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UNIVERSITY CHAPEL BELL

REV DR CAROLYN KELLY 听Welcome and Introduction听

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Good morning and welcome to the University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel.

I am Carolyn Kelly, University Chaplain, and our reflections this morning are led by John Bell of the Iona Community. Our music will be sung by the Chapel Choir.

We have just heard the Chapel bell, also known as the 鈥榟urry bell鈥�, which has rung out for over 90 years at 8.45 am: 鈥楬urry, come along!鈥櫶�

It calls to sleepy, reluctant, students in nearby flats and halls: wake up! lectures are about to start

It calls to teaching staff: are you ready? They鈥檒l be waiting for you!

And it beckons those who gather for Morning prayer in the Chapel, 鈥淵es, you too: Come along!鈥�

Today this first Sunday of Advent we are all ushered in,

invited to a time-in-waiting, to prepare the way:

to reflect on the year that has past

to recognise and rejoice in life鈥檚 fullness,

and lament lost opportunities

to allow our hearts to hope - for what?

we barely dare say鈥� for God to show up at all? 听

Could God, in the Christ child, even come, in this time of all times?

Prayer

And so we pray:

Loving God, Source of all life, who was and is and is to come

Together with the psalmists, and the prophets of old,

the gospel scribes and sages who read the signs

we look and we listen

searching for traces of your presence in our world

but right now, those are not easy to see

we listen for signs of life, but they can be hard to hear

and as for the kingdom that鈥檚 coming鈥� it鈥檚 not often that noticeable.

Emmanuel, be God-with-us again

Come, long-awaited Jesus:

In this time of all times, will you show up?

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MUSIC: O COME, O COME EMMANUEL (Tune: Veni Emmanuel)

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CAROLYN

Our first reading is taken from the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 64.

In this text we find words which articulate the frustration of people who,

in the midst of pain, guilt and disappointment beg for divine intervention,

for God to come to their aid.

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ISAIAH 64:

Reader 1

64听 O听that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
听听听so that the mountains would quake at your presence鈥�
2听as when fire kindles brushwood
听听听and the fire causes water to boil鈥�
to make your name known to your adversaries,
听听听so that the nations might tremble at your presence!
3听When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect,
听听听you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
4听From ages past no one has heard,
听听听no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
听听听who works for those who wait for听him.
5听You meet those who gladly do right,
听听听those who remember you in your听ways.
But you were angry, and we sinned;
听听听because you hid yourself we transgressed.
6听We have all become like one who is unclean,
听听听and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.
We all fade like a leaf,
听听听and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7听There is no one who calls on your听name,
听听听or attempts to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from听us,
听听听and have delivered听us into the hand of our iniquity.

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Reader 2

8听Yet, O听Lord, you are our Father;
听听听we are the clay, and you are our听potter;
听听听we are all the work of your hand.
9听Do not be exceedingly angry, O听Lord,
听听听and do not remember iniquity for ever.
听听听Now consider, we are all your people.
12听鈥� Will you restrain yourself, O听Lord?
听听听Will you keep silent, and punish us so severely?听听听听听听听听听听听听

MUSIC:听 HYMN 鈥� WHEN OUT OF POVERTY IS BORN (Tune: Kingsfold)
Published in Scottish Church Hymnary 4th Edition (Canterbury Press)

JOHN BELL 鈥� SERMON 1听

Advent begins four weeks or so before Christmas Day.

..except in Scotland鈥檚 past, for, until relatively recently Advent was barely mentioned ....and if you go far enough back even Christmas didn't seem to happen at all for many people.

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We can blame it on the Reformation which in Scotland was iconoclastic. That meant that not only were stained glass windows, statues, paintings, churches and chapels destroyed; but long-standing religious traditions also went. The Protestants of the time were keen to be rid of all kinds of what they called Romanism.

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So, the celebration of St Andrew, our patron saint, whose anniversary happens next Wednesday would have been as much neglected as the cathedral bearing his name.听

And because the birth of Christ could not, unlike his death, be biblically associated with a calendar date, Christmas was not celebrated by Presbyterians. Indeed although Christmas was designated a public holiday in 1871, many people worked on that day well into the 1960's.

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As for Advent, I never remember it being mentioned in the sadly less ecumenical years of my youth. For us protestants there was no Advent wreath and certainly no Advent candles. In the street where I grew up most protestant houses had candlesticks holding coloured candles. But they were never ever lit. That was what Catholics did.

Only recently has the season been celebrated by most people in this country, perhaps more by confectionery manufacturers than protestant churches.

So what is Advent听 - a warm up season, a rehearsal time for Christmas??

Or does it consist of four weeks in which Christians show penitence and cheer themselves up by thinking about the Four Last Things 鈥� Death, The Last Judgement, Heaven and Hell?

Or is it a season of frenetic purchasing and office partying, made more expensive this year because of the rise in the cost of living?

Or is it a time to ask, 'What is God up to?'听听 听听听听听听听听听听

听听听听听听听听听听听听 听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听

MUSIC: 听COME HOLY SPIRIT, COME WITH ENERGY DIVINE (Tune: Abbeville)

Words: Benjamin Beddome (1717鈥�1795)
Music: EJ King (1821 鈥� 1844), alto after WM Cooper (1902)
2 part version 鈥� arr. Katy Lavinia Cooper
Final verse 鈥� arr. Katy Lavinia Cooper听听听听听听听听听听 听听听听听听听

JOHN SERMON 2
'What is God up to?' ...that's not my phrase. It was the question asked by an old nun to a Roman Catholic priest who is a friend of mine.听 He had been celebrating mass in the chapel of an enclosed order on the Sunday after the devastating Tsunami on 26th听December 2004.

Upset by that awful disaster, she didn't just ask the priest, she railed at him, accusingly, ' What is God up to?'

And some of us might 鈥� whether we are believers or not 鈥� have found ourselves asking a similar kind of question in this and recent years, as we have witnessed disorder in the world and even experienced it in our own lives.

When HIV/AIDS still beleaguers people mainly in the Southern Hemisphere, and the global pandemic of Covid harms millions of people, disrupts life and affects the听 economic wellbeing in almost every country in the world... - What is God doing?

When in Pakistan floods devastate a third of the land,

when in Somalia, drought threatens the lives of millions,

when in small oceanic nations, rising sea levels assure their devastation,

when in landlocked countries like Nepal, the water supplied by glaciers is running out,

what is God doing?听

When a nation's soldiers with the blessing of their country's Christian primate invade, destroy and claim as their own an independent state which has a long pedigree of Christian witness.... What is God doing?

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I dislike the over-use of the word 'unprecedented' but its use may be validated by a contrast between two women whom I heard speaking.

The one was the veteran broadcaster Joan Bakewell who, in reminiscing about post-war life in the 1940's and 50's spoke of how for young people in that era the world was full of hope and endless possibilities.

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The other was a seventeen year old girl in from Fiji who I heard saying that she had decided never to have children because she did not think the world was a safe place into which to bring a baby.听

When I mentioned this to a class of 16 adults I was teaching in Canada a few months ago, half the class said that their sons and daughters had made similar decisions.

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In a world in which the young are rocked by uncertainty, what is God doing?

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The question is legitimate and it has been asked of heaven before, most eloquently by Isaiah:

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Why don't you tear apart the heavens and come down?

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Why don't you tear apart the heavens and come down?

MUSIC:听 DROP DOWN, YE HEAVENS FROM ABOVE (Composer: Judith Weir)听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听

JOHN SERMON 3
Has God 鈥� as Isaiah suggested 鈥� 'hidden his face from us, and left us in the grip of our iniquities?'

I think there are one or two perspectives we have to consider before we blame everything on God and bemoan what seems like divine indifference.

The first is that the world we live in is the only one we are getting, and it is given to us not as a perfect Eden, but as a place with its own vulnerabilities.听 Earthquakes have always happened, so have Tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. These are part of the given.

And the natural world 鈥� under its own steam 鈥� is able to cope with these. The fact that so many different animals, many of which prey on each other, are not all extinct is witness to this. If you lived in Australia you would know how some gum trees can only germinate and produce new life by going on fire.听

What seem like threats to us, are facets of this good but not perfect natural world.

But if we overload the ecosystems of the earth with burdens of pollution in air, land and sea which it cannot cope with; and if we 鈥� in countries which boast of being civilised 鈥� continually do this in full knowledge that our polluting of nature and demanding of nature will lead to its gradual demise.....can we then rail at heaven?

Another perspective leads to a similar conclusion.

We are daily made aware of the how civil strife and international warfare have not diminished with our ever increasing knowledge.听 We may bemoan the wickedness and the mayhem created by bullying, lying, narcissistic and populist leaders and people of unaccountable wealth and power.听 But who trained them, who elected them, and how many are afraid to oppose them?

Empires and empire building, the subjugation of ethnic minorities, the repression of one sex under another are all anathema to the living God 鈥� the law and the prophets and the psalms and the Gospels proclaim this.

But if our individual and collective attitude is not 鈥� what God through the prophet Micah commended 鈥�.to 'do justice, love kindness and walk humbly.' Rather, if we opt to do harm, love avarice and walk as if we were infallible beings, then let's not blame it on heaven.听听听听听听听听听听
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听

But that still does not answer the question.... in the face of all that confounds us,

What is God doing?听听听听听听听

Is God perhaps conceiving?

Listen to these words of Jesus to his disciples, as recorded in John's Gospel.听听听听听听听听

CAROLYN听 READING 2听 Gospel: John 16: 21-24听

21When a woman is in labour, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world.听22So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.听23On that day you will ask nothing of me. 听Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.听 24Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

MUSIC:听 ORGAN PLAYS PART OF VENI EMMANUEL听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 听

JOHN SERMON 4

What is God doing?

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I want to use the word Incarnation.

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But I want to rescue it from a primary association with a babyfest in December. The incarnation is not confined to Bethlehem.

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It seems to me that the Incarnation is about a change in the heart of God, no longer to remain removed from the vulnerable world and fallible people brought into being and loved by their Maker.听 But rather in the midst of their tensions, their mistakes and even their gross iniquities to enter into solidarity with wonderful and fallible humanity.

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It's as if God said 鈥�' What if ??'

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What if rather than stay within the boundlessness of eternity, I constrain myself
听 听听听听听听听听听听听 within the limitations of time and space?

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What if rather than be disembodied I limit myself to the physical form

听听听听听听听听听听听听听 and intellectual dexterity of a human being,

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What if I emerge on earth not as the gifted child of a pedigreed family, but am
听听听听听听听听听听听听听 parented by people who have no status or secure locus?

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What if rather than be educated in the finest academy, I learn about life through 30
听听听听听听听听听听听听听 years of anonymity?

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What if rather than be inviolable, I make myself vulnerable 鈥� to pain, to prejudice, to

听听听听听听听听听听听听听 slander, to disease and to the loss of credibility because of what I say and who

听听听听听听听听听听听听听 I associate with?

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What if rather than choose the best graduates from the foremost rabbinic seminary,
听 听听听听听听听听听听听 I pick for my companions a random sample of tradesmen, civil servants,

听听听听听听听听听听听听听 people with financial acumen, maybe even some with no specific skills and

听听听听听听听听听听听听听 one who might be quite untrustworthy?

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What if rather than repeat safe nostrums from the inviolability of the pulpit, I talk
听 听听听听听听听听听听听 about the forgotten and uncherished truths about life, faith and divine 听听 identity in places where people may be so outraged that they might try to 听听听 stone me?

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'What if, should all I say, give and do to save the world by my life and example, lead
听听听 听to animosity and rejection, rather than return to the safety of heaven,
听听听 听I accept the capital punishment which earth reserves for those whose love,
听听听听 honesty and integrity are too much to bear?

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And what if, when I'm dead, I don't stay lying down?

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Well in advance of Christmas, whatever your state of mind or wellbeing, take time to ponder on how out of sheer love, Jesus comes among us not to fix everything, but to be in total solidarity with us, and in the messiness of life to show a truer way of being human.

For those who follow that way, grief, trouble and pain are not the end, but can be the birthpains of something unspeakably better.听听听听听听听听听听

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听

MUSIC:听 FROM HEAVEN HIGH I COME TO TELL (Tune: Scottish Carol Tone)

Published in The University Carol Book

CAROLYN - PRAYERS

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Lord, surely it is time?

for some relief from this world鈥檚 hurting:

for those affected by floods and by fire, drenched by rain, or dried by drought

on islands and deltas lost to rising salt,

for the hungry to be filled with good things, and the rich to be content with enough

to awaken decision-makers and motivate voters,

to strengthen resolve and empower collective action,

for your people to be instruments of your justice, this day

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MUSIC:听 COME NOW, O PRINCE OF PEACE (Tune: O So So)

Published in Scottish Church Hymnary 4th Edition (Canterbury Press)

CAROLYN

Lord, surely it is time:

To show mercy: for those who need and those who offer care this day

To give comfort: for all who mourn and experience loss or suffering, this day

For resources of healing to be shared: for COVID, for malaria, and for AIDS which we especially remember this World AIDS Day

For communities to be restored and strengthened, for life to be cherished and nurtured,

for conflicts to be stemmed, and weapons re-worked as instruments of your peace.

MUSIC:听 COME NOW, O PRINCE OF PEACE (Tune: O So So)

Published in Scottish Church Hymnary 4th Edition (Canterbury Press)

CAROLYN

Lord, surely it is time?

To stay the hands of those who do harm; to strengthen the hands of those who fear doing good

To soften the hearts of all embittered by grievance or intolerance

To heal the wounds of any immune to others鈥� suffering

To change our minds, to heal our hearts, to prepare a place

For you to be born again, within us.听听

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All: Lord鈥檚 Prayer

MUSIC 鈥� HYMN: OF THE FATHER鈥橲 LOVE BEGOTTEN (Tune: Corde Natus)

听听听听 听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听

CAROLYN 鈥� BLESSING

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At the beginning, at the end,

at this moment in between,

in these best and worst of times:

Now is the time in which God creates

Now is the time in which God heals

Now is the time in which Christ comes.

May the life of the Christ child

given for this broken, yet beautiful world

Be born anew

this day.

And the blessing of God:

Creator, Redeemer and Spirit of Life

Be with and remain with you. 听Amen.

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MUSIC:听 ORGAN VOLUNTARY