The Second Sunday of Advent
Prelude, Welcome, and Information Hymn #239 Hark, the Glad Sound |
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. And also with you. Psalm: Luke 1:68-79 (The Benedictus) Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people and set them free. He has raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of his servant David. Through his holy prophets he promised of old that he would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us. He promised to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant. This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to set us free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life. You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace. |
The Lord be with you. And also with you. Let us pray. Stir up our hearts, Lord God, to prepare the way of your only Son. By his coming give to all the people of the world knowledge of your salvation, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. |
Reading: Malachi 3:1-4
A reading from the prophet Malachi
3See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; 3he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. 4Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
The Word of the Lord
Reading: Philippians 1:3-11
A reading from the letter to the Philippians
3I thank my God every time I remember you, 4constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, 5because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. 6I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.
7It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.
9And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight 10to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, 11having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
The Word of the Lord.
Gospel Verse:
Alleluia. Prepare the way of the Lord. All flesh shall see the salvation of God. Alleluia! (Luke 3:4, 6)
Gospel Reading: Luke 3:1-6
A reading from the Gospel of Luke
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.
Sermon (added at the end of the document)
Hymn #249 On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry
Thanks and Offertory
Prayers of the Church:
Trusting the promise that all flesh shall see the salvation of God, we offer our prayers for the world, the church, and for all people according to their needs.
[Short pause]
O Promised One, calm our hearts and souls in this season so we may watch for you with clear sight. God of the promise, Hear our prayer.
O Promised One, watch over our families and our friends and teach is the way to watch as well. God of the promise, Hear our prayer.
O Promised One, lay your healing hand on all who suffer from long-term illnesses and those enduring the present virus. Strengthen those who care for these we pray for. God of the promise, Hear our prayer.
O Promised One, in this season of preparation, show us how to make the way straight, even when it is rough and rocky. Continue to work in us to bring your Kingdom there. God of the promise, Hear our prayer.
O Promised One, bless your church and all your scattered people. Watch over the celebration of Hanukkah for our sisters and brothers of your Chosen People. Bless our congregations and hear them as they pray for us at St. John’s today. God of the promise, Hear our prayer.
O Promised One, hear as well the prayers we keep in our hearts… …God of the promise, Hear our prayer.
O Promised One, hold close the people of British Columbia as well as anyone enduring natural disasters. Be merciful to all those enduring violence in this season. God of the promise,
Hear our prayer.
Into your hands we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Hymn #240 Light One Candle to Watch for Messiah
The Lord’s Prayer
Finally let us pray for all things as our Lord would have us ask:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Closing prayer
Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
Show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.
Will you not give us life again,
That your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your mercy, O Lord,
And grant us your salvation.
Blessed is the King
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.
Hymn #254 Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus
Benediction and Sending
The Lord bless us and keep us.
The Lord make his face shine on us and be gracious to us.
The Lord look upon us with favor and + give us peace.
Amen.
Go in peace. Serve the Lord. Thanks be to God!
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We invite you to the in-person services on the following dates:
· December 12 & December 24 (7pm – Christmas Eve)
· January 9 & January 23, 2022
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the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
· At this point in Advent, John the Baptizer makes his appearance as a wilderness preacher and prophet in the mold of Elijah. We might wonder why all those names precede the action of John’s preaching, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. We hear of John’s family pedigree – he is the son of Zechariah, who is a priest of the Temple, whose story we can hear earlier in the Gospel of Luke and whose prayer was our “Psalm” at the beginning of the service. We also hear a number of names of political figures, like the emperor of Rome, the Roman governor and the puppet leaders of the local Roman allies. The high priests of that time are also noted.
· Is it important that the beginning of John’s ministry is placed in a certain time of the world’s history? Is it important that certain people are mentioned by name? It actually is and it’s vital.
· John’s call to repentance and to a baptism of repentance is given an actual time to take place. We even have a certain place where he preached and baptized in the river Jordan. If you were to go a bit further east from that river, you would be in “the wilderness”, a desert place inhabited by wild animals and a certain Jewish sect that many believe John was a part of. Luke does not talk of clothing of camel’s hair or a diet of locusts and wild honey, but John’s words remind the hearer of the prophet Elijah, who was to return to proclaim the coming of the Messiah. Luke puts John in that role, using Isaiah’s word of making paths straight and smooth, and saying that all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
· Letting people know of the time and place allows us to know that all this takes place in the real world rather than some mythical time and place. What John (and Jesus) did and said happened in Judea among real people, rather than in Tolkien’s Middle Earth, in Lewis’ Narnia, or “A long time ago… in a galaxy far, far away.” They addressed real concerns of real people in real places.
· The Good News of this part of Luke’s Gospel is this: God does not remain distant from the world God created. God’s kingdom enters time and space in the world’s history, a history that is often beyond our control.
· The words of Isaiah were first addressed to the people of Israel returning from exile in Babylon. He told the people of God’s action of returning them to the Promised Land, even while speaking of the future. The talk of raising valleys and flattening hills or of straightening crooked paths imply a smooth passage, but also tell of a radical transformation and a reversal of things. What was can no longer be; this theme is found all through-out the Scriptures, from Genesis with new creation right to Revelation with the new heaven and the new earth.
· We could all use some “new” right now. The pandemic has left us tired, often frustrated and terribly uncertain. Some of us look for a new normal, others want the old normal back, and some of us are just trying to get through the day.
· There is one thing that is certain in all this murky and sticky reality: there is hope. God still enters this time and this place in this reality of history and speaks to this people – us – to say again that all flesh shall see the salvation of God. I hope and pray that this Advent season in this place and time reminds us all of this promise. Prepare the way of the Lord.
…the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, … “and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
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