Monday morning December 7
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Preparation
Opening response
Lord, open our lips
and our mouth will proclaim your praise.
Reveal among us the light of your presence
that we may behold your power and glory.
Prayer of thanksgiving
Blessed are you, Sovereign God of all,
to you be praise and glory forever.
In your tender compassion
the dawn from on high is breaking upon us
to dispel the lingering shadows of night.
As we look for your coming among us this day,
open our eyes to behold your presence
and strengthen our hands to do your will,
that the world may rejoice and give you praise.
Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed be God forever.
Hymn
Ah, When Shall I Awake
Charles Wesley
Ah, when shall I awake
From sin's soft-soothing power,
The slumber from my spirit shake,
And rise to fall no more!
Awake, no more to sleep,
But stand with constant care,
Looking for God my soul to keep,
And watching unto prayer!
O could I always pray?
And never, never faint,
But simply to my God display
My every care and want!
I know that thou wouldst give.
More than I can request;
Thou still art ready to receive
My soul to perfect rest.
I feel thee willing, Lord,
A sinful world to save,
All may obey thy gracious word,
May peace and pardon have;
Not one of all the race
But may return to thee,
But at the throne of sovereign grace
May fall and weep, like me.
Here will I ever lie,
And tell thee all my care,
And, “Father, Abba, Father,” cry,
And pour a ceaseless prayer;
Till thou my sins subdue,
Till thou my sins destroy,
My spirit after God renew,
And fill with peace and joy.
Messiah, Prince of peace,
Into my soul bring in
Thy everlasting righteousness,
And make an end of sin.
Into all those that seek
Redemption through thy blood
The sanctifying Spirit speak,
The plenitude of God.
Let us in patience wait
Till faith shall make us whole;
Till thou shalt all things new create
In each believing soul;
Who can resist thy will?
Speak, and it shall be done!
Thou shalt the work of faith fulfill,
And perfect us in one.
Confession of sin
Come, Holy Spirit of God,
and search our hearts with the light of Christ.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said:
The first commandment is this:
‘Israel, listen! Our God is the one Lord,
and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your being, with all your mind,
and with all your strength.’
The second is this: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’
No other commandment is greater than these.
All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.
Amen. Lord, have mercy.
After a period of reflection
Come, let us return to the Lord and say:
Lord our God,
in our sin we have avoided your call.
Our love for you is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes away early.
Have mercy on us;
deliver us from judgment;
bind up our wounds and revive us;
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
cf Hosea 6
May almighty God,
who sent his Son into the world to save sinners,
bring us his pardon and peace, now and forever.
Amen.
The Word of God
Psalm 44
Refrain:
We glory in God at all times.
We have heard it, God, with our own ears;
our ancestors told us about it:
about the deeds you did in their days,
in days long past.
You, by your own hand, removed all the nations,
but you planted our ancestors.
You crushed all the peoples,
but you set our ancestors free.
No, not by their own swords
did they take possession of the land—
their own arms didn’t save them.
No, it was your strong hand, your arm,
and the light of your face
because you were pleased with them.
It’s you, God! You who are my king,
the one who orders salvation for Jacob.
We’ve pushed our foes away by your help;
we’ve trampled our enemies by your name.
No, I won’t trust in my bow;
my sword won’t save me
because it’s you who saved us from our foes,
you who put those who hate us to shame.
So we glory in God at all times
and give thanks to your name forever.
But now you’ve rejected and humiliated us.
You no longer accompany our armies.
You make us retreat from the enemy;
our adversaries plunder us.
You’ve handed us over like sheep for butchering;
you’ve scattered us among the nations.
You’ve sold your people for nothing,
not even bothering to set a decent price.
You’ve made us a joke to all our neighbors;
we’re mocked and ridiculed by everyone around us.
You’ve made us a bad joke to the nations,
something to be laughed at by all peoples.
All day long my disgrace confronts me,
and shame covers my face
because of the voices of those
who make fun of me and bad-mouth me,
because of the enemy who is out for revenge.
All this has come upon us,
but we haven’t forgotten you
or broken your covenant.
Our hearts haven’t turned away,
neither have our steps strayed from your way.
But you’ve crushed us in the place where jackals live,
covering us with deepest darkness.
If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to some strange deity,
wouldn’t God have discovered it?
After all, God knows every secret of the heart.
No, God, it’s because of you that we are getting killed every day—
it’s because of you that we are considered sheep ready for slaughter.
Wake up! Why are you sleeping, Lord?
Get up! Don’t reject us forever!
Why are you hiding your face,
forgetting our suffering and oppression?
Look: we’re going down to the dust;
our stomachs are flat on the ground!
Stand up! Help us!
Save us for the sake of your faithful love.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen.
Refrain:
We glory in God at all times.
Psalm prayer
In the darkness of unknowing,
when your love seems absent,
draw near to us, O God,
in Christ forsaken,
in Christ risen,
our Redeemer and our Lord.
Old Testament reading
Isaiah 30:1-18
Doom to you, rebellious children, says the Lord,
who make a plan, which is not mine;
who weave a plot, but not by my spirit,
piling up sin on sin;
setting out to go down to Egypt without consulting me,
taking refuge in Pharaoh’s refuge and hiding in Egypt’s shadow.
Pharaoh’s refuge will become your shame,
hiding in Egypt’s shadow your disgrace.
Though their officials are in Zoan,
and their messengers reach Hanes,
all will become shamed because of a people who can’t assist them.
They are no help; they are no profit;
rather, shame and disgrace.
An oracle about the beasts in the arid southern plain.
Through a land of distress and danger,
lioness and roaring lion, viper and flying serpent,
they will carry their wealth on donkeys’ shoulders
and their treasures on camels’ humps to a people who won’t profit,
for Egypt’s help is utterly worthless.
Therefore, I call her Rahab Who Sits Still.
Now go, write it before them on a tablet,
inscribe it on a scroll,
so in the future it will endure as a witness.
These are rebellious people, lying children,
children unwilling to hear the Lord’s teaching,
who say to the seers, “Don’t foresee,”
and to the visionaries, “Don’t report truthful visions;
tell us flattering things;
envision deceptions;
get out of the way;
step off the path;
let’s have no more ‘holy one of Israel.’”
Therefore, the holy one of Israel says:
Because you reject this word
and trust in oppression and cunning and rely on them,
your sin will be like a crack in a high wall; it bulges, about to fall:
suddenly, in an instant, it breaks!
Its breaking is like the breaking of a storage jar
that is totally shattered.
No piece from among its fragments will be large enough to take fire from a hearth,
or to dip water from a cistern.
Therefore, the Lord God,
the holy one of Israel, says:
In return and rest you will be saved;
quietness and trust will be your strength—
but you refused.
You said,
“No! We’ll flee on horses”—
therefore, you will indeed flee—
“and we’ll ride off; on swift steeds we will ride”—
therefore, your pursuers will be swift.
One thousand will flee at the threat of one,
and at the threat of five you will flee,
until you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a flag on a hill.
Nonetheless, the Lord is waiting to be merciful to you,
and will rise up to show you compassion.
The Lord is a God of justice;
happy are all who wait for him.
Silence may be kept.
New Testament reading
Matthew 14:1-12
At that time Herod the ruler heard the news about Jesus. He said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He’s been raised from the dead. This is why these miraculous powers are at work through him.” Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of Herod’s brother Philip.
That’s because John told Herod, “It’s against the law for you to marry her.”
Although Herod wanted to kill him, he feared the crowd because they thought John was a prophet. But at Herod’s birthday party Herodias’ daughter danced in front of the guests and thrilled Herod. Then he swore to give her anything she asked.
At her mother’s urging, the girl said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a plate.” Although the king was upset, because of his solemn pledge and his guests he commanded that they give it to her. Then he had John beheaded in prison. They brought his head on a plate and gave it to the young woman, and she brought it to her mother. But John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus what had happened.
Silence may be kept.
Gospel canticle
The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)
Refrain:
Jerusalem, look to the east and see the joy that is coming to you from God.
Bless the Lord God of Israel
because he has come to help and has delivered his people.
He has raised up a mighty savior for us in his servant David’s house,
just as he said through the mouths of his holy prophets long ago.
He has brought salvation from our enemies
and from the power of all those who hate us.
He has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
and remembered his holy covenant,
the solemn pledge he made to our ancestor Abraham.
He has granted that we would be rescued
from the power of our enemies
so that we could serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness in God’s eyes,
for as long as we live.
You, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.
You will tell his people how to be saved
through the forgiveness of their sins.
Because of our God’s deep compassion,
the dawn from heaven will break upon us,
to give light to those who are sitting in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide us on the path of peace.”
Luke 1:68-79
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and will be forever. Amen.
Refrain:
Jerusalem, look to the east and see the joy that is coming to you from God.
Brief silence.
The Apostle’s Creed
Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Prayers
Intercession and thanksgiving
Prayers are offered
for the day and its tasks
for the world and its needs
for the Church and her life
Response
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.
Silence may be kept.
Collect of the day
O Lord, raise up, we pray, your power
and come among us,
and with great might succor us;
that whereas, through our sins and wickedness
we are grievously hindered
in running the race that is set before us,
your bountiful grace and mercy
may speedily help and deliver us;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honor and glory, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Awaiting his coming in glory,
as our Savior taught us, so we pray
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Amen.
Conclusion
May the Lord, when he comes,
find us watching and waiting.
Amen.