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St Salvator’s Chapel Choir, St Andrews University:

MUSIC:Ìý WAKE, AWAKE, FOR NIGHT IS FLYING (Bach) – Words from Scottish Church Hymnary 4th Edition (CH4) 278

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ST ANDREWS UNIVERSITY CHAPLAIN, REV DR DONALD MACEWAN:
Welcome and introduction

Good morning.

I’m standing by the stone walls and empty windows of a ruined Cathedral.Ìý It is dedicated to St Andrew, a disciple of Jesus, in the town that bears his name.Ìý St Andrews is in the north-east of Fife, in eastern Scotland, with water on two sides - the North Sea and the Eden Estuary.Ìý The Cathedral was the destination for hundreds of years for countless pilgrims who were drawn here.Ìý They came for different reasons – for healings and cures, as penance for wrongdoing, and to be closer to God.Ìý And they walked to this Cathedral, from across Scotland and far beyond, because they believed there was power in the relics kept here – precious bones from the body of St Andrew himself.Ìý

The Cathedral did not survive the Reformation in Scotland, and from 1559 most of its stones were re-used in making other buildings nearby.Ìý There is a new Fife Pilgrim Way which people are following here across Fife.Ìý Yet most people who still make a kind of pilgrimage to St Andrews, are aiming not for the Cathedral but the home of golf.Ìý Thousands come to play the celebrated links, including the world’s best golfers next summer who will play the Old Course in the 150th Open Championship.Ìý Ìý

Many of those medieval pilgrims would have passed another church building en route to the cathedral – St Salvator’s Chapel, part of the University of St Andrews.Ìý And that chapel continues to be the home of worship for students, lecturers and others.Ìý Let me invite you to join us inside the chapel now to celebrate St Andrew’s Day, which falls in two days’ time, and to mark the beginning of Advent.Ìý Students exploring their calling to ministry – Samuel, Jessica and Fabien – will lead us later in our prayers, while we return now to the voices of St Salvator’s Chapel Choir singing in anticipation of the coming of God to our earth.

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MUSIC:Ìý WAKE, AWAKE

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PRAYERS of approach, thanksgiving and confession

SAM

Let us pray.

Loving and faithful God, we come into your presence,

entering this time of reflection with our hearts open to you.

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As we move into Advent,

we are grateful for this season of anticipation.

As winter approaches, with snow and ice for some,

we thank you for your promise of light in darkness, warmth in winter’s chill,

and hope that you will be with us in our lives.

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In this University chapel,

we give you thanks for the gifts of education,

for the countless students who are drawn to St Andrews and other places of study,

to learn, to form friendships, to prepare for life beyond University.

And we are grateful for all that is discovered in research,

helping us better understand nature and ourselves.

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JESSICA

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Gracious God,

we acknowledge before you

that we find it hard to see you face to face,

we want to make you in our image,

rather than discovering who you are.

We turn our face away from you

and from the world you love,

fearful of seeing vulnerable people

and following Jesus where compassion would take us.

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Forgive us,

and help our eyes be open to your love,

wherever it is found.

Amen.

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MUSIC:Ìý HYMN – O come, O come, Emmanuel

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DONALD:Ìý
The University Chaplaincy supports students and staff of any faith or philosophy of life.Ìý There are chaplains from different religions and traditions, including our Assistant Chaplain, Samantha Ferguson, who is a priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church.ÌýÌý

REV SAMANTHA FERGUSON:Ìý

Our particular theme today is this, Asking to see God face to face, as we turn towards that child born in Bethlehem and the lives he inspired.Ìý The face of God is a profound expression throughout the Bible for how God is turned towards his world.Ìý An ancient Hebrew blessing asks God to make his face shine upon us.Ìý Throughout the psalms we hear people seeking God’s face, and longing that his face not be turned away.Ìý Our deepest relationship with the divine is expressed in this simple image.Ìý And nowhere more clearly than in part of Psalm 27, now read by the University’s Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sally Mapstone.Ìý

PROF SALLY MAPSTONE:Ìý OT reading – Ps 27: 1, 4-5, 7-9a (NRSV)Ìý

1ÌýTheÌýLordÌýis my light and my salvation;
ÌýÌýÌýÌýwhom shall I fear?
TheÌýLordÌýis the strongholdÌýof my life;
ÌýÌýÌýÌýof whom shall I be afraid?

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4ÌýOne thing I asked of theÌýLord,
ÌýÌýÌýÌýthat will I seek after:
to live in the house of theÌýLord
ÌýÌýÌýÌýall the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of theÌýLord,
ÌýÌýÌýÌýand to inquire in his temple.

5ÌýFor he will hide me in his shelter
ÌýÌýÌýÌýin the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
ÌýÌýÌýÌýhe will set me high on a rock.

7ÌýHear, OÌýLord, when I cry aloud,
ÌýÌýÌýÌýbe gracious to me and answer me!
8Ìý‘Come,’ my heart says, ‘seek his face!’
ÌýÌýÌýÌýYour face,ÌýLord, do I seek.
9ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýDo not hide your face from me.

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SAMANTHA:Ìý

Our chapel choir now lead us in a musical prayer for Advent composed by Paul Manz, that the light of Christ will be among us:Ìý E’en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come.

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CHOIR: ÌýÌýE’EN SO, LORD (Manz)

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DONALD:Ìý Ìý

There’s something rather strange in St Andrew still being the patron saint of Scotland.Ìý For one thing, he never set foot here, and may never even have heard of the place called Caledonia.Ìý For another, there are very different stories as to how those few bones of his made their way here – and when.Ìý And then, as the ruined Cathedral shows in graphic form, many people in Scotland turned against the importance of saints, of relics and of pilgrimage.Ìý Ìý

And yet he has proved tenacious.Ìý Not only churches but streets, schools and government buildings are all named after him.Ìý St Andrew’s Day is a bank holiday in Scotland, and after a gap last year, there will be celebrations throughout the country on Tuesday.Ìý And, perhaps more than anything, St Andrews is remembered in the country’s flag, the Saltire, a white X-shaped cross on a blue background.Ìý The X signifies the shape of the cross on which it is believed Andrew was put to death, in around 60 AD in Patras, in modern-day Greece.Ìý St Andrew’s cross is seen above countless buildings, and on hopeful faces of fans when Scottish teams take on the world, often joyful faces recently.

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We can be proud perhaps that Andrew was one of the 12 disciples.Ìý But if we’re honest, we might recognise that his role in the gospels is limited.Ìý Peter, James and John, Mary Magdalene and Thomas have more stellar parts.Ìý But Andrew is often there, slightly off-centre, in some intriguing scenes.Ìý And not least the encounter John records, on the day after Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, to cheers and the waving of palm branches.

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SAMANTHA

20ÌýNow among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks.Ìý21ÌýThey came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we want to see Jesus.’Ìý22ÌýPhilip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.Ìý23ÌýJesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.Ìý24ÌýVery truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.Ìý25ÌýThose who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.Ìý26ÌýWhoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.

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DONALD

We want to see Jesus.Ìý We can understand that impulse here.Ìý Crowds line the fairways at the Open wanting to catch sight of their favourite players birdie the hardest holes.Ìý Students gather outside a restaurant in Market Street when it is rumoured that very famous, perhaps even royal graduates, are celebrating their anniversary inside.Ìý

When Andrew was told of the Greeks’ desire to see Jesus, he passed it on to the man himself.Ìý But Jesus gave a peculiar answer.Ìý Not yes, just give me a minute.Ìý Not the ancient version of no, but give them a signed photo from the pile.Ìý But rather: See me?Ìý See a plant growing up from a seed in the soil.Ìý See the end of life.Ìý See where I go.Ìý See service.Ìý See sacrifice.Ìý Be careful what you wish for, Jesus was saying.Ìý

When those Greeks said they wanted to see Jesus, they echoed those other foreigners who asked to see him, the Magi, the wise men who wondered where the child was who had been born king of the Jews.Ìý They persevered, followed the star, and found him in Bethlehem.Ìý But they saw no glory, no halo, no throne, no sceptre.Ìý Instead they found a young mother, and a little child, vulnerable, too young to speak.Ìý They saw the face of God blinking and smiling, gurgling, perhaps even scowling.Ìý They saw that God had turned his face to us, by taking the face of a tiny child.Ìý

The Scottish hymn-writer John Bell depicts the coming of God to the world with a human face in his beautiful song, Before the world began, one Word was there.Ìý

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MUSIC:Ìý HYMN – Before the world began (CH4 317)

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DONALD

Andrew passed on the Greeks’ request – We want to see Jesus.Ìý The gospels do not record if Andrew passed Jesus’ answer back.Ìý But maybe that doesn’t matter.Ìý Because maybe the answer was meant for him.Ìý For Andrew surely took to heart what Jesus said.Ìý He continued to serve Jesus over the last few earthly days of his life.Ìý He was with the other disciples when they encountered Jesus raised from death.Ìý He heard the instruction to go into all the world sharing his faith.

And he also lived out that darker side of Jesus’s answer.Ìý Andrew went into the world around the Black Sea to share the news about Jesus.Ìý He was prepared to serve in hostile territory.Ìý He was willing to lose his life.Ìý Indeed we believe he was executed for his faith.Ìý Every fluttering blue flag reminds us how he died.

Do we want to see Jesus?Ìý Yes?Ìý Where should we go to look?Ìý We may find him in worship, in reading the gospel, or in countless images and statues.Ìý But Jesus himself suggests that if we want to see him and know him, if we want our lives to be shaped around him and changed by him – then we have to seek his face where he is.Ìý For Andrew that was in the ultimate sacrifice on an X-shaped cross.Ìý We give thanks that in Scotland we live in a time and place of freedom and tolerance to practise our own faith.Ìý But we may still be called to follow Jesus into some pretty uncomfortable places.Ìý Being with the vulnerable who are the casualties of modern life.Ìý Listening to people’s pain, and listening again.Ìý Giving up our privileges.Ìý Making sacrifices for climate justice.Ìý Acknowledging our mistakes.Ìý Being faithful when it would be easier to quit.Ìý Loving people it is hard to love.Ìý

On Tuesday coming, St Andrew’s Day, I will be at the University’s Sports Centre along with the Principal, the Chapel Choir and hundreds of people who will be graduating that day.Ìý It will be a joyful time, the first graduation ceremonies in person here for two years.Ìý I’ll be clapping as the nervous graduands cross the stage to have their head capped and their new hood thrown over their shoulders, signifying their St Andrews degree.Ìý At the reception afterwards I’ll ask many of them What next?Ìý For some there will be the pride in telling me of their new job, or their next course of study.Ìý Others will say it’s hard to find the right thing and they’re still hunting.Ìý I doubt anyone will tell me their plan is to be planted in the ground like a grain of wheat.Ìý And yet that’s really what will be happening.Ìý After time with us in St Andrews, our graduates – like students and trainees in universities, colleges and schools everywhere - go out into the world, they plant themselves in fresh soil, they lose something of their old student life, and they find new ways to serve, in companies and charities, in start-ups and schools, for governments and gastropubs, among friends and strangers in Scotland and beyond.Ìý

The Hebrews longed to know the loving mercy of God, that his face would be turned towards them.Ìý We too may long to see God face to face.Ìý But we should be ready to count the cost.Ìý God’s gaze is loving.Ìý And his face is turned our way.Ìý But he may be asking us whether we can look with his eyes, follow where he goes, love as he loves.Ìý That’s the journey Andrew made 2000 years ago.Ìý And that Jesus’Ìý followers today are called to make.Ìý That’s the journey we embark on in Advent.Ìý Seeing God face to face, and seeing the world through his eyes of love.

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MUSIC:Ìý O RADIANT DAWN (Sir James MacMillan)

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Prayers of Concern and Lord’s Prayer

JESSICA

Let us pray.

Eternal God,

As the nights grow colder and darker,

And winter draws ever closer,

Please watch over us,

Keep us safe,

Be with us during this time

when we are still concerned for all affected by the Covid pandemic.

Ìý

Give us your courage for life’s testing of faith,

And hold us up when we wonder if we have the strength to stand.

Wrap your arms around those who are alone,

So that they may know their Father’s love.

Minister to those whose lives are in danger,

Particularly to those at risk for their faith.

Guide our governments,

Both in Edinburgh and London,

To lead with integrity and compassion.

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FABIEN

Loving God, you made Andrew your disciple.

Help all who dwell in this land and beyond to follow in his footsteps.

To do what is right instead of what is easy.

To strive for beauty and holiness.

To care for your creation, as you intended.

Ìý

Be with all who are struggling at this time, with loss and grief.

When we remember those whom we have lost.

help us to know that your face is turned to us,

and that you are with us

in the comfort of your Word, the wisdom of your Spirit, and the compassion of your Son.

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We now join together in the prayer Jesus taught his followers to pray:

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Our Father,

who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory,

for ever and ever,

Amen.

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SAMANTHA

Our final hymn reminds us that Christ is coming.Ìý The face of God is turned towards us – and in the weeks till Christmas may we sense that blessed hope before us…

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MUSIC:Ìý HYMN 475 (CH4) – Christ is coming! Let creation

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DONALD:Ìý Benediction

May I wish you a very happy St Andrew’s Day on Tuesday.

And may God,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

make his face shine upon us all,

this Advent and evermore…

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MUSIC:Ìý CHORAL AMEN

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MUSIC:Ìý ORGAN VOLUNTARY: Mendelssohn, Prelude in D Minor, op. 37