This year, we saw Advent as a journey and observed that our journey began with our plea and continued through God's responses to that plea, responses of preparation, proclamation, and promise. For me, it was a moving and touching journey and one that brought me to the celebration of Christmas.
We normally return from our journeys with snapshots and sound bites of what we experienced - particularly the parts of the journey that made the greatest impression on us. And when we get back, we share those snapshots and sound bites with our friends and family.
Thus, instead of filling this space with my normal (albeit not always successful) attempts to be witty and amusing, I share with you my "Advent Album of Snapshots and Sound Bites":
November 27 - First Sunday in Advent "The Plea"
Greg, Jenny, Stacie, and Vivian making their commitments to serve Christ as members of this congregation (bringing our total for 2011 to 12); Abbie and Aaron at the baptismal font; Our sacred dance team sharing for the first time this Fall. And from the pulpit: "Our plea to God is not an individual plea, ("Come down to help me."), but rather a community plea ("Come down to help us)." "We expected God to answer our plea - not because we deserved an answer, but because of the love God had demonstrated for us in the past."
December 4 - Second Sunday in Advent "The Preparation"
Preparing to celebrate and announce Christ's birth through a sacrament based on Christ's own announcement of his forthcoming death. The hymn "Wild And Lone The Prophet's Voice;" And from the pulpit: "Preparation is not just something we do, but also something God does to - and for - us." "God, through Isaiah tells us to remove the obstacles impeding our joint journey by leveling the hills (sins of commission) and filling in the valleys (sins of omission) thereby creating a flat, fast, and unobstructed highway between us and God."
December 11 - Third Sunday in Advent "The Proclamation"
Our Men's choir sharing their gifts with us for the first time in a while; The chorus "Until Jesus Comes" And from the pulpit: "Proclaiming the good news of Christ's coming and the liberty, release, and comfort it brings is like a relay race, with God running the first leg, concluding it by passing the baton to Isaiah who runs the second leg and passes the baton to us; and you and I assuming responsibility for the third leg and for passing the baton to those who follow, fully recognizing that any failure on our part to pass the baton to those others is tantamount to giving up on the race that God started.
December 18 - Fourth Sunday in Advent "The Promise"
The Sunday School's telling the story of Christmas through a play written by our own Rachel Clements; The offertory by Warren, Debby, and Carrie Ann; The hymn "Star Child;" And from the pulpit: "The fact that God keeps God's promises gives us not only comfort and assurance, but also an example to follow."
Christmas Eve "Parents and Angels, and Shepherds, O My"
One hundred ninety seven worshippers, the most during my tenure here; The numerous poinsettias that decorated the pulpit area; Bette Baker, still celebrating her great nephew Edward's survival from premature birth and the death of his twin brother and his December release from a California hospital, placing the Christ Child into the stable while the rest of us held our candles and sang "Silent Night." From the pulpit: "The role of the shepherds (the first witnesses to the story) was not to simply be passive listeners any more than our role in the 21st century church is one of passive listening." "... in the story of his coming, we encounter this example of witnessing; and in the story of his going (his ascension), we hear him tell us to be witnesses and make disciples. Thus, on the first day and on the last day he was on this earth, we see the importance God places on witnessing. And none of us had better sit here - or stand here - on Christmas Eve and say that "we can't do it."
Christmas Morning: "Sharing Across Miles and Centuries"
Celebrating Christmas with music from many places and many times s The hymn "If I Could Visit Bethlehem;" And from the pulpit: "I sing this ("Go Tell It on the Mountain") and I picture Rafiki holding the new born Simba for the entire lion nation to see. What Rafiki was doing at the beginning of the movie was just what we are to be doing: proclaiming the birth of a king."
These are the memories I treasure most from our recent journey. You may have taken other snapshots. You may have selected other sound bites. But I hope that your memories moved, touched, and strengthened you as much as mine did me.
Jim