For the week of January 5 – Epiphany Sunday
Morning Prayer: O God of light and peace, whose glory, shining in the Child of Bethlehem, still draws the nations to Yourself: dispel the darkness that shrouds our path, that we may come to kneel before Christ in true worship, offer Him our hearts and souls, and return from His presence to live as He has taught. Amen. (Lectionary Prayers)
So you thought you had to keep this up; All the work that you do
So we think that you're good And you can't believe it's not enough
All the walls you built up Are just glass on the outside
So let them fall down.
There's freedom waiting in the sound When you let your walls fall to the ground
We're here now
This is where the healing begins, oh. This is where the healing starts
When you come to where you're broken within, The light meets the dark. The light meets the dark
Afraid to let your secrets out
Everything that you hide Can come crashing through the door now
But too scared to face all your fear
So you hide, but you find That the shame won't disappear
So let it fall down
There's freedom waiting in the sound When you let your walls fall to the ground
We're here now. We're here now, oh
This is where the healing begins, oh. This is where the healing starts
When you come to where you're broken within. The light meets the dark. The light meets the dark
Sparks will fly as grace collides With the dark inside of us
So please don't fight This coming light
Let this blood come, cover us. His blood can cover us
This is where the healing begins, oh. This is where the healing starts
When you come to where you're broken within. The light meets the dark. The light meets the dark
Songwriters: Jason Ingram, Mike Donehey, Jeff Owen. For non-commercial use only.
Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14 (CEB)
God, give Your judgments to the king. Give Your righteousness to the king’s son.
2 Let him judge Your people with righteousness and Your poor ones with justice.
3 Let the mountains bring peace to the people; let the hills bring righteousness.
4 Let the king bring justice to people who are poor;
let him save the children of those who are needy, but let him crush oppressors!
5 Let the king live as long as the sun, as long as the moon, generation to generation.
6 Let him fall like rain upon fresh-cut grass, like showers that water the earth.
7 Let the righteous flourish throughout their lives, and let peace prosper until the moon is no more.
10 Let the kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute;
let the kings of Sheba and Seba present gifts.
11 Let all the kings bow down before him; let all the nations serve him.
12 Let it be so, because he delivers the needy who cry out, the poor, and those who have no helper.
13 He has compassion on the weak and the needy; he saves the lives of those who are in need.
14 He redeems their lives from oppression and violence; their blood is precious in his eyes.
Prayers of Intercession: Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayers for those dear to our hearts. We now pray as You have taught us: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us, not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Offering spotlight: The Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church encourages us to Build the Beloved Community, with mindfulness of the plight of those who are refugees from violence and immigrants seeking to build lives of worth and dignity. If the Lord is directing you to give financially, you can send funds to Lightstreet, earmarked “Building the Beloved Community”.
Offering prayer: Gracious Lord, whose light guides our steps, we bring these gifts in humble adoration. May they be used to spread Your truth and love to all nations. As we journey into this new year, let our hearts remain focused on Your presence and our hands open to Your service. In the name of Christ, our guiding star, we pray. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Hymn of preparation: Raise a Hallelujah
I'm gonna sing, in the middle of the storm. Louder and louder, you're gonna hear my praises roar
Up from the ashes, hope will arise. Death is defeated, the King is alive
I raise a hallelujah With everything inside of me. I raise a hallelujah. I will watch the darkness flee
I raise a hallelujah In the middle of the mystery. I raise a hallelujah. Fear, you lost your hold on me
I'm gonna sing, in the middle of the storm. Louder and louder, you're gonna hear my praises roar
Up from the ashes, hope will arise. Death is defeated, the King is alive
Songwriters: Melissa Helser, Jake Stevens, Johnathan David Helser, Molly Skaggs. For non-commercial use only.
Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12 (CEB)
2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the territory of Judea during the rule of King Herod, magi came from the east to Jerusalem. 2 They asked, “Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We’ve seen His star in the east, and we’ve come to honor Him.”
3 When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, and everyone in Jerusalem was troubled with him. 4 He gathered all the chief priests and the legal experts and asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They said, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote:
6 You, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
by no means are you least among the rulers of Judah,
because from you will come one who governs,
who will shepherd my people Israel.”
7 Then Herod secretly called for the magi and found out from them the time when the star had first appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search carefully for the Child. When you’ve found Him, report to me so that I too may go and honor Him.” 9 When they heard the king, they went; and look, the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. 11 They entered the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother. Falling to their knees, they honored Him. Then they opened their treasure chests and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 Because they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another route.
Message: Sermon for worship at home January 5, 2025
Beloved,
On Sunday, January 5, 2025, we celebrated Pastor Ron’s retirement. Our sermon time was filled with thanksgivings and recollections of Pastor Ron’s ministries with us and with others. I offer this sermon by Father Mike Marsh (a personal favorite of mine) for your Epiphany sermon. Pbecky
Longing And Fear – An Epiphany Sermon On Matthew 2:1-12
Published by Michael K. Marsh on January 5, 2020
The Epiphany – Matthew 2:1-12
I recently overheard a man say, “I don’t want to work until I’m too old to live.”
He didn’t elaborate or explain what he meant but his words have stayed with me. I think it’s one of those statements that says more than the words he spoke. My guess is that it’s not really even about his work. After all, life and work don’t have to be mutually exclusive. People find life and meaning in their work, and work can be an essential part of a fulfilling life. I think he was talking about more than just work.
I wonder if he was talking about his longing, desire, and searching for something. And I wonder if he was talking about his fear – the fear of missing out, losing a part of himself, and living less than fully alive.
Admittedly, those are my interpretations, but I think the experiences of longing and fear are universal. I recognize both in my life and I’ve seen them in the lives of others. For most of us it’s probably not one or the other, but both at the same time. We live between the two poles of longing and fear. And today’s gospel (Matthew 2:1-12) tells us that’s where epiphany lies. It lies amidst our longing and fear.
Longing and fear are the bookends on epiphany. At one end you have wise men from the East following the star. They’ve left their own country – the familiar, the usual, the known – in search of and desiring something new and maybe even unknown. They don’t know where this journey will take them, only that they have to take this journey. It’s as if there is a call on their lives that cannot be left unanswered. Who or what is calling is unknown. There is no caller ID with an epiphany.
At the other end is Herod, the bookend of fear. “He was frightened,” Matthew tells us, “and all Jerusalem with him.” He is threatened by the possibility of a new king. His power and identity are at risk of being lost. Maybe he fears an impoverished and diminished life. He calls others to himself – chief priests and scribes – but he stays where he is, grasping and clinging to what is familiar and known.
The wise men and Herod are responding to the same thing; the child and the birth of new life. The wise men are open and give themselves to something new and maybe even unknown. Herod is closed and wants the same old thing. The wise men travel and search. Herod hunkers down and shelters in place.
The wise men follow their longing. Herod wallows in his fear. Both, however, were about the child. Both were an epiphany.
I think we tend to hear the Epiphany story as being an epiphany to the wise men only. But what if it’s also an epiphany to Herod, too?
I am not talking about epiphany in the usual sense of having a flash of insight or a sudden realization. I don’t think that’s what today’s gospel is about. I’ve come to believe that we don’t have epiphanies but that they have us. Epiphanies are not so much those moments when we say, “Aha, I’ve got it!” They are, rather, moments when we say, “Ah, it’s got me!” or “Oh no, it’s got me!” Sometimes that happens in our longings and other times it happens in our fears.
Both situations are offering us something. And both are seeking a response from us. That’s what epiphanies do. They give us a glimpse of ourselves, our life, our world, and then they call for and ask for a response. That response is what distinguishes the wise men from Herod. The difference isn’t that epiphany happened for the wise men but not Herod. The difference is that the wise men observed and followed the star, opened their treasure chest, went home “by another road,” and Herod did not.
But what if he had? What if Herod had observed and followed the star too? What if he had opened the treasure chest of his life? What if he had returned home “by another road?” How might his life have changed?
And what if we did those things? How might our lives change?
When I look at my longings and fears, when others tell me about their longings and fears, when I remember the words of that man I overheard – I am convinced that both the wise men and Herod live within us. They are parts of ourselves. And I am equally convinced that wherever there is longing or fear there is an epiphany awaiting our response. So let me ask you about your longings and fears.
What longing, searching, or desiring has gotten ahold of you? Picture the people who are involved. Describe what is happening. Feel the ache deep within you, that ache that hurts so good. What is calling to you today? What is being asked of you in the name of God? What matters so much to you that when you ignore it, it becomes the matter with you? For what do you hope? What future are you desiring that sounds to you impossible?
What fears have gotten ahold of you? Again, picture the faces, name the people, describe the situations, feel the adrenaline. What keeps you paralyzed and unable to leave the place where you are? What is it about your life or relationships you least want to face and deal with? Who or what situation creates waves of panic and anxiety in your gut? What do you most fear losing? What is fear teaching you about yourself, your life, your relationships? What would you do if you weren’t afraid and how would your life be different? What is being asked of you in the name of God?
Whatever your answers are to those questions about longings and fears, they describe an epiphany. They are a star in the sky of your life waiting to be observed and followed. They are the treasure chest of your life waiting to be opened. They are the child of new life waiting to be held.
And in all that something is being revealed to you and something is being asked of you. It might be love, forgiveness, healing, hope, gratitude, courage, beauty, compassion, gentleness with yourself or another, mercy, acceptance of yourself or another, nonviolence, repentance, new life, truth telling, wisdom.
Aren’t those the very qualities and values of the child whose life the wise men and Herod seek? They are at the heart of our deepest longings and on the other side of our worst fears. And they reveal Emmanuel, God with us. That’s the epiphany and it’s always before us, calling and waiting for a response.
What will you do with the epiphany before you today? How will you respond?
My hope for you and me is that today we will all go home “by another road.”
Closing Hymn #251 Go, Tell It on the Mountain
Refrain: Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere,
Go, tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born.
- While shepherds kept their watching o’er silent flocks by night,
Behold throughout the heavens there shone a holy light. (Refrain)
- The shepherds feared and trembled, when lo! above the earth,
Rang out the angel chorus that hailed the Savior’s birth. (Refrain)
- Down in a lowly manger the humble Christ was born,
And God sent us salvation that blessed Christmas morn. (Refrain)
The blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you this week.
