We often tell the Christmas story as tidy and safe – full of warmth, family, and gentle wonder. But the gospels do not let us stay there. They speak of anxious rulers, fragile safety, hurried decisions, and a family forced to move.

Displaced Light is a shared theme for two Sundays – First Sunday after Christmas Day (Year A) and Epiphany. It offers prayers, service ideas, and preaching threads that hold the hard edges of these readings with care, and connect them with a world where many people are still seeking safety, living with uncertainty, and being pushed around by fearful or corrupt power.

God’s light does not stay put. Love moves. Hope finds a way.

Another road: refusing cruelty

Epiphany is revelation – but not only cosy wonder. It’s a story where outsiders read the signs, cross borders, and come seeking truth, while a ruler panics and plots harm. This Sunday asks: What kind of people will we be? Those who protect power through fear, or those who follow the light and choose “another road”.

God’s light does not stay put. Love moves. Hope finds a way.

Lectionary

• Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12 – seekers arrive; power is unsettled; worship becomes risky.
• Psalm 72: leadership measured by justice for the poor and rescue for the needy.
• Isaiah 60 / Ephesians 3: light for the nations; the circle widens; strangers become kin.

Creating a flow

• Gathering: light for those who travel; God draws near to outsiders
• Truth-telling: naming how power manipulates, scapegoats, and harms
• Encounter: worship as alignment with God’s justice
• Response: prayers for leaders, for displaced people, for courageous welcome
• Sending: “another road” – a different way of living in public

Key ideas

• Epiphany reveals God – and it reveals what power is doing.
• The light is for outsiders, too.
• Worship is not neutral.
• We will not co-operate with cruelty.
• They went home by another road.

Idea: Worship that refuses fear

• Move 1 – Outsiders see the light
  The magi are not insiders; grace crosses boundaries.
• Move 2 – Power panics at vulnerability
  Herod’s “enquiry” masks control. Epiphany exposes what rulers do when they feel threatened.
• Move 3 – Another road as discipleship
  Faith isn’t only awe; it is a different route home – refusing to help harm, choosing justice-shaped welcome (echo Psalm 72).

Take-home line: Epiphany is not just seeing the light – it’s travelling differently because of it.

Discussion questions

• Where do you notice fear shaping public attitudes and decisions?
• What would “another road” look like in your speech, choices, and relationships?
• How can our church practise welcome that is dignified, safe, and consistent?

Activity

Another road – a simple journey prayer station
Create three small stations (or three signs at the front) that reflect the Epiphany story:

• The Star (seeking)
  Prompt: “What are you longing for God to reveal?”
  Action: write one word on a paper star and place it on a board or cloth.
• The Palace (power)
  Prompt: “Where do you notice fear, scapegoating, or untruth doing harm?”
  Action: write one word on a small strip of paper and place it in a bowl labelled “We bring this into God’s light”.
• Another road (response)
  Prompt: “What is one way we can choose welcome this week?”
  Action: choose a card with a simple action (learn, give, show up, befriend) or write your own, then take it home.

Quieter alternative: invite everyone to hold a paper star and simply sit with this question: “What would it mean for me to go home by another road?”
Then a short silence and a closing one-line prayer.

Response and action

• Learn: hear from a local refugee support organisation and let complexity be honoured.
• Give: contribute to a specific, named need (legal support funds, travel costs, basic essentials).
• Offer: time, admin help, language support, transport, or shared meals through established organisations.

No guilt: choose one step. Love moves at a human pace.

Call to worship

Light of God, shine among us.
Gather us from our scattered weeks and anxious headlines.
Draw close to those who travel, those who wait, those who feel unseen.
Give us hearts that seek truth, and wisdom to choose another road.
Love moves. Hope finds a way. Amen.

Prayer of adoration and confession

Holy God of light,
we praise you for the brightness of your love
that reaches beyond every boundary we draw.

You call strangers into your story.
You lift up the lowly.
You expose what is false,
and you lead your people towards justice and peace.

So we turn towards you now – not pretending, not polished,
bringing what we carry, and what we fear,
asking for truth when fear is loud,
and courage to choose another road.

God of light, we confess how easily we confuse greatness with power,
and safety with control.
We confess the times we have accepted harmful stories
because they sounded simple.
We confess how we have stayed quiet
when we should have spoken for dignity and truth.
Forgive us; reshape us;
send us by another road.
Amen.

Words of grace
The light of Christ does not shame us; it guides us.
God does not abandon us to fear.
Grace makes a new way –
and invites us to travel it together.
Amen.

Intercessions

God of light,
we pray for all who are displaced –
for those forced to move, and those living without safety.
We pray for safe passage, humane support, and communities of care.
God of light,
Lead us by another road.

We pray for people seeking asylum:
for those waiting, those refused, those detained,
those living in temporary accommodation,
those separated from family, language, work, and stability.
Protect dignity; bring justice; open doors.
God of light,
Lead us by another road.

We pray for leaders and decision-makers:
measure leadership by the good for those living in poverty,
the vulnerable, the overlooked.
Where power twists truth, bring accountability.
Where fear is used to turn neighbour against neighbour, bring courage and wisdom.
God of light,
Lead us by another road.

We pray for the Church:
make us steady and generous –
not for show, not patronising,
but faithful in friendship and real welcome.
Show us what “another road” looks like this week.
God of light,
Lead us by another road. Amen.

Blessing

May the light that guided the travellers guide you.
May Christ keep you tender and brave.
May the Spirit teach you the way of truth and welcome –
and when fear demands your obedience,
may you find another road.
Love moves. Hope finds a way. Amen.

Epiphany is a story of light – but it is not a simple story. Yes, it shows us wonder and worship, but it also shows us fear and power scrambling to protect itself.

The strangers arrive with open hands. They cross boundaries. They come seeking truth, following a star, paying attention to a light they do not control. They bring gifts – not to impress, not to get favour, but as an act of honour and love.

And then there is the palace. The nervous questions. The half-truths. The way violence begins to gather in the background. The story reminds us that power often feels most dangerous when it is frightened – when it believes it is owed everything, and cannot bear to be unsettled.

So the travellers choose another road.

That is not just a detail in the story. It is a decision. A refusal to co-operate with harm. A way of saying: we will not be used. We will not take part in cruelty. We will not help fear do its work.

In a world where rumours spread quickly, where people seeking asylum are talked about as threats, where leaders stir anxiety to win approval, Epiphany asks us what we will do with the light we have been given.

Will we be palace people – tightening our grip, repeating the slogans, guarding what we think is ours?
Or will we be star people – noticing grace, bringing kindness, choosing truth, and making space for life?

Today we pray for the courage of another road. Not perfect courage – just the next faithful choice. A gentler word. A truer story. A door held open. A gift offered without conditions. A welcome that is not patronising, but real.

May the light of Christ guide us.
May love grow stronger than fear.
May we become the strangers who bring kindness – and the neighbours who receive it with joy.

We came as strangers

For one or more voices – divide as necessary

We came as strangers.
Not knowing the language.
Not knowing the rules.
Only knowing the light we had seen.

We travelled with questions,
not answers.
With wonder,
not certainty.

We brought what we could.
Not to impress.
Not to bargain.
But to honour the life we found.

But the palace was afraid.
Afraid of a child.
Afraid of change.
Afraid of losing control.

Fear asked us to cooperate.
To pass on information.
To help power protect itself.

And we chose another road.

Not because it was easy.
But because it was faithful.
Because light does not belong to palaces.
And love does not answer to fear.

Today, strangers still arrive with gifts:
patience,
skill,
courage,
resilience,
hope.

And still, fear tells its stories.
Still, power demands obedience.
Still, truth needs protecting.

Christ, light of the world,
teach us how to recognise you
in those who arrive with open hands.
Teach us how to refuse cruelty.
Teach us how to choose another road.

(Pause)

Love moves.
Hope finds a way.

Lead us into peace.

Not a story wrapped in comfort,
not a cradle safe from harm,
in the night, a warning echoes –
you must leave, with child in arms.
When our leaders cause displacement,
and the vulnerable must flee,
stay with all who carry nothing,
lead the lost to sanctuary.

Guide us, God, let love appear,
open hearts, diminish fear.
Shine above our restless streets,
lead the exiled into peace.
As love moves, hope finds a way,
travelling God, you’re here to stay.

Strangers follow light and wonder,
open-hearted, gifts they bring,
yet in fear the palace scrambles –
hate and lies to save the king.
When untruth becomes a weapon,
when a neighbour’s named a threat,
show us how to love each other –
teach us mercy and respect.

Guide us, God, let love appear,
open hearts, diminish fear.
Shine above our restless streets,
lead the exiled into peace.
As love moves, hope finds a way,
travelling God, you’re here to stay.

© Gary Hopkins 2025

Music and media cues

• If you use “kings” language in hymns or carols, add a spoken re-frame:
  “God’s glory is shown in justice and mercy, not status.”
• Visuals: stars, maps, footprints, light in darkness – with a short caption read aloud

Accessibility notes

• Offer multiple ways to participate (spoken, written, silent, seated).
• Avoid “not doing enough” language; keep invitations spacious.
• If you project text, ensure good contrast and provide a printed option.
• Make room for lament: some people will hear these themes personally.

Gathering at the table

A star rises – and the world is not the same.
We come to the table of Christ made known.

Light has come – not to a few, but for all.
Open our eyes to your glory, hidden in plain sight.

This is Christ’s table.
Not a reward for those who have arrived,
but food for those still travelling.
Not a prize for the certain,
but grace for those who come as they are.

We come with wonder and questions, with gratitude and need.
We come to receive light for the journey.

The Peace

Where light is revealed, peace is possible.
The peace of Christ be with you.
And also with you.

(Share peace in ways that honour boundaries – words, a nod, a wave, a hand on heart.)

The Great Thanksgiving

The Spirit is here.
The Spirit is with us.

Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the God of love.

Let us give thanks to the Holy One.
It is right to give thanks and praise.

It is right, and a joyful thing,
to give you thanks, God of light and revelation.
You guide the searching,
you meet the curious,
you draw near to those who feel far away.

You are not trapped by borders or belonging tests.
Your love widens the circle.
Your glory shows up in unexpected places –
in travel and risk,
in learning and unlearning,
in the courage to follow a new way.

And so, with angels and ancestors,
with all who seek justice and truth,
with all who travel by hope when the road is unclear,
we sing the song of heaven:

Holy, holy, holy One,
breath of all that lives, fire of all that loves,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the One who comes to heal and to set free.
Hosanna in the highest.

Thanksgiving and story

Blessed are you, Holy One.
You reveal your glory with gentleness –
not through domination,
but through a child,
not through coercion,
but through invitation.

You drew seekers from far away,
and you welcomed their questions, their gifts, their longing.
Gold, frankincense, myrrh –
symbols of love offered in trust,
honesty offered without fear.

In Jesus, you made yourself known –
as mercy in a wounded world,
as light in a shadowed place,
as justice that will not be silenced.
You welcomed the outsider and unsettled the powerful.
You opened a way where none was expected.

Words of Institution

On the night before he gave himself for us,
Jesus took bread;
he gave thanks, broke it, and said:
“Take, eat. This is my body, given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.”

When the meal was ended,
he took the cup;
he gave thanks, and said:
“Drink from this, all of you.
This is my blood of the new covenant,
poured out for you and for many,
for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this, as often as you drink it,
in remembrance of me.”

Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.

Prayer of the Spirit

Pour out your Spirit on us gathered here,
and on these gifts of bread and cup.
Make them for us the body and blood of Christ,
that we may be the body of Christ:
bright with hope,
steady in compassion,
truthful in love,
generous in welcome.

Where our vision is blurred, give clarity.
Where we have mistaken comfort for faithfulness, give courage.
Where fear controls our choices, give freedom.
Where injustice hides in plain sight, give resolve.

Teach us to follow your light –
to listen deeply,
to honour dignity,
to practise repair,
to widen welcome,
to seek justice with tenderness.

Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all honour and glory are yours,
God of promise and presence,
now and always.
Amen.

The Prayer Jesus taught

As Jesus taught us, we pray:
(Use your community’s preferred wording/version.)

Breaking the bread

We break this bread
to share in the body of Christ.
Though we are many, we are one body,
because we all share in one bread.

The gifts of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.

Sharing the bread and cup

(Words such as these may be used during the distribution.)

Christ made known – light for you.
Grace for the journey.

(If people receive a blessing instead of the elements: “May Christ be close to you; may love hold you.”)

Prayer after Communion

God of light and revelation,
we thank you for meeting us at this table.
You have fed us with grace,
and steadied us with hope.

When the road is unclear, keep us listening.
When the way is costly, keep us brave.

Send us out to follow your light in the world –
to practise welcome,
to tell the truth with kindness,
to seek justice,
to carry peace.
Light of love,
now and forever. Amen.

Sending

Go in peace – not because the journey is finished,
but because the light goes ahead of you.
We will follow the light. We will practise love. We will make room.