January 5, 2025  Epiphany
Lighting the Christ Candle

Welcome and Announcements 

Call to Worship
How did you get here?
We walked, eyes looking up, following the star.
We ran, longing for a love that is bigger than us.
We came like the Magi, seeking the Baby born for us.
Tell me again. How did you get here?
We are  here by God’s grace and love’s pull.
Welcome home. This is God’s house. There is room for you here.
Thanks be to our Gracious God who has revealed in our hearts his grace and salvation.  

Hymn:  146  Angels from the realms of glory

Prayer of Approach 

God of starlight, We long to follow you. 

Like the Magi, we want to pick up the hems of our robes and run in your direction. 

Like the Magi, we want to follow  your guiding star, and seek the mystery made known in Jesus. 

Unfortunately, the stars can be hard to see from here. 

Your still, small voice can be hard to hear from here. 

So just as you guided the Magi, guide us. 

Draw our attention to your Word. 

Reveal what it is you want us to hear today, 

so that we can follow you with hope in our hearts.  Let us join our voices in prayer so that God’s forgiveness will help us see the revelation of the mystery.   

Amen. 

 

Prayer of Confession:
God of new beginnings, we admit that we often follow the well-worn path, simply because others have been there before.  Sometimes this is holy and humble, but there are days when a new path needs to be tread.  On those new-beginning days, O God, give us the courage to follow your star.
Give us the courage to go home by another way. Give us the courage to kick up some dust and walk in a new direction for the sake of justice, love, and neighbor.
For when you are doing a new thing, we want to have the courage to follow. With hope in our hearts we wander, we travel.  Amen.
 

Assurance of Pardon 

No matter the roads you’ve taken, the steps you’ve made, or the paths you’ve traveled, there is nowhere you could go where you  would land you outside of God’s love. 

Hear and believe the good news of the Gospel: 

We do not walk alone in this world.  God always walks with us reminding us that we  are loved.  Assuring us that we  are forgiven.  Showing us the mystery of grace in every new chance to begin again.  Thanks be to God for a love like that! 

Passing the Peace
Hymn:  115  Hail to the Lord’s anointed 

 

Scripture:

Isaiah 60: 1-6 
Responsive Psalm 72 :1-7, 10-14 
Ephesians 3: 1-12   

Sermon:  The mystery has been made known 

Epiphany is the day we recall the revelation of Jesus as a light to the Gentiles.  That revelation is first made known as the Magi to uncover the mystery of the star and the king whose birth it announced. .   

We perhaps know this better through the Gospel account of the journey the Magi took, going first to Jerusalem, then being redirected to Bethlehem where they stop to worship the baby and bring him gifts. 

This revelation of grace also has implications for the Magi in their living.  They now lived for Christ.  The next revelation points that out.  

The second revelation of God, comes in the warning not to return to Herod in Jerusalem, and so they instead returned home via a different route.  Here they fulfilled their mission not just to worship the King; but also to serve the king.  Worship and service go together.  

The revelation of God to the gentiles is first of all an invitation to come and see, and then expands into an act of faith as the magi respond to God’s request with faithfulness and obedience. 

In both cases they didn’t need to know more than the revelation before they acted.  The mystery of the birth needed no explanation, the mystery of why they needed to go straight home did not need explanation.  In both cases they were simply obedient, as the revelation of the mystery became known to them.   

 

Today we are going to focus on what Paul says about that revelation, reminding his readers that that revelation was made known to him on the Damascus road.  That revelation opened up to Paul, the mystery of Christ.  Paul writes to the Ephesians that this mystery is simply that through the good news of Jesus  the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. Eph 3: 5 NIV 

 This one simple truth of the mystery of Jesus is what shaped and defined the ministry to which Paul was called, as he spread the news primarily among the Gentiles.   

The revelation that in Jesus, Jew and Gentile are united  began with the Magi, and continues to shape the church through all the ages.   

We know from reading Paul’s letters that he also sees it as the great equalizer of all people.  He frequently affirms that  all are welcome in Christ Jesus.  To the Galatians he writes, 26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.  Gal 3: 26-28 NIV 

What Paul is doing in these letters is expressing his profound understanding of the mystery of grace, which is boundless, immeasurable, inscrutable, and beyond comprehension.  Paul’s point is that this immense understanding of the grace that unites us all, can only be known by the revelation of God.   

More than that, this  unity in Christ Jesus is meant to be seen in our behavour.  We recall that Paul took slave owners to task for going to the church dinner early and eating all the best food, while the slaves and servants stayed in the master’s house finishing their work.  When they arrived at the feast they found only  left overs and scraps.   

We are reminded that we must treat all believers as equals.  Gentiles from all nations, and  Jews,  All races:  White, Black, Indigenous, Asian as well as Male,  Female, Young, Old.  All are equal, all are treated with the same respect.  This is a part of our responsibility because of  the revelation to the Gentiles.   

We can understand  this because in Ephesians Paul takes the revelation of Epiphany to a whole new level.  Then in subsequent letters he fleshes out what behaviour that equality demands.  

Ephesians shows us an epiphany on a cosmic scale.  God has made this revelation of Jesus known to not only to the Gentiles, but also to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.   

The commentator Mast provides a few clues as to what that could mean. 

That the fullness of what Jesus will do is finally revealed to all the angels.  Prior to his birth, only Michael the messenger angel knew the plan.  Now they all knew. 

He also points out that this revelation of the Messiah is made known to those who have died prior to his birth.  He reminds us that Jesus promised the apostles 12 seats at the throne in heaven; but that Scripture points out there are 24 seats at the throne.  He ponders if the other 12 seats are for those who looked for the Messiah but died before his coming.   

 

We see at the Transfiguration that Moses and Elijah were included in those to whom the revelation had been made.  Why not then also Abraham, Joseph, and the prophets who had spoken long and often about what the Messiah would do when he came.  

 

Paul’s writing and indeed his disagreements with Peter would point out that Paul believes that the inclusion of the Gentiles would be all inclusive.  Gentiles would be welcome in the most holy places and no longer restricted to the outer court.  Women would be welcomed to the most holy places and not restricted to the Women’s court.  The complete inclusion of the Gentiles which made all people equal in Christ, was a part of the unexpected revelation that began with the visit of the magi.   

Mast points out that this revelation was the beginning of a new thing—The Church.  The revelation that Paul understands means that everything, even the deepest and most ancient of divisions are united in Jesus.   

Even as we look at the history of the Church, we can see that we didn’t always get it.  The Reformation was a step on the road to exploring how the revelation of Jesus called for a reordering of the Church.   

According to Mast, the revelation that Paul is speaking of continues in the Church to this day.   

All of us are called to look beyond the stable and stand before the cross to understand the impact of the death of Jesus on our lives.  We are all called to enter the empty tomb and realize that the tomb will not be able to hold us either.   

This revelation of God keeps opening up before us, as we learn more and more about how to be inclusive of all those whom Jesus came to save.   

What Paul wants us to understand is that in Jesus Christ something  BIG happened.  Something bigger than a moment in time.  Something bigger than a cradle, cross and grave.   

Something that lives within each one of us and opens our eyes to see everything and everyone differently.  Even God. 

In Jesus and through the Holy Spirit, we are invited into the very presence of God.  No priest is going to disappear into the holy of holies and offer a sacrifice for us.  When Jesus hung on the cross, he made it possible for us to come directly before God and plead for his grace and bring our prayers.   

All of us are reminded that  everyone  who has been  baptized into Christ had been  clothed with Christ.   We are reminded that there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus.  

Jean Calvin calls this the priesthood of all believers.  Clergy, Elders, all the people who worship among us, and all who worship around the world, all of us are equal, and all of us have direct access to God, and to enter before him with boldness, bringing our gifts, our prayers, and our concerns.  But we also enter boldly before God and claim our inheritance— 

 

 

EQUALITY WITH CHRIST.   

 

Sometimes we don’t remember just how great the revelation of Epiphany is for all of us.  Equal not just with one another; but also with Christ.  Everything that Jesus has, belongs to us and we are called to share it with everyone else who belongs to Jesus, and more importantly everyone whom Jesus is still calling to come into the fold.   

Mast points out that this revelation to the Magi has implications to all believers today.  This is not a revelation just for us.  Salvation and Grace are free for all, and especially for those who have not yet come to know Jesus.   

This epiphany revelation is about how God will use the baby, the cross and the empty tomb to reunite a fallen people and a fallen universe.   

The revelation has been given to us and we are called to participate.   

Amen 

 

 

Hymn:  174 Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness

 

Offering Invitation:  We have seen the light of the world.
We have been called to follow the star of promise.
Like the Magi, let us bring our gifts to honor the babe of Bethlehem and bring the light to all the dark places
in our community and our world. 

Offering and Doxology 830

Offertory Prayer
God of light and promise, we bring our gifts to further your work in a dark world.
May they bring your light  to those overwhelmed by darkness, pain, and loneliness.
Accept these gifts of money and time, indeed, the gift of our very selves.
Let them shine for all to see, and be brought into the sphere of your love and righteousness.  Amen  

 

 

Gathering Prayer Requests
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession 

God of new beginnings, We are so grateful. We are so grateful to be here, at the start of a new year, fresh off the press. 

We are so grateful to be here, at the start of a new week, gathered in community.  We are so grateful to begin again. 

So here at this beginning, we bring you our prayers for all those who need to begin again.  Prayers for hope.  Prayers for healing.  Prayers for a new way forward. 

Holy God, for the people who stand at a crossroad, unsure of what decision to make—give them clarity. 

JOYS 

 

 

 

 

CONCERNS 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WORLD 

For those places of war, deemed unsafe by human actions: 

Ukraine/Russia
Israel/Gaza, Middle East
Joint Christian Committee for services in Lebanon and the work we share with them through PWS&D.  We rejoice that the peace holds, and we pray that it will grow into a lasting peace.   

 

 

Guiding God, we know that this life of faith is not easy.   As we journey, bless our wanderings.  Bless our path.  Walk beside us.  Dance beside us. Hang stars in the sky and place a deep knowing in our hearts that we simply cannot ignore. 

We rejoice in the mystery made plain through the good news
of the babe of Bethlehem.  May this good news transform us and guide us as we seek to follow the star of love and light.  Therefore we join our voices to pray as Jesus has 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 debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever.  Amen 

 

 

Hymn:   171  The people that in darkness

Benediction
We believe in a with-us God, a God who is beside us in the mountains and valleys, holding our hand through every bump and turn. 

And in the chaos of our journey, we believe that God sees what we cannot always see: the mystery of grace revealed in Jesus.   

Let us go forth from here, looking for  God’s fingerprints in the world. 

Let us  trust that there are paths still unexplored, paths that only God can invite us to follow. 

Trust in the grace of God:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit to guide us into the joyous mystery of life now and forevermore.  Amen 

Blessing Song:  445 Open our eyes Lord

Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus
To reach out and touch him, and say that we love him.  Open our ears Lord ad help us to listen
Open our eyes Lord, we want to see Jesus 

1976, PCC 

3 Fold Amen