Thursday
12/21/17 Blue Christmas/Longest Night Sermon - Freeville UMC
Sermon Title: “Why we gather tonight”
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 80:1-7
New Testament
Scripture: Hebrews 10:32-39
Gospel Lesson:
John 16:31-33
Friends, sisters and brothers in Christ, welcome once again
on this our Blue Christmas or Longest Night service. For some of you, this
might be your first ever Blue Christmas or Longest Night Service. Perhaps some
of you have also been intrigued and curious as to why we have this specific
service of worship, especially during the Advent and soon to be Christmas
seasons. So why do we even have a Blue Christmas or Longest Night Service?
Well according to www.umcdiscipleship.org,
this service and other services like this, are done for these reasons:
“Blue? Yes, blue as in the blues. As in "I am
feeling blue." Not everyone is up and cheery for the Christmas holidays.
Dealing with the death of a loved one, facing life after divorce or separation,
coping with the loss of a job, living with cancer or some other dis-ease that
puts a question mark over the future, and a number of other human situations
make parties and joviality painful for many people in our congregations and
communities. There is a growing attentiveness to the needs of people who are
blue at Christmas. Increasing numbers of churches are creating sacred space for
people living through dark times. Such services are reflective, accepting where
we really are, and holding out healing and hope. Some churches hold a service
of worship on the longest night of the year, which falls on or about December
21st, the Winter Solstice. There is an interesting convergence for this day as
it is also the traditional feast day for Saint Thomas the Apostle. This linkage
invites making some connections between Thomas's struggle to believe the tale
of Jesus' resurrection, the long nights just before Christmas, and the struggle
with darkness and grief faced by those living with loss” (https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/blue-christmaslongest-night-worship-with-those-who-mourn).
With all of this said though friends, this service is also
a stopping point, a breather, a deep breath in a busy and a sometimes chaotic
season. Do you have to be going through a terrible time in your life to come to
this service? Of course not. Everyone is welcomed to this service, and I pray
that this service has and continues to be a time where you can feel whatever it
is you need to feel. Some of us have lit candles, and some of us have spoken
why we were lighting a candle. Maybe we have had a loss, maybe we are
struggling, or may we are feeling “blue”. Or maybe we just needed a little
stopping off point in this busy season of Advent and soon to be Christmas.
As my sermon title says, this is “Why we gather tonight”.
We gather because I am broken, because you are broken, but the God of the
universe remains unbroken. In our humanness we often call out to God, to Jesus,
asking for healing, and wholeness. We come tonight, to pray these prayers and
others, but we also come as the Church of Jesus Christ. As Christ’s Church, we
laugh together, we cry together, we move together, we grieve together, and we
live and grow our faith together. There are times in the life of the church therefore,
that are most joyous and upbeat, but tonight is a more somber time. Tonight is
a night to reconnect with God, and maybe with each other. May this night then,
be a night where we reveal to God our true selves, our broken selves, our real
selves. The only thing that can truly fill that void that is in our hearts and
souls, is the love and grace of God found through Jesus Christ. Tonight, on
this longest and this darkest night of the year, may we seek the light, life,
and love of Christ. We come together, we gather in the darkness, in the cold.
Together we mourn, pray, light candles, and put our hope in Jesus Christ. This
hope is also not only individual, but we do this as the church.
Even though we have many scriptures in both the Old
Testament or the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, some of these scriptures speak
of our mourning, pain, and suffering.
In our reading tonight from Psalm 80, for example, we hear
this pain. The Psalmist writes in 80:7:
“Restore
us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved”
(Ps. 80:7, NRSV).
I
think the reality is that we all need a little saving. We all are broken, and
we all need the healing grace of God, through Jesus Christ. Also, the great
thing about our Holy Scriptures is that we have all the moods of humanity
contained within them. Within our scriptures we have great joy, surprise, fear,
sorrow, and etc.
In our reading from Apostle Paul’s letter to the Hebrews
for tonight, we hear of suffering. Particularly we hear the Apostle Paul
talking about those who have suffered for their Christian faith, and for living
the love of Christ. The Apostle Paul writes:
“you endured a hard struggle with
sufferings, sometimes
being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes being partners
with those so treated. For you had compassion for those who were in prison, and
you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you
yourselves possessed something better and more lasting. Do not, therefore,
abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward”
(Heb.
10:32b-36, NRSV).
Friends, sisters and brothers in Christ, either we are
suffering tonight, we have suffered, or we will likely suffer at some point in
the future. Amidst all of this, this is “Why we gather tonight”. We gather to
call upon the power of God, the love of Christ, and the renewing of the Holy
Spirit.
In tonight’s gospel reading from the gospel of John, it
says:
“Jesus answered them, “Do you now
believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered,
each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because
the Father is with me. I have said this to you, so that in me you may have
peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered
the world!”
(Jn.
16:31-33, NRSV).
In this gospel
reading, Jesus was telling his disciples, the twelve people that he hand chose
to follow him, that all but one would abandon him. These twelve men that said
that they loved Jesus, the twelve who had sworn allegiance to Jesus and called
him Lord, would disown him. They would abandon him, and on the cross he would
be abandoned by all, except for the two Mary’s and John. He also had God the
Father with him, as well.
Perhaps
tonight some of us feel alone. Maybe you are hurting, or maybe you are doing
well? Maybe you came tonight out of curiosity, or maybe you came because you
just wanted a stopping off point in this busy season. Perhaps you came tonight
to take a breath, light a candle, pray, and to reflect.
Whatever had
brought us here tonight, “we gather tonight,” to pray, to seek God, to grow
closer to Jesus Christ. We gather to ask the Holy Spirit to fill us, to
remember, to reflect, and to be together in all of our joys and all of our
hurts. Tonight, friends, sisters and brothers, we are together as the church.
Tonight we are together in all of our glory, all of our misery, all of gifts,
and all of our brokenness. We are here to love, to heal, to forgive, and to be
together in Jesus’ name. This my friends, is “Why we gather tonight”. Amen.
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