People's Prayers: Prayers of the People: Restoration ~ 3rd Sunday of Advent, WCLWC*, '23 Yr B

For Sunday, December 17, 2023, Readings: Genesis 20:1-7, 9, 11-12, 14, 17; Psalm 147:1-7, Acts 16:1-16,

Mark 1:29-45

And now, restore the man’s woman for he is a prophet and will pray for you and you shall live…Then Abimelech took flocks and herds and enslaved women and men and gave them to Abraham, and returned to him his woman Sarah…And Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abimelech and his woman and also healed the women enslaved to him so that they gave birth. [Genesis 20:7, 14, 17]

Praise the Living God! How good it is to sing praise to our God…The Architect of Heaven builds up Jerusalem, and gathers the outcasts of Israel… She heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their sorrows... [Psalm 48:1a, 10]

…an enslaved girl had a spirit of divination…But it bothered Paul, who turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that hour. [Acts 16:16, 18]

Now the mother of Simon’s wife was in bed with a fever…Jesus came and lifted her up taking her by the hand. Then the fever left her and she ministered to them…when the sun was setting they brought to Jesus all who were sick or demon-possessed…And Jesus cured many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons… [Mark 1:30-32]

Welcome to Advent, the readings for this Sunday are below* and for a description of the unusual readings we are using for Advent, click the link here to read the introduction:

https://prayersofthepeople.blogspot.com/2023/11/prayers-of-people-new-advent-ure-begins.html

On this Third Sunday of Advent, we light the rose-colored candle to symbolize the joy and anticipation of Christ's birth which is now in sight. In the Anglican/Episcopal Church tradition there is an informal title of "Stir Up Sunday" because the opening Collect [a prayer that collects or gathers the themes of the day or service] begins with the phrase: Stir up your power, O Lord... And there are some local customs that accompany the day in various places.

The message of this day and week is "Gaudete," [gow-day-tay] from the Latin for rejoice and it gives us a slight respite from some of the more penitential aspects of this sacred Season and a preview of what is to come, as in the Gospel of Luke 1:28, And the angel came to Mary and said, “Rejoice favored one! The Most High God is with you.” Of course the readings that precede next week’s Gospel have a differing presentation of “rejoice.” Perhaps Abraham and Abimelech also rejoiced at God’s intervention in a difficult misunderstanding between them. The Psalmist was also in a rejoicing sort of mood with the instruction to Praise the Living God! Although the message from Acts is far more penitential in its discussion of Paul and Silas being beaten and put into stocks in a prison, it precedes a miracle that brought some who were imprisoned with them asked about the salvation of Jesus. The Gospel of Mark also offers the miracle of Jesus’ healing and curing so many, the restoration of their health then spreading the “good news” of Jesus farther and wider.

At this time of year, for children, of course, it is the dazzle and glitter and haze of lights and sparkle, gifts from Santa and his magic reindeer, or Father Christmas, who "make the season bright." The music and decorations often bring smiles for those of us fortunate to have memories of ourselves or our own children with wide eyes on Christmas morning.

For us as adults, this week is also a sobering moment to consider all those near to and far from us, who are suffering in the world from the ravages of war and domestic or other terrorism, the effects of devastating fires, the still terrible conditions of recent hurricanes and earthquakes, or for those who live in abject poverty, among many more hardships, and the now annual arrival of flu, COVID, RSV, with their attending miseries of fear, isolation, further infection and/or death for so many.

Yet now is the time to remember how to experience the true joy of Christ's first coming. “Celebration,” in a culture of excess, offers us an opportunity to look beyond the artificial trappings, fun and exciting as they are, and seek to find the authentic message. Now is the time to seek restoration and rejoicing in Faith, finding the true reason for the season that carries over into our every day of living. Take on a renewed commitment to a personal message of and from the Christ, especially in this translation of Mark 1:41: Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched [Me]and said, “I do choose. Be restored!”

*Readings for Advent this year are from The Rev. Dr. Wilda [Wil] Gafney, Womanist biblical scholar, and is the Right Rev. Sam B. Hulsey Professor of Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas. She is the author of A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church and translator of its biblical selections. Learn more about her and her work at her website: https://www.wilgafney.com/

For Advent III, December 17, 2023:

Genesis 20:1-7, 9, 11-12, 14, 17: Abraham journeyed toward the region of the Negeb and settled between Kadesh and Shur and he sojourned in Gerar. 2. Now Abraham said about his woman, Sarah, “She is my sister.” 3. Then God came to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “Beware! You are about to die on account of the woman whom you have taken; she is a married woman.” 4. Now Abimelech had not approached her so he said, “Mighty One, will you slay an innocent people?” 5. Did he not say himself to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she say herself, ‘He is my brother’? In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands did I do this.” 6. Then God said to him in the dream, “I know myself that in the integrity of your heart you did this, and it was I myself who restrained you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. 7. And now, restore the man’s woman for he is a prophet and will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all that is yours.” 9. Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you that you have brought upon me and my realm such great guilt? Things which ought not be done have you done to me.” 11. Then Abraham said, “It was because I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my woman. 12. Also, she truly is my sister; she is the daughter of my father but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my woman.” 14. Then Abimelech took flocks and herds and enslaved women and men and gave them to Abraham, and returned to him his woman Sarah. 17. And Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abimelech and his woman and also healed the women enslaved to him so that they gave birth.

Psalm 147:1-7: Praise the Living God! How good it is to sing praise to our God; for God is gracious and a song of praise is a delight. 2. The Architect of Heaven builds up Jerusalem, and gathers the outcasts of Israel. 3. She heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their sorrows. 4. She numbers the numbers of the stars; giving to all of them names. 5. Great is our Sovereign, and abundant in power; her understanding is beyond measure. 6. The Faithful One lifts up the oppressed; she casts the wicked to the ground. 7. Sing to the Just One with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre.

Acts 16:16-24: One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we met an enslaved girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her masters a great deal of money by fortune-telling. 17. While she followed after Paul and us, she cried out, “These persons are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” 18. This she did for many days. But it bothered Paul, who turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that hour. 19. Now when her master saw that their hope of financial gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and into the marketplace they dragged them before the authorities. 20. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, “These persons are disturbing our city; they are Judeans 21. and are preaching traditions that are not right for us to follow as Romans. 22. The crowd joined against them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with batons. 23. After they had laid many blows on them, they threw them into prison and commanded the jailer to keep them securely. 24. Receiving these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and their feet he fastened in the stocks.

Mark 1:29-45: Immediately after [Jesus and the disciples] left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30. Now the mother of Simon’s wife was in bed with a fever, and immediately they told Jesus about her. 31. Jesus came and lifted her up, taking her by the hand. Then the fever left her and she ministered to them. 32. As it was becoming evening, when the sun was setting, they brought to Jesus all who were sick or demon-possessed. 33. And the who city was gathered around the door. 34. And Jesus cured many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons, and he would not permit them to speak because they knew him. 35. Now in the morning [of the day after Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law] while it was still dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place and there he prayed. 36. And Simon and those [the women and men] with him chased after Jesus. 37. And they found him and said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” 38. Then Jesus replied to them, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there; for that is what I came to do.” 39. So Jesus went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons. 40. Now a person with a skin disease came to Jesus begging him, and kneeling said to him, “If you choose, you can restore me.” 41. Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched the person and said, “I do choose. Be restored!” 42. Immediately the skin disease left and the person was restored. 43. And after a stern warning, Jesus sent the person away at once 44. saying, “See that you say nothing to anyone; rather, go show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them. 45. However, the person went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the word so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly; rather he stayed out in the country and people came to him from every side.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ O Living God, stir up our hearts with rejoicing in the sweet anticipation of the One who is coming. Release us from the captivity of sin; cause us to sing praise to You with delight, our gracious God.

O Living and Ageless God
RESPONSE: Our Guide and our God forever and ever

~ O Living God, keep us ever mindful of the struggles of Your people and Your Creation. Strengthen us to speak constantly to Earth-bound Leaders, globally and locally, that we all must persist in pursuing the restoration of justice, mercy, peace, health, and the abstention from evil acts. We pray especially for: add your own petitions