A Christmas Prayer (2020)

 NOTE: Every Sunday this Advent season a piece of poetry has been worked into the sermon. This prayer uses bits from each of those poems.

God of Christmas,
we open our hearts and our lives to you.

Peace upon earth is the prayer we offer
Peace was the promise when Jesus was born
Peace to all [kin], Peace once again
To this war-weary, war-worried world this morn.
(from Peace on Earth by Miriam Therese Winter, Medical Mission Sisters ©1971)
God of peace, at Christmas you open a window on the possibility of peace.
You reach into our troubled hearts and troubled world,
and tell us that peace is possible.
Spread, we pray, your arms across the globe this holy night.
Where hearts are troubled, bring them comfort.
Where relationships are strained, bring open ears and hearts.
Where conflict reigns, bring a pause in the violence.
God of Peace, we pray for peace tonight.

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth [God] sleep
The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to [all]."
(from Christmas Bells by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ©1863)
God of hope, with the birth of the Christ-child hope is born on earth.
Throughout this past year hope has sometimes seemed far away.
Social distancing and daily case counts and lockdowns
have sometimes made us wonder where we are headed.
On this Christmas night, remind us,
open our eyes and ears and hearts to angels proclaiming
Good news which shall be for all people, the Saviour is born.
God of Hope, reawaken hope in our hearts tonight.

Someday soon we all will be together
If the fates allow
Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow
So have yourself a merry little Christmas, now
(from Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Hugh Martin ©1943)
God of Joy, joy which somehow seems distant this year,
muddling through, making it up as we go along has been a big part of 2020.
This has not been the year we would have asked for,
this has not been the Christmas season we asked for.
God who brings tidings of great joy, on this night of nights,
reach into the souls of those who can not find joy,
touch the broken hearts of those who mourn, who are anxious, who are ill,
appear in our pain and anxiety and bring us comfort.
God of Joy, joy which comes from the promise of your presence,
help us share tidings of comfort and joy tonight.

Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine,
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and Angels gave the sign.
(from Love Came Down at Christmas by Christina Rossetti ©1885)
God of Love, in the Christmas manger we see love smiling up at us.
As we sing the old songs and share the old stories,
we hear you inviting us into the great love story of the ages.
In this world of relationships, remind us how to live lovingly with each other.
God who loves the world so deeply
help us love each other as we have been loved.
In this world of fear and anger and ill-will,
spread love far and wide, touching and changing the hearts of your children.
God of love, love lying in a manger, love announced by a star and angels,
fill our hearts with love this night.

God of Christmas,
we open our hearts and our lives to you.
Fill the world with peace and hope and joy and love tonight.
In this year which has been so very different than others,
we look forward to the future and wonder what it will bring.
Open our eyes to see the promise of a baby in a manger,
open our hearts to be changed by his presence.
Amen.