(All our songs this morning are from Singing the Faith (StF) numbers will be given where available)
Welcome to our Sunday Service, today shared on paper across our circuit and with the congregation at Baildon Methodist Church led by Mervyn Flecknoe one of our Circuit Local Preachers and Lay Pastor at Baildon.
Click on the blue links to follow them for bible readings and associated links
Introduction:
This second Sunday of Epiphany is probably our last look at the Christmas story. As we stand at the dawn of the New Year, please join us in reflecting on what the Story has to say about refugees, strangers, angels, and what our response might be. For each of the four themes within this service, we shall be assisted by using a hymn, a bible passage, a poem, a prayer, and a reflection. Our first theme looks at:
1 Jesus as a Refugee
Song – StF 193 – Born in the night, Mary’s child, a long way from your home
Reading Matthew 2:13-17
Poem 1 Refugee, a sonnet by Malcolm Guite
We think of him as safe beneath the steeple,
Or cosy in a crib beside the font,
But he is with a million displaced people
On the long road of weariness and want.
For even as we sing our final carol
His family is up, and on that road,
Fleeing the wrath of someone else’s quarrel,
Glancing behind and shouldering their load.
Whilst Herod rages still from his dark tower
Christ clings to Mary, fingers tightly curled,
The lambs are slaughtered by the men of power,
And death squads spread their curse across the world.
But every Herod dies, and comes alone
To stand before the Lamb upon the throne.
Prayer 1
Lord we pray for refugees everywhere;
Living on land that others think is theirs or;
Living in houses that others think are theirs;
Water supplies polluted by others upstream;
Effluent polluting water supplies for others down stream;
Unable to work, unable to study, unable to mourn those whose bodies they leave behind.
Always awaiting regime change back home; Sometimes for generations.
Yet, here we are, temporary residents of this parish;
Living on land that is only ours in a temporary way;
Careless of pollution created by what we throw away;
Awaiting a golden age; Unaware that it will only come if we create it.
So, Lord, we pray for ourselves in our blindness and ignorance.
Grant us understanding and kindness towards all other refugees.
Amen
Reflection 1 Please use the next three minutes to reflect on how fortunate we are compared to the millions of refugees and displaced people worldwide.
2 Treatment of strangers
Song – SfF 197 – Cradled in a manger meanly lay the son of man his head
Reading Leviticus 19:32-34
Poem 2 Wenceslas by Kevin Carey
Councillor Wenceslas nipped out / For a pint and pasty
Where the snow lay round about / Heaped up and grey and nasty:
Dimly shone the lamps that night / Where the thickest fog lay,
So he stumbled on a man / Lying in the doorway.
“Hither stooge and sort this out, / If thou knowest, telling
Yonder vagrant why has he / Not got his own dwelling?”
“Sir, when he was dischargèd from / Our country’s great army
Trauma that he suffered from / Quickly drove him barmy.”
“Rouse him with your walking stick / From out his drunken stupor.
Hello, is that Police? / Nice to hear you, Super:
You should clear our town of scum, / Keep it disinfected,
Businessmen can only thrive / If it is respected.”
“While your profits rise and rise / All the rest are falling,
Cuts to social services / Really are appalling,
Cuts to justice and police, / Health, welfare and wages;
Destruction of the working class / Is in its final stages.”
“Liberal rot from the police! / Just keep law and order.
And kick all the foreigners / Back across the border:
Get rid of all the nanny states, / Westminster and Brussels,
Cut taxes and cut red tape / For the man who hustles.”
While he shouted down his phone / On his own condition,
The poor soldier at his feet / Died of malnutrition:
So the moral of this tale / Set in winter weather
Is that in spite of what they say, / we’re not in this together.
Prayer
Lord, we pray forgiveness for the way our wealth insulates us from other people who scrape by with less. How our wealth brings habits of status, ideas of how we and others should dress and present themselves; we forget how this, our sin of pride, damages our relationship with love, joy and peace. We pray for all those who envy our lives, who envy our dry, mould-free, heated homes; our plentiful meals; our abundant supply of potential friends in Wesleys; our disposable wealth. Help us always to spend our money with them in mind. Amen
Reflection 2 Please use the next three minutes to reflect on the strangers whom we welcomed with a smile last week, and the strangers whom we will meet this coming week.
3 The Role of Angels
Song – SfF 205 – It came upon the midnight clear that glorious song of old
Reading Luke 2:8-12
Poem 3 Angels by Robert Orchard
Angels brought good news to herders in the fields
Not to those who sing the psalms in churches;
Not to those consuming fake researches;
Not to those whose wealth, power wields.
Can we be bringers of good news now?
Can we be angels to those whose three jobs do not allow
Reflection on the meaning of their lives?
Can we be angels to end-of-tether carers and housewives
Whose own love and caring helps recover
Hope and joy for one another?
Can we be angels, you and me
Proclaiming love more fluently?
Prayer
Lord, we pray for inspiration to go out and talk about love,
To emphasise the positives, to counter hatred-talk,
To stand up for what we believe is right,
Rejoicing in the wide diversity of humanity
of all who make up our melting pot society.
In humility, we bask in your love for us and long to share it.
Share it with those who think they have run out of road
Share it with those who feel that no-one cares
Share it with those who gain prestige by mouthing hatred
Share it with those who disagree with us.
If we are worthy of love, surely, Lord, we can find it in our hearts at least to smile and to be kind?
Please allow us to join the host of Angels whose work is to make life better for others. Amen
Reflection Please use the next three minutes to reflect what opportunities we can make in the coming week, & in the coming year, to act as angels to those in distress.
4 How can we respond?
Song – SfF 222 – Who would think that what was needed to transform and save the Earth?
Reading Romans 12:2
So, here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Poem 4 A Recipe for The British, by Benjamin Zephaniah
Take some Picts, Celts and Silures
And let them settle,
Then overrun them with Roman conquerors.
Remove the Romans after approximately 400 years
Add lots of Norman French to some
Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Vikings, then stir vigorously.
Mix some hot Chileans, cool Jamaicans, Dominicans,
Trinidadians and Bajans with some Ethiopians, Chinese,
Vietnamese and Sudanese.
Then take a blend of Somalians, Sri Lankans, Nigerians
And Pakistanis, Combine with some Guyanese
And turn up the heat.
Sprinkle some fresh Indians, Malaysians, Bosnians,
Iraqis and Bangladeshis together with some
Afghans, Spanish, Turkish, Kurdish, Japanese and Palestinians
Then add to the melting pot.
Leave the ingredients to simmer.
As they mix and blend allow their languages to flourish
Binding them together with English.
Allow time to be cool.
Add some unity, understanding, and respect for the future,
Serve with justice
And enjoy.
Note to chef: All the ingredients are equally important. Treating one ingredient better than another will leave a bitter unpleasant taste.
Warning: An unequal spread of justice will damage the people and cause pain. Give justice and equality to all.
Prayer
Lord, we know that one of the problems facing refugees is how to behave in a temporary country, a temporary home. What language to teach their children.
How much of their money to send home, how much to spend on themselves here.
What values from their home country to show to those of us who live around them.
We know that we are temporary residents here, from another country.
We know that younger people are going to carry on what we have started; they are going attend to all those things which we now think are important; they are going to assume control of our houses, gardens, cities, states and nations.
As temporary residents, we need to decide what language of heaven we should use in public & with our children. What of our wealth we should spend on strengthening heaven’s presence right here, & what we should spend on our own comfort.
What values we should proclaim. Help us, refugees in this strange land, lest we become conformed to the present time.
We offer and dedicate our gifts you have given to us, of time, talents, skills, and money, to the service of your other children. Amen
The Lord’s Prayer
Reflection 4 Please use the following three minutes to consider what changes I need to make to my life in the coming year of 2025
Poem 5 The Hope of Christmas by Krista Besselman
When the days feel cold and lifeless, Like the darkest winter night,
May we bring the hope of Christmas To a world that needs more light.
When it feels like nothing’s sacred – Nothing chaos can’t destroy –
May we bring the hope of Christmas To a world that’s lost its joy.
To a world that thrives on outrage – No forgiveness, no release –
May we bring the hope of Christmas Through the promised Prince of Peace.
There is fear and death and darkness But through faith we rise above
As we show the Christ of Christmas To a world that needs His love.
Song – SfF 350 – I cannot tell why he whom angels worship
Blessing: We wish you joy and peace in the coming new year. May God bless you all.