The Babe Wakes Us up

Christmas Day       December 25, 2016          

Isaiah 9:2-4,6-7    Psalm 96:1-4,11-12

Titus 2:11-14       Luke 2:1-14

 Lectionary Link

  Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom, there was great, great, sadness.  Why the sadness you say?  Well the Good King and Queen of the kingdom were very sad about the health of their only son.  This son was very important to them because he was supposed to become the next king of the kingdom.

  The boy's  name was Jubal and he had a real problem.  He was almost 10 years old and he didn't speak to anyone.  He just sat around with a blank stare on his face.  He seemed to be lost in the dream space of his own mind.  He would not respond to anyone. 

  The King and the Queen did everything possible to try to cure their son.  They hired the best doctors from all around the world.....but none of the doctors had any success with the silent boy.  They just couldn't get him to speak.

  Finally, the king and the queen became impatient with the doctors.  They became desperate, so they

decided to offer a great reward to anyone who could get the little crown prince to speak.  The king and queen published their plan.  They offered a big, big, bag of  gold to the person who could make the boy speak.

  Many, many people were interested to help the king and queen, but they also wanted to try to win the money.

  The first person to try was the court jester.  This clown thought, "If I can get the boy to laugh then he will surely begin to talk."  So the court jester came into the boy's room and he start acting like a real stooge.  He did all of his funny things.  But the boy just stood there staring blankly.  The court jester left the room, a sad failure.

  Next came the wizard.  He was going to trying to cure the boy.  He brought some smoking incense that he spread around the boy.  He got out an old black book, and started to read some magical prayers in a strange language.  He made the boy drink some foul smelling potion.  But the boy did not respond.  He didn't even say, "Yuk," when he drank the potion.

  After the wizard, there came a bold knight.  The knight knew that all boys liked stories about heroes and adventures.  He told Jubal about fighting monsters and dragons.  And then he showed the boy his shiny sword and his suit of armor.  But...no.  Jubal didn't even yawn.

  So next came the Wiseman.  He was going to use logic on the boy.  He told Jubal about his disease, its causes, and its cure.  He told Jubal that he must have been frightened when he was a baby, and because of that scary experience, he wouldn't talk.  But the Wiseman talked and talked, and soon he was successful at only putting Jubal to sleep.

  One by one, tens and hundreds of people came to try their cure on the speechless boy.  One made Jubal wear a string of garlic around his neck...Another tried to scare him...one stuck him with a needle to see if pain would cause him to speak...Some of the weirdest methods were tried on Jubal, but none of them worked.  And the King and Queen were becoming impatient but finally there was only one person left.  There was a little old peasant woman.  She told the king that she had a magic box that would cure the boy.  The Queen tried to find out more about the box, but the old woman said, "It's a secret box, I can't tell you about it."  The Queen said, "OK, you can try, but don't hurt my son."

  The little old women took the box into the Crown prince's room, and soon she returned without the box.  The king asked, "Are you finished?"  She said, "Oh no, now we must wait for the box to work its magic."  So the woman, the King and the Queen, sat and waited... waited... waited... one hour, two hours.. The King was about to get angry and dismiss the old woman, when suddenly the Crown Prince burst out of his room shout, "Father, Mother, come quickly, there a baby crying in my room.  We need to go help the baby!"

  The old woman went into the room to help the baby, and the King and Queen hugged their boy who had found his speech.

  What is Christmas?  It is God's magic to get our attention and cure us from being locked up inside our own worlds of selfishness.

  We have sophisticated theology, we have big churches, we have fancy sermons, and no end of answers and cures.... but in the end it is the story about the babe in Bethlehem that cures us.  It make the perfect ending of our year.  It brings us hope and renewal because we know that our hearts and lives are the stables and the mangers of the life of God that has been born into each of us.

  Let the Story of the Christ child renew our hope and cure us from all of our fears and make us joyful to be together in the company of our family and friends.  Amen.

The Christmas Story in Search of another Hearing

Christmas Eve A      December 24,2016        
Isaiah 9:2-4,6-7    Psalm 96:1-4,11-12
Titus 2:11-14       Luke 2:1-14
Lectionary Link

  The Padre was eating breakfast at the local diner and next to him a lapsed church goer wanted to make small talk.  He said to the Padre, "Father, I quit going to church because every time I went to church they would read the same passage from the Bible.   And so the Padre asked him, "What Bible passage was read every time that you went to church?"  And the man replied, "The story about the birth of Christ."
  Tonight is Christmas Eve and yes, we have read the story about the birth of Christ and yes I will preach about it.  I'm not going free lance on Christmas Eve and chose another Bible story.   And if you just come to Church at Christmas, chances are the church will always have the same Bible passage.
  At our earlier service the little children did their Cecile B. DeMille's version of the Christmas Story and the answer is still the same to the question, "Where does the little two year old angel go in the Christmas Pageant?"  Wherever she wants.
  Christmas certainly is the most popular Christian holiday because we have "childified" it.  We make Christmas all about making it happy for children and even though there is R-rated material in the Christmas story, like the slaughter of the holy innocent, we give that bad event another day instead of Christmas.
  The Christmas Story does give us occasion to be child-like.  It is as though we all sit like children watching a Disney movie and just enjoy the story.
  I like that too, but you know me too well to know that I am hung up on words and upon thinking about how words function.  I'm hung up on whether words and stories make good sense.  I'm hung up on whether this ancient story has relevance to people in our world today, even as people are leaving faith traditions in droves because either the ancient stories don't seem relevant to peoples' lives or because they are not being presented as having current relevancy.
  The Christmas Story is presented in different ways in the New Testament and in the  Gospels.  In St. Paul, the Christmas Story is: Christ is born in you, the hope of Glory.  Because I am so hung up on words, my favorite Christmas Story is in the Gospel of John.  The Gospel of John has the Primordial Christmas story.  Long before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the Gospel of John traces the origin of Christ before Bethlehem:  In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  All things were created by the Word and the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us.
  I like this because, I think this is the main truth about life and humanity.  All human life as we know and understand it happens because we have words; because language is our destiny.  As human beings we cannot help using words or being used by them in an environment of words into which we as babes were born.
  The magnetic energy of mutual desire between human beings draw out of us words as we communicate with each other about the world in which we live.  The basic function of words is to set values.  Values are set by comparative difference.  An apple is not an orange.  They have different values and meanings and these values and meanings are what is registered in the use of words.
  Now if word is about setting values and meaning, how do the supreme values and meanings come to be established in our lives?   How is that we have come to say love is the best of everything?  How is it that we come to believe it is a supreme value to establish our society upon values of justice written the words of the law?
  When something great or unusual happens it has a way of drawing from us the words for what is best and greatest.  When we can encounter events and people who wow us with their unique character or behavior then we are drawn to use words to confess supreme greatness.  And the duration of such confessed greatness becomes the foundation events of creative advance in humanity.
  Jesus Christ was an event.  He could not be invented or contrived.  He could not be ignored.  Jesus Christ made an impression.  The impression was so profound on so many people that he was not bound within just one time period in history.  He was destined to be remembered.
  The church of people who knew about the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ continued to know the deep sense of a personal presence of Christ within their lives because of God's Holy Spirit.  They were totally baffled by this staying power of the presence of Christ in their lives long after Jesus could no longer seen.
  The profound impact of the life of Jesus gave this world a new example of what was best and greatest and the early Christians were inspired to write about the greatness of Jesus in many ways.  The Christmas Stories are stories about confessing that Jesus was great from the beginning of his life even before his actual ministry, his death and resurrection proved his greatness.
     The way in which high values come to human beings in their language experience is when a person catches the attention of humanity to inform the superlative case of human values.
  2000 years ago there appeared a person in human experience; he was different from Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Alexander the Great.  He was different from Caesar Augustus.  He was different from Rabbis Hillel and Shammai.   He was so different that a significant number of people were compelled to use language in the superlative about him.  They were compelled by his example both in his life and in his afterlife of the Holy Spirit to use language to confess his greatness.  They preserved in writing their language of the confession of the greatness of Jesus Christ.  The language about Jesus Christ is the language of the human superlative.
  The New Testament writers had to look for the vocabulary from their existing cultural situations to provide the comparative language from which to speak about Jesus.
  If one is going to speak about Henry Aaron and homeruns in baseball, who do you make reference to?  You make reference to Babe Ruth.
  If one is going to speak about Tiger Woods in golf, who do you make reference to?  You make reference to Jack Nicklas.
  In every field when a new prodigy or genius or brilliant person arises, one uses the past great people to give a frame of reference.
  The writers of the New Testament had social and cultural frameworks from which they could draw upon to try to tell the surpassing greatness of Jesus Christ.
  Caesar Augustus was the Savior of the Roman World, he proclaimed to be miraculously conceived as a child of Apollo, he was the Peacemaker of the world, he was a god and the son of a god, his adoptive father/uncle Julius Caesar.  He had the ratifying propaganda from the Roman Senate declaring his divinity.
  The New Testament writers also had the witness in the writings of Hebrew Scriptures.  Along with all of the great heroes, Isaiah further said a young maiden would bear a child named Immanuel.  The prophets spoke about a messiah, a suffering servant, someone from the lineage of Jesse and David, someone from Bethlehem, someone from the house of Judah, someone who would be Wonderful Counselor, a Prince of Peace and someone who would have the Spirit of the Lord upon them.
  You and I have inherited a long list of agreed upon titles and understandings regarding Jesus Christ.  In the early decades after Jesus left this earth, his followers were still in search of a wide range of ways of speaking about Jesus.  We wrongly, assume the comparisons with all of the saying from the Hebrew Scriptures was so certain and precise.  The language was comparative and not precise; Jesus was his own person and he was more than was found in the messiah language of Hebrew Scriptures.  The Hebrew Scripture language was a fitting language of comparison so that he could be differentiated from everyone else in his surpassing greatness.
  All of the propaganda mythologies which accompanied the famous Caesar were but words of comparison and the New Testament writers consciously compared Jesus Christ with the traditions of Caesar and to the Roman Gentile audience, the confession was that Jesus Christ was much greater than a Caesar and when it came to true divinity, Jesus was the exemplar par excellence of what divinity would be like in human manifestation.  The mythologies of the Caesar were but pale in comparison.
  We have inherited the Christmas Stories as the confession of the early churches about the surpassing greatness of Jesus Christ in everyway.  When it came to Jesus Christ, a new superlative language had to be invented even while they used the fulfillment of the messiah tradition as a main model and they used the discourses regarding the greatness of the Caesars as a ways of promoting the confessed true divinity of Jesus Christ.
  The Roman senate ratified, voted upon the divinity of the Caesars.  The angels and hosts of heaven proclaimed the divinity of the Christ Child, but more important was the one by one ratification of Jesus Christ within the hearts of Christians who experienced that Christ had been born within them by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit.
  As much as we can tout the credibility of the witness of the New Testament about the importance of Jesus Christ, there is still required a continuous ratification of the birth of Christ and the confession of his divinity.  Why?  If there is not a contemporary ratification we are left with the question of the 13th century German mystic, Meister Eckhart who asked: What good is it that Christ was born in a stable in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago if he is not also born in me?
 And this is the question that is valid for us and will be valid in the future.  The birth of Christ, his divinity, his messiahship is not yet finished because his birth, divinity and messiahship still have a future in humanity.  You and I are a part of this continuous ratification of the birth of Christ and of his significant divinity.  Too many people just worship the past tense of the birth and divinity of Christ as it is locked up in the language of the Bible.
  Tonight you and I are asked to ratify again the birth and the divinity of Christ in our lives.  In this way the Christmas story is not simply some more cultural information for mythologists to study and classify, the Christmas story is about the renewal and transformation of our lives because we have known the birth of Christ within us.  The Christmas Story will continue to be relevant as long as people ratify it by embracing a path of continuous transformation of our lives because of knowing that God's life is found to born within us.
  Christmas is for children and it is for us who can know the child-like freshness of God's presence within us.  May God grant us all to know afresh the birth of Christ in our world and in our lives on this silent, holy night.  Amen.

Rhetorical Purposes of the Christmas Story

4 Advent A, December 18, 2016

Isaiah 7:10-16 Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18

Romans 1:1-7 Matthew 1:18-25

Lectionary Link

   We live in the era of the postmodern tyranny of science and historicism, by tyranny I mean that science and historicism has come to qualify as that which is most truthful to the diminished value of other modes of discourse and life practices, including religious discourse and lifestyles.  And while postmodern people live with the superiority complex of the discourses of science and historicism, we cannot say that such has dispelled the cultural practices of the irrational.  Horoscopes and lots of fake news and tabloid news dominate the life practices of people including how they believe and vote.  A good portion the electorate still say that our president was not born in the United States and is a Muslim even while his actual Christian practice and a birth certificate and newspaper account of his birth prove the obvious.  Unfortortunately, many religious people have become intimidated by the results and practices of science and feel obligated to defend biblical and religious discourse as "scientific truth" or as exact eyewitness journalistic reporting.  This means that the path of appreciation for the true meanings of science and the true meanings of faith are made to be in conflict or even worse religious truth is wrongly defended to the point of being discredited and faith discourse is chided as inferior even though there is witness of the transformations of countless myriads of lives through the motivational value of spiritual discourse.
  As we approach the Christmas event, we need to appreciate the discourses of Christmas which we have in the Gospels and other New Testament writers.  I say discourses because there are different approaches to the birth of Christ in the New Testament and in the history of the church.  One was major presentations of the birth of Christ was the assigning of a calendar date near the winter solstice as a mode of evangelism in providing a "replacement" feast day for the observed holiday on the Roman "religious" calendar.
  The Lucan account is written with rhetorical inspiration so that meanings of the life of Jesus can be evoked for the Lucan readers.
   The Lucan writer knows the situation in the sense of the kinds of genre that were used during the time.  The writer of the Gospel Luke knew that Jesus was a Jew and so he was presented with particular significance within the tradition of Judaism.  But the writer of the Gospel also knew that church and synagogue are separated; he knew that the church had become essentially Gentile congregations.  The members of the Gentile congregations would not be familiar with the derivation or arising of Jesus Christ from the Judaic traditions and so the message of Luke would need to be background information for the Gentiles but at the same time be communicative to the Gentiles who lived within Roman cities and who were familiar with Roman rhetorical devices in how one communicated about great and significant people.
  So one had an amalgamation of the Semitic and Roman ways and written in the lingua franca left over from the conquering of the world by Alexander the Great.  The Gospel represented the convergences of cultures consistent with what was happening in the "world and global" culture promulgated by the forceful popularity of the Caesar of Rome.
  The Christians of the Roman Empire were exposed to the political propaganda which surrounded the Caesar.  The Caesar symbolized the essence of the "globalism" of the day and the images and titles and stories of his divine right of power were well-known.   Ironically, the rather obscure Jesus of Nazareth in his posthumous resurrection afterlife was to ride the coattails of Caesarian globalism to take over the Roman Empire in quite an unpredictable way.
  The ingredients of the success included the communicative methods used to inculcate the Christian values to as many people as possible throughout the cities of the Roman Empire.
  How were these communicative methods used in the Gospel of Luke?
  The writer of Luke was aware of the mythologies of Emperor cult.  The unifying Caesar Augustus was called a Peace Maker, a Savior of the World, a son of god, and a divine being.  Stories of astronomical phenomenon occurring at birth time were motifs of the birth stories.  The miraculous conception of the Emperor's mother when she was sleeping would have been an available story to the writer of Luke.  The Roman vocabulary of words and story themes provided the Lucan writer outlines for presenting the parallel yet surpassing of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Savior, the Prince of Peace, so populist to be popular with shepherd,  the one declared by a heavenly senate of angels, and the one who was sought out by the wise people from the ends of the earth.
  At the same time the Lucan writer wedded common discourse patterns of the Roman setting with the templates provided by Hebrew Scriptures for the prediction and the eternal return of one who was in the line of David but who was greater than David.
  Because of the accessibility of the Bible and all writing today, we wrongly assume that the Gospels were generally accessible to everyone in their own time.  In fact, they had a very limited readership; we can assume this since there is very little contemporary "secular" references to Jesus, Christians or their literatures.  One can assume the function of the Gospels to have had significant roles within the churches for liturgy and as spiritual manuals for inculcating the mystagogy of the early Christians.  They were written with parables and cryptic patterns of communication because it was assumed that there was a teacher-disciple instructive model which occurred within the Christian community.
  The cryptic message of the Christmas story encoded the belief that every believer was indeed in some ways like the Virgin Mary.  The life of Christ could not be known by just normal human ways of knowing; a person had to have the life of Christ spiritually conceived within oneself.  One was over-shadowed by the Holy Spirit to have a spiritual originating event that could not be had by any other means.
  The success of so many people having this "spiritual" originating event brought about the Gospel literature even as evidence that many people had this transforming experience but the Gospel literature as a "birth of Christ within this world and within one's life" became the effective method in liturgy and spiritual practice of promulgating and inculcating the Christian values.
  While at Christmas we want to regress to the childification of Christmas and live in the primary naiveté of the story itself, we need to drawn back also and appreciate the incredible inspired rhetorical program of the Gospels within the Gospel communities in maintaining their social identity but also in the "person by person" expansion of this lifestyle that eventually would rewrite Caesar globalism even to the eventuality of the Emperor Constantine "waking up and smelling the coffee" of Christian success.
  The birth of Jesus Christ the Messiah happened in this way.  This seems so simple and straight forward but as those who appreciate the way in which the Bible can still be seen as inspired today, we should be aware of the complete rhetorical purposes of the writer of the Lucan Christmas story.
  Such may be irrelevant to lots of people; for something to be true and meaningful, it does not have to be relevant to all in the same way because the nature of freedom does not support such a coerced universal relevancy.
  It is relevant and good news for us today, if we are on the path of transformation of our lives toward excellence.  Indeed Christ was born of Mary, Christ was born and known as God with us and indeed we can instantiate that in our own lives if we can honestly confess that "Christ is born in me," the hope of glory.  Amen. 

 

Lessons and Carols

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church
17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037
Family Service with Holy Eucharist
December 18, 2016: Fourth Sunday of Advent
Service of Lessons and Carols

Opening Carol: The Little Drummer Boy
Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum, A newborn King to see, pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum,
To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
So, to honor Him, pa rum pum pum pum, when we come.

Catherine: A Bidding Prayer:
Dear People who love God: Christmas Season is approaching so let us renew our lives by hearing the Christmas Story. Let us hear the message of the Angels. Let us go to Bethlehem and see the baby Jesus lying in the manger. But let us also review the long story of our salvation. Let us remember that God created us. Let us ponder why we have the tendency to sin. But let us remember that God redeemed us from our sins by promising a special Savior and sending us the special Savior Jesus Christ. Let us also thank God for all of the good things in life that we enjoy and remember those in this world who do not have enough food, clothing or shelter. Let us remember those who suffer because of war and fighting and human cruelty. Let us also remember with thanksgiving the blessed Mother of Jesus, Mary and let us remember the great number in the family of Christ who share the same hope that we do, now and evermore. Amen.

Evan: The First Story In Salvation History: God Creates Man and Woman
In the beginning God created the world. After creating the sun, moon, the stars, the plants and the animals, God created a man and a woman who were named Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve lived in a beautiful garden call Eden. Since Adam and Eve had the ability to talk, they were given the job of naming everything. And God told Adam and Eve to take good care of their beautiful garden.

Carol: For the Beauty of the Earth
For the beauty of the earth, for the splendor of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies. Lord of all to thee we raise this, our hymn of grateful praise.
For the wonder of each hour of the day and of the night, hill and vale and tree and flower, sun and moon and stars of light: Lord of all to thee we raise this, our hymn of grateful praise.

Caroline: The Second Story in Salvation History: How Good and Bad Came to the World
God created Adam and Eve as innocent people in a perfect world. God created Adam and Eve to be able to make free choices. God did not make them to be like robots who could not make their own decisions. God gave Adam and Eve a test so they could know that they had real freedom of choice. He told them that they could not eat the fruit from one tree in the middle of the garden. God allowed a very sneaky serpent to talk to Eve and Adam. The serpent told them that they could be like God if they ate the fruit that God told them not to eat. Eve was tricked into eating and she tricked Adam into eating the fruit too. Perhaps that fruit was an apple or a pomegranate. So Adam and Eve knew that they had freedom to choose, but they made the wrong choice. Since imperfect people could not live in the perfect garden, they had to leave the garden. They started a family and began to farm, but they missed the beautiful garden.

Choral Anthem: Adam in the Garden, West Indies
Adam in the garden, hidin’, hidin’, hidin’, hidin’, hidin’, hidin’.
Adam in the garden, hidin’, hidin’, hidin’ from the Lord.
Tell me where is Adam hidin’, hidin’, hidin’, hidin’, hidin’.
Tell me where is Adam hidin’ from the Lord.

Tristan : The Third Story of Salvation History: A special person from the family tree of Jesse
The prophet Isaiah said that a special person would be born from the family tree of Jesse, King David’s father. This special person would have God’s Spirit upon Him and He would begin to be a wise leader. The prophet Isaiah wrote about a vision of wolves and lambs being able to play together because some day no animal will harm another animal and men and women will live in peace.

Carol: Baa, Baa, Little Lamb (Tune: Baa, Baa, Black Sheep)
Baa, baa, little lamb, did you lose your way? Yes sir, yes sir, I was lost today.
Far from my shepherd, far from my home. Far from my flock, I ran off alone.
Baa, baa, little lamb, did you lose your way? Yes sir, yes sir, I was lost today.
Baa, baa, little lamb, who found you? My Good Shepherd who loves you too.
Left His flock of ninety-nine, looked for me with love so kind.
Baa, baa, little lamb, your Shepherd looked for you. Yes sir, yes sir, And He found me too.
Dear little children, does your Shepherd love you? Yes sir, yes sir, He loves you too.
If we sin and go from Him, Jesus brings us back to Him.
Dear little children your Shepherd loves you. Yes sir, yes sir, and He loves you too.

Austin: The Fourth Story of Salvation History: A Promised Child Named Emmanuel
The prophet Isaiah promised that a sign would be given to God’s people. A child would be born to a young woman and his name would be called Emmanuel, which means, God is with us. Emmanuel is another name for Jesus because when he was born, he was proof that God was with us.

Carol: O Come, O Come Emmanuel (tune, Farmer in the Dell)
O come Emmanuel, O come Emmanuel. Come and save your people now, O come Emmanuel.
Now let us sing with joy, now let us sing with joy. Jesus came to save us all, now let us sing with joy.
O come Emmanuel, O come Emmanuel. Live within our hearts we pray, O come Emmanuel.

Lexi: The Fifth Story of Salvation History: The Angel Gabriel Delivers a Message to Mary
The Angel Gabriel came to Mary one day in the city of Nazareth. She was surprised to see the Angel. The Angel told her not to be afraid because God was going to give her a very special child who would be called the Son of God. And Mary said, “Let it be according to your word.” And Mary obeyed God.

Carol: Mary and the Angel (Tune: Reuben and Rachel)
Mary, Mary, look beside you. There’s an angel standing there!
It is Gabriel, sent from heaven with Good News for you to hear.
Mary, Mary, don’t be frightened. God is with you favored one.
You will have a little baby, Jesus Christ, God’s own dear Son.
“How can this be?” Mary wondered. “I’ve not married anyone.”
“God can do all things,” said Gabriel. “The baby will be God’s own Son.”
“As you say,” then Mary answered, “As God says, so let it be.”
We join Mary in her praises; Jesus came for you and me.”

Rylie: The Sixth Story of Salvation History A voice will cry out in the wilderness to prepare the way
The prophet Isaiah said that a voice would cry out in the wilderness to prepare the way for the Lord. This voice would announce the coming of one who would be a strong and good Shepherd. The voice belonged to John the Baptist who help to announce the importance of Jesus Christ.

Choral Anthem: Prepare the Way of the Lord (Renew! # 92)
Prepare the way of the Lord. Prepare the way of the Lord.
And all people will see, the salvation of our God.
Sam Zahrt : The Seventh Story of Salvation History: Jesus is born in Bethlehem
Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem to register to pay taxes. While they were there, they tried to get a room at an inn but there was no room for them. So they had to spend the night in a stable. While they were in the stable, Mary gave birth to the little baby Jesus. That same night shepherds came to the stable because the Angels in the sky had told them about the birth of a special Christ Child who would bring peace on earth.

Handbell Anthem: Away in a Manger, arr. Anna Laura Page; Divine Jubilation, with Sandra Marlowe, piano

Willam Zahrt: The Eighth Story of Salvation History: Angels tell the shepherds to come to the manger
When future kings are born it is announced throughout the kingdom. When Jesus was born a choir of angels announced his birth in the heavens. When the shepherds heard the angels announce the birth of Jesus, they were told to go to the manger and worship the Christ Child. They obeyed and went to be the first visitors to see baby Jesus.

Carol: Christ Was Born In Bethlehem (Tune: Michael Row the Boat)
Christ was born in Bethlehem, Hallelujah. Born to save us from our sin. Hallelujah.
Songs of joy the angel sang, hallelujah. To see Jesus shepherds ran, Hallelujah.
Every girl and every boy, hallelujah, Join us in our song of joy, Hallelujah.

Alex: The Ninth Story of Salvation History: Jesus is called the Word of God
The writer of the Gospel of John calls Jesus the Word of God. And as the Word of God, Jesus was with God from before the beginning of time and he was God before the beginning of time. The Word of God became the man Jesus who was born into this world. And many people did not accept this man Jesus but those who received him became children of God.

Priya: The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John (Please stand)
Response: Praise to you Lord Christ. At the end: Glory to you Lord, Christ

Carol: # 83, v. 6 Adestes Fideles, (blue hymnal)
(Word of the Father, Now in Flesh Appearing)

6-Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born on Christmas morning, Jesus to thee, be glory given. Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing. O, come, let us adore Him. O, come let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. Christ the Lord.



Liturgist: The Peace of the Lord be with you always.
People: And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Offertory Anthem: Go Tell it on the Mountain, arr Patsy Sims - Chancel Choir
Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist.
Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of God.”
All become members of a family by birth or adoption.
Baptism is a celebration of our birth into the family of God.
A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.
The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his family to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you
And also with you.

Lift up your hearts
We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.
It is right to give him thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.

Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we
Forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might. Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar.)
Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;
You have made us in your image
And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:
Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel.
And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph
And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.
Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat
the bread and drink the wine, we can know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as
this food and drink that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we can we love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, “Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.”

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, “Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.”

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this Holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ; and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ. May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory
is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,
Our Father (Sung): (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)
Our Father who art in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.
Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.
Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.
And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.
As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.
Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.
But deliver us from evil: Hallowed by thy name.
Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.
Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.
Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.
Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread
Celebrant: Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
People: Therefore let us keep the feast. Alleluia!

Words of Administration.

Communion Anthem: Rejoice, a Savior Comes, arr. Bill Ingram, Divine Joy Handbell Choir


Post-Communion Prayer
Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;
We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.
And His Presence has been known to us.
We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers
and sisters in Christ.
Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the
bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,
As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Closing Carol: Good Christian Friends Rejoice
Good Christian friends, rejoice with heart and soul and voice; give ye heed to what we say: Jesus Christ is born today; ox and ass before him bow, and he is in the manger now. Christ is born today! Christ is born today!
Good Christian friends, rejoice with heart and soul and voice; now ye need not fear the grave; Jesus Christ was born to save! Calls you one and calls you all to gain his everlasting hall! Christ was born to save, Christ was born to save!

Dismissal: Blessing for Advent and Christmas
The Almighty God bless us with his grace; Christ give us the joys of everlasting life; and to the fellowship of the citizens above may the King of angels bring us all. Amen.

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ.
People: Thanks be to God!

Sunday School, December 18, 2016 4 Advent, A

Sunday School, December 18, 2016    4 Advent, A

Themes:

Jesus in the Hall of Fame

In sports and in many other areas of human achievement we create Halls of Fame.  We compare great people with ourselves and with each other.

We say, “records are to be broken.”  When someone does something great in the past we always look to that greatness to compare ourselves and the importance of what is great.  But when something great happens then people look for the next great thing to happen or they look for someone to break the record.

We can always make a prediction about the future, that the records will be broken.

The first part of our Christian Bible is what we call the Old Testament.  People of the Jewish Faith call it the Hebrew Scriptures since it is still current for them and not “old.”

In the Hebrew Scriptures there are stories about many heroes, people like Abraham, Moses, David and Elijah.  But when things were really hard for the people of Israel, they hoped and prayed and wrote about a new hero to come and to make their land like it was during the time of King David, only better because in the future there was hope for someone who was in David’s family and line who might be born.

Who would have David as ancestor and who would come and do something so important that such a person could even have a name like Emmanuel, which means “God with us?”

When Jesus died and rose again and when many people came to know Jesus throughout the cities of Roman Empire, they began to write about how important he was.  They believed that he was greater than David and they believed that he was greater than the Roman Emperor.  Afterall, if a person can reappear after he dies and then begin to have many people have spiritual experiences to change their lives, isn’t this person a great person like the King David?  How was it that Jesus had changed so many people’s lives and even when they couldn’t see him?  How could this happen?

The Gospel stories were written to compare Jesus with David and with the Emperor.  The Gospel writers believed that Jesus was more important than David and than the Emperor and so they wrote about why they believed that Jesus was the one who was written about by the prophets in the Hebrew Scripture.  Jesus was the most important person in the Hall of Fame which included, Abraham, Moses, David and Elijah.

Sermon:

In American baseball there was a famous batter named Babe Ruth.  Babe Ruth was famous because he could hit homeruns in baseball.  And for many many years he held the record for the most homeruns hit in one season.  He hit 60 homeruns in one season.  And many people did not ever think this record could ever be broken.  But everyone always wondered about a baseball player who in the future would hit more hormeruns than Babe Ruth.

Well, someone did finally break the homerun records of Babe Ruth, but it does not mean that Babe Ruth was not great.  And it does not mean that in the future someone will break the new homerun records.  We remember famous people in life and we are always looking for people in the future who will do really great things.

When Jesus came and lived, he did many wonderful things.  He lived and he died but then he reappeared after his death to his friends.  And he sent the Spirit to continue to let people know that Jesus was with them.  Since Jesus was so popular, people began to write about why he was popular.  They said that he was proof that “God was with us.”  The prophet Isaiah had written many years before Jesus about someone named “God with us.”  And Jesus was so important to so many people that they believed that he was the one who was great enough to claim the name “Emmanuel” which means “God is with us.”

The followers of Jesus wrote the story of how Jesus was born and how he became the special proof that God is with us.

In the Hall of Fame, Christians believe that Jesus was more important than Abraham, Moses, David and Elijah. 

We see today that billions of people have come to know Jesus Christ and because of this we can say that he is still the leader in our Hall of Fame.  And as we love Christ and serve Him, we can know that “God is with us.”  In Jesus, we like Mary and Joseph have become people who know that  “God with Us.”

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

December 18, 2016: The Fourth Sunday of Advent

Gathering Songs: Light a Candle,  Peace Before Us; Thy Word,  When the Saints

             

Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and for ever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Lighting of the Advent Candle:   Light a Candle

Light a candle for hope today, Light a candle for hope today, light a candle for hope today.           Advent time is here.

Light a candle for peace today..3. Love…4. Joy

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen..

Litany Phrase: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the Prophet Isaiah

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. Then Isaiah said: “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.”

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

 

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 80

1 Hear, O Shepherd of Israel, leading Joseph like a flock; *shine forth, you that are enthroned upon the cherubim.

2 In the presence of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, *stir up your strength and come to help us.

3 Restore us, O God of hosts; *show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family. Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,”

which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon:  Fr. Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy. (chanted)

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Liturgist:         The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:            And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering.

Song: Peace Before Us (Wonder, Love and Praise,  # 791)

Peace before us.  Peace behind us.  Peace under our feet.  Peace within us.  Peace over us.  Let all around us be Peace.  Love,  Light, Christ

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

All may gather around the altar

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. Amen.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song: Thy Word, (Renew! #94)

Refrain: Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and light unto my path

1-When I feel afraid, think I’ve lost my way, still you’re right beside me.  And nothing will I fear as long as you are near.  Please be near me to the end.  Refrain.

2-I will not forget your love for me, and yet my heart forever is wandering.  Jesus, be my guide and hold me to your side; and I will love you to the end.  Refrain

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: O When the Saints, (The Christian Children’s Songbook, # 248)

O when those saints, go marching in, Oh, when those saints go marching in, Lord I want to be in that number when the saint go marching in.

Boys….. 3.  Girls  4.  Saints

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ. 

People: Thanks be to God!