2015 Advent Wreath Meditations — Year C, Second Sunday of Advent (McIntyre)

by Dean B. McIntyre
Former Director of Music Resources, Discipleship Ministries

This set of brief meditations and scripture may be used in lighting the candles of the Advent wreath in worship at church or home. Each meditation uses one of the 2015 lectionary readings for that day. The readings are divided into sections that can be assigned to various persons participating, including children. Choose from among the hymn options to conclude each meditation. Permission is granted to download, copy, adapt, edit, and reprint for home or local church worship with the inclusion of the copyright citation on each copy.

Second Sunday of Advent (December 6, 2015)

[Light the first candle on the Advent wreath.]

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old...

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. (Luke 1:68-70, 76-77)

God chooses the most unlikely messengers...
…a desert wild-man dressed in animal skins and eating locusts and wild honey
…a poor shepherd, shunned by polite society, keeping silent watch in the fields
…or today perhaps a school teacher, a waitress, a plumber, a laborer
…or even a ... child

Jesus comes, not just to those of us in [your church’s name or city], but even to those in New York, Beverly Hills, Syria, Iraq, Africa, North Korea. Jesus comes to us in the words of a preacher and in the song of a choir, but also in the siren of an ambulance, in a letter opened in a prison cell, in a visit to a nursing home, and in the smile - or cry - of a child.

[Light the second candle on the Advent wreath. A child, perhaps with adult help, can do this.]

ALL: COME, LORD JESUS. AMEN.

• “Away in a Manger,” No. 217 (st. 3), The United Methodist Hymnal
• “Like a Child,” no. 2092, The Faith We Sing (any combination of stanzas)
• “God Almighty, We Are Waiting” no. 3047 (st. 1), Worship & Song

New Revised Standard Version Bible, © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission.