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Sentence

‘The water that I will give,’ says the Lord, ‘will become in you a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ John 4:14

                                                                                                                             

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Collect  

O God, the fountain of life, to a humanity parched with thirst you offer the living water that springs from the Rock, our Saviour Jesus Christ:
stir up within your people the gift of your Spirit, that we may profess our faith with freshness and announce with joy the wonder of your love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

                                                                                                                                                      

Readings

This Week:

• Exodus 17:1-7
• Psalm 95
• Romans 5:1-11
• John 4:5-42

• Next Week:

• 1 Samuel 16:1-13
• Psalm 23
• Ephesians 5:8-14
• John 9:1-41

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A Thought to Ponder

Lent 3

Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well: “…whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst, a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Christ?”
Jesus’ meeting the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well illustrates the principal role of Jesus as the Messiah: to reconcile all men and women to the Father. As a Samaritan, the woman is considered an outcast by the Jews; as a known adulteress, she is scorned by her own village. With kindness and dignity, Jesus reconciles her to God.
This Gospel has long had a special place in baptismal catechesis: In revealing himself as the Messiah to the Samaritan woman, Jesus speaks to her of the fountain of water he will give — the life-giving waters of baptism. From Jacob’s well springs forth the living waters of the Messiah Christ.

The Samaritan woman is, for the evangelist John, a model of a disciple’s experience of faith: In a personal encounter with Jesus, she confronts her own sinfulness and need for forgiveness; she then comes to realize the depth of God’s love for her; reconciled with God, her life is transformed; she is then sent forth to share with others her “faith story” of what she has seen and heard of this Jesus.
Water is the predominant symbol in today’s readings: As water sustains life and cleans away the grime and filth that can diminish and destroy life, in the waters of baptism, the sins that alienate us from God are washed away and we are reborn in the Spirit of compassion and community.
All of us who have encountered Jesus are called to be reconcilers, not judges; we are called to lift people up, not drive them to their knees. In so many ordinary ways we can help one another realize new life and hope in Christ if we are willing to tear down the walls that divide us, to reach over the distances between us, to build bridges over chasms of mistrust and prejudice.
Easter transformation begins with a recognition of our sins and failings. As Jesus confronts the woman at the well with the reality of her own sinfulness and brokenness, we must confront our own sinfulness and, in doing so, realize our need for God. Sin is a reality in the lives of each one of us; but through Christ, forgiveness, reconciliation and rebirth, are just as real and possible.


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Sermon

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Sentence

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. John 3:16

                                                                                                                             

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Collect  

God of mercy, you are full of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in mercy, and always ready to forgive:
grant us grace to renounce all evil and to cling to Christ, that in every way we may prove to be your loving children; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

                                                                                                                                                      

Readings

This Week:

• Gen 12:1-4a
• Psalm 121
• Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
• John 3: 1-17

• Next Week:

• Exodus 17:1-7
• Psalm 95
• Romans 5:1-11
• John 4:5-42

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A Thought to Ponder

Lent 2


Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus: “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

The Pharisee and teacher Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the middle of the night (in John’s Gospel, night / darkness symbolizes the lack of faith/light). A man of learning, Nicodemus is one of the Jewish elites who were favourably disposed toward Jesus but were struggling to grasp the full meaning of his teachings. For the writer of the Fourth Gospel, Nicodemus represents exactly the kind of timid disciple the evangelist seeks to persuade to come forward and openly profess his/her faith in Jesus as the Christ.
In their exchange, Jesus explains that the kingdom of God he proclaims transcends time and place, that God’s reign is a state of being: to enter the realm of God demands an interior transformation in the Spirit. Invocating the image of Moses’ staff of a bronze serpent raised to save the Israelites from the bite of poisonous snakes (Numbers 21:9), Jesus foretells his own crucifixion, when he will be “lifted up” for the glory of God and the salvation of humankind. And, in one of the most famous verses in John’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of a God who is motivated by love so great that the Father has given the world his own Son not to condemn but to save.
Despite our own life’s experience, wealth and status, we are incomplete and lost until we are “reborn in water and the Spirit”: to be immersed in the Gospel principles of justice and reconciliation, to be transformed in God’s spirit of humility and compassion.
To be “born in the Spirit” is to see things with the eyes of God, to honour what God honours, to love as God loves us. The kingdom of God that Jesus speaks of in the Gospel transcends boundaries and labels, stereotypes and traditions, the colour of flags and the colour of skin. In God’s eyes, we are all his children; in God’s heart, we are all brothers and sisters to one another.
While we tend to see God as the great cosmic Ruler, a mysterious Being totally detached from us and removed from the human experience, Jesus reveals God as a loving Father who created us and our world out of love and seeks to restore his beloved creation through an even greater act of love: God’s becoming human himself in order that his beloved humanity might realize God’s dream of becoming holy and sacred.

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Sermon

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Sentence

We do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4

                                                                                                                             

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Collect  

Almighty God, whose Son fasted forty days in the wilderness, and was tempted as we are, yet did not sin:
give us grace to direct our lives in obedience to your will, that, as you know our weakness, so we may know your power to save; through Jesus Christ our Redeemer, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

                                                                                                                                                      

Readings

This Week:

• Gen 2:15-17, 3:1-7
• Psalm 32
• Romans 5:12-21
• Matthew 4:1-11

• Next Week:

• Gen 12:1-4a
• Psalm 121
• Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
• John 3: 1-17

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A Thought to Ponder

Lent 1


Jesus was led by the Spirit in the desert to be tempted by the devil.

In Matthew’s account of Jesus’s 40-day desert experience, Jesus is confronted with several choices. All of the tempter’s offers would have Jesus sin against the great commandment of Deuteronomy: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5). The tempter offers comfort, wealth and power, but Jesus chooses, instead, the course of humble and prayerful servanthood that the Father has chosen for him. All of Jesus’ responses to the devil’s challenges are found in Deuteronomy (8:3, 6:16, 6:13).

The Spirit who called Jesus to the wilderness calls us, as well, to a 40-day “desert experience,” a time to peacefully and quietly renew and recreate our relationship with God, that God might become the centre of our lives in every season.
This First Sunday of Lent confronts us with choices: personal profit, comfort and glory or the life of God. The season of Lent calls us to embrace God’s Spirit of truth that we may make the choices demanded by our complicated and complex world with courage, insight and faith.

Lent is the season for meaningful fasting: fasting not just for the sake “of giving something up” but fasting from whatever derails or hampers our relationship with God and alienates us from others, fasting from everyday distractions in order to put our time and energy into the things of God.

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Sermon

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Sentence

Suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him!’ Matthew 17:5

                                                                                                                             

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Collect  

O God, in the transfiguration of your Son you confirmed the mysteries of the faith by the witness of Moses and Elijah, and in the voice from the cloud you foreshadowed our adoption as your children:
make us, with Christ, heirs of your glory, and bring us to enjoy its fullness; through the same 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

This Week:

• Exodus 24:12-18
• Psalm 2
• 2 Peter 1:16-21
• Matthew 17:1-9

• Next Week:

• Gen 2:15-17, 3:1-7
• Psalm 32
• Romans 5:12-21
• Matthew 4:1-11

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A Thought to Ponder

Transfiguration of Christ


Jesus was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.

On this Sunday before the beginning of Lent, we hear Matthew’s account of the extraordinary transformation of Jesus that Peter, James and John witness on Mount Tabor.

Matthew’s account of the “transfiguration” (which takes place six days after his first prediction of his passion and his first instructions on the call to discipleship) is filled with images from the First Testament: the voice which repeats Isaiah’s “Servant” proclamation, the appearance of Moses and Elijah, the dazzling white garments of Jesus. Matthew’s primary interest is the disciples’ reaction to the event: their awe at this spectacular vision will soon wither into fear at the deeper meaning of the transfiguration — a meaning that they do not yet grasp. As the disciples will later understand, the transfiguration is a powerful sign that the events ahead of them in Jerusalem are indeed the Father’s will.
The use of the Greek word “transfiguration” indicates that what the disciples saw in Jesus on Mount Tabor was a divinity that shone from within him. This coming Lenten season (which begins on Wednesday) is a time for each of us to experience such a “transfiguration” within ourselves – that the life of God within us may shine forth in lives dedicated to compassion, justice and reconciliation.

Peter’s reaction to the Christ of the Transfiguration contrasts sharply with his reaction to the Christ of Good Friday: While totally taken with the transfigured Christ in today’s Gospel, Peter is afraid to even acknowledge knowing the condemned Christ. Lent calls us to descend Mount Tabor with Jesus and journey with him to Jerusalem and take up our cross with him, so that the divinity we see in the transfigured Jesus may become in us the Easter life of the Risen Christ.

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Sermon

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Sentence

Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

                                                                                                                             

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Collect  

Faithful God, you have appointed us your witnesses, to be a light that shines in the world:
let us not hide the bright hope you have given us, but tell everyone your love, revealed in Jesus Christ the Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

                                                                                                                                                      

Readings

This Week:

• Isaiah 58:1-9a
• Psalm 112
• 1 Cor 2:1-13
• Matthew 5:13-20

• Next Week:

• Exodus 24:12-18
• Psalm 2
• 2 Peter 1:16-21
• Matthew 17:1-9

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A Thought to Ponder

Epiphany 5


“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?
“You are the light of the world. Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”

Unsalted popcorn and an electrical power outage are all that we need to appreciate Jesus’ message in today’s Gospel reading (the continuation of the Sermon on the Mount). Through the images of salt and light, Jesus impresses upon his listeners the vocation of Christians: As I am salt and light to the world, so you, as my disciples, must reflect me to the world.
Salt and sun, of themselves, are not good for very much and can even be harmful. Their value is realized only when they mix or interact with other things. Their addition brings out the fullness of whatever they come in contact with.

A handful of salt brings out the natural flavour in every kind of food, from filet to popcorn. The four ounces of salt in our bodies enable our muscles to contract, our blood to circulate, our hearts to beat. Salt purifies and softens, cleans and preserves. Salt is an important element in making glass, building roads, manufacturing soap and shampoo, bleaching paper and cooling nuclear reactors. Salt is used both in freezing and in de-icing. There are over 14,000 uses of salt –but of and by itself, salt is useless. Eating a handful of salt does not taste particularly good – it might even make you sick to your stomach.
Light’s true beauty is realized only when we look away from its source and toward what it illuminates. Light transforms the cold terror of night into the warm assurance of day. Light enables us to discover, to study, to discern, to behold the beauty of our world and the wonders of God’s creation. Light warms, nurtures, sustains, reveals, cheers.
Salt is perhaps the humblest of all chemicals; light is among the most generous of all physical properties.
To be “salt for the earth” is to bring Christ’s compassion and hope into our homes, workplaces, schools and communities; our simplest acts of charity can be a “light” for our world and unmistakable evidence of the presence of God among us.

Jesus’ call to his followers to be “salt” and “light” for the world is a challenge to live the Gospel we have heard and profess to believe. Until our hopes for justice become our work for justice, until our prayers for peace and unity in the world are first lived in our own home and community, until our professed belief in God as Father of all affects every one of our relationships, we are as good as flavourless salt, we are as useful as light hidden away under a basket.
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Sermon

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Sentence

What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8

                                                                                                                             

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Collect  

Righteous God, you confound the world’s wisdom by giving your blessing to the lowly and pure in heart:
give us such a hunger and thirst for justice and perseverance in striving for peace, that in our words and deeds the world may see the promise of your kingdom, which has been revealed in Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

                                                                                                                                                      

Readings

This Week:

• Micah 6:1-8
• Psalm 15
• 1 Cor 1:18-31
• Matthew 5:1-12

• Next Week:

• Isaiah 58:1-9a
• Psalm 112
• 1 Cor 2:1-13
• Matthew 5:13-20

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A Thought to Ponder

Epiphany 4


Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven …
Today’s Gospel is the beautiful “Beatitudes” reading from the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew’s compilation of the sayings and teachings of Jesus. The word “blessed,” as used by Jesus in the eight maxims, was written in
Greek as makarios, a word which indicates a joy that is God-like in its serenity and totality.
Specific Greek words used throughout the text indicate several important meanings:
‘The poor in spirit:’ those who are detached from material things, who put their trust in God.
“The sorrowing:” this Beatitude speaks of the value of caring and compassion — the hallmarks of Jesus’ teaching.
“The lowly:” the Greek word used here is praotes — true humility that banishes all pride; the “blessed” who accept the necessity to learn and grow and realize their need to be forgiven.
“They who show mercy:” the Greek word chesedh used here indicates the ability to get “inside a person’s a skin” until we can see things from his/her perspective, consider things from his/her experience mind and feel
his/her joys and sorrows.
“The peacemakers:” peace is not merely the absence of trouble or discord but peace is a positive condition: it is everything that provides and makes for humanity’s highest good; note, too, that the “blessed” are described as
peace-makers and not simply peace-lovers.
The Beatitudes call us to a very different set of values than those of our dog-eat-dog-success-is-everything-get-them-before-they-get-you-bottom line-based world. We are called, as Zephaniah (Reading 1) preaches, “to seek the Lord in all things.”
As a people of faith we are called to focus our lives on the “blessedness” of the Sermon on the Mount: to seek our joy and fulfilment in God above all things. Our “blessedness” cannot be measured by our portfolios, celebrity or intellect, but in our ability to grasp that we exist not in and of ourselves but by and in the love of God. The “blessed” of the Gospel have embraced a spirit of humble gratitude before the God who gives, nurtures and sustains our lives.

The “blessed” seek to respond to such unfathomable love the only way they can: by returning that love to others, God’s children, as a way of returning it to God.
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Sermon

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Sentence

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. Matthew 4:23

                                                                                                                             

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Collect  

Loving God, the light of the minds that know you, the life of the souls that love you, and the strength of the hearts that serve you:
help us so to know you that we may truly love you, and so to love you that we may faithfully serve you, whose service is perfect freedom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

                                                                                                                                                      

Readings

This Week:

• Isaiah 9:1-4
• Psalm 27:1-10
• 1 Cor 1:10-18
• Matthew 4:12-25

• Next Week:

• Micah 6:1-8
• Psalm 15
• 1 Cor 1:18-31
• Matthew 5:1-12

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A Thought to Ponder

Epiphany 3

Jesus said to Simon and his brother Andrew, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Galilee is the centrepiece of today’s readings.
In Jesus’ time, Galilee was the most populated and productive region of Palestine. The great roads of the world passed through Galilee, making it a strategic target for invasion. White-sailed ships crept up the Mediterranean coast from Alexandria and caravans travelled through the region from Mesopotamia and Egypt.
Galilee, unlike the rest of Palestine, had an international perspective, in touch with many non-Jewish ideas and influences. Josephus, the Roman historian, wrote of the people of Galilee: “They were fond of innovation and, by nature, disposed to change and delighted in sedition . . . The Galileans were never destitute of courage . . . They were ever more anxious for honour than for gain.”
In a few lines, Matthew sketches a new beginning in human history: the arrest of John and the end of the First Testament; the beginning of a New Testament in the teaching and healing ministry of Jesus in Galilee and the call of the first disciples from their fishing nets along the Sea of Galilee. Jesus’ beginning his public ministry in Galilee is, for Matthew, the fulfilment of an ancient oracle concerning the Messiah: that, through the darkness of Galilee’s Assyrian captivity, the “great light” of their deliverance will appear (Reading 1).
Like Peter, James and John, we are asked by Jesus to take on the work of discipleship; we are asked to leave our “fishing nets” – our own needs and wants – to follow the example of love and servanthood given to us by Jesus; we are asked to rebuild our lives, homes and cities in the justice and peace that Jesus proclaims.

Jesus calls his disciples of every time and place to be “fishers” of men and women, to use whatever “nets” we possess, in whatever oceans and seas we find ourselves, to catch the falling, rescue the endangered, gather in the lost and forgotten.
Christ is the light that illuminates our minds and souls with a new vision of the human condition: in the light of Christ, we are able to recognise one another as brothers and sisters, children of the same God; in the light of Christ, we realise our own need for healing and forgiveness and are then able to bring such transformation into our lives and the lives of others.
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Sermon

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Sentence

God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Cor 1:9

                                                                                                                             

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Collect  

Almighty God, whose Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, is the light of the world: may your people, illumined by your word and sacraments, shine with the radiance of his glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

                                                                                                                                                      

Readings

This Week:

• Isaiah 49:1-7
• Psalm 40:1-14
• 1 Cor 1:1-9
• John 1:29-42

• Next Week:

• Isaiah 9:1-4
• Psalm 27:1-10
• 1 Cor 1:10-18
• Matthew 4:12-25

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A Thought to Ponder

Epiphany 2

John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
The Fourth Gospel emphasises John the Baptiser’s role as the bridge between the First and New Testaments; he is the last great prophet who identifies Jesus as the Messiah. In his vision of the Spirit of God “resting” upon and within Jesus, the Baptiser realises this is the chosen Servant of God who has come to inaugurate the Messianic era of forgiveness and reconciliation (today’s first reading, the second of Isaiah’s “servant” songs, describes the mission of the servant: to bring Israel back to the Lord and, through her, extend the Lord’s salvation to every nation and people on earth).
By our baptisms, we are called to be witnesses and prophets of the “Lamb of God” along the Jordan Rivers of our homes, schools and workplaces.
Christ’s presence among us is a time for new beginnings: an invitation to walk from the shadows of hatred and mistrust to the light of understanding and peace, a chance for healing our brokenness and mending our relationships with one another, a call to be seekers of hope and enablers of reconciliation in our own time and place.
Through our own acts of compassion and generosity, of justice and forgiveness, we proclaim that “the Lamb of God” walks in our midst, the love and mercy of God has dawned upon us.

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Sermon

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Sentence

A voice came from heaven, saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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Collect  

Eternal God, at the baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan, you proclaimed him your beloved Son, and anointed him with the Holy Spirit:
grant that all who are baptised into his name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Saviour; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen

                                                                                                                                                      

Readings

This Week:

• Isaiah 42:1-9
• Psalm 29
• Acts 10:34-43
• Matthew 3:13-17

• Isaiah 49:1-7
• Psalm 40:1-14
• 1 Cor 1:1-9
• John 1:29-42

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A Thought to Ponder

The Baptism of Our Lord
After Jesus was baptised, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending on him like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Today’s Gospel is the final event of the Epiphany event: Jesus’ baptism at the Jordan River by John.
The Baptiser’s refusal at first to baptise Jesus and Jesus’ response to his refusal (a dialogue that appears only in Matthew’s Gospel) speaks to Matthew’s continuing theme of Jesus as the fulfillment of the First Testament prophecies. Jesus clearly did not need to be baptised. But his baptism by John is an affirmation that God was with this man Jesus in a very special way – at the Jordan River, Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled: “My favour rests on him.” Jesus has come to identify with sinners, to bring them forgiveness; hence the propriety of Jesus’ acceptance of John’s baptism.
Baptism was a ritual performed by the Jews, usually for those who entered Judaism from another religion. It was natural that the sin-stained, polluted pagan should be “washed” in baptism, but no Jew could conceive of needing baptism, being born a son of Abraham, one of God’s chosen people and therefore assured of God’s salvation. But John’s baptism – a baptism affirmed by Jesus – was not one of initiation, but one of reformation, a rejection of sin in one’s own life and acknowledgment of one’s own need for conversion. In Christ, baptism becomes a sacrament of rebirth, a reception of new life.
In all the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ baptism, all four evangelists use a similar description of the scene at the Jordan when Jesus is baptised by John: The Spirit of God descended and rested upon him, “hovering” over him like a dove – as the Gospel story unfolds, the Spirit of God’s peace, compassion and love, will be the constant presence dwelling within and flowing forth from the Carpenter from Nazareth.

In baptism, we claim the name of Christian and embrace all that that holy name means: to live for others rather than for ourselves, in imitation of Christ.
Our baptism made each one of us the “servant” of today’s readings: to bring forth in our world the justice, reconciliation and enlightenment of Christ, the “beloved Son” and “favour” of God.
In baptism, we embrace that same Spirit that “hovers” over us, guiding us in our journey to God.
Liturgically, the Christmas season officially comes to an end with today’s Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Now the same Spirit that “anoints” the Messiah for his mission calls us to be about the work of Christmas in this new year: to seek out and find the lost, to heal the hurting, to feed the hungry, to free the imprisoned, to rebuild families and nations, to bring the peace of God to all peoples everywhere.

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Sermon – not available this week

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Sentence

God has destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:15-16

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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Collect  

Eternal God, in whose sight a thousand years are like a watch in the night: guide us now and always, as you have led us in times past, that our hearts may learn to choose your will;
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

This Week:

• Jeremiah 31:7-14
• Psalm 147:12-20
• Ephesians 1:3-14
• John 1:1-18

• Isaiah 42:1-9
• Psalm 29
• Acts 10:34-43
• Matthew 3:13-17

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A Thought to Ponder

Second Sunday after Christmas

Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” Matthew 2: 1-12

The story of the astrologers and the star of Bethlehem is unique to Matthew’s Gospel. Note that Matthew does not call them “kings” or does he give their names or reports where they came from – in fact, Matthew never even specifies the number of magi (because three gifts are presented to the Child, it has been a tradition since the fifth century to picture “three wise men”). In stripping away the romantic layers that have been added to the story, Matthew’s point can be better appreciated.
A great many First Testament ideas and images are presented in this story. The star, for example, is reminiscent of Balaam’s prophecy that “a star shall advance from Jacob” (Numbers 24: 17). Many of the details in Matthew’s story about the child Jesus parallel the story of the child Moses and the Exodus.

Matthew’s story also provides a preview of what is to come. First, the reactions of the various parties to the birth of Jesus parallel the effects Jesus’ teaching will have on those who hear it. Herod reacts with anger and hostility to the Jesus of the poor who comes to overturn the powerful and rich. The chief priests and scribes greet the news with haughty indifference toward the Jesus who comes to give new life and meaning to the rituals and laws of the scribes. But the magi – non-believers in the eyes of Israel – possess the humility and the openness of mind and heart essential to faith that leads them to seek and welcome the Jesus who will institute the Second Covenant between God and the New Israel.
Secondly, the gifts of the astrologers indicate the principal dimensions of Jesus’ mission:

• gold is a gift fitting for a king, a ruler, one with power and authority;
• frankincense is a gift fitting for a priest, one who offers sacrifice (frankincense was an aromatic perfume sprinkled on the animals sacrificed in the Temple);
• myrrh is a fitting “gift” for someone who is to die (myrrh was used in ancient times for embalming the bodies of the dead before burial).

Epiphany calls is to a new vision of the world that sees beyond the walls and borders we have created and to walk by the light which has dawned for all of humankind, a light by which we are able to recognize all men and women as our brothers and sisters under the loving providence of God, the Father of all.
The magi’s following of the star is a journey of faith, a constant search for meaning, for purpose, for the things of God that each one of us experiences in the course of our own lives.
What we read and watch and listen to in search of wealth, fame and power are the “stars” we follow. The journey of the magi in Matthew’s Gospel puts our own “stargazing” in perspective, calling us to fix our search on the “star” of God’s justice, peace and compassion.

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Sermon – not available this week

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