Joy of Home
Service of Worship
Eastern Parkway United Methodist Church
December 12, 2021
Third Sunday of Advent
Rev. Natalie Bowerman, Pastor
Prelude
Greeting and
Announcements
Mission
Statement: We are a faith community striving to be, to nurture, and to send forth
disciples of Jesus Christ.
Lighting of the
Advent Candle
Words by Derek Weber
Reader One: It’s a reunion, every time we go home, every
time we embrace those we love, no matter how long it has been. It feels like
sunrise, like the clouds are parting and the rain has ended. It is joy, nothing
less than pure joy to grab hold of those who are home for us, who make home for
us. Whether we wake up to them every day, or travel many miles to see them
again, it is joy to go home.
Reader Two: The prophet Zephaniah tells us to rejoice at
the thought of going home. The prophet tells us to imagine being set free,
being unburdened, being released to live, to fully live in the grace and wonder
of life itself, surrounded by those who love us like no one else. And then to
live like that was our truth even now, even here. It is joy to go home.
Reader One: John the Baptist reminds us, however, that it
takes choices to live in this joy. It doesn’t just happen; we choose to make
life a joy by how we love others, by how we serve and give and care for others,
by how we do the job we do and how we impact the world around us. We build joy
as we build a home in this world and the next.
Reader Two: We light these candles, the candle of hope,
and of peace, and of joy, as a sign that we are on our way home, and we walk
with a skip in our step because we can see the destination, and it is pure joy.
It is time to go home.
Call to Worship
Dr. Derek C.
Weber, Director of Preaching Ministries, Discipleship Ministries of the UMC
A path to our God,
Winding through the ordinary,
Weaving through the busyness,
Overcoming roadblocks and detours.
A way to go home,
Leaving the past in the past,
Moving from darkness and exile,
Coming into the light.
Advent is a path to our God,
A way to come home,
A discovery of God's voice:
Rejoice, rejoice. God is with us!
Hymn 210: All the
Earth is Waiting
Prayer of
Confession
Lord God, we
praise you for sending light into this world. We confess that we live as though
the light had never defeated darkness. We confess that we ignore the Savior you
sent to be among us and to live in us. We’ve kept the birth of your Son
confined to the Christmas season and do not yearn for his coming each moment in
our waiting hearts. Forgive us for not opening our eyes to Jesus. Prepare us
for His return. Help us rejoice in the light so that your grace can illuminate
the darkened places of our hearts. Amen.
adapted from
the Worship
Sourcebook, by Jamie Barnes for the Sojourn Community Church in
Louisville, KY. Posted on The
Open Sourcebook website.
Assurance
Hear the Good News: nothing we can do,
and nowhere we can go, can separate us from the love of God through Christ. We
are forgiven, loved, and free. Amen.
Anthem
Luke 1: 5-25,
39-45
The Birth of John
the Baptist Foretold
5 In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was
a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His
wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 Both
of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the
commandments and regulations of the Lord. 7 But they had
no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.
8 Once when he was serving as priest before God
and his section was on duty, 9 he was chosen by lot,
according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord
and offer incense. 10 Now at the time of the incense
offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. 11 Then
there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the
altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was
terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. 13 But the angel said
to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife
Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. 14 You
will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for
he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong
drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. 16 He
will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 With
the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of
parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous,
to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” 18 Zechariah
said to the angel, “How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and
my wife is getting on in years.” 19 The angel replied, “I
am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to
you and to bring you this good news. 20 But now, because
you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will
become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.”
21 Meanwhile the people were waiting for
Zechariah, and wondered at his delay in the sanctuary. 22 When
he did come out, he could not speak to them, and they realized that he had seen
a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and remained unable to
speak. 23 When his time of service was ended, he went to
his home.
24 After those days his wife Elizabeth conceived,
and for five months she remained in seclusion. She said, 25 “This
is what the Lord has done for me when he looked favorably on me and took away
the disgrace I have endured among my people.”
Mary Visits Elizabeth
39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste
to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she
entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When
Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth
was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed
with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your
womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the
mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I
heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And
blessed is she who believed that there would be[e] a fulfillment of what was spoken to her
by the Lord.”
A Message
“Joy of Home”
Good morning, friends.
Today we’re starting with a story.
Yesterday was one of “those days” at
my house.
It was 11am. One kid had a potty
accident. I had just bought $200 worth of groceries, but “there was nothing to
eat”, and though he was slowly succumbing to starvation one kid heroically
mustered enough courage to throw a tantrum. I gave one child apple juice
instead of grape, and he looked upon me with the steel gaze you would save for
the assassin who poisoned you. One kid wanted to watch Blippi, one kid wanted
to watch Cocomelon, one kid wanted to watch Frozen for the 70,000th
time, and Daddy wanted to rip out his eyes and ears as a fourth option. You may
never have heard of any of those programs. If that’s true, bless you. You get
approximately twice as much sleep as me. The kid who had had the potty accident
was changed, but now a different child had shed the cruel bondage of his pull up
and was sprinting naked and free past our very large living room window. My
sincerest apologies to my neighbors. I chased after him and quickly crushed all
my dreams of ever competing in a marathon, but at least got my cardio in for
the day. The child who was starving crawled to the table where he was served a
large, healthy lunch that he threw on the floor. He then grabbed a bag of
chips. While I knelt on the floor scooping up grains of rice, my hair in a
struggle bun, rocking day 2 in the same yoga pants, Sean attempted to bring
some levity to the day by asking, “So, what’s the sermon about?” Putting down
the dust pan, I turned to him and answered completely earnestly, “The Joy of
Home.” It was the hardest Sean and I had laughed all week.
And I mean it. Because this sermon isn’t
about the happiness of home, and it certainly isn’t about the cleanliness of
home or you’d have to find someone else to preach it. Happiness is a reaction
to what’s around you, and it’s short term. I was happy that Chipotle put my
favorite salsa on my burrito last week. Joy is an attitude, and a fruit of the
Holy Spirit. It’s a choice, and it’s long-term. Joy doesn’t mean, or require, calmness,
desirable circumstances, favorable outcomes, or kids who eat their broccoli. Joy
requires a decision to look at the world around you and, no matter what, see
God.
Christmas is a very stressful time of the
year. The winter holiday season is, notoriously, the second highest peak of
mental health crises for the whole year, the highest happening at tax season. Some
of us are struggling with money right now. Some of us are navigating difficult
family dynamics and a Christmas dinner with that one outspoken uncle that you
can’t skip because it means so much to your mom. Some of us are lonely. Some of
us are missing family that lives far away, or who passed on. Though pandemic
life feels less scary this year than it did last year, some of us are still canceling
plans with family because we don’t want to risk getting someone sick whose body
couldn’t handle it. And as the winter solstice approaches and the days get
shorter and the nights get longer, darker, and colder, some of us look out the
window and simply feel glum. Seasonal depression is a very real thing.
The stars may not be aligning in your
life for you to have the reacting of happiness or contentment right now. But
faith in Christ is a powerful force. It takes over and builds a whole new
reality over the one we knew. Our faith invites us, and sometimes even commands
us, to build a new world, a new life, and a new home that may never quite feel
happy, but that is nonetheless full of the joy of the Lord.
While we grapple with these thoughts
this morning I share with you Luke’s account of two very important relatives on
Jesus’ family tree: Elizabeth and Zechariah. And, as with many stories that
eventually connect with Jesus, this one does not go the way we expect. Elizabeth
and Zechariah begin this story feeling, if not always joy, contentment in their
home. They are an elderly couple, and Elizabeth is Mary’s cousin. Not the kind
of cousin that you send a Christmas card to once a year but rarely talk to. A
close cousin. That detail becomes very important later. Elizabeth and Mary’s family
is notable from the perspective of biblical genealogy: a distant ancestor was
Aaron, Moses’ brother. Aaron began a line of the most highly regarded priests of
the Hebrew people, which makes Elizabeth the perfect match for Zechariah, a
priest himself, descended from Abijah. Despite their notable lineage, women
like Mary and Elizabeth are rarely seen for their inherent worth by their
intensely patriarchal society. They find their worth in whom they marry and to
whom they give birth.
Elizabeth has found deep meaning from
half of that equation. By all accounts, Zechariah is a good husband. Kind,
loving, and noble, with a good job and, as a priest, a social position of high
importance. He and Elizabeth were never able to have children, which was a
great shame to Elizabeth, as women faced 100% of the blame for a couple’s
infertility. Still, not being a father had little impact on Zechariah’s life
and reputation, and he and Elizabeth were comfortable with the idea that they
would never raise children, and their life’s work would be all about their
synagogue. Home for Elizabeth and Zechariah was, if not perfect, good enough.
Here to shake things up when everyone
gets too comfortable comes my favorite character in Jesus’ birth narrative: the
angel Gabriel. One night, as Zechariah offers incense at the altar and believes
he’s alone, Gabriel pops up. I can only imagine what Gabriel looked like, but he
must have looked out of place as both Zechariah and—as we will talk about next
week—Mary react with fear upon seeing him. He tells Zechariah not to be afraid,
because his life was about to be filled with joy: He was going to be a dad! His
son, John, would be a very special person who would bring many to God. But
Zechariah reacts with bewilderment and doubt: how can that be, he asks, when my
wife and I are way too old to have kids? Apparently this was the wrong day to
doubt Gabriel, because he has none of that. He retorts, “Yo, you’re gonna be a
dad because I said so. Duuhhh. Now you get to shut that blasphemous pie hole
until the baby gets here.” Zechariah goes home unable to speak, which, if
nothing else, must be a great vacation for Elizabeth.
All joking aside, though ,the most
important thing that happens in this story with Zechariah losing his voice is
it subverts the balance of power in this holy family, taking the men out of the
active role and instead empowering the women to preach the Good News, in a way
that only women can.
In a sense of reverence for what is
happening in her life, Elizabeth stays home and doesn’t visit anyone for the
next five months. This pregnancy has had an immense impact on her. While she
may have been content to live out her days as the childless wife of a priest,
the possibility of motherhood introduces a joy in her life that she never knew
was possible—as Jesus so often does. Elizabeth says as much in her own words,
that God was removing the disgrace of her barrenness.
In the meantime, Mary receives an
equally improbable pregnancy announcement, which will be the sole focus of next
week’s sermon (spoiler alert). She reacts to this news in a surprising way, by
immediately leaving home, and traveling to share it. It’s an interesting
thought experiment: if you had news that was anything like Mary’s, who would
you tell first? For many of us it would be our spouse or partner, but Mary
doesn’t talk to Joseph at all. Considering she’s barely a teenager, you could
reasonably expect she’d go talk to her mom. But nope. Maybe her best friend? We
actually don’t know the names of any of Mary’s friends. Who were her closest
confidants? She makes her way to the home of her dear cousin Elizabeth, to tell
her that she’s having a baby. Would any of you tell your cousin first? When I
shared each of my pregnancy announcements I don’t know if any of my cousins
even made the top ten (no offense to them), much less were they in that number
one spot.
There’s something incredibly powerful
in friendship, family, and especially in that person who is your blood by
chance but your ride or die by choice. If you, like Mary, may fear for your safety
now that you’re an unwed pregnant teenager, that person keeps you safe. If,
like Mary, you fear that your parents and betrothed could both disown you, this
special person makes a home for you. And if you, despite embarking on such a
crazy journey, are filled with unexplainable joy, this person shares it with
you. Fetal John the Baptist leaps in the tummy of Elizabeth, and she takes that
as a wonderful sign that she is in the presence of the Lord. The first two
people to declare that Jesus is Lord are Mary and Elizabeth. The first two
people to experience a miracle at Jesus’ tiny paddle hands are Mary and
Elizabeth. To the world they may just be wives and mothers. But the joy of
Christ is about to turn over that whole social order and make prophets and
priests from the ones who were once barefoot in the kitchen.
Chances are that, even if things in
your life are relatively easy going, you’re still finding some extra challenges
during this season. And some of us may have a list of burdens a mile long. What
would it be like for you to face those challenges with a Mary-and-Elizabeth
attitude? What would it be like if you stared in the face of something daunting
you, and proclaimed that your struggles were powerless to steal your joy? Could
the joy of the Lord transform you from an ordinary person to a prophet? What
would it be like for you to have the bravery of Gabriel in the face of doubt
and uncertainty, and to tell your troubles to shut their mouths and quit
wasting your time with their lies? A near-ferocious level of strength arises
from the soul that has embraced joy. As you care for your own home this season,
and as we the Church make for one another a home in Christ, may our homes be
imbued at all times, if not with happiness, abundant joy.
Amen.
Hymn 221: In the
Bleak Midwinter
Offering,
doxology, and prayer of dedication
Pastoral Prayer
and Lord’s Prayer
Good and gracious God,
we give you thanks for gifts of life,
for gifts of love and joy during this season,
for gifts of comfort when we do not or cannot feel that joy,
for gifts of healing and mercy,
for gifts of patience and serenity,
for gifts of hope as we prepare our hearts for Christmas.
Christ’s presence changes our world,
so we pray that he may indeed be born in us once again,
that we may be continually born anew,
that the whole world would be reshaped and reborn
as your kingdom emerges around us and within us.
May your Spirit stir within us,
and cause us to long for the day
when earth will in fact be like heaven.
It is this radical vision of a new
heaven and a new earth
for which we pray,
using the words Jesus taught us.
~ written by John W. Vest, and posted
on John Vest. http://johnvest.com/
Hymn 237: Sing We
Now of Christmas
Benediction
Be people of joy.
Let joy live in your heart and share the joy of Christ with all you meet.
Share joy by seeing the good in each other.
Share joy by remembering good times and hoping for good times to come.
Share joy by praying for our world.
In this Advent season, we need to see, feel, and share joy.
As you go out into the wonder of God’s creations, share joy, peace, and hope
with those you meet. Amen.
Postlude
All scripture comes from the New
Revised Standard Version
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