St Luke 8: 19 – 21

Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.’ But he said to them, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.’

Reflection

As you read this, we are both celebrating yesterday’s feast of Epiphany, the revelation of the truth of Jesus to the world.  You are likely in the throes of winter whilst I’m in the throes of summer. Wherever we are, no matter who we are, no matter what we or others think we are, we who read this devotion have a huge thing in common. We’re related to Jesus. Not the kind of blood relatives we think of as relations, yet related. We’re related by believing in God in Jesus and doing what we’re called to do.

This gorgeous little moment in Luke comes in a section about what it means to do God’s will by understanding God through Jesus and doing what we are called to pay attention to.  The chapter starts with women helping God’s message by funding Jesus in his travelling. As he travels, Jesus tells parables; in Luke a few verses ago, the parable of the sower shows that it’s ready ground which takes the good news, then, that light should be revealed – the good news seen. It’s a little task list of: support the messenger, prepare to receive, show the God task done. This passage is not Jesus rejecting his birth family, it is that when we all take on the Holy task of receiving God and sharing that love, we are all related, connected as closely as family.

So? That God familial connection helps us through.  Though many of us know the pain from those who chose a different path, we who choose the Jesus path get strength and hope to carry on doing the God-tasks we do. Knowing we’re not alone is huge. It gives us oomph and courage to do the really hard stuff. Brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, all the relations we are, hello.  We’re in this together.

Prayers

Amazing God,
it can be hard for us to imagine
that via you, we humans are an us.
Let us accept the graciousness of that
whether it makes sense or not.
Only you can connect us with each other
and your eternal power in one fell swoop.
We praise you, thank you
and ask you to put us to your work.
We’re ready.
Amen and Amen.
 

St Luke 8: 16 – 18

‘No one after lighting a lamp hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light.  For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light.  Then pay attention to how you listen; for to those who have, more will be given; and from those who do not have, even what they seem to have will be taken away.’

Reflection

God’s light… God’s love is what I consider this passage to be about. The lighting of a lamp, for me, represents the igniting of God’s love within us; once we receive God’s love, it never dims and never really goes away, always shining brightly.  God’s light reflects HIS love in a way that nothing else can match. By speaking words of faith, positivity and joy, we shine and radiate God’s light in how we live and how we behave.   

It is this same light that is powerful enough for people to turn their lives to Christ when a person is ready to receive HIM.  It is this same light that regardless of what we go through, doesn’t leave us bitter or resentful in the long term, but helps us forgive and move forward, despite the impact of devastating news or sad events.  

This wonderful light can’t be hidden and it will be disclosed. People will discern by our actions and ‘shine’ that we are actually different (not better than anyone else) but are kind, loving, generous and forgiving.  

The final part of the passage ‘for those who have, more will be given’ calls to mind, that those who turn towards the light, will keep growing and getting to new depths of faith. However, in some circumstances and for those who do not open their hearts to the light or are closed off to God’s love, teaching and guidance.. sadness and darkness can take over as can doubt and cynicism i.e. the less than positive parts of our world; this can engulf us. It can lead us to a different path altogether, one that serves us little good.. only to draw more negativity towards us; the consequences of this can lead to a spiral that is difficult to come back from and that affects us mentally, emotionally and physically.

So the lesson is that we must let our light and love shine…. always.

Prayer 

God of light; God of love
Help us; guide us when life is hard and cruel, 
to face into your light and focus on our blessings.. 
as this is the only way to radiate your love.
Teach us to grow and to glow 
and in this way to always ensure 
we are a blessing to the many who live in darkness.
So that they too can be a blessing to others. Amen 

 
Today’s service is led by the Revd Andy Braunston

 
Welcome

We explore, in worship today, themes of light shining in the darkness, mysterious visitors bringing the Holy Family even more mysterious gifts, and consider how a people struggling in exile and defeat were enlightened with God’s glorious light.  My name is Andy Braunston and I am the United Reformed Church’s Minister for Digital Worship.  Living in Orkney, off Scotland’s far north coast I know a thing or two about living in darkness in these short winter days but, there again, I know something of living in the light as, in June, it doesn’t really get dark.  Our readings explore themes of light and dark as we focus on Jesus whose light radiates in the gloom of our world.  Let’s worship God together.

Call to Worship

In the gloom of our world, when all seems desperate and dangerous: we arise and shine for our light has come! In the hopeless situations that surround us, the news that terrifies, the nations at war, and truth itself is silenced: we arise and shine for our light has come! When gifts have strings attached, when estrangement is part of life, and when dangerous leaders tempt us to despair: we arise and shine for our light has come! So, we arise and shine, for the glory of the Lord is upon us; our hearts will thrill and rejoice as the work of Christmas continues – to shine the Lord’s light in our darkened world.

Hymn     O Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness
John S. B. Monsell (1863) Public Domain BBC Songs of Praise

O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness;
bow down before him, his glory proclaim;
with gold of obedience, and incense of lowliness,
kneel and adore him: the Lord is his name.

Low at his feet lay thy burden of carefulness:
high on his heart he will bear it for thee,
comfort thy sorrows, and answer thy prayerfulness,
guiding thy steps as may best for thee be.

Fear not to enter his courts in the slenderness
of the poor wealth thou wouldst reckon as thine:
truth in its beauty, and love in its tenderness,
these are the offerings to lay on his shrine.

O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness;
bow down before him, his glory proclaim;
with gold of obedience, and incense of lowliness,
kneel and adore him: the Lord is his name.
 
Prayers of Approach, Confession, and Grace

We come to worship You, O God, with obedience and humility,
as we adore Your most holy name.
We lay our burdens at Your feet, not just for our own good, 
but to allow space for You to guide our steps;
that we may relieve the world’s pain.

As we come and see the beauty of Your holiness,
we become conscious of the ugliness of our sin;
we love the gloom more than the light,
the sorrow more than the joy, lies more than truth.
We are conscious of our slender wealth
against the riches of Your grace.
Give us time, O God, to appreciate Your tender love,
to live Your beautiful truth,
and make our lives temples to Your glory.

Give us the grace to forgive others when they hurt us,
the beauty to forgive ourselves and leave our guilt behind,
and the faith to trust in Your forgiveness 
which changes and challenges us.  Amen.

Introduction

Our reading from Isaiah is set during the exile of the Jewish people in Babylon.  It was a time of great gloom and despondency when the very future of the Jews as an independent nation was in grave doubt.  Yet, in the midst of the gloom, there’s news of recovery – a recovery that would bring nations and their rulers to pay tribute to Israel and bring costly gifts.  Our Gospel reading tells of the mysterious visitors “from the East” who bring costly gifts to a peasant child believing him to be a king.  Pagan outsiders perceive what God is up to long before those who should have know what was going on.  Let’s pray and then we’ll hear ancient and contemporary words as we think about those readings and how we might find them useful now.

Prayer for Illumination

Come with speedy support O Spirit, to give us songs for sighing, that, as we hear You in ancient and contemporary words, You might turn our gloom into light, and remind us that we are precious in Your sight.  Amen

Reading     Isaiah 60:1-6

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the peoples, but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together; they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried in their nurses’ arms. Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you; the wealth of the nations shall come to you. A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.

Hymn     Hail to the Lord’s Anointed
James Montgomery (1821) Public Domain Sung by Lythan and Phil Nevard and used with their kind permission.

Hail to the Lord’s Anointed, great David’s greater Son!
Hail in the time appointed, his reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression, to set the captive free;
to take away transgression, and rule in equity.

He comes with succour speedy to those who suffer wrong;
to help the poor and needy, and bid the weak be strong;
to give them songs for sighing, their darkness turn to light,
whose souls, condemned & dying, are precious in his sight.

He shall come down like showers upon the fruitful earth;
love, joy, and hope, like flowers, spring in his path to birth.
Before him on the mountains, shall peace, the herald, go,
and righteousness, in fountains, from hill to valley flow.

Kings shall fall down before Him and gold and incense bring; 
all nations shall adore Him, His praise all people sing; 
for He shall have dominion o’er river, sea, and shore, 
far as the eagle’s pinion, or dove’s light wing can soar.

O’er every foe victorious, he on his throne shall rest,
from age to age more glorious, all-blessing and all-blest.
The tide of time shall never his covenant remove.
His name shall stand for ever: that name to us is Love.
 
Reading     St Matthew 2:1-12

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, magi from the east came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star in the east, 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 magi 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 in the east, 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

Imagine a people without a land, a nation whose capital lay in ruins and a tribe deported to a faraway country which didn’t understand their language, faith, rituals or identity.  Imagine the pain, dislocation, grief and stress.  This was the situation of the Jewish people as the final chapters of the book we now call Isaiah were written.  The political and religious elite had been deported to Babylon and their homeland, temple, houses, fields, and trades were left in ruin.  How could they sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?  Of course, these ancient tragedies have a contemporary ring as Palestinians exist without their own land, with their heritage, faiths, and very existence threatened by an expansionist Israeli state.  History repeats itself as few listen.   

The writer of those prophecies from Isaiah, though, does not offer comfort for the bad times but hope in a different future.  A future where the poverty of defeat and deportation would be replaced with the nations bringing their riches – all that gold and frankincense – to Israel.  Kings would, instead of laughing, pay homage.  The nations that once dominated Israel would now pay homage to it.  The sea to the west and the lands to the east will pour in their wealth.  No wonder the writer told the readers to arise for their light had come.  

The light, however, wasn’t for Israel alone.  This isn’t a passage where Israel can laugh at the poor benighted pagans as they come to bring homage.  Instead, Israel’s light has a purpose – nations would come to the light, kings to Israel’s dawn.  Throughout the Old Testament God uses the most unlikely people – often pagans – to achieve his purposes.  There’s Ruth the pagan woman in Jesus’ lineage, there’s Rehab the sex worker who sided with God’s people – also in Jesus’ genealogy.  Then there’s Cyrus the pagan ruler who freed the Jewish people.  It took some time for the biblical writers to understand but God was God of all the nations not just of Israel.  There’s a growing awareness of it in various Old Testament texts – after all, humanity was to be blessed through God’s covenant with Abraham and Israel saw itself as a light to the gentiles.  For Christians it’s when this text is paired with our passage from St Matthew’s Gospel that we can see these themes more clearly.

In our Gospel passage we see pagan priests come to worship the new-born Jewish king.  We know very little about the magi – the name itself might mean “Persian priest or sorcerer”. By the time of Darius the Great the term magi was used to denote a Zoroastrian priest or earlier Iranian religions.  They were thought to practice magic – by which was meant astronomy, astrology and alchemy.  They were thought to have esoteric knowledge.  Now we might see them as astrologers, but they were more than that; they not only discerned meaning in the stars they were seekers after wisdom – even wisdom beyond their own faith.  

We are used to the term “kings” from the Psalm which we sang, in part, in the hymn Hail to the Lord’s Anointed and which we’ll sing in We Three Kings later on.  Yet the term “king” isn’t in the Matthew passage.  “Wise Men” is a rather sanctified version of magi – which should probably be translated as sorcerer or magician.  Maybe that’s a bit too Harry Potter like for contemporary tastes.  Yet these pagan priests came to acknowledge the Light of the World.  Herod’s people, who should have known what was going on, hadn’t got a clue.  The pagan outsiders did.  Matthew, instead of having pagan nations coming to pay tribute to Israel, has pagan priests worshipping the Jewish messiah.  Instead of the riches of east and west pouring into Israel, the sorcerers bring valuable gifts full of meaning: gold for a king, frankincense for a priest, myrrh for a sacrifice.  No doubt the gifts were useful during the Holy Family’s own exile.  

Even in his infancy, Jesus was for all people – Jew and gentile.  Jesus draws all people to him – sorcerers from the East, the Syrophoenician woman  from the north, Egyptians from the South met him in exile, Romans from the West listened to him and, of course, Jews from all around followed him.  This is the moment when the Light of the World is revealed to humanity.  In Jesus Matthew sees fulfilment of the ancient destiny of the Jewish people to be a light to the nations. Through Jesus God invites all to bathe in the light, to change the world, and to feast together.

So, what might we do with these readings now?  We live in a world which isn’t always bathed in light.  In these gloomy days of winter, it’s easy to think of situations of gloom and evil in our world: the war in Ukraine drags on and we’ve no idea how Mr Trump will seek to change things.  Israel still pummels Gaza, makes delivery of aid nearly impossible, and some members of the Israeli Cabinet are determined to annexe at least part of Gaza for colonization; again Mr Trump’s intentions are not clear but he’s appointed people to high office who seem to uncritically support Israel’s ambitions.  In Europe we’re faced with populist leaders seeking to emulate dictators and undermine the rule of law – just as the EU, and ourselves, seek to make life for refugees more and more difficult and demeaning.  God’s light might be exposing the evil rather than helping us avoid it.  God’s light might be seen more in the bedraggled folk trying to cross the Channel than in the churches quietly singing their hymns and avoiding the realities of the world.  Like Herod’s priests many of our religious leaders go along with the status quo hoping to deflect attention from the Church’s manifold failures; best not criticise in case the press are unleashed to examine our faults! 

And yet the light shines from the vulnerable baby.  Strength is seen in weakness.  Truth is seen on the edge.  The light, strength, and truth of Jesus is there, of course to comfort, but not to offer cheap grace.  The light, strength and truth that Jesus shows the world is there to change it.  So, this Epiphany as we think of the Holy Family fleeing to Egypt we must also think of those on the move seeking safety and security and learn to help them. As we recoil from Herod’s murderous rage we think of contemporary tyrants who don’t care for their people and murder and maim more than Herod ever did and learn to oppose them.  As we think of the light coming into the world, we realise the light is there not just for us in our cosy religiosity but for all to be led into truth.  The light shines in our gloomy places to expose corruption and injustice.  The light reminds us to shine too.  God’s grace not only reaches out with love, not only serves as light to lead and expose, but also demands that we act, we lead, we expose so that the light of the world is, again, embodied in us.  Let’s pray

Light of the world, expose the hidden places of our societies,  the corruption in high office,  the murderous rage of tyrants, the injustice hiding in plain sight, the hatred and racism bubbling below the surface spilling up when dangerous men cease power. And help us, O God, to see more clearly in Your light, that we might act, lead, and serve as lights which shine on You even as You shine on us.  Amen.

Hymn     The First Nowell
Anonymous (1833) Public Domain Recorded live by Sunday 7pm Choir at St. Francis de Sales Church in Ajax, Ontario, Canada and used with their kind permission.

The first Noel the angels did say 
was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay.
In fields where they lay keeping their sheep
on a cold winter’s night that was so deep

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel

They lookéd up and saw a star
shining in the east, beyond them far 
and to the earth it gave great light
and so it continued both day and night.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel

And by the light of that same star
three Wise Men came from country far
to seek for a King was their intent
and to follow the star wherever it went. 

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel

Affirmation of Faith

In the beginning God spoke and there was light. In the fullness of time Mary spoke and Jesus, the light of the world was born.  At Pentecost the Holy Spirit spoke as fire, as light in the darkness.  As God’s people we seek to speak as those who live in the light; to expose the evil that hides in the gloom.  Through works of love and mercy we speak truth and shine in the night.  

Intercessions

Light of the World we bring You our prayers  for our world dwelling in gloom and despondency.   Lighten our darkness, Lord we pray.

We pray for the world at war,
or if not at war busy preparing for it.
We pray for the people of Ukraine wondering what the New Year brings,
for the people of Gaza living ever in fear,
for the people of Israel dreaming of security,
for the people of Lebanon living on a knife edge,
for the people of Syria living with a loathed government,
and for all who live with bellicose leaders, 
insecurity, and crushing poverty.

Lighten our darkness, Lord we pray.

We pray for the world in turmoil,
Creation itself overheating due to human excess;
we pray for nations plagued by plastic,
for the rich who won’t change their ways,
for the poor who can’t change theirs.
We pray for those who lead our world 
that your light will transform their hearts and minds,
that we may flourish and not perish.

Lighten our darkness, Lord we pray.

We pray for the nations,
for people looking to blame the poor for the problems of the rich,
for those who idolise despots and dictators,
for those who defend democracy and our institutions,
and for all who seek to make the world kinder and gentler.

Lighten our darkness, Lord we pray.

We pray for the Church, a place where light is supposed to shine, 
where people are supposed to be safe,
and where the Gospel is supposed to be shared with all.
Forgive us where we have failed, Good Lord,
give us the energy to reform,
to choose leaders who work with not over others,
and who will call us back to Your light.

Lighten our darkness, Lord we pray.

We pray for those we know and love who are in any kind of need….

And we pray for those we don’t know and those we find it hard to love….

Lighten our darkness, Lord we pray.

As we wait for Your light to shine, Your Kingdom to come,
we join with Jesus as we pray…Our Father…

Offertory

This week, perhaps more than any other, we think of gifts and giving.  In times past gifts were given at Epiphany not Christmas – in memory of the gold, frankincense, and myrrh given by the wise ones.  We may not have such exotic gifts to give but we have ones just as valuable; our time, our talents and our treasure.  We give in so many ways and God blessed that giving and uses it to make a difference in our world.  Let’s pray:

Giver of all good gifts, 
we thank you for the gifts given in this congregation;
gifts of time, of talent and of treasure.
Help us to use Your gifts wisely, that Your people will flourish,
Your light shine and our world be made whole.  Amen.

Hymn     As with Gladness Men of Old
W Chatterton Dix (1861) Public Domain sung by the virtual choir of the Parish of Burbage with Aston Flamville.

As with gladness men of old did the guiding star behold;
as with joy they hailed its light, leading onward, beaming bright,
so, most gracious Lord, may we ever more be led to thee.

As with joyful steps they sped, Saviour, to thy lowly bed,
there to bend the knee before Thee whom Heav’n & Earth adore,
so may we with willing feet ever seek thy mercy seat. 

As they offered gifts most rare at thy cradle rude and bare,
so may we with holy joy, pure and free from sin’s alloy,
all our costliest treasures bring, Christ, to thee, our heav’nly King.

Holy Jesus, ev’ry day keep us in the narrow way,
and when earthly things are past, bring our ransomed souls at last 
where they need no star to guide, where no clouds thy glory hide.

In the heav’nly country bright, need they no created light;
Thou its light, its joy, its crown, Thou its sun, which goes not down;
there forever may we sing Alleluias to our King.
 
Holy Communion

In the beginning You spoke, Eternal One, and there was light.
You called a people as Your own to be a light to the nations.
Through precious law and audacious prophet, 
You called Your people, again and again, 
to follow you, seek justice, and pursue righteousness.

Hardness of heart, grumbling, and faithlessness 
made Your people turn away from Your light,
and so, in the gloom they were dispersed in exile,
learning to sing Your song in a strange land.

In the gloom, however, 
You shone and called Your people home,
to rebuild and repair, and shine again.
But the powers of the ages overshadowed that light,
spreading the gloom of invasion and oppression.
Yet, in the fullness of time Your light shone
on a simple peasant girl who dared to say ‘yes’.
In the darkness of night Mary gave birth to Jesus,
and laid him to rest in a borrowed manger.
Adored by shepherds, acknowledged by pagan priests,
sent by murderous rage into exile to live as a refugee,
He is the Light of the World who enlightens all who follow him.

When he returned to His own land he preached, taught, and healed,
showing God’s love and life to those on the edge;
he healed the sick, lifted up the oppressed, treated women as equals, 
and even welcomed the despised to follow Him,
and so he was criticised,
and so he was betrayed,
and so he was tortured,
and so he was killed.
Yet You, Eternal One, did not let Him linger in the grave, 
but raised Him to new life,
letting people find Him in unexpected places with unexpected people.

And now, we come to find Him here at this table,
for we remember the night when Jesus was betrayed,
when, in the simplicity of a meal,
He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to His friends saying

‘This is my body which is for you. Do this in memory of me.’
After supper He took the cup of wine, said the ancient blessing,
and, giving the cup to His disciples, said:

‘take this all of you and drink from it, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, Do this, whenever you drink it, in memory of me.’

Let us proclaim the mystery of our faith:

Christ has died.  Christ is risen!  Christ will come again!

Come now, Holy Spirit, upon these gifts of bread and wine 
and set them apart from all common use, that they may be for us 
the communion with the body and blood of Christ.
Gather us up into the heavenly places,
that as we eat and drink, these your gifts of creation,
we may see Jesus Himself, risen and ascended,
present here for our spiritual nourishment and growth in grace.
As we show forth Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross,
We are united with Him and with the whole Church
on earth and in heaven.
Renew us as we present our sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and let us rejoice at the promise of His coming again in glory.

And so, we offer You, Eternal One, 
our pain and our praise, our light and our darkness,
through Jesus, with Jesus, in Jesus, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
knowing that all honour and glory is Yours, forever and ever, Amen.

These are the holy gifts of God, lights in the gloom,
for God’s holy people that we may shine as the sun.  

Music for Communion     Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy 
Congregational Singing at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington DC.

Prayer after Communion

We thank You for all your gifts, Eternal God,
golden gifts that enrich us,
mysterious gifts which draw us near to You,
and even bitter gifts that are unwanted and unbidden.
Give us the grace to use all Your gifts,
that Your light will shine in the gloom,
and the world be made whole.  Amen.

Hymn     We Three Kings
John H. Hopkins (1857) Public Domain performed by the Mediaeval Babes

We three kings of Orient are; bearing gifts we traverse afar,
field & fountain, moor & mountain, following yonder star.
O star of wonder, star of light, star with royal beauty bright,
westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light.

Born a babe on Bethlehem’s plain, gold we bring to crown him again,
King forever, ceasing never, over us all to reign. 
O star of wonder, star of light, star with royal beauty bright,
westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light.

Frankincense to offer have I; incense owns a deity nigh;
prayer and praising, voices raising, worshiping God most high. 
O star of wonder, star of light, star with royal beauty bright,
westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light.

Myrrh is mine; its bitter perfume breathes a life of gathering gloom;
sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, sealed in the stone-cold tomb. 
O star of wonder, star of light, star with royal beauty bright,
westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light.
 
Glorious now behold him arise; King and God and sacrifice:
Alleluia, Alleluia, sounds through the earth and skies.
O star of wonder, star of light, star with royal beauty bright,
westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light.

Blessing

Now the song of the angels is stilled, the star in the sky is gone,
the wise ones are home, and the shepherds are back with their flock.
Now the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost, to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations, to bring peace 
and to make music from the heart.
And may God give you the strength to undertake the work of Christmas
shining divine light into the gloomy places of our world.
And the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
be with you all evermore, Amen.
 

St Luke 8: 4 – 15

When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to Jesus, he said in a parable:  ‘A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it.  Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.’ As he said this, he called out, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’ Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that

“looking they may not perceive, and listening they may not understand.”

‘Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones on the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe only for a while and in a time of testing fall away. As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.

Reflection

I find it interesting that there are a number of times when the disciples haven’t quite grasped what Jesus has been saying. From their puzzled position they ask what he means when he speaks. In this encounter Jesus’ rationale for speaking in parables is even more interesting. The disciples are expected to understand, but for others, Jesus speaking in parables is not necessarily meant for understanding. But even the disciples don’t understand.
 
And so Jesus goes further in his explanation of the nature of the seed and what it means. It is about the word of God and how it is heard and grows amongst people.
 
Sometimes I sow seeds, either in the garden or in plant pots, and am never quite sure whether they will flourish and bear fruit or not. It’s part of reflecting on God’s gift of creation to be able to look at them, and ponder about what is happening and wait to see what will emerge.
 
Jesus teaches about the word of God being planted in good soil which enables God’s word to take deep root into our lives. It’s about being able to resist times of testing or the distractions that life can bring, such as ‘the riches and pleasure of life.’
 
Instead, being planted in good soil brings about patient endurance, and the ability to hold fast to God’s word with an honest and good heart.
 
It’s a bit of a contrast to some aspects of today’s world, when living in the moment, rather than digging deep into life, is seen as a priority.
As I look ahead to the coming year and review what lies ahead, it feels like a good question to ask ‘Is my life going to be embedded in good soil and offer rich fruit?’ Does my faith and the life of the church offer this possibility of growth, development, and the possibility of bringing positive change in this troubled world?
 
Prayer

Loving and creator God,
in the year that lies ahead,
I pray that you will sow
the seed of your word again in my life.
Open my eyes,
in this your created world,
to see where your seed shoots up.
Help me to listen to the people
in whose lives your word flourishes.
May I be like good soil,
in which your word grows and bears fruit.
Amen.

St Luke 8: 1 – 3

Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,  and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.

Reflection

I recently went to Dublin, and visited an exhibition of Biblical scrolls found in Egypt. Part of the exhibition discussed errors that crept into the Bible, and how comparison of multiple ancient manuscripts can help us to identify them. In some cases, the text was even intentionally changed. 

One of the errors we might spot in our Bibles today is a passage in Romans 16, which describes a woman called Junia, ‘outstanding (or prominent/of note) among the apostles’. Some scholars believe that the Junia mentioned in Romans is the same person as the Joanna we meet here in Luke, one name being her Hebrew name and the other her Roman name. After the Reformation, some considered it so scandalous that the Bible might be describing a female apostle, that they changed her name to Junias, and said she was a man. Junia’s renaming and misgendering occupied a prominent place in the Dublin exhibition. 

Today’s passage from Luke reveals a truth about the ministry of Jesus and the early Christian Church: women were important. In Luke we meet some of the women who spent time with Jesus, as well as caring materially for the work ‘out of their resources’. Without the influential and generous women of the first century, the early Church would have struggled. As well as the women we’ve already named, there’s Phoebe – a deacon who was a benefactor and protector of many, Priscilla the missionary, Nympha – who had a house church, and many more. 

In the Church today there are many women who serve us as ministers and elders, as well as those who are generous with their time, resources, skills and care in other ways. May we be grateful for all the women, past and present, who have led, served, supported and inspired us.

Prayer

God,
We thank you for the women who cared for Jesus,
who led the early Church, and who inspire us today.
We pray for the women in the wider Church
and in society who have yet to achieve true equality. 
We pray for everyone working to build a bigger table,
in which we acknowledge and nurture the gifts of all people. 
We pray in the name of Jesus,
who treated women with profound respect. Amen

St Luke 7: 36 – 50

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment.  She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.’  Jesus spoke up and said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ ‘Teacher,’ he replied, ‘speak.’ ‘A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?’  Simon answered, ‘I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’  Then turning towards the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.  You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet.  You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.’  Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’  But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’  And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’

Reflection

It is said that when a woman hits forty (or thereabouts) she becomes invisible. I read a series of crime novels where the basic premise was that an older woman was invisible and could therefore rob a bank undetected, if she so wished. (She didn’t. She solved the cases instead.) But invisibility has always been part of a woman’s lot in a man’s world and sometimes to her advantage. As in this case. The woman has managed to find her way, uninvited, into the inner circle, where the chief guest is reclining at dinner.

The men involved have names: Jesus and Simon. The woman has two labels: ‘woman’ and ‘sinner’. It feels like a hostile situation, surrounded by those who label her so unkindly. 

I find it interesting that Jesus actually confronts his host with his blindness to the woman. ‘Do you see this woman?’ he has to ask. I wonder who we don’t really see in our everyday lives? Who are the people burdened with labels instead of names – refugees, illegal immigrants, the women and children represented only by numbers killed in men’s wars?

Let us never forget God sees each one as a precious individual person, each one as worthy as the folk who think they are important, the folk who think they have the right to abuse and kill them. Instead, there is one Lord who declares that these ‘invisible people’ are the ones with faith, whose sins are forgiven.

Prayer

Open our eyes to truly see the people we encounter, Lord.
Give us hearts that recognise them as Your children just as much as we are, and may we take the time to learn each other’s names, and stories.
Amen

St Luke 7: 18 – 35

The disciples of John reported all these things to Jesus. So John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’  When the men had come to him, they said, ‘John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”’  Jesus had just then cured many people of diseases, plagues, and evil spirits, and had given sight to many who were blind.  And he answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them.  And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’ When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?  What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who put on fine clothing and live in luxury are in royal palaces.  What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,

“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
    who will prepare your way before you.”

I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.’  (And all the people who heard this, including the tax-collectors, acknowledged the justice of God, because they had been baptized with John’s baptism.  But by refusing to be baptized by him, the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves.) ‘To what then will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the market-place and calling to one another,

“We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
    we wailed, and you did not weep.”

For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, “He has a demon”;  the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!”  Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.’

Reflection

A very happy and revolutionary New Year!

I struggle to think of a better encounter with Jesus to inspire us as we take a breath to ponder the past, present, and future.

John the Baptist has sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus ‘are you the one who is to come or are we to wait for another?’. We have just spent the glorious period of Advent pondering the same question; perhaps wondering what we wait for in our own lives, the life of the Church and the wider world – so I hope we don’t have more waiting to do!

There is just the slightest sense of exasperation in Luke’s words. Jesus has been doing all these amazing things, so go, and tell John everything you’ve seen!
Go and tell. Perhaps Luke is echoing Isaiah 52 and those beautiful feet bringing good news on the mountain. My feet may not be beautiful, but I hope the good news they carry is!

The answer to the question ‘are you the one’, as we get ourselves prepared for 2025, is ‘go and tell what you have seen’. In other words, as we look to the future of such a struggling world, there is something important in opening our senses to the ever-present glimpses of God’s love and peace, then following the call to go and tell!

This verse struck me: ‘Blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me’.  I wonder if there is something in this about being willing to listen, willing to change, willing to tell. Is there a blessing to be found in being open to the potential offence and challenge in Jesus’ words and actions?

I think there is, so may this New Year be filled with the blessing of noticing the surprising and rebellious love of God. May we be blessed by the potential to change and grow and then get out there and share that blessing with others!

Prayer

Gracious God,
we give thanks for the past and pay attention to its lessons.
We notice the present and dwell in its richness.
We look to the future with its hope and potential.
Bless us, we pray, with open hearts and vital senses;
alert to the truth that Jesus has come
and is leading us to a new kin-dom.
So be it. Amen

St Luke 7: 11 – 17

Soon afterwards Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him.  As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town.  When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’  Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, rise!’  The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.  Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has risen among us!’ and ‘God has looked favourably on his people!’  This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.

Reflection

Two large crowds clash at the town gates: one trying to get in, one trying to get out; one celebrating recent events, one mourning recent events.  This could be the recipe for a riot in many circumstances today.  But the leader of one group sees and has compassion on the leader of the other group.  Jesus sees the tears of the grieving widow and mother, and is moved to intervene from a place of love.

Jesus comes forward and touches the open bier where the son’s body is visible to all – a shocking action as touching a dead body is the most ‘unclean’ act imaginable.  He directly addresses the dead young man (just as he will a dead girl in Capernaum and his friend Lazarus in the tomb) and suddenly he is alive.

This takes place just over the hill from Shunem where Elisha raised a woman’s son, and has strong echoes of Elijah raising the widow of Zarephath’s son.  Jesus’ act fits the tradition of the great prophets, restoring life, repairing families, renewing hope.  No wonder the crowd proclaim ‘A great prophet has risen among us!’.  Indeed, this is the last of the acts that will shortly be reported to John the Baptist in prison as signs of hope that the kingdom is coming.

A young man’s resurrection is a present joy and a future hope.  His mother, as a widow, would have been dependent on him financially for security, as well as emotionally.  There are resonances of the compassion Jesus will have on his own mother in his dying moments, when he will offer provision of love and care through his closest disciple becoming a surrogate son.  These intergenerational bonds are truly precious in the kingdom of God.

I wonder what the young man had to say on awakening in his own funeral?

Prayer

Jesus give us eyes of compassion.
This New Year’s Eve 
help us mourn with those who mourn 
and laugh with those who laugh.
May we be and seek signs of life restored, 
families repaired, hope renewed.
As the year turns, 
Jesus give us ears attuned to the young as well as old.
May we give you praise and glory 
as we see your kingdom come in the year ahead.
Amen.

inspiration in your inbox 30 December 2024   We return to where we broke off the story before Christmas. St Luke 7: 1 – 10   After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death.  When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave.  When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy of having you do this for him,  for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.’  And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, ‘Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof;  therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed.  For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go”, and he goes, and to another, “Come”, and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this”, and the slave does it.’ When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.’  When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health. Reflection The ancient city of Capernaum, nestled along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, once served as a Roman army garrison town. Despite the military presence, some soldiers sought to build friendships with the local community. The Centurion in today’s story was one such philanthropic individual. We often assume marginalised people are at the bottom of the social or economic ladder. But this Centurion shows us the complexity of Jesus’ ministry to the marginalised, as he, too, was embraced by Jesus’ compassionate attention. Even though he held a position of power within the mighty Roman Empire, the Jewish community typically viewed him with disdain. The Centurion might have felt this tension, as seen in his humble and perhaps even embarrassed request for help for his sick servant. Yet, his philanthropy earned him the respect of the synagogue elders. This led him to ask Jesus to heal his servant from afar, a remarkable display of faith that amazed Jesus, who rarely encountered such belief even among the more devout. What about us? Many of us might find ourselves in “middle-ranking” positions, whether in the middle class, middle management, or balancing various responsibilities and obligations. We might carry what we define as shameful experiences or traits of our own. But we can find comfort in this story. Like the Centurion, we, too, are seen with love by Jesus. This story highlights two essential truths: First, even when we feel undeserving of Jesus’ presence, he takes joy in being with us. Second, deep expressions of faith can come from the most unexpected places. Prayer Dear Jesus,  thank you for your healing love  and for seeing beyond societal labels to the hidden wounds in all of us.  May your grace reach  even the most unexpected places in our lives.  Amen.

Today’s writer The Revd Daniel Harris, Community Minister, Rochdale Bury & North Manchester Missional Partnership New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 
Today’s service is led by the Revd Phil Nevard

 
Introduction

Welcome in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!  I’m Rev’d Phil Nevard, a URC minister in South Cambridgeshire.  The Sunday immediately after Christmas can sometimes feel a bit “after the Lord Mayor’s show.  But however much we are flagging, God isn’t; however jaded we might be with carols and Christmas, God isn’t.  God welcomes a new day and another chance to draw close to you that you might draw close to them.  In the time it has taken us to celebrate Jesus’ birth, he’s grown into a 12yr old lad and is asking questions in the Temple.  So we’ve some catching up to do!  We gather to worship God.

Prayer of approach

It may feel like the bleak mid-winter, frosty wind make moan …
but we have come to worship and our hearts are wanned.
Our spirits are lifted by the presence of God’s Spirit.
Our joy is brightened as we hear the call of Christ.
Our fellowship is strengthened as we gather in His name.
In the bleak mid-winter, we gather to worship God. 

Our God, heaven cannot hold Him nor earth contain … 
Our God who created the universe cannot be tamed.
Our God who sustains life itself is beyond the reach of mere words.
Our God who is alpha and omega, beginning and end, 
is bigger than we can imagine.
In the bleak mid-winter, we gather to worship God. 

Enough for him whom cherubim worship night and day –
a breast full of milk and a manger full of hay.
That awesome powerful creator God is born a helpless babe.
The God whom heaven cannot hold is cradled in a mother’s arms.
The God whom earth cannot contain is seen and heard and touched.
In the bleak mid-winter, we gather to worship God. 

What can I give him, poor as I am? Some money for the offertory? 
An hour of my time on Sunday morning?
A few good deeds to keep my conscience clear?
Obedience, faith, belief … he wants more than that, He wants my heart.
In the bleak mid-winter, we gather to worship God. 

Hymn     In the Bleak Midwinter
Christina Georgina Rossetti (c. 1872) Public Domain Sung and Performed by Walton Salvation Army and used with their kind permission.
 
In the bleak midwinter frosty wind made moan,
earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone:
snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
in the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain;
heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign:
in the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for him whom cherubim worship night and day,
a breastful of milk and a mangerful of hay:
enough for him whom angels fall down before,
the ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
cherubim and seraphim thronged the air,
but only his mother, in her maiden bliss,
worshiped the Beloved with a kiss.
 
What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb,
if I were a wise man I would do my part,
yet what I can I give him, give my heart.

Confession and Absolution

Too often we let our hearts grow cold and dark,
to match the weather, rather than face our transgressions.
In the cold dim winter God’s light is hard to see, 
we long to hear God’s promise to unburden our hearts.
God calls us to repentance and offers us the light of Christ. 

(moment of quiet)

God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Feel the warmth, feel the sensation of a melting heart; know that you are forgiven, know that you are restored.  Thanks be to God

Prayer for illumination

Living God, help us so to hear your holy Word
that we may truly understand;
that, understanding, we may believe
and believing, we may follow in all faithfulness and obedience,
seeking your honour and glory in all that we do;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Reading     1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26

Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy wearing a linen ephod.  His mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year, when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.  Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, ‘May the Lord repay you with children by this woman for the gift that she made to the Lord’; and then they would return to their home.

Music for Quiet Reflection      Lord, Now Lettest (Nunc Dimittis)
arranged by Geoffrey Burgon and sung by the choir of St Andrew’s Cathedral Sydney and used with their kind permission.  

Reading     St Luke 2:41-52

Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travellers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents  saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, ‘Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.’  He said to them, ‘Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he said to them.  Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favour.

Hymn     Child in the Manger
Mary MacDonald (1789-1872) translated L Macbean (1853-1931). Public Domain. Sung and performed by members of Dalgety Church and used with their kind permission.

Child in the manger, infant of Mary;
outcast and stranger, Lord of all;
Child who inherits all our transgressions,
all our demerits on Him fall.

Once the most holy Child of salvation
gently and lowly lived below;
now as our glorious mighty Redeemer,
see Him victorious o’er each foe.
 
Prophets foretold Him, infant of wonder;
angels behold Him on His throne;
worthy our Saviour of all our praises;
happy forever are His own.

Sermon

You might not be ready for Jesus to be twelve yet, I’m not sure I am!  But here we are, four days on from Christmas Day, and Jesus is already a pretentious kid asking too many questions!  There are people in the church who get deeply grumpy with the world for celebrating Christmas too early and then abandoning it on boxing day. WAIT! They say, wait a little longer, THEN we’ll do Christmas.  But then when we do, before all the mice pies are gone, Jesus is twelve, and before Aunt Thelma has finally vacated the spare room and gone home, Jesus is grown up and being baptised in the Jordan!  No time is spent enjoying Jesus as a baby!

The stories surrounding Jesus’ birth in the gospels are not the same as the “Baby’s First Years” books that we might keep as parents, or if they are, they are like the third child’s book where you never bothered to record anything!  Our youngest can still get very cross that we have no idea what her first word was.  She found that out when she asked us separately and we each gave a different made-up answer!  We were royally rumbled!

The stories surrounding Jesus’ birth in the gospels, however you view them, are very carefully crafted to set the scene for Jesus’ ministry and to connect his life and mission to the broader narrative of Israel’s history.  The birth of the Jesus to a virgin or young maiden draws on Isaiah 7:14; the place of Jesus’ birth draws on Micah 5:2; the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt evokes Hosea 11:1; the slaughter of the innocents evokes Jeremiah 31:15; the role of John the Baptist evokes Isaiah 40:3; the theme of light and darkness evokes Isaiah 9:2; the Davidic family tree evokes Samuel 7:12-13.

So we shouldn’t be surprised that here we have Jesus as a young boy in the temple growing in wisdom and in divine and human favour, just as Samuel was described as a young boy in the temple growing in stature and in favour with the LORD and with the people.  Luke is inviting the reader to put these two stories together and allow them to speak to us.

So let’s have a go at doing just that.  I’ll highlight the traditional three things that occur to me.

Firstly, both of these stories have faithful mothers – Hannah and Mary.  Both of them, in some sense, gave their first-born to God.  Sometimes world-views have changed so much since biblical times that it is difficult to draw direct lessons.  I think most of us would struggle to understand what it might mean to give your child to God.  We are steeped in the idea that our children will make their own minds up and chart their own paths through life.  But try this on for size.  I wonder whether both Mary and Hannah are both trusting God with their children, in the sense that God will love and guide and cherish them as God has every generation, but that they are also both trusting the next generation with God.

The story of Samuel is told very much at a time when the old guard is dying out – Eli is on his last legs.  This story abut Jesus also features an elderly generation who might consider themselves to be on their last legs.  Simeon is quite open about it, “Now I have seen this boy I can depart in peace.”  The shape of worship and how the nation understands faith in God will now be shaped by a new generation. There is something grace-filled about handing on a baton, something faith-filled and hope-filled.  Samuel might only be 7 or 8yrs old Jesus is only 12.  Hannah and Mary trust God with them, but also trust them with God.

Secondly, I’m not sure how we’d deal with either of these two kids today.  I suspect we might think something was wrong, or that they were a bit weird or even creepy.  Our world does not encourage intense religious devotion at an early age. We might think it was a bit unhealthy, over-zealous or that they had been indoctrinated by some dangerously radical sect.  For children, we might consider them to be a bit obsessively over-consumed by religious devotion.

I wonder, though, whether their stories might be an opportunity for us to look back over our own journeys of faith.  For Samuel, the beginning was not really a choice he made – his mum made it for him!  I suspect there is a generation where that rings true… “I was dragged to church as a kid!”  For some people that led to a rejection of church as soon as possible, for others it was an experience of something on which they then built their own choices and faith-commitments, like Samuel did.  I suspect Samuel’s calling unfolded gradually whereas Jesus was clear about who he was and what God’s calling for his life was very early on.  Jesus was in the temple by his own choice, it wasn’t his parents’ doing, they had no idea where he was!
Maybe as we approach yet another new year it’s a good time to reflect on your own spiritual journey. Whether you feel like you are still discovering your calling or whether you have known it for a long time, God’s timing and purpose are unique for each person. Where do you think God might be leading you next?

Thirdly, the whole growing in wisdom and favour thing.  Whatever 2025 holds for you, may it hold this!  May you be a wiser person at the end of 2025.  That probably needs to come with small print, because wisdom is often gained through hardship and pain.  Our faith will not offer us a pain and hardship-free 2025, but it might offer us a greater depth of wisdom and understanding, especially if that pain and hardship is borne as we are part of a faithful, worshipping community of God’s people.

May you also gain favour with God and with people in 2025.  Again, some small print!  Even a cursory knowledge of the lives of Samuel and Jesus will tell us that “gaining favour with people” did not mean being fawning and ingratiating!  Far from it!  I suspect what it means for them and us is that we might increasingly live our lives in such a way that we leave a trace of grace wherever we go, the aroma of God, the flavour of hope… that kind of life is attractive and compelling.

So, now I’ve added the small-print, I’m very much aware that this might sound like “May you live in interesting times” but…

As we pack away Christmas and head into 2025,  may you grow in wisdom  and may you grow in favour  with God and among all God’s people.   Amen

Hymn     All Poor Ones and Humble
Based on a traditional Welsh Carol v1 translated by Kathene E Roberts, v 2 translated by T Penar Davies. Sung by an unknown Church Quartet © 1928 Oxford University Press OneLicence # A-734713  

All poor ones and humble and all those who stumble,
come hastening and feel not afraid,
for Jesus our treasure, with love past all measure,
in lowly poor manger was laid.
Though wise men who found him laid rich gifts around him
yet oxen they gave him their hay, 
and Jesus in beauty accepted their duty, contented in manger he lay.

Then haste we to show him the praises we owe him,
our service he ne’er can despise,
whose love still is able to show us that stable,
where softly in manger he lies.

Or Christ Child will lead us The Good Shepherd feed us,
And with us abide till his day.
Then hatred he’ll banish; Then sorrow will vanish,
And death and despair flee away.
And he shall reign ever, And nothing shall sever
From us the great love of our King;
His peace and his pity shall bless his fair city;
and praises we ever shall sing.  
 
Then haste we to show him the praises we owe him,
our service he ne’er can despise,
whose love still is able to show us that stable,
where softly in manger he lies.

Nunc Dimittis

Now Lord you let your servant go in peace:
Your word has been fulfilled.
My own eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared in the sight of every people:
a light to reveal you to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel.

Glory to the father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Offertory Prayer

Church offertory is rarely a plate or a bag passed from person to person these days.  It is more likely to be a much more invisible digital bank transfer set to some automatic schedule which  is harder for us to notice.  What we give to God through the life of our church has always been more than what’s in a bag or on a plate – it’s all of our acts of service in and through the life of this congregation.  So let us give thanks for all of that.

Loving God, You give to us without counting the cost,
You give to us beyond human measure. Accept these and all our gifts to be used in your service  each and every day. Amen.

Prayers of Intercession

Loving and Eternal God,

We give thanks for the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who came to dwell among us, bringing light and hope to our world. As we reflect on the story of Jesus in the temple, we are reminded of His wisdom, His sense of purpose, and His deep connection with You, even from a young age.

We pray today for all children and young people, that they may grow in wisdom and stature, and in favour with You and with others. May their homes and communities be places where they are nurtured and encouraged to explore their faith and discover the calling You have placed on their lives. We lift before You parents, guardians, and all who care for children, asking that You grant them the patience, love, and wisdom to guide them faithfully.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray for the Church, that it may be a place where all are welcome, where questions are embraced, and where the teachings of Jesus are lived out in our words and actions. Help us to be a community that supports one another in our journeys of faith, and that reaches out to those in need, reflecting the love and compassion of Christ in all we do.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray for those who are lost, confused, or searching for meaning in their lives. Just as Mary and Joseph searched anxiously for Jesus, we ask that You guide all who are seeking, that they may find their way to You. May we, as Your people, be ready to offer comfort, direction, and hope to those who are struggling.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

We remember before You those who are in need today—those who are sick, lonely, grieving, or burdened by the challenges of life. (pause to add names and situations that rest heavy on YOUR heart) As we carry them in our hearts, we ask for Your healing presence to surround them. May they feel the peace that comes from knowing they are loved and held by You, even in the midst of their difficulties.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Finally, Lord, we pray for ourselves, that like Jesus, we may grow in our understanding of Your will for our lives. As we stand at the threshold of a new year, help us to be attentive to Your voice, to seek Your wisdom in all that we do, and to be faithful in our calling as Your disciples.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

We offer these prayers, those spoken formally out loud
and those whispered in the quietness of our hearts
in the name of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord. Amen.

Hymn     Ring a Bell for Peace
Marian Collihole © 1972 Stainer and Bell  OneLicence # A-734713  Played by Cheryl Jackson and sung by Crystal Schau of the Music Team of Transcona Memorial United Church.

Ring a bell for peace,for the babe born on this night,
ring a bell through the country and the town;
ring a bell for peace, come and see the wondrous light,
ring a bell, ring it merry up and down.

Blow a horn for joy, for the babe born in the hay,
blow a horn through the country and the town;
blow a horn for joy, come and hear what people say,
blow a horn, blow it merry up and down.

Play a flute for hope, for the babe now fast asleep,
play a flute through the country  and the town;
play a flute for hope, see the shepherds leave their sheep, 
play a flute, play it merry up and down.

Beat the drum for faith, for the babe beneath the star,
beat the drum through the country and the town;
beat the drum for faith, come and play both near and far,
beat the drum, beat it merry up and down.

Blessing

Loving God,
as we go out into your world,
may we know your presence with us
in all the pressures and potential of the coming week.
Help us to leave traces of grace
wherever we are and whatever we do. Amen.