Thursday, December 2, 2021

Order of Worship for Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021

 

First Presbyterian Church

Second Sunday of Advent

December 5, 2021

10:00 AM

Order of Worship

 

                                             CALL TO WORSHIP

See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me,

and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.

The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight —

 indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.

Let us worship the Living God!

Let us worship the One who is coming!

 

*Hymn of Praise: “The First Noel”

1. The first Noel the angel did say was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay; in fields where they lay keeping their sheep, on a cold winter's night that was so deep.

Refrain: Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, born is the King of Israel.

2. They looked up and saw a star shining in the east, beyond them far; and to the earth it gave great light, and so it continued both day and night. (Refrain)

      PRAYER OF CONFESSION (In Unison) (from Luke 1:75 and Malachi 3:2)

Holy and righteous God, far too often we are a far cry from the holiness you invite us into. And often we fail to live up to your righteous standards for how we are called to live. Refine us with your righteous refiner’s fire to remove all our sinful impulses and impurities. Cleanse us with the fullers’ soap to make us pure and holy once again. Help us to live in a way that would be pleasing to you, our Lord. Amen.

*SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION

ASSURANCE OF PARDON (from James 5: 15-16)

We are not perfect, but we do not need to be. God in Christ is! And God in Christ has taken care of us and this world once again: “Every valley shall be filled … and the rough ways made smooth.” In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven and freed! May your ears hear this good news, and your eyes see the salvation of God!

 

 

*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”

LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT CANDLE

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’,

LESSON: Joshua 2

2Then Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, ‘Go, view the land, especially Jericho.’ So they went, and entered the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and spent the night there. 2The king of Jericho was told, ‘Some Israelites have come here tonight to search out the land.’ 3Then the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab, ‘Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come only to search out the whole land.’ 4But the woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said, ‘True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they came from. 5And when it was time to close the gate at dark, the men went out. Where the men went I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you can overtake them.’ 6She had, however, brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax that she had laid out on the roof. 7So the men pursued them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. As soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

8 Before they went to sleep, she came up to them on the roof 9and said to the men: ‘I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before you. 10For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11As soon as we heard it, our hearts failed, and there was no courage left in any of us because of you. The Lord your God is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below. 12Now then, since I have dealt kindly with you, swear to me by the Lord that you in turn will deal kindly with my family. Give me a sign of good faith 13that you will spare my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.’ 14The men said to her, ‘Our life for yours! If you do not tell this business of ours, then we will deal kindly and faithfully with you when the Lord gives us the land.’

15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the outer side of the city wall and she resided within the wall itself. 16She said to them, ‘Go towards the hill country, so that the pursuers may not come upon you. Hide yourselves there for three days, until the pursuers have returned; then afterwards you may go on your way.’ 17The men said to her, ‘We will be released from this oath that you have made us swear to you 18if we invade the land and you do not tie this crimson cord in the window through which you let us down, and you do not gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your family. 19If any of you go out of the doors of your house into the street, they shall be responsible for their own death, and we shall be innocent; but if a hand is laid upon any who are with you in the house, we shall bear the responsibility for their death. 20But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be released from this oath that you made us swear to you.’ 21She said, ‘According to your words, so be it.’ She sent them away and they departed. Then she tied the crimson cord in the window.

22 They departed and went into the hill country and stayed there for three days, until the pursuers returned. The pursuers had searched all along the way and found nothing. 23Then the two men came down again from the hill country. They crossed over, came to Joshua son of Nun, and told him all that had happened to them. 24They said to Joshua, ‘Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands; moreover, all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before us.’

SERMON:                           “Just Gotta Have Faith, Faith, Faith…”                        Rev. Peter Hofstra

                When we consider God and what makes a good believer in God, the Bible has a way of taking our assumptions and dumping them out on the lawn like so many random sets of Christmas lights.  This string shines brightly?  I never would have figured that.  These ones over here?  They look really nice but not a spark.  How is that for a rather painful Christmas parable?

                So we have Rahab.  Growing up, a sermon about her might have begun with something like, “And Rahab had three strikes against her.  She was a woman, she had a certain kind of employment, and she was a Canaanite.”  So why would Matthew single her out for inclusion in a genealogy that includes not only Jesus, our Lord and Savior, but the Royal Line of Judah itself?

                Why don’t we take the middle one first?  I do not like talking about her type of employment from the pulpit.  It was tough enough talking about Tamar last week, when that was at the center of the story.  But it’s Biblical, and it has a point for its inclusion in God’s Word-because if we are honest, there were so many other things that could have been included but were not for the sake of space as a much smaller reason that for what God inspired the authors of the Bible to include.  So, we know what she did.  We know how exploitative it is now, how exploitative has been throughout history.  The more important point is not what her employment was but that God chose her anyway.

                Being a woman.  Again, we dealt with much of the background of the sexism of the Bible.  But I want to clarify something.  It is not the Bible’s sexism, it is the sexism of the world.  It is into that sinful world that the Bible enters with words of hope from our God.  And it is not that the sexism of that time is some kind of archaic sinfulness that has been driven to the margins in the present day.  No, it exists as powerfully today as it ever has. 

                Not that there hasn’t been progress.  Yet, as we read the story of Rahab, let us be reminded that one of the most sexist institutions in this country is to be found in many of our Christian churches.  One of the most joyful reasons I have for being in the Presbyterian Church (USA) is that, when I was in college, it was one of these very churches that made me question that misogynist, sexist upbringing that I’d been brought up with-founded on what I know now as shaky Biblical interpretation.

                Which leaves us the third strike, that she was a Canaanite.  Again, being so far from that time and place, it may escape our understanding how radical it is that a Canaanite should be welcomed into God’s people.  Because her family is the only one to receive that honor in the entire book of Joshua.  And the book of Joshua is about the conquest of the entire land of Canaan.  To understand the significance of that, we have to understand the significance of this book as a whole. 

                Consider where it falls in the Old Testament, just after the Torah, the five books of Moses.  The central event of the Torah is the Exodus, the people of God coming out of slavery in Egypt.  The Passover event is like the Declaration of Independence, beating the British, and the adoption of the Constitution for our country.  What came before, from Adam to Abraham to Jacob and the twelve sons moving to Egypt, is the prologue, the preparation for what was to come.  What comes after, the second half of Exodus, in Leviticus, and Numbers, is the history and legal foundation on which the people of God are transformed into the Nation of Israel.  The book of Deuteronomy concludes the Torah and has been interpreted as a Treaty, based on the format of treaties from that time period, between God and the God’s people.

                At the base of it all was the foundation of their relationship, which has not changed to this day.  The Lord will be our God, and we will be God’s people, God’s nation.  If you are going to be a nation, you need a country.  In Jesus, God’s people went from one country to all the nations.  But the Book of Joshua records the events where the children of God, rebuilt into a nation during the Exodus, receive their country, receive the Promised Land from the Lord.

                The problem was that there were people on it.  It was the land of Canaan, filled, oddly enough, with Canaanites.  So why that land?  Why those people?  That is the root of the conflict in Israel today.  For the Jews to have a nation, somebody needed to be uprooted.  In the Torah, the reasons for this conquest are given.  The granting of the promised land is not simply a reward to God’s people, it is a punishment upon the sins of the Canaanites.  That history is set in motion way back at the story of Noah.  In the primordial history when people lived eight or nine hundred years, when the whole world was punished for its sins by the flood, when the people of the earth-when they spoke one language-were in the process of building a tower to God before God scattered them at Babel, in that time, the sins of the father were visited on the son, from the Son of Noah to the grandson of Noah, setting the time when they would be punished for their sins.  And their punishment would be Israel’s triumph. 

                Pastor, we are here for a sermon, not a history lesson.  What has this to do with Christmas?  Simply this.  Rahab was a Canaanite.  She and all her people were condemned by God.  And yet she makes it into the genealogy of Jesus when the hero of the Conquest, Joshua himself, is not even in the line of Jesus.  Who she was as a person, what she did, where she came from, they were all against her.  And Matthew certainly knew this, as would the readers of his gospel.   And he was intentional in putting her name into this family tree, because Rahab is an example of what is truly important to God.

                It is not who you are, it is not what you do, it is not where you came from.  It is what you believe.  And she believed in God.  She said as much to the spies.  “We know your God led you across the Red Sea”, a Sea, practically an ocean.  What is the only natural defense the people of Jericho have?  It is the Jordan River, sure, at flood stage, but even so, what protection did it really offer?  “We know that you have conquered the two kings of the Amorites, Og and Sihon beyond the Jordan.”

                Some context, the region beyond the Jordan that the children of God have already conquered, it is highly prosperous like the rest of the Promised Land and it was ruled by two kings of great power and stature.  Look at a map, that area is two thirds to three quarters the size of the rest of the Promised Land.  But the rest of the Promised land was ruled very differently.  Every city had its own king.  There are alliances of ten and eleven kings who come up against the Israelites and are beaten under Joshua’s leadership.  The measure of the strength of these kings was in the territory they ruled, so Og and Sihon were the major leagues compared to the kings of Canaan between the Jordan and the Mediterranean.

                Again, pastor, we are here for a Christmas Sermon, but we are getting a history lesson.  True, but this history is stacked up for a reason.  Rahab was not saved from the destruction of Jericho because of her history.  She was the enemy, the bad guys, the ones to be taken down and destroyed.  And yet, there is all this history that is packed behind the showdown at Jericho, all the history of the development of the children of God, from creation itself to Abraham, the father of the Jews, to their move to Egypt to avoid the famine, where they were welcomed by Joseph, to their growth as an enslaved people to be freed by their God under the leadership of Moses, to forty years in the wilderness until they came to the gates of the Promised Land, to the very conquest of the Promised Land under the blessed general Joshua.

                All of it means nothing without believing in God.  Rahab made a choice that every other Canaanite had open to them, but the Bible tells us of none who made that choice.  Believe in God who has demonstrated such power on behalf of God’s children.  This is very pointed in the book of Joshua when the children of God come up against the people of Gibeon.  The Gibeonites engage in a very elaborate con to convince Joshua that they are not Canaanites at all, but have traveled from a distant land-just like God’s children.  At this point, Joshua’s hubris takes over and he makes a treaty with them without consulting God-but in God’s name.  And then they reveal the con.  They are Canaanites but, literally, in God’s name, what is Joshua going to do about it?

                Joshua does not battle with them but enslaves them instead, providing a Biblical foundation for slavery that is a very hateful part of our own history as a nation.  But that is another sermon.

                So she makes a deal.  She helps out the spies.  She is obedient to the plan of God for the conquest of her land.  To her people, she is a traitor.  But it was faith in God that saved her, that overcame the sin of her existence, defined in that time by who she was, what she did, and where she came from.  Which is precisely what Jesus has come to do for all of us.

                It does not matter who we are, what we do, or where we came from, or any action or activity of this sinful world that we have done as a result of that, in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.  We come to the manger in faith, that faith will make us whole, that faith will save us.  Unfortunately, for all of us, it is not enough that we have the story of Rahab to demonstrate that faith in God overcomes all.  From the birth of Jesus, we have the story of his life and all that Jesus taught, the example of faithfulness of his death, and the salvation that comes at his rebirth-a death and rebirth that we shall remember this morning as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper.

                When Matthew was inspired by God to include Rahab’s name in his introduction to the birth of Jesus, in his genealogy, it is like he is saying to anyone who reads this, “Take everything that you think you know about what God wants from you, about who you need to be and what kind of ‘proper’ code of behavior you think you need to live by to be deserving of God’s love, and set it aside.”  In the words of a modern prophet, you gotta have faith.

                Because when it comes right down to it, it is not about what we can do for God.  It was never about that.  Because it’s God.  There is, quite literally, nothing that God needs.  The truth of our religion is in another place, that God loves us, loves us SO much that God sent God’s only Son to save us.  Do you ever wonder, why did Jesus have to die?  Why wasn’t the miracle of his birth at Christmas enough?  It might very well be enough for some to believe.  But when someone is confronted by the sinfulness of their life, people can be so convinced that they do not deserve any love, even that of God’s.  That they should die for what they have done.  Jesus goes into death himself to hold out his hand and bring back even those most desperate to believe.  Like Rahab.

                Rahab knew conquest was coming.  The news of the Israelites had traveled ahead of them and put the fear of God into the hearts and minds of the people of Jericho and all of Canaan.  And yet all the rest of them did not choose God.  But about ten days after she made her deal with the spies, Rahab would open her door, the door to a house built upon the wall of Jericho, it was that big and that thick, and she would see the destruction of the Lord’s hand on the city around her as God’s people came to lead her and her family to safety. 

                This is the promise of Christmas.  This is the promise of the birth of Jesus, that any who believe would know God’s love.  That is why, I believe, Matthew put her name down in Jesus’ genealogy, so all would know her story and know what it is that God does for us to be saved that all we must do is accept the free gift of salvation in Jesus.  Amen. 

 

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (from The Heidelberg Catechism)

Q. 61. Why do you say that you are righteous by faith alone?

A. Not because I please God by virtue of the worthiness of my faith, but because the satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ alone are my righteousness before God, and because I can accept it and make it mine in no other way than by faith alone.

PASSING OF THE PEACE

THE OFFERING OF OUR TITHES & GIFTS  (Luke 1:68)

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.” As blessed, redeemed, and favored people, may we share what we have been given so generously at this time.

 

*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 (from Philippians 1:4)

Holy God, I thank you for these people. I thank you for this assembled body. And I thank you for their continued faithfulness. I find myself constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for each and every one of them because of their sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. Bless these our gifts and multiply them into your blessings! Amen.

 

INVITATION

All are welcome at God's table - at Christ's table - at this table. People from near and far. Neighbors and strangers. Young and old. Rich and poor. In whatever way you know the Christ, know you are invited to eat and drink with him... and with us. Alleluia!

 

God be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to God.

Let us give thanks to God, our God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

 

We do say thank you, loving God. We thank you for creating the heavens and the earth. We thank you for being the source of all life and all creation - for sharing with us the tiniest seed and the grandest stars... for creating us - with our tears and our laughter, with our joy and our sorrow, with our curiosity and our thinking... with our life. We thank you for Jesus, the Christ - for all that he learned from you and in you, for all that he taught, for all that he shared with the disciples, and all that he shares with us. Thank you, loving God!

Therefore, we praise you, wonderful God, joining our voices to sing out the glory of your name!

 

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of Power, God of Might. 

Heaven 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!

 

THANKSGIVING

We rejoice that, through Eve and Adam and all of their children, You entered into relationship with us. We rejoice that, through Sarah and Abraham and all of their children, You entered into covenant with us.   But we also remember that the covenant and relationship with You has been broken, many times by our ancestors - and by us.

Each time the covenant was broken, You invited us back! Through prophets and pastors and wise ones, You invited us back! And still we broke faith with You. But, at the right time, You sent Jesus to live with us.

Given life by the Holy Spirit, given life by the decision and action of your favored one, Mary, He came to share our life - to bring us back to each other and to our covenant with you! At the Jordan River Your Spirit came upon him, calling Him to tell the world the good news of your love. He healed people who were sick and fed people who were hungry. He cried with those who mourned and danced with those who celebrated. He looked for people who were lost and alone... and helped them to understand that they were welcome at your table! He lived out the fullness of your grace. We saw his holy love.

 

INSTITUTION

On the night before he was put to death, Jesus gathered with his friends for a special meal. He took bread and gave thanks to you, O Lord. He broke the bread and offered it to those gathered around him, saying, "Take this and eat; this is my body which is given for you, do this in remembrance of me."

Taking a cup, he once again gave thanks to you, and shared the cup with those gathered, saying: "This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood. Drink from this, all of you. This is poured out for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins."

After the meal, Jesus was arrested. His disciples and friends ran away. He was beaten for what people thought he had said. He stood trial... and was put to death on a cross. He gave all of himself to your people, O God. His life and his death. Then you raised him from that death, holy God - that he might be one with you, now and forevermore!

As we remember his death, proclaim his resurrection, and look for His coming again, we offer to you, O God, this bread and this cup. Send your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts, so that everyone who eats and drinks at this table might be one in Christ's body... your holy people.

Through Christ, with Christ and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory is yours, God most holy, now and forever more!

 

LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our 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.

 Jesus Christ, the bread of life. Jesus Christ, the true vine. The gifts of God, for the people of God. Thanks be to God! Come, for the table is prepared and our cup is overflowing.

 

SHARING THE BREAD AND THE CUP

 

 

*CLOSING HYMN #513        “O Little Town of Bethlehem”

1. O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie; above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by. Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light; the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

 

2. For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above, while mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love. O morning stars together, proclaim the holy birth, and praises sing to God the king, and peace to all on earth!

 

3. How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given; so God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven. No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in.

 

4. O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray; cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today. We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell; o come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!

 

*BENEDICTION

 

*THREE FOLD AMEN

 

Portions of the Liturgy written by Brian Coulter, pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth, Texas   

No comments:

Post a Comment