Preparing the Way
Worship
Lectionary Worship Workbook
Series II, Cycle B
The Community Readies Itself For The Coming Messiah
Choral Invitation
Have the two choirs move toward each other. The chancel choir will move one third of the way toward the rear; and the second choir will move one third of the way to the front. The chancel choir will sing "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" with less vigor; and the second choir will sing "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" with more vigor than last week. Following the singing, wait for three minutes before continuing.
Pastoral Invitation
What difference, if any, have you noticed in your preparation for Christmas this past week? Invite anyone to respond. You may want to ask two or three people before worship if they are beginning to prepare differently than previously.
Response to the Invitation
"On Jordan's Bank the Baptist's Cry," Charles Coffin, 1736; trans. John Chandler, 1837, alt. Harm. William Henry Monk, 1847; alt.
The Community Looks Within
Introduction to the Act of Recognizing Our Humanity and the Act of Receiving New Life (Pastor and Ministers)
P: I say it, and you feel it in your hearts: You and I behind "Merry Christmas" smiles are afraid to be alone. You and I, behind the presents we give, are reluctant to love. You and I, behind our friendly words, are unwilling to stand beside another. You and I, behind our hymns and prayers, are afraid to stand before God. I say it, and we feel it in our hearts.
M: Lord, how can you tolerate us? Have mercy on us and our pretensions.
P: I invite us to pray as if we believe that God hears and responds to prayer, though not necessarily the way we expect.
M: Holy and Righteous God, in the maze of the mass media's message, we have almost lost our true identity. Succumbing to the world's pressures to conform, we have forgotten how to be ourselves. We have sought to escape the birth-pain of selfhood, by grabbing onto ready-made actions and others' responses. This betrayal of the self has left us "hollow persons." Forgive us when we fail to live up to our, and your, high calling; reveal to us a future that exceeds our past brokenness and separations. We want to know a liberating word, that became enfleshed in Christ the living word. So be it!
P: In Christ, we do experience forgiveness. We are grateful for this coming Savior, who already is present with us. Because he already has presented himself to us, every moment of ours presents a new possibility in him, life, new life, abundant life, eternal life. We need no longer yearn for God as though God were absent. Our healing no longer means a search, but a surrender to God who is always and everywhere present. So, I invite us to pray that prayer which is most appropriately the prayer of the community of faith: The Contemporary Lord's Prayer. (As another alternative, sing Malotte's version of the Lord's Prayer.)
Response
(Use the following chorus if you speak the prayer. Never put two pieces of music together.) "For Your Loving Kindness": "For your gracious blessing, for your wondrous Word, For your loving kindness, we give thanks, O Lord."
The Community Responds To God's Coming In Christ
Message with the Children of All Ages
If you have a "celebrity" in the congregation or community, introduce him/her with a special introduction. Tell all sorts of personal interest items, things that people may or may not know. Then, compare John the Baptist's introduction of Jesus with your "celebrity's." Describe the uniqueness of both men. If you have baptism on this Sunday, also explain what it means in your tradition.
Reading from the Scriptures
Dramatize the Gospel. This will require a reader, someone offstage who will speak the words of Isaiah, and John the Baptist. He can either dress as John during biblical times; or, he can wear a suit and tie. Make the scripture come alive in this television age.
Proclamation of the Good News
You may want to incorporate these two ideas in the message: (1) In a cartoon, a despondent husband says to his wife, "I have nothing more to live for." The wife responds angrily, "What do you mean, you have nothing to live for -- the house, the car, the TV aren't paid for!" Well, what happens when they are? (2) Since World War II, Victor Frankl, an Austrian psychiatrist, based his psychotherapy on the question of meaning. He maintains that fundamental to our mental and spiritual health is the question of meaning -- not on the sexual drive, as Freud propounded; not on our will to power, as dictators practice; not on our lust for pleasure, as adult book stores suggest; but as our search for meaning as key to everything we are and become. John the Baptist paved the way for that meaning to come and to lodge in our lives.
Stewardship Challenge
How are we continuing our stewardship of preparing for the Christ-event? What form does it take? Do we resemble leaves floating on the river current, going where carried, saying nothing about, having no control over our direction and destiny; or, have we heard John the Baptist's announcement about the Coming One, who makes all things new by his Spirit? To what, to whom, do we give our time, money, energy?
Charge to the Congregation
"Repent," said John the Baptist, which means, "Change your behavior; change your way of thinking and doing and being. One is coming who can and will make that happen in your life if you allow his Spirit to come in and transform you. That's my promise, that's his promise. Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice!"
The Church Scatters For Ministry
Meditation
(Printed at the end of the worship bulletin. Make this a succinct summary of today's worship theme.) "What will you do this week to hear John's message, in order to ready yourself for the coming of the world's savior into your life, and into the life of your neighbor, each day?"
Music Possibilities In Addition To Those Already Suggested
Music for Preparation: Medley of Advent hymns.
Hymn of Praise: "Come, O Thou God of Grace," William E. Evans, 1886; Felice de Giardini, 1769.
Response to Act of Receiving New Life: "Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God" (from New Wine. See Appendix I for address.); or, "Comfort, Comfort You My People," (see Advent 1). Consider using this latter hymn as an Advent hymn of the month.
Response to the Proclamation: "Awake the Trumpet's Lofty Sound," by Handel.
Response to the Stewardship Challenge: "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus," Charles Wesley.
Hymn of Commitment: "Eternal Ruler of the Ceaseless Round," John W. Chadwick, 1864; William H. Monk, 1875 (revise the sexist language as you sing); or, "Heralds of Christ, Who Bear the King's Command," Laura S. Copenhaver, 1894; alt., 1972.
Music for Dismissal: Medley of Advent hymns.
Choral Invitation
Have the two choirs move toward each other. The chancel choir will move one third of the way toward the rear; and the second choir will move one third of the way to the front. The chancel choir will sing "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" with less vigor; and the second choir will sing "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" with more vigor than last week. Following the singing, wait for three minutes before continuing.
Pastoral Invitation
What difference, if any, have you noticed in your preparation for Christmas this past week? Invite anyone to respond. You may want to ask two or three people before worship if they are beginning to prepare differently than previously.
Response to the Invitation
"On Jordan's Bank the Baptist's Cry," Charles Coffin, 1736; trans. John Chandler, 1837, alt. Harm. William Henry Monk, 1847; alt.
The Community Looks Within
Introduction to the Act of Recognizing Our Humanity and the Act of Receiving New Life (Pastor and Ministers)
P: I say it, and you feel it in your hearts: You and I behind "Merry Christmas" smiles are afraid to be alone. You and I, behind the presents we give, are reluctant to love. You and I, behind our friendly words, are unwilling to stand beside another. You and I, behind our hymns and prayers, are afraid to stand before God. I say it, and we feel it in our hearts.
M: Lord, how can you tolerate us? Have mercy on us and our pretensions.
P: I invite us to pray as if we believe that God hears and responds to prayer, though not necessarily the way we expect.
M: Holy and Righteous God, in the maze of the mass media's message, we have almost lost our true identity. Succumbing to the world's pressures to conform, we have forgotten how to be ourselves. We have sought to escape the birth-pain of selfhood, by grabbing onto ready-made actions and others' responses. This betrayal of the self has left us "hollow persons." Forgive us when we fail to live up to our, and your, high calling; reveal to us a future that exceeds our past brokenness and separations. We want to know a liberating word, that became enfleshed in Christ the living word. So be it!
P: In Christ, we do experience forgiveness. We are grateful for this coming Savior, who already is present with us. Because he already has presented himself to us, every moment of ours presents a new possibility in him, life, new life, abundant life, eternal life. We need no longer yearn for God as though God were absent. Our healing no longer means a search, but a surrender to God who is always and everywhere present. So, I invite us to pray that prayer which is most appropriately the prayer of the community of faith: The Contemporary Lord's Prayer. (As another alternative, sing Malotte's version of the Lord's Prayer.)
Response
(Use the following chorus if you speak the prayer. Never put two pieces of music together.) "For Your Loving Kindness": "For your gracious blessing, for your wondrous Word, For your loving kindness, we give thanks, O Lord."
The Community Responds To God's Coming In Christ
Message with the Children of All Ages
If you have a "celebrity" in the congregation or community, introduce him/her with a special introduction. Tell all sorts of personal interest items, things that people may or may not know. Then, compare John the Baptist's introduction of Jesus with your "celebrity's." Describe the uniqueness of both men. If you have baptism on this Sunday, also explain what it means in your tradition.
Reading from the Scriptures
Dramatize the Gospel. This will require a reader, someone offstage who will speak the words of Isaiah, and John the Baptist. He can either dress as John during biblical times; or, he can wear a suit and tie. Make the scripture come alive in this television age.
Proclamation of the Good News
You may want to incorporate these two ideas in the message: (1) In a cartoon, a despondent husband says to his wife, "I have nothing more to live for." The wife responds angrily, "What do you mean, you have nothing to live for -- the house, the car, the TV aren't paid for!" Well, what happens when they are? (2) Since World War II, Victor Frankl, an Austrian psychiatrist, based his psychotherapy on the question of meaning. He maintains that fundamental to our mental and spiritual health is the question of meaning -- not on the sexual drive, as Freud propounded; not on our will to power, as dictators practice; not on our lust for pleasure, as adult book stores suggest; but as our search for meaning as key to everything we are and become. John the Baptist paved the way for that meaning to come and to lodge in our lives.
Stewardship Challenge
How are we continuing our stewardship of preparing for the Christ-event? What form does it take? Do we resemble leaves floating on the river current, going where carried, saying nothing about, having no control over our direction and destiny; or, have we heard John the Baptist's announcement about the Coming One, who makes all things new by his Spirit? To what, to whom, do we give our time, money, energy?
Charge to the Congregation
"Repent," said John the Baptist, which means, "Change your behavior; change your way of thinking and doing and being. One is coming who can and will make that happen in your life if you allow his Spirit to come in and transform you. That's my promise, that's his promise. Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice!"
The Church Scatters For Ministry
Meditation
(Printed at the end of the worship bulletin. Make this a succinct summary of today's worship theme.) "What will you do this week to hear John's message, in order to ready yourself for the coming of the world's savior into your life, and into the life of your neighbor, each day?"
Music Possibilities In Addition To Those Already Suggested
Music for Preparation: Medley of Advent hymns.
Hymn of Praise: "Come, O Thou God of Grace," William E. Evans, 1886; Felice de Giardini, 1769.
Response to Act of Receiving New Life: "Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God" (from New Wine. See Appendix I for address.); or, "Comfort, Comfort You My People," (see Advent 1). Consider using this latter hymn as an Advent hymn of the month.
Response to the Proclamation: "Awake the Trumpet's Lofty Sound," by Handel.
Response to the Stewardship Challenge: "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus," Charles Wesley.
Hymn of Commitment: "Eternal Ruler of the Ceaseless Round," John W. Chadwick, 1864; William H. Monk, 1875 (revise the sexist language as you sing); or, "Heralds of Christ, Who Bear the King's Command," Laura S. Copenhaver, 1894; alt., 1972.
Music for Dismissal: Medley of Advent hymns.
