Epiphany 5

Sunday, February 7, 2010
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany / Lectionary 5

MIDWEEK MUSINGS

Reflection by Joshua Brown

Introduction
The fifth Sunday after Epiphany continues to highlight unlikely instruments and circumstances appointed to reveal the glory of the Lord. “Who will go for us?” queries the voice of the Lord. A man of unclean lips, a former persecutor of the church of God, and three fishermen who couldn’t catch a thing. More surprising still, perhaps, is the fact that we are also called.

Prayer of the Day (ELW)

Most holy God, the earth is filled with your glory, and before you angels and saints stand in awe. Enlarge our vision to see your power at work in the world, and by your grace make us heralds of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

First Reading

Isaiah 6:1–8 [9–13]

Through a vision in the temple, the eighth-century prophet Isaiah is called by God to announce judgment against Israel. Like other prophets, Isaiah is initially hesitant because of his awareness of his sin and his shortcomings, but when the Lord calls, Isaiah responds, "Here am I; send me!"

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the LORD sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. ²Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. ³And one called to another and said:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory."
⁴The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. ⁵And I said: "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"
⁶Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. ⁷The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: "Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out." ⁸Then I heard the voice of the LORD saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I; send me!" ⁹And he said, "Go and say to this people:
'Keep listening, but do not comprehend;
keep looking, but do not understand.'
¹⁰Make the mind of this people dull,
and stop their ears,
and shut their eyes,
so that they may not look with their eyes,
and listen with their ears,
and comprehend with their minds,
and turn and be healed."
¹¹Then I said, "How long, O LORD?" And he said:
"Until cities lie waste
without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
and the land is utterly desolate;
¹²until the LORD sends everyone far away,
and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land.
¹³Even if a tenth part remain in it,
it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or an oak
whose stump remains standing
when it is felled."
The holy seed is its stump.

Psalm (ELW)

Psalm 138

I will bow down toward your holy temple. (Ps. 138:2)

¹I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with ^| my whole heart;

before the gods I will ^| sing your praise.

²I will bow down toward your holy temple and praise your name, because of your steadfast ^| love and faithfulness;

for you have glorified your name and your word a- ^| bove all things.

³When I called, you ^| answered me;

you increased my ^| strength within me.

⁴All the rulers of the earth will praise ^| you, O LORD,

when they have heard the words ^| of your mouth.

⁵They will sing of the ways ^| of the LORD,

that great is the glory ^| of the LORD.

⁶The LORD is high, yet cares ^| for the lowly,

perceiving the haughty ^| from afar.

⁷Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you ^| keep me safe;

you stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies; your right ^| hand shall save me.

⁸You will make good your pur- ^| pose for me;

O LORD, your steadfast love endures forever; do not abandon the works ^| of your hands.

Second Reading

1 Corinthians 15:1–11

Paul delivers in a nutshell the story of the gospel that was given to him. In the lineage of the Christian faith, we have received the good news of God's love from generations of believers before us, and we continue to tell this story to the world.

Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, ²through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you — unless you have come to believe in vain.
³For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, ⁴and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, ⁵and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. ⁷Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. ⁹For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them — though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. ¹¹Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

Gospel

Luke 5:1–11

Jesus' teaching of God's word has begun to draw great crowds. For Simon, James, and John, Jesus' teaching inspires hospitality, then obedience, and then risk. After Jesus' creative power is revealed, fear and amazement lead these three fishermen to leave everything behind in order to become apostles.

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, ²he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. ³He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. ⁴When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." ⁵Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets." ⁶When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. ⁷So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" ⁹For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; ¹⁰and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people." ¹¹When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

Reflection

Our society has taken the word extreme to the extreme. What started as a description for daredevil sports has permeated everything from beverages, to music, to technology, to politics. In fact a quick Google search revealed at least two “Extreme Jesus” websites and a number of books, columns and blogs . The zealous use of extreme has nearly driven the words connotation from indicating something beyond normal limitations to indicating something pushed so far beyond any reasonable limitations that it deserves its own special category.

Today’s lessons contain just a few of the Bible many extreme examples. Isaiah’s fear of God’s extreme power, the psalmist song in praise of a God above all other gods, the extreme grace that converted the Apostle Paul, and the extreme abundance of Jesus’ miracle all point to an extreme God. A God that exists beyond even the wildest reaches of our imaginations or the deepest depth of our understanding. The extremity of God’s awesome and limitation defying power sets God apart above all creatures of this world and the next.

But God chooses to express extremeness not only in phenomenal acts of cosmic power but also in acts that contradict and confound human expectations in extreme ways. God calls a frightened man of unclean lips as a prophet and personally answer the call of the lowly. God choose a pack of peasant fishermen as disciples and converts a prosecutorial adversary into a singular force in the expansion of the infant church. Why else would God take these extreme actions if not to demonstrate an inordinately extravagant abundance of grace?

Each new day we encounter the remarkable grace of God that exist beyond human reason and convention. If we can reflect and disperse even a fraction that grace we will have brought this world one step closer to the extreme vision God has for the world to come.

Quote

“I would rather feel things in extreme than not at all.” ~ Bonnie Raitt, American Singer/Song Writer

The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible. ~ Arthur C. Clarke, British Science Fiction Writer

Prayer Concerns

· For all those in need of food, water and medical care in Haiti and around the world

· That the life of Ansgar, Bishop of Hamburg, and missionary to Denmark and Sweden, will inspire missionary zeal and compassion for the poor throughout the church.

· For all servants who have departed this world in peace. May their eyes behold God’s salvation

Epiphany 4 Musings

Sunday, January 31, 2010
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany / Lectionary 4

Midweek Musings

Reflection by Elizabeth Ovando

Introduction
The glory of God is often revealed when and where it is least expected. God uses our lips to declare that glory, inexperienced and hesitant though they may be. God uses our love to demonstrate that glory and so urges us to exercise it. God uses Jesus of Nazareth, water and the word, bread and wine, to reveal God's glory where and when God chooses. Take heed, lest the glory of God slip through our midst unnoticed.

Prayer of the Day (ELW)

Almighty and ever-living God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and love; and that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command, through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

First Reading

Jeremiah 1:4–10

God calls Jeremiah to be a prophet and consecrates him in the womb. Jeremiah's task is to preach God's word in the midst of the difficult political realities of his time, before the Babylonian exile. He is to make God known not only to Judah, but also to the nations.

⁴Now the word of the LORD came to me saying,
⁵"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations."
⁶Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy." ⁷But the LORD said to me,
"Do not say, 'I am only a boy';
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you.
⁸Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
says the LORD."
⁹Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me,
"Now I have put my words in your mouth.
¹⁰See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant."

Psalm (ELW)

Psalm 71:1–6

From my mother's womb you have been my strength. (Ps. 71:6)

¹In you, O LORD, have I ^| taken refuge;

let me never be ^| put to shame.

²In your righteousness, deliver me and ^| set me free;

incline your ear to ^| me and save me.

³Be my strong rock, a castle to ^| keep me safe;

you are my crag ^| and my stronghold.

⁴Deliver me, my God, from the hand ^| of the wicked,

from the clutches of the evildoer and ^| the oppressor.

⁵For you are my hope, ^| O Lord GOD,

my confidence since ^| I was young.

⁶I have been sustained by you ever since I was born; from my mother's womb you have ^| been my strength;

my praise shall be al- ^| ways of you.

Second Reading

1 Corinthians 13:1–13

Christians in Corinth prided themselves on their spiritual gifts. Paul reminds them that God gives us many gifts through the Holy Spirit, but the purpose behind all of them is love, the kind of love that God showed us in Jesus Christ.

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ²And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
⁴Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant ⁵or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. ⁷It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
⁸Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. ⁹For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; ¹⁰but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. ¹¹When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. ¹²For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. ¹³And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

Gospel

Luke 4:21–30

People in Jesus' hometown are initially pleased when he says that God will free the oppressed. Their pleasure turns to rage when he reminds them that God's prophetic mission typically pushes beyond human boundaries so that mercy and healing are extended to those regarded as outsiders.

²¹Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." ²²All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" ²³He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Doctor, cure yourself!' And you will say, 'Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.'" ²⁴And he said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown. ²⁵But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; ²⁶yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. ²⁷There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian." ²⁸When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. ²⁹They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. ³⁰But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

The Reflection

The second lesson and the Gospel seem to be an odd pairing for me. 1 Corinthians 13 is often heard at weddings and speaks of love but the Gospel tells the story of Jesus facing hostility on his return home. I started to reflect on the Gospel and the earthquake in Haiti. I am troubled to hear some people complain about how much money is being sent to help when we have people in New Orleans who still do not have their homes rebuilt five years after that disaster. There are poor here who could use that money. The Gospel lesson and the lesson from Corinthians combined, reminds us that love must be extended to those beyond those within our own borders. The love we show a stranger can be a reflection of the perfect love we receive from God.

One of the signs for LOVE in ASL is expressed as a hug for yourself. Cross your right and left arm in front of you and hug them close to your torso. Then take that hug given to yourself, open your arms, go in peace to serve the Lord and ask that your arms be used to bring love to those who need it most.

Pray for:

§ The people of Haiti

§ Families impacted by mental illness

§ Those working to rebuild New Orleans

§ Teachers, educators and their support staff