Advent of Christmas
Hush the noise!
This year the Methodist Church are promoting a different way of looking at the Christmas story.
Throughout Advent and Christmas 2024 the Methodist Church is calling us all to ‘Hush the Noise.’ This is a phrase taken from the carol It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, which churches will use each week as a basis for their worship. Advent is the start of the Church’s liturgical calendar, and the main Gospel used in the lectionary rotates to Luke.
Here are the liturgies we will be using in our church services up to Christmas.
1st Sunday in Advent - December 1st
In the first Sunday in Advent we begin with a rather cryptic warning that we are going to explore through the lens of hushing the noise. In subsequent weeks there are symbols that may be used in worship to summarise the theme. The first week’s is a picture of roaring waves. This text is a continuation of Luke’s account of Jesus’ speech about the end times; the advent of the Son of Man and the coming of redemption.
Advent dawns with lights strung high and music everywhere,
Sights and smells abound around,
Senses assaulted and confused,
O hush the noise, Let’s hear the angels sing.
Amid the lists and cards and gifts,
Amid the pleas and “please can we”,
Amid the chaos of the world,
O hush the noise,
Let’s hear the angels sing.
Let’s seek to see and seek to hear.
Let’s seek to feel and seek to know.
Let’s seek to find peace and love.
O hush the noise,
Let’s hear the angels sing
2nd Sunday in Advent - December 8th
This week we focus on the prophets: messengers from both the Old and New Testaments who received a vision for a new way. The symbol for this week, a lightbulb, commonly represents a new idea. We ask how we can continue the legacy of the prophets today.
Preparations underway, shifting focus each new day,
Amidst the darkness looking for the light,
For the truth among the mess.
O hush the noise,
Let’s hear the angels sing.
Looking for the messengers who bring the light,
Isaiah – prophet and ancient poet
And John who came to point the way.
O hush the noise,
Let’s hear the angels sing.
Angels, messengers of today,
Truth tellers for this present age,
Those who now show us the way.
O hush the noise,
Let’s hear the angels sing.
3rd Sunday in Advent - December 15th
The carol was written in America in 1849 as a response to geopolitical unrest, and as a protest about the horrors of slavery.18 It describes a “weary world” filled with “Babel sounds”, “sin and strife” and war. Sadly, 175 years later the carol is just as relevant. We long for harmony, justice and restoration. It might be helpful to explain that ‘Babel sounds’ is a reference to Genesis 11, the ancient story of people being divided into tribes with different languages so they cannot communicate with each other.
This week’s symbol is glue or sellotape. How can we mend things that are broken, be like glue in the community to reduce disconnection and disintegration?
Presents get wrapped with tape and glue,
Tidy parcels neatly wrapped,
Names on labels with “love from”,
O hush the noise,
Let’s hear the angels sing.
We’ve sorted gifts and who needs what,
What will they like, what will be good?
But are there more we need to include?
O hush the noise,
Let’s hear the angels sing.
What of those alone, adrift,
forgotten and neglected?
What of those whose life’s been hard?
What gift of help needs wrapping too?
O hush the noise,
Let’s hear the angels sing.
4th Sunday in Advent - December 22nd
On the final Sunday of Advent we focus on Mary and her song, the Magnificat. The theme of the President and Vice-President of Conference this year is Praise and Protest, both of which aspects are clear in Mary’s song.
The symbol this week is a protest banner, to represent the imperative to challenge injustice that is present in the song
Preparations almost complete, the time is nearly here.
Promises and praises echo all around,
Silencing the noises of injustice.
O hush the noise,
Let’s hear the angels sing.
The promise of God for the servant lowly,
God who comes to the help of all,
Whose ancient promise still stands today.
O hush the noise,
Let’s hear the angels sing.
And we watch and we seek,
And we learn, we pray and we praise,
And we wait and we wait.
O hush the noise,
Let’s hear the angels sing.
