We Root Ourselves in Ritual

Me

Lorie’s Liturgy Book - Every moment Holy

For the first fire of the season

For the first day of winter

dropping a child off at school

for changing diapers

a liturgy when you feel flooded with too much information

a liturgy for when you feel both happy and sad at the same time

All of the things that we don’t have a ritual for but I wish we did

When someone moves

When a church closes it’s doors

When someone claims a new name

When someone is released from prison

There should be a ritual to celebrate when families are blended and new members are welcomed in

We

Rituals are comforting because they remind us that we are like others

Hundreds of Thousands of people have done this before and I am like them when I engage in this ritual

Ritual is a way that we become reminded of who we are and of where we come from

It is a way to locate ourselves is a larger story that is on-going

God

it is a story about rituals

Mary and Josephs purification Ritual

The naming and declaring of the baby

Marking the baby with a sign of the people of God that he had come from a reminder of his heritage and of who his ancestors were

Mary and Joseph followed all the Jewish customs based on God’s Old Testament revelation.

Rituals are a means of Grace

The sense that even when it feels like God is not there, you just do the ritual

Do the things that place you under the waterfall of grace

Joseph and Mary adhered to the rituals despite the many challenges they faced

Simeon and Anna were long awaiting the Messiah and while they were waiting they were doing what only they knew how how to.

Communion and Baptism - an outward sign of God’s inward and spiritual grace

An outward sign of an inward change

Habitus - Thomas Aquinas - Rituals are not magical or special, but they remind us of something that is.

God’s Redemption is participatory not anticipatory

Simeon and Anna were waiting....but they were not waiting passively

They were instead reminding themselves of who they were

Ritual reminds us who we are not just as individuals but of who we are as a people

(launch into the OT arguments for the birth rituals using the notes that you have)

Circumcision goes back to Genesis as a reminder of the promised people of God

The purification of the Baby itself was from The marking of the firstbord was on their hand and on their forehead that is to remind them that by the strength of the Lord's hand they were brought out of egypt (Ex. 13)

The reason that there were two turtle doves was one for burnt offering and the other for a sin offering

Interesting that they would prefer a lamb for a burnt offering and a dove for a sin offering, but two turtle doves is actually just a fitting substitute

Don't simply wait around believing the Prophecies will happen

Ritual is a way forward when there seems no clear path

Likewise Mary and Joseph take their next faithful step forward by engaging in this process of Ritual

Ritual is not about requirement it is about Sacred Rhythms

Luke 2:27 NRSV

27 Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law,

There is a different where one translations says "according to tradition" and another translation says "required by tradition" just an interesting thing to think about if we see tradition as a requirement or just a thing to be in dialogue with

customary, required by, or according to

The word’s definition here according one Greek dictionary is “that which is in habitual practice”

One reading is as a requirement

You do this ritual in order to be good with God

Another way to tell the story is that they did that because that was what they were accustomed to

That was the rhythm or habit that they were into

They were so used to doing that that they couldn’t imagine not

We just came out of a season that for many is marked by this same sense of ritual

We need rituals to remind us where we have been as a people and what God is doing around us

You - What Rituals do you need?

What are the sacred rhythms that your life needs?

What are the moments that you wish there were a ritual for?

What might it look like to create one?

Us - A New Year Resolution of Ritual

Perhaps as we think about that we can look back to the pillars of our faith Mary and Joseph, Simeon and Anna and ask what it might look like for our own communal patterns to be ones where we remember where God has been in our story. That perhaps our rituals may just be a means of Grace for us.

For in our rituals, we find not just tradition but a living connection to the sacred, a dance with the divine that elevates our individual and collective journey. Let this be a year where our rhythms, whether personal or communal, are orchestrated by grace, and where every beat is a celebration of the divine dance we are privileged to join.

Prayer After Sermon

Thank you, God, for the joys of this season.

Thank you for the candle lighting and the

carol singing.

Thank you for the bells ringing and the

community gathering.

Thank you for turning ordinary moments

into holy reminders of your gospel promise.

We are surrounded by so many gifts and

we do not want to miss the opportunity to

express

gratitude.

However, despite the abundant gifts of this

season, we also acknowledge the

heartache of this

season, and we bring those prayers to you

as well.

So Holy God,

For individuals who long to be parents like

Mary and Joseph but find themselves facing

infertility

or loss—be with them.

For those who feel like they are going

through the motions of faith but still feel far

from you—be

with them.

For those who see the joy of this season,

but cannot ignore the weariness in their

hearts—be

with them.

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God, we could go on and on with our

prayers of both gratitude and lament. The

world is joyful

and weary, and on either side of that coin,

we long to tether ourselves to you.

So meet us once again in the ordinary

rituals of our faith—rituals like praying,

singing, studying

scripture, and gathering with community.

Meet us at the Table and the Font. Meet us

in the

pews and in the Sunday school classrooms.

Meet us when we pray before meals and

when we

pray before bed. Holy God, we don’t care

where you find us, we just ask that you

would—over and

over and over again.

And as you do, we promise that like Mary

and Joseph we will do our best to bring our

weary

and hopeful spirits back to your temple,

back to you. And in those comings and

goings, we will

continue to pray using the words you taught

us, saying:

Our Father...

Continue with the Lord’s Prayer in the

language and wording most familiar to you.

Benediction

Family of Faith, as you leave this place, you go into a weary world -- so speak tenderly. Do the good that is yours to do. Choose connection. Hold onto hope. And remember that Christ took on flesh for you. You are God's beloved. So go rejoicing. The world needs it. Amen.