RonBlog

Sunday 16th January, 2011 Second Sunday after Epiphany

Sentence
God is faithful; by Him you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Cor. 1:9
Collect
Almighty God, by Whose grace alone we are accepted and called to Your service; strengthen us by Your Holy Spirit and make us worthy of our calling, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Old Testament Lesson Isaiah 49: 1 – 7

Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The LORD called me before I was born, while I was in my mother's womb he named me. He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified." But I said, "I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my cause is with the LORD, and my reward with my God."
And now the LORD says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honoured in the sight of the LORD, and my God has become my strength--he says, "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."
Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the slave of rulers, "Kings shall see and stand up, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy Israel, who has chosen you."

Psalm 40: 1 – 14

I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.
Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.
Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.
Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for me; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll.
I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”
I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, as you know, O LORD.
I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and salvation. I do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly.
Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD; may your love and your truth always protect me.
For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.
Be pleased, O LORD, to save me; O LORD, come quickly to help me.
May all who seek to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.

Epistle 1 Corinthians 1: 1 – 9

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind-- just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you--so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

GOSPEL John 1: 29 – 42

The next day John (the Baptist) saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.' I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel." And John testified, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God."
The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, "Look, here is the Lamb of God!" The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi" (which translated means Teacher), "where are you staying?" He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon.
One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated Anointed ). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter.)

© New Revised Standard Version of the Bible
Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. All rights reserved

NOTES ON THE READINGS

Old Testament Lesson
As we continue to explore the Servant Songs of Isaiah, it is interesting that this passage comes up for consideration. It is helpful perhaps to look at its first useage in the prophet’s time, and then to translate it to our own period in history.
Israel was in exile in Babylon, and in spite of or even because of the passage of decades, was disconsolate. If they were supposed to be the People of God, why was everything so balanced against them? If God is God, where is the future? And there seemed to be none.
In response to their pessimism, the prophet seemed to understand God to be widening their calling rather than limiting it. ‘It is too small a thing’ is a fascinating sort of statement. The prophet saw the calling of Israel rather wider than simply bringing its own people closer to faith and reality. That calling was broadened to embrace all of humanity. On top of that, there was the reassurance that, in spite of evidence to the contrary, God was not dead, nor had He forgotten His people. That double encouragement must have strengthened the hand of many of the exiles.
Now translate that to the present, where lots of people of faith are wondering what is the future of the Church. Seems to me that the same message of ‘look beyond yourselves’ is a salutary lesson for the present time. And a singularly useful one in this Season of Epiphany – light to the Gentiles!!!!!!!

Psalm
One might see in this psalm the cries of a self-focussed person worrying about what others might think of him. On the other hand, it seems to me to be the cry of one who is concerned that the ‘great unwashed’ have grounds to ignore the Holy One of Israel. It strikes me that so many of the apparently sad psalms are in fact rather more pointing to the reality of God, the faith He offers, and the enormous benefits if only stupid people would sit up and take notice.

Epistle
When one becomes familiar with all the rest of the still-available letters of Paul to Corinth, one is left wondering whether here Paul writes in the language of hope, or is simply trying to be nice to a rather unpretty congregation or two there. From all Paul wrote, there were constant issues needing attention and resolution. Mind you, in the circumstances, it would be surprising if any Church these days would get off the deck in such a place.
Corinth was (and remains) a seaport not all that far from Athens, and seaports are not exactly noted for the finesse in their living or in their attitudes. It must have been a rough-and-tumble sort of place with not a lot to say for itself, at least not in terms of good manners and politeness!!!
So reality means that we do need to recognize that the Gospel managed to flourish in such a god-forsaken city, as well as to see that it must have been the case that much of Paul’s church-planting was a risk-taking enterprise. In spite of all the bad press, Paul still sees the members of that Church as ‘saints,’ hagioi, even if they had only one foot on the first rung of the ladder. This is enough to encourage us all to keep going, surely.

GOSPEL
One has to say that ‘it was a small world’ when we see that the disciples of John the Baptist move their allegiance to our Lord. And that must have been difficult for John, poor bloke – his later ‘he (Jesus) must increase and I decrease’ surely came from suchlike experiences.
There is a strange atmosphere about the entire Baptist thing, surely. John and Jesus were cousins, and yet came from quite different backgrounds. As far as can be ascertained, the Baptist grew up in an Essene community, with all its stringent and apocalyptic emphases. John’s religion would have been singularly dogmatic and judgemental, whereas Jesus’ response to people was far more relaxed. As time went by, you will recall that John was uncertain about his cousin (‘are you the one we are looking for, or do we search for another?’) John’s expectation was of dramatic judgement and denouement for Israel and those around, and his disappointment must have been massive.
All this is not to confuse you, but rather to indicate that not many people seemed to have all the answers as we might have expected. Each and every one had to test the spirits to discover where the truth really lay.

NOTES FOR A SERMON

It has been a funny – strange - thing being a priest I must confess, and over the years quite a lot of expectations have gone the way of all flesh. I expect that has been true for lots of lay people as well, but it s a while since I have been one-such.
One of the misperceptions that have dispersed into the mist of experience has been that expectation that if you preached well and interestingly and visited people in their homes, that the congregation would grow to large proportions and you would be loved. That latter has never been all that important, but it must be said that it may be the only thing that really did come into being. All the rest has been hard slog, with not a lot of results.
I have to confess to a troubled response many years ago to articles written for BCA’s Real Australian where some of my confreres wrote glowing reports of ‘all the Lord was doing in their spheres.’ I could report no such things, but gave indication of what really was happening on my turf. Change of parish to someone else operated earlier uncovered the fact that most of the stories were less than honest with reality. I have encountered other clergy also who have gilded the lily because they thought that that was what people wanted to hear. Mmmmm!

Now none of the above is meant to destroy reputations, but rather to do as Scripture does and bring us back to earth, down to reality, and rather more realistic in both expectations and hopes. There is no easy path to being a Christian, being a Christian priest, nor is there an ideal parish or even congregation – at least not in my experience. Mind you, there are some absolute beauties, and I have been part of them, but they have not been without ‘issues.’

If you are feeling downcast at all this, then you have no right to be, not at all. Let me explain.

For instance, I had often wondered why the Old Testament prophets came in for so much flak. So much of what they had to say comes across to me at least, with such power, passion, and obvious truth, that I found it hard to work out why life was so hard for them. Jeremiah, for instance, seemed forever in the black books of those around him, and yet I would have loved to have sat at his feet. I think. But then when one has spent time with real and ordinary people, the discovery comes with unabashed impact: people do not want to know the truth. Give ‘em baloney and they’ll love it; give ‘em truth and they will hate you.

The example par excellence, of course, is our Lord. No one could have been more open, honest, compassionate and truthful, and look what they did to Him. Certainly I could not have held back from calling those miserable so-and-sos by their right names. On occasion they did get the better of me, as professing Christians showed that they were nothing of the sort.

So where is all this leading?

Notice how today’s readings tend to bend to the pessimistic side? Israel in Exile was feeling left out in the cold, right through that difficult and threatening period; Paul (seems to me to be) trying to boost the recalcitrant Corinthians. And even the Baptist was having difficult for much of his ministry in recognizing Jesus as Christos.
In other words, even the Infant Church had all sorts of issues and problems in their own day and age, so why should we be any different? Complaining will change nothing; so just remember that if Jesus had decided that it was not worth the effort, we would never have heard a thing about Him. So if He managed to cope with it, and we are on the same side, then get real, get on with it, and stop feeling sorry for yourself. You have a task to fulfill, so fulfill it to the best of your ability and leave the rest up to the Lord. He has broad shoulders.