This is part of the worship series,
"Be Not Afraid”
Series Introduction and Prelude
Advent 1 | Advent 2 | Advent 3 | Advent 4 |
Longest Night | Christmas Eve | Epiphany 1 | Epiphany 2
A Longest Night Service Based on Psalm 80
Fear of Darkness
Call to Worship
Responsive Reading
Jesus said, “Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). And so we invite each other to this time of peaceful worship. Tonight we come looking for the Christ child.
We bring in our hearts the hopes and fears of all the years.
We come seeking relief from pain, anxiety, loneliness, and despair. With the psalmist of the Scriptures we say, “I cry to you, Lord; I say, ‘You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.’ Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need” (Psalm 142:5–6).
We bring in our hearts the need and desire to rest in God.
We come to worship, to sing, to pray, to be silent before our God. In the busyness of this season, in a countercultural way, we chose this evening to slow down, to remember, and to wait.
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning (Psalm 13:5–6).
Song
“Wait for the Lord” Taizé
Prayer of Invocation
O God, our beginning and end, by whose command time runs its course: Bless our impatience, perfect our faith, and keep us from growing weary until at last the coming Christ enters the hearts of those who wait with quiet expectation for all that is good and holy and just. Amen.
Praying for Darkness in a Year of Glare
| 1st voice | Lord, turn out the lights. Turn out for moments of our prayers and for moments of our lives all the lights we see by, or all the lights we think we see by. Make it dark in here, even now, in each of us. |
| 2nd voice | Here in the half-drowned world that we surrender to when we sleep, we feel the dark river that flows through every heartbeat, the pulse of our oldest and deepest music. |
| Congregational Response |
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (st. 1, no refrain) Latin |
| 2nd voice | With all our old symbols of candles and torches, with our little logos of lamps of learning, since ancient times we have always been taught to seek and pursue the light. But sometimes now we shield our eyes from all the glitter and glare. |
| 1st voice | We have trivialized our ancient symbols of light. We haven’t learned to govern the new light we uncover or make. This is what we are learning to fear: Our own light. Our idol. Ourselves. |
| Congregational Response |
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”(st. 2, no refrain) Latin |
| 1st voice | We see how we have hurried past the vision the psalmist knew, that Jonah, Job, Mother Teresa, and so many others knew to be true, that even in the dark God is there. “The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness” (1 Kings 8:12) |
| 2nd voice | Keep us now and then in the dark, Lord— The dark of Golgotha, or Paul’s black jolt on the way to Damascus, or the grapple of Jacob, to be renamed Israel, wrestling his way in the dark from eyesight to vision. We pray for darkness so that we may see. |
| 1st voice | As we wait in the dark we do sometimes see tracings and splinters, a flicker of our dream of the world you gave us, sparks and flashes we almost remember. |
| 2nd voice | We seek moments of blindness and insight so that we may be truly one with the dark and lowly servant, paradoxically “light of the world,” who came to share our darkness with us. In his name have we dared to ask for dark as well as for light. |
| Congregational Response |
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”(st. 4, no refrain) Latin |
| 2nd voice | Now we rest in quiet for a moment in the shadow of the Almighty, remembering Moses and the dark cloud where God was, remembering at least to say what the psalmist used to sing; “He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky.” |
| 1st voice | Parent God, cover us, your adopted children, as in blankets, in what St. Hildegarde called “the cloud of unknowing.” Hold us here in darkness a moment more, a moment more. We want to see again from behind the eye; it is here we can dream and remember and imagine deeply as Hebrew prophets did, as children do. |
| Congregational Response |
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (st. 3, no refrain) Latin So now we pray you, Lord— Silence |
| 2nd voice | Now stilled by this primal dark, children again who feel alone and lost, we pray for light. |
| 1st voice | Let it be a flicker that grows as it approaches, not harsh or blinding, a flashlight through the woods that’s coming to find us. |
| Congregational Response |
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (st. 5, 7, no refrain) Latin |
| 2nd voice | As we emerge out of this dark into light, show us, God, as for the first time, freshly, the rich glowings of our different skins, the eyes of the oppressed piercing dark skies like beacons, the flares of wonder that play in the eyes of our children. |
| Congregational Response |
By way of darkness, seeing fresh, Lord, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”(st. 6, with refrain) Latin |
Ministry of the Word
Scripture Reading
Psalm 80:1–10
Homily
Song of Response
“Shine On Us” Smith
Ministry of Prayer
Prayers of Intercession
With refrain “Come and Fill Our Hearts” Taizé
We light this candle to remember those who have died, and those who mourn the dead. The shadow of death can seem impenetrably dark during these long nights. We pray to God, whose first act in creation was to call light from darkness.
Refrain
We light this candle to remember those who are captive to darkness. For those lost in the night of addiction, depression, anxiety, or unexpected grief, we pray to God, who guided the Israelites through the darkness with a pillar of fire.
Refrain
We light this candle to remember those who feel that hardship will overwhelm them. For the poor, the persecuted, the hungry, the immigrant, the refugee, and the homeless, we pray to God, who walked with three men through the consuming flames of a fiery furnace.
Refrain
We light this candle to remember those who are battling illness. We lift up those who suffer the pain, indignity, and bewilderment that accompany a broken body. For all who desire to be returned to wholeness, we pray to God, who lit the night sky with a star to guide three Magi to the healing Christ.
Refrain
We light this candle to remember those who are alone. We remember those who isolated from loved ones; far from home; wandering down the wrong path; or convinced that God is unconcerned with their suffering. We pray to God, who is like the woman who lit a lantern to search all night for one lost coin.
Refrain
We light this candle to remember God’s beautiful and fragile creation. For those who experience drought, flood, disease, famine. For survivors of natural disasters and for all those called to be caretakers of creation. We pray to God, who will not destroy the earth but purify it with refiner’s fire that goodness may be restored.
Refrain
You alone see us as we are, Lord God, so we ask you to nurture us according to our need tonight, to minister to us according to our wounds, to heal us in all the places you can see that we are broken or sick. Come and fill our hearts with your peace. Alleluia. Amen.
Prayer Stations
During this time you may visit the prayer stations or pray quietly in your seat.
1. Anointing
Come forward to a pastor for anointing with oil and for personal prayer. You may ask for prayer for yourself or another person and can be as specific or private as you need. Please indicate whether you’d like anointing on your hand or forehead.
[Words of blessing: Restore your child, O God; make your face shine upon him/her/them, that he/she/they may be saved.]
2. Candles
Light a candle in remembrance of a loved one, in solidarity with someone who is hurting, or as a representation of your own need and prayer.
3. Map
Many areas of our world are in need of Christ’s light to break through the darkness of war, poverty, conflict, and strife. Light a candle and place it in the area of the world where you pray for Christ’s light this Christmas.
Sent Out with God’s Blessing
Song
“O Little Town of Bethlehem” (st. 1) Brooks
Prayer for God’s Blessing
Lord, it is night. The night is for stillness. Let us be still in the presence of God.
It is night after a long day. What has been done has been done; what has not been done has not been done; let it be.
The night is dark. Let our fears of the darkness of the world and of our own lives rest in you.
The night is quiet. Let the quietness of your peace enfold us, all dear to us, and all who have no peace.
The night heralds the dawn. Let us look expectantly to a new day, new joys, new possibilities.
In your name we pray, amen.
Song
“O Little Town of Bethlehem”(st. 3–4) Brooks
Please leave the sanctuary in silence.
