The Epiphany Of Our Lord
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VI, Cycle A
COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Isaiah 60:1-6 (C, RC); Isaiah 60:1-6, 9 (E)
One early biblical scholar called this poem "a blaze of light." The author was clearly filled with a joyous conviction that good things were about to happen, that in a saddened world, burdened with darkening fears, the Jews of Jerusalem were called to stand forth as a light to the rest of the world. God had called them forth: "Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you."
As we read this, the relevance of its call is immediately clear. In the minds of many people, these are dark days. Terrorism, crime, drugs, the plight of educational institutions -- we know the story. But here is the promise every preacher is raised up to declare: "Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice." God's light is promised, and our current darkness will break with the dawn. "The Lord will rise upon you."
Lesson 2: Ephesians 3:1-12 (C, E); Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6 (RC)
Paul contends that much of what Christ revealed was, for a long time, hidden by God. The riches of God's revelation through Christ, now revealed through such as Paul, are henceforth to be made available to everyone, and the church is to be the means by which this should take place.
In reading this, one should know that it was written while Paul was in prison in Rome. Although he had some privileges at the time -- living in a house, being available to friends -- his freedom was taken from him. Paul was chained to a guard to prevent his escape. Paul, however, chose to view himself as a prisoner of Christ, not of the Romans. He saw his dilemma as a voluntary gift to Christ in return for the gift of grace he had received from God. It is evident that Paul's spirits were high despite his plight, only because he knew himself to have been chosen as one to whom the great secrets of Christ were revealed. This had been done in order that Paul would, in turn, reveal all of this to the Gentiles, for whom the message was intended.
William Barclay, in commenting on this passage, tells a story reputed to have been reported from the days of Christopher Wren's building of Saint Paul's Cathedral in London. Someone asked a workman what he was doing. The man replied that he was cutting a piece of stone to a certain size. A second man was asked the same question. He replied that he was earning a given sum of money for the day. Both men had appeared weary from the day's work. But a third man, when asked what he was doing, replied, "I am helping Christopher Wren build a cathedral." The pride in this man's voice explained his lack of weariness.
So Paul did not fear his fate. He was a prisoner, not of Rome but of Christ. He had nothing to fear. He was helping build a new Kingdom.
Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12 (C, RC, E)
The so-called "wise men" were, in fact, members of a religion which believed in two gods -- one good, one evil. Known as the Magi, a word whose root gives us magic and magician, these three men must surely have been motivated by more than mere religious interest in their search for Jesus. Records are sketchy, of course, but taking this story at face value, it seems the men must have been wealthy and possibly well-known. King Herod had questioned them, hoping that if they found the newborn child, they would reveal his whereabouts.
Wouldn't it be interesting to know what those men thought about during their long search? After their brief discovery in Bethlehem, were their lives changed in any way? Apparently the politics involved in reporting back to Herod were no longer important to these men. They used a route Herod would not anticipate in order to return home without being discovered.
For the preacher, there's power in the image of three men who seemed to have been leaders in their own religion seeking out the Christ child, then bowing before him as the full import of their encounter got through. What word might they have carried home?
The Magi were apparently Zoroastrians, believers in astrology. The significance of the special star they followed must have been great in their minds. This is still a subject for separate discussion, since many Christians are intrigued by what seems to be some correlation between personalities and astrological signs, whereas many other Christians are appalled at such thinking and somehow feel such speculations to be unchristian. For our purposes, we must respect both points of view except to note that it was, indeed, an astrological sign that led the Magi to the child. I would urge that the preacher's emphasis might be on the profound effect the vision of the baby Jesus seemed to have on those men. Also, following a star is a good figure of speech for us today when so many people follow "their star" in a wrong direction. The "stars" of success and prosperity are acceptable way stations, as it were, so long as they are pursued with integrity and respect, but too often we lose perspective and resort to methods not part of that bright dawn. Then we begin to be mislead. Jesus revealed the correct direction to the ultimate "star," the one which will lead to life's fulfillment.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "Religion Of The Dawn"
Text: Isaiah 60:1-6
Theme: As discussed, Isaiah has promised that God will break through the world's darkness, that a new dawn will break, one bright with hope and promise. However, we Christians must be practical souls and remind ourselves that this doesn't mean, as one character in Green Pastures put the matter, that God will "ra'r back and pass a miracle." Although the dawn may break suddenly in the hearts of individuals, that's not how it is happening in the world. Paul's later observation that "the whole creation groans in travail, waiting ..." identifies an important truth.
What word can the preacher speak, then, from this passage? One possibility:
1. God doesn't solve the world's problems. Christians must not assume that by prayer and good spirit alone we can change things. George Buttrick observed that "fields are not plowed by praying over them."
2. The dawn breaks, first in us as individuals. For some it's indeed a breaking of blazing light into a darkened mind. For most of us, it's a process, a slow change because of a new loyalty.
Basketball fans may remember a few years ago when, in a hard fought NBA game, Rudy Tomjanovich of the Houston Rockets was sucker punched by Kermit Washington. Tomjanovich was seriously injured and Washington was appropriately punished by the league. Some time later, Calvin Murphy, a small but mighty teammate of Tomjanovich's known for his pugilistic proclivities, said in an interview by Sports Illustrated: "My first reaction was, I'm going to make someone pay for this." However, he continued, "Once my anger subsided I realized how asinine that would be after seeing what devastation can be done to a person. You've seen Calvin Murphy throw his last punch."
That's how most of us change. We learn, we bring our values to bear, we discover how much better the world is when we become better people. Christ, rather than solving all the world's problems, changes "me."
3. We are to make the difference. If the problems of the world are ever to be solved, I, if not able to eliminate terrorism, can at least do what I am able to make this a more peaceful, kinder world. Also, there are a few people in a position to change the systems of this world which result in all its terrors. I can support those people as well.
Title: "On Wearing Freedom's Chains"
Text: Ephesians 3:1-12
Theme: We all have our prisons. Of course, there are numerous residents of our prison system, legitimately so in most cases. But there are other prisons as well. Illness, physical limitations resulting from birth or injury, addiction, depression, a history of dysfunctional family life, for some, mistakes made early in life. Paul would have many companions in the misery of imprisonment. The sermon:
1. How we respond to our imprisonment determines what we will become. One of the world's premier scientists is totally paralyzed.
2. Prayer is a positive force for changed attitudes. A friend recently told of a painful illness which required emergency hospitalization. He was in serious pain but was told by a physician that he could not have a painkiller in case surgery was needed. (It wasn't.) He said as he lay there, he heard a woman in a nearby room crying out in agony. He began to pray for her, asking that if God could not remove his own pain, he prayed that the woman might be helped. His own pain continued for a time, but he said he began to endure in a totally different way, seeing it now as a sharing of the pain of the world. In this spirit, he felt a new attitude, realizing any resentments were now gone.
3. As with Paul, when we can see our imprisonment as a way of sharing with Christ, it can begin to lose its life-smothering power. One well-known pastor told of a handicapped woman who brightly explained how happy she was because of her ministry. When the pastor asked what sort of ministry she found possible, she explained that each evening when she went to bed, she took that day's newspaper along, and one by one, prayed for the young couples whose marriages were announced, then for the families of those who were deceased.
Whether one is comfortable with his theology or not, one must admire Charles Colson, a Watergate figure who went to prison but, having found Christ in his own life, used his incarceration as an opportunity to bring that new freedom to the other prisoners. When we begin to associate the limiting factors in our lives with our service to Christ, we become stronger and, in a remarkable way, we may be set free.
Title: "Overwhelmed With Joy"
Text: Matthew 2:1-12
Theme: "They were overwhelmed with joy," wrote Matthew, speaking of those whom we remember as the wise men. Practitioners of another religion, one not well-known to the Jews, these men had apparently come in search of something they did not find in their own faith. Given the difficulties of travel in the ancient world, these men must have endured many unreported trials in their search. The bejeweled versions of the Magi depicted in our sanitized Christmas pageants are, I'd have to guess, a long way from an accurate depiction of these weary travelers. Yet they gladly paid the price in their search for -- we can only guess. But this we know, when these practitioners of Zoroastrianism saw the small child, they seemed to have realized intuitively what he was about. They fell on their knees and "were overwhelmed with joy."
1. Many people today are searching for what those men seemed to find. As our other text pointed out, for many there's a darkness in the world, a lostness. I always loved Wordsworth's insightful line: "Trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home. Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting ..." There's something deep within us which yearns for home. Not perhaps the home of childhood, though for some of us that's a happy reflection. But home where we belong.
2. Christ the baby, Jesus the one who does not threaten or reject -- Jesus, emissary of the God who intends only our happy and joyous union with his own being -- how glorious that moment of recognition. Like sojourners on the desert, thirsting for renewal, we find that new faith like pure water for the soul.
3. Tragically, most seek it elsewhere. "Religion is for weaklings," said one man recently, while a nearby survivor of a Vietnam prison camp -- who had shot down three enemy planes, then endured those years of torture, coming home triumphant, spirit unbroken, to bear witness to his faith -- smiled.
Three little boys lay dead, one day,
A pipe lay at their feet.
Its use: to smoke a joy-filled drug,
So life could be complete.
Six parents hated life that night,
Nor understood just why
Three little boys, so young and good,
Chose such a way to die.
4. There's only one way. C. S. Lewis said it well: "God made us, invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on gasoline, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on himself. He himself is the fuel our spirits are designed to burn. There is no other way. That is why there is no use asking God to make us happy without bothering about religion."
5. There's where the search must end, then. At the manger. At the foot of the cross. At the point where a broken spirit kneels to discover this great truth: "Those who receive him will be overcome with joy."
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
In her book Passages, Gail Sheehy relates the story of a former CEO of one of America's best-known corporations, a man who had obviously struggled all his life to achieve the pinnacle of success which was his. Someone told of visiting the pro shop at an exclusive golf resort and as the pro spoke with him, he pointed to a rather forlorn gentleman standing across the room. He identified the man as the ex-CEO, then said something like this: "Poor fellow, about all he does is come in here and when I'm not too busy, he talks all about cars." Sheehy was making the point that happiness is not in mere success unless we can find deeper fulfillment besides.
____________
University of Wisconsin-Stout researchers interviewed 800 students on spring break in Panama City, Florida, regarding their drinking habits. Three out of four men said they got drunk at least once a day during the break, while one in five admitted they had never sobered up in that time. Half the men said they drank until they got sick or passed out. This was only slightly lower for women -- forty percent. Forty-three percent of these college-age women said they got drunk every day. These are the leaders of tomorrow's world.
____________
In Cincinnati, Ohio: On March 26, 1997, dozens of high school students played hooky from school to stand in long lines at local shoe outlets to buy new pairs of Michael Jordan Nike shoes for a price of $140 per pair. Each student was accompanied by a parent. A Foot Locker store in the downtown Tower Place mall said the store opened an hour and a half early to accommodate the kids, and had sold nearly 200 pairs of shoes by the afternoon. School officials at the high school did some checking and found that many of those parents who bought the shoes for their children were delinquent in payment of school charges, complaining that they couldn't afford them.
___________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14 (C); Psalm 72 (E) -- The King as the channel of God's blessing.
Prayer Of The Day
Grant, O God, a new dawning of your light into the darkness of our lives. As the sun rises each morning to a new day, yet sets as a reminder of the darkness, so we find your light often growing dim and dead within us. Forgive and renew us, then, we pray. In Christ's name.
Lesson 1: Isaiah 60:1-6 (C, RC); Isaiah 60:1-6, 9 (E)
One early biblical scholar called this poem "a blaze of light." The author was clearly filled with a joyous conviction that good things were about to happen, that in a saddened world, burdened with darkening fears, the Jews of Jerusalem were called to stand forth as a light to the rest of the world. God had called them forth: "Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you."
As we read this, the relevance of its call is immediately clear. In the minds of many people, these are dark days. Terrorism, crime, drugs, the plight of educational institutions -- we know the story. But here is the promise every preacher is raised up to declare: "Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice." God's light is promised, and our current darkness will break with the dawn. "The Lord will rise upon you."
Lesson 2: Ephesians 3:1-12 (C, E); Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6 (RC)
Paul contends that much of what Christ revealed was, for a long time, hidden by God. The riches of God's revelation through Christ, now revealed through such as Paul, are henceforth to be made available to everyone, and the church is to be the means by which this should take place.
In reading this, one should know that it was written while Paul was in prison in Rome. Although he had some privileges at the time -- living in a house, being available to friends -- his freedom was taken from him. Paul was chained to a guard to prevent his escape. Paul, however, chose to view himself as a prisoner of Christ, not of the Romans. He saw his dilemma as a voluntary gift to Christ in return for the gift of grace he had received from God. It is evident that Paul's spirits were high despite his plight, only because he knew himself to have been chosen as one to whom the great secrets of Christ were revealed. This had been done in order that Paul would, in turn, reveal all of this to the Gentiles, for whom the message was intended.
William Barclay, in commenting on this passage, tells a story reputed to have been reported from the days of Christopher Wren's building of Saint Paul's Cathedral in London. Someone asked a workman what he was doing. The man replied that he was cutting a piece of stone to a certain size. A second man was asked the same question. He replied that he was earning a given sum of money for the day. Both men had appeared weary from the day's work. But a third man, when asked what he was doing, replied, "I am helping Christopher Wren build a cathedral." The pride in this man's voice explained his lack of weariness.
So Paul did not fear his fate. He was a prisoner, not of Rome but of Christ. He had nothing to fear. He was helping build a new Kingdom.
Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12 (C, RC, E)
The so-called "wise men" were, in fact, members of a religion which believed in two gods -- one good, one evil. Known as the Magi, a word whose root gives us magic and magician, these three men must surely have been motivated by more than mere religious interest in their search for Jesus. Records are sketchy, of course, but taking this story at face value, it seems the men must have been wealthy and possibly well-known. King Herod had questioned them, hoping that if they found the newborn child, they would reveal his whereabouts.
Wouldn't it be interesting to know what those men thought about during their long search? After their brief discovery in Bethlehem, were their lives changed in any way? Apparently the politics involved in reporting back to Herod were no longer important to these men. They used a route Herod would not anticipate in order to return home without being discovered.
For the preacher, there's power in the image of three men who seemed to have been leaders in their own religion seeking out the Christ child, then bowing before him as the full import of their encounter got through. What word might they have carried home?
The Magi were apparently Zoroastrians, believers in astrology. The significance of the special star they followed must have been great in their minds. This is still a subject for separate discussion, since many Christians are intrigued by what seems to be some correlation between personalities and astrological signs, whereas many other Christians are appalled at such thinking and somehow feel such speculations to be unchristian. For our purposes, we must respect both points of view except to note that it was, indeed, an astrological sign that led the Magi to the child. I would urge that the preacher's emphasis might be on the profound effect the vision of the baby Jesus seemed to have on those men. Also, following a star is a good figure of speech for us today when so many people follow "their star" in a wrong direction. The "stars" of success and prosperity are acceptable way stations, as it were, so long as they are pursued with integrity and respect, but too often we lose perspective and resort to methods not part of that bright dawn. Then we begin to be mislead. Jesus revealed the correct direction to the ultimate "star," the one which will lead to life's fulfillment.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "Religion Of The Dawn"
Text: Isaiah 60:1-6
Theme: As discussed, Isaiah has promised that God will break through the world's darkness, that a new dawn will break, one bright with hope and promise. However, we Christians must be practical souls and remind ourselves that this doesn't mean, as one character in Green Pastures put the matter, that God will "ra'r back and pass a miracle." Although the dawn may break suddenly in the hearts of individuals, that's not how it is happening in the world. Paul's later observation that "the whole creation groans in travail, waiting ..." identifies an important truth.
What word can the preacher speak, then, from this passage? One possibility:
1. God doesn't solve the world's problems. Christians must not assume that by prayer and good spirit alone we can change things. George Buttrick observed that "fields are not plowed by praying over them."
2. The dawn breaks, first in us as individuals. For some it's indeed a breaking of blazing light into a darkened mind. For most of us, it's a process, a slow change because of a new loyalty.
Basketball fans may remember a few years ago when, in a hard fought NBA game, Rudy Tomjanovich of the Houston Rockets was sucker punched by Kermit Washington. Tomjanovich was seriously injured and Washington was appropriately punished by the league. Some time later, Calvin Murphy, a small but mighty teammate of Tomjanovich's known for his pugilistic proclivities, said in an interview by Sports Illustrated: "My first reaction was, I'm going to make someone pay for this." However, he continued, "Once my anger subsided I realized how asinine that would be after seeing what devastation can be done to a person. You've seen Calvin Murphy throw his last punch."
That's how most of us change. We learn, we bring our values to bear, we discover how much better the world is when we become better people. Christ, rather than solving all the world's problems, changes "me."
3. We are to make the difference. If the problems of the world are ever to be solved, I, if not able to eliminate terrorism, can at least do what I am able to make this a more peaceful, kinder world. Also, there are a few people in a position to change the systems of this world which result in all its terrors. I can support those people as well.
Title: "On Wearing Freedom's Chains"
Text: Ephesians 3:1-12
Theme: We all have our prisons. Of course, there are numerous residents of our prison system, legitimately so in most cases. But there are other prisons as well. Illness, physical limitations resulting from birth or injury, addiction, depression, a history of dysfunctional family life, for some, mistakes made early in life. Paul would have many companions in the misery of imprisonment. The sermon:
1. How we respond to our imprisonment determines what we will become. One of the world's premier scientists is totally paralyzed.
2. Prayer is a positive force for changed attitudes. A friend recently told of a painful illness which required emergency hospitalization. He was in serious pain but was told by a physician that he could not have a painkiller in case surgery was needed. (It wasn't.) He said as he lay there, he heard a woman in a nearby room crying out in agony. He began to pray for her, asking that if God could not remove his own pain, he prayed that the woman might be helped. His own pain continued for a time, but he said he began to endure in a totally different way, seeing it now as a sharing of the pain of the world. In this spirit, he felt a new attitude, realizing any resentments were now gone.
3. As with Paul, when we can see our imprisonment as a way of sharing with Christ, it can begin to lose its life-smothering power. One well-known pastor told of a handicapped woman who brightly explained how happy she was because of her ministry. When the pastor asked what sort of ministry she found possible, she explained that each evening when she went to bed, she took that day's newspaper along, and one by one, prayed for the young couples whose marriages were announced, then for the families of those who were deceased.
Whether one is comfortable with his theology or not, one must admire Charles Colson, a Watergate figure who went to prison but, having found Christ in his own life, used his incarceration as an opportunity to bring that new freedom to the other prisoners. When we begin to associate the limiting factors in our lives with our service to Christ, we become stronger and, in a remarkable way, we may be set free.
Title: "Overwhelmed With Joy"
Text: Matthew 2:1-12
Theme: "They were overwhelmed with joy," wrote Matthew, speaking of those whom we remember as the wise men. Practitioners of another religion, one not well-known to the Jews, these men had apparently come in search of something they did not find in their own faith. Given the difficulties of travel in the ancient world, these men must have endured many unreported trials in their search. The bejeweled versions of the Magi depicted in our sanitized Christmas pageants are, I'd have to guess, a long way from an accurate depiction of these weary travelers. Yet they gladly paid the price in their search for -- we can only guess. But this we know, when these practitioners of Zoroastrianism saw the small child, they seemed to have realized intuitively what he was about. They fell on their knees and "were overwhelmed with joy."
1. Many people today are searching for what those men seemed to find. As our other text pointed out, for many there's a darkness in the world, a lostness. I always loved Wordsworth's insightful line: "Trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home. Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting ..." There's something deep within us which yearns for home. Not perhaps the home of childhood, though for some of us that's a happy reflection. But home where we belong.
2. Christ the baby, Jesus the one who does not threaten or reject -- Jesus, emissary of the God who intends only our happy and joyous union with his own being -- how glorious that moment of recognition. Like sojourners on the desert, thirsting for renewal, we find that new faith like pure water for the soul.
3. Tragically, most seek it elsewhere. "Religion is for weaklings," said one man recently, while a nearby survivor of a Vietnam prison camp -- who had shot down three enemy planes, then endured those years of torture, coming home triumphant, spirit unbroken, to bear witness to his faith -- smiled.
Three little boys lay dead, one day,
A pipe lay at their feet.
Its use: to smoke a joy-filled drug,
So life could be complete.
Six parents hated life that night,
Nor understood just why
Three little boys, so young and good,
Chose such a way to die.
4. There's only one way. C. S. Lewis said it well: "God made us, invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on gasoline, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on himself. He himself is the fuel our spirits are designed to burn. There is no other way. That is why there is no use asking God to make us happy without bothering about religion."
5. There's where the search must end, then. At the manger. At the foot of the cross. At the point where a broken spirit kneels to discover this great truth: "Those who receive him will be overcome with joy."
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
In her book Passages, Gail Sheehy relates the story of a former CEO of one of America's best-known corporations, a man who had obviously struggled all his life to achieve the pinnacle of success which was his. Someone told of visiting the pro shop at an exclusive golf resort and as the pro spoke with him, he pointed to a rather forlorn gentleman standing across the room. He identified the man as the ex-CEO, then said something like this: "Poor fellow, about all he does is come in here and when I'm not too busy, he talks all about cars." Sheehy was making the point that happiness is not in mere success unless we can find deeper fulfillment besides.
____________
University of Wisconsin-Stout researchers interviewed 800 students on spring break in Panama City, Florida, regarding their drinking habits. Three out of four men said they got drunk at least once a day during the break, while one in five admitted they had never sobered up in that time. Half the men said they drank until they got sick or passed out. This was only slightly lower for women -- forty percent. Forty-three percent of these college-age women said they got drunk every day. These are the leaders of tomorrow's world.
____________
In Cincinnati, Ohio: On March 26, 1997, dozens of high school students played hooky from school to stand in long lines at local shoe outlets to buy new pairs of Michael Jordan Nike shoes for a price of $140 per pair. Each student was accompanied by a parent. A Foot Locker store in the downtown Tower Place mall said the store opened an hour and a half early to accommodate the kids, and had sold nearly 200 pairs of shoes by the afternoon. School officials at the high school did some checking and found that many of those parents who bought the shoes for their children were delinquent in payment of school charges, complaining that they couldn't afford them.
___________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14 (C); Psalm 72 (E) -- The King as the channel of God's blessing.
Prayer Of The Day
Grant, O God, a new dawning of your light into the darkness of our lives. As the sun rises each morning to a new day, yet sets as a reminder of the darkness, so we find your light often growing dim and dead within us. Forgive and renew us, then, we pray. In Christ's name.
