P December 5, 2021 Parables Of DIVINITY Gestating In Darkness

ADVENT WORSHIPHoly Cross Lutheran ChurchProgressive In Approach:Christlike In Action!December 5, 2021DIVINITYGestating in DarknessParables ofPastor DawnHutchings, Musician: Marney CurranWorship Team: Marney Curran, Eric Schultz,Andrew Slonetsky, Sharon Willan, Jane WinstanleyWelcome:Prelude:GESTATION IMusic printed underLiscenSing #1975Marney CurranCall to Worship:What good is it to me if Mary gave birth to CHRIST twenty-one centuries ago and I don’t givebirth to CHRIST in my person and my culture and my times?So, let us prepare room in our lives to bear CHRIST to the world!In the parables which sustain us, in darkness the future waits to be born.Let us fill the empty mangers confident that the birth will come.In the parables which sustain us, we hear the echoes those who cry for justice.Let us respond to the cries of our blessed Mother the Earth with WISDOM.In the parables which sustain us, angels sang their glorious praise.Let our songs of gratitude move us to labour together as we give birth to peace on Earth.Thanks be to All that IS HOLY for the hope which thrives even in darkness!Thanks be to the ONE who yearns to be born in us, our LOVER, BELOVED,and LOVE Itself. Amen.

Song:When the Wind of Winter BlowsMusic: Lori True; Words: Ruth DuckGreetingThe Cosmic ONE, the SOURCE of All that IS,the MYSTERY who rises in every act of compassionand the power of LOVE’s flow, is with you all!Thanks be to ALL that IS HOLY!Prayer of the DayAs we explore the contours of darkness, may the LIGHT of the MYSTERY which is LOVE, guideus. Let us trust LOVE’s power to shine LIGHT in, with, through and beyond us.Let us rely on LOVE’s power to empower us to reflect the LIGHT. Let us tend to those amongus whose vision has dimmed and with our lives shine LIGHT in the darkness. Let the LOVEshine LIGHT upon the darkness so that we might find pathways of justice which lead to peaceon Earth and peace for the Earth. We pray in the name of the MYSTERY, the LIGHT whichdarkness cannot overcome,which is our LOVER, BELOVED, and LOVE Itself, Amen.

Song:GOD Is WithinMusic: AR HYD Y NOS; Words: George StewardFrom beginning to each endingGod is within.Human and divine keep blending;God is within.In our coming and our going,In our learning and our knowing,As we struggle in our growingGod is within.When supportive help is neededGod is within.When our limits are exceededGod is within.When life is a hopeless jigsaw,When we cry, “We cannot take more,”When downtrodden we survive, forGod is within.When we act with human virtueGod is within.Strive for fine ideals we value,God is within.When we guard and guide each otherWith compassion, we uncoverOur true self and we discoverGod is within.

First ReadingRomans 8:20-25We know that the whole Creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not onlythe Creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the SPIRIT groan inwardly whilewe wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.For in hope we were saved.Now hope that is seen is not hope.For who hopes for what is seen?But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.Acclamation:Gospel Parable:Now the FullnessLuke 1:39-49Mary set out in those days and went to the hill country with haste, to a Judean town.There Mary entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.Now when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled withthe HOLY SPIRIT.Elizabeth exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of yourwomb.From where does this visit come to me?That the mother of my SOVERIGN comes to me?Look! As soon as I heard the sound of your greeting in my ear, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.Now blessed is she who believed that there would be fulfillment of those things spoken to her by theHOLY ONE.”Reflection:Nativity: a parable born in the darkness of trauma.

Song of the Day:Come Touch Our HeartsMUSIC: Marney Curran; TEXT: Gordon LightPrayers of the PeopleJane Winstanley:Gestating in darkness.God of Love free us to embrace the darkness of winter.Let our ideas, visions, dreams and wisdom grow into maturity in the womb of winter.This Advent while we prepare to celebrate your gift of incarnation let us align our lives to the pattern oflonger evenings and shorter daysAs the plants become dormant, and the bears hibernate waiting patiently for light to draw them out of theearth, so may we allow ourselves a time of quiet, a time of reflection, a time to ponder your Love.Remind us to treasure this time of waiting, knowing that you are present within each and every one of us.Bring us to increasing wholeness of heart, mind and spirit so we can bring light and love to those wholive in the darkness of despair.

Sharon Willan:“Holy darkness, blessed night, heaven’s answer hidden from our sight”. The words of thisfavourite old song have been moving slowly in my mind all week. I think in these dark times, it’sdifficult to see darkness as either holy or blessed. And definitely the answer is not from heaven.And still the melody plays over and over.LOVING MIDWIFE we know from astronomers, astrophysicists, that over 13 billion years agothere was a dark Void, a penetrating darkness. How can we fathom the birthing of trillions ofgalaxies, stars, planets filling this void and still expanding ever forward, still birthing a plenitudeof light. How can we grasp the diversity and beauty of our Earth? The immense dark void birthedLife and Light.HOLY DARKNESS, what a mysterious universe we live in: 85% is darkness - 27% being darkmatter and 68% dark energy. We live surrounded and enveloped in darkness. The unknownsubstance of this darkness is necessary for the gravitation of and movement of galaxies andstar clusters. Thank you for such an immense gift. We begin to understand a little what it meansto live in, with, through, and beyond You.But, HOLY ONE, today it feels as if we are enveloped in a dark void. We cringe when we hearthe word - omicron and wonder if this will be the variant that breaks through the vaccine. Wewonder if our families and friends will be able to gather for Christmas and if they do, will it besafe for them. We fear for some family members who refuse the vaccine, not for medical reason,but because of some far-fetched conspiracy theory and we cry as families are torn apart.WEEPING ONE, we lament with you as hundreds of people are turned away from a safe havenand not allowed to cross borders. - refugees from cruel modern day Herods who pillage villages,kill indiscriminately, and force peaceful people from their homes. Compassionate One, infuse uswith compassion for the stranger, the terrorized children, the pregnant women, a demoralizedpeople.We are learning that darkness can be like a warm comforter on a cold night. We snuggle deepinto its folds and rest our hearts and minds.HOLY LIGHT beckon us out of our concerns and instil your holy light within us. Let us beLIIGHT! Let us say and act as if “enough is enough”. Let us insist that policies be just for all. Letus work to place priorities that meet the needs for Indigenous Peoples, women, children,immigrants, people who are homeless and those who cannot pay rent and buy food at the sametime - for those marginalized by the upside down policy priorities of our society andgovernments.HOLY DARKNESS, as you envelop us in this void, may we gestate the LIGHT needed today.May we recognize that every person, situation, and action is holy. Let us find one small thing wecan do each day to be Heavens answer in the silence of this night. Like stones dropped in watermay these actions ripple outward everywhere.Let us be ripples of LIGHT sparkling in the darkness. May we welcome your Darkness that birthsjustice and love in us.

Andrew Slonetsky:Where we live the seasons are very, very, clear. Hard to believe that a few weeks ago thestreets were brilliant yellow, orange, red. The trees still had colour in them. Everywhere you lookwas a riot of colour and now there's not a trace. The leaves are bare from the trees, barely thereon the ground, and those that are dead no colour at all, as if they're suggesting a transitionbefore our white arrives, incredibly brilliant white. But it's everywhere breathtaking. And so, inthis in between time like the trees waiting for the next phase I wait . . .Eric Schultz:GOD eternal, your vastness is beyond my comprehension and yet I yearn to know you.I have heard the stories, read the stories, prayed the stories, told the stories, even preached thestories. The stories, the myths, the parables of the messengers and the message encouragingme onward but with a slow and deliberate pace.My impatience screams out for the fulfillment of story – NOW, but the timing is not mine tocontrol. I fight until I am too tired to fight, and then in the quiet exhaustion that follows I begin tobe more open to you, with nothing left to do but wait. I do not wait well.My frantic mind Oh GOD says we cannot wait, the doomsday clock continues to creep forwardevery year, the climate clock counts down every second.I have to do something, and then I look at the world around me entering winter hibernation modeand I too desire a rest.Waiting is not the same as resting, waiting – keeping vigil – can be filled with anxiousanticipation. Before the starting line we wait, after the finish line we rest.May I wake each day with hope and rest each night with peace.Do not let my rest become complacency turned into regret when the clock stops, and the springno longer comes.What leaps with in us?How do we respond to your holy presence in the greeting of another?December brings parties, get-togethers, family gatherings and meeting strangers on the streetor in the check-out line.May we take time to greet one another with genuine positive regard, acknowledge thesacredness of the moment, and see your presence in ourselves as much as in the other.May the greeting “hi, how are you?” become an invitation into genuine conversation that wemight be your messenger of care and compassion that causes joy to grow in another.Infinite God, not bound by time or space, not owned by clan or race; touch our hearts, our souls,our minds. Touch us from the place within. Amen.

SongGOD IS Present in Each BabyTUNE: IRBY; Text: William L. WallaceBlessing & PeacePostludeGestation IIBy Marney Curran

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Let us respond to the cries of our blessed Mother the Earth with WISDOM. In the parables which sustain us, angels sang their glorious praise. Let our songs of gratitude move us to labour together as we give birth to peace on Earth. Thanks be to All