麻豆社

Sunday Worship marking the Feast of the Epiphany

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On the first Sunday of 2024 the Bishop of Manchester and the Revd REVD GRACE THOMAS Thomas look for hope in this season of Epiphany. Jesus was himself a refugee, sought by the Magi in worship but also by those who wished him harm. We hear from Christians connected with war-torn parts of the world 鈥� Ethiopia, Ukraine, and the Middle East -听 where they find hope for the future. Music: New Year Carol (Chris Williams); Coventry Carol (trad); No small wonder (Paul Edwards); What Child is this (trad); O Worship the King in the beauty of holiness (Was Lebet); Brightest and Best (Southern HARMONY arr Kirchner); As with Gladness (Dix); Isaiah 60: 1-9; Matthew 2:2-12. The Daily Service Singers are directed by Andrew Earis. Producer: Philip Billson

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Please note that this script may not be exactly as broadcast and will contain editing and production notes.

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Continuity: On 麻豆社 Sounds and Radio 4 now it鈥檚 time for Sunday Worship for the Feast of Epiphany. The service begins with a verse from an Epiphany carol 鈥� No Small Wonder.听听

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MUSIC: No small wonder! (Edwards) verse 1

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BISHOP: Welcome to the Philharmonic studio of Media City. I鈥檓 the Bishop of Manchester David Walker and leading this service with me is the Revd REVD GRACE THOMAS Thomas. Media City is the home of 麻豆社 Religion and Ethics and it鈥檚 fitting that we鈥檙e here on the centenary weekend of the first 麻豆社 outside broadcast of a church service in January 1924. With me also are the Daily Service Singers directed by Andrew Earis and organist... They鈥檙e another institution almost as old as the 麻豆社, though this morning鈥檚 representatives look decidedly young! Today鈥檚 Sunday Worship marks the feast of the Epiphany which was celebrated in the Western church yesterday, when the Magi 鈥� and the scripture doesn鈥檛 actually say how many there were - responded to an ancient prophecy. Being guided by a particularly bright planet or star, they sought out the infant Jesus to worship him where the star came to rest.

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MUSIC: No small wonder! (Edwards) verse 2

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REVD GRACE THOMAS: In seeking out a dwelling in an obscure middle eastern village where the infant Jesus was being cared for, the Magi, or kings, as Paul Wigmore鈥檚 poem calls them, proclaimed Jesus and his message of salvation and reconciliation to the wider world. The story of the Magi encapsulates the theme of our worship today in a profound way, for it embodies an existential battle between good and evil, a message of salvation and hope for all humanity on the one hand, and the vicious insecurity of the tyrant who can do nothing but act as an agent of death and destruction, of sheer evil, on the other. For even as the Magi visited him, Jesus was under threat of becoming a refugee. On this first Sunday of the year, we cannot, with Christians, and in harmony with all people of good will, do anything other than pray with a deep longing for peace and justice in this war-torn and so troubled world, a world still brimming with the forcefully displaced and the refugee, a world of strife, great violence, uncertainty and death, that would not have been unfamiliar to the parents of the infant Christ and the Magi alike. This is the collect for epiphany:

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MUSIC: No small wonder! (Edwards) verse 3

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The Collect for Epiphany:

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HYMN As with gladness men of old (Dix)

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REVD GRACE THOMAS: Later we鈥檒l be hearing from Christians who have encountered the war-torn areas of our world about their longings for peace in 2024, but first that account from the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 2. Biblical scholars often argue that Matthew intended for the magi in his Gospel to be understood as gentiles or non-Jews who come to Bethlehem to worship Jesus. They surmise that this story is meant to foreshadow the fact that Christianity would eventually become a gentile religious movement and no longer exclusively a Jewish one. God鈥檚 salvation was, in Jesus, revealed as an explicit message of hope for the whole of humanity, a true Epiphany.听 It鈥檚 a direct counter to the bad news - and to the malign actors and forces who inflict their agendas of violent coercion and control wherever they can 鈥� then and now. This can be seen in our first reading, from the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 2.

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READER: Matthew 2:2-12

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HYMN: Brightest and Best are the sons of the Morning (Tune: Southern HARMONY arr Kirchner)

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BISHOP: 鈥淒awn on our darkness and lend us your aid.鈥� It is in worship that we come before our maker and find the kind of hope that can counter our deepest fears. The news agenda across all media has a tendency of funnelling our concerns in the opposite direction, and often to one particularly dreadful arena at a time, and towards fear. Often, of course, it鈥檚 a particular crisis the outcome of which could change the geopolitics of whole nations and extend across the continents of the world, that merits such exclusive attention. Perhaps our own natural affinities bolster this approach. Bad news from one place is often quite enough for us to cope with.听 But life continues after the reporters have left and moved on to the next war. And wars and the fall out of war reverberate in communities and across whole nations long after they鈥檝e been in the headlines. We鈥檙e going to hear from three individuals this morning whose lives are connected in one way or another with particular areas of turbulence around the globe. The first is from Ethiopia: The two-year civil war in Ethiopia apparently ended just over a year ago. Aksum is a holy pilgrimage site for Ethiopian Orthodox Christians who believe it to have been home to the Jewish Ark of the Covenant and the birthplace of the biblical Queen of Sheba. This holy place was a focal point of conflict, the site of an alleged massacre in which hundreds died. Frew Tamrat is a theological educator in the country鈥檚 capital, Addis Ababa.听听

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FREW TAMRAT: In a world grappling with war and civil unrest, the prospect of a hopeful tomorrow seems increasingly elusive. Within Ethiopia, a nation I call home, regions once characterized by peace have transformed into battlegrounds, resulting in the tragic loss of hundreds of thousands of lives over the past three years. Today, millions find themselves forcibly displaced from their homes. It is impossible to describe the effect of such devastation and wanton violence on whole communities, except to say that it feels like the visitation of a profound evil that traumatizes men women and children now, and will certainly affect future generations.听听

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Amidst this profound darkness, faith in Jesus Christ, offers a steadfast source of hope.听听

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[[I, and many other Christians find solace and hope through the avenue of prayer, a conduit to access God鈥檚 Grace, providing encouragement to confront the challenges of today and tomorrow.]]听听 Through prayer, whole communities can affirm their reliance on God鈥檚 sustaining power and experience inexpressible joy in the knowledge that He Sovereignly governs global affairs.听听

It is the redemptive work of Jesus sustains our belief that this turbulent world is temporary . The promise of an end to these calamities is anchored in the anticipation of Christ鈥檚 triumphant return and in this we place our hope.听

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Equally crucial in sustaining hope is the love and kindness emanating from the Christian community. Extending compassion and meeting the needs of those directly impacted by the turmoil becomes a beacon of hope, offering individuals in war zones the resilience to endure and persevere. Faith, prayer, and community emerge as the resilient anchors of hope in the face of adversity, providing a foundation upon which to navigate the challenges of our troubled times.听

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CHOIR: Coventry Carol (trad);

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REVD GRACE THOMAS: That Coventry Carol captures something of the anguish felt during Herod鈥檚 massacre of the innocents, which Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus escaped, becoming refugees in Egypt. It鈥檚 a poignant reminder of the human cost to those who find themselves forced to leave everything behind when fleeing听 evil.听听

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We鈥檒l hear next from Galina, who will deliver our second reading. Galina is a refugee from Odessa in Ukraine who鈥檚 found a temporary home in a church here in our diocese of Manchester, as have a number of Ukrainian refugees.听 She first told us how spending Christmas away from home has been for her:

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Galina speaks of life as a refugee and her hopes for the future of Ukraine

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CHOIR: Jesus Christ! Joyous Light, or Kyrie (Ukrainian)

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GALINA: A reading from Isaiah Chapter 60: 1-9

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CHOIR: Jesus Christ! Joyous Light, or Kyrie (Ukrainian)

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BISHOP:

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I grew up an optimist. The 1960s was a decade in which there was much to suggest that history was taking a positive turn. Across Africa, nations gained independence from former colonial masters, whilst elsewhere dictatorships slowly gave ground to democracy. Here in the UK, technology was enabling visible advances in standards of living and health care. In 1966, the England men鈥檚 team even won the football World Cup! And whilst prejudice and bigotry remained publicly acceptable to many, the trajectory was clearly not in their favour. It was possible to convince myself that the wrong and harmful things I witnessed, both personally and on TV, were the dying embers of an era giving way to a kinder and more loving world. It鈥檚 not a view I can hold to any more. Evils have not been vanquished, simply reinvented and re clothed. To many, the mood of the present moment is somber indeed with dreadful human suffering as a result of two wars, one in Europe and one on Europe鈥檚 doorstep, and a pervading sense of threat and uncertainty. 鈥淟ow at his feet lay thy burden of carefulness鈥�, we have just heard sung, and we are as burdened by cares as much today as when John Samuel Bewley Monsell published the hymn in 1863, or when the 麻豆社 first broadcast public worship a century ago.

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Yet, whilst my youthful optimism may have dimmed, my hope has, if anything, grown firmer. It鈥檚 been strengthened by half a century and more of experiencing the presence, love and forgiveness of God, through both public worship and private prayer. Strengthened too by the amazing, Christ filled, people I have met and worked with, people like those whose voices and stories we are hearing in this service today. And strengthened by witnessing the incredible things that have been achieved when Christians have relied not only on our own meagre skills and resources, but on God鈥檚 Holy Spirit. Like those magi of old, I have found that it is through making my own journey into Christ, in company with others, that my hope and my energies have been rekindled. Somebody once said to me, when perhaps I was striving too hard and becoming dispirited, 鈥淚t鈥檚 not your job to save the world, David. Jesus has already done that鈥�. But I鈥檝e learned, as have our other contributors this morning, that I have my part to play. We are called to be those who seek to live in the light of God鈥檚 ultimate victory, to live out what we pray when we echo our Saviour鈥檚 words, 鈥淭hy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven鈥�.

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One of my favourite poems for this time of year, is T S Eliot鈥檚, Journey of the Magi. Spoken from the perspective of one of the wise men who brought their gifts to the infant Jesus, it first lists the hardships encountered on their way to Bethlehem and then describes the agonies of living on for many years afterwards, in places that feel very far from the life-changing divine reality the speaker had glimpsed all too briefly in that far off stable long ago. Tellingly, notwithstanding the hardships both on the journey and afterwards, the narrator, makes clear he would do it again; what he had met in Bethlehem was worth all the troubles it entailed. And that too is the experience of so many Christians. Our faith does not make us immune from sorrows, indeed it may expose us more directly to them, rather it enables us to withstand them, even to embark deliberately on paths we know will not be easy, nor readily rewarded.

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When my faith came to life in my late teens, it did not turn me away from the world beyond, into a cosy, comfortable, existence, one focussed merely on my own beliefs and spiritual growth. To my surprise it made me first more aware of the challenges faced by so many of those who like me are made in God鈥檚 likeliness, and then determined to do something that might ameliorate human suffering, and that is still true for many young people in this country and perhaps especially in those many areas of the developing world where Christian faith has a growing influence in the lives of whole communities. I found that I began to care about poverty, both here in Britain and around the globe, to be angry at the violence and abuse I saw so often inflicted on those who looked or behaved differently, to see it as scandalous how the powerful exerted their iron grip on the weak and helpless. And in my small way, I鈥檝e tried both to speak out and to do practical things which might challenge the wrongs that I see. The things I do, along with the words I am able to utter, in Parliament, pulpits and elsewhere, I try to think of as small acts of prophecy - signs of how the world might look were it run along the laws of God鈥檚 Kingdom.

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Most of us, me included, are not capable of doing great things. But little things matter. Every act of kindness is like a fresh candle lit, dispelling the darkness, at least in some small corner and for some brief time. Both for what it achieves and for the greater truth to which it bears witness. The gifts that the magi brought to the manger were somewhat idiosyncratic. Not the normal presents parents of a newborn might expect to be handed. But that鈥檚 because they too are symbolic. Their significance lies far beyond any practical difference they made. Each gift in its way stands for something about the truth of the baby they have come to visit. Gold reminds us that Christ is our king, even if his Kingdom is not of this Earth. Frankincense, often offered in acts of worship, tells us that he is not simply human but God in veiled in flesh. Myrrh, used in the embalming of bodies, foretells that it will not only be the manner of his life, but the fashion of his death, through which he fulfils his purpose. It鈥檚 a theme picked up in our next hymn, 鈥淲hat child is this?鈥�, where we are invited to contemplate the nature of one not only worshipped by shepherds and angels but by these strange travellers from afar and their symbolic gifts. (966 words)

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CHOIR: What child is this (trad)

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REVD GRACE THOMAS: His Grace Archbishop Angaelos was born in Egypt, lived there as a young boy and later as a monk. As the Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London and Papal Legate to the United Kingdom he has a wide view of some of the most intractable conflicts around the world, and especially in the Middle East.听

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ARCHBISHOP ANGAELOS: As we welcome in this New Year, many around the world will do so with a heavy heart, deeply concerned and troubled by the ongoing crisis taking place in Israel and Gaza as well as other parts of the world.

As a pastor I come across people from all walks of life, and it is essential in all my dealings to remain focused on the individual. As a Christian I believe that everyone bears the image and likeness of God within them, and so I must never be clouded by any issue that may skew my assessment of them and detract me from their suffering or their humanity.鈥� Recently I met a Palestinian woman in a caf茅 in London who began to speak to me about members of her family that she had recently mourned as a result of the ongoing conflict. Just days later I was emerging from one of our parishes in London and met a Jewish gentleman who had lost loved ones in Israel because of that same conflict. Both were suffering, both felt legitimate and deep pain. While there are issues that are incredibly polarising, recognising and addressing the pain of others does not negate our own, or that of others. There is no monopoly on suffering, and one person鈥檚 suffering does not need to be cancelled out to justify the suffering or cause of another.鈥� Placing ourselves on one side of an argument or issue leads us to realise that there is seldom a unilateral solution that resolves everything. True solutions require us to put ourselves in the shoes of the other, to feel their pain and suffering and to work to find common ground.鈥� In times of conflict and suffering we should always try to stand for and speak for truth, and as Christians we must always be those who love and reconcile, and seek to find the human suffering of people and be a healing force in the midst of that suffering. The Incarnation, the Birth of Jesus Christ, was an act of reconciliation, a breaking down of the division between heaven and earth. Christ is reconciling, and as Christians we are called to walk in His footsteps, reconcile our own differences and be a reconciling force when others are in conflict.

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REVD GRACE THOMAS听

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Let us pray

CHOIR: Taize: The Lord is my light

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God of all creation, on this Feast of the Epiphany, we remember with thanks how the good news of Jesus鈥� birth was revealed to Magi, showing us that your promise and hope extends across all times, in all places and towards all peoples. We pray for people today who are ignored and marginalised. Forgive us when we are complicit in acts of exclusion either individually or as part of wider institutions.听 May the light of your love be a catalyst for inclusion

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Taize: The Lord is my light

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God of Grace and healing, as the New Year begins, be with those who find this time difficult and complicated. Sustain the weary and anxious. We pray for all who are unwell, in body, mind and spirit and we hold before you all who worry for a loved one. Hold close all who are grieving at this time. May the light of your love be a comfort and balm

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Taize: The Lord is my light

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God of compassion and mercy, as we remember how the Holy Family fled tyranny and became refugees, we pray for places today where wars are waged and the innocent find themselves in the firing line. We pray for the people of Ethiopia and Ukraine as they face continued conflict and displacement. We pray for the Holy Lands, central to so much of the story of Epiphany, for all caught up in the violence of Israel and Gaza. May leaders govern justly, working together for peace and reconciliation.

May the light of your love overcome the darkness of evil

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Taize: The Lord is my light

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God of eternity, in a world that seems so divided and broken, help us to hold on to the knowledge that your holy goodness will always prevail over evil and unite us together in the words of the prayer that your son, our saviour Jesus Christ, taught us

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CHOIR: The Lord鈥檚 Prayer 鈥� Joanna Forbes L鈥橢strange

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BISHOP DAVID:

May the God who inspired the magi of old to travel far to the birthplace of the Saviour, Journey with you this day, this season of Epiphany, and through all the days of your life.

And the blessing of God Almighty,

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Rest upon you, and remain with you, now and always. Amen.

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O Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (Was Lebet)

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