December 1, 2024  Advent 1

Advent Wreath Candle Lighting
One: In a weary and worn world, how do we begin again?  Where do we start?
All:  Let us begin with the good news!  Let us begin by trusting that we are a blessing, loved by a gracious God.
One:  Let us begin with music and singing!
Let us begin with warmth and welcome.  Let us begin with hope.
All: May this be our foundation.  May this be our fresh start. May this be our new beginning.   May hope flow forth from here.
One: Yes, let us begin with hope. Today we light the candle of hope to shine a light in a worn and weary world.  Amen! 

Candle is Lit
Sing 119 Hope is a star, verse 1

 

Welcome and Announcements 

Prayer of Approach 

O, Holy God  you tell us to not be afraid.  You remind us that we are called by name.  You assure us that you are always with us.  You whisper to us the words that we long to hear, that we are precious and loved in your sight.  

At the beginning of this season, at the start of this week, at the top of this hour, may we wrap ourselves in these words. 

May we begin again, come again to make vows to be your servants. 

We worship you with love and joy.  Amen 

 

Hymn:  110 Come thou long expected Jesus

 

Call to Confession
Every time we approach the prayer of confession, we  ask ourselves the awestruck  question.   How can God’s mercy know no end? How can God be so gracious with someone as fickle as us?  Regardless of the week we’ve had, this good news never changes. Let us join together  in speaking the truth of our lives. We raise our voices  in the prayer of confession, and prepare to be awestruck by God’s mercy.   

Let us pray: 

Prayer of Confession:
Affirming God, Your first words to creation were words of love.  You looked at this earth and said, “It is good.”  You spoke affirmations through the prophets.  You spoke blessings over Mary.  You spoke belonging through Christ. At every turn, you have repeated that we are a blessing, made in your image, held in your love.
Forgive us for forgetting this truth.  Forgive us for measuring our worth by society’s measuring stick instead of yours.
We believe.  Help our unbelief.  In Christ’s name we pray,  amen. 

 

Assurance of Pardon 

We all need to hear that we are loved, just as we are.  We all need to hear that we are loved and created in the image of God.  We all need to hear these words and trust that God’s forgiveness is meant to be our blessing. 

Therefore God says to us, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.” 

We are forgiven. We are loved. Let us enter into the joy and awe of that knowledge.  In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.  

Passing the Peace
 

Hymn:  109 All earth is waiting

Scripture:

Luke 1: 26-38  p 1588
Isaiah 43: 1-7 p 1126 

Sermon:  I am the Lord’s Servant 

Would you have chosen Mary to be the mother of Jesus?  I am sure that Gabriel must have wondered.   

She hardly falls within the “norm” of those who are chosen for specific world altering acts. 

Mary was young in a society that valued age and wisdom 

Mary was female in a world that favoured men. 

Mary was poor in a world that valued the rich, the mighty and the powerful.   

All these same reasons could also be the reasons we would support if encouraging Mary to say, no to God. 

Her situation is very delicate.  A teenage, powerless female from a poor family she was at great risk by agreeing to carry this baby. 

Her entire reputation and the reputation of her family were at stake. 

Worse than that her life was on the line.  If Joseph was so inclined he could have charged her with adultery and brought her to be stoned to death for her crime.   

Today we are called on to look past the romanticized version of this story that fills many a Christmas Pageant.  

God gave this task to a vulnerable woman in a vulnerable situation.  There were so many ways in which this plan could fail. 

Dickenson in the devotional book, “Making room in Advent” writes about that very vulnerability. 

She writes:  Mary hadn’t planned on it and wasn’t prepared.   When the angel appeared to Mary announcing that heaven was invading earth through her womb, she was…wondering, “how do I do this?  I’m not equipped for this.” 

The world would have responded pointing out that Mary was not enough. 

Not smart enough. 

Not experienced enough. 

Not qualified enough. 

Not religious enough.  (Making room in Advent, p 29) 

We really don’t need to look far to know that God was always involved in choosing those whom the world would discount.  He choose Joseph over his brothers.  He chose David over his brothers.  The least, the smallest, the weakest.   

Clearly God looks for something other than what others want in a leader.  Actually, it seems as if God prefers the vulnerability and apparent unsuitability of the ones whom he chooses.   

That God chooses the most unlikely, and sometimes the most problematic people to be his servants, is readily seen when we consider the lineage of Mary.  We are fond of tracing the lineage of Jesus through the males in the lineage of Abraham and David.   

Let’s for a minute ponder the lineage of Mary.   

It included Tamar, the mother of Perez.  Twice the daughter in law of Judah she was widowed.  Because Judah did not follow the law to give her a son for either of her husbands, she disguised herself as a prostitute to sleep with Judah, who then impregnated her.   

Okay, but it can’t get worse from there, right? 

The lineage also included Rahab the mother of Salmon.  A harlot, a gentile woman of Canaanite descent who protected Joshua’s spies as the people of Israel were preparing to enter the Promised land.   

 

The list also includes Ruth the mother of Obed, a Moabite woman who immigrated to Bethlehem with her mother in law Naomi.  She also used trickery to have Boaz sleep with her and give her a baby. 

And also…Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife, whom David sexually assaulted and then when she was pregnant murdered her husband and married her. 

And then, Mary the wife of Joseph. 

Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, Mary. 

Have we ever wondered why these are the only mother’s that Matthew mentions in the lineage of Jesus.   

All of them vulnerable women.   

Most of them women embroiled in some sort of scandal.   

Many of them women who had not been treated well.   

Two of them  whose race was from among the enemies of Israel.   

Frankly, despite all the ways in which Mary was not suitable to be the mother of Jesus, she might well be the most suitable woman in his ancestral line.   

Or maybe more to the point, this is just another sign of God choosing the most unlikely, the most unsuitable as a way to confound those who looked only to include  the elite royalty and people of faith in the line of Jesus. 

God frequently chooses the most unlikely people to fulfill his will. 

Here we have Mary, chosen by God according to the only criteria that matters to God.  A willing and humble heart, given in service. 

Nothing else matters. 

That’s the point.  It occurs and reoccurs so frequently in Scripture that we need to stop being surprised by it.  God looks at the heart. 

Even Gabriel had to let go of his doubts and deliver to Mary the message from God.  He finds Mary and he says to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” Luke 1:  30-33 NIV 

Despite the fact that Mary’s life has just been completely upended by this announcement, she was the model of obedient, contemplative discipleship.    Some commentators went as far as to say that Mary is the prototype of what Christians are called to be.   

Mary was humble and faithful and the only question she asked was, “how will this happen?” 

Having heard the answer of how God would make this happen, her next words were, ““I am the Lord’s servant,” …. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Luke 1: v 38 NIV 

 

Many of the commentators commented that we are called to serve God with that same humble and confident faith. 

We are also the most unlikely and the most unsuitable of servants.  Our lives may not be as scandalous as some of the grandmothers and grandfathers of Jesus.  But we all have some skeletons in our closets.  We have had failures as parents, siblings, spouses or children.  But it is more important to remember that we are, each one of us, redeemed by Jesus.   

We are also called to consider our calling as the servants of God.  Max Lucado in the Advent Devotional book, “In the Manger”  writes, “the virgin birth is much more than a Christmas story; it is a picture of how close Christ will come to you. …Where will God go to touch the world?  …Look deep in yourself for an answer.”  p 30 

Lucado points out that God is standing in front of us offering each and everyone of us the same invitation to bear Jesus in our hearts.  We are reminded the invitation is simply, “If you’ll let me, I’ll move in.” 

I am reminded of the call of repentance found in Revelation 3, where God says, “So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. 

21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”  Rev 3: 19-22 NIV 

When we open that door, we stand in the shoes of Mary, who allowed God to come in and bring about the redemption of the world through her.  When we open that door we are echoing the words of Mary, “I am the Lord’s servant.”   

When Mary spoke those words the Holy Spirit conceived Jesus within her.  When we speak those words, the Holy Spirit brings Jesus into our hearts.  

We are reminded that God wants to do the same through us.  When we open our hearts, Christ will come in and grow in us.  Lucado points out that Jesus will come out of us in our speech, our actions and in our decisions.  He writes that when that happens, “Every place you live will be a Bethlehem, and every day you live will be a Christmas.  You like Mary will [bring] Christ into the world.”  P 31
 

I don’t think that Lucado went far enough.  I believe that when we humbly stand before God and say, “I am the Lord’s servant” we will also bring Easter into the world.  The grace of God which began in the Garden of Eden, was brought into the world in Jesus, glowed  from the manger, on bled on the cross and in rose from death in an empty tomb.   

When we utter those words of faith, we too will be that model Christian who seeks to be God’s servant and bring Christ into the world.  Jesus will be a force in us.  A force of Grace.  A force of Love, and joy and hope and peace. 

On this first Sunday of Advent we celebrate the hope that comes into the world through the faithful words of God’s servants, who say to God, “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Luke 1: 38 NIV 

And then it will be our job to be so full of Jesus that we no longer live, but as Paul says, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. . Galatians 2: 20 NIV 

Jesus came into the world through Mary.  He comes into the places and people whom we love through us.  This is the calling of the servant of God.  

Praise be to God.  Amen 

 

  

Hymn:   115 Hail to the Lord’s Anointed 

Offering and Doxology 830

Offertory Prayer 

Gracious God, we present you our offerings, our wealth, our service, our hearts.  We give you all that we may share with you in the ministry of preparing a way in the desert.  That together we may make a cradle in the hay.   

Take what we have brought, and make a way for Christ to bring peace in the market place, among the poor, the lost and the lonely and the strangers here on earth.  Help us to put our all into the gifts we bring, and may they be a sign of our commitment to being your servants.   Amen 

 

Gathering Prayer Requests
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession 

God of blessings, once again, we find ourselves standing at the beginning of the month, at the beginning of this Advent season, 

at the beginning of this new day, bringing our hearts to you. 

Meet us here, gracious God.  Hear our prayers and offer your words of blessing. 

To start, we bring you prayers of deep gratitude. 

JOYS 

 

 

 

 

 

We  say thank you for the people who, help us see you in our midst. Thank you for these saints and the ways they always point us toward you. Pour out your blessings on them. 

 

 

We pray for those who need to know your healing touch 

CONCERNS
Meg following death of her mother 

Maria as she meets with oncologist on Thursday 

Wendy for improved recovery from heart surgery 

Those for whom Christmas is a time of pain and grief 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WORLD 

Peace:   Ukraine/Russia, Israel/Gaza/Middle East 

Economy 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

God of blessings, 

Once again, we find ourselves standing at the beginning of the month, at the beginning of this Advent season, at the beginning of this new day, bringing our hearts to you. 

Let this be a new beginning for all those who are sick, and tired, all those who walk with doubts and fears.  Let this be a new beginning for all those who suffer in conflicts, and the governments that need to gather to make peace and seek justice for their people.     

So on this new day, we pray: speak your words of blessing once again. 

And as you do, we will lift our voices together to pray the words your son taught us to pray, saying. . . 

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 debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever.  Amen 

 

Hymn:  118  Hark the glad sound

 

Benediction  

Believe in the  blessing of God who calls us Beloved. 

We believe that this blessing showed up in the life of Mary, and gave her the faith to be God’s servant.   

That same blessing falls on all people:  the poor in spirit, the children, the crowds, the Jews, the Gentiles, the faithful and the doubting. 

So in faith, let us  trust that God’s blessing, like ripples on the water, forever reaches toward us. 

And with wild hope,  let us believe that because of this blessing, we are covered in love.  

Let us trust in the Love of God, the Grace of Jesus and the Power of the Holy Spirit in whom our blessings reside.   

Amen.
 

Blessing Song:  114 Emmanuel

Emmanuel, Emmanuel, his name is called Emmanuel.  God with us, revealed in us, his name is called Emmanuel. 
C:  CA Music 

3 Fold Amen