Second Sunday after the Epiphany, A, January 11, 2026

Prayer

On all who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be saints let the Spirit descend and remain, so that filled with grace and peace, we may reveal the One whom we testify to be the Son of God. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.
From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year A, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992.

Some Thoughts on John 1:29-42

"Perhaps in most congregations, it might be more effective to ignore all the different possible Christological implications of these titles, and simple tell a story about little Andrew who responded to the invitation to come and see and then did his own small part to spread the knowledge of the Messiah to his brother and throughout his town."

Exegetical Notes by Brian Stoffregen at CrossMarks Christian Resources.

"But the hospitality of Jesus was controversial. He chafed against the limits of social propriety by welcoming prostitutes and adulterers, crooks and outcasts into his gracious presence. His hospitality knew no limit. It was not just indiscriminate: it was promiscuous."

"The Other 'H' Word," Mark Ralls, The Christian Century, 2005.

Oremus Online NRSV Gospel Text

In this week's appointed Gospel lesson we see a continuing pattern of acknowledgment about the person of Jesus as proclaimed by the first Christians. Last week we were given a vision of Jesus Christ as Son, servant, inaugurator of the new exodus and creation, and the one who fulfills all righteousness. This week we hear in the voice of John the Baptist that Jesus is: Lamb of God, the pre-existent one, the one on whom the Holy Spirit descends, and as the chosen one.

The theme of our season of the Epiphany (a season of God with us) is a season wherein we are able to proclaim and speak clearly about the person of Jesus Christ and our understanding of him as followers. As the Lamb of God, we understand Jesus in terms of the suffering servant from Isaiah. Our early church fathers also saw him clearly as the paschal lamb provided by God for the sake of the world.

The Johannine scholar Raymond Brown writes, "John the Baptist hailed Jesus as the lamb of Jewish apocalyptic expectation who was to be raised up by God to destroy evil in the world, a picture not too far from that of Rev. xvii 14." (John, vol 1, Anchor Bible, 60)  Tying in the first words of John's Gospel, the Baptist reminds us of the concept that Jesus is the incarnation of God and intimately involved in the creation itself.

There is some debate around the idea that this may be more the author's polemic than the Baptist's prophecy. However, this line of thinking seems less interesting than the idea that the first Christians proclaimed and understood that Jesus was God. The second person of the Trinity in accordance with the creeds that would later be formed but nonetheless grounded in these first thoughts. What also seems clear is that many believed Jesus in their first-hand experience to be the "one to come" prophesied in the writings of the Old Testament. (Brown, 64)

Jesus is the one upon whom the Holy Spirit descended. We understand as did the first followers that this is an indication not simply of his holiness but that Jesus was an instrument of God. He is in the words of Isaiah the Messiah, the servant, the one to lead us. We end the scene with the identity of Jesus as the Chosen One. Each of the previous theological typologies for understanding the person of Jesus leads to this one. Jesus in his baptism is the one in whom God is pleased.

While we might look over our long and sacred history and see those saints that came before Jesus and those that came after we cannot help but recognize the first Christian testimony that Jesus is the uniquely chosen one by God to provide deliverance and new life to God's people - gentile and Jew alike. It is a marvel that our author could provide such a rich Isaiah like Christology in these first verses of his Gospel.

We have an opportunity as preachers and teachers to share this unique scriptural witness with those around us. More importantly that as we listen and engage in conversation with those around us we are showing this Christology already at work in their lives and the lives of those in our community.  The challenge this week will be the primary pastoral challenge of the Gospel - to connect the unique story of Christ with the everyday lives of God's people.

Some Thoughts on 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

"Private faith of a personal future is more comforting and marketable, but has little to do with the hope Jesus came to bring and doesn't really spell good news for the poor except in another life."
"First Thoughts on Year A Epistle Passages in the Lectionary: Epiphany 2," William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.

"It is perhaps not surprising that Paul, as he addresses the church in Corinth, speaks of the gift given, God's grace shared, as "speech and knowledge of every kind" and wealth (i.e., being enriched in Christ Jesus)."
Commentary, 1 Corinthians 1:3-9, Dirk G. Lange, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.

Oremus Online NRSV Epistle Text 

Here again, we begin with the Pauline formula of using Greek letter writing traditions.  He, of course, adapts it for his own purposes and inserts a wonderful prayer.

In the prayer he thanks God for grace and spiritual gifts, especially those given to the Corinthian church.  He also gives a nod to the imminent return of Christ.  He tells them that God is present in their lives at this very time and that God is supporting them in their work.  And, as in many of his themes he reminds them of God's own faithfulness to humanity and that he promises to us to be with us and to be with us to the very end.  

Ultimately, Paul is reminding the readers of the past and readers today of God's blessings and care for them.  This passage offers us a moment to invite our listeners to ponder the blessings of life.

In AA and Alanon gratitude is a constant theme.  Without gratitude to our higher power, we begin to believe that we are self-sufficient, all-powerful and in control.  It is always good to encourage our people for they are indeed richly blessed and our encouragement can help lead them to the right use of those blessings. However, in a world of super egoism and narcissism, it may be an even more urgent need to remind them that it is God who provides for them, in fact, provides all things, and provides even their/our very life.

Some Thoughts on Isaiah 49:1-7


"As always, it's important here to state the big story at work in Isaiah in order to grasp the power of Isaiah's proclamation in chapter 49."Commentary, Isaiah 49:1-7, Amy Oden, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2014.

Oremus Online NRSV Old Testament Text 

The passage we have this week from Isaiah is often referred to as the “Second Servant Song.” It is a promise from God through the mouth of Isaiah to the people in Babylon that God will not leave God’s people scattered. That God will not only “comfort, comfort” God’s people but that God will also draw God’s people home to God’s self. In so doing, God’s work will be manifestly witnessed to by all people – there will, in fact, be a universal understanding of God, God’s faithfulness, God’s desire to unite God’s people, to be united with God’s people, and finally to free and deliver God’s people.

This passage had a profound impact on the Gospel authors. The message that God’s light and God’s mission would reach to the ends of the earth-inspired the Gospel authors as they interpreted the ministry of Jesus. They understood specifically that Jesus was not only this “suffering servant” but that God in Christ Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit was going to undertake this work. The universal proclamation in Mark and Luke is especially tied to this particular passage. Jesus is the light, his work of salvation will reach all people. The comfort that Isaiah proclaims is spoken again by Simeon and the people are being prepared for the light and life which he brings. Lips will be freed so that all the nations will resound a prophetic acclamation of God’s work and mission. Richard Hays writes in Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels (a fantastic read) that the Gospels are “hardwired” for this mission.

Paul in Acts says this most clearly: “To this day I have had help from God, and so I stand here, testifying to both small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would take place: that the Messiah* must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.’”

Baptism of Our Lord, First Sunday after the Epiphany, A - January 4, 2026

Prayer

As we celebrate today the mystery of Jesus' baptism in the River Jordan, renew in us our own baptism: pattern our lives on this Christ, your chosen one, the Child on whom your favor rests, the Beloved with whom you are well pleased.  We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year A, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992.



Some Thoughts on Matthew 3:13-17

"There is something very open-ended about Jesus' experience of baptism. Rather than closing his life, it opens him to a range of experiences that he will try to understand through the prismatic realities of Servant and Son."

"Water-Fellowship, Water Joy-Divine," Expository Essay, Dr. William R. Long.

"Fulfilling of righteousness requires letting go of our personal sense of what is right and proper in order to let it be God's will that is fulfilled. For Jesus, as at the end, so too at the beginning: a deep and profound aligning of his heart and will with the will and Spirit of God."

Holy Textures, Understanding the Bible in its own time and in ours, Matthew 3:13-17, David Ewart, 2011.

"When we say that Jesus is God's son, going about the family business, we are saying not only that Jesus is like God; we are saying that God is like Jesus."

Dylan's Lectionary Blog, Epiphany 1A. Biblical Scholar Sarah Dylan Breuer looks at readings for the coming Sunday in the lectionary of the Episcopal Church.

Oremus Online NRSV Gospel Text

The Gospel is one directly related to Mark's account and this connection helps us to understand the import of Jesus' baptism to the earliest of Christians. It is also important in continuing the theme we spoke of during Advent which is the increasing importance and role of the prime actor Jesus in the Gospel narrative and the ever-shrinking role of John the Baptist.

Certainly, the connection between Jesus' baptism and our own has brought with it questions about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the baptism by water. But I am not interested in this debate, but rather the importance and meaning this story has for the person of Jesus. We are able through the lens of Jesus' baptism to understand how he was viewed by his first followers. It is all too easy to get focused on us and to preach this Sunday on the meaning of our baptism. This gospel lesson is essentially a lesson about Christology.

It is the heavenly voice who makes clear that this is God's Son.

Daniel Harrington writes and gives an explanation for naming this passage the "Jesus made manifest":

...an attempt has been made to be faithful tot eh focus of the biblical account -- the manifestation of Jesus' identity at the very beginning of his public ministry. The baptism of jesus by John in the Jordan River is the occaion for the identification of Jesus by the voice from heaven. Matthew agreed with the other evangelists in this Christological emphasis.

We are given here several other ways to understand the person of Jesus: Son, servant, inaugurator of the new exodus and creation, and the one who fulfills all righteousness.

In our passage today we see these themes continued. Jesus who climbs out of the water is the new Adam (John of Nazianzus -Davies, Matthew, vol 1, 345) and like the creation narrative itself, he rises out of the waters of chaos. Jesus' own Red Sea deliverance in baptism reminds us too of the Exodus story. Remember, this story exists in between the flight to Egypt and his journey into the desert to be tested.

We have a unique opportunity in this cycle to read the story of Matthew's Gospel and to recognize that our baptisms and life as Christians are unique only in that they are deeply connected with the very person of Jesus Christ. It is in his identity, in our own Christology that our lives and our ministry have meaning. It will be all too tempting to move quickly into our own baptismal imagery in our preaching. However, we may miss an incredible opportunity to speak to the personhood of Christ and his mission in the world.

I draw our attention to our own Catechism and invite you to consider the questions and answers as they relate in a clear line from Jesus' own personhood and mission to our understanding of ourselves in the waters of baptism.

Q. What do we mean when we say that Jesus is the only

Son of God?

A We mean that Jesus is the only perfect image of the

Father, and shows us the nature of God.


Q. What is the nature of God revealed in Jesus?

A. God is love.


Q. What do we mean when we say that Jesus was

conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and became

incarnate from the Virgin Mary?

A. We mean that by God's own act, his divine Son received

our human nature from the Virgin Mary, his mother.


Q. Why did he take our human nature?

A. The divine Son became human, so that in him human

beings might be adopted as children of God, and be

made heirs of God's kingdom.

Q. How can we share in his victory over sin, suffering, and

death?

A. We share in his victory when we are baptized into the

New Covenant and become living members of Christ.

Q. What is Holy Baptism?

A. Holy Baptism is the sacrament by which God adopts us

as his children and makes us members of Christ's Body,

the Church, and inheritors of the kingdom of God.

My hope is that we might this Sunday lift our eyes from our own waters of baptism to the heavens and draw apart the veil and explore with our members who we say Jesus is and how his uniqueness in the family of God provides the salvific Good News of God's loving embrace for all people.

Some Thoughts on Acts 10:34-43

"Beyond stereotypes, beyond deeply seeded religious segregation, Peter obeys his command, sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. In a gesture of faith, a movement of complete trust, a posture of submission, Peter tells the story of Jesus, a story in which he knew very well."
Commentary, Acts 10:34-43 | Levi Holland | Post Coffee Co. A Plain Account | A Plain Account, 2017

"Our attempts to control God and keep God safely within our predetermined categories are contradicted by the early Christian preaching about Jesus."
Commentary, Acts 10:34-43, Mark Tranvik, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.

"On the day when we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, it may, therefore, be particularly appropriate for the church to consider how the Spirit may be moving amongst us in unexpected and challenging ways and to ask how the reverberations of the resurrection continue to be manifest around us."
Commentary, Acts 10:34-43, Eric Barreto, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2010.

"May we live and work in our challenging world today--still beset by overwhelming poverty, oppression, violence, death, and much that defies God's goodness and grace--in the Easter hope of Christ's resurrection and restorative justice for all."
Commentary, Acts 10:34-43, F. Scott Spencer, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.

"The goal is that people might be released from sin. The Greek word usually translated "forgiveness" is aphesis, which literally means "release." A pattern of sins often brings people to a point where the sins define the present and limit the future. For a person to have a different life, the sins must no longer define the person's situation."
Commentary, Acts 10:34-43 (Baptism A), Craig R. Koester, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2008.

Oremus Online NRSV Epistle Text

This is a big Gospel kind of moment!  Cornelius walks into the house and it is clear that the Gospel and its messengers are shown by God that they are not to call others "common or unclean." (10.28)  Cornelius then offers a vision of the kingdom of God and shows himself to be a Godfearer and Jesus follower.

Peter then responds "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him." And, "He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Peter is in some very real way summarizing the theme of the Gospel of Luke and Acts: the living out of the message of God to his people.  It is a miniature Gospel if you will.

Peter says:

God shows no partiality.

Those who follow God are acceptable to God.
God is lord of all and that message is spreading even now.
God appears as Jesus Christ and his ministry is one of the Holy Spirit and one of power.
Christ did good work: healing people, freeing people, and releasing people from bondage.
Salvation comes from the cross and resurrection.
Salvation is open to all people.
God's family is made up of every kind of person.

The story of Acts 10 illustrates the difficulty the church has all the time with accepting the movement of the Holy Spirit and God's willingness to accept people into the family.  This is powerful good news. Especially since without this particular moment, I would not be here myself and would not have discovered this good news of God in Christ and his love of humanity and desire to reconcile us to him.

Some Thoughts on Isaiah 42:1-9

"As the divide between church and state grows here in America (and even among each other), we too may need to reimagine what it is to be a faithful people while living in an unfamiliar place."
Commentary, Isaiah 42:1-9 | Christopher Reiter | Church Planter, Jacob's Well church Boise, Idaho | A Plain Account, 2017

"This passage in Isaiah shows God speaking into the pain of exile to send a servant who will bring justice, and not to Israel only but to all nations."
Commentary, Isaiah 42:1-9, Amy Oden, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2014.

The ministry of the Servant signifies the dawn of a new era of salvation for the people of God (42:9).
Commentary, Isaiah 42:1-9, Bo Lim, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.

Oremus Online NRSV Text

The Rabbinical reading of this passage finds that the subject, the servant, is Israel itself - the people.

"Here is my servant" is a direct reference to God's people. The prophet is telling the people (who are in exile) that God will not forget them and that God loves them. God has put God's spirit upon God's people and has watched them as they have suffered. The people of God in captivity have not lost their faith but instead, their faith has grown. God will bring about justice for them. Moreover, their life lived together will itself bring about justice on earth. Just as in previous texts, the prophet is telling them that God will make them a great city on a hill and the whole of the land will look towards their teaching.

So then we read the following in light of the people. We hear the prophet's words as promising. They will all be redeemed, they will see great things, and miracles will be worked. Imagine the prophet before the lost and suffering servants under the oppression of Babylon hearing these words:

Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it: I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols. See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.

This then is good news indeed.

As the messianic movement grew in Israel over some 500 plus years. It would, of course, grow as other kings took possession of Israel and ruled as foreign powers over the people. One can easily imagine how the image of the servant in the passage we have today began to morph and people hoped perhaps the prophet was speaking about an actual person who might come to save the people of God.

As the first disciples looked back at this passage and inherited the messianic hopes of their time, one can imagine it is not hard to see that the person of Jesus fit the description.

If we look at how the New Testament authors used the texts we see that it is clear they have this very thing in mind. Luke, in particular, has in mind the person of Jesus as representing in himself the people of Israel. In the opening of the gospel, Jesus is very quickly not merely as fulfilling this role but filling it as he himself is the culmination of the people of Israel. It is as if to say in Christ Jesus the people of Israel themselves are brought together in a unified offering of the suffering servant Jesus. He is both the highest offering, their greatest servant (prophet, leader), and he is at once in his body their totality. (See Richard Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels, 242) It is as if for Luke this is not a denial of the people of Israel being referred to in this prophecy, but that the people of Israel culminating in the ministry of the person of Jesus. Both are to be God's suffering servant just as Isaiah prophesied, but in Christ, there is one last and final act such that no other sacrifices need be made.

Matthew in his Gospel will take this further. Not only will he see as Luke sees, but he sees the message of this passage as a message for the whole world - for the gentiles. Matthew seemingly understands as Luke that Jesus is the suffering servant within the messianic tradition and that he himself is the one mentioned here in relationship to Israel itself. In Christ are all the people. Yet, Matthew is saying ALL the people are in Christ. There is clarity here that the good news is not mere deliverance by God in Christ Jesus to the people of Israel but that the good news of deliverance is for the world. Moreover, these are themes that emerge in the baptismal imagery of Matthew. (See Hays, 177.)

Christ is God, the Lord, who created all things. Christ is the one who gives breath and who walks in the spirit. Christ is our righteousness and is the one who takes us by the hand.  It is Christ who saves us. Christ is the new covenant, and light to nations. All people will see that the blind are healed, prisoners are freed, and those who sit in darkness do so no longer. In this way, all the former things are passing away and a new story of God's people, all of God's people, is beginning in the person of Jesus.

Epiphany, January 6, 2026

Prayer

This week I am including for my prayer before preaching one of my favorite hymns: Brightest and Best of the Stars of the Morning by Reginald Heber (118 in the 1982 Hymnal).  It was first sung in 1827 and is normally sung to the tune of Star of the East.

1. Brightest and best of the stars of the morning,
dawn on our darkness, and lend us thine aid;
star of the east, the horizon adorning,
guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.

Refrain:
Brightest and best of the stars of the morning,
dawn on our darkness, and lend us thine aid;
star of the east, the horizon adorning,
guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.

2. Cold on his cradle the dewdrops are shining,
low lies his head with the beasts of the stall;
angels adore him in slumber reclining,
Maker and Monarch and Savior of all. (Refrain)

3. Shall we then yield him, in costly devotion
odors of Edom, and offerings divine,
gems of the mountain, and pearls of the ocean,
myrrh from the forest, or gold from the mine? (Refrain)

4. Vainly we offer each ample oblation,
vainly with gifts would his favor secure;
richer by far is the heart’s adoration,
dearer to God are the prayers of the poor. (Refrain)

5. Brightest and best of the stars of the morning,
dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid;
star of the east, the horizon adorning,
guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.

Some Thoughts on Matthew 2:1-12

"The story of the magi foreshadows later developments in Matthew's narrative. Even in infancy Jesus inspires both worship and hostility, responses that are repeated throughout the story."

Commentary, Matthew 2:1-12, Mark Allan Powell, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2008.

The narrative of Epiphany is the story of these two human communities: Jerusalem, with its great pretensions, and Bethlehem, with its modest promises. We can choose a "return to normalcy" in a triumphalist mode, a life of self-sufficiency that contains within it its own seeds of destruction. Or we can choose an alternative that comes in innocence and a hope that confounds our usual pretensions. We can receive life given in vulnerability. It is amazing -- the true accent of epiphany -- that the wise men do not resist this alternative but go on to the village. Rather than hesitate or resist, they reorganize their wealth and learning and reorient themselves and their lives around a baby with no credentials.

"Off By Nine Miles," Walter Brueggemann, The Christian Century, 2001.

Oremus Online NRSV Gospel Text

This week is unique because Epiphany falls on a Sunday and we are able to celebrate and preach on texts which normally stay hidden amongst the twelfth night celebrations. The Feast of the Epiphany has a wonderful history and traditions which are many and varied around the world. You can see some of these in the Wikipedia article on the Feast of the Epiphany - which isn't too bad.   When we lived in Mexico we remembered the feast by placing our shoes outside our door with straw in them.  Then the wise men would leave little gifts as a trade for helping them get on their way.  It has also always been our household tradition (since I was a child) to bring the wise men to the nativity scenes which were scattered around the house, and we would take down our Christmas tree.

My father always loved to ask us questions about the bible at dinner. It was like a little test. Actually he probably only had about 20 different questions but they were always enough to keep us busy thinking and figuring out the answers.  Recently I ran across an article which talked about Brent Landau's book Revelation of the Magi: The Lost Tale of the Wise Men’s Journey to Bethlehem, the first-ever English translation of an ancient manuscript that tells the famous story from the Magi’s perspective. In it he shares five things you didn’t know about the Magi - this is exactly the kind of stuff my dad loved to use to trip us up.  So here are the five things Landau offers:

"1) The Gospel of Matthew doesn’t say how many Magi there were. Three became the most popular answer because of the three gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But some paintings in Christian catacombs have two or four, the Revelation of the Magi has a list of twelve Magi with names, and other Christian writings imagine an entire army of Magi!

2) Early Christians didn’t agree on where the Magi were from. The most popular answer was Persia (modern Iran), but others thought they were from Babylon or Arabia. In the Revelation of the Magi, they come from a land called Shir, which, because it is located at the eastern edge of the inhabited world, is probably equivalent to China.

3) Nobody knows what the Star of Bethlehem really was. Some early Christians thought it was an angel or the Holy Spirit, and more recent theories include a comet or a supernova. In the Revelation of the Magi, the star is none other than Christ himself in celestial form.

4) Opinions differ about how long it took the Magi to reach Bethlehem. Based on Herod’s asking of Magi when the star appeared, coupled with his subsequent command to kill all male infants under the age of two, many Christians thought it took them two years. Some imagined a much faster journey of twelve days, based on the “twelve days of Christmas” between December 25th and the celebration of Epiphany on January 6th. Their journey is even faster in the Revelation of the Magi, since the star “carries” the Magi to Bethlehem in the blink of an eye.

5) A number of answers were proposed for how the Magi knew that a star signified the birth of the King of the Jews. Many Christians thought that they knew the prophecy of Balaam, a prophet who predicts in Numbers 24:17 that “a star shall come out of Jacob.” In the Revelation of the Magi, the Magi are descendants of Seth, who learned about the prophecy of the star from his father Adam -- since the star used to stand over the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden."

So, let us now turn out attention to the actual text for this Sunday's Gospel.  Not unlike Luke, Matthew gives us a time frame for Jesus' birth. We are told that magi or some kind of astrologer or dream interpreters were paying attention to the night sky and so they understood from their studies that a king had been born.  This, of course, takes us back to both Isaiah 60 and even further back to Numbers 24.  Numbers 24:17-24 prophesies that “... a star shall come out of Jacob, a scepter shall rise out of Israel”, and that this ruler will conquer surrounding nations.

So we see in this birth a new reign of God is revealed, a new king coming into the world. This king will draw many to him, even wise men and the nations will bow down to him.

This is certainly cause for alarm if you are the local earthly king and so Herod's fears and anxiety are woven into the tapestry of the story.

It foretells the reality that this God-king is not found in high places, or among the royal families of the day, rather he is found in the lowliest of places. He will threaten the mighty not with great armies and power but with peace and love.  It is the lowliest place Bethlehem, it is the poor family, it is the barnyard stall and the poorest of means that reveals the lordship of Christ.

In seminary, I learned a wonderful word: Heilsgeschichte. It is a German word that means salvation history.  One of the things I love about Epiphany is the many levels in which the passage from Matthew is working.  The first is the tradition found in Numbers, the Psalm, and Isaiah.  These are the ancient heilsgeschichte prophesies which reveal something to us about the person of Jesus.  Then there is the context of the story in which the signs and symbols are presented and God in Christ Jesus is revealed to the magi by way of a language and imagery which they can understand.  Then there is the first community to hear or read Matthew's good news of salvation. The narrative is reinterpreted again and reveals to them the nature of this new community founded upon the Christ; who will draw to him a varied people.  Then there is our community today.

So, we ask ourselves how does the church present the revelation of the good news of salvation today?  How are we revealing Christ and his work? We are challenged I think to continue the sharing of the story in a contemporary form and through contemporary images.  We are to use contextual narratives to reveal the reign of God.  We are to remember that the kings were not fooled by the aristocratic means of Herod nor his court or majestic realm, but rather the integrity of the message of God's lordship was found in the humblest of places, the poorest of families, and the weakest of citizens - a child.  Our preaching and teaching of the salvation history of God will always be measured by the parallel life of our church's mission in the most marginal of settings with the weakest of people.  AND vice versa, our mission will always be measured by the presentation of salvation history through the unique offering of God in Christ Jesus through the eyes of our own church's tradition.

It is a both-and proposition. We are about the work of revealing this God and the uniqueness of Christ, to do this in word and work, in such a way that both the shepherds and magi of our day may be drawn to him.

Some Thoughts on Ephesians 3:1-12

"The need for unity and equality continues to paralyze both the human family and the Church."Commentary, Ephesians 3:1-12, Israel Kamudzandu, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2019.

"The writing style of the author of Ephesians seems at first glance more sing-able than preach-able. Set it to music and let the organist have at it!"
Commentary, Ephesians 3:1-12, Sarah Henrich, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2015.

"The great celebration of the Incarnation, according to Paul, flows into the great celebration of the church."
Commentary, Ephesians 3:1-12, Amy L.B. Peeler, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2013.

"'Mystery' is the term that runs throughout this passage from Ephesians. It fits the day in the liturgical year because an 'epiphany' is a manifestation of something. And in this case what is revealed has been a mystery."
Radical Gratitude, lectionary-based stewardship, Northwest United Methodist Foundation. (.pdf)
Commentary, Ephesians 3:1-12, Craig R. Koester, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2008.

"Here is no cringing model of humility before a God who is looking for people on which to put his feet. Rather here is a theology which sees God wanting us to be bold, confident and forthcoming."
"First Thoughts on Passages on Year C Epistle Passages in the Lectionary: Epiphany," William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.

Oremus Online NRSV Epistle Text

A cave painting of Paul found in Ephesus in Turkey.

We find in the letter to the Ephesians that Paul's ministry to the Gentiles and his belief that God had called them into the family of Abraham as equal members of the church has led to his imprisonment.  In our passage, this Sunday Paul is telling the community about his work.  His words tap into the revelation that is also present in the Gospel for Epiphany.  Paul writes, "In former generations, this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel."

Like Paul, the community at Ephesus is invited to participate in the sharing of this revelation.  Paul talks about how God was revealed to him.  And, he repeats his conviction that both Jews and Gentiles are to be at work in the saving activity of sharing the good news of salvation; of Christ and his kingdom.  Paul does a little work in translating the salvation history for the church at Ephesus, the heilsgeschichte, he talks to them about the revelation of old and God was at work to draw other nations to him.  The prophets of old and the apostles of his day offer a vision that all are invited to be co-heirs, co-members, and co-partners.  (In Greek each word begins with syn as in synchronous.)

It is here that we find something unique and important to the Gospel in our tradition as Christians who are Episcopalians.  Paul was an unlikely choice, he offers, to be an evangelist of this gospel.  But that is the point.  The good news of salvation is that all are invited into the work of evangelism (sharing the good news in words) and mission (sharing the good news in work).  More importantly, this salvation story has always come to the least likely people, the most unexpected persons, and the ones to whom the powers of the day never expect much of anything - other than remaining in their place.  The newcomers to the family, in this case, the Gentiles, are always to be integral members of the family.  

Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given me by the working of his power.⁸Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ,⁹ and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things;¹⁰so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.¹¹This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,¹²in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him.

Paul, a Jew, has become an unlikely evangelist to the Gentile.  His work is to share the abundant "riches" of Christ with whoever will listen.  He is to tell the salvation story, that from the beginning God's plan was established, those who are outside of the family of God now have a place as an integral part of the ever-evolving family of God - the new community - the new Israel.  The work of the community, the church at Ephesus, the work of the Christian community today, the work of the Episcopal/Anglican church is to share the good news of salvation (all are welcome and included) and the uniqueness of Christ (he is a light to the world and a challenge to the powers of this world).  

Whenever I read Paul I am constantly challenged to wonder who are the gentiles in our context?  It is not us! We are more like the Abrahamic family, the Jews in Paul's letter.  So, who are the ones who this day stand outside the family of God, who are we being challenged to invite in? Who are we to offer the story of salvation history - a salvation history that includes them?  I think this is the most challenging aspect of our faith. You and I are the most unlikely of evangelists, yet you and I have been given the revelation and offered a vision of God's unveiling salvation history.  As unlikely as we are, we are the ones to carry the banner today and to invite the most unlikely of recipients into the family.  I find that is always good news for them, the "other", and rather challenging news for us.

Some Thoughts on Isaiah 60:1-9

"We often call it the 'bridge' We look at the gap, or chasm, between the text and the contemporary situation, while wondering how we can leap from the inspiring words of scripture to the present reality."
Commentary, Isaiah 60:1-6, Charles L. Aaron, Jr., Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2019.

"As we celebrate this festival, affirming the message that God’s presence is fully manifested in Jesus, whom Matthew pictures being born in Bethlehem, and to whom the nations gather bearing gifts, what forms of darkness do we confront?"

"Gathered at the Light," Bob Cornwall, Ponderings on a Faith Journey, 2019.

"Preach it, talk about our hope in God's ability to remake our fractured world, and to reconcile on earth what has already been reconciled in heaven"
Commentary, Isaiah 60:1-6, Michael J. Chan, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2015.

"Every prophetic oracle is spoken within a historical context. I believe that, as preachers, we must always begin from this simple but poignant realization."
Commentary, Isaiah 60:1-6, Dirk G. Lange, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2013.

"Bleak midwinter seems a fitting stage for this lectionary text that likely dates to the early days of Israel's return from Babylonian captivity. Those days are cast easily in hues of grey..."
Commentary, Isaiah 60:1-6, Christine Roy Yoder, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2008.

Oremus Online NRSV Text

Here are the words from the passage that stands out so clearly to me on this day:

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. 2For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you.

This is just a beautiful and amazing passage of hope. It is a passage that reminds the hearer of God's presence and God's ultimate design of embrace. It is a passage of worship and glorification of God. It is a passage of beauty with a rich woven tapestry of images.

Isaiah is offering an image of the future. It is an image that suggests that once again the people who return from Babylon will have a great city. It may not be a shining city on a hill presently, but it will be in the future. Isaiah is casting an image of a city at the center of trade and power. 

Writing about the same time as Jeremiah was...this part of Isaiah is speaking about the return of the people to a city ravished by war and left with a small population. Isaiah is prophesying in line with Jeremiah, that God will have the last word...not the conquering Babylonians. God imagines Isaiah continues, a great city restored beyond its original glory and so too a people restored.

Walter Brueggeman plays with this image of the great city and the difference of nine miles between Jerusalem and Bethlehem when he writes,

"Matthew is not the first one to imagine three rich wise guys from the East coming to Jerusalem. His storyline and plot come from Isaiah 60, a poem recited to Jews in Jerusalem about 580 b.c.e. These Jews had been in exile in Iraq for a couple of generations and had come back to the bombed-out city of Jerusalem. They were in despair. Who wants to live in a city where the towers are torn down and the economy has failed, and nobody knows what to do about it?"

and..

The narrative of Epiphany is the story of these two human communities: Jerusalem, with its great pretensions, and Bethlehem, with its modest promises. We can choose a “return to normalcy” in a triumphalist mode, a life of self-sufficiency that contains within it its own seeds of destruction. Or we can choose an alternative that comes in innocence and a hope that confounds our usual pretensions. We can receive life given in vulnerability. It is amazing—the true accent of epiphany—that the wise men do not resist this alternative but go on to the village. Rather than hesitate or resist, they reorganize their wealth and learning, and reorient themselves and their lives around a baby with no credentials. 

Bethlehem is nine miles south of Jerusalem. The wise men had a long intellectual history of erudition and a long-term practice of mastery. But they had missed their goal by nine miles. It is mind-boggling to think how the story might have gone had Herod’s interpreters not remembered Micah 5. 

Our task is to let the vulnerability of Micah 5 disrupt the self-congratulation of Isaiah 60. Most of us are looking in the wrong place. We are off by nine miles.(See his article here: Brueggemann, Walter, "Off by Nine Miles," The Christian Century, 2001.)

What is interesting about Matthew's use of the text that it is more than a prophetic link to the past. It is more than a story lifted from one part of scripture into another part. It is more than a simple analogy...the wise men are looking in the wrong place...so too we are looking in the wrong place...

Let me pause to say that Brueggeman is brilliant here. He is tapping into one of the key Gospel paradoxes. The king does not come as a king just as his victory will be defeat and life will come from death! Jerusalem our happy home is not a restoration of a past projection but a complete turning over of the past ideas about the centrality of religion and where God resides. 

But there is more here. Matthew uses this part of Isaiah to point out that Jesus' mission is to the gentiles. This is an expansive move on Matthew's part. (See Richard Hays, Echoes, p175ff.) The Gospel author is setting the stage firmly in these first passages that Jesus has come not only as a messiah for the people of Israel but that Jesus' mission is cosmic in scope and meant for all people.

The Gospel author does this by tying in Isaiah 9:2 and 42:7 with 60. He draws in this story from the servant passage (42:7) and the fulfillment of light for the gentiles (9:2).

The passage is not merely about where we shall find our spiritual home but where the world might find its deliverance. The Gospel is good news for the whole world and it challenges us to see that our transformation is linked to the poor, the lame, and the dying. It is linked to the small town of Bethlehem - the least of outposts. The world's deliverance is linked to the restoration of people who today find themselves enslaved by powers, principalities, and systems. It is linked to children. 

We will often seek to find our light and our deliverance in many places - most of which are connected more to the powers of the world's corrupt machinations. We are challenged not only to look in a different place but that such a different place is itself meant for the whole world.