The Wilderness
The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
January 29, 2023
Home By Another Way: The Season after the Epiphany at The Wilderness
When the Magi are preparing to depart from Jesus and his parents, they are told in a dream that King Herod will harm them if they return home the way they came. So, in a moment of prophetic clarity, Matthew tells us the Magi “went home by another way”, spurning the schemes of a tyrannical despot. Their instincts preserve their lives and enable them to return home grateful and in one piece. In this season after the Epiphany, the story in which the Magi – Gentiles – use the mechanisms of astrology to be led to Jesus – a Jewish child in a rural village – we are invited to plumb the depths of our own paths and see the endless possibilities of going home by another way. Perhaps it is a rut in a relationship with your spouse, children, or coworkers. Or it might be repeated mistakes on the road to recovery. Or it might just be the staleness of a prayer practice you’ve cherished for years. Whatever your well-worn road is, God is inviting you to go home by another way, another practice, another route that, until this moment, wasn’t at all possible before. Perhaps this season is God’s way of inviting you to trust that whatever way you choose to get home, the important part is that God is your companion there and back.
Broderick
| Presider | Blessed be our God, holy Trinity, undivided. |
| People | Amen. |
| People | Our lives are laid open before you: rescue us from the chaos of sin we have committed and sin done on our behalf. In your mercy, heal and make us whole through our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. | Presider | You are forgiven in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. |
| Presider | God is with you. |
| People | And also with you. |
| Presider | Let us pray. |
O God, teach us the hidden wisdom of the gospel, so that we may hunger and thirst for holiness, work tirelessly for peace, and be counted among those who seek first the blessedness of your kingdom. We ask this through our Savior Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in union with the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.
| People | Amen. |
Hear what the Lord is saying: Arise, lay out the lawsuit before the mountains; let the hills hear your voice! Hear, mountains, the lawsuit of the Lord! Hear, eternal foundations of the earth! The Lord has a lawsuit against his people; with Israel he will argue. “My people, what did I ever do to you? How have I wearied you? Answer me! I brought you up out of the land of Egypt; I redeemed you from the house of slavery. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before you. My people, remember what Moab’s King Balak had planned, and how Balaam, Beor’s son, answered him! Remember everything from Shittim to Gilgal, that you might learn to recognize the righteous acts of the Lord!” With what should I approach the Lord and bow down before God on high? Should I come before him with entirely burned offerings, with year-old calves? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with many torrents of oil? Should I give my oldest child for my crime; the fruit of my body for the sin of my spirit? He has told you, human one, what is good and what the Lord requires from you: to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with your God.
| Reader | Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people. |
| People | Thanks be to God. |
Who can rest on your holy mountain?
Those who walk with integrity
and do only what is right,
speaking the truth with courage.
They never spread slander
or abuse their friends
or condemn their neighbors.
They disdain the godless,
but honor those who believe.
Before God, they give their word
and keep it at any cost.
They neither lend for gain
nor take bribes against the guiltless.
These are the just:
they stand for ever unshaken.
| Presider | The Good News of our Savior Jesus Christ according to Matthew. |
| People | Praise and glory to Christ. |
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up a mountain. He sat down and his disciples came to him. He taught them, saying: “Happy are people who are hopeless, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs. “Happy are people who grieve, because they will be made glad. “Happy are people who are humble, because they will inherit the earth. “Happy are people who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, because they will be fed until they are full. “Happy are people who show mercy, because they will receive mercy. “Happy are people who have pure hearts, because they will see God. “Happy are people who make peace, because they will be called God’s children. “Happy are people whose lives are harassed because they are righteous, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs. “Happy are you when people insult you and harass you and speak all kinds of bad and false things about you, all because of me. Be full of joy and be glad, because you have a great reward in heaven. In the same way, people harassed the prophets who came before you.
| Presider | Good News from the Lord. |
| People | Praise to Christ, the Word. |
| Presider | We wade here, celebrating the promises you speak over us in the water of baptism, faithful God. Swaddle us once again in your warm, loving embrace, lest we forget to whom we belong. |
| People | Amen. |
| Presider | Christ’s peace is with you. |
| People | And also with you. |
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The Holy Communion
| Presider | God is with you. |
| People | And also with you. |
| Presider | Lift up your hearts. |
| People | We lift them to the Lord. |
| Presider | Let us give thanks to our Lord God. |
| People | It is right to give our thanks and praise. |
Fountain of All Wisdom and Source of Life, we thank you and we praise you. You are God, clothed in majesty, girded in mercy. In the beginning, you hovered over the face of the Deep; you spoke and worlds came to be. Night and day, orders and armies of angels and archangels magnify your Name, glorifying your gracious goodness. With them, we worship and adore you, singing:
death, resurrection, and ascension to your right hand,
we glorify you with joyful hearts:
| People |
Living, you hallow all flesh. Dying, you destroy our death. Rising, you restore our life. Lord Jesus, come in your glory! |
making them the body and blood of your Son,
holy food and holy drink for your holy people.
Let the Church say, “Amen.”
| People | Amen. |
making us, your people by Water and the Spirit,
bread and wine for the world you made.
Let the Church say, “Amen.”
| People | Amen. |
| People | Amen. |
hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.
be among you and remain with you forever. Amen.
| Presider | Go in peace. |
| People | Thanks be to God. |
