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The traditional view of Epiphany is that it comes not only to the people of Israel, but to all in the world. And that makes sense for us today as well, but…. It struck me ask interesting that the Magi, and here called the wise men are the ones who come to find the Christ Child. Does this mean one has to be one of the wise men to do this? I don’t believe so.

Would anyone be here in church on Boxing Day if this wasn’t a Sunday? Yet this is the passage from the Gospel of Luke for today. That a young Jesus says: Why were you looking for me? Did you not know I must be in my father’s house?

I was thinking I could see Hollywood turning one of Jesus’ most popular parables into a tv Christmas movie of the week. The parable of the prodigal son, or as some choose to call it, the parable of the forgiving father.

Advent has been a season for stepping away from the frantic busy-ness, the clutter of bows and wrapping paper, and embracing instead a time to slow down, breathe, and refocus onGod’s love and goodness and “the spiritual promise of the Saviour coming.”

What does it mean to bear fruit worthy of repentance? This is not just a test of our past accomplishments and our connections, but just like the word Love is a verb, so is to bear fruit.

Today we have images coming at us, both darkness and wilderness. Maybe this suggests that we are in Advent, a time of preparation for Christmas, like Lent but not quite so heavy but still……. And I think we are all experiencing a time of darkness and wilderness.

Often when we look at a passage like the Gospel today we look at one word in the question and forget to look at the whole question and the context and who is asking and why. We tend to focus solely on the word divorce, and miss that the Pharisees came to test Jesus and use the word lawful. Jesus responds by asking; “What did Moses command you?”

Today is Reign of Christ Sunday, the last Sunday of the Christian calendar. From Advent to Christmas to Epiphany to Lent to Easter to Pentecost to Ordinary Time, we conclude a year-long pilgrimage of following events and stories in Jesus’ ministry according to the Gospel of Mark. Next week marks the first Sunday of Advent as we prepare ourselves for the birth of Jesus.

This is but the beginning of birth pangs. This suggests something new, Is this the end of the focus on buildings and fabric and focusing on ministry and people? Has this pandemic forced us to find creative ways of being together which don’t mean using the buildings at least in the same way?