December 4, 2022 - Advent 2

For the week of December 4-10 – the 2nd Sunday of Advent

Morning prayer: O God, whose will is peace for the afflicted, let Your herald’s urgent voice pierce our hardened hearts and announce the dawn of Your kingdom.  Before the Advent of the One who baptizes with the fire of the Holy Spirit, let our complacency give way to conversion and acceptance of one another in Christ.  We ask this through the One whose coming is certain, Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.  (Sacramentary, 20th century)

Hymn: #211 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

  1. O come, O come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel,
    that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear.

Refrain:  Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

  1. 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. Refrain:
  2. O come, O come great Lord of might, who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height

In ancient times once gave the law in cloud and majesty and awe.  Refrain:

  1. O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree, an ensign of Thy people be;

Before Thee rulers silent fall; all people on Thy mercy call.  Refrain:

  1. O come, Thou key of David, come, and open wide our heavenly home.

The captive from their prison free, and conquer death’s deep misery.  Refrain:

  1. O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer our spirits by Thy justice here;

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight.  Refrain:

  1. O come, Desire of nations bind all peoples in one heart and mind.

From dust Thou brought us forth to life; deliver us from earthly strife.  Refrain: 

If you light an advent candle at home:  PEACE  Light two of the candles

For a child has been born for us, a son given to us;

authority rests upon His shoulders, and He is named

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Great will be His authority, and there shall be endless peace

for the throne of David and His kingdom.

He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness

from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

We light this candle as a symbol of the Prince of Peace.

May the visitation of Your Holy Spirit, O God, make us ready for the coming of Jesus, our hope and peace.

O come, O come, Emmanuel.

Children’s message A shoot from the stump of Jesse

Isaiah 11:1-10

A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Children’s Message

Have you ever seen a shoot grow out of an old stump? It looks a bit odd and out of place, yet it is beautiful. New life coming from a past life. It happens usually because the stump and the roots are still in good shape. They are receiving what they need to survive: sunlight, water and nutrients from the soil and most importantly, they come from good stock. The conditions are right and the tree is sound.

Isaiah is talking to the nation of Israel and assuring them that they are from good stock. Their foundation is good, and God saw that greatness in them and would see it live again.

Jesus is that shoot that comes from the Jesse tree, the lineage of King David and Jesus would rule over all creation. God sees that greatness in God’s creation today. Whenever we think something cannot grow again, God causes growth and we are witnessing that growth before us today in the next generation.

Let us pray: Holy God, open our eyes to see the new growth You are creating around us. Allow us to foster that growth and provide all that is needed to continue it. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

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 spotlightToday we have brought gifts for the children of KidsPeace along with our tithes.  Thank you for doing your part to bring joy to the children in the care of KidsPeace.

Offering prayer: God of peace, at the message of an angel, the virgin Mary placed her life at the service of Your will.  We bring our gifts before You, asking that You fill us with the light of Your Spirit so that we may become Your light to those in our community and our world.  Strengthen us by her example to welcome Jesus Christ our Lord into our lives.  Amen. (ada. Liturgy of the Hours)

Hymn #204 Emmanuel, Emmanuel

Emmanuel, Emmanuel, His name is called Emmanuel.

God with us, revealed in us, His name is called Emmanuel.

Scripture Lesson Luke 1:26-45 (CEB)

26 When Elizabeth was six months pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in Galilee, 27 to a virgin who was engaged to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 When the angel came to her, he said, “Rejoice, favored one! The Lord is with you!” 29 She was confused by these words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Mary. God is honoring you. 31 Look! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and he will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father. 33 He will rule over Jacob’s house forever, and there will be no end to his kingdom.”

34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How will this happen since I haven’t been with a man?”

35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come over you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the one who is to be born will be holy. He will be called God’s Son. 36 Look, even in her old age, your relative Elizabeth has conceived a son. This woman who was labeled ‘unable to conceive’ is now six months pregnant. 37 Nothing is impossible for God.”

38 Then Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be with me just as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

39 Mary got up and hurried to a city in the Judean highlands. 40 She entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 With a loud voice she blurted out, “God has blessed you above all women, and he has blessed the child you carry. 43 Why do I have this honor, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. 45 Happy is she who believed that the Lord would fulfill the promises he made to her.”

Message:    Favored by God?     Rev. Ron French

I want to start with a question this morning. Could Mary have known what was happening to her when the angel Gabriel came to her so long ago? Only in the Gospel of Luke do we find this part of the Christmas story. Luke even tells this story from Mary’s point of view. The angel Gabriel is a messenger of God. Gabriel has already announced to an elderly rabbi named Zechariah that his wife, Elizabeth, would have a son, despite her old age. Now, Mary and Elizabeth are cousins. And after having visited Elizabeth’s husband, Gabriel visits Mary. And following his visit to Mary she visits Elizabeth and the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaps when they meet. You won’t find these details about the birth of Jesus in any of the other Gospels.

Luke begins this part of the story by telling us that: “When Elizabeth was six months pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in Galilee, to a virgin who was engaged to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary. And when the angel came to her, he said, ‘Rejoice, favored one! The Lord is with you!’” Then Luke adds these words, “She was confused by these words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.” (26-29)

Now a second question for you this morning: “What does it mean to be favored by God?” This is an important question. And evidently it doesn’t mean your life is going to be a bed of roses. Listen as Luke continues, “The angel said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Mary. God is honoring you. Look! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and He will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of David His father. He will rule over Jacob’s house forever, and there will be no end to His kingdom.’ Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this happen since I haven’t been with a man?’” (30-34)

This is interesting. Mary is not married. She’s still a virgin. And she’s going to have a baby. Do you think that is something she should be excited about? Zechariah and Elizabeth had been married for many years. For most of those years they had been praying for a child. The birth of their son, John, in their old age was literally an answer to prayer. I really doubt the same thing could be said for Mary. She was a teenager and she was about to become an unwed mother.

Mary and Joseph lived within a strict community regulated by religious laws and customs. Mary could have been stoned to death for being pregnant and unmarried. And imagine Joseph’s hurt when he found out. Is Mary supposed to be happy about this? God sure has an interesting way of showing his favor.

Years ago a psychologist named Thomas Holmes developed a scale to measure stress. He assigned numerical value to events that cause stress such as the loss of a job, moving to a new city, a new relationship, etc… Dr. Holmes even included Christmas on his stress list. He decided that just a normal Christmas was worth a hefty 14 stress points. Some of you understand. You’re already up to 15 or 20 stress points and there is still three weeks until Christmas. A writer, Bridget Kuhn, took Dr. Holmes’ scale and applied it to Mary. Holmes calculated that any pregnancy earns 40 stress points: for an unplanned pregnancy, add 20 more. A change in living conditions – Mary stayed three months with Elizabeth – earns 25 more. Her planned marriage to Joseph earns 50 points. A change in financial status: 38 points. And surely there must have been words between them when she discovered that Joseph had not made reservations at the inn: score another 35 points. And then the birth – 39 points, 1 more for a change in sleeping habits. 15 more for a change in eating habits. Not to mention all the uninvited guests: shepherds and angels coming and going. Dr. Holmes estimated that people get sick when they reach 200 stress points. Bridget Kuhn calculated that Mary’s ordeal earned her a record 424 stress points. This didn’t even include the visit of the Magi or the flight to Egypt. Sisters and brothers, is this what it means to be favored by God?

Evidently being favored by God does not protect you from life’s bumps and bruises. This is an important truth. It is easy for us to say when things are going our way, “The Lord is surely blessing me.” If we consider ourselves blessed we may be in for a big surprise. It may be that one day we will be the ones who will hear the Lord say, “I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink…” (Matthew 25:31-46) Maybe the reason things seem to be going our way is that we are living only for ourselves. It’s easy to have a merry Christmas with lots of fine presents under the tree when we insulate ourselves from the world’s problems. Rather than blessing us, God may actually despise our opulent self-indulgence.

Conversely, if we are going through a difficult time in our life right now, feeling like we can barely hold on, God may be very close to us. The angel Gabriel, in saying to Mary that she was favored by God, was not saying that God would make her way easy. What he was saying was that Mary would be used by God, and in the long run of life, this is what being favored means. How about you? Can you say that right now you are being used by God for a purpose?

Gabriel told Mary that she was favored by God and that she would bear a son.

And Mary asked a sensible question: “How will this happen since I haven’t been with a man?”  (34) Here is how the angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come over you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the one who is to be born will be holy. He will be called God’s Son. Look, even in her old age, your relative Elizabeth has conceived a son. This woman who was labeled ‘unable to conceive’ is now six months pregnant. Nothing is impossible for God,” (35-37)

Underline that last sentence: “Nothing is impossible for God.” (37) I have often wondered, is it any more difficult to believe that God gave Mary a virgin birth than it is to believe that Abraham and Sarah and Zechariah and Elizabeth bore children at an advanced age? Jesus’ birth was a miracle. Underline it again… “Nothing is impossible for God.” Remember that the next time you find yourself in a difficult situation. Nothing is impossible for God!

If you have difficulty with the idea of miracles, God does not hold that against you. Many fine Christians have trouble believing all of the miracles in the Bible.

All I’m saying to you this morning sisters and brothers is, when it comes to God be careful what you say is impossible.

So, first of all, be careful whom you call blessed. And second, be careful what you say is impossible. And finally, be thankful that a young woman said yes to God. You see, Mary was free to say no to God just as we are. God never forces Himself on anyone. But when the angel Gabriel gave Mary the news that she would bear God’s son, here is how she responded: “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be with me just as you have said.” (38)

Mary became the mother of Jesus because she was obedient to God. Obedience is not a fashionable word in our modern world, is it? Obedience is not fashionable because we are a “do your own thing” society. Yet obedience is an important part of the Christian life. And there are some things that people would never do except in obedience to God.

Charles Colson was in Raleigh, North Carolina on Christmas Eve 1985. He turned on CNN to catch the late news. On the screen was Mother Teresa. She had her arms around two emaciated young men. They were in the last stages of AIDS and had been released from prison to enter a home established by Mother Teresa’s order. When a reporter demanded to know why we should care about criminals with AIDS, Mother Teresa explained that these young men had been created in God’s image and deserved to know of God’s love. Colson saw all of this taking place and wondered, “How could she do it? Embrace those men who were dying of that deadly virus?” Colson says he knew he could never have that kind of courage.

On Christmas morning he preached to several hundred women at a state prison. As he was preparing to leave, the warden asked if he would visit Bessie Shipp, an AIDS patient in an isolation cell. “It’s Christmas,” explained the warden, “and nobody has visited her.” Now, in Colson’s defense, in 1985 we didn’t have as much information about the AIDS virus as we do today. So we can understand why he began to make excuses. But then, in his mind’s eye, Charles Colson saw the love-filled face of Mother Teresa and heard her words, “These boys deserve to know of God’s love.” And so, Colson found himself saying to the warden, “Well, all right, take me to Bessie Shipp.”

When they arrived at the isolation cell Colson discovered a petite young woman bundled up in a bathrobe, reading a Bible. They chatted for a few moments, and since there wasn’t much time, Colson got to the point. “Bessie, do you know Jesus?” he asked. “No,” she said. “I try to. I read this book. I want to know Him, but I haven’t been able to find Him.” Colson took one of Bessie’s hands while the prison chaplain took the other, and together they led Bessie in prayer.

When they finished, she looked at them with tears flowing down her cheeks. It was a life-changing moment, says Colson, for Bessie and for him.

Three weeks later Bessie Shipp, a new person in Christ Jesus, went to be with God. Colson says he shudders when he thinks how close he had come to avoiding that visit. God, working through Mother Teresa’s example, took away what he calls “The unholy fear that had gripped me.” Charles Colson’s life had been blessed immeasurably by his obedience to God.

That’s the message of Mary’s encounter with God. She couldn’t have known where that encounter would lead her. But today, two thousand years later, we know that she truly was favored by God. So be careful whom you call blessed. Be careful what you call impossible. And finally, be thankful that Mary was obedient to God. That’s the key to having a life that is truly blessed.

Closing Hymn: #240 Hark! the Herald Angels Sing

  1. Hark! the herald angels sing, "Glory to the new born King,
    peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!"
    Joyful, all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies;
    with th' angelic host proclaim, "Christ is born in Bethlehem!"
    Hark! the herald angels sing, "Glory to the new born King!"
  2. Christ, by highest heaven adored; Christ, the everlasting Lord;
    late in time behold Him come, offspring of a virgin's womb.
    Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail th' incarnate Deity,
    pleased with us in flesh to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.
    Hark! the herald angels sing, "Glory to the new born King!"
  3. Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
    Light and life to all He brings, risen with healing in His wings.
    Mild He lays His glory by, born that we no more may die,
    born to raise us from the earth, born to give us second birth.
    Hark! the herald angels sing, "Glory to the new born King!"

Go into your week with the blessings of The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit.