A Star Wars Advent Candle Liturgy

Advent Candle Lighting Year A

A Star Wars-referencing (though subtle enough that non-Star Wars fans won’t feel anything is
amiss) set of Advent Candle lighting litanies for Year A in the Revised Common Lectionary.
Each week has 2 or 3 references – can you find them?

First Sunday in Advent

*Advent Candle Lighting

Reader 1: Today is the first Sunday of Advent, so we light the first candle on our Advent
wreath: the candle of Hope.

Reader 2: Twenty-five centuries ago, in a time not much different than our own, when the
Israelites had little hope for the future of their country or their people, the Jewish
prophets called to God to come to the people and make things right. They told the
people—and us—that a messiah would come as a new hope in the midst of
suffering.

Reader 1: Their prayers were answered with the birth of Jesus, also called Emmanuel, a
Hebrew word which means “God is with us.”

Reader 2: Today begins our Advent journey of waiting for the birth of the one who is called
the Light of the World and the Hope of the Nations.

Reader 1: As we light the candle of Hope we give thanks for the prophets of today who dare
to speak words of hope for liberation, who say “No” to the evil in the world, and
who call us to overcome our comfortable fears so we may let go of faulty ways of
thinking and doing, and explore new realms of unimagined visions of how things
could be.

Reader 2: Let us pray.
All: So many in your world, Holy God, have lost hope or put their hope in false
promises. Sometimes it feels you aren’t with us but are far, far away. We pray
that you come into our world again. Be Emmanuel for us so we may notice
where you are already present. Enter our hearts to see in new ways the
creative power of hope. Help us live into your hope so we may be your light
shining in the dark places of our world. We pray this in the name of the one
who was born in Bethlehem and whose return we await. Amen.

*Opening Hymn 116 Verse 1 “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”

Second Sunday in Advent
*Advent Candle Lighting

Reader 1: We began Advent last Sunday by lighting the first candle, the candle of Hope. We
light it again today to remind us that Christ is coming to fulfill God’s promises.

Reader 2: Today we light the second candle, the candle of Peace. The prophet Isaiah said,
“Comfort, comfort my people” to a nation anxious about invasion and exile, as he
foretold the coming of the Prince of Peace. Our world is still filled with violence
and abuse, where families are torn apart by war and children are used as soldiers.
Isaiah’s words continue to speak to us that Jesus will bring us to an everlasting
peace.

Reader 1: Mary and Joseph found no room in the inn to give birth to Jesus, but we can heed
John the Baptist’s command to make room in our hearts. Wherever there is war or
mistrust between peoples, families, or our own hearts, God is present and leading
us to imagine new ways of living in peace.

Reader 2: Christ is our only hope, and our peace is found through him. We light this candle
to remind us of Jesus’ life-giving peace to all who trust in him. We light it in honor
of those who live the Gospel truth that war does not make one great: the peace
workers who risk much so that others may live free of fear.

Reader 1: Let us pray:
All: We’re in trouble, Holy God. So many in the world do not know peace in their

countries or in their hearts. We use weapons of steel and barbed words to
wound one another. We seek balm for our restless hearts in things that only
make us more wounded. Open our hearts to Jesus so we may have the peace
of his holy presence and live it in our unpeaceful world. Save us from outside
violence and inner turmoil. We need you. Come, peaceful God, come. Amen.

*Opening Hymn 116 Verse 1 & 2 “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”

Third Sunday in Advent
*Advent Candle Lighting

Reader 1: We have lit the candles of Hope and Peace, and relight them now to remind us that
our hope is in Christ and that he will come again to bring peace to the world.

Reader 2: Today begins the third week in our Advent journey, and so we light the third
candle, the candle of Joy. In ancient times, the prophet Isaiah said, “The people
who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep
darkness—on them light has shined.” Many suffer from despair, anxiety, or holiday
blues. Others experience only the dark side of human nature. Christ’s light has
power to overcome all dark places in our society and our souls.

Reader 1: The Psalmist tells us to “make a joyful noise to the LORD, for the Lord is God
who made us and whose we are, whose steadfast loves endures forever and
faithfulness to all generations.”

Reader 2: Now we light the third candle, the candle of Joy, as we remember the angel’s
words to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid. I am bringing you good news of great
joy for all people.” We light it so that all who reap blue harvests from seeds of
sadness may know the joy of Jesus Christ. We light it in honor of those who show
us the joy of following Christ.

Reader 1: Let us pray:
All: God of Good News, as we await your coming we give you thanks for the joy
we have in Christ Jesus. May all who seek such joy find it. For all who have
ceased to believe in its possibility, may you work through us to show your joy
already present. Come, God of Joy, come. Amen.

*Opening Hymn 116 Verses 1, 2, 6 “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”

Fourth Sunday in Advent
*Advent Candle Lighting

Reader 1: On our journey to Christmas we have lit the candles of Hope, Peace, and Joy on
our Advent Wreath. We relight them now to remind us of the hope that Christ will
come again, bringing everlasting peace and joy.

Reader 2: This is the fourth Sunday of Advent so we light the last candle, the candle of Love.
To a world of empires and despots, war and greed, grief and apathy, we proclaim
that love is strong enough to overcome all evil and that compassion is more
powerful than fear.

Reader 1: The angel Gabriel reassured Mary that “nothing will be impossible with God.” The
power of love is the power to overcome what we think is impossible. Love tells us
God doesn’t want our excuses for why we dare not try, but our faithfulness to do.

Reader 2: As we light the candle of Love, we remember that God so loves this world that he
sent his only son, Jesus, to save us. We do so in honor of those who have shown us
how to love even when doing so is not convenient or sensible. We remember those
who show us that compassion— unconditional love— is central to a Christian’s
life.

Reader 2: Let us pray:
All: All-loving God, break into our world and our hearts again. Magnify your love
in us until it overflows to our neighbors. Renew our faith to relive the wonder
of your love. Prepare our hearts to be transformed by you that we may shine
the light of your compassionate love. Come, God of Love, come. Amen.

*Opening Hymn 116 Verses 1, 2, 6, 7 “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”

Christmas Eve
Advent Wreath Lighting

For Christmas Eve, we did snippets from a music/narration piece called “Candles and Carols”
by Pamela Martin that is a 20-or so minute long piece for choir, musicians, and narrators that
guides through lighting the four Advent candles and then the Christ candle. Available at
http://www.cokesbury.com/forms/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=692659. To hear our version of it, go
to http://www.pcucc.com/sermons/mp3/111224_christmas_eve.mp3 . This is a recording of the
whole Christmas Eve worship, that begins with a short opening prayer and then the “Candles and
Carols”, which ends about 10:07. The rest of the service is lesson and carols.

This liturgy is © 2011 by David J. Huber, all rights reserved. Permission is granted for use in
churches or other non-profit worship settings so long as copyright, author name, and link to
this blog is included in all printings. As a courtesy, please also let David know when, where, and how you are using this. I've enjoyed seeing the far flung places - including New Zealand and somewhere in Africa (I wish I could remember where!) - that this has been used.

Prayer from tonight's Interfaith Vigil in Solidarity with Migrants

 Aloha! 

Tonight I had my first moment of public theological agitation in Honolulu. I was asked to offer a prayer at an Interfaith Vigil in Solidarity with Migrants, organized by Faith Action Hawai'i. 

I offered a little speech to introduce myself, and my UCC tradition, and then offered a prayer for those who are helping migrants. For the sake of tonight's vigil, "migrants" includes also refugees and COFA residents (COFA = Compacts of Free Association, an agreement with the US and Micronesia that people from Micronesia can come and go, and live in the US, at will - which Compacts the Trump administration is very much disregarding, putting yet another nail in the coffin for the trustability of the US). We had a decent-sized gathering - maybe 80-100 people. We were on a main boulevard (outside the ICE offices at Waterfront Plaza which is on Ala Moana Boulevard), and in the 1.5 hours we were there, we had a LOT of honks - LOTS of them! - in support, and only one pro-Trump protestor against us.

Here is what I said: 

Aloha!

I am Pastor David Huber, 

    ordained clergy in the United Church of Christ,

    thank you for allowing me to be part of this vigil.

     The way we treat migrants is one of the most significant

        indicators of our morality, and we as a nation are doing very poorly.

     I like to be a public witness for a brand of Christianity 

          that does not fear, demean, or dehumanize others.

          There really are churches and Christians in this country

               who are on the side of the poor and the oppressed.

[I went off script here to mention that I'd recently moved here from Wisconsin, and talked about the WI Conference UCC repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery and that WI has started doing land acknowledgments and trying to heal wounds with the first nation peoples, and also that in the city of Eau Claire, where I have just come from, we have a large Hmong population - people who helped the US during the Vietnam War and were offered refuge in the US - and how scared that community became as soon as Trump's anti-immigrant policies came into being. Then I went back on script:]

In the United Church of Christ, 

   we just had our national gathering that we do every two years,

    and one of our resolutions includes this:

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Thirty-Fifth General Synod of the United Church of Christ calls upon all settings of the Church to oppose the 2025 Trump Administration’s immigration policies and condemn and reject ANY policies or actions that deny sanctuary, access to services, or human dignity to migrants, immigrants, refugees, and BIPOC individuals. 

And another line a little later mentioning also support of Micronesia and speaking out against how the Compacts of Free Association are being violated. We have Micronesian youth in our churches who could lose their parents. What the hell? This is an abomination, and more of the antichrist than of Jesus. 

It's impossible to be illegal on stolen land.

Let us now pray for those who work to support migrants:

   Holy One, God of all people, with a special preference

     for the poor and the migrants, 

      for your own family were refugees once,

          we lift up in prayer all of your people 

          who struggle to change our bad migration policies,

            and all those who work with the people 

               those policies have hurt and are hurting;

       we pray for the lawyers, the justice workers, the fundraisers,

           the chaplains, the prophets, the government workers,

         who are helping to ensure that migrants are treated fairly,

          who ensure that migrants know their rights

                and ensure the government protects those rights;

           the supporters who do this work even 

              at the risk of their own safety

             as they face backlash from neighbors, or employers,

               or even our own government.

         Protect them and their families, watch over them,  

           as they work to protect those who have little power;

          Protect and strengthen all who have joined the struggle

                on behalf of the least of these,

                for by helping them, they are helping you.

    And may their dedication to justice and to what is right

      inspire us all to similar selfless acts of courage and love

        on behalf of our neighbors. Amen.