Friday, December 29, 2017

What Are We Seeking? Reflections on Matthew 2.1-12 (Celebration of the Epiphany on 31 December 2017)

What Are We Seeking?
Reflections on Matthew 2.1-12

The Feast of the Epiphany
31 December 2017

Saint Faith’s Anglican Church
Vancouver BC

Matthew 2.1-12

            2.1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?  For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.”  3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.  5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

            6 ‘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.’”

            7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared.  8 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.”  9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was.  10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.  11 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.  12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

What are we seeking?
         When I first encountered the world of Harry Potter, it was, of course, through my children.  Each volume was read with vigour and then passed on to the next reader in the household.  Earlier this year I even re-read all six novels during a summer reading spree.

         If you know the novels, then you will remember that the wizarding sport is Quidditch.  Harry is quickly identified as a born ‘seeker’ whose task during the game is to keep an eye out for the ‘golden snitch’, a small golden ball that has wings and flies as fast as a fury.  If the seeker catches the snitch, then the game is over with the seeker’s team gaining 150 points and usually the victory.

         I find in Harry a parable of what it means to be a ‘seeker’.  To be a seeker is to know that there is something one wants to find and to keep one’s sense open to the presence of what is sought.  Once the sought-after object is sighted, the true seeker commits body and soul to gaining the desired goal.

         As we gather on this day to remember the magi and their search for the Christ-child, we are brought into the drama of their search.  We seek the same Holy One who is often as elusive as a golden snitch and as difficult to catch.  So let’s begin the search.  

But let’s put first things first.
         In Christianity after Religion:  The End of the Church and the Beginning of a New Spiritual Awakening the American sociologist of religion, Diana Butler Bass, reflects on the future of Christianity as the role of the church as a powerful institution within culture diminishes.  Despite the title, it is actually an optimistic take on our current situation.  When she speaks of ‘the end of the church’, she means a re-awakening to what it means to be a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth and a re-evaluation of what we need to nurture and support our lives as disciples.

         She describes the older way of being Church as focussing on believing, behaving and belonging.  We belong to the church because we first believed and then learned how to behave.  She encourages contemporary Christians to reverse this way of understanding.  We first belong to a community of faith where we learn how to live the faith so that we can believe in the good news of God in Christ.

         How that would work at St. Faith’s is a re-ordering of our familiar description of ourselves as ‘a place of help, hope and home’.  What might be the consequences of saying we are ‘a place of home, help and hope’?  How might this lead seekers to cross our threshold?

What are we seeking?  Home.
         One of the things that I have learned is that my children are constantly amused by the songs that frequently spring forth from my lips.  Most of the songs come from the years before my children were born, such as this one:

Making your way in the world today
takes everything you’ve got.
Taking a break from all your worries,
sure would help a lot.
Wouldn’t you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go
where everybody knows your name,
and they’re always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see
our troubles are all the same.
You wanna be where everyone knows,
you wanna to go where people know,
people are all the same. [1]

It’s an interesting group of people who gather in a basement bar in Boston.  People stay as long as they can because they’re not sure they want to go ‘home’.  They’re seeking ‘home’ and the only place they find it is around the bar with people whose lives only connect in this one place.

         We know from various contemporary sources and studies that the people who live in our neighbourhoods are seeking ‘home’, a place where everyone knows each other’s name, a place where everyone is glad to see each other, a place where considerable restraint is placed on judgement and the need to be someone other than who each one of us is, a place where the only expectation is that we are seeking each other’s true good.  Why?  Because they aren’t finding home where they live.

         When I read the stories of Jesus in the gospels, I see a man who made every place he visited a home, who made every person he met feel at home, who felt sorrow when someone he invited to become more truly the person God created them to be turned away.

         I believe that this place, this Parish of St. Faith’s, is the kind of home that many people are seeking.  They just don’t know how to find it.  But God has set stars in the sky to guide people here.  You and I are those stars, the lights leading people home.

What are we seeking?  Help.
         When we think of help, we tend to think of the various commitments we have made to reach out to people beyond our doors, such as the Pastoral Resource Centre or the many organizations we support with the funds we raise each year for outreach or the various volunteer commitments that many of us have made, whether these activities are within the church or within community groups in the wider world.  These are good and proper expressions of our help that we should continue to offer.  But our help cannot be limited to these.

         I am speaking of the help we all need to become more fully the persons God intends us to become.  For some of us the help we need is help in facing the reality of aging.  Aging brings with it not only the practical matters of where shall we live and how shall we arrange our personal affairs.  Aging also brings spiritual questions about who we are and what our future is.  We begin to ask what might be called ‘legacy’ questions.  And here, in this home, is a place to ask these questions.

         We are right to be concerned about the young people who are, in many and various ways connected to this parish, some near, some far.  Whether we are speaking about young parents or their children, we know the challenges of living in a society that tends to see us many as consumers of goods rather than producers of the common good.  Grandparents, aunts and uncles, older adult friends of younger adults and children, all need help in learning how to offer wisdom and to share our religious faith, so that the Light that has shone in our hearts might shine in others.

What are we seeking?  Hope.
         If there is one thing I have learned from the political events of the past year it is this:  Too many people have lost hope and, having lost hope, will grasp onto an anchor chain thinking that it is a life-line.

         We seek a better world, not just in some unknown future, but in the here and now of our own lives and the lives of every human being.  In Jesus of Nazareth we believe we see what this better world looks like when lived in human community.  In a world where some grow more and more suspicious of strangers, our hope lies in a world that welcomes strangers as if they were Christ himself.  In a world where some grow more and more eager to build walls to shut out the ‘other’, whoever the ‘other’ might be, our hope lies in a world that makes straight the crooked paths and makes smooth the rocky plains so that all may draw near to God.  In a world where some grow more and more wealthy at the expense of others, our hope lies in a world that embodies God’s generosity to all, rich and poor, young and old, righteous and not-so-righteous.

         Our hope is not simply a warm feeling that occasionally diverts our attention from the scenes of need that we see in the media.  Our hope takes shape in the choices we make each day to provide home and help to the seeker.  Within this home and with this help their hope might be sparked into flame, a light so bright that many will come and see the glory of God made known in human beings fully alive in Christ and through the Spirit.

         Like the magi we have found what we seek in this Child born in Bethlehem.  Unlike the magi we will stay to share this news with those who are still seeking for home, help and hope.  For here, in this place, the Lord has arisen upon us and Christ’s glory appears over us, so that all God’s sons and daughters might find what they seek.





Monday, December 25, 2017

An Ordo for Epiphany (31 December 2017)

Since the 6th of January 2018 is a Saturday, Saint Faith's will be exercising the option as permitted in The Book of Alternative Services (p. 15) of celebrating the Epiphany on the Sunday preceding so that Sunday the 7th can be kept as the Baptism of the Lord.

Epiphany of the Lord
31 December 2017

The Gathering of the Community

Prelude

Announcements

Processional Hymn

‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’  Common Praise #118 vv. 1, 2, 3, 5a

Introductory Responses

Blessed are you, gracious God,
you have caused a new light to shine in our hearts.
Glory to you for ever and ever.  Amen. [i]

Hymn of Praise

Gloria in Excelsis [ii]

Collect

Let us pray.

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


The Proclamation of the Word

The First Reading:  Isaiah 60.1-6

A reading from the prophet Isaiah.

            60.1 Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.  2 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.  3 Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

            4 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 on their nurses’ arms.  5 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.  6 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.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
Thanks be to God.

The Psalm:  Psalm 72.1-7, 10-14 from Songs for the Holy One

Refrain (sung twice):  May the Holy One guard and guide all rulers.

Give the king your sense of judgement, Holy One,
to a king’s son your sense of faithful justice.
May he judge your people faithfully
and give justice to your poor and needy.
Let the mountains bring peace and prosperity
and the hills true justice for everyone.
May the king judge the poor fairly,
save the children of the poor
and crush their oppressors.

Refrain:  May the Holy One guard and guide all rulers.

May he live as long as the sun,
for as many generations as the moon.
May he come down like rain on mown grass,
and drop on the earth like showers.
In his time may true justice flourish,
peace and prosperity outlive the moon!

Refrain:  May the Holy One guard and guide all rulers.

Kings of Tarshish and the isles will pay tribute,
kings of Sheba and Saba bring gifts.
All kings will bow to him,
all nations serve him.
Indeed he rescues the needy who cry for help,
the poor who have no support.
He has compassion on the poor and helpless,
and saves the lives of the poor.
He will redeem them from injury and violence.
Their blood is precious in his eyes.

Refrain:  May the Holy One guard and guide all rulers.

The Second Reading:  Ephesians 3.1-12

A reading from the Letter to the Ephesians.

            3.1 This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles — 2 for surely you have already heard of the commission of God’s grace that was given me for you, 3 and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, 4 a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ.  5 In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:  6 that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

            7 Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given me by the working of his power.  8 Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; 10 so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.  11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
Thanks be to God.

The Hymn before the Gospel

‘Awake, Arise:  O Sing a New Song’  Common Praise #311 (sung twice)

The Gospel:  Matthew 2.1-12

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

            2.1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?  For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.”  3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.  5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

            6 ‘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.’”

            7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared.  8 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.”  9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was.  10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.  11 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.  12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

The Gospel of Christ.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Hymn after Communion

‘Awake, Arise:  O Sing a New Song’  Common Praise #311 (sung twice)

The Sermon

The Affirmation of Faith (sung to Common Praise #223)

We believe in God the Father,
God almighty, by whose plan
earth and heaven sprang to being,
all created things began.
We believe in Christ the Saviour,
Son of God in human frame,
virgin-born, the child of Mary
upon whom the Spirit came.

Christ, who on the cross forsaken,
like a lamb to slaughter led,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
he descended to the dead.
We believe in Jesus risen,
heaven’s king to rule and reign,
to the Father’s side ascended
till as judge he comes again.

We believe in God the Spirit;
in one Church, below, above:
saints of God in one communion,
one in holiness and love.
So by faith, our sins forgiven,
Christ our Saviour, Lord and friend,
we shall rise with him in glory
to the life that knows no end. [iv]

The Prayers of the Community

Intercessions, Petitions and Thanksgivings

The Exchange of the Peace

May the peace of Christ whose glory is revealed to the nations
be always with you.
And also with you.

The Holy Communion

The Offertory Hymn

‘What Child Is This’  Common Praise #137

Prayer over the Gifts

Let us pray.

God who reveals yourself to all who seek you,
we give you thanks for the glory
revealed to the nations in Christ.
May we who offer you these gifts
be transformed from glory to glory
and show forth that glory in loving service
to the whole of creation.
We ask this in the name of your Beloved,
Jesus the Christ.  Amen. [v]

Thanksgiving at the Table

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is indeed right, our duty and our joy,
that we should at all times and in all places
give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God,
through our Saviour Jesus Christ.
By the leading of a star he was shown forth to all nations;
in the waters of the Jordan you proclaimed him your beloved Son,
and in the miracle of water turned to wine he revealed your glory.
and so, with all the choirs of angels,
with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven,
we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest. [vi]

Holy One, the beginning and the end, the giver of life:
Blessed are you for the birth of creation.
Blessed are you in the darkness and in the light.
Blessed are you for your promise to your people.
Blessed are you for the prophets’ hopes and dreams.
Blessed are you for Mary’s openness to your will.
Blessed are you for your Son, Jesus, the Word made flesh.

In the night in which he was betrayed,
our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks;
broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take and eat; this is my body given for you.
Do this for the remembrance of me.

Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks,
and gave it for all to drink, saying:
This cup is the new covenant in my blood,
shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.
Do this for the remembrance of me.

Let us proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.

With this bread and cup we remember
your Word dwelling among us, full of grace and truth.
We remember our new birth in his death and resurrection.
We look with hope for his coming.
Come, Lord Jesus.

Holy God, we long for your Spirit.
Come among us.  Bless this meal.
May your Word take flesh in us.
Awaken your people.  Fill us with your light.
Bring the gift of peace on earth.
Come, Holy Spirit.

All praise and glory are yours, Holy One of Israel,
Word of God incarnate, Power of the Most High,
one God, now and for ever.  Amen.[vii]

The Lord’s Prayer (said)

As our Saviour taught us, let us pray,
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever.  Amen.

The Breaking of the Bread

God of glory,
you nourish us with bread from heaven:
fill us with your Holy Spirit,
so that your light may shine in all the world. [viii]

The gifts of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.

The Communion

Communion Hymn

‘Love Came Down at Christmas’  Common Praise #131


The Sending Forth of the Community

Prayer after Communion

Let us pray.

God of all the nations of the earth,
guide us with your light.
Help us to recognize Christ
as he comes to us in this eucharist and our neighbours.
May we welcome him with love,
for he is the Christ now and for ever.  Amen. [ix]

Blessing

May Christ, the Beloved of God, be manifest in you,
so that your lives may be a light to the world;
and the blessing of God, the Holy One of Israel,
the Word of God incarnate and the Power of the Most High,
be upon you and remain with you now and for ever.  Amen. [x]

Closing Hymn

‘On This Day, Earth Shall Ring’  Common Praise #150 vv. 1, 2, 3

Dismissal

Go forth in love to proclaim the birth of Christ.
Thanks be to God.




[i] The Book of Alternative Services (1985), 220 alt.

[ii] Lang Carol Mass.

[iii] Liturgy Task Force, ‘Trial Use Collects and Prayers over the Gifts and after Communion for Years A, B & C’ (2016), 59.

[iv] Common Worship (2000), 146.

[v] The Rev’d Richard Geoffrey Leggett (2017).

[vi] Lang ‘Carol Mass’.

[vii] Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), p. 110.

[viii] The Book of Alternative Services (1985), 350 alt.

[ix] The Book of Alternative Services (1985), 280 alt.

[x] The Book of Occasional Services (2003), 24 alt.