RonBlog

Sunday 23rd January 2011 Third Sunday after Epiphany

Sentence
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and sickness among the people. Matthew 4: 23

Collect
Loving God, the light of the minds that know You, the life of the souls who love You, and the strength of the hearts that serve You; help us so to know You that we may truly love You; and so to love You that we may faithfully serve You, Whose service is perfect freedom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Old Testament Lesson Isaiah 9: 1 – 4

There will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness-- on them light has shined. You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.

Psalm 27: 1 – 10

The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?
When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.
Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.
For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.
Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD.
Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me.
My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek.
Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Saviour.
Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.

Epistle 1 Corinthians 1: 10 – 18

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ."
Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

GOSPEL Matthew 4: 12 – 25

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: "Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles-- the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned." From that time Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."
As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea--for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

© 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
This passage is neither all that clear nor (really) all that easy to understand. However as an overview, it stems from a period in Jewish history when all sorts of things were being turned upside down. (First) Isaiah was writing around the time of the divided kingdom, when threats of political and military natures were being experienced. A look at the map will indicate that even the combined Kingdom was really very small, and being on the land trade route from Egypt to all points north and east, meant that whoever controlled Israel controlled the trade.
Now northern areas of Israel were not considered all that strong or valuable, so such folk were looked down on. In any country, those furthest from the action, the hayseeds, were held in some derision. However, here the prophet anticipates the reversal of such a situation, so that those folk would be in a position to point others to the light. The latter parts of this passage have tended to be taken as prophecies of the coming Christ, but one would have to suggest that such is a matter of drawing a long bow. It is not unlike that passage from this book that talks about ‘virgins.’
The real issue in this passage is not to be afraid of tyrants and other braggarts. They will come and go, but truth, justice and integrity will ever remain as strong and indestructible bases for life. And faith.

Psalm
And does not this Psalm underline exactly the same sort of thing? It was true way back then, and true it remains in spite of the passage of up to three millennia.

Epistle
It was never easy being a prophet, and here it is clear that apostles encountered similar stresses and difficulties. As mentioned in last week’s notes, the Corinthian Christians were not the prettiest of sights, and their penchant for division and strife showed up constantly. Here Paul is calling for unity, albeit without a lot of success. The aside about baptism might seem to downplay any sense of importance that Paul had for that sacrament, but that would be to misread what he was writing. Baptism, like Eucharist, is sacrament of unity and reconciliation, and never forget that.
The final sentence is a fascinating one, and Paul returns to this thought a number of times. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who see power and strength as the canons of greatness. Jesus did not, for He saw the eternal values in reconciliation, forgiveness and restoration. Those values and attributes never seem to hit a lot of airspace in the citadels of (human) power – which is why tensions run high and wars are a constant.

GOSPEL
Dear old Matthew managed to enlist those words from Isaiah to underline the fact that much of Jesus’ ministry was in the northern part of the country, near Galilee, where people tended to be despised. (Always consult an atlas when you read the Gospels, for it is remarkable to realize the extent to which Jesus went outside Israel during His ministry. Our Lord has no difficulty embracing Samaritans and Gentiles, much to the annoyance of the purists of His day. Even Jesus’ selection of disciples would have raised the ire of Jesus’ antagonists. Ignorant and unlearned men was the description laid on those fishermen, but they turned out to be inspired choices for the task in front of them. They were not perfect, Charlie Brown, any more than are we; and they stumbled from time to time. But one could hardly doubt their loyalty after the resurrection.

NOTES FOR A SERMON

I recall a sermon way, way back in my youth, preached not by me but by a College lecturer, I recall. Whoever it was emphasised the number of times that Jesus exhorted people to ‘Fear not.’ In fact just a few verses before the start of today’s OT reading, these words occur:
Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy,
and do not fear what it fears, or be in dread.
But the LORD of hosts, Him you shall regard as holy;
let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

Now this passage has nothing to do with being afraid of death and hell, as some old time preachers might like to stress. It has to do with fear of invasion from external forces, armies, dictators and tyrants. Fear not, do not be afraid; a constant exhortation in all of Scripture.

Now this is a factor worth exploring, for it has to be said that in all modern expressions of tyranny from Hitler to Stalin to Saddam Hussein and more, fear has been the common controlling factor that enabled such men to retain their hold over people. On top of that, what appears to have been the propaganda weapon that assisted such horror was their common tendency to convince people that the ancient verities of justice, truth, compassion and integrity were no long valid, and in fact were dead.

The Judaic/Christian Faiths have, in word if not always in deed, maintained the reality of those ancient and unchanging virtues. In fact, I think it may be true to say that whenever the adherents of whatever religion have wandered from their own values; they have tried to downplay what people, generally, would know to be real.

As one who was rather young during World War II, I found it fascinating and well as enormously encouraging to hear of and occasionally meet Christian pastors and priests from Hitler’s Germany who stood up to the abuse and threats from Nazi hoodlums. (It was equally horrifying to find that there were rather more clergy of all denominations who ‘bowed the knee’ for the sake of their own survival.) Post war we had the experience of sitting at the feet of those who upheld their faith and their integrity, and to read the writings of those who did not.

I do not know how I would respond and react to huge pressure to submit to violent men, so I can never stand in judgement on those who surrendered, but I do have the vision offered both by Scripture and such people to be aware of when falsities are being presented as gospel, and spin is offered instead of reality. And that surely is the first rung of the ladder of being strong to hold out against untruths – and tyranny.

And that is just as important an aspect of Epiphany as any other; and underlines the value of that difficult passage from Isaiah.