Hi everyone,
Welcome to worship for this 3rd Sunday after the Epiphany, landing on January 25, 2026!
The bulletin for this service can be found here. You can use it to follow along with the service, as it has the order and words of worship and the full sermon. Alternatively, you can follow along with the words that will appear on your screen. The sermon is also included on this page, below the video.
For a fuller online worship experience, you are invited to have a lit candle in your space and have it burn for most of the service up until after the sending hymn, when it can be extinguished when the altar candles are extinguished. And you are also welcome to participate in communion if you are comfortable, by having something small to eat and drink prepared for that part of the service. More instruction will be given then.
May the light of God’s love shine in and through your lives, this day and always!
O God, may our minds be illumined by your Spirit, that we might hear you better, see you more, and know you as you will be known through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
So the other day a good friend of mine from back east messaged me with an urgent request. She was flying in that night to see her mom who was just admitted to the hospital, and needed a ride from the airport to Surrey Memorial. Of course, I agreed to pick her up and drive her. Like I said, this was a good friend and I’ve driven that route from the airport to Surrey countless times. The problem? The flight was expected to arrive at 12:50 in the morning, and Toronto was hit with another snowstorm, meaning delays were probably likely.
Still, I agreed to pick her up as I knew I’d be awake anyway. In fact, I think that might have been on my friend’s mind when deciding who to ask for this favour: 1. Who will be up? 2. Who is stupid enough to say yes? Well, I sure fit that bill.
Anyway, like I said, I was happy to drive. I mean this ask was just allowing me to do some of my favourite things. Like driving for longer periods of time, of course, but also hanging out with friends. Especially those that I don’t get to see too often. Oh, and don’t forget I really like staying up late.
The flight of course was delayed as expected, but not by much. I waited just a few minutes and by around 1:30 or so, we were on the road. And again, this is a route that I’ve taken like a million times in the past, so I knew it like the back of my hand, so to speak. But there was one thing on this trip that I didn’t account for. Well, two actually. The first was how thick the fog was, which severely limited visibility. And the second was how almost every road I took was under construction, which made everything look really, really different from what I was used to.
It was so bad that there were a few times that I actually had to slow down to regain my bearings, make sure I’m in the right place and going the right way, and just to be careful that I don’t hit or run over anything I shouldn’t hit or run over. It was really weird for me. Disorienting. Just a little change in scenery and layout caused so much confusion, discomfort, and I’ll admit, a bit of fear.
These familiar roads had become very unfamiliar. This route that I’ve taken so many times was rendered almost unrecognisable. Even my driving muscle memory seemed to have forgotten how to do what needs to be done, all because of some dug up pavement and moved barriers, very thick fog, and the darkness of a mid-January morning.
This experience for me really shed some light on the whole “people who walked in darkness” thing we see in a couple of our readings for today. In our modern times we don’t often know what it’s like to walk in darkness because we have so many sources of artificial light, gps built right into our phones, and of course handy every day carry flashlights that I’m sure we always have in our pockets. The modern conveniences make it hard for us to find ourselves in the darkness, unable to see or know where we’re going, and just that feeling of being lost.
But maybe these texts aren’t talking about literal darkness, although that would have really evoked some first-hand experiences in the people of that time. Maybe they mean a disorientation, an uncertainty of where one is or where one is going, or a sense of being lost, aimless, and perhaps without purpose. Something that we might have felt ourselves, like maybe as recently this past week if you found yourself driving in the fog, even when surrounded by all these modern advances designed to specifically keep that from happening.
I mean, I wonder if that is what the disciples were feeling when they were called by Jesus. The text is pretty clear that they immediately dropped their stuff to follow Jesus. Like either Jesus was super convincing, or they were itching for something different, something new, something fresh from the same old, same old that they were constantly engaged in and a part of, day in and day out.
Like maybe, the “darkness” that these first of Jesus’ disciples according to Matthew, were walking in was just the rut that is their life. The ordinary walk that they walk every single day. The muscle-memorised motions that are expected of them but no longer fulfilling, purposeful, or giving of any joy. So maybe they needed a change of focus, direction, and source of life. Maybe they needed something new.
My friend and I got to the hospital safely that night, with much thanks to my highly developed driving skill of course, and after dropping her off, I headed home. The fog didn’t ease up at all, in fact I think it got worse as the temperature kept dropping and the sky seemed to get darker. And the construction didn’t get better either, especially heading down King George over to New West. I kept thinking that I was on the wrong side of the road. I was worried that I lost my way. I actually wondered at one point if I was even on the correct bridge.
But then, just as I crossed over to this side of the river, the fog had completely lifted. It was a very stark contrast from being unable to see like 10 meters in front of me to having a complete unobstructed view of everything, limited only by my aging eyes and worsening prescription, that is. I had this moment of clarity, where suddenly my vision snapped back, my bearings returned, and I was filled with confidence as to where I was, where I was going, and how I’ll get there. Thank Jesus.
Now, I’m not saying that Jesus miraculously pushed the fog away just so I could get home in those wee hours of the morning, but I’m saying that sometimes when our lives seem cloudy, when we’re unsure of where we’re going, or we feel like we’re walking in the dark, sometimes we are granted these moments of clarity, where we suddenly or perhaps gradually start to see things more clearly, with more purpose, and we’re told exactly what we are to do.
Maybe this is that “great light” that was seen by those walking in the darkness. Maybe that’s what the disciples heard and felt when Jesus called them. Maybe this is how we are made able to see a new way, a new purpose, a new focus in what they’re doing.
What does Jesus call these first disciples to do? “Fish for people.” Without getting into the problematic language of fishing people who didn’t ask to be fished, I think Jesus is actually drawing on their muscle memory of already knowing how to fish, and just shifting that paradigm a little. They’re still who they are and will be doing what they do, but their focus will be different. They came to work that morning thinking it’ll be the same old same old, but their encounter with Jesus left them changed.
As it is with us. I’m not saying that we have to drop everything to immediately follow Jesus, but I think that light shines in the dark places along our paths, at points in our vocations, and in and around our lives. In our times of limited visibility, uncertain routes, and mental fogginess, I believe that Jesus continues to be with us, calling us, leading us, and shining light onto our paths that we might be able to see our goal, find our purpose, and walk with him.
Just as I unexpectedly found myself disoriented in familiarity doing something that I’ve done countless times before, I needed that clarity to be reminded of where I was and where I was going. I needed to see that I was on the right path toward home. I needed the light to shine through the fog and darkness to lead me, guide me, and tell me that I’m safe.
This is what Jesus means by the kingdom has come near. Not far off in the future. But now. In our time. In our lives. And its coming near isn’t to scare us straight or to pressure us to be something we’re not, but it’s to help us refocus our minds, reorient our paths, and radiate light in our darkness. It’s to shift our paradigms and muscle memories to believe, trust, and have faith. And above all, it’s to remind us that through this journey of life, we aren’t alone but surrounded by a community of saints, part of a family of support, and belong to a body of believers with Christ as its head.
In this season after the Epiphany, may the light of God always be apparent to us as it leads us, guides us, and reorients our focus and purpose. Thanks be to God. Amen.
