Epiphany Readings: Isaiah 60v1-6; Psalm 72v1-15; Ephesians 3v1-12; Matthew 2v1-12. Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. A Word: Isaiah’s prophecy tells of a time when we must arise and shine, to lift our eyes and look, because the glory and light of the Lord will appear to dispel the darkness that covers the earth and its peoples. Through Isaiah, God tells us that this is a time when nations and kings will be drawn to the bright dawn of the light. A time when sons and daughters from far away will gather together. A time when people from Midian, Ephah and Sheba will arrive on camels to proclaim the Lord, to praise God and give gifts of gold and frankincense. This is a time of radiance as hearts delight and rejoice. The psalm is a prayer asking God to send his Son of God to come in righteousness as the eternal, almighty and gracious King. For when God comes to judge all people, judgement will be with a finely tuned moral compass of justice, decency and honour. Judgement that will bring peace to the world by crushing oppressors and violence as well as redeeming the lives of all in need. For God is coming to defend the weak and the poor, to deliver the children of those in poverty and to preserve the lives of the needy. The psalm foretells that the time prayed for is one when all kings will fall down and all nations do service to the one true King. This will include kings from Tarshish, Seba and Sheba; and those from Sheba bring a gift of gold. The Gospel tells of the time when Isaiah’s prophecy and the psalmist’s prayer were fulfilled. This was when wise men travelled from lands in the East to search for the child born to be the King of the people of Judea. For the wise men had seen the star that shone at the time of the new King’s birth and they had come to pay him homage. The prophecy of old was at last fulfilled when the wise men found the child Jesus with his mother Mary and showed him the respect, reverence, honour and worship they knew was His right and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. As we look back through the ancient scriptures, we can see that Gentiles were included in God’s Divine plan to save all people. For the Kings and nations spoken of by God through Isaiah were Gentiles and the Kings we hear about in Matthew were Gentiles who came to find the one and only true King of the people of Judea. In the letter from Paul to the people in Ephesus, we are told that God has made known through revelation that Gentiles are now included in the boundless riches of Christ. For Israelites and Gentiles are now members of the same body, together are heirs to the promises of Jesus and have access to God through the gospel and faith in Jesus. Let us pray: Almighty God, you have made your plans and purposes known through your prophets and psalmists, through your apostles and evangelists, and through the witness of your Church. Today may we be drawn by your light, may we discern your presence and see in your Son Jesus, the Word made flesh. Lord lead us by faith to behold your glory. Amen Thank you for joining us.
First Sunday of ChristmasReadings: Isaiah 61v10-62v3; Psalm 148; Galatians 4v4-7; Luke 2v15-21.Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.A Word: Today in Luke we hear that after the shepherds had been visited by angels on the night of the birth of the promised Messiah, that they discussed what God had made known to them and decided to go and see for themselves. Once in the town, they found everything just as had been described to them and told all those who were there what the angels had said to them, and they were amazed. Those who were present included Jesus the Messiah, Mary his mother, Joseph, her husband and a number of other people who are not listed but indicated in the words “all who heard”. After this, the shepherds returned to their fields glorifying and praising God.I love to hear this story about the shepherds being sent to see the Messiah because the David of the “David and Goliath story” was a shepherd when he was chosen by God to become the King of Israel and the ancestor of the Messiah. I love to hear this story about the shepherds because the Messiah was prophesied to be the Shepherd of God’s people and the Lamb of God. I love to hear this story because God chose shepherds to hear the message that the Messiah had been born into the world and that they shared the angelic message with the Holy Family and everyone else who was present.Today, its our turn to learn from the scriptures, to listen to God’s message to us and to share what God needs the world to know, through what we share with all the people that we meet. This may be a message shared in a conversation about the things that God has done for us, or through a message shared by the way we love and serve others because of what God has done for us, or by sharing what we read and learn from the scriptures. But whatever we share and however we do it - I pray that we shall be a people who, like the shepherds, glorify and praise God as we go about our daily lives.Let us pray: Almighty God, you created us, made us in your own image and through Jesus, restored us so we can share in the life of his divinity. Thank you for sending Jesus into the world to share in our humanity and live an earthly life. Now, bless and guide your Church, the people you are calling home, help us to live as a loving and united family, a people obedient to your word, heading to an eternal home in heaven. AmenThank you for joining us.
Christmas Day Readings: Isaiah 61v1-40&8-end; Psalm 126/Luke 1v46b-55; 1 Thessalonians5v16-24; John 1v6-8&19-28. Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. A Word: As we celebrate the nativity of Jesus, we remember that the star that shone at his birth was seen far away in the land of Persia. The Church celebrates the arrival of these astrologers and their meeting with the infant Jesus, at the feast of Epiphany, in early January, but what the Bible does not reveal is how many astrologers came. So, we have the tradition of speaking about three Persians – also known as three kings and three wise men - because the Bible tells us about the three gifts they brought of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Now, as we do not know how many Persian astrologers came, this inspired a story about a fourth traveller, as told by an angel in a film. This is the story I am going to share with you now. Now, when the first three astrologers set off to find the new born King, the fourth held back to help a family in need and so was delayed. Then as the other three found their way to Herod’s court, the fourth was delayed even more because he had stopped to assist people in trouble and difficulties along the route. Then, after the three eventually found Jesus in Bethlehem and made their way home by another way to avoid King Herod, they met the fourth and told him to avoid Herod and head straight for Bethlehem. Unfortunately, by the time the fourth traveller arrived in Bethlehem, the holy family had already set off for Egypt. But, before following them, the fourth stayed to comfort the families and bury the children who had been killed by Herod’s army. So, by the time the fourth traveller arrived in Egypt, Herod had died and the Holy Family had returned home and settled away from the public eye in Galilee. Having heard they had gone home already, the fourth traveller did what he could to help the people he met in Egypt before returning to Israel to search for and find the young King. This pattern of life became the fourth traveller’s way of living: always seeking for the King, always meeting with people in need and always being delayed because he offered compassion and care to all who required it. Eventually, after 33 years of searching, the fourth traveller arrived in Jerusalem only to hear that the King he was seeking was about to be crucified in a place called Golgotha. The fourth traveller searched outside the city walls and eventually found a cross on which there was a sign above a dying man. It said “The King of the Jews”. The fourth traveller looked up at the King he had spent so many years trying to find and said “I am so sorry that I have missed finding you so many times during your life here on earth, as I so wanted to look upon your face before this”. In reply, Jesus looked back and said “Do not be sad, because every time you helped others, you were helping me; and every time you looked with compassion on the people you helped; you were looking straight at me”. So, as we give thanks for the birth, life and death of Jesus today; we give thanks that we are called to show love, care and compassion to others; for as the Bible tells us, when we help others, we are helping Jesus. Prayer Thank you Lord God Almighty, that you as the creator of all things came into the world as a baby, to live and die to save us from our sins. Amen Thank you for joining us.
IV Sunday of Advent Readings: 2 Samuel 7v1-11&16; Psalm 89v1-8; Romans 16v25-end; Luke 1v26-38. Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. A Word: Each year, I love to hear about the Angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary. I love that she is invited to be the mother of the promised Messiah, to be the mother of Almighty God made man. However, I am always so surprised by Mary’s reaction. First, instead of being terrified at the angel’s visitation, Mary wonders what the Angel’s greeting means. Then when told what God has in mind for her, Mary challenges the angel by asking how this could be? Over the years as I have pondered and reflected on Mary’s reactions and wondered whether Mary had been visited by angels before? For why would Mary wonder what the Angel’s greeting meant, unless she had met with angels before and been greeted differently! And, why was Mary not simply afraid of the angel, unless she had learnt not to be afraid, because she had been visited before! These reactions are in sharp contrast to what happens next, for after Gabriel explains that the child will be conceived by the power of God’s spirit and, for proof of this, that her barren cousin Elizabeth was already 6 months pregnant To which, Mary quite simply agreed to God’s plan, without any further comment and without any hesitation. For me, this confidence in God’s promises and plans is also extraordinary, but I am not so surprised by this because, like her cousin Elizabeth, Mary was probably also of the priestly line of Aaron. This means that Mary was raised in an Israelite family, a family whose calling was to study the scriptures, worship regularly, pray often and put their trust and confidence in God. Today as we give thanks for God’s promise of the Messiah, we also give thanks for Mary’s unconditional agreement to bear the Christ-child so that God could be born into the world he made. For through Mary, we believe that God was born into the world and given the name Jesus. Jesus, the son of the most-high God, Jesus the king who reigns forever in the line of his ancestor David, Jesus the king who reigns over the House of Jacob, the House of Israel. Let us pray: Almighty God, our Father in heaven, we thank you for choosing Mary to be the mother of the promised saviour, we thank you that Mary was ready to meet with your Angelic messenger, we thank you that Mary agreed to bring Jesus into the world. Help us to be more like Mary so that we may embrace your holy will, rejoice in your salvation and be ready to greet Jesus when he returns to make his judgement. Amen. Thank you for joining us.
