Just over a week ago we celebrated the day on which Christ was born among the Jews, today we celebrate the day on which he was adored by the Gentiles. For in our gospel reading this week (Matthew 2:1-12), we hear about the Magi, the wise men who came from far away to pay homage to the infant Jesus, the King of the Jews, the Messiah.At Christmas, we heard how the shepherds were visited by angels to announce Jesus' birth, this time it is a star. Even as a newborn infant without any ability to speak, the King of Heaven on earth is so powerful and so determined to bring about peace and unity that he is already commanding from heaven his will. Two different forms of revelation to two very different groups of people but both groups: those from a Jewish background and living nearby and Gentiles from far away are enlightened from heaven. This revelation is for everyone.For us today we consider Astrology to be a pseudoscience concerned with fortune telling but in the ancient world, it would have been considered a science, along with the study of medicine and philosophy. These wise men were indeed wise and holy men whose purpose would have been to seek truth and order to human life by studying the sky. Something was revealed to them that made them believe that this was God breaking into his own order, something that unquestionably needed to be responded to. Their scientific knowledge and skill guaranteed that they would be paying attention but later in their journey something else would be required of them than purely a scientific mind alone.The star that they followed led them to and stopped first at Jerusalem rather than leading them straight to Bethlehem. Jerusalem was the place of the rich and powerful and home to the earthly King Herod, once a generous and protective presence, now aged he was jealous and violent. The chief priests and scribes were there too and he called upon them to look to scripture to find out where exactly the Messiah was due to be born. People had long been waiting for this day.Why did the star stop here though and not just take the wise men straight to Bethlehem? Maybe the underlying message here might be that God isn't found in the spaces of power and wealth but instead, it is found on the edges of society, with people on the edges. God manifested as Jesus the newborn baby and was born into this lowly setting, a place where we would least expect to find an earthly King let alone a divine one. God chose to reveal Himself in a place outside of all of the things people take to be significant and worthy.God used the journey of the wise men to show us that we can indeed honour the wisdom of the world with all its knowledge, skill, logic, and science for it can and does produce amazing things, and like it did with the wise men, it can point people in the right direction but more importantly, he stopped them first at Jerusalem to find out through the Faith of the Jewish people and their scripture - the Old Testament, where the Messiah was to be born. Science started their journey but Faith was required to complete it. Secular wisdom, sacred revelation, and even deceitful and negative influences in the form of King Herod all worked together to bring them (as it does us), to the place where the wise men and us can adore and pay homage to God through Jesus.As we begin a new year with all the uncertainties and worry that the ongoing pandemic brings, the Epiphany story can give us a world-affirming view, a much-needed hope that even though we might be completely different from one another and on completely different paths and routes in our lives, each one of us can still reach God. It might not be in the initial places where we thought we might, but the Epiphany story suggests that the whole world, the universe, even those people who are of ill intent and seem to put obstacles in our way or want to destroy rather than unite, even with the relentless Covid virus that seeks to destroy, despite all of this, and maybe even because of this, God finds a way through to use these situations and people to help us find him.Once we have found Jesus, we too, just like the wise men, can then offer our gifts, ourselves and worship and adore him. Being a follower of Christ requires the lifelong commitment of seeking God, to keep travelling towards Him, over and over again and so this Epiphany, let us celebrate the very first journey undertaken that led the Gentiles, these wise men to witness and then adore the manifestation of God as the infant Jesus. Then let us pray for each other and for all people of the world, no matter where we are from, near or far, no matter which stage of the journey we are on, that this new year we all get to experience God's revelation in our hearts and that it is so overwhelming in its significance in our lives that we too kneel and pay the infant Jesus homage, worshipping and adoring him.Natalie Rees
You are welcome to attend our services on Sunday at 10am in the church and on Thursday at 11am in the hall (attached to the church), whoever you are. Please note that masks are to be worn at all times in the church.The church will be open daily for private prayer this week between 10am and 3pm.A weekly written Act of Worship and Message from the Minister are posted weekly here and on our website.If you would like to receive our weekly newsletter, written Act of Worship and Message from the Minister by email, please contact our administrator stpeterschurchsheringham@gmail.com
Christmas message from Christina ReesIf you were to tell someone a story about the person who meant the most to you, or who had had the biggest influence on your life, where would you begin? Would you start with stories about what they had done or about some of the things that had happened to them? Would you talk about some of the things they had said? Would you tell people how they looked or how being with them made you feel? One thing you probably wouldn’t do is to start writing your story about them using coded language and cosmic symbolism! Yet that is exactly how John begins his Gospel – his version of the life and ministry – and meaning – of Jesus’ life. The other three Gospels had already been written and Jesus had been gone for perhaps more than twenty or thirty years before John finally wrote down what he considered to be the most important things to say about Jesus. And how does he begin? We are not given a story about the baby born in a stable in Bethlehem, nor told of Jesus’ early years, nor even about the beginning of his public ministry. Instead, John starts by referring to Jesus not even as a person, but somewhat cryptically as the ‘Word’! He then goes on to say that, at the very beginning of everything, before even time began or the world existed, this ‘Word’ was with God. And then, most astonishingly, in the next breath John states that this Word was God.Within a few short sentences we have been taken back through a spiritual vortex to a time before time even existed and told that the person about whom John is writing, is none other than God, whose life would be a light for people, a light shining in the darkness, a light which would never be overcome. We have been told all of this - but we have not yet been told exactly who this person is!And that’s what John goes on to do for the rest of his Gospel – he tells us the story of the man he came to know and trust as both friend and saviour. The man who walked and talked with people, the man who liked to laugh and eat and drink, the man who showed love and compassion for the poor and oppressed, the man who healed the sick and who challenged hypocrisy and injustice - the man who walked steadfastly to his death so that we could be given new life. This is the man John has been thinking about for so many years, contemplating the significance all that he heard and learned and saw. As we celebrate Christmas, it is right that we should rejoice and be gladdened by the birth of Jesus, the light coming into the darkness. Let us also remember that the baby in the manger is the eternal Word, beyond space and time, the very heart and mind and soul of God, who came to show us who God is, and who, by God’s grace, we can become.
A birthday is a time for giving. We take, or send, presents to the person whose special day it is. However, if we’re honest, we already realise that the person we are giving the present to is far more precious, a far greater gift, than the item we have spent so much time carefully wrapping in coloured paper and tinsel. By offering a present, we’re actually expressing how much we value the gift of LIFE, whether that be the life of a pure, new-born child or a life full of years and shared memories.And so it is with Christmas. Life in Jesus has come into the world. Life of the Saviour has come FOR the world. Life in all its fullness has arrived in the form of a tiny child. The wonder of Christmas is that all of that can be held in a young mother’s arms.On Christmas Day we worship this baby, with our presents of love, time, talents, dedication and commitment. We reflect upon what we can do better to serve our neighbours and live a Christ-centred life. These are our gifts, the best we can offer, and God honours them because they are offered in love.But just look at what we receive from him! Free and full salvation, the fruit of his Spirit, love, joy, peace… and LIFE - real, everlasting life! God in his magnificent humility has tipped the scales heavily in our favour! It’s generosity on a divine scale and it increases the more we put God’s gifts to work in our own lives. Christmas is, of course, a time for giving, but let’s not forget who gave the most and who continues to give, even when we move on from Christmas and slip back into our own obsessions. Perhaps, what we need to do more than anything this Christmas, is pray for grace to give God the best Christmas present we can offer, our lives in his service.Happy Christmas one and all!Christian
