Joy To The World
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
The Third Sunday of Advent is referred to as "Joy" Sunday in many traditions, particularly those that focus on lighting the candles of the Advent wreath, because the candle for that Sunday represents joy. It's certainly a theme that comes out in the opening verses of each of the lectionary passages: Isaiah tells us that "The spirit of the Lord God... has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed"; Paul counsels the Thessalonian congregation to "Rejoice always"; and we learn that John the Baptist "came as a witness to testify to the light." Team member Dean Feldmeyer notes in this installment of The Immediate Word as we look at the secular Christmas celebrations that currently surround us, we see plenty of joy too. So if we Christians are called to be people of joy, it seems paradoxical at the very least that many of us have such a spirit of anger about how the culture has co-opted the nativity for its own purposes. The "War on Christmas" is back in the news, and Dean reminds us that feeling victimized when someone uses the term "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" diverts us from focusing on the joy that should characterize our interactions with the world. Joy may seem like a relatively straightforward concept, but it's almost impossible to feel joy when you're engaged in a death struggle with "the enemy." Yes, we want to defend the church from increasing cultural marginalization -- but as the old saying goes, we'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar... so we would do well to proclaim joy and gladness to the world rather than exemplify anger and resentment.
But how can we achieve that goal? Team member Mary Austin suggests that John the Baptist identifies a key element of being joyful people with his singular focus on pointing to the light. In a dark world that batters us day after day with bad news it can be difficult to focus on the light, but Mary points out that Advent is a powerful reminder of the Light to come... and she discusses some examples of people who are finding and making light in the midst of blight. When we point to the Light of the world and reflect God's shining glory, we can't help but be joyful people -- even in the most trying of circumstances.
Joy to the World
by Dean Feldmeyer
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28
The carol shouts "Joy to the world, the Lord is come!" In another the musicians are instructed to "play the oboe and bagpipes merrily." In the little town of Bethlehem "we hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell." The songs of Christmas are filled with "Hark!" and "Gloria!" and "Hallelujah!" The angels tell the shepherds to not be afraid because they are bringing "good news of great joy."
The Advent/Christmas season is one filled to overflowing with Joy. No wonder the secular world embraces our religious holiday so enthusiastically. It isn't just about money. It's about joy.
So why are so many Christians so angry? Why have so many of us who claim Christ as Lord chosen anger, bitterness, and resentment as our go-to posture for this season?
THE WORLD
The so-called "War on Christmas" is back in the news.
Notice, please, that it's not just a difference of opinion or even a disagreement. It's not an argument or a debate. It's "war."
That pretty much crushes any hope of a civil discussion, a free, open, and respectful exchange of ideas and perspectives. No, once you call it a war you've determined how the subject will be broached. There will be fighting and wounding and even killing, all (one would hope) of the metaphorical type.
Those on either side of the debate will be identified not as good people trying to do the right thing, but as "the enemy."
Just in case you missed it, "the enemy" in this case is all of those retailers who in their slavish devotion to "political correctness" insist on wishing us a "Happy Holiday." Good and righteous Christians, we are told, should take umbrage at this intolerable theological insult and treat it as a call to arms. At the very least we should firmly chastise and correct anyone who is so misguided that they fail to validate our religious preference every time we buy something at their store. And we must be ever-vigilant in our fight against this wide and complex conspiracy. While the war rages on, this year Christmas is winning the war -- or at least some important battles -- by a very small but important margin.
This margin does not consist of the fact that people are given time off from work and schools are dismissed so we Christians can celebrate our favorite holiday. Neither is it evidenced in the stretching of the Christmas season all the way back to mid-October. It is not evidenced in the silly red hats that retail clerks are required to wear or the inflatable manger scenes on our neighbors' lawns, or even in the thousands of hours of advertisements and commercials reminding us of our duty to provide gifts for everyone we have ever known, from the postal worker who delivers our mail to the girl who watered our plants when we were on vacation last summer.
No, the real evidence that Christmas is winning the war is that, because we rose in righteous indignation and joined our voices in a unified threat to boycott, Walgreen's has, according to the Houston Chronicle decided to put the word "Christmas" in front of the words "tree ornaments" in their ads and flyers. And because, when Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee insisted, insisted on calling the big blue spruce in the statehouse a "holiday tree" in honor of the religious tolerance upon which the state was founded in 1637, Rep. Doreen Costa erected a Christmas tree -- that's right, a CHRISTMAS tree -- in her office. So take that, Mr. Governor.
We are winning the "War on Christmas," we are told, not because we are living examples of the peace, hope, love, and JOY that have marked this season for Christians for roughly 2,000 years, but because we are angry and fed up and tired of being victims -- and because we are standing arm-in-arm and marching in lock-step up to those cash registers and demanding that those clerks, regardless of their personal feelings or religious beliefs, wish us a "Merry Christmas"... or else.
A couple of years ago my daughter spent the Advent/Christmas season working as the manager of a small retail store in an outlet mall. This was during the height of the "War on Christmas" campaign being fought by Fox News and the Christian Right.
Occasionally Sarah would commit the grievous and unimaginable insult of extending a wish for "Happy Holidays" to a fragile and hypersensitive Christian shopper who would respond with outrage and indignation. The reactions of these dear folks would generally be of two sorts. Some would snap back, "It's not a holiday; it's Christmas!" Others would sigh, close their eyes, purse their lips, shake their head, and wearily respond, "No, dear. Merry Christmas."
Sarah says that, though she never did it, she always wanted to say, "Oh, you're a Christian. Please forgive me. I had no way of knowing."
THE WORD
It's a little hard to see how all of that righteous indignation jibes with the Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love that are represented in the candles of the advent wreath -- especially the Joy that is attached to this third Sunday.
There's no anger in Isaiah 61. His message is one of "good news to the oppressed." He will "greatly rejoice in the Lord." And not just with his mouth but with his "whole being"!
Christmas, for him, isn't so much a baby shower (as it is for us) as a wedding reception. Everyone puts on their finest duds and dances and sings and eats and drinks and celebrates. This is a time of laughter. The lost have been found. The ruined have been restored. The devastation of the past has been repaired. The brokenhearted are being healed even as we speak. Prisoners of war and conscience are being set free and restored to their families.
Think of the happiest moments in our lives, says Isaiah, and that is what the "Day of the Lord" will be like... only more so.
In the gospel reading (John 1:6-8, 19-28), the Baptist calls us to a new level of faith, one appropriate for those who have walked the same earth as the Messiah.
Baptism was, for first-century Jews, a right of initiation for Gentiles who were joining the Jewish faith. When John tells his Jewish listeners that they should repent and be baptized, he is telling them that they aren't real Jews.
Jewishness, he says, is not about circumcision or heritage or where you live or who your great-grandmother married. Real Jewishness, he says, is about how you live and how you treat your neighbor. It's about your relationship with God and other people.
John invites his listeners, then and now, to throw off our old antiquated and ineffective understandings of righteousness and holiness and try on a new version called Jesus Christ. This new version he reminds us is not about ethnic identity; it's about relationships. It's not about the religious rituals we practice or the hymns we sing or the traditions we carry forth. It's about how we live in the community of faith.
In Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians (5:16-24) he gives us a checklist, an outline of the habits of highly effective Christians:
* They are thankful people. Their relationship with God is grounded in their reliance upon the Lord. They understand themselves to be vulnerable and dependent.
* They are people of prayer. It's not just something they do when they've painted themselves into a moral corner. Prayer is part of their DNA, part of the essence of their being.
* They do not throw a wet blanket on the spark and fire of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
* They listen to and honor the words of the prophets, even and especially the parts that are tough to hear.
* They cling to good things and abstain from those things that cause separation and estrangement.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
The indicative in this week's text is clear. We are a joyful people and this is a joyful time of year for us. It is a time of celebrating and singing and laughing; a time of gift-giving and gift-receiving.
Oh, it is popular to talk of how tired and overworked we all are at this time of year, but there's no getting around the fact that the angels brought "good news of great joy" to not just the shepherds but the whole world.
The contemporary hymn, for all its saccharine sentimentality, is right -- they really will "know we are Christians by our love." And where there is love, there is invariably joy. Not unending, unremitting happiness necessarily, but that sense of well-being and hopefulness, that optimistic and satisfied contentment that comes from having accepted the fact that we are accepted.
The imperative is as simple and complex as the word itself: Joy.
Have you seen the Geico insurance commercial with the guinea pigs rowing the boat? It begins with a man telling us how his electric bills were getting too high so he figured out a way to save some money. He trained three guinea pigs to row a tiny boat that would generate electricity for his computer. Actually, he says, only two do the rowing. The chubby one coaches them, saying "row" every few seconds. He tells us in a completely serious, deadpan delivery that it took him six months to train each rowing guinea pig, and eight months to train the one to say "row." Then he shakes his head in disbelief and says, "And it's such a simple word."
Joy is a simple word too. Three letters, one syllable. You'd think it would be an easy concept to understand and achieve.
But here we are 2,011 years later, and we are still trying to figure it out. And figuring out how to do the joy that God desires for us is the work to which this week's lections call us.
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Mary Austin
John 1:6-8, 19-28
One of the curious things about familiar texts is that we hear details in them that aren't really there. The three wise men keep popping up, legend trumping the vagueness of the story about the number of Magi. We hear Luke's story of Jesus' birth, even when reading the other gospels. And the gospel of John's spare story about John the wilderness prophet still calls to mind the camel's hair clothing and locusts for lunch that we know from the other gospels.
In this gospel, John has one purpose -- to point to the light.
Perhaps that is Advent's call for all of us -- to have one purpose, to point to the light.
Certainly, there's enough gloom to go around. The new unemployment figures compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show a drop of 0.4 percent in November, bringing the unemployment rate down to 8.6 percent. While it's the lowest rate in over two years, as one radio talk show host asked, "Who would ever have thought this would be good news?" People who work as Santas at local malls are being coached this year on how to tone down kids' expectations, according to NPR. The financial news is bad.
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has suspended his campaign over allegations of both sexual harassment and a long affair with a Georgia woman. With his distraught-looking wife behind him, Cain announced that he would no longer be running for the nomination. Rumor as we go to press is that he will endorse a fellow candidate who has also been down this road, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Meanwhile, Congress is divided about what measures to take to give the economy a boost. The political news is bad.
Abroad, the European economy remains in turmoil, and Syria looks poised for a civil war. The international news is bad.
There is a wealth of darkness around us, much like the world when Jesus was born and began his ministry.
Yet Advent reminds us to look for the light and for people who point to the light.
In Detroit, a city with huge empty spots within the city limits, people are buying parcels of land, cleaning them up, and reclaiming them with trees, landscaping, and greenery. A story by reporter Kate Davidson reports that "In Detroit, an estimated forty square miles of land sits vacant. Add it up, that's an area larger than Miami. But some Detroit residents are using that emptiness to quietly reshape their neighborhoods. They're annexing vacant lots around them, buying them or just fencing the 'blots' off." (A blot is a parcel of land somewhere in size between a lot and a block.)
One man, Kevin Garcia, says that "Pretty much, I've seen every structure on my block burn." The article adds that "Garcia throws shotgun shells on his front porch to keep intruders away. He buried his dog in back after someone shot it. Still, Garcia says this neighborhood is a gem. There's space now. Lots of it. Behind the fence he's planted trees and shrubs: honey locust, Siberian elm, white pine, purple lilac." One lot took him ten years of negotiating with the city to purchase. Another Detroit resident has spent years planting trees on a lot the city refuses to sell. In the face of the city's bleakness, Garcia and others are tending to the city -- and pointing to a different kind of future.
There are surely similar stories in your congregation and your city. There are places where people keep pointing to the light, futile or frustrating as it is. Small as our efforts are, we are promised that "the light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it."
John's gospel sweeps grandly from "In the beginning" to the coming of Jesus. In between, John the Baptist finds his own concrete way to point to the light. In between, not really knowing who's coming or when he will arrive, John stands in the Jordan and baptizes people to testify to the light to come. Advent calls us to do the same -- to find a way to point to the Light. May we be people like John, who know with certainty that the light is coming, and who spend our whole lives pointing to the light.
ILLUSTRATIONS
One year our church was asked to set up a "seasonal display" in one of our town's shopping centers. A committee went to work and built a display that featured a movie screen, with the words over the screen taken from a familiar Christmas hymn: "CHRIST WAS BORN FOR THIS." While that hymn played continuously on a tape recorder, slides of scenes from current events flashed up on the screen -- scenes of war, poverty, riots, little children, families decorating Christmas trees. Our message: Christ was born for this, for us, for now. After two days the management of the mall called us and demanded that we remove the display because "merchants feel that it is depressing and it will be bad for business because people don't want to think about stuff like that at Christmas."
-- William H. Willimon, Pulpit Resource, vol. 21, no. 4 (Logos Art Productions, 1993), pp. 52-53
* * *
Sometimes it seems like "Rejoice always" is the toughest command in the New Testament. There is certainly much to be joyful about; Paul's letters are filled with that kind of hope and good news. Yet there is also much in the world and sometimes in our own lives over which to be sorrowful. In fact, Paul himself says, "Mourn with those who mourn." Of course this is only immediately after telling the Roman churches, "Weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15)! How do we reconcile this? Imagine that, instead of joy and sorrow being two opposite ends on the same spectrum playing tug-of-war, they are different measures entirely. We can think of sorrow as a depth and joy as a fullness. If we picture a well, sorrow digs out the deepness that our joy fills up, such that joy depends on sorrow and sorrow on joy.
* * *
As I cannot render on my piano anything but the echo of the symphony that the Philharmonic can really play, so my single example can be but the faintest echo of the profound harmonies of the gospel. I cannot play what the Philharmonic can play, but I can tell people about the Philharmonic and get them to listen for themselves. What I cannot reproduce adequately, I can nevertheless talk about and point to. It is so with Christ.
-- Sam Shoemaker
* * *
John the Baptist was a popular preacher who had followers of his own. But he explains that he is not the true light, the Messiah, but that he has come to point others toward that light. John is only a "witness," giving testimony to the true light that will enlighten all people. In a hostile world, John acts as God's advocate for Jesus. The careers of both Jesus and John the Baptist would spark controversy. People would question them as to the authority they preached under.
With technology at our fingertips, light is always available to us -- but in biblical times it was very different. The setting sun plunged the world into total darkness, broken only by fires and feeble oil lamps. Dangers in the dark were very real. Even Gentiles, unacquainted with God's promise of the Messiah, would recognize that if Jesus were the light, he would bring brightness into a dark world. Jesus can enter into our lives so completely that there is no more room for darkness. The darkness is reality apart from God -- life without hope.
* * *
We want only to show you something we have seen and tell you something we have heard... that here and there in the world and now and then in ourselves is a New Creation, usually hidden, but sometimes manifest, and certainly manifest in Jesus who is called the Christ.
-- Paul Tillich
* * *
Good domestic help and groundskeepers are hard to find, concluded an exasperated Robert Raikes. A prosperous man, vain by nature in bearing and dress, he expected his estate to reflect the same. A steady and methodical man, once he set upon a goal he would not cease until it was accomplished. The task this day was to find a reliable handyman.
The Gloucester businessman journeyed to Saint Catherine Street, where it was known gardeners congregated. As he made his way down a filthy, stench-ridden alleyway, he was appalled by the sight of young hooligans and even more distressed at being besieged by panhandlers. The laborer he elected to hire casually commented that the delinquent street behavior was really a trifle -- he ought to see it on a Sunday.
It was the late 1700s and England was in the midst of the Industrial Revolution. Cities became overwhelmed with the influx of families from the agrarian countryside seeking factory work, taxing the infrastructure of the city beyond capacity. Absent of child labor laws, all family members were employed but still existed on a miserly income. Children were particularly welcomed by the industrialist. Their small size lent them to specific jobs that would be cumbersome for large-framed adults, coupled with wages that were lower. Working six days a week, on the Sabbath they were free. A day of liberation from factory toil led to mischievous and criminal behavior acted out on the city streets. This was a societal problem that Raikes would not tolerate.
His father, Robert Raines Sr., was the sole proprietor and editor of the Gloucester Journal. He was a social activist who campaigned against unjust laws passed by the House of Commons. Upon Robert Sr.'s untimely and early death, Robert Jr. inherited the paper and the position of editor at the age of 21. The son followed the father in using the Journal to confront and admonish social injustices. His editorial writings were so searing and his public campaigns so taunting that the readership bestowed upon him the nickname "Bobby Wild Goose."
For a number of years Raikes tried to reform society by addressing the depravity of adults. Finding this to be a daunting task with little success, he realized his efforts needed to be directed to the children of these families, with the expectation that future generations could be transformed into model citizens. The aim was to prevent offspring from becoming adult criminals. Convinced that vice was bred by idleness, which in turn was caused by ignorance, which then fostered degenerates, Raines believed that education would end the cycle of truant behavior. Sunday, the only day children were absent from factories, would become a day of schooling. Hope is instilled with benevolence toward the youngest, for in the words of Raikes, "The world marches forth on the feet of little children."
In 1780 Raikes started his first Sunday school. It was held a short distance from the city prison in Mrs. Meredith's kitchen in Sooty Alley, so named for the chimney sweeps that lived here. Parents were encouraged by the learning opportunity that was going to be afforded their children, though the young were the most unwilling participants. In order to get the children to the inviting home and to prevent runaways along the way, legs of some were shackled while others were chained to logs that had to be dragged. Overwhelmed by the problems of discipline, Mrs. Meredith surrendered her post after a few short months. Raikes then recruited Mrs. King, with the assistance of Mrs. Critchley, transferring the school to yet another kitchen.
The children, who ranged in age from 6 to 14, were required to arrive with clean hands and faces, hair combed, and with such clothing as they had. For those who were adorned in little more than rags, new outfits were provided. Order was maintained and discipline was strict, with no apology offered for caning. The children were kept in school from 10 to 12 a.m., went home for lunch, returning at 1 p.m. The afternoon lesson was followed by a church service and then teaching of the catechism. The school day ended at 5 p.m..
Raikes kept his school a secret. For him it was a grand experiment, and his vanity prevented outside scrutiny. At the end of three years, when he observed a noticeable improvement in the behavior of his charges, he published a short article on the success of Sunday school education in his newspaper. As he embarked on establishing similar schools throughout Gloucester, a London publication, the Gentleman's magazine, reprinted his article on November 25, 1783. Soon reprints appeared in newspapers and magazines throughout England. Cities throughout the commonwealth clamored for schools in their respective districts, and the modern Sunday school movement was birthed. Birthed but not without labor pain.
Critics abounded. The Church of England refused to become involved, for the movement was considered divisive. Evangelicals condemned it as a violation of the Fourth Commandment. English nobility hastened to halt the movement, fearing an educated working class would demand better wages and a safe working environment. The general populace saw the schools as removing a favored form of amusement, courtyard whippings and public square hangings. Conflict aside, "Bobby Wild Goose" would not be deterred.
It should be noted that only one cleric of stature supported Raikes, becoming both a confidant and a close friend. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, enrolled as many of his students as possible in the schools, affirming the profitability of an education that was both academic and moral. Wesley spoke of the school as "one of the noblest instruments that has been seen in Europe for some centuries and will increase more and more." The movement prevailed. On August 30, 1785, the Sunday School Society was organized for the establishment of schools and coordination of all the individual programs.
The Sunday school remodeled the church in another much unexpected yet inconceivably exciting way. Adults were able to involve themselves in the life of the church unlike any time in the previous eighteen centuries. The elders of society taught the children, with the realization of having made a viable contribution as educators for Christ. Parental committees were organized to supervise the schools and visit neighboring schools, offering oversight and creative ideas. Laity, for the first time, had a ministry to claim as their own, providing multiple opportunities for personal involvement. Raikes once commented that his only motivation as a crusader was to follow the command of Jesus to "feed my lambs," and now there was an abundance of shepherds to do just that.
John the Baptist "came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him." Transitioning the vision of Raikes into our community church, there should not be a single household that debates if a child has the option to attend Sunday school; it is paramount to deliver a child to a doctrinally sanctioned Christian education class. Included in all matters of child development is the parental responsibility to nurture their offspring in the Christian faith, following the example of John the Baptist who came as a witness to the coming of Jesus. At the forefront of that endeavor is the Sunday school. Further, no adult in any church can renege on the responsibility of enriching the faith of youth, especially with such a lame excuse as "I have done my duty, now it is another's turn." Congregations today are built in the shadow of Gloucester, where participation in the church educational program provided the foremost opportunity for ministry. One may choose not to teach but none can elect to remain aloof from being of the supportive alliance.
In 1811 Robert Raikes died of a heart attack. That year 400,000 lambs were grazing in the field of opportunity that he planted and cultivated for 31 years. The schools of Gloucester were deservingly and affectionately called "Raikes Ragged School." Can any less be expected of us today?
* * *
John Wesley, the founder of what became the Methodist church, put in motion a stringent program of self-examination for spiritual growth. He did this for he believed that all Methodists are, as he said of himself, "homo unius libri" -- meaning "a man of one book."
When Paul writes, "Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise the words of prophets," he is articulating that Christians are to be a people of one book. We are to adhere to the teachings of Jesus and the prophets of Judaism.
* * *
The Methodist organized group was called the London Society. The London Society established the protocol of a meeting that was uncompromisingly adhered to until the bands diminished in the early nineteenth century. Though those who participated in these groups were members of the Anglican church, they also became a church unto themselves resulting from the fact their spiritual rituals exceeded what was expected by King George's church. They were criticized for being "popish," for the confessional element mimicked Roman Catholicism. It was argued they were "divisive," for they raised the bar of spiritual devotion. Derogatory terms were hurled at them, being called "The Enthusiasts," "Superenogationme," "The Reforming Club," "The Holy Club," and "Methodists," the latter for their methodical lifestyle. These words were taken as badges of honor, and the term "Methodists" came to be the one most adulated by the followers of Wesley.
The motto for Methodism as written by Wesley was "Holiness to the Lord." He used the bands as a means to educate Christians on the meaning of disciplined living in the pursuit of holiness. In order to join a band there was but one condition -- the convert had to confess to a desire to "flee from the wrath to come." Admittance then required the communicant to openly respond to eleven questions penned by Wesley. Once a member of a band, every quarter the leaders would select several questions from this list and pose them once more. It would be profitable to read the eleven questions, which were drawn up as the "Rules of the Band Societies" on December 25, 1738. The early date indicates they were written by Wesley when he and four others met privately at Oxford University, a fellowship that prefigured the later crusade. The code demonstrates that peer review and condemnation prevailed in the band meetings.
The "Rules of the Band Societies" were distributed as follows:
(1) Have you the forgiveness of your sins?
(2) Have you peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ?
(3) Have you the witness of God's Spirit with your spirit that you are a child of God?
(4) Is the love of God shed abroad in your heart?
(5) Has no sin, inward or outward, dominion over you?
(6) Do you desire to be told of your faults?
(7) Do you desire to be told of your faults and that plain and home?
(8) Do you desire that every one of us should tell you from time to time, whatsoever in his heart concerning you?
(9) Consider! Do you desire we should tell you whatsoever we think, whatsoever we fear, whatsoever we hear, concerning you?
(10) Do you desire that, in doing this, we should come as close as possible, that we should cut to the quick, and search your heart to the bottom?
(11) It is your desire and design to be on this, and all other occasions, entirely open, so as to speak everything that is in your heart without exception, without disguise, and without reserve?
Today one would shrink away from such a battery of questions, probably doing so while articulating some very unsavory words directed at the impetuousness of the inquirer. Yet we should take note how seriously each band member cherished the concern of friends and accepted their weekly investigation of the state of one's soul. This was not an unwarranted or uninvited intrusion into a private life, but a welcomed opportunity to reach Christian Perfection, one of the primary tenets of early Methodism.
Paul provided to the church in Thessalonica one of his many lists on what it meant to live the Christian life. Each list demanded that a follower of Jesus "hold fast to what is good."
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: When God restored the fortunes of Zion,
People: we were like those who dream.
Leader: Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
People: and our tongue with shouts of joy;
Leader: then it was said among the nations,
People: "God has done great things for them."
OR
Leader: My soul magnifies God,
People: and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
Leader: for God has looked with favor on our lowliness;
People: for the Mighty One has done great things for us.
Leader: God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
People: God has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.
OR
Leader: Come and worship God with joy!
People: We come to sing joyful praises to our God!
Leader: We prepare God's ever coming to us in Christ!
People: Christ brings us God's love and joy!
Leader: What shall we do with all this joy?
People: We will share it with all God's people!
Hymns and Sacred Songs
* = Christmas carols, for those congregations where one simply must use them during Advent.
"Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee"
found in:
UMH: 89
H82: 376
PH: 464
AAHH: 120
NNBH: 40
NCH: 4
CH: 2
LBW: 551
ELW: 836
"Tell Out, My Soul"
found in:
UMH: 200
H82: 437/438
Renew: 130
"My Soul Gives Glory to My God"
found in:
UMH: 198
CH: 130
ELW: 882
* "Joy to the World"
found in:
UMH: 246
H82: 100
PH: 40
AAHH: 197
NNBH: 94
NCH: 132
CH: 143
LBW: 39
ELW: 267
"O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee"
found in:
UMH: 430
H82: 659/660
PH: 357
NNBH: 445
NCH: 503
CH: 602
LBW: 492
ELW: 818
* "Good Christian Friends, Rejoice"
found in:
UMH: 224
H82: 107
PH: 28
NCH: 129
CH: 164
LBW: 55
ELW: 288
"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"
found in:
UMH: 211
H82: 56
PH: 9
AAHH: 188
NNBH: 82
NCH: 116
CH: 119
LBW: 34
ELW: 257
"Shine, Jesus, Shine"
found in:
CCB: 81
"Only by Grace"
found in:
CCB: 42
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who was filled with joy and delight with creation: Grant that we, your creatures, may reflect your image in living with joy, peace, and goodwill toward all; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We sing your praises, O God, for out of love and joy you created us and all creation. You made us in your image. You created us for joy. Center us in your presence this day that we may reflect your joy, peace, and goodwill toward all creation. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our lack of joy in spite of our knowing the good news of Jesus.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have failed to reflect your image as the joyful creator. We complain about so many things. We complain mostly that we don't have enough. It doesn't matter what it is, we don't have enough. We need more money, more security, more property. We forget that we have you and in that we have it all. Forgive us and renew the love and joy in our hearts that we may share it with others. Amen.
Leader: God takes delight in us. With joy God welcomes our growth in faith and in our discipleship. Share God's joy with all whom you meet.
Prayer for Illumination
May the light of your Spirit, O God, shine upon our hearts and minds, so that as we hear your good news of love and grace we may be filled with infectious joy. Amen.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We praise and bless your name, O God, who has joyfully created us and all creation. Your love and joy fill all that you have made.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have failed to reflect your image as the joyful creator. We complain about so many things. We complain mostly that we don't have enough. It doesn't matter what it is, we don't have enough. We need more money, more security, more property. We forget that we have you and in that we have it all. Forgive us and renew the love and joy in our hearts that we may share it with others.
We give you thanks for all the moments when we have been taken unaware by your joyful presence in our lives. You have come to us in worship, in nature, in friends and family. You have come to us in strangers and even, if we would admit it, in those we call our enemies.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We see your creation and are painfully aware that it is not the joyful, peaceful place you intended. We have marred it with our selfishness and greed. Help us now to work with you to restore it to your glory.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father... Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children's Sermon Starter
Have someone bring you something to eat that you do not like. Thank them and then tell the children how much you like the item, making sure you sound and look like you don't. Start to eat it several times but stop, making excuses for not eating it (too close to lunch, don't have enough to share, and so on), then admit to the children that you really don't like it. Ask them if they could tell you didn't like it. Talk about the fact that the way we act really tells people what we believe. We saw we are people of joy because Jesus has taught us that God loves us so much. But people will only believe us if we act that way. God loves us and nothing can destroy the joy of knowing that.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Witnessing About Jesus
John 1:6-8, 19-28
Good morning, boys and girls! This is an exciting time of the year. Just think, it is only two weeks until Christmas! How many of you are helping your mom and dad get ready for Christmas? (let the children answer) Christmas is a special time but so is Advent -- and right now we are in the middle of Advent.
Today we want to talk a little about a man named John the Baptist, who was a cousin of Jesus and who the Bible says was a witness for Jesus. How many of you know what a witness is? (let them answer) That's right, a witness is someone who has seen something happen and who can report on what he or she saw.
I would like to ask for some volunteers. Does anyone want to be a volunteer this morning? (select two or three children) I know that you will make wonderful witnesses. I am going to ask you to be a witness to a few things that have happened this morning. First, I want one of you to find the choir director [or organist] in our church. Would one of you go and stand by the choir director? Find out the choir director's name and bring the director back to the group. Now I need another volunteer to find his/her Sunday school teacher. I want you to find that teacher, make sure you know her/his name, and bring the teacher back to our group. Finally, I want the last volunteer to find one of our ushers, find out his/her name, and bring him/her back to the group. (send out the volunteers one at a time so that as soon as one of them brings back the person you can continue)
You have done a fine job. You knew who the choir director was and you brought the director back. You are a witness that we have a choir director. Our second witness has found his/her Sunday school teacher and would like to introduce him/her to the group. Finally, we have our third witness who has brought forward one of our ushers. Would you please introduce your friend?
Now you know how John the Baptist felt. John the Baptist was a witness to Jesus. He introduced Jesus to many of his followers and to all of the people who came out to be baptized in the River Jordan. John the Baptist was the first witness to the ministry of Jesus.
You can also be a witness to Jesus by sharing with your friends and family the love of Jesus. Tell them the stories you learn in Sunday school and church and invite friends who do not go to church to come and learn about Jesus with you.
All of us can be witnesses to our Lord Jesus, just like John the Baptist.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, December 11, 2011, issue.
Copyright 2011 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
But how can we achieve that goal? Team member Mary Austin suggests that John the Baptist identifies a key element of being joyful people with his singular focus on pointing to the light. In a dark world that batters us day after day with bad news it can be difficult to focus on the light, but Mary points out that Advent is a powerful reminder of the Light to come... and she discusses some examples of people who are finding and making light in the midst of blight. When we point to the Light of the world and reflect God's shining glory, we can't help but be joyful people -- even in the most trying of circumstances.
Joy to the World
by Dean Feldmeyer
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28
The carol shouts "Joy to the world, the Lord is come!" In another the musicians are instructed to "play the oboe and bagpipes merrily." In the little town of Bethlehem "we hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell." The songs of Christmas are filled with "Hark!" and "Gloria!" and "Hallelujah!" The angels tell the shepherds to not be afraid because they are bringing "good news of great joy."
The Advent/Christmas season is one filled to overflowing with Joy. No wonder the secular world embraces our religious holiday so enthusiastically. It isn't just about money. It's about joy.
So why are so many Christians so angry? Why have so many of us who claim Christ as Lord chosen anger, bitterness, and resentment as our go-to posture for this season?
THE WORLD
The so-called "War on Christmas" is back in the news.
Notice, please, that it's not just a difference of opinion or even a disagreement. It's not an argument or a debate. It's "war."
That pretty much crushes any hope of a civil discussion, a free, open, and respectful exchange of ideas and perspectives. No, once you call it a war you've determined how the subject will be broached. There will be fighting and wounding and even killing, all (one would hope) of the metaphorical type.
Those on either side of the debate will be identified not as good people trying to do the right thing, but as "the enemy."
Just in case you missed it, "the enemy" in this case is all of those retailers who in their slavish devotion to "political correctness" insist on wishing us a "Happy Holiday." Good and righteous Christians, we are told, should take umbrage at this intolerable theological insult and treat it as a call to arms. At the very least we should firmly chastise and correct anyone who is so misguided that they fail to validate our religious preference every time we buy something at their store. And we must be ever-vigilant in our fight against this wide and complex conspiracy. While the war rages on, this year Christmas is winning the war -- or at least some important battles -- by a very small but important margin.
This margin does not consist of the fact that people are given time off from work and schools are dismissed so we Christians can celebrate our favorite holiday. Neither is it evidenced in the stretching of the Christmas season all the way back to mid-October. It is not evidenced in the silly red hats that retail clerks are required to wear or the inflatable manger scenes on our neighbors' lawns, or even in the thousands of hours of advertisements and commercials reminding us of our duty to provide gifts for everyone we have ever known, from the postal worker who delivers our mail to the girl who watered our plants when we were on vacation last summer.
No, the real evidence that Christmas is winning the war is that, because we rose in righteous indignation and joined our voices in a unified threat to boycott, Walgreen's has, according to the Houston Chronicle decided to put the word "Christmas" in front of the words "tree ornaments" in their ads and flyers. And because, when Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee insisted, insisted on calling the big blue spruce in the statehouse a "holiday tree" in honor of the religious tolerance upon which the state was founded in 1637, Rep. Doreen Costa erected a Christmas tree -- that's right, a CHRISTMAS tree -- in her office. So take that, Mr. Governor.
We are winning the "War on Christmas," we are told, not because we are living examples of the peace, hope, love, and JOY that have marked this season for Christians for roughly 2,000 years, but because we are angry and fed up and tired of being victims -- and because we are standing arm-in-arm and marching in lock-step up to those cash registers and demanding that those clerks, regardless of their personal feelings or religious beliefs, wish us a "Merry Christmas"... or else.
A couple of years ago my daughter spent the Advent/Christmas season working as the manager of a small retail store in an outlet mall. This was during the height of the "War on Christmas" campaign being fought by Fox News and the Christian Right.
Occasionally Sarah would commit the grievous and unimaginable insult of extending a wish for "Happy Holidays" to a fragile and hypersensitive Christian shopper who would respond with outrage and indignation. The reactions of these dear folks would generally be of two sorts. Some would snap back, "It's not a holiday; it's Christmas!" Others would sigh, close their eyes, purse their lips, shake their head, and wearily respond, "No, dear. Merry Christmas."
Sarah says that, though she never did it, she always wanted to say, "Oh, you're a Christian. Please forgive me. I had no way of knowing."
THE WORD
It's a little hard to see how all of that righteous indignation jibes with the Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love that are represented in the candles of the advent wreath -- especially the Joy that is attached to this third Sunday.
There's no anger in Isaiah 61. His message is one of "good news to the oppressed." He will "greatly rejoice in the Lord." And not just with his mouth but with his "whole being"!
Christmas, for him, isn't so much a baby shower (as it is for us) as a wedding reception. Everyone puts on their finest duds and dances and sings and eats and drinks and celebrates. This is a time of laughter. The lost have been found. The ruined have been restored. The devastation of the past has been repaired. The brokenhearted are being healed even as we speak. Prisoners of war and conscience are being set free and restored to their families.
Think of the happiest moments in our lives, says Isaiah, and that is what the "Day of the Lord" will be like... only more so.
In the gospel reading (John 1:6-8, 19-28), the Baptist calls us to a new level of faith, one appropriate for those who have walked the same earth as the Messiah.
Baptism was, for first-century Jews, a right of initiation for Gentiles who were joining the Jewish faith. When John tells his Jewish listeners that they should repent and be baptized, he is telling them that they aren't real Jews.
Jewishness, he says, is not about circumcision or heritage or where you live or who your great-grandmother married. Real Jewishness, he says, is about how you live and how you treat your neighbor. It's about your relationship with God and other people.
John invites his listeners, then and now, to throw off our old antiquated and ineffective understandings of righteousness and holiness and try on a new version called Jesus Christ. This new version he reminds us is not about ethnic identity; it's about relationships. It's not about the religious rituals we practice or the hymns we sing or the traditions we carry forth. It's about how we live in the community of faith.
In Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians (5:16-24) he gives us a checklist, an outline of the habits of highly effective Christians:
* They are thankful people. Their relationship with God is grounded in their reliance upon the Lord. They understand themselves to be vulnerable and dependent.
* They are people of prayer. It's not just something they do when they've painted themselves into a moral corner. Prayer is part of their DNA, part of the essence of their being.
* They do not throw a wet blanket on the spark and fire of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
* They listen to and honor the words of the prophets, even and especially the parts that are tough to hear.
* They cling to good things and abstain from those things that cause separation and estrangement.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
The indicative in this week's text is clear. We are a joyful people and this is a joyful time of year for us. It is a time of celebrating and singing and laughing; a time of gift-giving and gift-receiving.
Oh, it is popular to talk of how tired and overworked we all are at this time of year, but there's no getting around the fact that the angels brought "good news of great joy" to not just the shepherds but the whole world.
The contemporary hymn, for all its saccharine sentimentality, is right -- they really will "know we are Christians by our love." And where there is love, there is invariably joy. Not unending, unremitting happiness necessarily, but that sense of well-being and hopefulness, that optimistic and satisfied contentment that comes from having accepted the fact that we are accepted.
The imperative is as simple and complex as the word itself: Joy.
Have you seen the Geico insurance commercial with the guinea pigs rowing the boat? It begins with a man telling us how his electric bills were getting too high so he figured out a way to save some money. He trained three guinea pigs to row a tiny boat that would generate electricity for his computer. Actually, he says, only two do the rowing. The chubby one coaches them, saying "row" every few seconds. He tells us in a completely serious, deadpan delivery that it took him six months to train each rowing guinea pig, and eight months to train the one to say "row." Then he shakes his head in disbelief and says, "And it's such a simple word."
Joy is a simple word too. Three letters, one syllable. You'd think it would be an easy concept to understand and achieve.
But here we are 2,011 years later, and we are still trying to figure it out. And figuring out how to do the joy that God desires for us is the work to which this week's lections call us.
SECOND THOUGHTS
by Mary Austin
John 1:6-8, 19-28
One of the curious things about familiar texts is that we hear details in them that aren't really there. The three wise men keep popping up, legend trumping the vagueness of the story about the number of Magi. We hear Luke's story of Jesus' birth, even when reading the other gospels. And the gospel of John's spare story about John the wilderness prophet still calls to mind the camel's hair clothing and locusts for lunch that we know from the other gospels.
In this gospel, John has one purpose -- to point to the light.
Perhaps that is Advent's call for all of us -- to have one purpose, to point to the light.
Certainly, there's enough gloom to go around. The new unemployment figures compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show a drop of 0.4 percent in November, bringing the unemployment rate down to 8.6 percent. While it's the lowest rate in over two years, as one radio talk show host asked, "Who would ever have thought this would be good news?" People who work as Santas at local malls are being coached this year on how to tone down kids' expectations, according to NPR. The financial news is bad.
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has suspended his campaign over allegations of both sexual harassment and a long affair with a Georgia woman. With his distraught-looking wife behind him, Cain announced that he would no longer be running for the nomination. Rumor as we go to press is that he will endorse a fellow candidate who has also been down this road, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Meanwhile, Congress is divided about what measures to take to give the economy a boost. The political news is bad.
Abroad, the European economy remains in turmoil, and Syria looks poised for a civil war. The international news is bad.
There is a wealth of darkness around us, much like the world when Jesus was born and began his ministry.
Yet Advent reminds us to look for the light and for people who point to the light.
In Detroit, a city with huge empty spots within the city limits, people are buying parcels of land, cleaning them up, and reclaiming them with trees, landscaping, and greenery. A story by reporter Kate Davidson reports that "In Detroit, an estimated forty square miles of land sits vacant. Add it up, that's an area larger than Miami. But some Detroit residents are using that emptiness to quietly reshape their neighborhoods. They're annexing vacant lots around them, buying them or just fencing the 'blots' off." (A blot is a parcel of land somewhere in size between a lot and a block.)
One man, Kevin Garcia, says that "Pretty much, I've seen every structure on my block burn." The article adds that "Garcia throws shotgun shells on his front porch to keep intruders away. He buried his dog in back after someone shot it. Still, Garcia says this neighborhood is a gem. There's space now. Lots of it. Behind the fence he's planted trees and shrubs: honey locust, Siberian elm, white pine, purple lilac." One lot took him ten years of negotiating with the city to purchase. Another Detroit resident has spent years planting trees on a lot the city refuses to sell. In the face of the city's bleakness, Garcia and others are tending to the city -- and pointing to a different kind of future.
There are surely similar stories in your congregation and your city. There are places where people keep pointing to the light, futile or frustrating as it is. Small as our efforts are, we are promised that "the light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it."
John's gospel sweeps grandly from "In the beginning" to the coming of Jesus. In between, John the Baptist finds his own concrete way to point to the light. In between, not really knowing who's coming or when he will arrive, John stands in the Jordan and baptizes people to testify to the light to come. Advent calls us to do the same -- to find a way to point to the Light. May we be people like John, who know with certainty that the light is coming, and who spend our whole lives pointing to the light.
ILLUSTRATIONS
One year our church was asked to set up a "seasonal display" in one of our town's shopping centers. A committee went to work and built a display that featured a movie screen, with the words over the screen taken from a familiar Christmas hymn: "CHRIST WAS BORN FOR THIS." While that hymn played continuously on a tape recorder, slides of scenes from current events flashed up on the screen -- scenes of war, poverty, riots, little children, families decorating Christmas trees. Our message: Christ was born for this, for us, for now. After two days the management of the mall called us and demanded that we remove the display because "merchants feel that it is depressing and it will be bad for business because people don't want to think about stuff like that at Christmas."
-- William H. Willimon, Pulpit Resource, vol. 21, no. 4 (Logos Art Productions, 1993), pp. 52-53
* * *
Sometimes it seems like "Rejoice always" is the toughest command in the New Testament. There is certainly much to be joyful about; Paul's letters are filled with that kind of hope and good news. Yet there is also much in the world and sometimes in our own lives over which to be sorrowful. In fact, Paul himself says, "Mourn with those who mourn." Of course this is only immediately after telling the Roman churches, "Weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15)! How do we reconcile this? Imagine that, instead of joy and sorrow being two opposite ends on the same spectrum playing tug-of-war, they are different measures entirely. We can think of sorrow as a depth and joy as a fullness. If we picture a well, sorrow digs out the deepness that our joy fills up, such that joy depends on sorrow and sorrow on joy.
* * *
As I cannot render on my piano anything but the echo of the symphony that the Philharmonic can really play, so my single example can be but the faintest echo of the profound harmonies of the gospel. I cannot play what the Philharmonic can play, but I can tell people about the Philharmonic and get them to listen for themselves. What I cannot reproduce adequately, I can nevertheless talk about and point to. It is so with Christ.
-- Sam Shoemaker
* * *
John the Baptist was a popular preacher who had followers of his own. But he explains that he is not the true light, the Messiah, but that he has come to point others toward that light. John is only a "witness," giving testimony to the true light that will enlighten all people. In a hostile world, John acts as God's advocate for Jesus. The careers of both Jesus and John the Baptist would spark controversy. People would question them as to the authority they preached under.
With technology at our fingertips, light is always available to us -- but in biblical times it was very different. The setting sun plunged the world into total darkness, broken only by fires and feeble oil lamps. Dangers in the dark were very real. Even Gentiles, unacquainted with God's promise of the Messiah, would recognize that if Jesus were the light, he would bring brightness into a dark world. Jesus can enter into our lives so completely that there is no more room for darkness. The darkness is reality apart from God -- life without hope.
* * *
We want only to show you something we have seen and tell you something we have heard... that here and there in the world and now and then in ourselves is a New Creation, usually hidden, but sometimes manifest, and certainly manifest in Jesus who is called the Christ.
-- Paul Tillich
* * *
Good domestic help and groundskeepers are hard to find, concluded an exasperated Robert Raikes. A prosperous man, vain by nature in bearing and dress, he expected his estate to reflect the same. A steady and methodical man, once he set upon a goal he would not cease until it was accomplished. The task this day was to find a reliable handyman.
The Gloucester businessman journeyed to Saint Catherine Street, where it was known gardeners congregated. As he made his way down a filthy, stench-ridden alleyway, he was appalled by the sight of young hooligans and even more distressed at being besieged by panhandlers. The laborer he elected to hire casually commented that the delinquent street behavior was really a trifle -- he ought to see it on a Sunday.
It was the late 1700s and England was in the midst of the Industrial Revolution. Cities became overwhelmed with the influx of families from the agrarian countryside seeking factory work, taxing the infrastructure of the city beyond capacity. Absent of child labor laws, all family members were employed but still existed on a miserly income. Children were particularly welcomed by the industrialist. Their small size lent them to specific jobs that would be cumbersome for large-framed adults, coupled with wages that were lower. Working six days a week, on the Sabbath they were free. A day of liberation from factory toil led to mischievous and criminal behavior acted out on the city streets. This was a societal problem that Raikes would not tolerate.
His father, Robert Raines Sr., was the sole proprietor and editor of the Gloucester Journal. He was a social activist who campaigned against unjust laws passed by the House of Commons. Upon Robert Sr.'s untimely and early death, Robert Jr. inherited the paper and the position of editor at the age of 21. The son followed the father in using the Journal to confront and admonish social injustices. His editorial writings were so searing and his public campaigns so taunting that the readership bestowed upon him the nickname "Bobby Wild Goose."
For a number of years Raikes tried to reform society by addressing the depravity of adults. Finding this to be a daunting task with little success, he realized his efforts needed to be directed to the children of these families, with the expectation that future generations could be transformed into model citizens. The aim was to prevent offspring from becoming adult criminals. Convinced that vice was bred by idleness, which in turn was caused by ignorance, which then fostered degenerates, Raines believed that education would end the cycle of truant behavior. Sunday, the only day children were absent from factories, would become a day of schooling. Hope is instilled with benevolence toward the youngest, for in the words of Raikes, "The world marches forth on the feet of little children."
In 1780 Raikes started his first Sunday school. It was held a short distance from the city prison in Mrs. Meredith's kitchen in Sooty Alley, so named for the chimney sweeps that lived here. Parents were encouraged by the learning opportunity that was going to be afforded their children, though the young were the most unwilling participants. In order to get the children to the inviting home and to prevent runaways along the way, legs of some were shackled while others were chained to logs that had to be dragged. Overwhelmed by the problems of discipline, Mrs. Meredith surrendered her post after a few short months. Raikes then recruited Mrs. King, with the assistance of Mrs. Critchley, transferring the school to yet another kitchen.
The children, who ranged in age from 6 to 14, were required to arrive with clean hands and faces, hair combed, and with such clothing as they had. For those who were adorned in little more than rags, new outfits were provided. Order was maintained and discipline was strict, with no apology offered for caning. The children were kept in school from 10 to 12 a.m., went home for lunch, returning at 1 p.m. The afternoon lesson was followed by a church service and then teaching of the catechism. The school day ended at 5 p.m..
Raikes kept his school a secret. For him it was a grand experiment, and his vanity prevented outside scrutiny. At the end of three years, when he observed a noticeable improvement in the behavior of his charges, he published a short article on the success of Sunday school education in his newspaper. As he embarked on establishing similar schools throughout Gloucester, a London publication, the Gentleman's magazine, reprinted his article on November 25, 1783. Soon reprints appeared in newspapers and magazines throughout England. Cities throughout the commonwealth clamored for schools in their respective districts, and the modern Sunday school movement was birthed. Birthed but not without labor pain.
Critics abounded. The Church of England refused to become involved, for the movement was considered divisive. Evangelicals condemned it as a violation of the Fourth Commandment. English nobility hastened to halt the movement, fearing an educated working class would demand better wages and a safe working environment. The general populace saw the schools as removing a favored form of amusement, courtyard whippings and public square hangings. Conflict aside, "Bobby Wild Goose" would not be deterred.
It should be noted that only one cleric of stature supported Raikes, becoming both a confidant and a close friend. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, enrolled as many of his students as possible in the schools, affirming the profitability of an education that was both academic and moral. Wesley spoke of the school as "one of the noblest instruments that has been seen in Europe for some centuries and will increase more and more." The movement prevailed. On August 30, 1785, the Sunday School Society was organized for the establishment of schools and coordination of all the individual programs.
The Sunday school remodeled the church in another much unexpected yet inconceivably exciting way. Adults were able to involve themselves in the life of the church unlike any time in the previous eighteen centuries. The elders of society taught the children, with the realization of having made a viable contribution as educators for Christ. Parental committees were organized to supervise the schools and visit neighboring schools, offering oversight and creative ideas. Laity, for the first time, had a ministry to claim as their own, providing multiple opportunities for personal involvement. Raikes once commented that his only motivation as a crusader was to follow the command of Jesus to "feed my lambs," and now there was an abundance of shepherds to do just that.
John the Baptist "came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him." Transitioning the vision of Raikes into our community church, there should not be a single household that debates if a child has the option to attend Sunday school; it is paramount to deliver a child to a doctrinally sanctioned Christian education class. Included in all matters of child development is the parental responsibility to nurture their offspring in the Christian faith, following the example of John the Baptist who came as a witness to the coming of Jesus. At the forefront of that endeavor is the Sunday school. Further, no adult in any church can renege on the responsibility of enriching the faith of youth, especially with such a lame excuse as "I have done my duty, now it is another's turn." Congregations today are built in the shadow of Gloucester, where participation in the church educational program provided the foremost opportunity for ministry. One may choose not to teach but none can elect to remain aloof from being of the supportive alliance.
In 1811 Robert Raikes died of a heart attack. That year 400,000 lambs were grazing in the field of opportunity that he planted and cultivated for 31 years. The schools of Gloucester were deservingly and affectionately called "Raikes Ragged School." Can any less be expected of us today?
* * *
John Wesley, the founder of what became the Methodist church, put in motion a stringent program of self-examination for spiritual growth. He did this for he believed that all Methodists are, as he said of himself, "homo unius libri" -- meaning "a man of one book."
When Paul writes, "Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise the words of prophets," he is articulating that Christians are to be a people of one book. We are to adhere to the teachings of Jesus and the prophets of Judaism.
* * *
The Methodist organized group was called the London Society. The London Society established the protocol of a meeting that was uncompromisingly adhered to until the bands diminished in the early nineteenth century. Though those who participated in these groups were members of the Anglican church, they also became a church unto themselves resulting from the fact their spiritual rituals exceeded what was expected by King George's church. They were criticized for being "popish," for the confessional element mimicked Roman Catholicism. It was argued they were "divisive," for they raised the bar of spiritual devotion. Derogatory terms were hurled at them, being called "The Enthusiasts," "Superenogationme," "The Reforming Club," "The Holy Club," and "Methodists," the latter for their methodical lifestyle. These words were taken as badges of honor, and the term "Methodists" came to be the one most adulated by the followers of Wesley.
The motto for Methodism as written by Wesley was "Holiness to the Lord." He used the bands as a means to educate Christians on the meaning of disciplined living in the pursuit of holiness. In order to join a band there was but one condition -- the convert had to confess to a desire to "flee from the wrath to come." Admittance then required the communicant to openly respond to eleven questions penned by Wesley. Once a member of a band, every quarter the leaders would select several questions from this list and pose them once more. It would be profitable to read the eleven questions, which were drawn up as the "Rules of the Band Societies" on December 25, 1738. The early date indicates they were written by Wesley when he and four others met privately at Oxford University, a fellowship that prefigured the later crusade. The code demonstrates that peer review and condemnation prevailed in the band meetings.
The "Rules of the Band Societies" were distributed as follows:
(1) Have you the forgiveness of your sins?
(2) Have you peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ?
(3) Have you the witness of God's Spirit with your spirit that you are a child of God?
(4) Is the love of God shed abroad in your heart?
(5) Has no sin, inward or outward, dominion over you?
(6) Do you desire to be told of your faults?
(7) Do you desire to be told of your faults and that plain and home?
(8) Do you desire that every one of us should tell you from time to time, whatsoever in his heart concerning you?
(9) Consider! Do you desire we should tell you whatsoever we think, whatsoever we fear, whatsoever we hear, concerning you?
(10) Do you desire that, in doing this, we should come as close as possible, that we should cut to the quick, and search your heart to the bottom?
(11) It is your desire and design to be on this, and all other occasions, entirely open, so as to speak everything that is in your heart without exception, without disguise, and without reserve?
Today one would shrink away from such a battery of questions, probably doing so while articulating some very unsavory words directed at the impetuousness of the inquirer. Yet we should take note how seriously each band member cherished the concern of friends and accepted their weekly investigation of the state of one's soul. This was not an unwarranted or uninvited intrusion into a private life, but a welcomed opportunity to reach Christian Perfection, one of the primary tenets of early Methodism.
Paul provided to the church in Thessalonica one of his many lists on what it meant to live the Christian life. Each list demanded that a follower of Jesus "hold fast to what is good."
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: When God restored the fortunes of Zion,
People: we were like those who dream.
Leader: Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
People: and our tongue with shouts of joy;
Leader: then it was said among the nations,
People: "God has done great things for them."
OR
Leader: My soul magnifies God,
People: and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
Leader: for God has looked with favor on our lowliness;
People: for the Mighty One has done great things for us.
Leader: God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
People: God has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.
OR
Leader: Come and worship God with joy!
People: We come to sing joyful praises to our God!
Leader: We prepare God's ever coming to us in Christ!
People: Christ brings us God's love and joy!
Leader: What shall we do with all this joy?
People: We will share it with all God's people!
Hymns and Sacred Songs
* = Christmas carols, for those congregations where one simply must use them during Advent.
"Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee"
found in:
UMH: 89
H82: 376
PH: 464
AAHH: 120
NNBH: 40
NCH: 4
CH: 2
LBW: 551
ELW: 836
"Tell Out, My Soul"
found in:
UMH: 200
H82: 437/438
Renew: 130
"My Soul Gives Glory to My God"
found in:
UMH: 198
CH: 130
ELW: 882
* "Joy to the World"
found in:
UMH: 246
H82: 100
PH: 40
AAHH: 197
NNBH: 94
NCH: 132
CH: 143
LBW: 39
ELW: 267
"O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee"
found in:
UMH: 430
H82: 659/660
PH: 357
NNBH: 445
NCH: 503
CH: 602
LBW: 492
ELW: 818
* "Good Christian Friends, Rejoice"
found in:
UMH: 224
H82: 107
PH: 28
NCH: 129
CH: 164
LBW: 55
ELW: 288
"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"
found in:
UMH: 211
H82: 56
PH: 9
AAHH: 188
NNBH: 82
NCH: 116
CH: 119
LBW: 34
ELW: 257
"Shine, Jesus, Shine"
found in:
CCB: 81
"Only by Grace"
found in:
CCB: 42
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who was filled with joy and delight with creation: Grant that we, your creatures, may reflect your image in living with joy, peace, and goodwill toward all; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We sing your praises, O God, for out of love and joy you created us and all creation. You made us in your image. You created us for joy. Center us in your presence this day that we may reflect your joy, peace, and goodwill toward all creation. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our lack of joy in spite of our knowing the good news of Jesus.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have failed to reflect your image as the joyful creator. We complain about so many things. We complain mostly that we don't have enough. It doesn't matter what it is, we don't have enough. We need more money, more security, more property. We forget that we have you and in that we have it all. Forgive us and renew the love and joy in our hearts that we may share it with others. Amen.
Leader: God takes delight in us. With joy God welcomes our growth in faith and in our discipleship. Share God's joy with all whom you meet.
Prayer for Illumination
May the light of your Spirit, O God, shine upon our hearts and minds, so that as we hear your good news of love and grace we may be filled with infectious joy. Amen.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord's Prayer)
We praise and bless your name, O God, who has joyfully created us and all creation. Your love and joy fill all that you have made.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We have failed to reflect your image as the joyful creator. We complain about so many things. We complain mostly that we don't have enough. It doesn't matter what it is, we don't have enough. We need more money, more security, more property. We forget that we have you and in that we have it all. Forgive us and renew the love and joy in our hearts that we may share it with others.
We give you thanks for all the moments when we have been taken unaware by your joyful presence in our lives. You have come to us in worship, in nature, in friends and family. You have come to us in strangers and even, if we would admit it, in those we call our enemies.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We see your creation and are painfully aware that it is not the joyful, peaceful place you intended. We have marred it with our selfishness and greed. Help us now to work with you to restore it to your glory.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father... Amen.
(or if the Lord's Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children's Sermon Starter
Have someone bring you something to eat that you do not like. Thank them and then tell the children how much you like the item, making sure you sound and look like you don't. Start to eat it several times but stop, making excuses for not eating it (too close to lunch, don't have enough to share, and so on), then admit to the children that you really don't like it. Ask them if they could tell you didn't like it. Talk about the fact that the way we act really tells people what we believe. We saw we are people of joy because Jesus has taught us that God loves us so much. But people will only believe us if we act that way. God loves us and nothing can destroy the joy of knowing that.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Witnessing About Jesus
John 1:6-8, 19-28
Good morning, boys and girls! This is an exciting time of the year. Just think, it is only two weeks until Christmas! How many of you are helping your mom and dad get ready for Christmas? (let the children answer) Christmas is a special time but so is Advent -- and right now we are in the middle of Advent.
Today we want to talk a little about a man named John the Baptist, who was a cousin of Jesus and who the Bible says was a witness for Jesus. How many of you know what a witness is? (let them answer) That's right, a witness is someone who has seen something happen and who can report on what he or she saw.
I would like to ask for some volunteers. Does anyone want to be a volunteer this morning? (select two or three children) I know that you will make wonderful witnesses. I am going to ask you to be a witness to a few things that have happened this morning. First, I want one of you to find the choir director [or organist] in our church. Would one of you go and stand by the choir director? Find out the choir director's name and bring the director back to the group. Now I need another volunteer to find his/her Sunday school teacher. I want you to find that teacher, make sure you know her/his name, and bring the teacher back to our group. Finally, I want the last volunteer to find one of our ushers, find out his/her name, and bring him/her back to the group. (send out the volunteers one at a time so that as soon as one of them brings back the person you can continue)
You have done a fine job. You knew who the choir director was and you brought the director back. You are a witness that we have a choir director. Our second witness has found his/her Sunday school teacher and would like to introduce him/her to the group. Finally, we have our third witness who has brought forward one of our ushers. Would you please introduce your friend?
Now you know how John the Baptist felt. John the Baptist was a witness to Jesus. He introduced Jesus to many of his followers and to all of the people who came out to be baptized in the River Jordan. John the Baptist was the first witness to the ministry of Jesus.
You can also be a witness to Jesus by sharing with your friends and family the love of Jesus. Tell them the stories you learn in Sunday school and church and invite friends who do not go to church to come and learn about Jesus with you.
All of us can be witnesses to our Lord Jesus, just like John the Baptist.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, December 11, 2011, issue.
Copyright 2011 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
