BURTON JOYCE COMMUNITY CHURCH
Sunday 13th December 2020
Advent 3
This short act of worship is based on one prepared by Revd Moses Agyam
The hymns are chosen mostly from the church hymnbook Songs of Fellowship (SoF). If you don't have a copy of the hymnbook at home, you can often find a video of the hymn on Youtube with the words displayed on video. Also, you can find the Bible readings online at several websites. Search for the specific chapter and verse (e.g. Exodus16, 1-15)
Notice:
* Please email your Christmas tree photos to philcolbourn@btinternet.com
Advent 3: Light for our Fearing
O come, O Come, Emmanuel. Come, Lord Jesus
We receive the light of challenge, acknowledging that much needs to change: in our lives, in our attitudes, in our choices and in our world.
In a world of comfort and plenty, where many go hungry
Challenge us to change.
With John the Baptist, and all the uncomfortable voices
Challenge us to change.
As we light a candle in the darkness
Challenge us to change.
Hymn - SoF 891 (verse 1 & 4)
Like a candle flame
Prayers
God of perfect love, help us to face our fears, to face the truth about ourselves & to be set free. Meet us here, speak in the silence, touch us with love, through Jesus, the child who is to come. Amen
Advent God, you bring our fear into the light of love but we prefer to hide in the shadows. Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy
You promise healing for the earth but we turn our backs on our common world. Christ have mercy. Christ have mercy
You come near in the vulnerable word made flesh but we worship distant idols of celebrity and power. Lord have mercy
Silence
Lord of light, John the Baptist offers hope in the face of the world’s scorn: open our ears to hear the cries from the margins. Amen
Hymn - SoF 97
Father, I place into your hands
The third Sunday of Advent focuses on John the Baptist who lived a life of prophetic courage in a confused & uncertain time amongst an anxious & fearful people. He calls us to prepare the way of the Lord.
John speaks out fearlessly, challenging complacency amongst God’s people & denouncing unjust social structures of his day. He calls on people to reject fear, turn their lives around & come for baptism.
We come, seeking that same courage.
Reading – John 1:6-8, 19-28
Reflection
“Do not be afraid!” or “Fear not!” This sentiment is a common theme in the Advent and the Christmas stories. Perhaps it is because we fear the future, the unknown & change; ourselves & for our world.
This year has brought us deep social anxiety. We seem to be living in a science fiction film. Humanity is facing a collective threat unknown in our lifetimes. Withstanding requires a level of social cooperation that’s putting a huge strain on everyone. For some, catching the virus is not life threatening; for others, it could prove to be fatal. Some of us complain of inconvenience and criticise overreaction; others are overwhelmed by our having to work and still care for children, the fragile routines of life disintegrating before our eyes.
For many of us, what’s been most bewildering in all of this is that much of what we now have to do goes against our deepest impulses. We want to be present to one another, shake hands, embrace, put a kind hand on a shoulder; but all this is now unwise and irresponsible. We want to gather, offer help & companionship but we find in the immediate term, that we must show our care for one another by discouraging encounter & keeping people away from each other.
The relentless march of covid19
The pandemic keys into our deepest fears. The virus is dangerous: invisible, universal, unstoppable (at least for now!), and currently without a cure. There’s only one thing like it and that’s death itself. The virus becomes a premonition of our own death – shutting down communication, depriving us of companions, relentless in its march toward us, all-consuming in its imminence and slow inevitability.
But our fears are not only confined to the virus. Even before the virus entered the scene, there was much fear. The American philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum in The Monarchy of Fear attributes this social fear to many factors and although she writes from an American background her insights are pertinent to us here too.
Feeling powerless, blaming others
“Many Americans feel themselves powerless, out of control of their own lives. They fear that the ‘American Dream’ - the hope that your children will flourish and do even better than you have done - has died, & everything has slipped away from them.” These feelings have their basis in real problems: income stagnation, declines in health & longevity, especially for men, & escalating costs of higher education. It is all too easy, she says, to convert this panic into blame: ‘othering’ groups such as immigrants, racial minorities and women: “They have taken our jobs”; “The wealthy elite have stolen our country”.
Advent is a time to examine our fears and that is John the Baptist’s challenge to us today. John the Baptist was a witness to Jesus. Jesus has come to set us, & all people, free from fear, to abolish “us” and “them” and to lead humanity into a new relationship with God and others. John the Baptist was sent to prepare us to meet Jesus, the Lamb of God. Jesus is coming to heal our broken hearts, to give us peace & lead us into the truth of God. Jesus is the one chosen by God to lead us into the world of universal love and compassion and to break down the barriers of culture, fear and sin that close us up in ourselves.
All that our heart could hope for
Similarly, the apostle John writes to people who knew all about “us” and “them”: most painful for John & his community was expulsion from the synagogue. But John reminds us that Jesus’ coming is all that our heart could hope for although it disrupts & challenges the way the world runs and the way we live our lives. There is something to be afraid of, so to speak, in the renewal of the world that Jesus is bringing in. For all our talk about wanting Jesus to come, we may not welcome being challenged or asked to change.
What happens when God comes to earth is not a “hostile takeover”. The truth is as different as could be; the clue is in those simple words in John 1:14: “The Word was made flesh & lived among us”, words that invite joyful reflection. God in Christ becomes a human being who lives God’s own life and teaches us to do the same.
Against our fear, John the Baptist says: Fear not! Let the Word be born in us & speak in us. It is a lifetime’s work but a moment’s gift: the sudden grasp of the mystery we celebrate at Christmas – yes, even a world plagued by Covid-19: God is made human. God comes and casts out our fears & gives us peace. In the darkness of our fear, we can claim his light and life of perfect love. Amen
Prayers
.
For all fearful for the future,
God says: Do not be afraid
.
For mothers bringing children into a fearful world, for migrants and refugees, for those caught up in conflict.
Do not be afraid
.
For all fearful in relationships, or feeling alone and uncared for, or unhappy and feeling trapped.
Do not be afraid
.
For all worried about health, growing older, losing independence, becoming confused, or awaiting test results.
Do not be afraid
.
For everyone in work, unemployment, redundancy or retirement; trying to make ends meet.
Do not be afraid
A time of open/silent prayer when we can bring to God our own needs and situations that we care about
God of perfect love, cast out the fears that overshadow our lives, even in a fearful world, through Jesus the Christ child. Amen
Trusting in the compassion of God, as our Lord taught us, we pray:
Our Father, who art in heaven
Hymn – SoF 555
Thou didst leave thy throne
May the God who brings heaven close to earth, dispel our fear, give truth to our judgement and flame to our longing that our hearts might be ready to be born again in love
And the blessing of God, the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit, remain with you always. Amen
We go in the peace of Christ.
Thanks be to God
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