Dear friends,

Welcome to our latest update, including a copy of my sermon from this morning at St Hilda’s, along with the readings we had. And here’s another reminder of what’s coming up as 2024 gets underway:

Wednesday 3rd January

9:00 - New Weekly Holy Communion Service in Goathland at The Bield

Thursday 4th January

10:30 - 3:00 Community Space: Vi's Community Cafe in Grosmont at St Matthew's

1:30 - Play Space in Grosmont at St Matthew's Grosmont

Saturday 6th January

6:00 - A Special Epiphany Event - Follow the Star into 2024! at St Matthew's Grosmont

Sunday 7th January

9:00 - New Weekly Holy Communion Service in Lealholm at St James'

10:45 - Holy Communion in Goathland with the Plough Stots for Plough Sunday at St Mary's

3:30 - Fellowship Space at The Hollin's Institute in Grosmont

6:00 - Breathing Space at St Hilda in Egton

Tuesday 9th January

6:00 - Sharing Space at Green Farm in Egton

Saturday 13th January

1:00 - 4:00 Community Forum: Middle ESK Moor into 2024 at St Matthew's Grosmont

If you can support our new weekly Holy Communion services, that would be wonderful. As I said yesterday, I am wanting to provide more regular fixed points of contact for us to join together each week. The Holy Communions are experiments during January and February to gauge interest (9.00 on Wednesday in Goathland and 9.00 on Sunday in Lealholm). For any further information required please email me - [email protected].

Let’s keep in mind the three men that tragically died last Thursday in the River Esk near Glaisdale. Let’s commend them to God’s eternal care, and let’s pray for their families and friends; that they will find some peace, some light amidst the darkness. Let’s pray also for all those caught up in the events, those that helped respond to the tragedy.

Despite all the sadness in our world, we all have the hope and security of Jesus in our lives. With that in our minds and hearts, and the light and hope that brings, let’s also pray for a wonderful start to the new year, full of love, peace and joy.

With blessings and all good wishes,

Anthony

Collect for today, the First Sunday of Christmas

God in Trinity,
eternal unity of perfect love:
gather the nations to be one family,
and draw us into your holy life
through the birth of Emmanuel,
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Galatians 4.4-7

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

Luke 2.15-21

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Sermon for today

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts together be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock, and redeemer. Amen.

"But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart."

I’m repeatedly struck by that verse in our reading from Luke. I think I mentioned it in my sermons last weekend. It’s kept me pondering…

Are you one of those people who like to read the end of a book first, just to check out that you want to bother with the whole thing? Or, are you one of those people who would never take a little peek at the last page, and would be tempted to throw your book at anyone that spoils the ending for you? The thing is, with the Christmas story, we already know the ending. We have the benefit of hindsight. We know the story very, very well. And we know that, with all its twists and turns, it is a happy one: the anticipation of Christmas is followed by the drama and joy of Easter. It's all clear. It’s all set out in our lectionary readings from church year to church year.

But for people who were in the first Christmas story all those years ago, there was no such certainty. Absolutely, there were lots of hints at things to come: messengers from God, prophetic utterances, shepherds rushing back from the fields to tell of an angelic choir singing about the saviour being born. But if the truth were told, back in the first few hundred years of the church, there was still an awful lot of gaps in the picture, and lots of ambiguity. People argued about what the signs meant, disagreed about the interpretation of what the prophets had said, and just didn't manage to work out what was going on at all. All that ambiguity had its effect on Mary. It’s encapsulated in those few words that describe Mary's response to the whole thing. Everyone else is amazed, but Mary is more thoughtful. She, "treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart."

What was she thinking?

What did it mean to bear God's child?

How would Joseph cope with the child?

What did it mean that he would be called the Son of the Most High?

Or that he would inherit the throne of his ancestor David?

What does it mean to be Good News to all people?

To be the Messiah?

All these words and phrases can mean so many things. And how do you bring up a child like Jesus?

Could you tell him off?

Could you teach him anything?

What sort of career should he be steered into?

Will he be an outlaw; will he operate inside the system or outside it?

Will he be hurt?

Will his family be hurt?

So many questions for Mary to ponder. So many questions for us to ponder. There's so much left unanswered, so much that’s unclear about the way ahead. There are quite a lot of "buts", quite a lot to treasure up and think about. It would seem that, despite the clear and miraculous interventions in the day-to-day lives of the people of Bethlehem, an awful lot was to be left to Mary and Joseph to work out. And that seems to be part of God's plan: the way that the story of salvation is woven with the story of humankind: we have to do a lot of pondering, a lot of working things out.

Over the last few weeks, we have celebrated a familiar, well-worn and much-loved story. But let's take some time this morning to stand in the shoes of those who didn't know how it would all work out, and those who had only their faith to help them put together the pieces of the heavenly jigsaw that was being laid out before them. Often our own lives are a jumble of such pieces: some moments of great clarity, answers to prayer, signs from God and words of instruction.

But let's face it, those moments of certainty can be rather rare, and there’s a lot of questions unanswered and uncertainties to face. And there always seems to be an awful lot of just getting on with it. But this is a great privilege. Rather than tie everything up with spiritual certainties, God gives us the space and time we need to allow the Christian story to unfold for each one of us. Would you agree that we’ve been enriched by the story of Christmas as it’s been retold? I certainly have. But there is space too to follow Mary's example and ponder not just the wonderful gifts God has given us, but the questions and uncertainties that those things raise.

What does it mean, for each of us, here and now, to be a legacy of the Christmas child? We know the ending, in a way, and it's a happy one, but there's so much to work out, so much to do. It's exciting and it's rather scary, at the same time, but it's our chance to take part in the greatest story ever told. Let’s ponder that as 2024 draws closer. 

Amen.

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The Reverend Anthony Bennett

Interim Minister – the Benefice of Middle ESK Moor
middleESKmoor.org

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These two books, edited by Jane Williams, are continuing to be very helpful with planning my sermon writing:

Williams, J (2009), Ed., ‘Lost for Words, A Sermon Resource for the Anglican Three Year Cycle,’ Redemptorist Publications, Chawton, UK.

Williams, J (2011), Ed., ‘Lectionary Reflections, Years A, B and C.’ Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, UK.