Later this week, many congregations will recognize the longest night of the year with a Blue Christmas service, ensuring a sacred time and space for those whom the holiday season, and winter as a whole, may not be the most joy-filled, to say the least. Although we may not gather together to do so ourselves, if you need just a little something of the sort, you are invited to use this shortened version of “Blue Christmas: A Service of Night Prayer for the Winter Solstice,” from our worship resource, Sundays & Seasons ( © 2024 Augsburg Fortress). If you cannot join us these next couple weeks (will take a week “wandering” off from posting), regardless of your physical and spiritual circumstances, all of us at Divinity wish you and yours a blessed Christmas, reminding you that Christ was born for you, to be with you through anything that may happen in your life. Amen (so let it be)!
Introduction
The winter solstice is the longest night and the beginning of winter in the northern hemisphere. In a few days many of us will gather to celebrate the Nativity of Our Lord, the arrival of Jesus Christ, God in human form. December 25 is celebrated as Christmas because it had been incorrectly identified as the winter solstice. What the early Christians intended for this feast was not a birthday party for baby Jesus but rather a feast of proclamation. God arrives by way of deep darkness. Christians wanted to tell the world that God, the maker of the cosmos, chose to lovingly draw near to our broken world by way of a human birth on the longest night of the year. God’s love for us goes deep and does not fade or change with the seasons. It is richer and more plentiful than the darkness of night, blazing brighter than the noonday sun of late June.
For many, the lack of daylight intensifies other suffering. The weight of depression grows heavier when light is scarce. We get stressed out when our calendars fill with extra social obligations. We fear interactions with family members that have been difficult in the past. What an opportunity, then, to share that the message of Christmas is specifically sent for those in pain and suffering. It is not that “all is merry and bright.” Rather, it is the abiding truth that God seeks to be with us, even when we are “blue.”
While it is true that our preindustrial forebears had legitimate reasons to be afraid of the dark, it is also true that we repeat racist binaries that have led to the violent deaths of people of color when Christians associate darkness with pain and lightness with healing. A night like this and a feast like Christmas are fruitful encounters with healing darkness. God-with-us is here to guide us into paths of love and practices of justice.
Greeting
The light of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the warmth of God,
and the hope of the Holy Spirit be with you.
Prayer
Creator of the stars of night,
bless the long hours of this night
with the warmth of your presence.
Come to all who suffer in any way.
Grant rest to the weary,
freedom to those who are burdened,
and bright hope to those who despair.
Strengthen us as we await your coming once again,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
Reading
Isaiah 40:1-11
Hymn
In a Deep, Unbounded Darkness (All Creation Sings 1093), to the tune of Of the Father’s Love Begotten
- In a deep, unbounded darkness,
long before the first light shone,
you, O God, beyond all merit
worked a wonder faith makes known:
in your mercy, in your mercy,
you embraced us as your own,
evermore and evermore. - Though our world is everchanging,
you are constant, firm, and sure,
faithful to your cov’nant promise.
Trusting you, we live, secure:
singing praises, singing praises,
long as heart and breath endure,
evermore and evermore. - Joy transforms our lips to boasting
only in your matchless grace,
sending Christ to dwell among us,
Word made flesh in time and space:
Friend and Savior, Friend and Savior,
in whose life we glimpse your face,
evermore and evermore. - God of Hagar, God of Sarah,
God of nomad Abraham;
God of Miriam, God of Moses,
Fi’ry Pillar, great I Am:
lead us homeward, lead us homeward,
to the love-feast of the Lamb,
evermore and evermore.
Text: Anonymous, China; tr. Francis P. Jones, 1890–1975; adapt. Mary Louise Bringle, b. 1953
Prayer
(feel free to use this time as your own personal prayer with the God who cherishes you)
Blessing
May God bless you and keep you.
May God’s holy darkness enfold you and grant you rest.
May God nourish a seed of hope among us all.
Amen.
Dismissal
The peace of Christ be with you this night and always.
Amen.
Image: from Hyde Park United Methodist Church (Tampa, FL)
For a choral rendition of In a Deep, Unbounded Darkness, please click the link below to Love Divine: St. Olaf Christmas Festival 2021: In a Deep, Unbounded Darkness (Arr. C. Aspaas for Choir) (Live) - YouTube