Service of Worship Sunday 13 December, 2015 7pm Opoho Church ‘Blue Christmas’

Welcome

Please remain seated throughout the service.  There will be times of silence, of prayer, of music and of words.  Feel free to sit quietly at the end for as long as you wish and also to join us for supper afterwards.  This is a time for all of us to reflect and to remember

Gathering

Some of us are here tonight because we the way ahead is bleak and we’re not sure we can celebrate Christmas.  Some of us have experienced the brokenness and emptiness of loss - through death, or separation or divorce. Some of us have come to honour and remember those who have gone before us – to acknowledge with thanks the way in which their lives touched ours.  Some of us have come to find some space in the hectic whirlwind of shopping and parties and preparations and to be still before the God who came to be among us. And some of us have come to support those who are carrying heavy hearts at this time.

We are all here because Jesus invites us:

“Come to me all of you who carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest.”

We’ve come for rest, we’ve come for comfort, we’ve come for the courage to go on.

A moment of silence ……

Let us pray: God of love and understanding, we gather here this evening to confront our pain in the midst of the world’s celebration.  Help us to know that you are present with us in all our moods and feelings and seasons. Grant us a taste of the Hope, peace, love and joy that you promise to all your people through the gift of your son Jesus. Amen.

As we gather, I would like to share the insight of Christine Worsley[1], a woman who was spending her first Christmas without her mother, after a lifetime of Christmas’s together as a family. A prayer to acknowledge the contradictions of the season and to name the loss amidst the sometimes forced gaiety.

It was a time for mourning but instead we danced.

Out of step with the heavy beat of our hearts, we feigned a lightness of foot.

But the tune of our memories grew loud and strong, beckoning us to stop and name you;

to allow you to lead us in the slow rhythmic movements of grief outpoured.

It was a time for weeping but instead we laughed.  Hollow nonsense filled the air.  We smiled the smile of fools. 

But the river of your presence burst the banks of our folly and flowed through us, summoning us to bathe our wounds in the cleansing tears of absence named.

It was a time for silence but we spoke.

On and on, straining to fill the spaces.

But your whispered song of stillness caressed our discordant words, teaching us to wait, to be still and listen.

To know you, lovingly with us.  Amen

At advent it is traditional to light candles – let us do so now.

	We light our first candle a single light that the deepest darkness cannot conquer – small – insignificant but a sign of hope.
	Let it speak to us of the tiny flame of hope buried within us – the stubborn little light that refuses to be extinguished by all that life has thrown at it.
	We light our second candle a companion to the first – equally small – equally insignificant – but witnessing to hope that another light brings.
	Let it speak to us of the lights of companionship – of our families and our friends – of strangers and kindnesses found in unexpected places that restored our hope in human nature.
	We light our third candle recalling nights of watching and waiting – sleepless – anxious when dawn seemed to ebb further from the horizon and hope seemed forlorn.
	Let it speak to us of the sureness of morning – of the passing of darkness of suffering – and the promise of an eternal sunrise dawning for those we have loved and lost and dawning too for us – though we may yet be in that darkest hour before the dawn.
	We light our fourth candle marking the closing of the Advent season and the immediacy of Christmas; a time of peace and joy we may not ourselves feel able to welcome – as our spirits dwell in dark and wintriness.
	Let it speak to us of hope – of being together in this place of healing and wholeness – of our companionship this night at the turning of the year – of faith that we and those we have loved and lost are held eternally in the hand of the One who brought light into being – and who knows each one of us by name.

Let us pray:

Creator God, lover of the universe,

we come to you in this quiet place

seeking your reassurance and your hope.

We come in the midst of noise,

listening for your gentle heartbeat.

To those who are chilled by grief and pain,

bring the warmth of your love.

To those who are overwhelmed

by feelings that exhaust and stifle,

bring the cooling breeze of your love.

To those who are caught in the glare of expectations,

bring the comforting darkness of your love.

To those who find themselves in shadows of anxiety,

bring the morning dawn of your love.

Breathe courage into our day.

Whisper strength into our dreams.

We ask these things in the name of your child, Jesus, who was born into a chaotic world of birth, death, and rebirth – just like today. Amen.

Hear now an interpretation of the prayer that Jesus taught:

Dear God, our Creator, beloved companion and guide upon the way, eternal Spirit within us and beyond us.

Let us honour your name in lives of costly, giving love.

Let us show that we and all whom we meet deserve dignity and respect, for they are your dwelling place and your home.

Let us share in action your deep desire for justice and peace among peoples of the world.

Let us share our bread with one another, the bread that you have shared with us.

Let us, in the spirit of your forgiving us, make friends with those we have harmed and failed to love.

Let us overcome our trials and temptations, our suffering and dying, in the strength and the courage which you overcame them too.

Let us in your love free the world from evil, transforming darkness into light.

For the whole universe is yours, and you invite us to be partners in the work of your creating.

Amen.  So be it.  So will we do it.

Jim Cotter and Paul Payton in Out of the Silence.....Prayer’s Daily Round.  P. 507.  Aberdaron: Cairns Publications, 2010

Listening to the Word

700 years before the time of Christ, a dreamer walked among the villages of Judah and through the streets of Jerusalem. They called him a prophet. Isaiah was his name.

He saw it every day - the pain, the conflict, the suffering, the anger, the warfare, the famine - Isaiah saw the injustice all around him, and knew there had to be a better way. In his heart and in his prayers, Isaiah heard the Holy One of Israel offer a dream of hope. And these are some words through which Isaiah expressed this dream.

Reading: Based on Isaiah 40:1-5

Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.

It is now a time to speak tenderly to you and say:

Your time of sorrow is over;

You have received more than your fair share of suffering.

A highway to your heart is being prepared for God’s love.

The valleys of despair will be lifted up and the mountains of challenge will be brought low.

Goodness and Loving Mercies will make their way to you and all shall see it.

There is a word of hope for the hopeless; a way for those who are groping in the shadows.

Remember, nothing is impossible for God

Hymn

Love came down at Christmas,

love all lovely, love divine;

love was born at Christmas,

star and angels gave the sign.

Worship we the God-head,

love incarnate, love divine;

worship we our Jesus:

but where is God’s sacred sign?

Love shall be our token;

love be yours and love be mine.

Love to God and neighbour,

love for plea and gift and sign.

     Words Christina Rossetti (alt) Tune Gartan

Responding to the Word

And now in a time of remembrance, reflection and letting go I will in a moment invite you to come forward to light a candle, perhaps to spill some petals in the water.  There are many prayers we might want to make as we do so:

To own the pain of losing loved ones, of dreams that go unfulfilled, of hopes that evaporate in despair.

To find the courage to confront our sorrow, to comfort each other, to share our feelings openly and to dare to hope in the midst of pain.

To give thanks for memories, of laughter and tears, of caring and sharing. 

To honour the love we have given and the love we have received.

Invite people forward and then there will be a time of quiet where there are no words, just music and our heart reflections.

Lighting of Christ Candle

We light this Christ candle, reminding us that Christ hears our cries, Christ knows our hearts and in the midst of it all Christ offers us hope and healing.

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Hope.

For those who lit our lives with joy,

for those who have touched us with tenderness,

for those whose loss fills us with longing,

Holy God, we give thanks in glad remembrance.

We celebrate those who have loved us for ourselves,

looking with acceptance on all that we are,

and cherishing us without condition or constraint.

Holy God, we give thanks in glad remembrance.

We celebrate those who have stood alongside us,

holding us in the depths of elation or despair

where words of joy or rescue fall silent.

Holy God, we give thanks in glad remembrance.

We celebrate those who would not let us stand still,

edging us gently into the open space

of new understanding and delighted exploration.

Holy God, we give thanks in glad remembrance.

We celebrate those who have challenged us to grow,

perceiving all that we have it in us to become

and daring us to dream beyond our imagining.

Holy God, we give thanks in glad remembrance.

We celebrate all that we have become,

living in the nurture of their love,

learning and growing in the shelter of their love,

enduring and finding hope in the courage of their love

For those who lit our lives with joy,

for those who have touched us with tenderness,

for those whose loss fills us with longing,

Holy God, we give thanks in glad remembrance.

Amen

Benediction

Go from here in peace and may the holy God prepare the way for you, may Jesus Christ take your hand on the way, and may the spirit surround you with grace.  Amen.

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[1] Doing December Differently  p.25