Reverend Lucy #2: When the Wise Men Swiped Right

Welcome to this years Christmas Eve Service with me, Reverend Lucy, and i was thinking what Mary, Joseph, and a herd of donkeys would look like in a world of TikTok dances and smart fridges today so this is my reinterpretation of the Nativity story through the lens of 2025, or 'When the Wise Men Swiped Right'.
So here we are traveling in our minds back 2,025 years to a small town in the desert, but we’ll also stay right here because although the story may be timeless, but the Wi-Fi isn’t.
So the Angel Gabriel sent a text to Mary: ‘Your pregnant with the son of god, put a reminder in your Calendar for 9 months, December 25th' so Mary would have checked her schedule and realised she should have to cancel her yoga class and bring forward that Zoom meeting.
Next was the trip to Bethlehem and when then Joseph would have had to have rounded up a Donkey for the trek, today it would be an Uber to take them along the Dusty Road and Joseph frantically tapping 'Accept' on his smartphone.
Obviously no room at the Inn's and Mary would be nagging him for not booking an Air BnB in advance so we are back in the Stable but this one would have 'Smart Facilities' like charging points for the phone and Wifi if you paid the few extra Shekles but Mary drew the line at Livestreaming the birth on Youtube.
So in the soft blue glow of the phone charging light, the baby Jesus swaddled in a blanket embroidered with the phrase 'Made in Bethlehem,' and a QR Code was laid in a Manger while a group of Shepherds who had received a notification that the Lord and Saviour had been born, entered and with each holding a smartphone and texting about the birth and reminding people to subscribe for their podcast for further updates on the angels and the forthcoming announcement of peace on Earth.
The Stable was by now becoming more cramped than a flashmob in a toilet cubicle and the Angels were explaining how from this day forward our memes will be kind, our comments constructive, and let's maybe try and cut back on the emojis when three wise men arrived, or to give them there correct name, Influencers, who instead of having followers, they would have… well, actual followers and they would say that Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh was so 2000 years ago so would leave Amazon Prime subscriptions, Spotify playlists, and a smartwatch.
By now the 'Battery Low' icon on Josephs phone would be flashing so let's end this story by agreeing that the Nativity story is still relevant, miracles can happen in any era, even today, even when wrapped in Wi-Fi signals and notification pings which when we strip away, we find the same message.
And that message is may your notifications be few, your Wi-Fi strong and your hearts ever-open.
My final message is the original star that led the Magi was a beacon of hope, and our modern stars might actually be be GPS satellites, the screen of a phone or a LED fairy light on a Christmas Tree but so be it.
Merry Christmas!!