The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
Psalm 117. Laudate Dominum.
O PRAISE the
Lord, all ye nations; * praise him, all ye peoples.
2 For his
merciful kindness is ever more and more toward us; * and the truth of the Lord
endureth for ever. Praise the Lord.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son * and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be * world without end. Amen.
The Collect.
O GOD, who knowest us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright; Grant to us such strength and protection, as may support us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Old
Testament Reading: Amos 3
Psalter:
Psalm 75, 76 | 107
Epistle
Reading: Romans 13.1-7
Gospel Reading: Matthew 8:23-34
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The
following is what I wrote to my congregation this past week, about solidarity:
Though we have delved into this before, it bears worth repeating. There is this development in Scripture that has made the subject of ‘solidarity’ stand out to me. The subject has two sides. First, throughout Scripture, division and disunion are often part of God’s judgment on a people. For example, God bringing the Midianites to “set every man’s sword against his comrade and against all the army” was so that God could bring victory to Gideon (Judges 7:22). Or the LORD stirring up “Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, each against another and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom” (Isaiah 19:2) will be part of God’s humbling and condemning Egypt. Or when the LORD disciplined his people by setting “every man against his neighbor” (Zechariah 8:10). Many times, division and disunity among a people are signs of God’s judgment, whether on nations, families, congregations or on his church.
The opposite is normally true as well. Solidarity and concord are often an indication of God’s blessing. As an example, returning to Zechariah 8, where the LORD says, “for I set every man against his neighbor. But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the LORD of hosts. For there shall be a sowing of peace...” (8:10-12). It is clearly the case in 1 Chronicles 12, as Israel gathers to make David king of all Israel, “All these, men of war, arrayed in battle order, came to Hebron with a whole heart to make David king over all Israel. Likewise, all the rest of Israel were of a single mind to make David king” (12:38). Even in the New Testament God’s kindness and blessing are displayed in his church’s solidarity, “Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul...” (Acts 4:32)[1]. That’s why in both Ephesians 4:1-6 and 1 Peter 3:8-12 Christians are tasked with pursuing and working at fostering that God-bestowed accord. And the way to do this is with humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another in love, being eager to aim at this God-given unity. It takes some effort on our part, because it’s thoroughly counter-cultural.
And yet this solidarity is not for its own sake. First, it must be grounded on God’s truth, which reflects God’s person. “These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the LORD…Therefore love truth and peace” (Zechariah 8:16-17, 19c).
Furhter, the central reason for us to be of a single mind, banded together in God-given, God-blessed solidarity, is so that a divided society and world can see a gospel-empowered alternative. It’s part of evangelism. That’s what lies behind our Lord’s prayer in John 17: “I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (17:23). Therefore, to resist the divisiveness and discord around us, and putting our shoulders into the project of maintaining our congregational solidarity is not cowardice nor spinelessness. And it is not a distraction. It is, rather, joyful fidelity to the Lord who has saved us. And it is evangelistic, “so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”
In a day when there is a lot of red-hot rhetoric, suspicion, and accusations in our nation and neighborhoods, let us recall that we have a bigger purpose, and a grander mission. We are to continue to be a people of a single mind, together, around our King and Sovereign, Jesus Christ. And it is for displaying the saving goodness of Jesus to our world.
Pastor
Mike
The presentation of Christ in the
temple, commonly called the Purification of Saint Mary the Virgin
(2 February)
Psalm 20. Exaudiat te Dominus.
THE Lord hear thee in the day of trouble; * the
Name of the God of Jacob defend thee:
2 Send thee help from the sanctuary, * and
strengthen thee out of Sion:
3 Remember all thy offerings, * and accept thy
burnt sacrifice:
4 Grant thee thy heart’s desire, * and fulfil all
thy mind.
5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and triumph in
the Name of the Lord our God: * the Lord perform all thy petitions.
6 Now know I that the Lord helpeth his anointed,
and will hear him from his holy heaven, * even with the wholesome strength of
his right hand.
7 Some put their trust in chariots, and some in
horses; * but we will remember the Name of the Lord our God.
8 They are brought down and fallen; * but we are
risen and stand upright.
9 Save, Lord; and hear us, O King of heaven, * when
we call upon thee.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son * and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be * world without end. Amen.
Nunc dimittis. St. Luke ii. 29.
(Simeon’s Song at seeing the Christ-child)
LORD, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace,
* according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen * thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared * before the face of all
people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles, * and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
The Collect
Almighty
and everliving God, we humbly beseech thy Majesty, that, as thy only-begotten
Son was this day presented in the temple in substance of our flesh, so we may
be presented unto thee with pure and clean hearts, by the same thy Son Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
Old
Testament Reading: Malachi 3.1-5
Psalter:
Psalm 84
Epistle
Reading: Galatians 1.1-24
Gospel
Reading: St. Luke 2.22-40
[1]
Take the time to rummage through other passages to see this like Romans 12:16;
2 Corinthians 13:11; Philippians 1:27 and 2:2; Ephesians 4:13.
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