3rd Sunday After Epiphany, January 24, 2016

Collect for the Day

Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

                                                                

Reflections:  Christ calls all people to fullness of life. This sits at the core of our faith; we pray that we may live out this conviction more and more deeply, both as an institutional church and as individual members of the Body of Christ—regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity or orientation, or any other differences over which we may be tempted to turn against one another.

First Reading: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

All the people of Israel gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel. Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law.  
        And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

        And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Reflections: Why did the people weep? The Law of God was read and interpreted. Perhaps they realized their guilt before God, and wept in sorrow and repentance. We Christians tend to think of God’s Law as a burden, as divine demands that are impossible to meet. That’s certainly the impression St. Paul gives us as he struggles to understand the gift of grace in Christ.

        But it’s also possible that the people wept for joy. The Law is difficult, but beautiful. For Israel, the Law of God was not simply demands placed upon them, but a gift freely given them. It was a sign that they were God’s people, and it represented a relationship of mutual faithfulness. One might say that, the Law was Israel’s epiphany, a revelation of their deepest identity: God’s own people.

        Perhaps, when we listen to the beautiful (but difficult) text of the Sermon on the Mount, we also might weep. Our Epiphany is Christ. It is Christ who reveals our deepest being. What cause for celebration!

Psalm 19 Caeli enarrant

The heavens declare the glory of God, * and the firmament shows God’s handiwork.

One day tells its tale to another, * and one night imparts knowledge to another.

Although they have no words or language, * and their voices are not heard,

Their sound has gone out into all lands, * and their message to the ends of the world.

In the deep has God set a pavilion for the sun; * it comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber;

it rejoices like a champion to run its course.

It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens and runs about to the end of it again; * 
   nothing is hidden from its burning heat.

The law of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul; *
the testimony of the Lord is sure and gives wisdom to the innocent.

The statutes of the Lord are just and rejoice the heart; *
the commandment of the Lord is clear and gives light to the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean and endures for ever; *
the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold, *
sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb.

By them also is your servant enlightened, * and in keeping them there is great reward.

Who can tell how often he offends? * cleanse me from my secret faults.

Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not get dominion over me; *
then shall I be whole and sound, and innocent of a great offense.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, * 
   O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

Reflections: As preoccupied as we humans are with ourselves, here is a corrective. The whole of creation knows and witnesses to God. And this isn’t the only psalm with that message.

        Yet my favorite part of this psalm is the end. “Who can tell how often he offends? Cleanse me from my secret faults.” From whom are our faults secret? Certainly not to God. Surely it is we who do not want to see, we who dare not see, except in the sure knowledge of God’s enduring love revealed in Christ, of forgiveness and redemption.

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

        Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

        On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

        Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But strive for the greater gifts.

Reflections: In this reading, St. Paul continues to explain about spiritual gifts. The members of the Corinthian community quite naturally want to identify their spiritual gifts. I can imagine the pressure to speak in tongues as a demonstration of their faith, to assure that they belong. To demonstrate their superior holiness, perhaps. At some time or other we’ve all felt the need to prove that we were good enough, that we belonged, even that we were “better.”

        But Paul is trying to teach the Corinthians that the life of the Spirit doesn’t work that way. In fact, striving for signs of our belonging or preeminence completely missed the point of spiritual gifts. The life of the Spirit, he argues, isn’t about my spiritual gifts, but about self-less service to the community. In other words, love.

        The practical implications of this ecological insight are hard to miss. The body is not just a collection of individually existing parts, but each member is intimately united with the “other” members in a whole that exceeds each part. Today we are learning to understand phenomena (ranging from as small as the human family to as large as whole societies) as systems. What formerly we considered independent parts—family members, neighborhoods, jobs, wages, education, health care, and so on—we are discovering to be deeply related. Tug on one thread, and the whole fabric quivers.

Gospel: Luke 4:14-21

Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

­Reflections: This passage must have been read in the synagogue countless time, but when Jesus reads from the scroll this time, it’s different. In his mouth, the text became a proclamation. It wasn’t read; it was announced by God in the World, Emmanuel.

We read this passage as a fulfillment of Isaiah; the Messiah has come and announces liberation, healing, the Jubilee Year during which all debts were cancelled and all slaves freed. Nevertheless, even in Jesus’ time slavery continued, poverty, sickness, suffering, debt, violence and untold manner of degradation persisted—and persist to this day. What do we do with that?

What this passages suggests to me today is that wherever Christ is, freedom is. Wherever we encounter Christ, we experience compassion, healing, forgiveness, compassion, love. This is what Jesus brought to Nazareth; this is what Christ brings to and for us; this is what we ourselves bring into the world whenever we share the mind and heart of Christ.