Dear friends,

Welcome to our latest update, including a copy of the sermon i planned to preach yesterday for the Epiphany at St James’ Lealholm (but changed my mind at the last minute and talked about something else!), along with the readings we had.

Also, please find below details of what’s coming up through the rest of this week. Please note changes to the locations for Sharing Space and the Wednesday morning Holy Communion service.

Please do come to our Community Forum on Saturday afternoon if you can. We’ll be thinking about how to continue to develop our churches across the Benefice. It would be lovely to see you. Please bring a food contribution for our ‘Bring and Share’ lunch.

Tomorrow - Tuesday 9th January

10:00-12:00 Community Space: Cafe at Goathland Village Hall

6:30 Sharing Space at Green Farm, Egton YO21 1UG

Wednesday 10th January

9:00 New Weekly Holy Communion Service at Brereton Lodge, Goathland YO22 5JR.

Thursday 11th 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

Saturday 13th January

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

I’ll send another update as the weekend approaches,

With blessings and all good wishes,

Anthony

Collect for the Epiphany

Creator of the heavens,
who led the Magi by a star
to worship the Christ-child:
guide and sustain us,
that we may find our journey’s end
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Ephesians 3.1-12

This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— for surely you have already heard of the commission of God’s grace that was given to me for you, and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ. In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow-heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of his power. Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him.

Matthew 2.1-12

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

“And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.” ’

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Sermon

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

We went out for a walk at this time of the year about three years ago, and it was quite misty. We saw quite a surreal view of a wind turbine at one point, you could see the top of the turbine and the blades but the shaft holding it up was hidden in the mist. It was like the blades weren’t attached to anything, floating in thin air. It was quite cold. The mist had settled over the very cold ground obscuring things at low level. It was a case of temperature inversion. Remembering that disappearing wind turbine got me thinking: why is it that sometimes we can see things so much more clearly than at other times?

Perhaps we’re looking for something on a supermarket shelf. We can look and look and look and yet somehow it eludes us. We know it's there somewhere - or at least it usually is - but we just can't see the wood for the trees, or rather, the wind turbine for the mist. What we’re looking for is obscured. And then, to our embarrassment, someone else wanders up and picks out the elusive item from the shelf without so much as a second glance!

The wise men play something of this role in Matthew's version of the birth of Jesus that we’ve just heard as our Gospel reading. But let’s compare our reading to Luke's version that we might have heard a couple of weeks ago on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Luke says it’s the shepherds who are the first to visit the baby Jesus. The downtrodden, the ordinary working folk, the people who were always trying their best to earn a living, but not much noticed by anyone else, these we’re the ones directed by the angels to rush to the manger. They didn’t understand what had happened, but they helped Mary to ‘ponder all these things in her heart.’

In Matthew’s account of the story it’s the wise men who recognise Jesus for who he is. The shepherds aren’t mentioned. The wise men, maybe three of them or more, were people who were rich and important, but they were also outsiders and strangers. Maybe these wise men were the last people you would have expected to know about the birth of a Messiah, let alone follow a star and travel a long distance to find him and worship him? Matthew contrasts these well-travelled, well-informed strangers with Herod, the person in the story who actually should have seen exactly who Jesus really was, but didn't. Herod certainly isn’t portrayed as a wise man. Herod didn't see what was under his own nose. He didn’t see the wood for the trees. He didn’t see the turbine for the mist.

Not only is Herod ill-informed about the existence and whereabouts of the new king, he’s frightened and threatened by the news that the strange visitors bring. They threaten the power he thinks he has; it becomes obscured. The wise men continue on their way, and, to their great joy, they find exactly what they’d been looking for. Again, the difference between Matthew and Luke's accounts is important. Luke describes Mary and Joseph travelling to Bethlehem because of a Roman census, and the shepherds witness the birth in the stable. But in Matthew's account, time has moved on, Mary and Joseph have set up their own home in Bethlehem. Jesus could be anything up to two years old - we can guess that from Herod's order that will come - to kill all the children aged up to two year’s old. There is none of the wonder of a new birth in Matthew’s account - it’s just an ordinary, everyday scene. Apart, that is, from well-travelled strangers bearing kingly gifts. What the wise men didn’t find in Herod's palace, they found in an ordinary house among ordinary people: they found the true king of Israel, the one with the real power.

Whether it’s a situation that’s fairly trivial - like the supermarket - or one that’s desperately important like the wise men visiting Jesus, we all know what it's like to lose sight of what really matters, and to struggle to see the wind turbine for the mist. We’re not short of challenges in our lives and in the world at the moment. And we’re not short of challenges in our big project to build the church across Middle ESK Moor. Maybe part of our approach should be to look at ‘familiar’ situations in different ways. To try different approaches. Different perspectives. Maybe this new early Sunday Holy Communion will create a space for us to gain some new insights and perspectives. And, any new people that might join us will being new insights with them; fresh ways of thinking. Through looking with a changed perspective, like through a different lens, maybe we can allow ourselves to be drawn into being able to see what really matters a little bit more clearly? We need fresh eyes to look at the world around us.

Inspired by Jesus, I think we need the insight of the wise men. No matter how we change our perspectives, no matter how each of us moves forward into 2024, Matthew's message from today’s reading is that hope is there, hope is here, right in the midst of us in Jesus Christ, our Lord. We just need to open our eyes to see him, the true king of Israel, the one with the real power.

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.