth, notoriety, even religious power—is a world with its own set of measures for success. These ways are not God’s ways. In the reign of God, whoever wishes to be first must become last of all and servant of all. Whoever thinks they are first are actually last. Whoever wishes to enter the reign of God must do so like a child, and must welcome the ones the reign of God belongs—the children, the ones ignored and marginalized, the most vulnerable in our society. Gratitude is a way of participating here and now in Christ’s reign, as we pray for it to come and for Christ’s will to be done.

Call to Worship (Psalm 100)
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness; come into God’s presence with singing.
Know that the LORD is God. It is God that made us, and we belong to God;
We are God’s people, and the sheep of God’s pasture.
Enter God’s gates with thanksgiving, and the courts with praise.
Give thanks to God, bless God’s name.
For the LORD is good; God’s steadfast love endures forever,
And God’s faithfulness to all generations.

Prayer of Brokenness/Confession
Heavenly Parent of us all, we confess that we are bitter and selfish, sometimes spoiled. We have all Your abundance before us, but we have hoarded everything You provided, complained we did not have enough when we had much more than others, and still we demanded more. We have looked to the ways of the world we created and the measures of success we have made, and we never have enough. Forgive us, O Loving One. Remind us that we are all Your children, that You hold us in the palm of Your hand. Remind us that we are siblings of one another, and that we must love each other. In loving one another, we come to know the needs of the community, and when we meet the needs of our neighbors, we find our own needs are met. This is the Beloved Community Your prophets prophesied, the community of faith Your Son began with his disciples, and that we long to live into. Guide us into Your ways, Your truth, and Your life. Amen.

Blessing/Assurance
There is no greater love, Jesus said, than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Out of humility we lay down our lives for each other. Out of humility we lay down our pride and admit our wrongdoings. Out of humility we work to repair what we have broken and restore what we can mend. Out of God’s great love for us, Jesus laid down his life, and so out of our love for one another, we lay down our pride. We forgive one another, love one another, care for one another, and lift up one another. Go, share the Good News: live out the Gospel. Lay down your ego and your pride and live into God’s love, and it shall go well with you. Amen.

Prayer
Gracious and Holy One, we give You thanks as we near the end of our liturgical year, our seasons in the church, and prepare to begin again. We do this so we might remember, year after year, what You have done for us, for our ancestors, and what You have promised to do. We do this out of gratitude for all we have, looking forward as we prepare to watch and wait for signs that You are entering our world and our lives in a new way. Expectant One, as we wait for the birth of the Christ-Child, You are midwifing something new in us. May Christ be born anew in us, so we might seek to live more deeply into Your ways and seek to love the world You made, and the people created in Your image as our siblings, as part of the beloved family of God. In gratitude and praise, we come before You. Amen.

Advent Candle Lighting (Year A) 2022

Check the Advent Resources page for more candle-lighting liturgies and other ideas, and a PDF and Docx version of this candle-lighting liturgy may be downloaded there.

Advent Candle Lighting (Year A) 2022

“You Know What Time It Is.”

First Sunday (for the northern hemisphere)
You know what time it is. The night is far gone, the day is near. It is the in-between time. Right now, the nights are still drawing longer, but soon that will cease, and the daylight will begin to increase. In this in-between time, of fall into winter, we know the promise of spring will come even if we cannot sense it. We know what time it is: time to watch and wait for signs of Christ’s presence in our world and in our lives in a new way. What is being revealed to you in the darkness? What is hidden that is waiting for you to know?

Light the first candle

Prayer: Now is the time for us to wake from sleep. Light of the World, we wait for You. Voice in the Darkness, we wait for You. Prepare us to receive You in our world and in our lives in a new way. Amen.

*Alternative First Sunday (for the southern hemisphere)
You know what time it is. The night is far gone, the day is near. It is the in-between time. Right now, the days are almost as long as they can be. But we know the seasons will change and turn and long nights will return. In this in-between time, of spring into summer, we cherish the daylight and are reminded that the Light of the World draws near. We know what time it is: time to watch and wait for signs of Christ’s presence in our world and in our lives in a new way. What is being revealed to you as you watch and wait?

Light the first candle

Prayer: Now is the time for us to wake from sleep. Light of the World, we wait for You. Voice in the Darkness, we wait for You. Prepare us to receive You in our world and in our lives in a new way. Amen.

Second Sunday
You know what time it is. A voice has cried out from the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” It is time to make things ready, in our lives and in our world, for the Word to be flesh again. It is time to prepare to live as God showed the ancestors of our faith, through the teaching of the prophets and the stories we have passed down until now. Prepare to make all things ready, for Christ to be born in our hearts again, that we might remember who we are, who God intends us to be. Prepare the way of the Lord.

Light the second candle

Prayer: God of our Ancestors, we repent of where we have gone astray. Help us to listen to the voice that cries out from the wildernesses, the margins of our world. Help us to listen to Your voice call us to prepare for justice, Your voice that calls us into the hard work of reparation, Your voice that calls us to pursue the path of peace. Amen.

Third Sunday
You know what time it is. It is not time to sit back and hem and haw. It is not time to question whether to risk or not. It is not time to tell those who have waited so long for justice to continue to be patient. The waiting of Advent is not passive, but active. It is participating in the reign of Christ while waiting for Christ to return in our world and lives in a new way. It is building up the beloved community now while knowing that grief and suffering are still raw and real. It is the time to risk, because if we do not, we are bound to lose. It is the time to act for justice because we know that it will not come unless we demand it. It is the time to seek peace and pursue it, because it will not come without sacrifice. It is the time to live, knowing Christ is with us now even as we wait for Christ to make all things new.

Lighting of the third candle

Prayer: God of Justice and Mercy, we pray for the courage to pursue Your way in this world now even as we pray for Your kin-dom to come, on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

Fourth Sunday
You know what time it is. It is the time to rise, to not be afraid. It is the time to shine our light and listen for God’s voice in the darkness. It is the time to pursue justice and mercy and love one another. It is the time to listen to the voices of angels among us, to set aside fear and cling to hope. It is the time to know Emmanuel, God is with Us. Not in a time to come, not in a time long ago in the past, but now. This is the time. Wake from sleep, rise up, and rejoice that Christ is the Lord, that God’s reign is right here, if we live into it.

Lighting of the fourth candle

Prayer
Glory, Glory, Glory! Lord God Almighty, we declare Your reign is here, among us now. We declare that You are Sovereign in our life and no other. We declare that the time is now, and we pledge ourselves anew to You, our Savior, Redeemer, and God Forever, Christ the Lord. Amen and Amen.

Christmas Eve
You know what time it is. The world has been in labor pains until now. God has midwifed us to this point, helping us come to be who we are meant to be. We are God’s beloved children. On this night, we remember the birth of Jesus, and know that Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. This is the time when all things, all of us, are made a new creation in Christ. See, everything old has passed away. Everything has become new!

Lighting of the Christ candle

Prayer:
Living Christ, be born again in our hearts this night. May we be transformed for You, to not dwell upon the past, or put all our hope in the future, but to live into who we are now, to build up Your beloved community on earth as it is in heaven. May we remember this moment, with Christmas in our hearts all year long, as a promise and pledge to live into Your reign, now and forever. Amen.

*Alternative Sung Prayer: sing the first verse of Joy to the World, or the last verse of O Little Town of Bethlehem

Worship Resources for November 13, 2022—Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost

Revised Common Lectionary: Isaiah 65:17-25 and Isaiah 12; Malachi 4:1-2 and Psalm 98; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19

Narrative Lectionary: Micah, (1:3-5); 5:2-5a; 6:6-8 (Matthew 9:13)

We are nearing the end of the season after Pentecost, and the Revised Common Lectionary wraps up the first selection series of the prophets, turning to the time after the exile in Isaiah 65:17-25. In this part of Isaiah commonly known as Third Isaiah, the prophet recognizes that the people of his time are returning to their old ways, forgetting what God has done for them. Yet the prophet still has hope that God will restore what has been destroyed, that God will remake what has been taken: God will create new heavens and a new earth. No more will the people be forced away; they will live where they have built, they will grow and thrive. No more shall there be harm or destruction, for God will respond before they even call for help.

Isaiah 12 is a psalm of thanksgiving to God. First Isaiah witnessed the destruction by Assyria of Israel and Samaria to the north and the attempted siege on Jerusalem, but Assyria did not pursue taking Judah. The prophet interprets their survival as God’s favor upon them. Though they were disobedient, God still saved them, and the prophet calls upon the people to sing for joy as to what God has done for them and for Zion.

The second selection for the Hebrew Scriptures turns toward the day of the Lord, the day of judgment, as the liturgical year turns toward Reign of Christ Sunday. The prophet Malachi prophesied that the day would come when God’s purifying fire would burn up all evildoers, so that there would be nothing left that evil could graft on to. Instead, the Sun of Righteousness would rise with healing in its wings for those who turn to God. This beautiful image conveys that God’s fire of judgment is for purifying and healing, not for destruction and dismay.

Psalm 98 is a song of thanksgiving to God for victory, which was an alternate selection for the first Psalm reading last week. God has remained faithful to the people of Israel, showing God’s steadfast love, and all the earth knows God’s victory. The psalmist calls upon the whole earth to make a joyful noise, to praise God. With musical instruments, and the music of the sea and floodwaters—everything is called to praise God, all of God’s creation. God is the one who judges the whole earth and judges the people rightly.

The Epistle readings conclude the series in 2 Thessalonians, with an exhortation for the believers to do what is right in 3:6-13. The writer urges the readers to keep away from those who have gone astray and have either been idle or just busybodies without doing anything to contribute to the community of faith. This was a specific concern with a specific community, and the writers urge them to consider who is working for the community of faith and living out the teachings that were passed to them and encourages the faithful to not stop doing what is right.

Luke 21:5-9 is part of Jesus’s final teachings to the disciples when he is in Jerusalem the last week of his life. While the disciples are admiring the temple, Jesus foretells that no one stone will be left. We must remember that the Gospel accounts were written after the destruction of the temple in 70 C.E., and Jesus is preparing the disciples for what is to come (therefore, the gospel writers are helping the listeners of their day understand why they must endure the troubles of their time). The disciples wonder when the destruction of the temple will take place, but Jesus assures them to not be alarmed. There will be people who will try to lead the believers astray. There will be natural disasters and wars and plagues, and even before that, persecution including trials and imprisonment. Nonetheless, Jesus assures them they will be innocent before God, and will endure for the sake of the gospel.

The Narrative Lectionary focuses on the prophet Micah, who brings both judgment and hope. In 1:3-5, God is coming to judge the people for false worship, in Samaria and Jerusalem, and judgment against the two country’s capitals, their leaders who had led them astray. Micah had witnessed Assyria taking Israel, destroying Samaria and sending the people into exile. However, in 5:2-5, Micah brings a word of hope, of a new king from David’s hometown, one who will rule the people in the future but whose origin is ancient. This ruler will bring peace for Judah. Yet in 6:6-8, we know that the people have continued to go astray. The prophet rhetorically asks what it is God requires of us. If the people are bringing offerings and sacrifices and yet destruction is still happening, perhaps the solution is not greater offerings and sacrifices, but a need to change themselves. God has shown them what is required: to do justice, practice loving-kindness, and walking in humility with God.

The supplementary verse is Matthew 9:13, where Jesus paraphrases Micah and Amos and other prophets by saying God desires mercy and not sacrifice, and Jesus tells those listening to go learn what that means.

As we near Reign of Christ Sunday we read passages from times of great struggle, for the ancient Israelites, for the disciples of Jesus, and for the early churches. All these point to a need for inner transformation that is outwardly expressed—a love of God that conveys love to one’s neighbor. A practice of mercy to others that demonstrates the mercy God has shown us. A commitment to justice that includes not only us, but the most vulnerable in our society. God’s desire is not a desire to punish for punishment’s sake, but that we learn from the consequences of our actions, and often that is painful. The time of judgment of God is often seen as a destructive, monumental act of widespread change, but just as often the prophets and apostles call the faithful to judge themselves if they are following God’s ways and to transform their own lives. As we approach the end of this liturgical year, where is God calling you to examine your own life and make changes for the new? Where is God’s purifying fire at work, burning up what is useless, but bringing healing and hope in your life? What worries and cares do you have—especially after yet another volatile election season in the U.S.—that you can lift up to Christ and hear the words of hope Jesus has for you, as he gave the disciples walking amidst the temple long ago? May the words of victory in the psalms bring some assurance and comfort to you in this time.

Call to Worship
Behold, the day is coming,
When God will make new heavens and a new earth.
Behold, the day is coming,
When we shall draw water from the well of salvation.
Behold, the day is coming,
When God will answer before we even call God’s name.
Behold, the day is here!
We gather to worship and pray and praise God’s name,
And we live into God’s ways of love, justice, and peace.

Prayer of Brokenness/Confession
God of Justice and Righteousness, we confess that we demand Your judgment upon others but mercy for ourselves. Correct our thinking and our actions, O God, that we might desire mercy for all and live into Your ways of kindness and compassion. Direct us, O God, to judge ourselves and confess our sins, to repent and turn back to You, and work to repair and restore what we have broken. Guide us, O God, into Your ways of love, truth, and justice, so we might be caretakers of the earth, builders of hope, restorers of peace, and repairers of the world. Amen.

Blessing/Assurance
We hear the words of assurance from the poets, for the psalmists knew that even in times of despair, they would sing joyfully to our God. We hear the words of assurance from the prophets, that even when the faithful failed, God had plans for restoration. We hear the words of assurance from our ancestors in faith, that God did not forget them, and God continues to lead us all home, as far as we wander away. We hear the words of assurance from Jesus, that in Christ we have life abundantly. We are forgiven, loved, and restored. Listen to the words of old, and speak the words of hope to one another, by blessing and forgiving and restoring one another as Christ has restored you. Amen.

Prayer
God of the Hopeless, God of the Discontent, God of the Dejected and Poor, there is much in the way of shadow and death in our world, but Your light shines in the shadows and bleakness. Your words are a lamp for our feet, a light for our path. Your love is made known to us through Jesus Christ but also through the love of one another. As much as we may want to give up, You do not give up on us. As much as we make ourselves unlovable, You still love us. Break through the hopelessness and despair, but let it also fuel us for the work of justice. May we not become content, but may we alleviate one another’s pain by engaging in compassion and kindness. May we never give up on love, for love endures all things. You are our God, and we know You hear our prayers, our cries, our desperate sighs, and You bring us to life, again and again. Amen.

Worship Resources for November 6th, 2022—Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost (All Saints Day Sunday)

Revised Common Lectionary: Haggai 1:15b-2:9 and Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21 or Psalm 98; Job 19:23-27a and Psalm 17:1-9; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17; Luke 20:27-38

Narrative Lectionary: Elisha Heals Naaman, 2 Kings 5:1-15a (Matthew 8:2-3)

If All Saints Day is observed this Sunday, readings and resources can be found in last week’s post.

We are nearing the end of the season after Pentecost, and the pattern of our readings turns toward Reign of Christ Sunday in the liturgical year.

The first selection of the Hebrew scriptures, which has followed the prophets in this season, turns toward the promises of God to the people upon their return from exile. The prophet Haggai speaks of hope to the exiles returning home in 1:15b-2:9. The people had been away for around seventy years and their city and temple were destroyed and left to rubble. Yet the same God who brought them out of Egypt was bringing them home. Haggai spoke words of hope to the governor and high priest of the people of Israel, that though there were few, if any, who remembered the glory of the temple, the temple would become a place of prosperity. The treasure of other nations would come, and the splendor of the temple will be even greater than before. Haggai echoes what other prophets of his time, such as Second Isaiah, said regarding God’s restoration of the people and their home and temple to be even greater than what was before, and how other nations were drawn to support the people.

Psalm 145 is an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Verses 1-5 sings praise to God. One generation shall declare what God has done to the next generation, and the psalmist is in awe and meditates on God’s splendor and majesty. Verses 17-21 speaks of God’s faithfulness and righteousness, drawing close to the faithful who call on God’s name, and showing favor to those who honor God. The psalmist concludes with a vow to continue to praise God and calls upon all living things to bless God’s name.

An alternative selection is Psalm 98, another song of praise, probably sung after a battle victory. God has remained faithful to the people of Israel, showing God’s steadfast love, and all the earth knows God’s victory. The psalmist calls upon the whole earth to make a joyful noise, to praise God. With musical instruments, and the music of the sea and floodwaters—everything is called to praise God, all of God’s creation. God is the one who judges the whole earth, and judges the people rightly.

The short passage of Job 19:23-27a contains Job’s plea to God. Job knows that God lives, that God hears his prayer, but he wishes God would answer. He wishes his words were inscribed as a testimony of what he has been through, as evidence. Though Job’s friends have tried to find fault with Job, a reason for Job’s suffering, Job knows the only one who can answer truthfully is God.

Psalm 17:1-9 is the psalmist’s plea for God to answer their prayer. They know they have done nothing wrong and if God were to test their heart, they would be true. The psalmist has refuted the ways of violent people and has stayed true to God’s ways, and they know God will respond. The psalmist beautifully calls upon God to guard them as God’s precious one, to keep them safe from evil.

The Epistle reading continues its short series in 2 Thessalonians, turning toward mentions of Christ’s return and the day of judgment, with 2:1-5, 13-17. The writer (purporting to be Paul) urges the readers to not be worried. Instead, they ought to live as if the day of the Lord was already there. They need to be prepared for deception by leaning on the teachings that have been passed down to them so they can remain steadfast in the gospel they have received. There is a lawless one who isn’t named in this letter, but some political or religious leader of the time who put himself above others and claimed to be from God. It is Christ himself, the writer prays, who will bring comfort and encouragement.

Some Sadducees challenge Jesus in Luke 20:27-38. The Sadducees were one of several Jewish groups in the first century. They were part of the priestly group that was in charge of worship at the temple, and disagreed with the Pharisees, who were probably more closely aligned with Jesus’s views on the authority of scripture and on the belief in resurrection, and the Pharisees were not involved in the temple worship. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection and use a story of a woman who was married more than once as an example of why there couldn’t possibly be a resurrection, because according to the Levitical tradition, when a man dies, his widow must marry his brother. If that’s the case, then when they all die and are resurrected, who is she married to? Jesus responds by telling the Sadducees they are thinking about the resurrection wrong. Marriage is a human institution, made necessary by our culture and tradition, but not necessary in God’s reign. And when God in scripture refers to their ancestors of the faith in speaking to the prophets, such as Moses, God refers to them in the present tense; so therefore, they must be living. To God, all the ancestors of the faith are alive. The way we view our world and our lives is not how God views us at all.

The Narrative Lectionary focuses on God healing Naaman through the prophet Elisha in 2 Kings 5:1-15a (this was part of the Revised Common Lectionary, the second selection of the Hebrew scriptures, back on October 9th). Naaman was the commander of the king of Aram’s army, but he suffered from leprosy. Naaman’s wife had a servant, an Israelite girl who was taken captive, and this servant told Naaman’s wife about the prophet in Samaria (the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel) who could heal. The king of Aram wrote a letter to the king of Israel on behalf of Naaman, but the king of Israel freaked out, because he wasn’t God. Elisha, God’s prophet, told the king of Israel to calm down and to let Naaman come to him, because then he would know there was a prophet in Israel. Naaman arrived at Elisha’s house, and Elisha’s messenger told Elisha to go wash seven times in the Jordan and he would be clean. Naaman was angry because it was too simple. It had to be more complicated than that, otherwise he could have just bathed at home. Naaman’s servants reasoned with him: he would rather do something difficult, instead of a simple act for healing? Naaman gives in, bathes in the Jordan seven times, and his skin is restored. Naaman then realizes there is no God but God, the God of Israel.

The supplementary text is Matthew 8:2-3, when a leper came to Jesus and told him that if he chose, he could make him clean. Jesus replied, “I do choose. Be made clean!” and immediately the man was made well, and his flesh restored.

We are often focused on the wrong things. Job’s friends were focused on figuring out what Job must have done to cause all the bad things to happen to him, instead of simply being present with Job while he was suffering. While we might not believe God causes bad things to happen, we often offer up meaningless platitudes when they do, which also do not help. For the people returning from exile, they probably could only see the destruction, and it was hard to imagine hope; yet the same God who brought them out of Egypt had brought them home. Nothing is impossible with God, and God would restore their temple and their home. For the church in Thessalonica, it was easy to get worried about different religious and political figures rising up and different gospels, but Paul reminded them to stay true to what had been passed down to them, to not be worried. Instead, judge yourself and live as if the day of the Lord is already upon us. Live into God’s ways all the time. Jesus countered the Sadducees because they asked the wrong question. It’s not about how our choices today affect us for after this life, for heaven or hell—it’s about how our choices today affect us and others today, and for the next generation among us. Christians have become short-sighted, focused on a ticket to heaven instead of an eternity that begins now. With a world posed to warm 2-3 degrees by the end of the century, the day of judgment is now. In a society where children and teachers are killed by gun violence, the day of judgment is now. We ought to be living today as if our lives are accountable right now, not some time in the future.

Call to Worship (from Psalm 98:1a, 4, 9b)
O sing to the Lord a new song,
For God has done marvelous things.
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth,
Break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
God is coming to judge the earth;
God will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
Come, worship our God, who is just and true,
May we judge our own hearts, and live into God’s ways of justice and mercy.

Prayer of Brokenness/Confession
Creator God, we confess that we have not lived into Your first commandment to us as human beings, back in the first chapter of Genesis. You called us to fill the earth and to have stewardship of it the way You have made and cared for all creation. You are a just and true God, but we have distorted Your image. We have imagined You as abusive and wrathful and have been abusive and harmful to Your creation and to each other. We have failed to live into Your commandment and have not lived as You intended. Call us into repentance, O God, to turn back to You and to Your ways, to restore Your image instead of our own. May we repent of our harm of the earth, and work quickly to repair and restore, so that the next generation may not live with the sins of ours. Call us into this restorative work, O God, so that we might seek forgiveness and lay a better foundation for those who come after us. Holy, Just, and True, You are the One we seek, Creator of us all. Amen.

Blessing/Assurance
God is so wise and loving, gracious and kind, that God always offers us a chance for repentance, an opportunity to repair, a way to restore. God desires for us to remember who we are as God’s beloved, to remember we are made in the image of God, and that the worst things we can do are not the last things done unto us, for Christ lives. You are precious to God. God loves you madly, and desires the best for you. Love one another. Repent of where you have gone wrong, and work to repair and restore. Seek healing and wholeness, and forgive as you have been forgiven. Live into God’s ways and know God is with you, always. Amen.

Prayer
God of Justice, we often view judgment as harsh, condemning, something against us, instead of understanding that You call us to judge ourselves, to stop and listen for Your word whispering in our hearts. Your judgment is sound and Your decrees in scripture are true. You have called us to turn back to You. Your justice lifts up the lowly and fills the hungry with good things. When it is harsh, it is because we have had too much and now are sent away empty. When we are too high on ourselves we are brought down, but when we have been crushed down, You raise us up. You are Just and True, and we trust Your words in our hearts, Your breath in our lives. We trust where You are leading us. Even when it is hard, You lead us forward into Your ways of justice and mercy. Help us to go forward together and to trust in You. Amen.

Worship Resources for October 30th, 2022—Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost, Reformation Sunday, All Saints Day (November 1st)

Revised Common Lectionary: Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4 and Psalm 119:137-144; Isaiah 1:10-18 and Psalm 32:1-7; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12; Luke 19:1-10

Readings for All Saints Day: Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18; Psalm 149; Ephesians 1:11-23; Luke 6:20-31

Narrative Lectionary: Solomon’s Wisdom, 1 Kings 3:4-9 (10-15), 16-28 (Matthew 6:9-10)

All Saints Day may be observed either this Sunday or November 6th, if not on November 1st.

In the first selection of the Hebrew Scriptures for the season after Pentecost, we have followed the rise of the prophets. The first selection for this Sunday is the same as the second selection reading from back on October 2nd, the 17th Sunday after Pentecost. Habbkuk prophesied right before the Babylonians attacked Jerusalem. Habakkuk argues with God in 1:1-4, because all the prophet experienced was violence. He couldn’t see any hope from God to deliver him or the people from evil. Justice was not possible because the law couldn’t be upheld. However, in 2:1, the prophet remained faithful to God, keeping their position at the fortress, watching and waiting for God to respond in 2:2-4. God told the prophet to write a vision, so simple that a runner could read it, because there was still a vision for their time. Whether it was a vision of hope, or a vision of doom, is unknown, but God would answer if the people waited for it. For the righteous live by their faith and are justified, unlike the proud who live for themselves.

Psalm 119:137-144 is part of an acrostic poem, with each stanza beginning with the next letter in the Hebrew alphabet (a different portion of the same psalm was part of the Revised Common Lectionary on October 16th). This stanza under the letter Tsade proclaims that God is righteous, and God’s judgments are right and true. Though others have forgotten what God has spoken, the psalmist has not, and they are outraged on God’s behalf. Even though they have faced trouble, they have remained faithful to God, and they trust God commandments and teachings. The psalmist’s desire to live is grounded in their desire to learn and understand God more fully.

God spoke through the prophet Isaiah in the second selection of the Hebrew scriptures. In Isaiah 1:10-18, God had enough of their sacrifices and offerings. God didn’t want their festivals and feasts. Instead, God wanted the people to stop their evil practices and instead to seek justice and protect the most vulnerable among them. God will forgive and remove their sin if they come before God and turn away from their evildoings.

Psalm 32:1-7 sings of the joy of forgiveness from God. The psalmist confesses that when they tried to hide their sin, they felt the weight of it in their very body. They physically suffered from denying the wrongdoing they had committed. But when they came before God and confessed, God forgave them. The psalmist encourages the faithful to come before God and to offer prayer, for God will not let them be overwhelmed. God is the one who will protect and deliver those who turn back to God and God’s ways.

The Epistle readings turn to a brief series in 2 Thessalonians. The beginning of this letter, in verses 1-4 and 11-12, proclaim to be from Paul and his companions, giving thanks for the growing faith of the church in Thessalonica and their love for one another, in spite of growing persecution. Paul and his companions are always in prayer for this church and that Jesus’s name will be glorified in them.

The Gospel reading of Luke 19:1-10 is the story of Jesus’s encounter with Zacchaeus in Jericho. It appears from the context that it is possible Zacchaeus had either met Jesus before or heard enough of him that Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector in Jericho, had been transformed by the message of Christ. He so desired to get Jesus’s attention that he climbed a tree to stand out above the crowd. Jesus called out to Zacchaeus to come down from the tree, for he planned to stay with him. Zacchaeus in turn promised to give away half of his possessions and to pay back anyone he had defrauded fourfold, for tax collectors extorted money on behalf of the Roman government from the civilians. Jesus declared that salvation had come to the house of Zacchaeus, for the Son of Humanity came to seek and save the lost—and Zacchaeus, too, is a child of Abraham. Jesus spoke aloud that others cannot cut off people from the family of faith, for God is a God of inclusion, not exclusion, when people repent and turn back to God.

The readings for All Saints Day begin with Daniel’s vision in 7:1-3, 15-18. Daniel beholds a vision of earthly kings as beasts who seize and take hold of the earth. This is probably referring to the Greek emperors of his day and the divisions within the empire—but God is the one who will reign forever and ever in the heavenly kingdom.

Psalm 149 is a song of praise to God, who delights in those who are faithful. God has led the people to victory against their enemies because they stayed true to God. God reigns on high, and the faithful are victorious in their praising of God, which is their weapon against their foes.

Ephesians 1:11-23 speaks of the inheritance the faithful have through Christ, especially for the Gentile readers of this letter, that they have been included in God’s plan of redemption. The writer (purporting to be Paul) gives thanks for the faithfulness of these followers of Jesus and prays they may know the fullness of what God has in store for them. Christ, raised from the dead, reigns on high, and has authority and power over everything in heaven. The fullness of Christ is found in the body, the church, of which Christ is the head.

The Sermon on the Plain in Luke 6:20-31 is the gospel text for All Saints Day. Jesus gives the same blessings as found in Matthew 5, except that the poor in spirit is simply “the poor.” Jesus also adds woes, warnings to those who have sought the world’s pleasures and measures of success, for they will come up empty. Instead, love your enemies, do good, do not take up violence, but do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

The Narrative Lectionary turns to Solomon’s Wisdom in 1 Kings 3:4-9, in which Solomon makes a sacrifice before God. God asks Solomon what gift he should be given, and Solomon asks for an understanding mind to govern and discernment between good and evil. Solomon acknowledges his shortcomings of experience as a youth. In verses 10-15, God replies to Solomon, pleased with his request, and only asks Solomon to stay faithful and to keep the statutes and commandments God has given the people. In verses 16-28, the famous story of two women who come before Solomon is told—they were both sex workers in the story, probably to show their low status in society and why they came before Solomon as judge instead of men who spoke for them. The women both had a baby close together, but one’s son died and claimed the other’s son as her own. The women argued over whose son was the living one, and Solomon judged that they would cut the baby in half and give each woman half. One woman said she’d rather have the baby given to the other woman than have him killed, and that was how Solomon determined which mother was telling the truth. This story was shared throughout Israel to demonstrate Solomon’s wisdom and judgment.

The supplementary verses from Matthew 6:9-10 come from the beginning of Jesus’s prayer to God the Father in heaven, holy is God’s name, and praying for God’s kingdom to come and will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Seeking what God desires first over our own desires is the beginning of wisdom.

The readings for October 30th lead to a theme of confession and repentance, of striving to do right, and that living into God’s ways is more important than what others say or think. Zacchaeus may have been despised for being a tax collector—a label he could never be free from as long as he continued his work—but he could change how he lived out his role and change his behavior. Isaiah spoke to the people that God didn’t desire outward displays of religiousness if it wasn’t accompanied by an inward transformation, beginning by ceasing to do evil. The psalmist understood that when they tried to put on an outward display of goodness without an inward acknowledgement of confession, they even felt sick physically. Once they confessed and acknowledged their own wrongdoing, they knew God’s forgiveness. Zacchaeus is a prime example that others may still exclude based on prejudice and assumptions, but Christ is the one who declares that salvation has come to us. There is always time to change inwardly, which is what God desires most.

For All Saints Day, we are reminded that God’s reign is not of this world. This world that we humans have created seeks worldly wealth and notoriety, worldly measures of success, but Christ warns us they will leave us empty. These measures lead to dead ends. Daniel envisioned terrible things for the earth but knew that God reigns forever. So it is with us. Death interrupts our lives, and at times the ways of the world we have made, the way of empire, seems to overpower us, but we know that God’s reign endures forever. Eternal life is new life that begins now, and the ways of this world have no hold on us.

Call to Worship
We bring our prayers and confessions before God,
For God knows every word before we speak.
The truth is bared before us, and we acknowledge and accept it,
For falsehoods and injustice will not prevail in the reign of God.
Though others may judge us while taking the easy way themselves,
We will tell the truth of who we are and live in integrity.
For Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life,
We come together in this way to worship God as our true selves.

All Saints Day Call to Worship (from Psalm 118:1, 14, 17, 24)
O give thanks to the Lord, for God is good;
God’s steadfast love endures forever.
The Lord is my strength and my might;
God has become my salvation.
I shall not die, but I shall live,
And recount the deeds of the Lord.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Prayer of Brokenness/Confession
Ruler of All, we confess that we are quick to judge and condemn. We are swift to label and expel. We are smug in our thoughts of self-righteousness and perseverance. Forgive us for not loving our neighbors as ourselves. Forgive us for living into the ways of this world and judging others instead of seeking Your commandments, wisdom and insight, to live as You would have us live. For Your reign is not of this world that we have made, with wealth and fame and excess. Your reign endures forever, and You call us to seek Your justice, mercy, and peace. May we shed the ways of this world and turn to You. We ask for Your forgiveness, O God, as we repent. In the name of Christ we pray. Amen.

Blessing/Assurance (from Psalm 119:142)
The psalmist declares that God’s righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and God’s law is the truth. When we confess our sins before God, God knows our hearts, our sincerity, and forgives us. But the granting of forgiveness also calls us into the act of repentance—seeking God’s ways above our own—and to repair what has been broken. God loves you so much, and forgives you, and God knows you will do the work necessary to repair the brokenness in this world. So go forth, and heal, and build up, and love one another. Amen.

Prayer
Reforming God, You are constantly reshaping us into something new. We are treasure in clay jars, as the apostle Paul wrote, and in our fragility You are constantly reworking us to be sturdier and steadfast. You have made us precious and vulnerable, and love us, and You know we are capable of renewal and restoration. You know we are capable of mending the brokenness in this world into something new. Reshape our hearts, open us to Your healing love, and send us forth into the world to reform, repair, and renew. Amen.

Prayer for All Saints Day
Eternal God, we give You thanks for those who have gone before us, who have shaped our own faith journeys. We know that our grief, though difficult to carry, reminds us of the great love You have for us and that we share with others. Love is always stronger than death, which is why we mourn. While grief may never fully leave us, neither will love, and love is strong enough to carry us forward. Until that day when the division of earth and heaven is no more, we pray for the courage to live into Your ways of love with one another, to carry each other’s burdens, and to live in the wisdom and insight of our ancestors that remains with us, now and always. Amen.

Other prayers for All Saints Day can be found here:

All Saints Day 2021

Archives (November 1, 2020, November 3, 2019, November 4, 2018)