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The Revised Common Lectionary is a three year cycle of readings for worship. Each week the Lectionary suggests a reading from the Hebrew Text (Old Testament), the Psalms, the Epistles, and the Gospels.
Click on the dates below for music suggestions that tie in with the readings from the Revised Common Lectionary.
Advent Ideas - General
Background Music and/or Solos:
My picks for background music for dance or Solo music (please check with the composer for permission) this year come from Midwinter by Peter Mayer, www.blueboat.net.
The Advent journey to Bethlehem would be beautifully begun with an interpretative dance, or perhaps a setting of the Worship Space to the music of "Stables". The first section illustrates, "In Bethlehem a manger waits, Long ago and so today, Where hatred weary people pray Love will come and lay there."
I've used "My Soul" for a candle-lighting ritual during Lent, but it would be perfect for a Longest Night or Blue Christmas Service. It's sung in the first person, but the play of images between the eternity of the soul, the temporal nature of the body and the interconnectedness of the two is absolutely beautiful.
A much lighter choice would be "Christmas Morning" which offers endless Christmas lists only to suggest that you may get "everything you wanted" even if it's only "Another brand new day begun."
I recommend, especially for Advent 1 or 2, the song "Looking for the Dove". It is a beautiful lament over the loss of peace in our land. "Was is when we felt afraid? Or when we became us and them?"
Finally, for Epiphany, Peter has a wonderful piece sung from the perspective of the King seeking the child. "There's only so much a king can do to feed and clothe his multitudes... I thought this child from above Might be an answer to their prayers." In the end, as he reflects he realizes that the beauty and peace of the child in the stable is reflected in the faces of the children of his own kingdom.
Worship Space:
I have this picture in my head of a dancer setting the worship space, as I said, to the music of "Stables". Try to imagine a church filled with empty manger scenes; not just the one traditional set. Perhaps there is an anticipatory single light in some as a symbol of our waiting. Try to tie-in a ritual of some type which reflects the history and traditions of your congregation. Or, perhaps, add some element each week to support the focus text.
I also look back fondly to the last time I worshiped into this cycle at Holladay UCC in Salt Lake City, UT. We decided to decorate using the wonderful Mountain and wilderness images from Isaiah. We had a large table so we were able to build a mountain on it and still leave room for the communion elements. Below the mountain was a bubbling fountain. On Advent 3 the children's time invited them to create flowers and other life which would blossom in the wilderness. Finally, we draped the mountain in gold and added the poinsettias for Christmas eve.
Advent 1: December 2, 2007
If I were preaching...
Advent is a time of anticipation, but there's a difference between passive waiting and preparing. We have these wonderful prophetic words from Isaiah and it might be tempting to sit back and wait for God to fulfill the promise. But even in the prophesy there is invitation; "O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord." Romans and Matthew call for us to be fully awake. We are called to participate in the peace; to live honorably with no quarreling or jealousy. We are called to be attentive, to be ready for whatever may come. We never know when peace will break into our lives. It may very well be in the midst of the worst chaos. I have to wonder how often it walks into our lives and we don't recognize it because we aren't fully awake to the lives we've been given.
Advent 2: December 9, 2007
If I were preaching...
I'm caught by these two images of the tree and/or vine. Isaiah speaks of the shoot that will come from the tree of Jesse while John challenges the Pharisees and Sadducees to bear "Fruit worthy of repentance." Especially in the social context as a citizen of the United States, a nation with a misguided notion that we alone must fix the world to our liking, I think about the integrity of the tree. It's not about taking the world by force. It's not about defining the forest. It is, rather, bearing fruit - healthy, life-giving fruit - which is the tree's greatest accomplishment. When the fruit is healthy, not only does it nourish life around it as it is eaten, but the seeds that fall to plant a new crop will nourish the world for generations to come. These texts call us, as so many do, to stand with integrity and bear the fruits of peace and justice and equity for the health of the world, now and for generations to come.
Advent 3: December 16, 2007
If I were preaching...
The texts for this week give me the sense of hanging in the balance, not sure whether to continue to hope or finally just give up. Isaiah reminds that the ransomed shall return to Zion. James calls for patience amongst the believers and encourages them to strengthen rather than tear down their community. Then there is John's famous question, "Are you the one who is to come or are we to wait for another?" Where I live, there couldn't be a more fitting set of texts. Just days from the winter solstice, the lengthening days invite one to question whether spring will come. But the texts, and especially Isaiah, remind us that the Highway - the Holy Way - is a way of abundance and healing. Just when we think that darkness will overcome us, the days begin to lengthen and the sun shines brightly on the clean, crisp snows of January. Christ is coming, the birth is near, and new life is truly just around the corner.
Advent 4: December 23, 2007
If I were preaching...
Each year I try to celebrate faithfulness through the story of Mary, but in this cycle I think it's important to give Joseph his due. "Ask a sign of the Lord your God.” invites Isaiah. Ahaz refuses to test the Lord, but the sign comes none-the-less, a young woman is with child and shall be named Immanuel. The Matthew story parallels, and Joseph will do the naming. What faith! In a shame & honor based culture, knowing what others might speculate, Joseph claimed the child as his own. More than a silent bystander, he became caretaker, provider, and all that family required of a man for this woman and her child of suspicious origins. There is integrity and compassion in his choice. This story reminds us that we cannot know from where God's greatest blessings will come. We cannot know which child has been born to save us from ourselves and so in all things God calls us to err on the side of Grace.
Contact: jkwarner@northwinds.net
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