Friday, December 24, 2021

December 26, 2021 Worship for the Lord's Day

 

First Presbyterian Church

First Sunday of Christmas

December 26, 2021

10:00 AM

Order of Worship

 

CALL TO WORSHIP  (from “Joy to the World”)

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

Let earth receive her king!

Let every heart prepare Him room.

Let heaven and nature sing in joy!

Let us worship the Living God.

 

*Hymn of Praise: “Angels From the Realm of Glory”

1. Angels from the realms of glory, wing your flight o'er all the earth; ye who sang creation's story now proclaim Messiah's birth:

Refrain: Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ, the newborn king.

2. Shepherds, in the field abiding, watching o'er your flocks by night, God with us is now residing; yonder shines the infant light: (Refrain)

3. Sages, leave your contemplations, brighter visions beam afar; seek the great Desire of nations; ye have seen his natal star: (Refrain)

4. Saints, before the altar bending, watching long in hope and fear; suddenly the Lord, descending, in his temple shall appear: (Refrain)

      PRAYER OF CONFESSION (In Unison)

Christ our Savior, forgive us for our dishonesty, our ignorance, our apathy towards growing in faith. Forgive our resentment and anger, the ways we dominate and divide. Clothe us in your new garments of compassion, kindness, humility and patience. Help us to embrace your peace and surrender to your extraordinary love. Amen.

*SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION

ASSURANCE OF PARDON (From the hymn “We three kings of Orient are”)

O star of wonder, star of night … westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light. In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.

 

 

 

*THE GLORIA PATRI

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

INVITATION: “Dear Lord, I need You, please come into my life today.  Amen”

 LESSON: Matthew 1: 1-6; 16-23

1An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, 4and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6and Jesse the father of King David.

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah…16and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

18 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. 19Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20But 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. 21She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ 22All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
23 ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
   and they shall name him Emmanuel’,

Luke 2

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
   and on earth peace among those whom he favors!’

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

   SERMON:                    The Legacy of Mary the Mother of Jesus”                        Rev. Peter Hofstra

December 26, 2021                 Sermon                 Rev. Peter Hofstra

“What Did Mary Know?”

          We have followed the genealogy of Jesus that introduces us to the Christmas story in the Gospel according to Luke.  More specifically, we have considered the women who are mentioned by name in that genealogy.  Going back to Abraham, there are 14 generations to David, 14 generations to the deportation to Babylon, and 14 generations to Jesus.  In all of those generations, only five women are named, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, herself. 

          The attempt, this Advent, has been to try to figure out why Matthew included these women. In the male dominant culture of the time, there was significance to these women, and the question has been ‘what is their significance’?  But how about consideration not only of their significance to us, but their significance to Mary?

          There is a very powerful Christmas song that we ran early in our prelude called “Mary, Did You Know?”  The lyrics are included.  What did Mary know about these other women in the genealogy?  Unlike we today, who can be drowned in all the streams of media that come pouring into our lives, Mary really only had one, that which was taught in the homes and synagogues of her community, the stories of what we call the Old Testament.

          What did Mary know?  Long after Christmas, more than thirty years later, she was going to stand on Golgotha, the mount of the skull, and she was going to see her boy crucified.  Did she know about Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon?  Did she know that when it looked like Bathsheba’s son, who was promised the kingship, looked like he might be pushed aside, probably killed outright as a contender to the throne, that when Bathsheba came to the king, the promises that God had made were NOT, in fact, pushed aside, but were fulfilled despite the odds they seemed to be facing?  Did she know the stories of God’s promises being fulfilled?  She knew the words of her Son, that he was coming back again.  Did she find strength in those three days he was in the tomb that were renewed in the hope and joy of Jesus’ resurrection?  Did she know she was from the line of Bathsheba?

          Come back to Luke 2.  We rejoice in these words because we know what’s to come.  “In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.”  What did Mary know?  She knew that she was being torn from the community she knew, where her support system was, where her family was, and she was being dragged to Bethlehem.  And it was not a temporary thing.  In the days of Roman, Roman citizens were the ones who were free to travel.  Roman soldiers were the ones forced to travel in order to keep the Empire safe and free for the citizens.  Everyone else, all the conquered peoples and the client kingdoms, they were all tied to their lands and to their jobs so they could provide the taxes that paid for the armies, that paid for the freedom known by the Citizens. 

          Did Mary know the story of Ruth, who followed Naomi from her country of origin, from Moab, from her faith of origin, the gods of the Moabites, to a new land and a new people with which she had no connection?  Did she know the story of God’s care and preservation of Ruth and Naomi?  Of the success she found in her new life in that very same City where Mary and Joseph moved to, into Bethlehem itself?  Did she know she was from the line of Ruth?

          Related to this forced move, this, according to the rules of the Romans, this permanent shift in locale, when Mary moved, she was not just pregnant, she was VERY pregnant.  So while there may never truly be a good time to move, there are certainly absolutely horrible times to move.  Her entire safety net, her household, her preparations, what has been termed the ‘nesting’ that seems to be built into the DNA of a new mother, all of that was ripped out from under her when she was forced to go with Joseph to Bethlehem. 

          And you know what happened when they got there.  There was no room for them in the inn.  If she left Nazareth convinced that everything she needed and prepared and set into motion for the birth of her son was being taken away, the sight of the barn, the sound and smells of the animals, the food trough that became a cradle?  I remember a very male, rather older pastor commenting in a sermon about this, “These were not ideal circumstances for the delivery of a baby boy.”  Ya think?

          What did Mary know?  Did she know the story of Rahab, born and raised in Jericho?  Living there with her entire family?  Gathering her entire family into her house built into the wall as the entire city was destroyed around her?  Everything and everybody she knew, outside her immediate circle, dead in the war between the Israelites and the Canaanites, reduced to homelessness, to the state of a displaced person, in the very first battle of the war. 

          Did she know that Rahab confessed the Lord, God of Israel, as her own God.  That the Lord took care of her, that the Lord established a place for her among the people of Israel.  Did she know that she was from the line of Rahab?

          And before all of this started, the Lord God came to Mary through the angel Gabriel, to ask her to take on the mission of being the mother of the Messiah, to be made pregnant by the Holy Spirit.  That this was a choice she made and she rejoiced about, as is reflected in the words of Mary’s Magnificat in Luke 1.  But then she had to tell Joseph.  “God made me pregnant.”  As we transition from the genealogy of Jesus to the opening of Matthew’s account of Jesus’ birth, we see the plans that are in the works.  Joseph does not want to disgrace her publicly.  We know that, even in that time, the penalty for adultery was death by stoning.  There is an episode in the Gospel of John where the men of the city bring a woman so charged to Jesus in order to get his take on her death.  That is where he teaches, “You who are without sin cast the first stone.”  It was never a matter of innocence or guilt, it was all about forgiveness.

          Joseph was going to dismiss her quietly, sent her back to her own family, disgraced but unharmed.  I wonder how this challenged Mary’s acceptance of what God had come to her with.  What did Mary know?  Did she know the story of Tamar?  Another woman who would be dragged before her father-in-law on charges of adultery-but to the memory of two dead husbands…  Would she have understood what Tamar did in obedience to God’s law?  An obedience that led to a rather sophisticated plot of deceit?  Obedience that found her to be the more righteous because of her obedience? 

          As Mary, resting beside a newborn, greeted the shepherds, heard the stories of angels, as she treasured all these things in her heart, as she lived her life as Mary, the Mother of God, to where she watched her own son die, only to live again, where she saw the new faith that he founded out of what came before, did she have more than simply God’s word for it?  Did she know the stories of her own faith?  Did she know what came before?  Did she know how God’s faithfulness had already been worked out? 

          So here is the story teller in me considering all of this.  I would like to think of it this way.  As the writer of the gospel of Matthew was gathering materials to tell the story of the life of Jesus, I like to think of them sitting down with Jesus’ mother.  We are pretty sure that Joseph died somewhere before Jesus’ ministry began.  What questions would they ask?  I know what I would ask.  What was it like, to be the mother of the Savior?  I can imagine her telling them that it wasn’t all tinsel and candy canes.  Rather, as she reflected on the birth, the life, the death, and the new life of her son, I hear her reaching back into her own faith experience to these other stories, to these other moments, so she had not only the words of the Lord as her comfort, but she had the history of the Lord’s faithfulness to draw upon.  I can imagine then the gospel writer sitting with his materials and his notes.  There are the stories that Mary cited, that from her history as a person of the Jewish faith where God spoke to her from his past faithfulness.  There is Tamar, there is Rahab, there is Ruth.  There is Bathsheba, another mother of a king…but also the object of David’s biggest sin, as the wife of Uriah…  Perhaps this was God’s inspiration to put these names down, for the consideration and edification of the future generations who would learn about our Savior from the Gospel, who would learn the deep connections of faith and love that led to God being born as a baby among us on that first Christmas. 

          What did Mary know?  Mary knew that her son from by the Holy Spirit, the Son of God.  Mary knew that the angel of the Lord came to her personally to set in motion what was to happen.  Mary knew that her Son, although arrested and executed, rose again from the dead.  Mary knew he arose to offer the gift of grace for the forgiveness of all humanity. 

          But Mary also knew that God’s faithfulness did not suddenly drop from heaven when Gabriel came to her.  Mary knew God’s faithfulness to God’s people throughout their history.  Mary knew God’s faithfulness would continue to the people into the future, through Jesus.

          So what do we know?  We know what Mary knows.  We know not only the gift of the birth of Jesus, we know the legacy of faithfulness that came forward through the women that Matthew has named for us in Jesus’ genealogy.  And we know, though it has been countless generations since the birth of Jesus, that God’s faithfulness carries forward to this very day.

          We know the true power and joy and love of Christmas.  We know, as we go from this place, that God is our God, a God of love and forgiveness.  We know that from his humblest beginnings, in a manger for a bed, that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, that in Him, the light of the Christmas Star shines into this world with the promise of our renewal in Him.  Amen.

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (From the “Book of Common Worship” Phil. 2:5-11)

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess to the glory of God: Jesus Christ is Lord! Amen.

 

PASSING OF THE PEACE

 

THE OFFERING OF OUR TITHES & GIFTS

We are the stewards of God’s good gifts. Let us present our tithes and offerings in faithful response to God’s generosity.

 

*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.  Amen.

*PRAYER OF DEDICATION

May our gifts offer healing and hope. May our lives reflect your love. May our actions serve your will, God of grace and glory. Amen.

 

JOYS AND CONCERNS

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Come, let us adore him … We adore you, Savior God, Root of Jesse, Ruler of Nations, Newborn King. We give thanks for the star that led us to this long-awaited hope and the season of Advent that prepared us for your extraordinary birth. Come, let us adore him … We adore you, Savior God, born fragile, vulnerable and human. We pray for those most vulnerable in our society: the sick, the marginalized, the abused, the poor and homeless. We pray for those who are bone-weary from work, those who feel helpless and hopeless. Empower and encourage them by your Spirit, O God. Come, let us adore him … We adore you, Savior God, for being with us in the flesh, for entering our world and experiencing our humanity, for redeeming and sustaining us in each and every moment. We pray for those who feel misunderstood, for those who are angry and those who have been dealt with unjustly. We pray for the victims of violence and for those who turn to violence as the answer. We pray to the Prince of Peace to heal us and guide us in the path of peace. Come, let us adore him … We adore you, Savior God, for the way you came and continue to come in mystery and in might. You enter our world, our joy and our pain, making our hearts burn with thanksgiving. May our lives be gifts of praise to you. May our Christmas joy turn us towards each other with compassion, respect and kindness. May we cloth ourselves in dignity and love each other as you love us. Holy and astounding God, we have seen the reflection of your glory and celebrated your love born again. Help us bear witness to Christ in our lives and in our prayers. Finally, hear us now, as we pray the prayer Christ taught us by saying together,

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory forever.  Amen.

*CLOSING HYMN “Joy to the World”

1. Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing.

2. Joy to the world, the Savior reigns! Let men their songs employ; while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy.

3. No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground; he comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found.

4. He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness, and wonders of his love, and wonders of his love, and wonders of his love.

*BENEDICTION

*THREE FOLD AMEN

Elements of Order of Worship Liturgy written by Teri McDowell Ott, courtesy of the Presbyterian Outlook

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