First Reading
Genesis 1:1–5
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Psalm (ELW)
Psalm 29
1Ascribe to the LORD, you gods,
ascribe to the LORD glo- ry and strength.
2Ascribe to the LORD the glory due God's name;
worship the LORD in the beau- ty of holiness.
3The voice of the LORD is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders;
the LORD is upon the mighty waters.
4The voice of the LORD is a pow- erful voice;
the voice of the LORD is a voice of splendor. R
5The voice of the LORD breaks the cedar trees;
the LORD breaks the ce- dars of Lebanon;
6the LORD makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
and Mount Hermon like a young wild ox.
7The voice of the LORD
bursts forth in lightning flashes.
8The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
the LORD shakes the wilder- ness of Kadesh. R
9The voice of the LORD makes the oak trees writhe and strips the forests bare.
And in the temple of the LORD all are crying, "Glory!"
10The LORD sits enthroned a- bove the flood;
the LORD sits enthroned as king for- evermore.
11O LORD, give strength to your people;
give them, O LORD, the bless- ings of peace. R
Second Reading
Acts 19:1–7
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. 2He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?" They replied, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." 3Then he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They answered, "Into John's baptism." 4Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus." 5On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied — 7altogether there were about twelve of them.
Gospel
Mark 1:4–11
4John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Sermon: Epiphany
I am a fan of Christmas cards. I seem to get my fair share around this time of year, and I am always interested to see what will be portrayed on the front cover. Will it be fuzzy little lambs looking lovingly at a manger holding the Christ child? Will it be a more artistic expression of Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus? Will it show pictures of their journey to Bethlehem, or just a star shining in the heavens? Will it say peace, joy or love? Will there be off in the distance those three camels pulled by three men coming to visit that tiny stable?
Christmas cards don’t really portray what happened after that holy, silent night. Because things are starting to heat up, and it certainly doesn’t feel like Christmas to see the darkness on the covers of those cards holding our annual Christmas letters. Traveling from the east, following a star, are wise men, the magi, sometimes called kings, coming to worship this greatest of Kings and bring him gifts. We really don’t know how many there are, we assume three, we don’t really know where they have come from, or what they might do in their spare time in some far off land. We don’t know much about them really, but we do know that they are coming to find a baby that has been proclaimed to them in the stars. And yet, it isn’t as simple as the Christmas cards would have you believe, because something terrible is happening. We can feel it in the words of the gospel, in the secret meetings between Herod and his priests, and meetings under the cloak of darkness with these wise men. We can hear that darkness sneaking in as the gospel tells us that Herod is afraid, and all of Jerusalem with him. When Herod is afraid, the people quake with fear, because Herod always reacts to his fear with death.
Herod calls these wise men into a secret meeting, and he tells them, go search diligently for this child, the child seen in the stars and then come back, and tell me where to find him. It seems like such a good plan. He will let these travelers do the work, find this child king, that he can’t really be sure of anyway, and then, without hesitation, he can find this child, he can kill this child, and all that he is sure of, all his power, will still be his. No one can take that away from this crafty, wily Herod.
Not really the stuff of Christmas cards, is it? A little too cloak and dagger to make it into our annual Christmas letters, but it serves as an important reminder. The birth of Jesus Christ shook the world from its moorings, the birth of Jesus Christ, the son of God, was meant to change everything, to redeem us, to enliven us, to teach us how to live, it was meant to be the stuff of thousands of Christmas cards, to proclaim a new era, a reign of peace and love and justice and mercy. The birth of Jesus Christ was meant to turn everything upside down, and when the world gets shaken, there are people on the top who end up on the bottom. When the world gets shaken, the pieces do not fall as they always have, and that can cause some painful reminders of the power of sin. Because the journey of these wise men is just the beginning. Joseph will be warned in a dream, and he and Mary will flee to Egypt, because Herod is on a murderous bend. All the baby boys will be killed by Herod’s hand. The cries of lament and loss will be heard in that town and everywhere. It isn’t the stuff of woolly lambs and bright shining stars, is it?
Those wise men, those travelers from the east, they finally find the son of God, nine miles away from their first stop. They find him in that manger, not in the palace of Herod. And, when they do find him, when they do discover him with his mother in that stable, it is the stuff of epiphanies, because they fall down and worship him, filled with the greatest of joys. They are so filled with joy that our text can barely do their emotions justice. Everything changes. They encounter the living, breathing God, wrapped in swaddling cloths. And that joy, it is enough, that encounter, it is enough to lead them home in a new way. To see that child is king is enough to erase the secret meetings, to foil the plans of King Herod, to lead these wise men in an entirely new direction. When the world gets shaken, things don’t end up where they have always been, and sometimes that road home, that road back to the life you have led, it goes in an entirely different direction.
Life sometimes feels a bit like the journey of those wise men. We feel that pull, that desire within us to search for something beyond ourselves, to find God in the midst of this confusing and sometimes treacherous world. That search often leads us on journeys we never imagined, finding us in places where we never dreamed we would be. But, when we encounter the living God, we have no response but to fall down in worship, because what we find is so big, so glorious and so utterly beyond our imagining that there is nothing but praise for the One with whom it all began. But that journey is often fraught with missteps, with finding ourselves in places we don’t want to be, not sure about where to go. It can find us wrapped up in our own sin and the systematic sin of a world that is being shaken, even now, by what God has done.
But, we also remember that sometimes our journey can seem more like the journey of Herod. We don’t want to be moved, we don’t want to risk losing all our comforts for what this new birth might mean. We don’t want to imagine a different world, because it seems too big and too scary and too risky. We don’t know how to live in a world that is changing, a world that is being upended, a world that is ruled by a king who is the embodiment of justice and love and peace.
I have found myself in both of these characters. Seeking God, and being afraid to find God. But, no matter where we are, we hear the prophets words for this feast of Epiphany, “Arise, Shine, your Light has come!” What God has done can’t be undone. Whether we are afraid of what it might mean, or whether we are ready to lay all we have an all we are at the feet of this child king, God has already done all the work, broken through the veil between heaven and earth, and come for us. Journeyed to us, because we keep losing our way.
The feast of epiphany brings to us one of the most familiar stories of our gospel. It is the feast of light, when we celebrate that God’s light has come. God’s light has already begun shining, setting us on fire. God’s light has a way of illuminating even the darkness of what happened after our Christmas story. It has a way of illuminating the parts of ourselves that can be found in all these characters. So, no matter where you are, arise and shine, for your light has come! Amen, and thanks be to God.
Christmas cards don’t really portray what happened after that holy, silent night. Because things are starting to heat up, and it certainly doesn’t feel like Christmas to see the darkness on the covers of those cards holding our annual Christmas letters. Traveling from the east, following a star, are wise men, the magi, sometimes called kings, coming to worship this greatest of Kings and bring him gifts. We really don’t know how many there are, we assume three, we don’t really know where they have come from, or what they might do in their spare time in some far off land. We don’t know much about them really, but we do know that they are coming to find a baby that has been proclaimed to them in the stars. And yet, it isn’t as simple as the Christmas cards would have you believe, because something terrible is happening. We can feel it in the words of the gospel, in the secret meetings between Herod and his priests, and meetings under the cloak of darkness with these wise men. We can hear that darkness sneaking in as the gospel tells us that Herod is afraid, and all of Jerusalem with him. When Herod is afraid, the people quake with fear, because Herod always reacts to his fear with death.
Herod calls these wise men into a secret meeting, and he tells them, go search diligently for this child, the child seen in the stars and then come back, and tell me where to find him. It seems like such a good plan. He will let these travelers do the work, find this child king, that he can’t really be sure of anyway, and then, without hesitation, he can find this child, he can kill this child, and all that he is sure of, all his power, will still be his. No one can take that away from this crafty, wily Herod.
Not really the stuff of Christmas cards, is it? A little too cloak and dagger to make it into our annual Christmas letters, but it serves as an important reminder. The birth of Jesus Christ shook the world from its moorings, the birth of Jesus Christ, the son of God, was meant to change everything, to redeem us, to enliven us, to teach us how to live, it was meant to be the stuff of thousands of Christmas cards, to proclaim a new era, a reign of peace and love and justice and mercy. The birth of Jesus Christ was meant to turn everything upside down, and when the world gets shaken, there are people on the top who end up on the bottom. When the world gets shaken, the pieces do not fall as they always have, and that can cause some painful reminders of the power of sin. Because the journey of these wise men is just the beginning. Joseph will be warned in a dream, and he and Mary will flee to Egypt, because Herod is on a murderous bend. All the baby boys will be killed by Herod’s hand. The cries of lament and loss will be heard in that town and everywhere. It isn’t the stuff of woolly lambs and bright shining stars, is it?
Those wise men, those travelers from the east, they finally find the son of God, nine miles away from their first stop. They find him in that manger, not in the palace of Herod. And, when they do find him, when they do discover him with his mother in that stable, it is the stuff of epiphanies, because they fall down and worship him, filled with the greatest of joys. They are so filled with joy that our text can barely do their emotions justice. Everything changes. They encounter the living, breathing God, wrapped in swaddling cloths. And that joy, it is enough, that encounter, it is enough to lead them home in a new way. To see that child is king is enough to erase the secret meetings, to foil the plans of King Herod, to lead these wise men in an entirely new direction. When the world gets shaken, things don’t end up where they have always been, and sometimes that road home, that road back to the life you have led, it goes in an entirely different direction.
Life sometimes feels a bit like the journey of those wise men. We feel that pull, that desire within us to search for something beyond ourselves, to find God in the midst of this confusing and sometimes treacherous world. That search often leads us on journeys we never imagined, finding us in places where we never dreamed we would be. But, when we encounter the living God, we have no response but to fall down in worship, because what we find is so big, so glorious and so utterly beyond our imagining that there is nothing but praise for the One with whom it all began. But that journey is often fraught with missteps, with finding ourselves in places we don’t want to be, not sure about where to go. It can find us wrapped up in our own sin and the systematic sin of a world that is being shaken, even now, by what God has done.
But, we also remember that sometimes our journey can seem more like the journey of Herod. We don’t want to be moved, we don’t want to risk losing all our comforts for what this new birth might mean. We don’t want to imagine a different world, because it seems too big and too scary and too risky. We don’t know how to live in a world that is changing, a world that is being upended, a world that is ruled by a king who is the embodiment of justice and love and peace.
I have found myself in both of these characters. Seeking God, and being afraid to find God. But, no matter where we are, we hear the prophets words for this feast of Epiphany, “Arise, Shine, your Light has come!” What God has done can’t be undone. Whether we are afraid of what it might mean, or whether we are ready to lay all we have an all we are at the feet of this child king, God has already done all the work, broken through the veil between heaven and earth, and come for us. Journeyed to us, because we keep losing our way.
The feast of epiphany brings to us one of the most familiar stories of our gospel. It is the feast of light, when we celebrate that God’s light has come. God’s light has already begun shining, setting us on fire. God’s light has a way of illuminating even the darkness of what happened after our Christmas story. It has a way of illuminating the parts of ourselves that can be found in all these characters. So, no matter where you are, arise and shine, for your light has come! Amen, and thanks be to God.
Weekly Texts: Epiphany
First Reading
Isaiah 60:1–6
Arise, shine; for your light has come,and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.2For darkness shall cover the earth,and thick darkness the peoples;but the LORD will arise upon you,and his glory will appear over you.3Nations shall come to your light,and kings to the brightness of your dawn.4Lift up your eyes and look around;they all gather together, they come to you;your sons shall come from far away,and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses' arms.5Then you shall see and be radiant;your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you,the wealth of the nations shall come to you.6A multitude of camels shall cover you,the young camels of Midian and Ephah;all those from Sheba shall come.They shall bring gold and frankincense,and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.
Psalm (ELW)
Psalm 72:1–7, 10–14
1Give the king your jus- tice, O God,
and your righteousness to the king's son;
2that he may rule your people righteously
and the poor with justice;
3that the mountains may bring prosperity to the people,
and the hills, in righteousness.
4Let him defend the needy a- mong the people,
rescue the poor, and crush the oppressor. R
5May he live as long as the sun and moon endure,
from one generation to another.
6Let him come down like rain upon the mown field,
like showers that wa- ter the earth.
7In his time may the righteous flourish;
and let there be an abundance of peace till the moon shall be no more.
10May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles pay tribute,
and the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts. R
11May all kings bow down before him,
and all the nations do him service.
12For the king delivers the poor who cry out in distress,
the oppressed, and those who have no helper.
13He has compassion on the low- ly and poor,
and preserves the lives of the needy.
14From oppression and violence he re- deems their lives,
and precious is their blood in his sight. R
Second Reading
Ephesians 3:1–12
This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles — 2for surely you have already heard of the commission of God's grace that was given me for you, 3and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, 4a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ. 5In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: 6that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.7Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God's grace that was given me by the working of his power. 8Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, 9and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; 10so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him.
Gospel
Matthew 2:1–12
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." 3When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:6'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;for from you shall come a rulerwho is to shepherd my people Israel.'"7Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." 9When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
Isaiah 60:1–6
Arise, shine; for your light has come,and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.2For darkness shall cover the earth,and thick darkness the peoples;but the LORD will arise upon you,and his glory will appear over you.3Nations shall come to your light,and kings to the brightness of your dawn.4Lift up your eyes and look around;they all gather together, they come to you;your sons shall come from far away,and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses' arms.5Then you shall see and be radiant;your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you,the wealth of the nations shall come to you.6A multitude of camels shall cover you,the young camels of Midian and Ephah;all those from Sheba shall come.They shall bring gold and frankincense,and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.
Psalm (ELW)
Psalm 72:1–7, 10–14
1Give the king your jus- tice, O God,
and your righteousness to the king's son;
2that he may rule your people righteously
and the poor with justice;
3that the mountains may bring prosperity to the people,
and the hills, in righteousness.
4Let him defend the needy a- mong the people,
rescue the poor, and crush the oppressor. R
5May he live as long as the sun and moon endure,
from one generation to another.
6Let him come down like rain upon the mown field,
like showers that wa- ter the earth.
7In his time may the righteous flourish;
and let there be an abundance of peace till the moon shall be no more.
10May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles pay tribute,
and the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts. R
11May all kings bow down before him,
and all the nations do him service.
12For the king delivers the poor who cry out in distress,
the oppressed, and those who have no helper.
13He has compassion on the low- ly and poor,
and preserves the lives of the needy.
14From oppression and violence he re- deems their lives,
and precious is their blood in his sight. R
Second Reading
Ephesians 3:1–12
This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles — 2for surely you have already heard of the commission of God's grace that was given me for you, 3and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, 4a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ. 5In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: 6that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.7Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God's grace that was given me by the working of his power. 8Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, 9and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; 10so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him.
Gospel
Matthew 2:1–12
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." 3When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:6'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;for from you shall come a rulerwho is to shepherd my people Israel.'"7Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." 9When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
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