Oration for the Third Sunday of Pentecost
Stir up the wills of your faithful people, Lord God, and open our ears to the words of the prophets, that, anointed by your spirit we may testify to your light; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.
The Prayers of the Church:
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For continued progress on vaccines and
therapeutics for the virus…
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· For our bishops, Susan and Michael
and the local deans, Let us pray… |
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· For the congregation of St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Leamington and their pastor, Pr. Sylvia Swiatoschik, let us pray… |
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For all the needs and prayers we hold in our hearts…
(a time of silent prayer)… let us pray…
First Reading: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
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The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, |
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For I the Lord love
justice, |
Psalm 126
1 When
the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.
4 Restore
our fortunes, O Lord,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
5 May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
6 Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray
without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all
circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do
not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise the words
of prophets, 21 but test everything; hold fast to
what is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil.
23 May the God of peace
himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept
sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The
one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.
Gospel Verse:
Alleluia.
What
no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the human heart conceived,
what God
has prepared for those who love him”
Alleluia..
Reading: John 1:6-8
6 There was a man sent
from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to
testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He
himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.
19 This is the testimony
given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him,
“Who are you?” 20 He confessed and did not deny it, but
confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” 21 And they asked him,
“What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He
answered, “No.” 22 Then they said to him, “Who are you?
Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about
yourself?” 23 He said,
“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’”
as the prophet Isaiah said.
24 Now they had been sent
from the Pharisees. 25 They asked him, “Why then are you
baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the
prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water.
Among you stands one whom you do not know, 27 the one who
is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” 28 This
took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances
·
These are the
words of Paul, sent to the Christians in the Greek city of Thessalonica. The
exact circumstances for the letter are not clear to me, but what we have here
is Paul’s advice to the congregation there. You have the words of the letter
with you in the bulletin.
·
The passage
is read on the third Sunday in Advent. It was there originally to raise the
spirits of the congregations in the middle of a 4-week fast prior to Christmas
and its 12 day festival. Yes, at one time, Advent was a time of fasting
because, logically, you fast before you feast! In times past, this Sunday was
called Gaudate Sunday, drawing its name from this Thessalonian passage: Rejoice always. (semper gaudete in Latin.) The
third Advent candle was rose (some say pink) as were the vestments of the
clergy. Here we use the four Sarum Blue candles because… well, your pastor
prefers them. I was told (by Elfriede Hayes) that the custom in Germany was to
use four red candles. I’m sure you could tell me of many other customs for this
Sunday.
·
All that is
fine. Still this day, our hearts may ask just what we have to rejoice over…
what we have to give thanks for in
all circumstances. We are in the midst of tough time, the toughest
many have seen. Fear is all around – fear for our health, fear for our
families, fear of isolation and of separation. We see the news; we see
demonstrations and hear hate-filled words; we hear odd rumours and at the same
time, we hear the sirens of emergency vehicles… and we wonder what that might
be about.
·
I could go on
and on. There seems to be little to rejoice over and not much to be thankful
for. So what do we do with this passage from Paul’s letter?
·
Remember that
Paul was writing to a small group of Christians who may have met in secret for
fear of the local authorities or the Roman Empire. Remember that those
Christians came from every class with the majority being from the poorer people
of that or any city. It could be that most of the congregation were from groups
despised or disliked by the general community. Yet Paul tells them to rejoice,
pray unceasingly, and give thanks always, while testing everything, listening
to the prophets, and avoiding evil.
·
Their faith
gave them hope. Their community gave them support in their faith. Even if they
were separated for some reason, they knew they were not alone. Paul’s letters
to the churches he founded helped to point out and clarify some problems.
·
Were these
small communities fearful? Possibly. Yet they were courageous. Courage does not
mean that fear is absent; rather it means that the journey, the mission, the
life of the community continues despite fear.
·
This is us,
here and now. Fearful and yet courageous. Confused and still confident. We have
a mission that continues even if we are shut down for the health of the entire
community. We are a suffering church, separated by disease and distance, and we
pray for those churches that suffer more than we from disease, oppression, or
controversies. In our fear and sadness, we can still rejoice in what we know is
the meaning of Advent and the meaning of Christmas, even if our celebrations
are muted and diminished. We can pray without ceasing, each praying in our own
way. (Pray as you can and not as you can’t.) We can give thanks for what we
have received and look forward to what gift we will receive from God, for Advent
remains a season of anticipation and waiting.
·
Can we do
this? Yes, if we decide to, in the grace of God. For the light we crave is with
us. John the Evangelist told us of watching and waiting for that light: There was a man sent from God, whose name
was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light,
so that all might believe through him. He himself was not
the light, but he came to testify to the light.
·
And that, in
a nutshell, remains our mission – to rejoice, pray, and give thanks as we
testify to the light.
Rejoice
always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances
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