Second Sunday after the Epiphany
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series III
In the "old" lectionary, the Sundays of Epiphany continued the manifestation theme mostly with the miracles of Jesus, beginning of course with the changing of the water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana. This miracle moves to the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Cycle/Year C, and a new element of manifestation is introduced in Cycle/Year A. Jesus is identified by John the Baptizer, who said, "After me comes a man who ranks before me, for he was before me. I did not know him; for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel." (Note: The Gospel for the first and second Sundays differs among the various churches. The Roman Catholic Common lectionaries employ verses 29-34 of John 1 for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, of Year/Cycle A, appointing verses 35-42 for Cycle/Year B. The Episcopal and Lutheran lectionaries have chosen 1:29-41 for A, 1:43-51 for B. Incidentally, the Roman Catholic and Common churches agree on the Gospel selection for this Sunday. The Lutheran and Common lectionaries use the same second reading, and the Episcopal and Common lectionaries agree on the choice of first reading for Cycle/Year B.) Despite these somewhat confusing choices in the readings for this Sunday, in which Jesus is identified (first, by John the Baptizer and then by his first disciples), the manifestation theme moves into the beginning of Jesus' ministry. His teachings identified him as the Messiah as surely as did his miracles. Therefore, the Sundays after the Epiphany really ought to be called the Sundays in Epiphany.
The Prayer of the Day
The contemporary collect that the Episcopal Church has chosen for this Sunday turns the manifestation theme to the people of God as they worship and work in the world:
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light ofthe world: Grant that your people, illuminated by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God now and forever. Amen
The task of the faithful is to let the manifestation of the Lord continue in the world through their discipleship. The Epiphany of our Lord to the world continues today through word and sacrament and the work of the people of God.
The Psalm for the Day
Psalm 40: 1, 3b, 6-9 (R); 63:1-8 (E); 67 (L) - The Roman Catholic Church, along with the Episcopal and Lutheran Churches, employs this psalm for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Cycle/Year A (LPW). The comments made therein are pertinent to the readings - and the theme - for this Sunday.
Psalm 63:1-8 (E) - The Lutheran lectionary appoints this psalm for the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Year/Cycle A. Comments on this psalm as a responsory can be found in the Lectionary Preaching Workbook, Cycle A.
Psalm 67 (L) - This particular psalm finds multiple usage in the Lutheran lectionary (among others). It functioned as a responsory, for the first time, on the Thirteenth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year/Cycle A. Commentary may be found in the Lectionary Preaching Workbook, Cycle A. However, it should be said that the psalm is particularly appropriate to the theme of a continuing manifestation, or epiphany, of Christ in the world through his Word, the Sacraments, and the discipleship of the faithful.
The readings:
1 Samuel 3:1-10 (L); 3:1-10 (11-20) (E, C); 3:3-10, 19 (R)
This pericope tells the familiar story of the calling of Samuel by God. Samuel thought it was Eli who was speaking to him as he slept in the Temple. But each time he was awakened by the voice, Eli told Samuel that it was not he who was calling out to him. But Eli realized after the third "awakening" that it was God speaking to Samuel, and he instructed him to say, "Speak, Lord, for your servant hears you" the next time he heard the voice. That's exactly what Samuel did and said. This story is a type of the calling of Jesus to his mission and ministry in the world in his manifestation, especially when God spoke to him in his baptism. Like Samuel, Jesus responded and began his work of preaching, teaching, and ministering to people in Palestine.
1 Corinthians 6:11b-20 (E); 6:12-20 (L, C); 6:13-15, 17-20 (R)
(Note: The Corinthian correspondence is peculiar to Epiphany. Beginning with this Sunday, it is the second reading for most of the Sundays of Epiphany in all three years/cycles. Most of the readings are from 1 Corinthians; 2 Corinthians is selected for the Seventh and Eighth Sundays after the Epiphany Year/Cycle B [in those few years when there are seven or more Sundays in the Epiphany season]. It is also used in Cycles/Years B and C for the Transfiguration of Our Lord [Lutheran].)
The church at Corinth was infected with the spirit of gnosticism or, at least, with a kind of antinomianism that fostered an "anything goes" - to which the modern adds, "as long as nobody gets hurt" - kind of attitude toward sexual morality. Paul saw this as detrimental to the relationship of the Corinthian Christians to Christ and to each other in the church, pointing out that sexual immorality was, first, a sin against Christ and his church whose "members" we are, and second, that it was a desecration of the body as the "temple of the Holy Spirit." Sexual sin is a rejection of the fact that people are "sealed by the Holy Spirit" in baptism. Sexual sin, then, is a sin against God, who sends the Holy Spirit to us in Word and Sacraments. All of this Paul puts in the context of the cross of Christ: "You are not your own [to do with as you please]; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."
John 1:35-42 (R, C); 1:43-51 (E, L)
The second half of the Gospel for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany (1:29-41), Cycle/Year A in the Episcopal and Lutheran lectionaries, is featured in the Roman Catholic and Common lectionaries today. Comments were made on this entire reading in the Lectionary Preaching Workbook, Cycle/Year A. It should also be pointed out that this selection, in the Roman Catholic and Common pericopes, tends to highlight John's identification of Christ before two of his disciples, one of whom was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. John declared, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" - and Andrew hurried off to find Simon Peter and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means Christ).
The manifestation/epiphany theme surfaces again in the calling of Philip, to whom Jesus said, "Follow me." He and Nathanael were from Bethsaida, the same town that Andrew and Peter were from. Nathanael had some of the spirit of Thomas in him and had to see Jesus for himself before he would believe what Philip told him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus called him "guileless" - and was convinced when Jesus described him and how he saw him under a fig tree. Once more the epiphany/manifestation motif comes out in Nathanael's response:
"Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel." At the end of the encounter, Jesus puts recognition of him as the Messiah in the context of his death on the cross.
A Sermon on the Gospel, John 1:35-42 (R, C) - "Follow-up to a Baptism."
1. The day after Jesus was baptized, according to St. John (who doesn't mention the baptism specifically), John the Baptizer saw Jesus again and said a strange thing: "Behold, the Lamb of God!" That was all he said in the presence of two of his disciples. In effect, that's the heart of the announcement in Epiphany: "Behold, the Savior of the world!"
2. But that was - and is - enough. They immediately left him and followed Jesus, because they knew now who he really was - and is - the Messiah, the Promised One of God, who is not only to be recognized and revered, but is also to be followed by the faithful wherever he leads. Incredibly, Jesus didn't even ask Andrew and the other disciple of John to follow him; they did it on John's word.
3. Everyone who believes Jesus to be the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, should follow him without delay. To do less is to reject him.
All baptized Christians are called to "follow" Jesus in whatever way they can. As Paul Tournier says, "We surrender our whole being to the authority of Jesus Christ. This means that we must let God direct us in the use of our body and goods, our work and our money.... This means that devotion to Jesus Christ turns over to him not only our inner life but also our social life."
In St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, where he served as dean, a plaque was placed on the wall over his tomb:
Here is laid the Body of
JONATHAN SWIFT,
Doctor of Divinity,
Dean of this Cathedral Church,
Where savage indignation
can no longer
Rend his heart,
Go traveller, and imitate,
if you can,
This earnest and dedicated
Champion of liberty.
He died on the 19th day of October,
1745 A.D. aged 78 years.
Swift, I am certain, would tell us to follow and imitate Jesus Christ, as he did.
4. Follow the Lamb, who is our leader - that is always the follow-up to baptism - Jesus' and ours.
John 1:43-51 (E, L) - "Making the most of a Little Evidence."
1. Most of the disciples remind us of ourselves; Jesus had to call them - directly - and order them to follow him. That's how it was with Philip, who in turn took Nathanael to Jesus.
2. Jesus wants disciples, but he particularly desires to have guileless persons, who will be faithful to him and true to their calling, follow him.
I spent a Sunday afternoon a couple of summers ago in a counseling session with a physician and his wife, who were on the verge of dropping out of the church because their pastor had deceived them - and the rest of the congregation - by becoming involved in an extra-marital affair. He had denied any involvement with this "other woman" in a conversation with the physician, his close friend. Some time later, they joined another parish; a friend of mine was the interim pastor in this parish, but - unbelievably, to me - he became enamored of one of the women in the congregation and literally blew the congregation when people learned about it. Needless to say, that physician and his wife no longer go to, or support, any parish. Perhaps if they encounter a pastor without guile, they will return to the fold once more.
3. Guileless people mean it when they acknowledge Jesus to be the Son of God, the King of Israel - King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And they will cling to the Lord - with the help of the Holy Spirit - forever.
A Sermon on the First Lesson, 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (L); 3:1-10 (11-20) (E, C); 3:3-10, 19 (R) - "Listen to the Word of the Lord."
1. Listen to God when he speaks to you - Samuel did, John the Baptizer did, Jesus did, and so have the disciples of the Lord for nearly 2,000 years. He does speak to you.
2. Few of us hear voices in the night; few of us hear God speaking directly - in our ears as it were - to us. There's a contemporary novel about a "hot-shot" college chaplain, who had always done his job efficiently and imaginatively until he suddenly heard God speaking directly to him. The trouble is that, after experiencing this a couple of times, he tells a few people about it. This spread throughout the campus congregation like wildfire. People thought he was a bit strange, perhaps "stressed out." The voices became too much for the people when the pastor, believing that God is speaking to him to work a miracle, tries to restore the sight of a boy who had lost his eyesight in an accident in front of the church. The pastor really has a problem when the miraculous healing doesn't occur and his people hear about it. Sometimes, voices we hear are not necessarily the Voice of God. (Although in Samuel's case - and that of other prophets and saints - the Voice was God's.)
3. God does speak to us - loudly and clearly - calling us to hear what he has to say and to believe it. Through his word, he speaks to us. Carrying on a conversation with us in prayer and meditation, he calls us to himself and his work in the world. That's one reason why public and private worship are so important in the life of the Christian.
4. Listen when he speaks, take in what he has to say in his word, and you will really be confirmed in the faith and in the life and ministry of the Lord.
By attaching verse 19 to this reading, the Roman Catholic lectionary emphasizes the similarity between Samuel and Jesus as they grew up in the faith. It also underlines the importance of treasuring every word that "comes from the mouth of the Lord." God will accomplish his intentions in what he has said to us through his Word. ("Samuel grew up and Yahweh was with him and let no word of his fall to the ground.")
A Sermon on the Second Lesson, 1 Corinthians 6:11b-20 (E); 6:12-20 (L, C); 6:13-15, 17-20 (R) - "Anything Goes - or Does It?"
1. Many Christians join non-Christians in the belief that all kinds of sexual activity - marital and extra-marital - are a right to be enjoyed in this enlightened age. Sex is a matter of "fun and games" - a gift of God to be enjoyed without restriction.
2. It is amazing that so many people do harm to themselves (with venereal diseases, AIDS, unwanted children, and shattered lives) and to their relationship with Christ.
A young man said to me recently that he had never seen any reason for getting married. He believed that young people are free to have any and all sorts of sexual activity, including living together without commitment or a marriage covenant. But the time finally came when he realized that he ought to marry the girl he was living with. His conscience seemed to get the better of him, and he thought that he and his fiancee should be married in a garden. He said to his disappointed mother and father, who wanted them to be married in a church, "I don't want a church wedding, because I don't deserve to be married in a church." As has happened with so many others in similar circumstances, he had drifted away from the church. His religion with Jesus Christ had been ruptured by his sin, and he thought it to be virtually unforgiveable.
3. Quite often, the whole church is affected, even hurt, by the moral failures of people
- particularly the leaders, ordained or lay, of congregations. When those who are supposed to set an example of obedience in living the new life in Christ for others, flaunt the teachings of the Word and live as they please, the results are predictable and terrible.
4. All of us are expected to glorify the Lord - in our bodies - by what we are and what we do. This eliminates entirely the "enjoy yourself/anything goes " mentality of those who call themselves children of God.
The Prayer of the Day
The contemporary collect that the Episcopal Church has chosen for this Sunday turns the manifestation theme to the people of God as they worship and work in the world:
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light ofthe world: Grant that your people, illuminated by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God now and forever. Amen
The task of the faithful is to let the manifestation of the Lord continue in the world through their discipleship. The Epiphany of our Lord to the world continues today through word and sacrament and the work of the people of God.
The Psalm for the Day
Psalm 40: 1, 3b, 6-9 (R); 63:1-8 (E); 67 (L) - The Roman Catholic Church, along with the Episcopal and Lutheran Churches, employs this psalm for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Cycle/Year A (LPW). The comments made therein are pertinent to the readings - and the theme - for this Sunday.
Psalm 63:1-8 (E) - The Lutheran lectionary appoints this psalm for the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Year/Cycle A. Comments on this psalm as a responsory can be found in the Lectionary Preaching Workbook, Cycle A.
Psalm 67 (L) - This particular psalm finds multiple usage in the Lutheran lectionary (among others). It functioned as a responsory, for the first time, on the Thirteenth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year/Cycle A. Commentary may be found in the Lectionary Preaching Workbook, Cycle A. However, it should be said that the psalm is particularly appropriate to the theme of a continuing manifestation, or epiphany, of Christ in the world through his Word, the Sacraments, and the discipleship of the faithful.
The readings:
1 Samuel 3:1-10 (L); 3:1-10 (11-20) (E, C); 3:3-10, 19 (R)
This pericope tells the familiar story of the calling of Samuel by God. Samuel thought it was Eli who was speaking to him as he slept in the Temple. But each time he was awakened by the voice, Eli told Samuel that it was not he who was calling out to him. But Eli realized after the third "awakening" that it was God speaking to Samuel, and he instructed him to say, "Speak, Lord, for your servant hears you" the next time he heard the voice. That's exactly what Samuel did and said. This story is a type of the calling of Jesus to his mission and ministry in the world in his manifestation, especially when God spoke to him in his baptism. Like Samuel, Jesus responded and began his work of preaching, teaching, and ministering to people in Palestine.
1 Corinthians 6:11b-20 (E); 6:12-20 (L, C); 6:13-15, 17-20 (R)
(Note: The Corinthian correspondence is peculiar to Epiphany. Beginning with this Sunday, it is the second reading for most of the Sundays of Epiphany in all three years/cycles. Most of the readings are from 1 Corinthians; 2 Corinthians is selected for the Seventh and Eighth Sundays after the Epiphany Year/Cycle B [in those few years when there are seven or more Sundays in the Epiphany season]. It is also used in Cycles/Years B and C for the Transfiguration of Our Lord [Lutheran].)
The church at Corinth was infected with the spirit of gnosticism or, at least, with a kind of antinomianism that fostered an "anything goes" - to which the modern adds, "as long as nobody gets hurt" - kind of attitude toward sexual morality. Paul saw this as detrimental to the relationship of the Corinthian Christians to Christ and to each other in the church, pointing out that sexual immorality was, first, a sin against Christ and his church whose "members" we are, and second, that it was a desecration of the body as the "temple of the Holy Spirit." Sexual sin is a rejection of the fact that people are "sealed by the Holy Spirit" in baptism. Sexual sin, then, is a sin against God, who sends the Holy Spirit to us in Word and Sacraments. All of this Paul puts in the context of the cross of Christ: "You are not your own [to do with as you please]; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."
John 1:35-42 (R, C); 1:43-51 (E, L)
The second half of the Gospel for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany (1:29-41), Cycle/Year A in the Episcopal and Lutheran lectionaries, is featured in the Roman Catholic and Common lectionaries today. Comments were made on this entire reading in the Lectionary Preaching Workbook, Cycle/Year A. It should also be pointed out that this selection, in the Roman Catholic and Common pericopes, tends to highlight John's identification of Christ before two of his disciples, one of whom was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. John declared, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" - and Andrew hurried off to find Simon Peter and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means Christ).
The manifestation/epiphany theme surfaces again in the calling of Philip, to whom Jesus said, "Follow me." He and Nathanael were from Bethsaida, the same town that Andrew and Peter were from. Nathanael had some of the spirit of Thomas in him and had to see Jesus for himself before he would believe what Philip told him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus called him "guileless" - and was convinced when Jesus described him and how he saw him under a fig tree. Once more the epiphany/manifestation motif comes out in Nathanael's response:
"Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel." At the end of the encounter, Jesus puts recognition of him as the Messiah in the context of his death on the cross.
A Sermon on the Gospel, John 1:35-42 (R, C) - "Follow-up to a Baptism."
1. The day after Jesus was baptized, according to St. John (who doesn't mention the baptism specifically), John the Baptizer saw Jesus again and said a strange thing: "Behold, the Lamb of God!" That was all he said in the presence of two of his disciples. In effect, that's the heart of the announcement in Epiphany: "Behold, the Savior of the world!"
2. But that was - and is - enough. They immediately left him and followed Jesus, because they knew now who he really was - and is - the Messiah, the Promised One of God, who is not only to be recognized and revered, but is also to be followed by the faithful wherever he leads. Incredibly, Jesus didn't even ask Andrew and the other disciple of John to follow him; they did it on John's word.
3. Everyone who believes Jesus to be the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, should follow him without delay. To do less is to reject him.
All baptized Christians are called to "follow" Jesus in whatever way they can. As Paul Tournier says, "We surrender our whole being to the authority of Jesus Christ. This means that we must let God direct us in the use of our body and goods, our work and our money.... This means that devotion to Jesus Christ turns over to him not only our inner life but also our social life."
In St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, where he served as dean, a plaque was placed on the wall over his tomb:
Here is laid the Body of
JONATHAN SWIFT,
Doctor of Divinity,
Dean of this Cathedral Church,
Where savage indignation
can no longer
Rend his heart,
Go traveller, and imitate,
if you can,
This earnest and dedicated
Champion of liberty.
He died on the 19th day of October,
1745 A.D. aged 78 years.
Swift, I am certain, would tell us to follow and imitate Jesus Christ, as he did.
4. Follow the Lamb, who is our leader - that is always the follow-up to baptism - Jesus' and ours.
John 1:43-51 (E, L) - "Making the most of a Little Evidence."
1. Most of the disciples remind us of ourselves; Jesus had to call them - directly - and order them to follow him. That's how it was with Philip, who in turn took Nathanael to Jesus.
2. Jesus wants disciples, but he particularly desires to have guileless persons, who will be faithful to him and true to their calling, follow him.
I spent a Sunday afternoon a couple of summers ago in a counseling session with a physician and his wife, who were on the verge of dropping out of the church because their pastor had deceived them - and the rest of the congregation - by becoming involved in an extra-marital affair. He had denied any involvement with this "other woman" in a conversation with the physician, his close friend. Some time later, they joined another parish; a friend of mine was the interim pastor in this parish, but - unbelievably, to me - he became enamored of one of the women in the congregation and literally blew the congregation when people learned about it. Needless to say, that physician and his wife no longer go to, or support, any parish. Perhaps if they encounter a pastor without guile, they will return to the fold once more.
3. Guileless people mean it when they acknowledge Jesus to be the Son of God, the King of Israel - King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And they will cling to the Lord - with the help of the Holy Spirit - forever.
A Sermon on the First Lesson, 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (L); 3:1-10 (11-20) (E, C); 3:3-10, 19 (R) - "Listen to the Word of the Lord."
1. Listen to God when he speaks to you - Samuel did, John the Baptizer did, Jesus did, and so have the disciples of the Lord for nearly 2,000 years. He does speak to you.
2. Few of us hear voices in the night; few of us hear God speaking directly - in our ears as it were - to us. There's a contemporary novel about a "hot-shot" college chaplain, who had always done his job efficiently and imaginatively until he suddenly heard God speaking directly to him. The trouble is that, after experiencing this a couple of times, he tells a few people about it. This spread throughout the campus congregation like wildfire. People thought he was a bit strange, perhaps "stressed out." The voices became too much for the people when the pastor, believing that God is speaking to him to work a miracle, tries to restore the sight of a boy who had lost his eyesight in an accident in front of the church. The pastor really has a problem when the miraculous healing doesn't occur and his people hear about it. Sometimes, voices we hear are not necessarily the Voice of God. (Although in Samuel's case - and that of other prophets and saints - the Voice was God's.)
3. God does speak to us - loudly and clearly - calling us to hear what he has to say and to believe it. Through his word, he speaks to us. Carrying on a conversation with us in prayer and meditation, he calls us to himself and his work in the world. That's one reason why public and private worship are so important in the life of the Christian.
4. Listen when he speaks, take in what he has to say in his word, and you will really be confirmed in the faith and in the life and ministry of the Lord.
By attaching verse 19 to this reading, the Roman Catholic lectionary emphasizes the similarity between Samuel and Jesus as they grew up in the faith. It also underlines the importance of treasuring every word that "comes from the mouth of the Lord." God will accomplish his intentions in what he has said to us through his Word. ("Samuel grew up and Yahweh was with him and let no word of his fall to the ground.")
A Sermon on the Second Lesson, 1 Corinthians 6:11b-20 (E); 6:12-20 (L, C); 6:13-15, 17-20 (R) - "Anything Goes - or Does It?"
1. Many Christians join non-Christians in the belief that all kinds of sexual activity - marital and extra-marital - are a right to be enjoyed in this enlightened age. Sex is a matter of "fun and games" - a gift of God to be enjoyed without restriction.
2. It is amazing that so many people do harm to themselves (with venereal diseases, AIDS, unwanted children, and shattered lives) and to their relationship with Christ.
A young man said to me recently that he had never seen any reason for getting married. He believed that young people are free to have any and all sorts of sexual activity, including living together without commitment or a marriage covenant. But the time finally came when he realized that he ought to marry the girl he was living with. His conscience seemed to get the better of him, and he thought that he and his fiancee should be married in a garden. He said to his disappointed mother and father, who wanted them to be married in a church, "I don't want a church wedding, because I don't deserve to be married in a church." As has happened with so many others in similar circumstances, he had drifted away from the church. His religion with Jesus Christ had been ruptured by his sin, and he thought it to be virtually unforgiveable.
3. Quite often, the whole church is affected, even hurt, by the moral failures of people
- particularly the leaders, ordained or lay, of congregations. When those who are supposed to set an example of obedience in living the new life in Christ for others, flaunt the teachings of the Word and live as they please, the results are predictable and terrible.
4. All of us are expected to glorify the Lord - in our bodies - by what we are and what we do. This eliminates entirely the "enjoy yourself/anything goes " mentality of those who call themselves children of God.
