Epiphany Notices

Epiphany Notices SENTENCE The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight is coming, says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:1b COLLECT God of all wisdom, As the wise men were guided to your stable by a star: so lead us through this world with gifts of love, reason, and wisdom that we shall know and love you, our beginning and our end; through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. READINGS Isaiah 60:1-6 Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14 Ephesians 3:1-12 Matthew 2:1-12 Matthew 2:1-12 its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and and have come to pay him homage.” When King Herod myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was This is the Gospel of Christ. 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 God with Us… But who is ‘us’? It was one of those shopping trips where you’re hoping that no one will see you and you can be in and out within Season: Epiphany a minute. Passage: Matthew 2:1-12 Place: St Anne’s, St Martins I thought I’d got away with it, but then the young man on Date: 6/1/2019 the checkout paused and looked and asked a question… Let us pray: You’re… umm… are you… you know… a man of the cloth May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our or something… a priest or something like that, right? hearts be new and always acceptable in your sight, O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer. On a good day, these are the questions we pray for. God has delivered into my path a person of peace and given We were just back from holiday, and hadn’t yet managed me an opportunity to mention the love of God to to do the groceries. I assumed that we still had some someone. On a good day I’ll do my best to replay the story bread in the freezer, but apparently I’d demolished it all of Philip and the Eunuch - Let me bless one of the bottles before we’d left for the bach. So, wearing my scrufìest of water from aisle three and we’ll do a baptism here and clothes and without brushing my teeth or checking my now. hair, I whipped down to New World for an emergency shop. - The three Ts - Toast, toilet paper, and a treat for a But not all days are good days. I was only recently awake 38 week pregnant woman struggling the the heat of a and not in my best form. Sadly I kept the conversation Christchurch summer. brief. But, it was interesting nonetheless. Have you always been interested in that work, and what do you need to do? Like do you have to get absolved of all of your sins and stuff? Because today’s reading, and in fact much of the Yes, I said, that certainly helps, although I was quick to beginning of Matthew’s gospel, is about ISRAEL and point out I’ve managed to accumulate a few sins since OTHER, or US and THEM, or IN and OUT, or PRIESTS and ordination. I didn’t know if the pan au chocolait I was CURIOUS CHECKOUT OPERATORS planning to scoff down in the car on the way home technically counted as one of those sins. We’ve been introduced to Jesus as Emmanuel, “God with us,” but that begs the question, “who, precisely is ‘us’?” Oh yeah, he said, and like, do you have to be celibate and things like that? It’s a question that might have been on the lips of the Magi whose visit we remember today on the feast of the Well, I said, pointing at my wedding ring, if I did, I Epiphany. They were outside of the bounds of God’s wouldn’t be doing a great job of it. I’m married and chosen people Israel, but were nevertheless observant expecting a baby in a few weeks time! and curious and keen to know more. Oh, that’s pretty progressive. He smiled. I wonder what they were expecting to ìnd… An interesting word, I thought, ‘progressive’. I was Some suggest that the star they were following was in fact tempted to unpack it and go into the denominational two stars, or rather two planets, In 7BC so I’m told Jupiter differences and theological breadth within them, but the and Saturn were in alignment three times. Jupiter was EFTPOS card had done its job and I was on my way. known as the royal planet to many, and Saturn was sometimes thought to represent the Jewish people. As I juggled the 7 items or so back to the car - I’d gone in for two things so didn’t bring my bag - I thought of today’s How much did they know beyond that? reading for Epiphany. Were they expecting to ìnd an enthroned hero? Were they expecting to ìnd a celebration? Were they expecting to ìnd a demigod with mythic a sneer and a snicker - “Huh, what would these foreigners powers? know about God.” I don’t know what they were expecting to ìnd, but I The whole scene being painted is so delightfully upside suspect it wasn’t a toddler, born to seemingly down. unremarkable parents in rather rudimentary accommodation. So in the reading today we have a group on the OUTSIDE who have noticed God’s handiwork, been curious enough It didn’t seem like they had many expectations. They had to travel a long distance only to come face to face with the to go to Herod for directions, and must have been INSIDE group somewhat befuddled by the fact that neither Herod nor the chief priests or scribes had any idea what they were The INSIDE group was led by Herod the ‘Great’ - a power talking about. hungry ruler working in cahoots with the pagan Romans who upon hearing whispers of the Messiah isn’t This group of people from another religious background ‘delighted’ or ‘excited’ or even ‘curious’, but according to had travelled quite some distance only to ìnd that the the Gospel is “frightened”. locals and religious elite had missed the signs entirely. And it wasn’t just Herod who struggled with the news. I wonder how Herod and those on the IN reacted to the Matthews Gospel says that Herod is frightened and “All appearance of a group so very obviously on the OUT Jerusalem with him.” Magi were not necessarily highly thought of. The word is Israel were doing a pretty poor job of being the chosen persian and is used for the religious leaders of people it seems. They’d become so focused on power and Zoroastrianism, but came to be used for any religious politics and maintaining status quo that they’d missed the leader of a non-Greco-Roman faith. Often it was used with dawn of a new day Thankfully God’s invitation is a whole lot wider than It’s a lovely illustration about today’s message. God is imagined. And so we have a nativity scene that includes a with us, but who is ‘us’? If we’re follow the biblical child-king, two humble parents, a bunch of ragged narrative it’s a rather broad and unexpected group. And shepherds and some strangely dressed foreigners from we ought not be surprised when the young man at the another faith. It’s a beautiful picture of the Kingdom of supermarket checkout wants to talk about God and the God. priest is holding some toast and toilet paper, and is keen to run away. It’ll be packed away soon, so take another look - this is how God appears, and this is who he appears to. Expect the unexpected, Jesus was saying and Matthew was teaching.

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