Entering A Narrow Gate, A Constricted Road

Jesus’ words have often been wielded in later history as a command to strict doctrine, a puritanical life-style, making discipleship like boot camp. In every element of Jesus’ sermon he helps up break through to see a life that is more wonderful, more authentic, and more challenging than puritanical piety – beyond the righteousness of the Pharisees.

God’s Glory for the World

In his six “antitheses” (5:21-48) Jesus marks out the transformative character of his message of God’s kingdom rule, a righteousness beyond the law, beyond that of Scribes & Pharisees.

Here Jesus is speaking to his disciples and crowds on a hillside and points to what is at stake. God’s goal is his whole creation, nothing less. These motley disciples are “salt of the earth” and “light of the world.” Jesus speaks of facts, not possibilities: “you are….” They may not know it, but the stakes could not be higher – the hope of the world.

Climax of Contrasts

This is the last in the series of Jesus’ antitheses: “You have heard…but I say…” It ends with the amazing words: “You shall be perfect….” It starts with the equally surprising, “Love your enemies…” Often thought of as over the top, unrealistic, impossible ethic.

As with others Jesus starts from a known practical standard: proper love and hate, universal practice. The law doesn’t command hate, but many texts are about destruction, overthrow, thwarting of enemies. Israel had many enemies. Roman oppression! So also individuals. You don’t have to command people to hate. Fear, frustration, difference, etc. lead to it. Wisdom helped to appropriate responses: love good people; hate bad, hateful people.

Entering A Narrow Gate, A Constricted Road

Jesus’ words have often been wielded in later history as a command to strict doctrine, a puritanical life-style, making discipleship like boot camp. In every element of Jesus’ sermon he helps up break through to see a life that is more wonderful, more authentic, and more challenging than puritanical piety – beyond the righteousness of the Pharisees.

Jesus calls us to seek/enter the Kingdom of God. We watch him/follow him as he comes to the gate of Jerusalem to begin the final confrontation that will ultimately inaugurate that kingdom through his own crucifixion and resurrection. What gate does he enter? How?

The Long Wait

Luke wants us to know that Jesus’ story is not only something new, but very old. It is not a new religion or philosophical idea but the unfolding of the ancient story of Israel and all the world. Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to temple for dedication, a rite symbolizing a whole people shaped by deliverance and dedicated to God. The sacrifice of the poor.

In the Temple – grand, beautiful, wealthy, powerful, built by Herod the Great – the young couple and baby encounter Simeon and Anna, two elderly people who embody the long story. They go back before Herod swept through. They are rooted in the long times of expectation, disappointment, and hope: “the consolation of Israel,” “the redemption of Jerusalem.” Some would look at the temple and say all was good, they knew better. Israel was still in exile, the nations still in darkness. Broken people, broken nations.
Their only peace was Roman conquest. Israel’s glory was a temple built on bloodshed.

But then one day the prophetic Spirit led Simeon to the temple and he saw a month-old baby in the arms of a poor couple, like so many others, but he knew! Imagine the meeting.

A New World Coming

Luke lets us hear Simeon’s words so we can see beneath the surface through Simeon’s eyes. Peace: The fulfillment of God’s promise to him to see the Lord’s Anointed – God’s king, the overthrow of the propaganda of Rome, Herod, Powers that be. But that meant more!

In this obscure child he sees God’s way of preparing deliverance right in front of everybody, for and against all people. Peoples discover in him salvation they needed but didn’t know.
Starting from this point in widening circles, Israel’s glory is realized in the Messiah. Israel’s Messiah stands as a beaming light for all nations – the promise to Abraham. God’s work has always been about the healing and renewal of all of God’s creation.

A Sword Through the Soul

Mary and Joseph are astonished. But there is more to be said. Simeon looks at Mary. What begins here is a long battle fought out in every life. This child /Anointed king has a claim on every life, the embodiment of God’s salvation, promises, light. We fall or rise by our response to him. We can’t be neutral to one who claims us completely. That means a battle in souls and lives. But God does not invade with nuclear conquest, but in a child, a sign that can be rejected. He allows every heart to reveal its inmost desires. He fights with the weapon of self-giving love, but life and death is at stake.

No one is immune. “A great sword will go through even your soul, Mary.”  Mary’s experience is unique, but also the same as others. Jesus brings a piercing, revealing, dividing, pruning sword – the claim of the creator on his creation.  Only when the battle has been fought, only when love and trust conquers can there be peace.

Peace in the Midst

The Angels announce Peace on Earth. But it is an army of Angels that announces it. Like Israel and Jerusalem we are still in exile in the midst of the gold and marble of our self-glorifying constructions.  Simeon opens our eyes to see through the surface to reality.

Anna call us to embrace this wonderful, dangerous, life-transforming baby with thanksgiving and to speak of him to all the exiles who surround us, resisting, waiting for redemption.

The Gospel Before the Gospel

Luke is introducing us to the greatest event in history – the greatest event imaginable – the creator of the universe becoming one of his own creations, to live and die for them. The great event unfolds in utter obscurity, but among people with hearts to accept it.
Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph – unknowns; but people with minds/hearts open to God, living with expectation in His great story/promises, open to God’s “New Thing.”

The Gospel has many strands, reflecting the complications of human life. One that Luke especially wants us to see is the elevation of women. Within a society that was filled with structures that disempowered women, God shows that he had made women with strength, intelligence, and spirit, and He empowers them from the beginning to the end. The emphasis on women is one sign of God’s distinctive way of doing things, turning the values of the world on their head. But the world’s values returned, subordinating women.

Gabriel had greeted Mary as one “graced” by God. In her God’s Holy Spirit and power break into the world in a new, unimagined way – conception, birth, incarnation, the impossible.
Wonderful. But God breaks all the acceptable situations for women – unmarried virgin.
Mary doesn’t fully understand, but she knows who she is, the servant of the Lord.

Elizabeth the Prophet

Gabriel points Mary to the one person who could understand her situation – Elizabeth.
She is a pregnant, elderly woman! To give birth to the last of the prophets – John.
But she also becomes a prophet, filled with the Holy Spirit, anticipating Pentecost.

Elizabeth makes the neighborhood ring with her loud exclamation. Everything topsy-turvy. She was the venerable, happy mother, but she shouts about this girl – “blessed among women,” “the mother of my Lord.” She believed what was promised “from the Lord.”
In those two uses of “Lord,” Elizabeth captures the wonder and mystery of the event.
The Lord announced it to Mary by Gabriel. The Lord was now “the fruit of your womb.”
Elizabeth, the prophet, becomes the first theologian of God’s nature as Trinity.

As these two women, old and young, experience the reality of the impossible in their bodies, their minds and hearts are opened to see God in a new way as He breaks into the world.

Mary the Servant, Believer, Disciple, Singer

Mary begins to sing. She knew she was God’s servant. She believed the incredible word spoken to her and opened her life to the power of God’s promises. But there is a sense of awareness of the great price of society’s shame that she must bear. Who’ll believe her?

Now with Elizabeth, the fog clears. The story of God that she has known shines brightly.  This is the promise to Abraham and his seed for the world.  This is the climax of the great story of Israel – God’s mercy to a lowly, powerless people, deliverance from slavery against all odds.  This is the story through generations, again and again on the lips of the prophets: the arm of the Lord revealed in the lowliest servant (Is 53:1). Human pride, power, wealth bring no security; they do not last.  God’s eternal power and life, God’s own self, breaks into his world, not in Caesar’s household, but in a girl in Nazareth.

Mary sings of God’s greatness from her soul and spirit. She may have much to suffer, but all will “call me blessed” ultimately, because she is a part of the “great things” God is doing.

Advent Wreath Services - Introduction

As we approach Christmas and its celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, we join with Christians across the ages who have striven to pause in the midst of life’s flurry to deliberately let the significance of the Incarnation sink in.  In order to spend intentional time in such meditation in each worship service leading up to Christmas, the Manhattan Church adopted the lighting of candles within an Advent wreath several years ago.  Since this was a new practice for us, considerable time was spent in providing historical background and discussing the wreath’s symbols in these early services. Now that we have been on this journey for some time, though, the need for such protracted discussions has waned, and while some of the material of the past will be included, most will not.  However,  because our membership is so transient and several new members become part of our community in any given year, we thought it best to make available online these “denser” Advent services from past years in order for those who have not had the benefit of their fuller history to obtain more information on this beautiful practice.  In addition, as more families use an Advent wreath in their homes, providing these meditations in written form can provide a basis for their practice.

What follows, then, are the Calls to Worship as they have been provided in the four weeks prior to Christmas – the formal liturgical season of Advent – as well as in our Christmas Eve service and the Sunday following Christmas in which the liturgical feast of Epiphany is discussed.  Instead of compiling all the services down into a didactic essay, it has seemed best to retain the original form of the services in order to have a greater sense of their character and feel.  This also makes them easier to adapt for home usage.

It is evident that some of the material is repeated from week to week, most notably in the first two weeks.  Since the first week of Advent usually falls on Thanksgiving weekend, the material is repeated the following week in order to provide everyone with the same foundation for the weeks to follow; plus, reinforcement is an important aspect of this and other traditional or liturgical practices.  So don’t stop reading when the text repeats itself – there’s more new material to come!  There is also a beauty to be found in returning to the same themes, even the same words, from week to week in the hopes of finding new meaning on our journey.

Finally, it should be noted that, although the readings to follow consistently list “family member” as the readers (in addition to worship team members), in our practice across the weeks, the “families” chosen to lead in this service have different compositions, from mom/dad/kids or single parent/kids sets to younger or older couples to single friends joined together in a family of faith.  Whether you read through these all at once, print them out and digest them one at a time, or use them with your family around your own Advent wreath before your Sunday evening meal, may you be richly blessed in walking along this path that other Christ-followers have walked for hundreds of years.

– Larry Mudd
Worship Minister
Larry@manhattanchurch.org

Week One: Hope

Worship Leader:

Today is the first Sunday of Advent.  Advent means “coming,” and in this season we prepare for the coming of Christ.  One of the ways we prepare for his coming is by making an Advent wreath and lighting its candles.  These remind us of some of the gifts Christ brings to the world: His hope, peace, joy and love.

Team Member:

The Advent wreath includes many symbols to help us think about Christ and His gifts.  The wreath itself is in the shape of a circle.  A circle has no beginning and no end.  This reminds us that there is no beginning and no end to God, and that God’s love and caring are forever.  With this circular wreath we are reminded that our lives here and now participate in the eternity of God’s plan of salvation, and we hope to share eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven

Team Member:

The wreath is green to symbolize life, because Christ came to give us new life through His passion, death, and resurrection. Three candles are purple, symbolizing Hope, Peace and Love; the pink candle symbolizes Joy and comes halfway through the season when we rejoice because our preparation is half-way finished.

Team Member:

The flame represents Christ, who entered this world to scatter the darkness of evil and show us the way of righteousness. The progression of lighting candles shows our increasing readiness to meet our Lord, and our prayer that His light be spread throughout the world, starting with us.

Team Member:

As we light the candles of our Advent wreathe in our services in the coming weeks, different families and individuals will participate.  They will serve as symbols of this entire family of faith reaching out to Christ in hope, peace, joy, and love.  This morning, the [assigned] family will light the first candle.

Assigned Family, who has been seated in the front pew, steps up to the pulpit.

Family Member One:

Today we light the candle of hope.  The people of Israel hoped in God’s promises and were not disappointed.  Again and again God delivered Israel from its enemies.  We too have the same experience of deliverance in our own salvation.  That is why we believe in God’s promise to send Jesus to us once again to establish His everlasting kingdom of light.   (A member of the family lights one purple candle.)

Family Member Two:

Hope is like a light shining in a dark place.  Romans 5:5 says that “hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”  As we look at the light of this candle, we celebrate the certain hope we have in Jesus Christ.

Family Member One:

Let us pray:  Thank you God for the hope you give us.  We ask that, as we wait for all your promises to come true and for Christ to come again, you would strengthen our faith and help us to sense your presence beside us and within us.  Help us today and every day to worship you with the way we live.  Empower us to hear your word and then do your will by sharing your hope with each other and with those around us.  We ask these things in the Name of the one who was born in Bethlehem.  Amen.


Week Two: Peace

Worship Team Leader:

Today is the second Sunday of Advent.  Advent means “coming,” and in this season, we prepare for the coming of Christ.  One of the ways we prepare for his coming is by making an Advent wreath and lighting its candles.  This remind us of some of the gifts Christ brings to the world: His hope, peace, joy and love.

Worship Team Member:

The Advent wreath includes many symbols to help us think about Christ and his gifts.  The wreath itself is in the shape of a circle.  A circle has no beginning and no end.  This reminds us that there is no beginning and no end to God, and that God’s love and caring are forever. Thus, we are reminded that our lives, here and now, participate in the eternity of God’s plan of salvation, and that we hope to share eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Worship Team Member:

The wreath is green to symbolize life, because Christ came to give us new life through His passion, death, and resurrection. Three candles are purple, symbolizing Hope, Peace and Love; the pink candle symbolizes Joy and comes halfway through the season, when we rejoice because our preparation is half-way finished.

Worship Team Member:

The flame represents Christ, who entered this world to scatter the darkness of evil and show us the way of life and righteousness. The progression of lighting candles shows our increasing readiness to meet our Lord and our prayer that His light be spread throughout the world, starting with us.

Worship Team Member:

As we light the candles of our Advent wreathe in our services in these weeks of waiting, different families and individuals are participating.  They serve as symbols of this entire family of faith reaching out to Christ in hope, peace, joy, and love.  This morning, the [assigned] family will light the Advent Wreath.

Family, who has been seated in the front pew, steps up to the pulpit.

Family Member One:

Last Sunday, we lit the first candle in our Advent Wreath, the prophet’s candle of hope.  We light it again as we remember that Christ, who was born in a manger in Bethlehem, will come again to fulfill all of God’s promises to us.  (A member of the family lights one purple candle, the candle of hope from last week.)

Family Member Two:

Today we light the candle of peace, also known as the Bethlehem candle.  We are surrounded by a world in which there is very little peace to be found at times.  Wars, injustice and tragedy are all too common.  However, because of our relationship with Jesus, we are promised a peace that passes understanding.  Christ brought peace when He first came to us, and He will bring everlasting peace when He comes again.

Family Member Three (or One):

The prophet Isaiah called Christ “the Prince of Peace”. When Jesus came, he taught people the importance of being peace makers.  He said that those who make peace shall be called the children of God.  We light the candle of peace today to remind us of Jesus.  He is the Prince of Peace, and only through Him can real peace be found. (A member of the family lights another purple candle, the candle of peace.)

Family Member One (or Two):

Let us pray:  Thank you God for the peace you give us through Jesus. We ask that as we wait for all your promises to come true, and for Christ to come again, that we would be aware of your constant presence with us.  Fill our hearts with your peace that passes understanding, even when the world around us doesn’t feel very peaceful.  Help us today and every day to worship you, to hear your word, and to do your will by sharing your peace with one other.  We pray in the name of the Prince of Peace who was born in Bethlehem.  Amen.

Week Three: Joy

Worship Leader:

Today is the third Sunday of Advent.  Advent means “coming,” and in this season we prepare for the coming of Christ both in our celebration of His birth and His promised return at the end of time.  The origin of the Advent Wreath is in pre-Christian Germany and Scandinavia where the people gathered to celebrate the return of the sun after the winter solstice (which will occur this week). The circular wreath made of evergreens with four candles interspersed represented the circle of the year, its four seasons, and the life that endures through the winter.

Chorus Member:

Later, Christian families adapted the practice to provide a more spiritual focus in the weeks just before Christmas.  They wanted to help their children think more about the story of Jesus instead of the gifts the children wanted to receive.  Each week, a different gift brought by Christ was focused on – Hope, Peace, Joy and Love.

Chorus Member:

For us, the lighting of the Advent candles represents the promise of the coming of Jesus, the light of the world. As the light of the Advent wreath grows, we share in the expectation of Isaiah, of John the Baptist, and of Mary for the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a Savior. We look forward to the coming of Jesus who pierces the darkness of sin by the light of his love.

Chorus Member:

As we pass the halfway point in our waiting this week, we light the rose colored candle of Joy, rejoicing that the Lord’s coming is even more certain than the rising of the sun.

Chorus Member:

Different families and individuals are lighting the candles of our Advent wreathe in our services in these weeks of waiting.  They serve as symbols of this entire family of faith reaching out to Christ in hope, peace, joy, and love.  This morning, the [assigned] family will light the Advent Wreath.

Family, who has been seated in the front pew, steps up to the pulpit.

Family Member One:

In the first week of Advent, we lit the first candle in our Advent Wreath, the candle of hope.  We light it again as we remember our hope that Christ, who was born in a manger in Bethlehem, will come again to fulfill all of God’s promises to us.  This hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (A member of the family lights one purple candle, the candle of hope from last week.)

Family Member Two:

Last week, we lit the candle of peace.  We are surrounded by a world in which there is precious little peace to be found at times.  Wars, injustice and tragedy are all too common.  However, because of our relationship with Jesus, the Prince of Peace, we are promised a peace that passes understanding.  Christ brought peace when He first came to us, and he will bring everlasting peace when He comes again.  (A member of the family lights another purple candle, the candle of peace.)

Family Member Three (or One):

Today, we light the candle of Joy.  Even though we have walked in darkness, we rejoice that we have seen the great light of Christ.  We rejoice that His light scatters the night and shows us the way to God.  We rejoice that He lights our path even in the darkest times, and we rejoice that the darkness of the grave will be made powerless by the light of Jesus. (A member of the family lights the pink candle, the candle of joy.)

Family Member One (or Two):

Let us pray:  O God of Joy, Emmanuel, brighten your light within our hearts by the power of Your Spirit.  Help each one of us to be ready for Christ’s return, whether He comes back today or years from now.  Fix our hearts and our minds on the things you have done and those you have promised to do so that we may have the joy you promised.  As we worship you, strengthen us so that we may always do your will and so bless you and the world you have made.  We pray in the name of our greatest source of Joy, the One born in Bethlehem.  Amen.