Bulletin – Wednesday, December 21, 2022 – Blue Christmas / Longest Night

Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Blue Christmas / Longest Night

Scripture Reading:           Matthew 11:28

²⁸ “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

Welcome

Welcome to this “Longest Night” service. The name comes from the season—during this season in December, we experience the shortest day and the longest night of the year. But the name also applies to the feeling that a number of us have about this season. It is the “long dark night of the soul,” “the winder of our discontent,” in which memories of past experiences and the pain of present experiences can become overwhelming.

Christmas can be a painful time for some. It may be the first Christmas without a loved family member who has recently died; it may be a time that has always been difficult.

The constant refrain on the radio and television, in shopping malls and churches, about the happiness of the season, about getting together with family and friends, reminds many people of what they have lost or have never had. The anguish of broken relationships, the insecurity of unemployment, the weariness of ill health, the pain of isolation—all these can make us feel very alone in the midst of the celebrating and spending. We need the space and time to acknowledge our sadness and concern; we need to know that we are not alone.

Our spirits sink, as the days grow shorter. We feel the darkness growing deeper around us. We need encouragement to live the days ahead of us.

For some, Christmas Day is the most difficult. For others, Christmas Eve, or New Year’s Eve, or the beginning of another lonely New Year.

In this service, we will have some singing appropriate to the season, recognizing that this is not necessarily a season of joy. And we trust that you will find hope and comfort in knowing that you are not alone.

Gathering

All around us, lights are lit and carols play.
The season heaps joy upon us.

Yet, we who come here, we carry more than joy,
we carry loss, worry, grief, and pain.

We come weary, seeking rest from expectations.
We also seek a holy presence to be with us.

We come to this place, by the resilient grace of God:
Love that never lets go.

Hymn – “When the Wind of Winter Blows”

When the wind of winter blows, bringing times of solitude,
Fill the silent icy night; be our hearts’ compassion.
Holy Light, warm our night; warm the time of winter.
Holy Light, warm our night; warm the time of winter.

When we shiver in despair, when the chill of death comes near,
Hold us, Spirit, calm our fear, while the evening deepens.
Holy Light, warm our night; warm the time of winter.
Holy Light, warm our night; warm the time of winter.

When in days of fallen snow, change confounds or love burns low,
From the ashes may there rise phoenix of our growing.
Holy Light, warm our night; warm the time of winter.
Holy Light, warm our night; warm the time of winter.

Prayer

We gather this night, to remember…those who have touched our lives, glad memories and happy stories, and love that we hold dear. We name those who have been life itself to us.

We gather in the name of Jesus, vulnerable as an infant, joyful and happy as a youth, wise and caring as an adult. We gather in the presence of God, who brings life and light to all.

All life is precious in God’s sight. No one is every alone or forgotten.

Come, let us gather in the Spirit of hope and peace. We worship, in the name of joy and love. Amen.

Scripture Reading:           Isaiah 40:1, 6-8

¹ Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. ⁶ A voice says, “Cry out!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. ⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass. ⁸ he grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever

Candle Lighting

One legend we celebrate in this season tells how a few brave fighters, defending their temple, had only enough oil to light the sacred lamp for one day, but it burned eight days until relief arrived. Another legend tells how in a little hill town a homeless couple with tax problems took shelter in a stable among the animals and gave birth to a light that would change the world.

Let us pray. Gentle God of live, help us reach out together for the light of faith, for renewal and recovery and a new day coming. Grant that hope may come to rest in our hearts, and let it go forth with us into the darkness, this night and in the nights to come, until we see the dawn.

We light this first candle to remember those whom we have loved and lost. We pause to remember clearly, their faces, their voices, their bodies. We embrace and give thanks for the memories that bind them to us in this season of expectation, when all Creation waits for the Light.

Response – “Come and Fill Our Hearts”

Come and fill our hearts with your peace.
You alone, O Lord, are holy.
Come and fill our hearts with your peace.
Alleluia!

We light his second candle to remember the pain of loss: loss of relationships, loss of trust, loss of jobs, loss of health, loss of faith, the loss of joy. We acknowledge and embrace the pain of the past, O God, and we offer it to You, asking that into our wounded hearts and open hands You will place the gift of peace, shalom.

Response – “Come and Fill Our Hearts”

Come and fill our hearts with your peace.
You alone, O Lord, are holy.
Come and fill our hearts with your peace.
Alleluia!

We light this third candle to remember ourselves this Christmas time. We pause and remember the past weeks, months, and for some of us years, that have been heavy with our burdens. We accept and lay before you, God, the sharpness of memory, the sadness and grief, the hurt and fear, the anger and pain. We accept and lay before you the ways we feel we have fallen short, and the times we have spent blaming ourselves, and you, for all that we have suffered. We accept and lay before you the time we have walked alone, in darkness; and in knowledge of our own mortality.

Response – “Come and Fill Our Hearts”

Come and fill our hearts with your peace.
You alone, O Lord, are holy.
Come and fill our hearts with your peace.
Alleluia!

We now invite you all to light your own candle; a candle to remember, a candle of hope, a candle of love, a light in the darkness of this season. As you light your own candle we invite you into a moment of silent reflection.

Response – “Come and Fill Our Hearts”

Come and fill our hearts with your peace.
You alone, O Lord, are holy.
Come and fill our hearts with your peace.
Alleluia!

Scripture Reading:           Psalm 139:7-12

⁷ Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? ⁸ If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. ⁹ If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, ¹⁰ even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. ¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,” ¹² even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.

Hymn – “Be the Centre”

Jesus, be the centre,
Be my source, be my light, Jesus.

Jesus, be the centre,
Be my hope, be my song, Jesus.

Be the fire in my heart,
Be the wind in these sails,
Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus.

Jesus, be my vision,
Be my path, be my guide, Jesus.

Be the fire in my heart,
Be the wind in these sails,
Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus.

Be the fire in my heart,
Be the wind in these sails,
Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus.

Prayer

God of wisdom, we come to you this Christmas Season tired, in turmoil, and in pain.

As the nights have grown longer, so has darkness grown and wrapped itself around our hearts. In this season of longest night, we ask your healing blessings upon all that we carry in our hearts—sorrow we fear may never end, wounds we cannot even put into words.

God of mercy and compassion, there are those among us who are grieving over what might have been. Death or loss or terrible hurt has changed our experience of Christmas. We remember that once it was a special day for us, too, but someone or something precious has gone away from us in this life. We have lost a beloved, a job, a goal, a cause, a dream. We find ourselves adrift and alone. We are weary from the journey, and we have found no room at the inn. We come to you seeking rest, and peace, and shelter from the storm.

God of grace, in the spirit of the season, grant us all that we need to comfort us as we journey through this Christmas Season. We ask that you shelter and sustain all those of us, both here and throughout the world, who wander or want or weep or are heavy laden, that we may be lifted up in courage and journey on in Thy peace.

God of love, in this Christmas Season we embrace and offer up to you all that used to be which is now lost to us, and cannot be again. With celebration all around us, memories of what was, and fears of what may be, weight heavy on our hearts.

Please hold us close in your embrace, be near to us this night, until the light returns and morning comes.

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give thine angels charge over those who sleep.

Tend the sick, Lord; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for they love’s sake. Amen.

Hymn – “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear””

It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold,
“Peace on the earth, good will to all, from heaven’s all-gracious King!”
The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing.

For, lo! The days are hastening on, by prophets seen of old,
When with the ever-circling years shall come the time foretold,
When peace shall over all the earth its ancient splendours sling,
And the whole world send back the song which now the angels sing.

Scripture Reading:           John 1:1-5

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

Prayer

Almighty God, we thank you for your constant love and for the blessings of this day. We know that even when we cannot see or feel you, still you are there. Helps us to remember you and to listen for your voice in the words of family, friends, and strangers.

Kindle our hearts and awaken hope, that we may know you as you reveal yourself in the world and in our lives.

Let the light of your holy Spirit shine like these candles in the darkness, that light that darkness cannot overcome, lighting the way for all who feel despairing, lost, or forgotten, and grant that it may come to dwell so deeply in our hearts that when we leave this time together it may shine on, for us and for those we meet along the way. Amen.

(adapted from Discipleship Ministries, United Methodist Church and the United Church of Canada)