An Epiphany message - a message for the New Year.
We move from the twelve days of Christmas into the season of Epiphany on January 6th.  "Epiphany" is an unusual word; it means "enlightenment" but Christians think of it as signifying the visit of the three wise men (AKA three kings or three magi) to the baby Jesus.  Epiphany is definitely about gift giving and the wise men whose journey we remember brought gifts, three gifts, to the Holy family, at the house where they were then staying. You may know the joke which circulates at this time – the one which says that if they had been women instead of men they would have arrived on time, bought a casserole and some diapers, and cleaned the stable. But I feel sure that Mary and Joseph probably made good use of the gold, frankincense and myrrh in their unexpected sojourn in Egypt.  You are probably not exchanging gifts with your family on the day of Epiphany as you would have already done that on Christmas Day – at least with those with whom you gathered.  But you can use this season to remember the gift of God coming to our world as a vulnerable baby; a baby whose life was threatened by a jealous king. God acted in deciding to make an entry into our world as this vulnerable baby boy. But humanity chose to threaten the baby’s life even from its start. If you take out your Bible and read the whole of the 2nd chapter in Matthew’s Gospel you will read how the Holy family were told by God to flee to Egypt to safety, flee away to prevent the baby from being murdered by a jealous king.  It is a little ironic that centuries earlier a jealous Egyptian king/pharaoh had demanded that all the Hebrew baby boys were to be murdered at birth by being drowned in the Nile. Moses’ family found a way to save baby Moses, and once grown, God called him into ministry. That was divine intervention of course just as God instructed Joseph to flee with Mary and the baby to Egypt. So here you can see an example of God’s gift to humanity and how God intentionally intervened in human life.
Returning to the visit by the wise men and their presentation of precious gifts. You heard there were three gifts, brought by an undisclosed number of people as we don’t actually know how big the group was. They brought gold for a king, frankincense for a priest or a holy person and myrrh signifying death. The wise men brought these gifts and gave them to Jesus. As you ponder this, I invite you to decide what gifts you are bringing to Jesus today.  
Maybe you can make a difference in the life of just one other person you do not even know today.  You can help him or her in a tangible way or by being a friend who will listen to his or her story. There are many people isolated at this time who would love to have someone to talk with and confide in. Could you be such a person? Connecting with individual people in need was how Jesus did much of his ministry; he almost always connected with one person at a time.  However, he also used his followers, he sent his disciples out in ministry and that could be you today.  Have you thought how you could be serving God in the community either with a group or with one other person or even alone?
​If you are feeling you need to talk about this or another spiritual concern, do contact me and we can talk about it.  I also offer an adult Inquirer's group which is for adults to ask questions, to listen to others, and to share their own understandings.  You will be very welcome.
God bless you
​Margaret+.