This is one of the liturgy pages for the Methodist Church's Hush the Noise Advent and Christmas campaign 2024. A full list of the services can be found here. A PDF containing all the services can be downloaded here.
Christmas 1: Hush the Hushing
29 December 2024
Bible readings
1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy wearing a linen ephod. His mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the Lord repay you with children by this woman for the loan that she made to the Lord,” and then they would return to their home.
Luke 2:41-52
Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents were unaware of this. Assuming that he was in the group of travellers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.” He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them, and his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years and in divine and human favour.
Songs and hymns
As dawn awakes another day (StF 659)
Called by Christ to be disciples (StF 660)
Come, all who look to Christ today (StF 678)
Have you heard God’s voice; has your heart been stirred? (StF 662)
Lord give me eyes that I may see (website only)
Lord, you call us to your service (StF 664)
Says Jesus, ‘Come and gather round.’ (StF 510)
Summoned by the God who made us (StF 689)
The prophet speaks from days gone by (website only)
Also see: Resource Hub Worship Calendar suggestions for 29 December 2024
Opening liturgy
Old and young, rich and poor, hale and frail,
Near and far, remembered and forgotten,
Neighbours, family, friends and strangers,
Let’s share the song,
With angels let us sing.
Let’s listen to each other’s singing of that song,
The old familiar words that take us back,
The ‘new take’ that gives fresh light,
Let’s share the song,
With angels let us sing.
Together, you and me and they and them,
And he and she, from here and there,
And everywhere and always,
Let’s share the song,
With angels let us sing.
Background notes
Our Bible passages this week both feature children in a place of worship. There is a risk that the title of this campaign, Hush the Noise, might inadvertently encourage a belief that children in church should be seen and not heard. This is the last thing that we want to do. Children come to worship as they are, as part of the diverse family of God. All are welcome. This service, instead, calls us to ‘hush the hushing.’ The noise that we should hush in order to better hear the song of the angels is not the literal noise that beloved children of God make, which can be a source of learning for us if we just pay attention.
Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy...
The passage from 1 Samuel follows the song of his mother, Hannah, which provided the basis for Mary’s song that we used in worship last Sunday. But this passage jumps forward in time to when her long awaited son, Samuel, was a boy. Samuel was ministering in the place of worship in Shiloh alongside the priest Eli. This young child was the harbinger of God’s new future.(1)
Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival.
Jesus’ family regularly travelled to Jerusalem for the Passover festival; this implies a regular practice of family worship as Jesus grew up.(2) The custom was that children aged 13 and over were expected to go too, so Jesus either went a year early or was preparing for the Bar Mitzvah.(3)
...they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
The word translated here as ‘asking them questions’ (eperōtōnta) usually implies a vigorous debate or dispute, rather than a gentle inquiry. The boy Jesus was right in the thick of it.
...were amazed at his understanding and his answers...
Obviously Jesus was a special case, but this principle still applies to us today: older people can and should appreciate the insights that young people have, and vice versa. As John Hull says:
Congregations where children are found a distraction should stop thinking about their ministry to children and start to think about the ministry of children to them. Learning breakthroughs occur when barriers suggested by the experience of distraction are broken through.(4)
Methodist Way of Life: Learn
Questions for discussion
- Can you describe what it feels like to be hushed?
- Lots of different people groups experience being hushed: people of colour, people experiencing poverty, LGBTQ+ folks, women, children, refugees, etc. How do we hush the hushing of these people and amplify their voices?
- Do you have a secret dream of mission or evangelism, or a God-given gift you feel you’ve never had the opportunity to use or develop?
Hands-on activities
- Play a version of charades where everyone is given the title of a Christmas carol. Ask them to use actions and movements (but not to verbally communicate) to describe it with others trying to guess. Reflect afterwards how easy or difficult it was to communicate without words or spoken language. Did people enjoy or dislike being silenced? How did that impact on each of us?
- Using a variety of people outlines, invite everyone to decorate a figure to create a collage of those present from your faith community. Encourage people to work in pairs to make each other’s figures, perhaps pair a younger with an older person to produce theirs together. Speech bubbles could be added with a phrase that describes a characteristic or skill, such as “I love dancing!” Celebrate the wealth of difference that makes up the congregation.
Prayer ideas
- You could add a child’s toy trumpet to the tree, if available.
- Encourage each child present to draw a picture of themselves on small cards and add these to the tree (you can be more environmentally friendly by drawing on the back of used greeting/Christmas card images - the back of the pictures is then also pretty).
- Use cut out shapes of children and encourage adults to write the names of countries around the world, thinking particularly of places where children are in danger and their voices are not heard.
- If you have someone in the congregation who speaks a different language, invite them to pray in that language.
- Play a video of the Lord’s Prayer in another language. We are ‘hushed’ because we cannot join in, but blessed by the rhythm and tone of the voice.
The good news to get across
You’re never too young or old to find your place in God’s kingdom.
Ways people can respond
Take a couple of minutes now to hush the noise. What’s your unique gift that only you can be or do?
Prayer of blessing
The angels are still singing.
Hush the noise, hear them sing, repeat the song, welcome everyone.
And the blessing of God,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
be yours/ours, now and always. Amen.
References
(1) Bruce C. Birch, Walter Brueggemann, Terence E. Fretheim, David L. Petersen, A Theological Introduction to the Old Testament (1999) Abingson, Nashville, pp. 224-225.
(2) Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke (1997) Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, p. 155.
(3) Joseph A. Fitzmeyer, The Gospel According to Luke (1981) Doubleday, New York, pp. 440-441.
(4) John M. Hull, What Prevents Christian Adults from Learning? (1985) SCM, London, p. 19.