Dear friends,
For the last twenty-four years, we have celebrated Epiphany in a joint worship service with our friends at Plymouth Church. This year, of course, it will look different, as we join together in a combined Zoom worship service on Sunday, January 3. We have invited Rev. Liz Garrigan-Byerly to preach in her new role as area conference minister.
As Rick, Nicola, Karen Nell and I met with Greg and Will (Plymouth pastors) to plan the service, we found ourselves drawn to one line in the traditional Epiphany text. After stopping to see King Herod, the magi arrived at the manger and offered their gifts to the Christ child. Then they “left for their own country by another road.”
According to Matthew, they changed their route in response to a dream that warned them to avoid King Herod. We wondered whether their new way might also have reflected how they had been changed by the entire journey. What had they learned as they followed the star? Who did they encounter on the road? What new ideas were they exposed to? How were their assumptions challenged when they discovered their destination was a stable? What did it mean to them to offer gifts? Surely, if they were truly wise people, they would have returned home transformed by what they experienced: home by another road.
We have been on a different kind of journey over the past year, as we have faced a global pandemic, an increased national awareness of racial injustice, and a contested election. On this journey, we have struggled, we have grieved, we have discovered new ways to connect, and we have encountered Christ in new ways. As we look ahead, with the promise of a vaccine, we too have the opportunity to “go home by another road,” to learn from what we have experienced, to make real and lasting changes in our lives and in our society.
In our worship service on January 3, we will join with our friends from Plymouth as we explore what it means for us to go home by another road. Then, in our worship for the rest of the Epiphany season, we will continue that exploration. What have we learned from this year that can help us shape our future? How can we think in new ways about racial justice and conflict transformation? How can we build on the ways our planet has begun to heal in this time? What practices of self-care and care for our relationships can we strengthen?
I look forward to exploring these questions together in our worship.
Peace,
Debbie