Rev Chris Roth

Isaiah 60: 1-6; Psalm 72: 1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3: 1-12; Matthew 2: 1-12 Epiphany is actually celebrated on January 6th, which is next Tuesday, but the Anglican Calendar has recommended us moving the celebration to today. Generally, that’s done so that we can talk about Epiphany on a Sunday when more of us are present, rather than expecting people to come for a service on Tuesday. … It’s a bit awkward because it cuts short our celebration of the 12 days of Christmas. We had a hint towards our Gospel reading last Sunday when we remembered the killing of the Holy Innocents, when we read about King Herod ordering the killing of the baby boys 2 years and under in and around Bethlehem, which cause the Holy Family to flee to Egypt. The arrival of the Magi was what alerted King Herod to the birth of a child that might be a rival for his throne. The Magi are mysterious. It seems likely that the Magi are Persian priest-sages. They would be involved in observation of the sky and the interpretat...

  Isaiah 63: 7-9; Psalm 148; Hebrews 2:10-18; Matthew 2: 13-23 We are in the midst of the 12 days of Christmas, but our Gospel lesson today is not necessarily one you would want to read next to a cozy fire and the Christmas tree, while sipping eggnog. And yet, from his very birth, danger seems to be always looming for Jesus. The birth of Jesus disturbs the balance of power. The messiah will bring with him a kingdom that is in opposition to the tyrannical powers of this world. The Pharisees are bothered by him. The Sadducees are bothered by him. And eventually, the Roman Empire (represented by Pontius Pilate), are all troubled by Jesus. We might have paired Revelation 12:1-6 with our Gospel reading. I’ve sometimes labelled this passage “The Christmas Dragon”. “And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving...

  Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2: 11-14; Luke 2: 1-20 At Christmas, we remember the Incarnation. “Incarnation” means “to be made flesh”. It is when we remember that God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, took into himself human nature and became Jesus the Christ, the Messiah. He became a human being. The Creator became a creature. The God who has no image, took on an image. … He grew within the Virgin Mary’s body, through the Holy Spirit, becoming flesh by drawing from her flesh. … This glorious event is announced by a heavenly host of angels, and a star (Stars are often associated with angels in the Bible). God enters into human history- birthed as a human being. … And this is not a moment that comes out of the blue. It is, arguably, the culmination of the Biblical story. … The story begins with an intimate relationship between God and Adam and Eve. They knew God in the garden. They heard His voice. They knew the sound of him moving through Eden. … But that relationship ...

  Genesis 2:4b–9,15–25; Isaiah 40: 1–11; Jeremiah 31:31–34; Baruch4:36–5:9; Isaiah 65:17–25: Luke 1:26-38 In our Gospel reading, the angel Gabriel announces God’s plan to Mary. She would be the mother of the Messiah, Jesus. This moment has been coming for a long time. Some think it has been coming since God’s words to the Serpent in the Garden- “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.’” (Gen 3:15). St. Irenaeus comments on this text that  “from then on it was proclaimed that he who was to be born of a virgin, after the likeness of Adam, would be on the watch for the serpent’s head” (Against Heresies 5.21.1.).   Some saw in this curse the mysterious prophecy that There would be a man, born of a woman, who would strike the head of the serpent, and he would also be struck by the serpent, feeling its deadly venom, through his death on the cross. [1] … From the b...

  Meditation for Holden Evening Prayer- Blue Christmas-  Advent 4 Romans 1:1-7 1:1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 1:2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, 1:3 the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 1:4 and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 1:5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the gentiles for the sake of his name, 1:6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 1:7 To all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, there is a lot packed into this introduction to Paul’s letter to the Romans. … There is the idea of slavery to Christ. There is the idea of calling, and apostleship, and t...

Isaiah 35: 1-10; Luke 1: 46-55; James 5: 7-10; Matthew 11: 2-11 Misunderstanding who Jesus is, is a running theme in the Gospels. Jesus asks his disciples at one point “Who do people say that I am?” (Matt 16:13). And a variety of answers are given. We might even say that is the point of the Gospels- clearing up misunderstandings and helping us to know who Jesus really is. In our Gospel reading today, John the Baptist asks Jesus a question through his disciples- “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” At the time of Jesus there were a variety of theories about the arrival of the Messiah. The people were trying to piece together a number of clues from the prophets to put together a kind of timeline for the Messianic Age, but there were a few different theories. The Dead Sea Scrolls indicated a belief in there being two Messiahs- a Davidic Kingly Messiah and a Priestly Messiah. There was also an understanding that Elijah was to come first, but it was...