For the week of December 15 – 3rd Sunday of Advent
Morning Prayer (Unison): Eternal Creator, with You each moment of life is full of wonder and surprise. We pray that You will make us watchful as we await the coming of Christ. Grant that we may not be found sleeping in sin, but awake and rejoicing in Your newness of life. Through the same Jesus Christ our Savior, Amen. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher from Touch Holiness, ed. Ruth C. Duck and Maren C. Tirabassi. Copyright © 1990 by The Pilgrim Press.)
Morning Hymn: #234 O Come, All Ye Faithful
- O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels;
Refrain: O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him,
O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.
- True God of true God, Light from Light Eternal, lo, He shuns not the Virgin's womb;
Son of the Father, begotten not created; (Refrain)
- Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation; O sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest; (Refrain)
- See how the shepherds, summoned to His cradle, leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze;
we too will thither bend our joyful footsteps; (Refrain)
- Child, for us sinners poor and in the manger, we would embrace Thee with love and awe.
Who would not love Thee, loving us so dearly? (Refrain)
- Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning, Jesus, to Thee be all glory given.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing: (Refrain)
Isaiah 12:2-6 (CEB)
2 God is indeed my salvation;
I will trust and won’t be afraid.
Yah, the Lord, is my strength and my shield;
He has become my salvation.”
3 You will draw water with joy from the springs of salvation.
4 And you will say on that day:
“Thank the Lord; call on God’s name;
proclaim God’s deeds among the peoples;
declare that God’s name is exalted.
5 Sing to the Lord, who has done glorious things;
proclaim this throughout all the earth.”
6 Shout and sing for joy, city of Zion,
because the holy one of Israel is great among you.
Prayers of Intercession: Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayers for those dear to our hearts. We now pray as You have taught us: 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 sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us, not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Offering spotlight: During the month of November we were challenged to re-stock the Hope Chest of Dwell Orphan Care. The photos on the screens display your generosity. Here is the heartfelt message from Lynn Warwick:
What started as a simple book drive turned into so much more! Thanks to the incredible generosity of Lightstreet United Methodist Church, the Dwell Columbia Hope Chest is overflowing with new treasures—books, toys, Legos, puzzles, gift cards, and more! Your donations will bring joy and hope to so many families through the Dwell Columbia Holiday Pop-Up, making this season brighter for children in need. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your continued support and for being such a vital part of Dwell's mission.
Offering prayer: God of Advent joy, we bring our offerings with hearts open to Your transformative call. In this season of anticipation, may our gifts help mend what is broken and share the promise of redemption. Empower us to live fully present, giving generously and acting justly. Let these offerings be seeds of hope and joy that will draw us closer to Your kingdom. Bless our giving, that it may reflect Your love and bring light to our world. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Hymn of Preparation: #203 Hail to the Lord’s Anointed
- Hail to the Lord's Anointed, great David's greater Son! Hail in the time appointed,
His reign on earth begun! He comes to break oppression, to set the captive free;
to take away transgression, and rule in equity. - He comes with succor speedy to those who suffer wrong; to help the poor and needy,
and bid the weak be strong; to give them songs for sighing, their darkness turn to light,
whose souls, condemned and dying, are precious in His sight. - He shall come down like showers upon the fruitful earth; love, joy, and hope, like flowers,
spring in His path to birth. Before Him on the mountains, shall peace, the herald, go,
and righteousness, in fountains, from hill to valley flow. - To Him shall prayer unceasing and daily vows ascend; His kingdom still increasing,
a kingdom without end. The tide of time shall never His covenant remove;
His name shall stand forever; that name to us is love.
Scripture: Luke 3:7-18 (CEB)
7 Then John said to the crowds who came to be baptized by him, “You children of snakes! Who warned you to escape from the angry judgment that is coming soon? 8 Produce fruit that shows you have changed your hearts and lives. And don’t even think about saying to yourselves, Abraham is our father. I tell you that God is able to raise up Abraham’s children from these stones. 9 The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and tossed into the fire.”
10 The crowds asked him, “What then should we do?”
11 He answered, “Whoever has two shirts must share with the one who has none, and whoever has food must do the same.”
12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized. They said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?”
13 He replied, “Collect no more than you are authorized to collect.”
14 Soldiers asked, “What about us? What should we do?”
He answered, “Don’t cheat or harass anyone, and be satisfied with your pay.”
15 The people were filled with expectation, and everyone wondered whether John might be the Christ. 16 John replied to them all, “I baptize you with water, but the One who is more powerful than me is coming. I’m not worthy to loosen the strap of His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 The shovel He uses to sift the wheat from the husks is in His hands. He will clean out His threshing area and bring the wheat into His barn. But He will burn the husks with a fire that can’t be put out.” 18 With many other words John appealed to them, proclaiming good news to the people.
Message: How Shall We Prepare Rev. Ron French
Howard Hensley was standing in line at the post office. Standing in line is not one of his favorite things to do, especially during the busy Christmas season. This day was no exception. He waited anxiously for the postal clerk to weigh his packages and give him his stamps. His irritation quickly increased when he overheard a shabbily dressed man ask another clerk for $50 worth of Madonna stamps. “What corrupt influence is the government supplying society with now?” he thought. “Wasn’t an Elvis stamp enough?” As the clerk from the next window came to his clerk for extra stamps, Hensley leaned forward to catch a glimpse of what vile picture of Madonna the old man was buying. Surprise, embarrassment, and finally hilarity engulfed him as he realized that the picture on the stamps was not Madonna the rock star but the Madonna, Mary, the mother of Jesus.
The Gospel lesson for today centers on John the Baptist. John was a preacher of righteousness. He wanted Israel to repent. But his message was not the one-dimensional diatribe that we might imagine. It was a challenging message that we need today. John the Baptist announced the coming of the Messiah. Of course, his announcement came thirty years after Christ’s birth, but John’s announcement is just as important as any of the others. How do we prepare for the coming of Christ? According to John the Baptist, we prepare in three ways. They may be summed up like this:
If you have wealth, share it.
If you are in a position of trust, honor it.
If you have power, don’t abuse it.
You didn’t know John the Baptist dealt with such contemporary themes, did you? But he did. I would like to look at each of them individually this morning.
The multitudes asked John, “What then should we do?” John answered, “Whoever has two coats must share with the one who has none, and whoever has food must do the same.” (10-11) Sisters and brothers, Christmas is a time of sharing. We exchange gifts with one another, but many of us will go beyond that. We will drop money into the Salvation Army kettles, we will write checks to worthy community projects, some of you will even make an end-of-the-year contribution to the church. There is something about the season that makes us see beyond ourselves to the needs of others.
Of course, not everyone is able to give to others this year. In a year end stewardship drive one of the church members sent this letter to the pastor:
“Dear Pastor, in reply to your request to send a year-end check I wish to inform you that the present condition of my bank account makes it almost impossible. My shattered financial condition is due to federal laws, state laws, county laws, corporation laws, mother-in-laws, brother-in-laws, and outlaws.
Through these laws I am compelled to pay business tax, amusement tax, head tax, school tax, gas tax, light tax, water tax, sales tax, even my brains are taxed. I am required to get a business license, a dog license, not to mention a marriage license. I am also required to contribute to every organization which the genius of man is capable of bringing to life. I am asked to give to every charitable organization in the city including the Red Cross, the Purple Cross, and the double cross. For my own safety I must have life insurance, property insurance, liability insurance, car insurance, health insurance, and home-owners insurance. I am inspected, expected, respected, dejected, rejected, examined, reexamined, summoned, fined, commanded, and compelled until I supply an inexhaustible amount of money for every known need, desire or hope of the human race. Simply because I refuse to donate something or other, I’m boycotted, talked about, lied about, held up, held down, robbed until I am ruined! The wolf that comes to so many doors now-a-nowadays just had pups in my kitchen, I sold them and here’s the money.
We all feel that way at times. Demands for money from every side particularly during this season of the year. And yet the gift of Christmas is a gift that must be passed on to be enjoyed. Christ comes into our lives bringing unmerited love. Only the coldest of hearts will refuse to let him in. Only the most selfish of spirits will not reach out in generosity to others. Our enjoyment of Christmas will be proportional to the joy we bring to others. If you have wealth, share it!
Here is John’s second instruction for preparing for the coming of Christ: If you are in a position of trust, honor it. “Even tax collectors came to be baptized. They said to him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ John replied, ‘Collect no more than you are authorized to collect.” (12-13) You know about tax collectors in that day and time. They collected taxes on behalf of the Roman government. They were despised as collaborators. They were also infamous for their lack of ethics. They would add extra fees to the amount they collected and that generally made them quite prosperous. John does not tell them to give up their jobs. After all, somebody has got to do the dirty work.
What he tells them is to exercise honesty in their work. They are in a position of trust, and they need to honor that trust.
Does it appear to you that honesty is a disappearing commodity in our country? A woman reported about an experience she had in Japan. She was standing in line in a subway station and noticed a pile of money lying on a counter unattended. Others in the area noticed it as well and she watched with mounting amazement as each person left it right where it was. “Finally,” she said, “I was glad to see a woman walk over and pick up the pile of bills.
But she just took them to someone else and asked if that person had left them there. When he said no, she put the money back.” Let me ask you how long do you think that pile of money would have laid unclaimed on a counter in our country? Personally, I don’t think it would have been there long. Something scary is happening to us. We have replaced absolute principles of conduct with moral relativism. And as a result, more adults are cheating on their taxes, and more students are cheating on their exams.
Brothers and sisters, we simply cannot have a society that is not built on honesty and trust. If you have a position of trust – whether it is in a business, or government, or the church or even within your own home – honor it. That is the second way we prepare for his arrival: if you are in a position of trust, honor it!
Here is the third way John tells us to prepare: If you have power, don’t abuse it. “Soldiers asked, ‘What about us? What should we do?’ He answered, ‘Don’t cheat or harass anyone, and be satisfied with your pay.” (14) Power is a frequently used word in our society. We white males are on the defensive. Why, you ask? We are seen as having power—power in government, power in business, power in the home. Women and minorities are seen as being powerless. That’s an over-generalization, of course, but it is historically true.
Did you know that women didn’t gain the right to vote in federal elections in the United States until 1920? Did you know they couldn’t vote in Switzerland until 1971? In the 1960s most states wouldn’t let a woman sign an apartment lease, obtain a credit rating, or apply for a loan unless her husband or a close male relative agreed to share the responsibility. Many parents thought it was unwise to send their daughters to college. According to a 1965 study, 51% of men thought women were temperamentally unfit for management positions.
Sisters and brothers, I am not talking about ancient history here. I’m talking about the past one hundred years. And women and minorities are still at a disadvantage because power is still distributed unevenly. But all of us at one time or another may be in a position of authority. A parent has power over a child, an employer has power over an employee, a teacher has power over the students, a pastor has the power of the pulpit. And John the Baptist says to each of us, if you do have power, do not abuse it.
There is no better example of the tragic abuse of power than King Herod. The young Herod had been an exceptionally able ruler. He built palaces, fortresses, temples, aqueducts, cities, and the great new Temple in Jerusalem. He stimulated trade and commerce. He was so highly respected by Rome that he would actually go down in history as “Herod the Great.” But his life deteriorated into paranoia. He was continually writing to Rome for permission to execute one or two of his own sons for treason. Finally, even his friend Agustus admitted “I’d rather be Herod’s pig than his son.”
Within the Christian community Herod will always be remembered for his decree that all the male children in his kingdom under the age of two should be slain. This was his plan for eliminating a potential threat to his throne. It would not work, of course. The tiny baby who would become King of Kings escaped. Herod did execute John the Baptist when John pointed out Herod’s moral failures. How could a man fall so far? Power does something to people.
The abuse of power is a dreadful sin whether it be in the workplace or the home or any place in society.
So, how do you prepare for the coming of Christ? John the Baptist tells us plainly: if you have wealth, share it. If you are in a position of trust, honor it. And if you have power, don’t abuse it. Follow the example of Christ. He had it all, but He gave it up because of His love for you and for me.
Closing Hymn: #249 There’s a Song in the Air
- There’s a song in the air! There’s a star in the sky!
There’s mother’s deep prayer and a baby’s low cry!
And the star rains its fire while the beautiful sing, for the manger of Bethlehem cradles a King!
- There’s tumult of joy o’er the wonderful birth,
For the virgin’s sweet boy is the Lord of the earth.
Ay! The star rains its fire while the beautiful sing,
For the manger of Bethlehem cradles of King!
- In the light of that star lie the ages impearled;
And that song from afar has swept over the world.
Every hearth is aflame, and the beautiful sing In the homes of the nations that Jesus is King!
- We rejoice in the light, and we echo the song
That comes down through the night from the heavenly throng.
Ay! We shout to the lovely evangel they bring, And we greet in His cradle our Savior and King!
The blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you this week.
