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Cath writes for Epiphany

Wise men. Can we trust wise men, I wonder.
Wise men seem to have led us up the garden path of recession, credit-crunch, insolvency and debt that’s reared it’s head over the last few months and is set to get worse before it gets better. Wise men, indeed!!
So much for the trust we put in them, as we watch our savings and investments dwindle and pension funds decline in value. Where’s the gold they promised? The heady incense of clever investment that would reap rewards in the future? The spice of living today and having nothing to pay for two years.
That’s where we’ve been led by the so-called wise men!!
The cynic in me scoffs at those who set themselves up to be wise, but Epiphany is not about those wise men whose focus is on high finance, money and accumulation of wealth.
To me Epiphany’s about a wisdom of a very different sort. A wisdom of looking at the skies to find the hand of God in creation, seeing beyond the attractions of material wealth and gazing in awe and wonder at something far more precious and lasting in the beauty of the night sky that reveals the vastness of the universe and beyond. This year is the year of astronomy and I heard on the radio how astronomers are campaigning for a reduction in light pollution so that we will all be able to appreciate the stars in the depth of a dark sky at night.
I remember the clarity in the wonderful sky over the Kruger National Park in South Africa where a myriad of stars was visible, some with a great intensity of light shining in the darkness. With that in view, who can doubt the hand of the creator. There has to be a feeling of God.
This would be the kind of night sky that the Magi in Matthew’s Gospel would study. They were learned men who were searching the sky for anything unusual, tracking the stars, making forecasts and predictions from what they saw there and recognising in their observations that a new and incredible event was taking place.
A new great star predicted a new birth, a great king, an earth-changing event. They determined to find this new king.
They set off on a journey of discovery with certain expectations, that suggested to them that they would need to take offerings of gifts, tokens of goodwill from their country as a sign of welcome and respect for a powerful new monarch, and seeking national friendship and acceptance. The carols we sing have given the various gifts significant meaning relating to the future of the child born to be king, but Matthew’s gospel says none of that, but we do know that the gifts were precious and were appropriate gifts to be made to someone of high rank.
So they set off on their journey into strange territory, strangers in a foreign land, Gentiles entering the Jewish land, not knowing what dangers they would encounter on the way, but going in faith and trust in search of the new king.
They were probably not so wise when they approached Jerusalem and made straight for the palace of King Herod. That was a major human error with dire consequences, but where else would they find a prince if not in the palace? There they learned from the Jewish advisors to Herod that the child would be born in Bethlehem and so they journeyed on. They journeyed on alone. Herod’s advisors, people who were especially waiting for this new king to be born, chose to stay in the comfort and security of their own places in Jerusalem and wait, let these outsiders do the searching, rather than venture into the night themselves to find the promise spoken of by Isaiah and Micah, their prophets of old.
The Magi carried on with their quest and eventually found the child, no longer a baby, (their journey had taken them a long time,) the child would be reaching 2 years of age. Their gifts to this child would seem rather inappropriate within this peasant household and yet there was something there that demanded their offerings and their worship. That was so unexpected. Not the sort of meeting they anticipated or were accustomed to. Not the sort of home where they would normally find a welcome or one that they would normally dream of entering. Yet they knew that this was their destination - for a moment or two at least - but a destination that would be suddenly and unaccountably transformed into a new starting point, a new beginning.
From the moment they met Jesus in that place their lives were forever changed. The message of these Magi is in their change of direction, turning away from convention, disregarding the command of Herod and accepting the guidance of God through this encounter to take their journey of life on a different route.
They presented their gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh, and in doing so gave themselves in worship. These foreigners who travelled into the land of God’s chosen people, found that God was not only God for the Jewish race after all, but that the welcome they received and the acceptance of their gifts and of themselves through this young child, brought God’s grace to all people and all nations.
The Magi ended up with a whole new perspective on life. A life that’s not afraid of taking risks in the search for what is of true value. A life that, even when it makes mistakes, is prepared to be led on by the hand of God to the place where he wanted them to be, not necessarily where they planned to be.
And so can we when we come to worship.
We can end up with a whole new perspective on life, too. A life that’s not afraid of taking risks in the search for what is of true value. A life that, even when it makes mistakes, is prepared to be led on by the hand of God to the place where he wants us to be, not necessarily where we, ourselves plan to be.
Our Epiphany is far removed from the financial wizardry that’s led us into debt and extended credit where values of what we thought was security have plummeted. Our Epiphany will take us instead into an appreciation of the values that Jesus exemplified, values that have real worth and will last.
Our gold is perhaps more secure in the wealth of the love and friendship we can give to each other and share with strangers.
Our frankincense is in the worship we can offer to the God who will take our mistakes and transform them into new beginnings, new directions in life and a new start.
Our myrrh is in the faith and belief we bring in our worship, and that whatever we lay at his feet, Jesus will take on himself, suffer with us and for us, bringing to us his freedom, forgiveness and unconditional love.

Brownie News

Brown Owl writes
You’ll find we've put some photos from our Brownie Holiday this year in the gallery on this website. We had lots of fun and our theme was High School Musical. The Brownies worked towards their Designer Badge and enjoyed designing and modeling their t-shirts. During the Nature class we had a bird show where the girls got a chance to get close to many types of small and large birds for example; an owl, vulture and hawk. By the end of a busy week the girls celebrated the fun they had had throughout the week.
If anyone is interested in their daughter or grand-daughter joining our Brownie Unit, we meet on Tuesday evenings, term time only, from 6.30pm to 8pm in the Branch Church. For further information you can either contact me on 0161 211 1217, or pop by at the start of our meeting and speak to the Guider.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Christopher and Cath wish you all a very Happy, peaceful and blessed New Year.

Curacy House Update

A Curates Egg! (Good in parts)

Work is well on the way with the renovation of the curacy house thanks to the generous support of our congregation and friends. There is still more to be done and, of course we still need donations in order to repay those who have kindly made loans to enable the work to progress. We should soon be able to let the property, current financial conditions permitting, and that will help on two fronts, by providing pleasant living accommodation for a family and also to assist the cash flow for the church. If you are able to help, please contact the Treasurer. Donations or loans should be made to:
The Treasurer,
c/o St Clement's Vicarage,
24, Stretford Rd.
Urmston,
Manchester M41 9JZ