Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series III
The Epiphany - the manifestation of the person of Jesus as the One promised by God - continues on this Sunday and determines the choice of readings, including the Gospel for the Day. Despite the fact that the lectio continua (or semi-continuous) reading of the Gospel has taken over, the Epiphany theme still determines which specific selections will be read (and, generally, preached upon). As he did in the miracle at the wedding feast in Cana, Jesus continues to identify himself and manifest his uniqueness in his ministry by his teaching and his miracles. The Gospel for the Day bears this out, because the people in the synagogue at Capernaum that day were amazed at his authoritative teaching and his ability to heal a madman with a word. The end of that pericope remarks, "And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee."
The Prayer of the Day
The LBW prayer is basically a reworking of the classic collect for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany. (See, for example, the Service Book and Hymnal or the Common Service Book.) Its wording suggests that the language of the older collect has simply been modern-ized and brought up to date, instead of being informed by the Church year/season theme or the Gospel for the Day. Once more, the Lutheran propers reveal that a different collect is needed for almost every Sunday of the three-year lectionary, if there is to be thematic agreement between the several parts of the propers. And while some of the newer, or reconstructed, collects may fit the texts better than others - such as the prayer in the Book of Common Prayer for this Sunday ("Almighty God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace....") - many, if not most of them, have little or no bearing on the content of the readings.
The Psalm of the Day
Psalm 1 (L) - This psalm is also appointed for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, Cycle/Series A. Commentary on it is located in the Lectionary Preaching Workbook, Cycle A.
Psalm 95: 1-2, 6-9 (R) - The Roman Catholic lectionary selects this psalm for two other liturgical occasions, the Third Sunday in Lent, Year A and the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (plus two Sundays in Year C). The Venite is taken from this psalm, although some key verses (3-5) are passed over in this selection. In this liturgical setting, it responds to the first reading in the invitation to Israel (and to people today) to: "Come, let us bow down and bend the knee, and kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand." Verse 7b is very timely in this age ("Oh, that you would hearken to his voice") because it focuses on the problem that preachers have whenever they mount the pulpit - how to get people to listen to and to heed the Word of the Lord God. "Harden not your hearts," declares the Psalmist, "as your forebears did in the wilderness...."
Almighty God, neither let us go astray as did those who murmured in the desert, nor let us be torn apart by discord. With Jesus as our shepherd, bring us to enjoy the unity for which he prays; and to you be the glory and the praise now and forever.
Psalm 111 (E) - This psalm of thanksgiving, which contains a recitation of the faithfulness of God to his covenant with Israel and spells out "the deeds of the Lord," is one of many psalms that might have been appointed as a responsory to the Deuteronomy 18 reading. It is quite appropriate for use with this set of lections.
The readings:
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
A cursory reading of this text reveals why it was chosen as the First Reading for this Sunday. It speaks to Jesus' authoritative teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum, as though to indicate that Jesus is the prophet - the "ultimate" prophet - promised by God in Deuteronomy 18. The prophesy of John the Baptizer is interpreted in the scripture as penultimate, which he himself recognizes in saying that One will come after him and is now at hand, whose sandals he is not "worthy to stoop down and untie." Of course, Jesus not only spoke like that "promised prophet," as he vividly described the Kingdom of God whose fullness was yet to be seen, but he revealed himself to be the One by whom it was being initiated in his life, his teachings and ministry, and in his death and resurrection. This is a splendid selection to complement and point to the Gospel for the Day.
1 Corinthians 7:32-35 (R)
Here is one of the most suitable passages in the New Testament for developing an argument for a celibate clergy, both male and female (or as in the Roman Catholic Church, priests, lay brothers, and nuns). Unmarried clergy can put all their time and energy into their clerical vocation when they have no family ties or complications. They can invest themselves totally in the work of the pastoral office. Such wisdom can hardly be challenged from one point of view but there are numerous arguments, which need not be listed here, for a married clergy. Paul's opinion in this matter doesn't carry much weight with people today (and I suspect that few preachers would prepare and preach a sermon from this perspective on this text). But Paul's point is that celibacy is a gift of God given to a few, who then are able to give up the good estate of marriage to engage in the even "greater work" of God in the world.
1 Corinthians 8:1-13 (L, C); 8:1b-13 (E)
In this age of Weight Watchers, Nutri Systems, and Ultra Slim Fast diet programs, Paul's discussion of eating the food offered to idols, and thereby causing another person "to fall" (from the faith), falls on deaf ears. The idolatry of which he speaks now takes the shape of overeating and downright gluttony - or it may just be, in the United States, part and parcel of an affluent society. Most people are not able to eat well at home, but they are able to dine at restaurants - or the fast food outlets - one or more times a week. Self-satisfaction is the idol that many persons worship and seek to satisfy; good food and fine wines are becoming idols in themselves. Eating and drinking become idolatry when they are engaged in - at any cost - without any thought of, or concern for, the underprivileged people of the world who are hungry all of the time. Our business may not be so much to prevent other persons from falling, but to feed the hungry and starving people on this planet.
Mark 1:21-28
On his first visit to Capernaum, Jesus went into the synagogue where he had worshiped many times before and really began his public ministry there. Two things happened: First, the people were astonished at his teaching, because he taught them with authority; and, secondly, they were amazed at the power he had and the authority in his speech that enabled him to perform an exorcism on the man who had been "possessed by a demon." Jesus needed only to say that authoritative word to exorcise the demon and restore the man to normality. This combination - of teaching and miracles - made his ministry an immediate success. "His fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee." In Jesus, God broke into time and this world, as he said he would, in the teacher who came to save all of the children of God.
A Sermon on the Gospel, Mark 1:21-28 - "Beating Satan at His Own Game."
In June of 1989, the newspapers carried a story about a person, Simone Sotteau, who had been writing "poison pen" letters to the people of her town (Villereu, France) for almost a decade. It took most of that time to discover her identity, confront her, and, upon her confession, charge her with several crimes. Her vitriolic letters, which were sent to neighbors, friends, public officials, and anyone else who offended her in any way, were, in the words of her priest and confessor, "The work of the Devil." She seemed to be "possessed," and had a dual, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, personality. In public, she was an agreeable, pleasant, and caring person, who contributed to the good of the town. But in private, she turned into a demon and wrote her awful letters to the townspeople, even to her husband. She signed her letters with an open threat: "Someone who will get you one of these days."
She was caught through the efforts of a young detective, Daniel Mihls, who had been appointed to the case in 1988. In about one year, by following various leads which led him to Simone, he was convinced that she was the "poison pen writer," so he set a trap and caught her. He had discovered that the letter writer misspelled certain words, one of which was F-L-I-C, a slang word for police in French. He gathered a group of people, including Simone, and asked them to write sentences in which the word appeared. She was the only one who misspelled the word. Police raided her home, arrested her. Under pressure, she admitted to having written one letter, finally breaking down and confessing to all of them. Her "premeditated violence," as her crimes were called, carried penalties of fines up to $3,000 and a maximum penalty of two years in prison. Some people thought she was innocent, others thought she worked with another person, and some were convinced that she was guilty. One townsperson commented, "One thing is sure. We've not heard the last of Le Corbeau," as Simone was called. Perhaps if the priest had been correct and she had been demon-possessed, an exorcism of some sort or other would have been necessary.
1. As astonishing as Jesus' teaching was, his exorcism of the demon-possessed man was absolutely amazing. He demonstrated that the authority event in his teaching was also resident in his person. He had the power - the authority - to cast out demons from people.
2. Jesus revealed, therein, that he was not only the final prophet, of whom the writer of Deuteronomy spoke, but that he had come to set things right for God in the world. By driving out the devil in the man in the synagogue, he revealed that God had declared war on Satan, and that God would ultimately defeat Satan through Jesus.
3. Jesus' exorcism in the synagogue at Capernaum provides a preview of the defeat the Devil would experience in the death and resurrection of the Lord. As he had done on numerous occasions in his life, Jesus turned back Satan when he was crucified. His "obedience unto death" was the final defeat, an exorcism that would eliminate the Devil as a force against God in the world.
4. Jesus has beaten Satan at his own game. That means that Jesus, the risen Lord, will return as he has promised, in God's time to accomplish that last victory and bring in the fullness of the kingdom, which he claimed for God when he died at Calvary.
Deuteronomy 18:15-20 - "The Ultimate Prophet."
1. Early in the history of Israel, the need for the final prophet who will speak to the world all that God commands him to say is evident.
2. His word will carry the very authority of God Almighty. God himself will be speaking to the people through this prophet.
3. God will condemn those who take lightly, or reject, the word he speaks through this prophet. God will eliminate any false prophets.
4. That promised prophet has entered the world in the person of Jesus Christ. Listen to him, heed his word, and live.
A Sermon on the First Lesson, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 (L, C); 8:1b-13 (E) - "Salvation by Consumption."
Visit a Shinto temple in any Oriental city after a funeral has taken place and you may actually see what it was that concerned Paul when he wrote this part of his first letter to the Corinthian congregation. The family and other mourners bring gifts of food for the deceased and leave them before the idols of their faith. People could quite easily, in some temples, steal the food and eat it - perhaps in the mistaken belief that such "consecrated" food would insure the blessing of long life, even eternal life. Is that so different from the medieval practice of not consuming the consecrated Bread at the communion, but taking it home, revering it by placing it under one's pillow or some other place where it could bring the ultimate blessing to the faithful?
1. Superstition saves no one. Nobody can be saved "by bread alone, nor is there - or will there ever be - water that comes from a "fountain of youth" that will guarantee a kind of eternal youth, everlasting life.
2. Salvation comes through the word of God - that is the food and drink people need to gain eternal life. We are fed "by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" and are satisfied by his Word.
3. Savor the sacrament, the meal Jesus established to remember him, and celebrate the victory he achieved on our behalf. We can't eat our way into heaven, but his meal - body and blood, bread and wine - sustains us as we go.
1 Corinthians 7:32-35 (R) - "Balancing Act."
Some years ago, a group of Roman Catholic seminarians and one of their professors, had dinner with my wife and me in our home. At the time, the celibate/married clergy question was in the minds of many people, and the discussion about this issue prompted one seminarian to remark: "It doesn't really matter to me whether or not priests are allowed to marry; I have chosen to follow the celibate way of life; because it is the way that I believe I can best serve Jesus Christ." He believed that his vow of chastity and celibacy would solve the problem of balancing one's obligations to God in a clerical vocation against one's responsibilities to family and friends in this life. If Andrew Greeley's fiction (The Cardinal Sins) is true to the lives of many Roman Catholic clergy, the "balancing act" is not easy to accomplish. (Note: The married diaconate of the Roman Catholic Church speaks to the problem, but may complicate the "balancing act" for some clergy.)
1. There is tension between living in the world and living in the Kingdom of God for all of us. We attempt to do a "balancing act" between our obligations to family, job, community and our responsibilities as citizens of the Kingdom of God.
2. Put priorities in proper order. "Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness," Jesus said, "and all will be added to you." Our problem is that we tend to "seek the other things" first - and only then do we seek the Kingdom of God. The "balancing act" has to go in God's favor, or else it results in disaster.
3. When God comes first in our lives, the "balancing act" is rejected and discarded. Life is seen and lived in proper perspective - that of the cross of Christ.
The Prayer of the Day
The LBW prayer is basically a reworking of the classic collect for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany. (See, for example, the Service Book and Hymnal or the Common Service Book.) Its wording suggests that the language of the older collect has simply been modern-ized and brought up to date, instead of being informed by the Church year/season theme or the Gospel for the Day. Once more, the Lutheran propers reveal that a different collect is needed for almost every Sunday of the three-year lectionary, if there is to be thematic agreement between the several parts of the propers. And while some of the newer, or reconstructed, collects may fit the texts better than others - such as the prayer in the Book of Common Prayer for this Sunday ("Almighty God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace....") - many, if not most of them, have little or no bearing on the content of the readings.
The Psalm of the Day
Psalm 1 (L) - This psalm is also appointed for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, Cycle/Series A. Commentary on it is located in the Lectionary Preaching Workbook, Cycle A.
Psalm 95: 1-2, 6-9 (R) - The Roman Catholic lectionary selects this psalm for two other liturgical occasions, the Third Sunday in Lent, Year A and the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (plus two Sundays in Year C). The Venite is taken from this psalm, although some key verses (3-5) are passed over in this selection. In this liturgical setting, it responds to the first reading in the invitation to Israel (and to people today) to: "Come, let us bow down and bend the knee, and kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand." Verse 7b is very timely in this age ("Oh, that you would hearken to his voice") because it focuses on the problem that preachers have whenever they mount the pulpit - how to get people to listen to and to heed the Word of the Lord God. "Harden not your hearts," declares the Psalmist, "as your forebears did in the wilderness...."
Almighty God, neither let us go astray as did those who murmured in the desert, nor let us be torn apart by discord. With Jesus as our shepherd, bring us to enjoy the unity for which he prays; and to you be the glory and the praise now and forever.
Psalm 111 (E) - This psalm of thanksgiving, which contains a recitation of the faithfulness of God to his covenant with Israel and spells out "the deeds of the Lord," is one of many psalms that might have been appointed as a responsory to the Deuteronomy 18 reading. It is quite appropriate for use with this set of lections.
The readings:
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
A cursory reading of this text reveals why it was chosen as the First Reading for this Sunday. It speaks to Jesus' authoritative teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum, as though to indicate that Jesus is the prophet - the "ultimate" prophet - promised by God in Deuteronomy 18. The prophesy of John the Baptizer is interpreted in the scripture as penultimate, which he himself recognizes in saying that One will come after him and is now at hand, whose sandals he is not "worthy to stoop down and untie." Of course, Jesus not only spoke like that "promised prophet," as he vividly described the Kingdom of God whose fullness was yet to be seen, but he revealed himself to be the One by whom it was being initiated in his life, his teachings and ministry, and in his death and resurrection. This is a splendid selection to complement and point to the Gospel for the Day.
1 Corinthians 7:32-35 (R)
Here is one of the most suitable passages in the New Testament for developing an argument for a celibate clergy, both male and female (or as in the Roman Catholic Church, priests, lay brothers, and nuns). Unmarried clergy can put all their time and energy into their clerical vocation when they have no family ties or complications. They can invest themselves totally in the work of the pastoral office. Such wisdom can hardly be challenged from one point of view but there are numerous arguments, which need not be listed here, for a married clergy. Paul's opinion in this matter doesn't carry much weight with people today (and I suspect that few preachers would prepare and preach a sermon from this perspective on this text). But Paul's point is that celibacy is a gift of God given to a few, who then are able to give up the good estate of marriage to engage in the even "greater work" of God in the world.
1 Corinthians 8:1-13 (L, C); 8:1b-13 (E)
In this age of Weight Watchers, Nutri Systems, and Ultra Slim Fast diet programs, Paul's discussion of eating the food offered to idols, and thereby causing another person "to fall" (from the faith), falls on deaf ears. The idolatry of which he speaks now takes the shape of overeating and downright gluttony - or it may just be, in the United States, part and parcel of an affluent society. Most people are not able to eat well at home, but they are able to dine at restaurants - or the fast food outlets - one or more times a week. Self-satisfaction is the idol that many persons worship and seek to satisfy; good food and fine wines are becoming idols in themselves. Eating and drinking become idolatry when they are engaged in - at any cost - without any thought of, or concern for, the underprivileged people of the world who are hungry all of the time. Our business may not be so much to prevent other persons from falling, but to feed the hungry and starving people on this planet.
Mark 1:21-28
On his first visit to Capernaum, Jesus went into the synagogue where he had worshiped many times before and really began his public ministry there. Two things happened: First, the people were astonished at his teaching, because he taught them with authority; and, secondly, they were amazed at the power he had and the authority in his speech that enabled him to perform an exorcism on the man who had been "possessed by a demon." Jesus needed only to say that authoritative word to exorcise the demon and restore the man to normality. This combination - of teaching and miracles - made his ministry an immediate success. "His fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee." In Jesus, God broke into time and this world, as he said he would, in the teacher who came to save all of the children of God.
A Sermon on the Gospel, Mark 1:21-28 - "Beating Satan at His Own Game."
In June of 1989, the newspapers carried a story about a person, Simone Sotteau, who had been writing "poison pen" letters to the people of her town (Villereu, France) for almost a decade. It took most of that time to discover her identity, confront her, and, upon her confession, charge her with several crimes. Her vitriolic letters, which were sent to neighbors, friends, public officials, and anyone else who offended her in any way, were, in the words of her priest and confessor, "The work of the Devil." She seemed to be "possessed," and had a dual, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, personality. In public, she was an agreeable, pleasant, and caring person, who contributed to the good of the town. But in private, she turned into a demon and wrote her awful letters to the townspeople, even to her husband. She signed her letters with an open threat: "Someone who will get you one of these days."
She was caught through the efforts of a young detective, Daniel Mihls, who had been appointed to the case in 1988. In about one year, by following various leads which led him to Simone, he was convinced that she was the "poison pen writer," so he set a trap and caught her. He had discovered that the letter writer misspelled certain words, one of which was F-L-I-C, a slang word for police in French. He gathered a group of people, including Simone, and asked them to write sentences in which the word appeared. She was the only one who misspelled the word. Police raided her home, arrested her. Under pressure, she admitted to having written one letter, finally breaking down and confessing to all of them. Her "premeditated violence," as her crimes were called, carried penalties of fines up to $3,000 and a maximum penalty of two years in prison. Some people thought she was innocent, others thought she worked with another person, and some were convinced that she was guilty. One townsperson commented, "One thing is sure. We've not heard the last of Le Corbeau," as Simone was called. Perhaps if the priest had been correct and she had been demon-possessed, an exorcism of some sort or other would have been necessary.
1. As astonishing as Jesus' teaching was, his exorcism of the demon-possessed man was absolutely amazing. He demonstrated that the authority event in his teaching was also resident in his person. He had the power - the authority - to cast out demons from people.
2. Jesus revealed, therein, that he was not only the final prophet, of whom the writer of Deuteronomy spoke, but that he had come to set things right for God in the world. By driving out the devil in the man in the synagogue, he revealed that God had declared war on Satan, and that God would ultimately defeat Satan through Jesus.
3. Jesus' exorcism in the synagogue at Capernaum provides a preview of the defeat the Devil would experience in the death and resurrection of the Lord. As he had done on numerous occasions in his life, Jesus turned back Satan when he was crucified. His "obedience unto death" was the final defeat, an exorcism that would eliminate the Devil as a force against God in the world.
4. Jesus has beaten Satan at his own game. That means that Jesus, the risen Lord, will return as he has promised, in God's time to accomplish that last victory and bring in the fullness of the kingdom, which he claimed for God when he died at Calvary.
Deuteronomy 18:15-20 - "The Ultimate Prophet."
1. Early in the history of Israel, the need for the final prophet who will speak to the world all that God commands him to say is evident.
2. His word will carry the very authority of God Almighty. God himself will be speaking to the people through this prophet.
3. God will condemn those who take lightly, or reject, the word he speaks through this prophet. God will eliminate any false prophets.
4. That promised prophet has entered the world in the person of Jesus Christ. Listen to him, heed his word, and live.
A Sermon on the First Lesson, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 (L, C); 8:1b-13 (E) - "Salvation by Consumption."
Visit a Shinto temple in any Oriental city after a funeral has taken place and you may actually see what it was that concerned Paul when he wrote this part of his first letter to the Corinthian congregation. The family and other mourners bring gifts of food for the deceased and leave them before the idols of their faith. People could quite easily, in some temples, steal the food and eat it - perhaps in the mistaken belief that such "consecrated" food would insure the blessing of long life, even eternal life. Is that so different from the medieval practice of not consuming the consecrated Bread at the communion, but taking it home, revering it by placing it under one's pillow or some other place where it could bring the ultimate blessing to the faithful?
1. Superstition saves no one. Nobody can be saved "by bread alone, nor is there - or will there ever be - water that comes from a "fountain of youth" that will guarantee a kind of eternal youth, everlasting life.
2. Salvation comes through the word of God - that is the food and drink people need to gain eternal life. We are fed "by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" and are satisfied by his Word.
3. Savor the sacrament, the meal Jesus established to remember him, and celebrate the victory he achieved on our behalf. We can't eat our way into heaven, but his meal - body and blood, bread and wine - sustains us as we go.
1 Corinthians 7:32-35 (R) - "Balancing Act."
Some years ago, a group of Roman Catholic seminarians and one of their professors, had dinner with my wife and me in our home. At the time, the celibate/married clergy question was in the minds of many people, and the discussion about this issue prompted one seminarian to remark: "It doesn't really matter to me whether or not priests are allowed to marry; I have chosen to follow the celibate way of life; because it is the way that I believe I can best serve Jesus Christ." He believed that his vow of chastity and celibacy would solve the problem of balancing one's obligations to God in a clerical vocation against one's responsibilities to family and friends in this life. If Andrew Greeley's fiction (The Cardinal Sins) is true to the lives of many Roman Catholic clergy, the "balancing act" is not easy to accomplish. (Note: The married diaconate of the Roman Catholic Church speaks to the problem, but may complicate the "balancing act" for some clergy.)
1. There is tension between living in the world and living in the Kingdom of God for all of us. We attempt to do a "balancing act" between our obligations to family, job, community and our responsibilities as citizens of the Kingdom of God.
2. Put priorities in proper order. "Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness," Jesus said, "and all will be added to you." Our problem is that we tend to "seek the other things" first - and only then do we seek the Kingdom of God. The "balancing act" has to go in God's favor, or else it results in disaster.
3. When God comes first in our lives, the "balancing act" is rejected and discarded. Life is seen and lived in proper perspective - that of the cross of Christ.
