Follow that star; Looking Ready

This script cannot exactly reflect the transmission, as it was prepared before the service was broadcast. It may include editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors that were corrected before the radio broadcast.It may contain gaps to be filled in at the time so that prayers may reflect the needs of the world, and changes may also be made at the last minute for timing reasons, or to reflect current events.

OPENING ANNOBBC Radio 4. Sunday Worship for the last Sunday Worship of Advent comes from Belfast and is introduced by the Principal of Methodist College, Scott Naismith, but first the College Chapel Choir sings the traditional Irish, Wexford Carol. 

CHOIR The Wexford Carol (traditional Irish, arr. Mack Wilberg)
HEADMASTER: Good morning and welcome to Methodist College’s Christmas service which comes from Fisherwick Church. Over 2000 pupils attend Methody and they come from a diverse range of backgrounds and beliefs, enriching the school and the community through their contributions. In its 150 years Methody has produced many famous and influential Collegians, all of whom have made a significant contribution to their particular discipline or area of expertise, including, of course, music. With me this morning is the Chapel Choir, along with pupils and staff members and the honoroary College chaplain Rev Emily Hyland who leads today’s service. 
This is the last of this year’s Advent Sunday Worships entitled “follow the Star” The Archbishop of Canterbury has recorded an introduction to this week’s theme, “Looking Ready?”
ARCHBISHOP There is nothing more satisfying than a finished to-do list. It feels like such an achievement to be able to say, “I have done it all. I am officially ready.” Human beings love this sense of being in control, of mastering the world around them. Which is probably why Christmas is so difficult. Because we might prepare the practicalities, but to be ready for Christmas, for the coming of God, asks us to put our to do lists aside, and simply open ourselves up to God. 
This is the radical message of the Christian Gospel – we can’t find our way to God by our own effort, Instead, God comes to us, seeks us out and offers us grace. All we bring is ourselves, as we are, in truth and openness. To be ready for God, maybe we need to “unlearn” the things we’ve been doing or thinking – that we need to make ourselves “worthy” or “good enough”. Preparing ourselves for Christmas just means being completely open to God and being ready to throw our lists away.

CHOIR While shepherds watched their flocks (WINCHESTER OLD)
REV EMILY HYLAND
The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’,which means, ‘God is with us.’
Let us pray: Lord we have so much to do as we approach ChristmasGive us time and space to turn to youTo give you thanks for your gift being words- in your coming to us in Jesus Christ.To realise once more the wonder of your grace and loveTo reflect on the response of Mary to the angelAnd on the miracle of the word becoming fleshIn a helpless, vulnerable Baby
Father, forgive us that we are often so busy that we can easily forget all about you We can easily become slaves to “to do” listsPreparations for celebration can take over our livesAnd we miss its essential significance. 
Help us to find time for quiet and thought and prayerAllowing the story of our Savour’s birth to penetrate our hearts and mindsSo that our joy may be deeper, our worship more real and our lives worthierOf all you have done for us through the coming of your Son Jesus Christ, AMEN
READER: A Reading from the first Chapter of St Paul’s letter to the Colossians:

May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
CHOIR Tomorrow shall be my dancing day (Malcolm Archer) 
REV EMILY HYLAND: After our next carol, the Rev Cheryl Meban, a Chaplain at Ulster University in Belfast will preach. But first our second reading from the first chapter the Gospel according to St Luke
READER: In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.
CHOIR The Marvellous birth (Bob Chilcott)
REV CHERYL MEBAN Sermon
There’s a very useful principle for giving people difficult news, or uncomfortable feedback, particularly in school homeworks. It’s called Two stars and a Wish. The idea is that you tell your pupil or your colleague, two good things – two stars– before introducing the Wish, the request for improvement or for a change of behaviour. “Two stars and a Wish” sounds like a slightly Disney-esque introduction to the Christmas season as we mark today the fourth and final Sunday in Advent. Christmas proper is nearly upon us. And here in our Bible reading, we have a messenger – the angel Gabriel, no less – who turns up in Nazareth, with two stars and a wish, to bring the word of God to a teenage girl, Mary. He gives two statements of good news and an opportunity for change – The two stars he gives her are: that she is favoured by God, and that God is with her. These are two amazing pieces of news for this young woman. She’s not rich or famous and she’s living in Nazareth - not a very important place. Not the capital city. Yet here is the archangel Gabriel, telling a girl -little more than a child,- that she’s favoured by God, the creator of all things. AND that God is with her.
Mary is clearly not a fool. She understands that if someone is making that kind of flattering approach to a lowly girl like her, they possibly aren’t to be trusted. The text tells us she’s afraid. She’s probably not used to being greeted with such respect Mary doesn’t say much. We have little record of how she felt as she grew into her role as the bringer of God’s most important message ever. Yet, below the radar of Roman Empire. Mary is quietly nurturing a life within her that will change everything – a life who will lift up the broken, include the marginalised, restore the lost, - She is growing within her a life who will bring life to others, but be destroyed itself. And through the destruction of this child’s life, breaking his mother’s heart, the destruction of the earth is turned inside-out. The power of evil is turned against itself, so that love conquers death. From this pinhead of life within Mary there will grow a life in whom there is a whole New Creation – a creation of courage, of love, making peace between enemies, reconciling sinful people to a holy God. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Because Mary was confused by the angel’s words and wondered what they meant.
This is Good news, not only for Mary, but for us: We may be confused, we may not understand God’s word to us, but God continues to love us and have good plans for us. Mary couldn’t make sense of what the angel was telling her… but it was good news anyway. And maybe today we can hear good news for ourselves too… God chooses to continue to love us, - and promises to be with us… but there’s more.
The angel gives out his two Stars, praising Mary – she is chosen by God, and God is with her.
Then, to allay her fear and confusion, he reinforces the positive stars, “Don’t be afraid! God is pleased with you,” but then, like the great messenger he is, Gabriel tucks the Wish, the Opportunity, right in behind the two stars: “you will have a son. His name will be Jesus.” The opportunity is presented as part of the praise. Gabriel’s announcement doesn’t come as a request; it comes as a fait accompli. The good things God has begun in us, God will carry on to completion. Our opportunity is to engage and assent in the story. We can never fully understand the implications of what it might mean to say Yes to God. The Opportunity is to trust, to believe that God’s plans are for Good and not for evil. 
Along with his two Gold stars, His Wish is that Mary will receive this child, nurture him and trust God for all she needs.
But let’s not gloss over this. It’s not necessarily good news to announce to a young unmarried woman that she is going to have a baby – especially if her fiancé isn’t the father. – Yes, this messenger says, “Don’t be afraid.” Fair enough. She might be entitled to feel afraid. An unwed mother might have risked death by stoning, or at least, a life of rejection by family and fiancé, and a life of poverty. “Don’t be afraid,” indeed. “You are going to have a son, his name will be Jesus,” which means, God Saves.
Mary asks the angel, “How can this happen? I am not married!”
Well she might ask, “How can it happen?”! People have been discussing and debating and theorising and theologising ever since. There has been much speculation about where the baby came from… but even if it were true, I’m unperturbed. No matter how inauspicious our beginning, God has a plan for us – a plan which names us as Sons and Daughters of God. Highly favoured. People upon whom God’s favour rests. And people upon whom God’s Holy Spirit can come, to plant seeds of life within us, life which will grow and burst forth from us, and become Good News for the whole world. As the 13th Century German Mystic Meister Eckhart says, “We are all called to be mothers of God, for God is always waiting to be born.” 
The power to change the world is born in Mary, and in each of us, if we let it be.The power to change the world is in the kindness and courage of Joseph, who dares to take Mary as his wife, in the face of all rumours and scandal. The power of redemption is in the mysterious and adventurous spirit of Mary, when she acquiesces in Gabriel’s announcement and says, “Let it be to me according to your word.”
The power to change the world is in the baby, helpless, yet almighty in eternal love. The power to change the world is in the song of Mary, the greatness of the Lord. The coming of Christ in a physical human body is the mystery of Incarnation – God, perfect Spirit of Holiness, inhabiting flesh, blood and bone, out of love for human beings, to guarantee our place in his eternal love beyond our physicality, in the fullness of his Spirit. Incarnation. Incarnation, becomes Indwelling: God’s Spirit Indwelling our lives, making us children of God, like Jesus Christ.
And so, Advent is also the longing for the arrival of the fullness of the kingdom which Jesus came to bring – Mary sang about it in her Magnificat – “Tell out my soul the greatness of the Lord.. The starving poor sat down to a banquet; the callous rich were left out in the cold.” As the angel said to Mary, “Nothing is impossible for God!”
CHOIR Mary’s Magnificat (Andrew Carter)In joyful expectation if his coming to reign, we sayCome, Lord JesusCome, Lord Jesus
READER Come to your world as King of the nationsWe pray for rulers and governments, for ministers and members of parliamentFor peace in the world, especially for those places riven by violence.Give them wisdom and guidance Come, Lord JesusCome, Lord Jesus
READER Come to your church as Lord and Judgethat its members may have hearts open to your grace and truth and to show these by words and example.Help Christians to live in the light of your coming,always obedient to your will,Come, Lord JesusCome, Lord Jesus
READER Come to children and young people as one born a helpless infantWe pray for all children, especially those who are abused, hungry or unlovedfor schools and those who teach and learn within themMay they know your love and wisdomCome, Lord JesusCome, Lord Jesus
READER Come to your people as Savour and bearer of painWe pray for the sick, the bereaved, the depressed and those with disabilitiesFor those who find this time of year painful and difficultEnfold us in your love and mercy,taking away feelings of failure, fear and distress.Come, Lord JesusCome, Lord Jesus
REV EMILY HYLANDCome to us from heaven with power and gloryand lift us up to youwhere with your people in every ageWe will give you glory
Come, Lord JesusCome, Lord JesusOur Father who art in heaven, hallow'd be thy name. Thy kingdom comeThy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily breadand forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for Thine is the kingdom the power and the glory for ever and ever. Amen
CHOIR Silent Night (Franz Gruber arr. Barry Rose)
REV EMILY HYLAND BlessingChrist the sun of righteousness shine upon you, gladden your hearts and scatter the darkness from before you:And the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be upon you all this day and for evermore. AMEN
CHOIR Rejoice and be merry (John Rutter)
Radio 4 Closing AnnouncementThe chorale prelude on Num Komm der Heiden Heiland Highden by Zachau ends today’s Sunday Worship came from Fisherwick Church in Belfast. The preacher was the Rev Cheryl Meban (May-bin) and the service was led by the Rev Emily Hyland. The Methodist College Chapel Choir was directed by Ruth McCartney and the organist, Dr Joe McKee. The producer was Bert Tosh.
At Three o’clock on Christmas Eve a single chorister steps forward in the candle lit stillness of King’s College Chapel Cambridge to begin the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols singing ‘Once in Royal David’s City.’ Begin your Christmas by joining the global audience here on Radio 4.Then at eleven thirty midnight mass comes live from St George’s Cathedral Southwark. And on Christmas Day itself at nine o’clock, there is the Christmas Service.