Home Worship for the week of December 21
Merry Christmas to each of you who were not able to worship in person December 21, the 4th Sunday of Advent, or Christmas Eve.
Titus 2:11-14
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all,[a] 12 training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior,[b] Jesus Christ. 14 He it is who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for Himself a people of His own who are zealous for good deeds.
Hymn #221 In the Bleak Midwinter
- In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, in the bleak midwinter, long ago. - Our God, heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ. - Angels and archangels may have gathered there, cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
but His mother only, in her maiden bliss, worshiped the Beloved with a kiss. - What can I give Him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.
Invitation to Christmas
Gregory of Nazianzus, Excerpt from Oration 38, delivered in 381 CE
Christ is born: glorify Him. Christ comes down from heaven: go out to meet Him. Christ descends to earth: let us be raised on high. Let all the world sing to the Lord: let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad, for His sake who was first in heaven and then on earth. Christ is here in the flesh: let us exult with fear and joy—with fear, because of our sins; with joy, because of the hope that He brings us.
Once more the darkness is dispersed; once more the light is created. Let the people that sat in the darkness of ignorance now look upon the light of knowledge. The things of old have passed away; behold, all things are made new. He who has no mother in heaven is now born without a father on earth. The laws of nature are overthrown, for the upper world must be filled with citizens. He who is without flesh becomes incarnate; the Word puts on a body; the invisible one is seen; the intangible one is touched; the timeless one makes a beginning; the Son of God becomes the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and for ever.
Light from light, the Word of the Father comes to His own image in the human race. For the sake of my flesh He takes flesh; for the sake of my soul He is united to a rational soul, purifying like by like. In every way He becomes human, except for sin. O strange conjunction! The self-existent comes into being; the uncreated is created. He shares in the poverty of my flesh that I may share in the riches of the Godhead.
This is the solemnity we are celebrating today: the arrival of God among us, so that we might go to God – or more precisely, return to God. So that stripping off our old humanity we might put on the new; for as in Adam we were dead, so in Christ we become alive: we are born with Him, and we rise again with Him.
A miracle, not of creation, but of re-creation. For this is the feast of my being made whole, my returning to the condition God designed for me, to the original Adam. So let us revere the nativity which releases us from the chains of evil. Let us honor this tiny Bethlehem which restores us to paradise. Let us revere this crib because from it we, who were deprived of self-understanding, are fed by the divine understanding, the Word of God Himself.
Lighting the Candles of the Advent Wreath: If you have an Advent Wreath at home, please light all of the candles including the center Christ candle.
From the prophet Isaiah: The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined. You have multiplied exultation; You have increased its joy; they rejoice before You as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. For the yoke of their burden and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, You have broken as on the day of Midian. For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
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 (Isaiah 9:6-7).
We gather to once again bask in the glory that visited a stable and a manger, shepherds watching their flocks, and a young couple cradling the newborn Messiah. We light the Christ candle as a sign of the glory that came among us in unexpected places and to unexpected people, that we may be people who seek and follow the glory of the Christ child here and now. (Discipleship Ministries)
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)
Scripture Isaiah 11:1-10
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow[a] 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 for the poor
and decide with equity for the oppressed 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 will feed[b] 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.
THE NATIVITY - CS Lewis
Among the oxen (like an ox I’m slow)
I see a glory in the stable grow?
Which, with the ox’s dullness might at length
Give me an ox’s strength.
Among the asses (stubborn I as they)
I see my Saviour where I looked for hay;
So may my beastlike folly learn at least
The patience of a beast.
Among the sheep (I like a sheep have strayed)
I watch the manger where my Lord is laid;
Oh that my baa-ing nature would win thence
Some woolly innocence!
Hymn: #227 The Friendly Beasts
- Jesus, our brother, strong and good, was humbly born in a stable rude,
And the friendly beasts around Him stood, Jesus, our brother, strong and good.
- “I,” said the donkey, shaggy and brown, “I carried His mother uphill and down,
I carried His mother to Bethlehem town; I,” said the donkey, shaggy and brown.
- “I,” said the cow, all white and red, “I gave Him my manger for His bed,
I gave Him hay to pillow His head; I,” said the cow, all white and red.
- “I,” said the sheep with curly horn, “I gave Him my wool for His blanket warm,
He wore my coat on Christmas morn; I”, said the sheep with curly horn.
- “I,” said the dove, from the rafters high, “I cooed Him to sleep that He should not cry,
We cooed Him to sleep, my mate and I; I”, said the dove, from the rafters high.
- Thus all the beasts, by some good spell, in the stable dark were glad to tell
Of the gifts they gave Emmanuel, the gifts they gave Emmanuel.
Scripture: Micah 5:2-5
But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth, and he shall be the one of peace.
Hymn #230 O Little Town of Bethlehem
- O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie;
above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light;
the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight. - For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above,
while mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars together, proclaim the holy birth,
and praises sing to God the king, and peace to all on earth! - How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given;
so God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming but in this world of sin,
where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in. - O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
o come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!
Scripture- Luke 2:1-7
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place in the guest room.[a]
Pastor Becky has selected this message from Dorothy Day: We Are Not Too Late to Give Room to Christ
In this 1945 meditation on Christmas, Dorothy Day reflects that it is not too late for any of us to welcome Christ, “who is always asking for room in our hearts” in the guise of our contemporaries, especially the poor.
It is no use to say that we are born two thousand years too late to give room to Christ. Nor will those who live at the end of the world have been born too late. Christ is always with us, always asking for room in our hearts.
But now it is with the voice of our contemporaries that He speaks, with the eyes of store clerks, factory workers and children that He gazes; with the hands of office workers, slum dwellers and suburban housewives that He gives. It is with the feet of soldiers and tramps that He walks, and with the heart of anyone in need that He longs for shelter. And giving shelter or food to anyone who asks for it, or needs it, is giving it to Christ.
We can do now what those who knew Him in the days of His flesh did. I’m sure that the shepherds did not adore and then go away to leave Mary and her Child in the stable, but somehow found them room, even though what they had to offer might have been primitive enough. All that the friends of Christ did in His life-time for Him we can do. Peter’s mother-in-law hastened to cook a meal for Him, and if anything in the Gospels can be inferred, it is surely that she gave the very best she had, with no thought of extravagance. Matthew made a feast for Him and invited the whole town, so that the house was in an uproar of enjoyment, and the straight-laced Pharisees–the good people–were scandalized. So did Zaccheus, only this time Christ invited Himself and sent Zaccheus home to get things ready. The people of Samaria, despised and isolated, were overjoyed to give Him hospitality, and for days He walked and ate and slept among them. And the loveliest of all relationships in Christ’s life, after His relationship with His Mother, is His friendship with Martha, Mary and Lazarus and the continual hospitality He found with them–for there was always a bed for Him there, always a welcome, always a meal. It is a staggering thought that there were once two sisters and a brother whom Jesus looked on almost as His family and where He found a second home, where Martha got on with her work, bustling round in her house-proud way, and Mary simply sat in silence with Him.
If we hadn’t got Christ’s own words for it, it would seem raving lunacy to believe that if I offer a bed and food and hospitality for Christmas–or any other time, for that matter–to some man, woman or child, I am replaying the part of Lazarus or Martha or Mary and that my guest is Christ. There is nothing to show it, perhaps. There are no haloes already glowing round their heads–at least none that human eyes can see. -...
Some time ago I saw the death notice of a sergeant-pilot who had been killed on active service. After the usual information, a message was added which, I imagine, is likely to be imitated. It said that anyone who had ever known the dead boy would always be sure of a welcome at his parents’ home. So, even now that the war is over, the father and mother will go on taking in strangers for the simple reason that they will be reminded of their dead son by the friends he made.
That is rather like the custom that existed among the first generations of Christians, when faith was a bright fire that warmed more than those who kept it burning. In every house then a room was kept ready for any stranger who might ask for shelter; it was even called “the strangers’ room”: and this not because these people, like the parents of the dead airman, thought they could trace something of someone they loved in the stranger who used it, not because the man or woman to whom they gave shelter reminded them of Christ, but because–plain and simple and stupendous fact–he was Christ.
It would be foolish to pretend that it is easy always to remember this. If everyone were holy and handsome, with “alter Christus” shining in neon lighting from them, it would be easy to see Christ in everyone. If Mary had appeared in Bethlehem clothed, as St. John says, with the sun, a crown of twelve stars on her head and the moon under her feet, then people would have fought to make room for her. But that was not God’s way for her nor is it Christ’s way for Himself now when He is disguised under every type of humanity that treads the earth.
To see how far one realizes this, it is a good thing to ask honestly what you would do, or have done, when a beggar asked at your house for food. Would you–or did you–give it on an old cracked plate, thinking that was good enough? Do you think that Martha and Mary thought that the old and chipped dish was good for their guest?
In Christ’s human life there were always a few who made up for the neglect of the crowd.
The shepherds did it, their hurrying to the crib atoned for the people who would flee from Christ.
The wise men did it; their journey across the world made up for those who refused to stir one hand’s breadth from the routine of their lives to go to Christ. Even the gifts that the wise men brought have in themselves an obscure recompense and atonement for what would follow later in this Child’s life. For they brought gold, the king’s emblem, to make up for the crown of thorns that He would wear; they offered incense, the symbol of praise, to make up for the mockery and the spitting; they gave Him myrrh, to heal and soothe, and He was wounded from head to foot and no one bathed His wounds. The women at the foot of the cross did it too, making up for the crowd who stood by and sneered.
We can do it too, exactly as they did. We are not born too late. We do it by seeing Christ and serving Christ in friends and strangers, in everyone we come in contact with. While almost no one is unable to give some hospitality or help to others, those for whom it is really impossible are not debarred from giving room to Christ, because, to take the simplest of examples, in those they live with or work with is Christ disguised. All our life is bound up with other people; for almost all of us happiness and unhappiness are conditioned by our relationship with other people. What a simplification of life it would be if we forced ourselves to see that everywhere we go is Christ, wearing out socks we have to darn, eating the food we have to cook, laughing with us, silent with us, sleeping with us.
All this can be proved, if proof is needed, by the doctrines of the Church. We can talk about Christ’s Mystical Body, about the vine and the branches, about the Communion of Saints. But Christ Himself has proved it for us, and no one has to go further than that. For He said that a glass of water given to a beggar was given to Him. He made heaven hinge on the way we act towards Him in His disguise of commonplace, frail and ordinary human beings.
Did you give Me food when I was hungry? Did you give Me something to drink when I was thirsty? Did you take Me in when I was homeless and a stranger? Did you give Me clothes when My own were all rags? Did you come to see Me when I was sick or in prison or in trouble?
And to those who say, aghast, that they never had a chance to do such a thing, that they lived two thousand years too late, He will say again what they had the chance of knowing all their lives, that if these things were done for the very least of His brethren they were done for Him.
For a total Christian the goad of duty is not needed–always prodding him to perform this or that good deed. It is not a duty to help Christ, it is a privilege. Is it likely that Martha and Mary sat back and considered that they had done all that was expected of them–is it likely that Peter’s mother-in-law grudgingly served the chicken she had meant to keep till Sunday because she thought it was “her duty”? She did it gladly: she would have served ten chickens if she had them.
If that is the way they gave hospitality to Christ it is certain that is the way it should still be given. Not for the sake of humanity. Not because it might be Christ who stays with us, comes to see us, takes up our time. Not because these people remind us of Christ,... but because they are Christ, asking us to find room for Him exactly as He did at the first Christmas.
Scripture: Luke 2:8-20
Now in that same region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah,[b] the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,[c] praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom He favors!”[d]
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them, 19 and Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.
Hymn #240 Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
- 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!" - 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!" - 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!"
The Lord’s prayer: 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.
Scripture - John 1:1-5, 9-14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and without Him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in Him was life,[a] and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.[b]
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, yet the world did not know Him. 11 He came to what was His own,[c] and His own people did not accept Him. 12 But to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
Hymn #239 Silent Night verses 1-4 and repeat 1
- Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright round yon virgin mother and Child.
Holy Infant, so tender and mild, sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace. - Silent night, holy night, shepherds quake at the sight; glories stream from heaven afar,
heavenly hosts sing Alleluia! Christ the Savior is born, Christ the Savior is born! - Silent night, holy night, Son of God, love's pure light; radiant beams from Thy holy face
with the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth, Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth. - Silent night, holy night, wondrous star, lend thy light; with the angels let us sing,
Alleluia to our King; Christ the Savior is born, Christ the Savior is born!
- Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright round yon virgin mother and Child.
Holy Infant, so tender and mild, sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.
Christmas prayer: Lord Jesus, You left heaven’s glory to be born as one of us, And we are amazed at Your love. You came as the Light of the World, Shining into our darkness. Please take away anything in us that keeps us far from You, And help us live in Your truth. Give us the trust of Mary, The faithfulness of Joseph, The joy of the angels, And the openness of the shepherds. Let Your love be born fresh in our hearts this Christmas, So that everything we say and do points to You. Come, Lord Jesus, and be our King forever. Amen.
Closing hymn #246 Joy to the World
- Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King;
let every heart prepare Him room, and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing. - Joy to the world, the Savior reigns! Let all their songs employ;
while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy. - No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found,
far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found. - He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove
the glories of His righteousness, and wonders of His love,
and wonders of His love, and wonders of His love.
Blessing While remembering that Christ came to earth as a baby, remember also that He lived and died and is available through prayer. May the Lord bless you through God the Father, Jesus Christ the risen Savior, and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
