Celebrate!? Good Times!? Come ON!!

(A Dialogue Reflection for Christmas Eve 2009)

P= Preacher struggling to prepare for Christmas Eve Service
G= God

P: [singing/listening to We Need a Little Christmas] AUGH! This just isn't working! This has got to be wrong. God! You there God! What am I supposed to say this year?!?!
G: You called?
P: You're darn right I called! You really expect me to talk about tidings of great joy this year?
G: Of course. It's Christmas, you do remember that the Christmas story is about good news and hope and all those things right?
P: Yes yes I know all that. It's just that it doesn't seem to fit this year. I mean Celebrate? Good Times? You have to be joking! Haven't you been watching the news these last couple of years?????
G: So times are tough. That doesn't change the story.
P: Times are tough?? That is an understatement. We have 2 major employers who have been closed for 2 years. The whole world is still struggling out of a major recession. We can't seem to find the will or the path to really address pollution and climate change. These aren't good times. Not even close.
G: SO? Where does it say that Christmas is about Good Times?
P: Pardon???
G: Where does it say that Christmas is about Good Times?
P: Well.. I guess it doesn't.
G: Of course it doesn't. Christmas is about all times. Christmas comes when things are going really well and when it is all falling apart. Christmas is about hope and promise and joy. When do you need those more than right now?
P: Well yeah but...
G: But nothing. What happens at Christmas? What do you talk about?
P: Well there is the story of course. You remember, the baby in a manger...
G: You mean the baby born to peasants who had nothing, not even a place to stay. Go on.
P: And there are the angels appearing to the shepherds...
G: Messengers from me to folk who were among the lowest of the low in their place and time. Messengers bringing good news to people who had nothing. Messengers telling them that I am active in the world. GO on.
P: Well I guess that is about it. But the story is so old. Everybody knows it. What do I tell people that is new?
G: New is over-rated. I mean new is good sometimes, lots of times. But sometimes new and innovative gets in the way. Think about that story again. You must see that there is good news in there for the world today.
P: Well maybe. But it seems odd to talk about joy and celebration these days. What is there to celebrate?
G: Lots. Even when life is going badly there are small things to celebrate once in a while.
P: But joy? So many people are unhappy and anxious. What about joy?
G: Hey! Joy isn't about happiness! Christmas Joy has nothing to do with how much you laughed yesterday!
P: It doesn't?
G: NO! Christmas Joy is about recognizing that something special is happening. Christmas Joy is the rush you feel when you remember that you are not alone. Christmas joy is in the promise that I am active in the world. IT isn't about happiness, it goes much deeper. It's about faith and hope. Joy to the World! Listen to the angel song again. And think about that story. Who is in it? What happens to them? I just told you what was important about it.
P: The story? I told you we all know the story. A baby in a manger, angels and shepherds.[pause] oh, you mean that stuff about the couple who had nothing and messengers to the lowest of the low...
G: Now you're getting it. Do you maybe see what needs to be said this year?
P: Sort of. But...
G: I told you, no buts. That song you were just singing. Did you pay attention to the part where it says For I've grown a little leaner, grown a little colder, grown a little sadder, grown a little older,
P: Yeah, that was the part I really found meaningful this year.
G: well the important part is right after that. Think about what it says: I need a little angel sitting on my shoulder, need a little Christmas now. For we need a little music, need a little laughter, need a little singing, ringing through the rafter, and we need a little snappy "Happy ever after," need a little Christmas now.
P: Hey yeah. That matches what we need to hear right now! We need a little Christmas Joy and hope and promise. We need to remember that the angels are still singing to us about tidings of great joy for all people. We need to join in the song about peace on earth, goodwill to all.
G: And the fact that these aren't good times?
P: That's why we need to hear it! Just like the story is full of people who live hard lives being reminded that You are with them, we need to be reminded that we are not alone. Even with everything that seems to be going wrong around the world we can tell the story again and remember that You continue to break into the world today.
G: Now you've got it! That is what Christmas is all about! I really don't care whether anyone believes that Luke got the story right. Arguing about what really happened when Jesus was born isn't what Christmas is all about. Christmas is all about the future, not the past. Christmas is all about people being able to recognizing that I am active in the world around them. Christmas is a promise that things can get better.
P: Thanks for that! If there was ever a time when we need a little Christmas this is one of them. Joy to the World! God is here, we are not alone. Let's all celebrate! Come ON!

Litany of Hope and Promise

Note:  the final 5 lines at the end of each section come from Seasons of the Spirit.

God, there is so much worry and anxiety around the world.

Things seem so unsettled and unstable.

And yet the story of faith reminds us to hope for the future.

Help us to see the possibilities that always come with birth,

help us to be people of hope,

help us live out Your hope and justice.

Teach us to sing your praise, O God.

Teach us to sing with notes formed by hopes and acts of justice.

Teach us to sing with harmonies shaped by mercy’s wide embrace.

May all the earth join the chorus and dance to your beating heart.

God, through wise ones of old you show us a vision of what could be.

Through mystics and prophets of today you challenge our vision of the present.

Remind us of that vision of peace and justice.

Empower us to live as if we believed it was really possible.

Teach us to sing your praise, O God.

Teach us to sing with notes formed by hopes and acts of justice.

Teach us to sing with harmonies shaped by mercy’s wide embrace.

May all the earth join the chorus and dance to your beating heart.

God today there are many who wonder where their next meal will come from,

today there are many who look for work and income,

today there are many who look for meaning in the face of life's disappointments.

Soon we will sing of a child that is born.

Soon we will here tidings of great joy that shall be for all people.

As we tell the story and celebrate the birth, push us look into the face of the newborn,

and see there a world of possibility.

If indeed the birth of any child is Your message of hope for the future,

may we see that hope this Christmas.

Teach us to sing your praise, O God.

Teach us to sing with notes formed by hopes and acts of justice.

Teach us to sing with harmonies shaped by mercy’s wide embrace.

May all the earth join the chorus and dance to your beating heart.

God, centuries later we hear again the promise of Dame Julian that

All will be well, all will be well, all manner of things be well.

And part of us finds it to be unbelievable that such a promise could be true.

When our despair grows and the shadow threatens to overcome the light,

remind us that we are people of hope.

When we are tempted to find relief from the present in trying to recreate the past,

call us to be people of the future.

When life's music has faded, or become a funeral dirge,

Teach us to sing your praise, O God.

Teach us to sing with notes formed by hopes and acts of justice.

Teach us to sing with harmonies shaped by mercy’s wide embrace.

May all the earth join the chorus and dance to your beating heart.

For December 20, 2009 -- Advent 3C

CALL TO WORSHIP
In the darkest time of the year,
God calls us to come and seek the light.
In a world where hardship is real,
God calls us to come and hear words of promise.
As we prepare for the coming of a baby,
God calls us to come and worship together.
Let us pray…

OPENING PRAYER

God who brings new life into existence,

we await the birth of hope in our lives.

In our time prayer and song and listening,

open our hearts and minds to the promises of Christmas.

Move within and among us during this hour.

Filling us with hope,

reminding us to look forward to a new future,

calling us to embrace the possibility of new life.

We pray in the name of the baby who is coming, who as an adult taught his friends to pray the words we now sing…

COMMISSIONING AND BENEDICTION
Once again we have heard the old promise of a baby
Once again we have heard the gracious acceptance of God’s challenge to carry the child.
We also have heard the promise and hope of a mother foreseeing a new and better world.
As inheritors of that promise we go out to share its hope with the world in which we live and work and play.
As people of the promise, as people of hope, we go knowing that we never walk alone, God walks with us always. Amen

For December 6, 2009 -- Advent 2C

CALL TO WORSHIP

Closer and closer the day comes.

Soon the hills and valleys will ring with songs of praise.

As we prepare for the birth of a child,

as we prepare for the birth of hope,

we gather together in worship and praise

OPENING PRAYER
God of Advent, God of Christmas, as we prepare for the coming festival
remind us to take time for quiet amidst the noise and bustle of the season.
In our time of worship and listening this morning,
open our hearts and minds to your voice and wisdom.
We pray in the name of the child who later taught his friends to pray the words that now we sing…

PRAYER OF CONFESSION/ASSURANCE OF PARDON

God, you call us to follow The Way.

And we confess that we find it hard at times.

You lay out a set of priorities that lead to life, and that in abundance

But we have our own ideas about what is most important.

For those times when our priorities get in the way of our attempts to follow your path,

forgive us we pray.

For the days when we seem blind and deaf to the messages you are sending us.

forgive us we pray. And open us to see and hear.

…time of silent prayer…

For centuries uncounted God has sent prophets and messengers to call God’s straying people back to The Way. God is loving and forgiving. We are a forgiven people.

Thanks be to God! Amen.