A couple years ago I decided that I was going to make Advent into something special, a bit of a big deal. My phrase was to “make Advent a thing”. The initial inspiration came in fall 2021, in the middle of Covid, as we were preparing ourselves for something, but really tired out from everything. It was hard to be giddy and all wassailing with so much stress. We needed a space to step back, reflect, heal. Then, as we were getting more of our services online, the idea came to bring back mid-week Advent services as a time for that healing and processing. If people couldn’t physically come, we could put it online. Maybe someone far away would find God’s presence in the time.
Since then I’ve tried to lean into Advent, making it its own big deal, but finding ways to do that that are relevant. Years ago I gave up preaching the appointed texts in the lectionary (the set of Bible readings that come with each day of the church year). They usually include John the Baptist calling the priests a “brood of vipers”, Jesus prophecying the end of the world; John the Baptist getting his head cut off; and maybe a little Virgin Mary the last week. It was so tone deaf, in a hectic season saturated with emotions, memories, events, we were preaching about “bearing fruits worthy of repentance” so we wouldn’t get burned in the fire. I couldn’t do it anymore.
Advent is not just a time of getting ready for Christmas, not in the church year. Originally it stated mid-November, and could run as much as seven weeks. It coincided nicely with themes of darkness and long night for our northern European friends. They wrote some of the best hymns in the book for it. And, for them, it probably had little to do with John the Baptist either. It was spending lots of time huddled together telling stories, reading the Bible, and eating the dried food you processed in the fall.
This year I’m going with a theme that I got from a Christian art collective called sanctifiedart.org. I’ve used their stuff before, because it’s creative, comes with pictures and poems and lots of really good reflections on life and faith for the season. This year the theme is “How Does a Weary World Rejoice?” It’s not about weariness, as much as honestly finding the space in ourselves to rejoice in the face of it. Too much modern Christianity, in my opinion, glides over topics of grief, loss, struggle, doubt in favor of a manufactured rejoicing that can feel disjointed to the pains of modern life. Yes, I want to celebrate the season, but….my husband/wife/child died around this time and all I have are memories of loss that keep coming up. Yes, I want to smile and laugh and share a warm cider, but…..I’m drowning in anxiety about the state of the world. Of course I want to win the holiday school bake-off, but…..I am worried about my kids’ future. We’re not trying to wallow in grief, but grief finds us, and won’t let us push it aside. We want to sit in God’s presence, feel the warmth of the glow of grace, in the place where we are now.
That’s why I was so excited about this theme. We’re going to rejoice, but do so authentically. We’ll take a look at four different stories in the Gospel of Luke that lead up to Jesus’ birth, and reflect a bit on the people, their stories, their struggles, their joys, and their encounters with God. We’ll walk through with them, and let them guide us to light in the darkness, and hope in the midst of pain.
Each Sunday will be a different story. I’ll give handouts to everyone with the images, poetry, and reflections for the day when you come to the service. December 6th will be a healing service, a space for you to dwell and reflect on the wounds/pains/traumas/stresses you have and bring them to God in prayer. Our prayer team will be there to pray with you. It will be livestreamed, and we will monitor and respond to online prayer requests as well.
On December 17th will be the Longest Night service, specifically tailored to finding space to process grief, loss, and related concerns right before the big Christmas celebrations. The service will follow an order based around the theme of “rejoicing in a weary world”, and will include dedicated chunks of time to sit back, pray, reflect, and bring your grief to the God who loves you and is with you in all things. Also livestreamed.
December 24th falls on a Sunday this year, and we will do a combined service at 10am in the morning, using the traditional/liturgical format – with the children’s sermon, kids chat, and the Advent themes.
Christmas Eve services will be 6pm contemporary and 8pm traditional services.
As usual, no services on December 25th.
The next service is the combined service of lessons and carols on December 31st at 10am.