Today’s service is led by the Revd Mark Rodgers
Welcome
Good day to you all, on this, the fourth Sunday of Advent. Is the anticipation building where you are? Are you ready yet, for Christ’s arrival into the world? Well, the wait is nearly over, but before it is, let us have at least one more service of preparation before we celebrate. Before our call to worship this would be a good time to light the fourth candle on the Advent wreath.
God of love we light the candle of love,
asking that the light it brings into our lives shines brighter and brighter,
filling us with the hope and peace love brings. Amen.
Call to Worship
Hear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you that led Joseph like a flock;
Shine forth, you that are enthroned upon the cherubim,
before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your mighty strength
and come to our salvation.
Turn us again, O God;
show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.
from Psalm 80
Sisters and brothers let us gather this morning in the presence of our shepherd, in anticipation of salvation, and to see the light through the darkness. Let us pray: Illuminating God be with us this day, shine your countenance on this service. Bless us with your love and give us hope in these uncertain times, Amen
Hymn O come, O come, Emmanuel
Latin 13th century translated by John M Neale (1818-1866) Public Domain, sung by a 150 Mass Voice Choir of various Church of South India Congregations and used with their kind permission.
O come, O come Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here,
until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
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
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
O Come Desire of Nations bind
all peoples in one heart and mind
bid envy, strive, and quarrels cease
fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Key of David, come,
and open wide our heavenly home;
make safe the way that leads on high,
and close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Prayers of Adoration and Confession, Assurance of Pardon
God of patience and kindness the world was dark and you gave it light,
the world was barren and you gave it life, the world was cruel and unjust and yet you still loved all that lived in it.
We praise you for coming close to us,
for living among us, for being Emmanuel
and giving us hope when we needed it.
But Lord, sometimes we know we can exhaust you;
we cannot express to you how we feel,
we cannot speak to you and we forget that we need you.
Sometimes we are like Joseph, good people,
trying to do the best by others,
but we get it wrong because we don’t listen,
relying on outside voices rather than your Word,
believing half-truths, and rumours,
rather than what you tell us to be true.
Forgive us our neglect of you.
Forgive us when you draw near to us and we turn our backs.
Help us to find your voice, your light, your presence
through all the noise of this modern age.
We ask this in the name of your son, Emmanuel,
who was born, was crucified, and rose again to be with us always. Amen
Declaration of Assurance
Sisters and brothers, Paul wrote to the early Church in Rome telling them that all people sin, all fall short of the glory of God, but all are made right in his sight, through Christ Jesus. Know and believe you are forgiven and you are loved. Amen
Prayer of Illumination
Lord you are from the lineage of David,
who once hoped that his song would be favourable to you
and whose words we use today.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen
Reading Isaiah 7:10-16
Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying, “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.” Then Isaiah said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.
Hymn Long Ago, Prophets Knew
Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000) © 1971 Stainer & Bell Ltd OneLicence # A-734713
Long ago, prophets knew
Christ would come, born a Jew,
come to make all things new;
bear his people’s burden,
freely love and pardon.
Ring, bells, ring, ring, ring!
Sing, choirs, sing, sing, sing!
When he comes, when he comes,
who will make him welcome?
God in time, God in man,
this is God’s timeless plan:
He will come, as a man,
born himself of woman,
God divinely human.
Ring, bells, ring, ring, ring!
Sing, choirs, sing, sing, sing!
When he comes, when he comes,
who will make him welcome?
Mary hail! Though afraid,
she believed, she obeyed.
In her womb, God is laid:
till the time expected,
nurtured and protected,
Ring, bells, ring, ring, ring!
Sing, choirs, sing, sing, sing!
When he comes, when he comes,
who will make him welcome?
Journey ends! Where afar
Bethlem shines, like a star,
stable door stands ajar.
Unborn Son of Mary,
Saviour, do not tarry!
Ring, bells, ring, ring, ring!
Sing, choirs, sing, sing, sing!
Jesus comes! Jesus comes!
We will make him welcome!
Reading St Matthew 1:18-25
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.
Sermon
This year the satirical quiz “Have I got News for You” celebrated its 35th birthday. The two captains, Ian Hislop and Paul Merton appeared on the ITV daytime programme “Loose Women” to publicise the fact and reminisce about their time together. One of the “loose women” asked Ian Hislop about his satirical magazine, “Private Eye” and how did he feel about the post office scandal, which he had written about in every issue, but had only gained traction after the ITV drama. Was he annoyed? No, he said. The ITV drama was excellent, and its success was in the way it humanised the whole scandal.
By telling the story from the victims’ point of view, the public and those in positions of authority could now see the impact of what had happened to real people. The heartache, the anxiety, the worry and the anger.
So how much of these do we recognise and connect with in today’s reading from Matthew? How much impact has this made on you today? One of the reasons it may not have had the same resonance as Mr Bates vs the Post Office is that we have heard it all before. For some of you in the congregation this could be 90 plus years of hearing the story of Jesus’ birth. The impact wears off slightly. The other reason may be that Matthew only dedicates seven verses to the whole story of the birth, and in that we hear about a pregnant virgin, a visitation from an angel and a prophecy that looks like it is being resurrected. Those three amazing elements in just seven verses vie for our attention, making it easy not to realise that this is about the people and the worry, anxiety, heartache and anger that fills the space that they inhabit.
In Matthew the story is from the point of view of Joseph whilst Luke concentrates on Mary. We can only presume that Mary tells Joseph the news of her visit from Gabriel and that she is going to carry the son of God, either straight away or when she gets back from visiting Elizabeth. Either way, this young girl must have been going through all sorts of emotions. Perhaps part of her reason to visit her cousin was to get away from it all, to seek counsel from her much older, more worldly wise relative. Perhaps some of her visit gave her chance to think how she would break the news! Perhaps she had to get used to the idea herself, as her future will now be different than what she imagined.
And what about Joseph? What must he be thinking? It’s not everyday you hear about a virgin getting pregnant. He must have been conflicted. Hurt and angry most possibly as he weighed up the fact that Mary might have been unfaithful. What should he do? Call it off publicly which would have come with a price for Mary, (death), or divorce quietly without a fuss? Being a righteous man he decided the latter. It isn’t until he himself is visited by an angel that he believes the reason for Mary’s pregnancy, but believing what has happened and understanding what has happened is different to coming to terms with what has happened. I’m sure we have all received news in one way or another that we understand, but it has taken a lot longer to come to terms with, be it a medical diagnosis, a death, a job vacancy rejection, or even the news of a baby. We understand all the reasons but we sometimes need to really think about it and process all the different emotions that come with that news.
It is easy to read the Bible and hear names and think of them as characters, but it is important to understand them as people, with everything that comes with being a human, otherwise the impact is lost on us and on the other human beings around us, all with their difficulties that might be going on at this time. It has taken me some time in my life to realise that although the overwhelming theme of this time of year is joy, for some the only positive they can take out of Christmas is hope. Hope that things get better, hope that doctors can help, hope the pain goes away, hope the memories don’t fade, hope the money doesn’t run out, hope the world is a better place for when the unborn child arrives.
This is the same hope that is offered by Isaiah to the kingdom of Judah in the 8th century BC. Much of that hope is written about later in the book, but there is a glimpse of it in the passage we heard today. Isaiah is in a privileged position. He has access to the kings of the time, and as mentioned earlier, these figures really do feel like characters in a story rather than real people, but they did exist, they did have power over hundreds of thousands of people, and their actions had consequences on the lives of many, including those outside of Judah’s borders. And it is these consequences that Isaiah has been sent to warn about. King Ahaz is a man of little or no faith. He wants to do things his way and feels under threat from Judah’s neighbours, Israel and Syria who want Judah to enter into an alliance so that jointly all three can defend themselves from the mightier Assyria. Ahaz has other ideas, of course, and decides to reject this alliance and side with the Assyrians, becoming a vassal, or a puppet king. And so the people are afraid. God is laying out to Ahaz – walls and treaties are one thing, but faith is another.
So, although he does not want a sign, or at least does not want to listen to what God has to say, God says it anyway! There will be a young female, who will give birth to a son and he will be Immanuel, “God is with us”. And by the time he is a toddler, both Israel and Syria will be deserted.
Hope. Someone from the line of David will save the country. And he will be Godly in his actions, unlike King Ahaz. Hope. But this isn’t specifically for Ahaz, this is for the people. Hope that they can hang onto that they will be free from fear, and worry and anxiety and cruelty and heartache. The human story that is even more invisible than what is read in Matthew, but ever so real. Real people, real suffering, but a real sense of hope that God brings, whether that be through a virgin or not.
God sent his son because he loves us, because he knows the darkness that we all can live in sometimes, and wanted His love to be the light we need, not only to be something to cling onto for the future, but to be a strength now, stronger than King Ahaz’s walls, and stronger than the emotions we can all feel, left to our own devices. So, rather than looking forward to Christmas day, be present in the now, feel God’s presence over the next three days, listen out for his voice, and be at peace knowing of the hope Christ will bring. Amen.
Hymn How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds
John Newton (1725-1807) Public Domain Sung by a 125 Mass Voice Choir from various Church of South India Congregations and used with their kind permission.
How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer’s ear!
It soothes our sorrows, heals our wounds, and drives away our fear.
It makes the wounded spirit whole, and calms the troubled breast;
’tis manna to the hungry soul, and to the weary rest.
Dear name! The Rock on which I build, my shield and hiding-place,
my never-failing treasury, filled with boundless stores of grace.
Jesus, my Shepherd, Saviour, Friend, my Prophet, Priest and King,
my Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, accept the praise I bring.
I would thy boundless love proclaim with every fleeting breath;
so shall the music of thy name refresh my soul in death.
Prayers of Intercession
God of love,
we come to you now with our thoughts for the world,
our communities and churches and for each other.
We name to you today the worries we have for creation,
the more extreme weather conditions
and the effect this has on your people, our neighbours.
Give us hope of realistic solutions.
Help each of us to play our part in the healing process,
and give help to those displaced or disadvantaged because of it.
Lord your name speaks out, God be with us.
Lord, we name to you our anxieties for what is happening in the world. The great damage on people’s lives through war and violence,
the uncertainties of politics played out on our televisions
and on social media,
the hatred that is spouted towards people who are classed as “other”. Let your love shine through so victims and perpetrators can know peace.
Lord your name cries out, God be with us
Father, we hear so much about what is wrong about this country,
but we know that there is so much good work going on in your name.
But we are up against it, physically, economically and emotionally.
Help us to be strong, help us to continue serving you
and fighting for those most in need.
Lord you name shouts out, God be with us
God we think of those that we know,
those of us in our church communities
that find they cannot leave the house anymore and join us,
those who we know in our neighbourhoods
who are suffering at this time of year,
the families that can’t afford Christmas
and our friends and family
who are not in the best state of health at the moment.
Lord your name reaches out, God be with us
Lord, be with all those who will be working unseen this Christmas time
to keep us safe and healthy,
all those travelling to see family and friends,
and all those who have no one this year.
In Christ’s name we ask this. Amen
And now we bring all our prayers together,
gift wrapped in the word Jesus taught his disciples, saying, Our Father…
Offertory
Generous God
You gave the ultimate gift of your Son,
given out of love for humankind,
so that we may be close to you once more.
Accept our gifts today, s
o that we can pass on that love to others,
to bring the Good News to all that need it. Amen.
Hymn Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
Charles Wesley (1707-1788) Public Domain
Love divine, all loves excelling, Joy of heaven to earth come down,
Fix in us Your humble dwelling, all Your faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, You are all compassion boundless love that makes us whole,
visit us with Your salvation, enter every trembling heart.
Come, almighty to deliver, let us all Your grace receive;
suddenly return, and never, never more Your temples leave.
You we would be always blessing, serve You as Your hosts above,
pray, and praise You, without ceasing, glory in Your perfect love.
Finish then Your new creation, pure and sinless let us be;
Let us see Your great salvation, perfect in eternity:
changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before You, lost in wonder, love, and praise!
Blessing
May the blessing of God fall upon you.
May the Good News of Christ’s arrival flow from you,
and may the gifts of the Spirit
be the best present you receive this week. Amen