In touch	Check-in	Intercessions
In touch begins immediately below	Scroll down or click for Check-in	Worship Together subscribers only: see intercessions

 

In touch

Up-to-the-minute jumping-off points for sermons, linking the reading to the latest news and global issues

And yet, hope.

In a world of horror and grief, there are those who embody the hope and goodness of God.  

 

Context

• Unsurprisingly and quite rightly most, if not all, nativity plays end with a harmonious, happy, scene around the manger with Mary looking remarkably serene given all she has been through and Joseph benignly looking on. Few, if any have a final act featuring the story Matthew tells in this week’s gospel reading. It is a deeply challenging text. And yet it is also a text that offers hope.
• In his Guardian newspaper column of 19.12.25, Jonathan Freedland explained his custom of ‘devoting the last column before Christmas to reasons to be hopeful’. Reflecting on the terrible events at the Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester, on Bondi Beach and in Gaza amongst others, he candidly admits being hopeful has become ‘especially challenging’ in recent years. And yet, in his article entitled ‘At the dark end of a brutal year, I’m grateful to these heroes for showing us the light’ he identifies and celebrates those whose courage and care have shone as beacons of hope.
• Amidst the joy and celebrations of the BBC’s annual Sports Personality of the Year, Sergio Aguiar and David Stancombe, the fathers of two of the young girls killed in Southport last year, were presented with the Helen Rollason award for outstanding achievement in the face of adversity. It was a deeply moving moment, one that clearly affected Rory McIlroy, the winner of the main award of the night who, before reflecting on his own success, paid tribute to the two fathers.

 

Ideas for sermons or interactive talks

• You might like to take people on a journey from the joy of the nativity play and the celebrations of Christmas day to the challenging text that is Mathhew 2:13-23. Then take some time to reflect on those who like Rachel weep for their children (Matthew 2:18) or those who like Joseph need to take their families to a place of safety, perhaps because they have been evicted from their homes or because their own country has become too dangerous. And then develop the theme of ‘And yet, hope’. Celebrate the stories of those who have demonstrated courage or care in dark situations or have known God’s guidance or provision in situations of danger or great difficulty.
• Understandably Mary, and mothers in general, are often presented as the primary carers for their children. But Matthew, in his telling of the infancy narrative of Jesus, gives prominence to Joseph. Unlike Mary, Joseph doesn’t get his own candle in the Advent wreath so you might like to take some time to reflect on and celebrate his character: his care, his courage, his obedience and his devotion to his betrothed and child. Many of the attributes that Luke ascribes to Mary, Matthew ascribes to Joseph. At a time when what constitutes good and healthy masculinity is being much debated, Joseph (like Sergio and David referenced above) is an interesting person to explore. He embodies hope and goodness – the antithesis of the highly toxic masculinity of the Herods.
• Another interesting feature of Matthew’s narrative is the way in which he presents Joseph being guided by God. Three times (vs 13, 19, 22) guidance comes by way of dreams. This provides an opportunity for an interactive talk about how we can know God’s guidance today.

 

Questions for discussion

What questions does Matthew 2:13-23 raise for you? If you so choose, this question and the answers given in response could be the basis for all the discussion time. Additionally, or alternatively, you could explore the following:

• Who today is weeping for their children like Rachel?
• And yet, hope. Where and in whom is hope to be seen and experienced in these difficult days?
• What does Joseph teach us about faithful devoted discipleship and healthy masculinity?
• In the nativity stories God guides Mary and Joseph through:
  • Angels
  • Dreams
  • The Scriptures
  • People of faith and devotion, such as Simeon and Anna.

How do you know God’s guidance? Do we need to be open to different forms of guidance? How can we be sure that what we think is God’s guidance, really is?

Andrew Roberts is a husband, father, Methodist Minister and the author of Holy Habits. He enjoys watching football and cricket and once appeared on national TV dressed as a giant sunflower (BBC Get Your Own Back).

 

Check-in

Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues for young people

The government recently recorded the longest gap without small boat arrivals for seven years. There are around 117 million refugees in the world and the UK receives less than 1% of these. Once they claim asylum here they are not allowed to work, receiving a cash allowance of about £50 per week for each person in their household, and are offered temporary housing.

This week’s reading reminds us that, as a baby, Jesus and his family were forced to flee from the threat of violence. We are not given any detail about their experience in Egypt - whether they were welcomed or treated harshly. All we are told is that they were able to wait out the threat to Jesus’ life in Egypt, returning to Nazareth once it was safe.

• Do we treat people fleeing violence well in the UK? Is this how we would have wanted Mary and Joseph to be treated when they fled Herod?
• How do the statistics cited above compare with the tone of many stories about migration in the media?

The terminology around migration is often misunderstood. Spend some time parsing out the meaning of the terms migration, refugee and asylum seeker.

This is a sensitive subject and there may be young people (or adults) in your group with lived experience of fleeing their home in the UK due to criminal violence or domestic abuse as well as those who have come to the UK as refugees. Consider how you will support those who are upset by this discussion.

Victoria Etherington is University and Young Adult Chaplain in the York Methodist Circuit.

 

Views expressed are the authors' own. Hypertext links to other websites are for the convenience of users only and do not constitute any endorsement or authorisation by Roots for Churches Ltd.

The week in focus is also available via facebook and Instagram.

Roots publishes weekly lectionary-based worship and learning resources online and in two magazines. FIND OUT MORE.