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Good morning

When the magi saw the child Jesus with Mary, his Mother, they knelt down and paid him homage.

This isn’t something we do very often nowadays, at least not physically. We may curtsy or bow if we meet the Queen, but that’s probably about it. But this doesn’t mean we don’t worship and bow down to things, or ever bend the knee.

A couple of years agoÌý a well-known Bakers got into trouble when one of their advertisements, depicting the familiar scene of the three wise men kneeling at the manger, replaced the baby Jesus with a large sausage roll. Many Christians were all too predictably outraged by the advert. Yes, it was rather crass, but clergy especially should have been grateful that their Christmas sermon was being written for them, for the advert demonstrated perfectly the human inclination to replace God with something else – usually money, status or power, rather than sausage rolls.

But what we worship changes us. It shapes us and orders our priorities. It is therefore worth pausing to ask ourselves: what do we worship; what do we value more than anything else; even, what do we crave? For the magi who visited Jesus found that their encounter with him even changed their desires. Herod, fearing what this new King represented, and having spent a lifetime preening himself in the mirror of his own self worship –– asked the wise men to return so that he too could supposedly pay homage.

Encountering God in a manger, the wise men learned a new wisdom. The direction of their lives were changed. They return by a new route.

Loving God, teach us to worship what is good and what is true, and to let go of those desires that only serve self. May we find new routes to travel and new ways home. Amen

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