The candles are lit, the tree is glimmering,
Archives for December 2009
A Prayer for Christmas Eve, 2009
A Prayer for Christmas Eve, 2008
A prayer written for last year’s Christmas Eve Service. Can’t get the formatting to do single space when I copy and paste from a word doc – any ideas??
December 24, 2008
Written by Diana R.G. Trautwein
It’s Christmas Eve again, Lord, and here we are.
Gathered in out of the rain,
our Christmas finery on,
our spirits eager – or weary;
our ears and our hearts open – or not;
our families nearby,
our dinners either digesting or awaiting us soon.
We’re here.
And for some of us, Lord, that’s just about all we can manage.
We’re just barely able to stand with those shepherds,
tired and cold from their nighttime duties,
confused about the strange singing in the skies above,
wondering about that tiny newborn in the corner.
“So,” we wonder with them,
“what’s the big deal with this little One?”
Some of us come, willing only to stand at the edges,
perhaps somewhere near those wise ones from the east.
Because we’re searching tonight, Holy Friend,
we’re searching… for truth, for insight,
for strange portents in the sky that will give us
the answer to the mysteries of the ages.
“Could this be the One?” we wonder with the eastern kings.
“Could this be the Answer we’ve been searching for?”
And thankfully, God, there are some of us in this lovely room tonight
who are a lot like Joseph.
Steady and stalwart,
well-versed in the traditions of our tribe,
yet open to something new that God might be doing.
We struggle to be obedient to what we think God is saying,
to be sensitive to what we think God is doing.
But…it’s been a long, hard journey getting here,
and, to tell you the truth –
we’re tired, through and through.
“Here he is, at last,” we say to ourselves.
“But now, we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.
A baby to raise and protect,
a child to love and nurture,
a young adult to challenge and convince,
a lifetime of commitment and investment,
of worry and vigilance,
of duty and delight.”
And, Gracious God, there are even some of us here tonight
who might choose to align ourselves with Mary.
We’ve just come through a tough task,
but we did it!
The baby is safely birthed,
your promises have been fulfilled,
something remarkable is just beginning and we can feel it,
we can see it, shining in the unformed future ahead of us.
And mysterious as it seems to be now,
we know, because of the grace we have already experienced in our lives…
it is all going to be good news. All of it.
And so, we gather tonight – like that amazing cast of characters gathering
in this beautiful story we repeat every Christmas Eve.
The story that is at the center of who we are,
the story that speaks to us of Love Unspeakable;
the story that sings to us of Joy Unsingable;
the story that tells us.
For all of us are welcome here.
That is the glorious truth we praise you for tonight.
All of us –
weary shepherds,
searching wise ones,
faithful yet fearful fathers,
loving yet wondering mothers –
all of us
are welcome here.
For that little one in the corner over there,
that wee newborn,
waving his hands,
looking around,
listening to the sounds of the night –
that tiny, weak and helpless One
is the same One who blew the breath of life into
each and every one of us.
“How can this be?” we wonder. “How can this be?”
And then, we hear again your words of love and promise and power:
“Behold, a virgin shall conceive…”
“He shall be called Immanuel, God with us…”
“For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son…”
And we sigh with relief,
we sing with gusto,
we remember with joy.
This is Christmas Eve – and we’re here!
Thank you for the story that calls us to this place.
Thank you for the Truth that sleeps in the manger.
Thank you for the chance to begin again at the beginning –
In the name of our remarkable Savior we pray together tonight.
Amen.
A Prayer for the 4th Sunday of Advent, 2009
With my thanks to a long-time friend and recent Facebook commentator, Francine Phillips, for the correlation of holiness and absurdity.
We begin our prayer time this morning with a small 4-line petition from Martin Luther:
Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,
Make thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
Within my heart, that it may be
A quiet chamber kept for thee.
Amen.
A quiet chamber kept for thee…
A Sermon for the 2nd Sunday in Advent…
Written & Preached at Montecito Covenant Church by Diana R.G. Trautwein, 12/6/09
I have decided I am not a fan of surprises. Now don’t get me wrong – I like GOOD surprises. But I’m not sure I like those kinds of surprises well enough to make up for the other kind of surprises – those things that shock and startle and wound and worry. In fact, in recent weeks, I have found myself very, VERY wary of such surprises.
Surprise!
A beloved child is discovered to be wildly abusing controlled substances;
Surprise!
A devoted wife is startled by the sudden exit from her marriage of a husband of nearly 40 years;
Surprise!
An elderly woman’s sudden black-out causes a brain-bleed leading to permanent full-time care;
Surprise!
A struggling middle-aged man on the way to a better life is found dead in his sleep;
Surprise!
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
then comes (you fill in the blank with a pair of names) with a baby carriage.”
In a very real sense, that’s what you and I are asked to do as well, isn’t it? To name Jesus – to allow him full, legitimate access to all of who we are – to listen to the angel of the Lord as he spoke words of promise and hope to Joseph, and to listen as the Holy Spirit speaks those same words to us: Do not be afraid. Call his name Jesus. He shall save his people from their sins. He will be called Immanuel, which means, God with us. Surprise!
Good and surprising God, who can take even the most difficult of surprises
and somehow work redemption through them,
hear our hearts this morning.
Prepare these hearts to receive you anew,
to name Jesus as savior and lord,
to savor the sweetness of the with-us-God,
who joins us in this vale of tears and says,
“Do not be afraid!”
As we gather round your table of life today,
hear our prayers of confession and contrition.
Remind us again of your gracious choice
to forgive us,
to walk with us,
to encourage us to live our lives in tune with the Holy Spirit,
the Spirit who gives us life with a capital “L,”
and who daily reminds us of your love and grace.
In Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen.
A PRAYER FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT, 2009
Prayer offered after the singing of “A Strange Way to Save the World,”
A Prayer for All Saints’ Sunday – November 2, 2008
Hallelujah, hallelujah, indeed –
A Prayer for Anointing…..November 15, 2009
“Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,