Today in the Spirit: Epiphany 3A
At Epiphany 3, out of the church’s selection of Sunday Gospel readings, we contemplate in worship the glory of Jesus Christ revealed in the earliest events of his ministry in Galilee (northern Palestine). In Year A, the assigned Gospel reading this week is from Matthew 4:12-22. In his narration of Jesus’ move north, Matthew (as he does often in his Gospel) identifies the relocation as a fulfillment of prophecy: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light…” (15-16). The reading goes on to recount (as does Mark) our Lord’s calling the fishermen—Peter, Andrew, James, and John—into a life of service to him. On hearing the call of Jesus, it is reported that they “immediately” (20,22) left their family vocations to follow Jesus.
From the OT reading out of Amos 3:1-11, we overhear YHWH’s stern warning to the people of northern Israel against their persistent unwillingness to respond to the word of God: “‘Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt: ‘You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.’” (1-2).
Sponsored
In the appointed Psalm 139:1-18 (only appearing here in the Sunday lectionary), we will worship God for his intimate knowledge of all our thoughts and all our ways: “O Lord, you have searched me out and known me; you know my sitting down and my rising up; you understand my thoughts from afar. You examine my path and my places of rest, and are acquainted with all my ways” (1-2). For those who come to the spiritual insight of “David” in the psalm, there comes a happy resignation to the inscrutability of God’s knowledge of us: “I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are your works, and my soul knows it very well” (13).
The Epistle reading 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 continues our ongoing meditation during Epiphany on the early chapters of 1 Corinthians. After his gracious salutation (recalling my comments about last week’s reading), Paul immediately broaches the subject of rampant partisanship in the church leading to divisions in the body: “What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or ‘I follow Cephas,’ or ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided?” (12-13).
The assigned Collect clearly articulates the church’s message for this week’s worship: that we “answer the call of our Savior Jesus Christ readily and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation.” To this end, we also pray into the means and end of response to the call: It is by “grace” in Christ that we accomplish the gospel task; and it is to the glory of Christ and his “marvelous works” that we dedicate our efforts.
The Collect
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.
All Your Iniquities (Amos 3:1-11)
1 Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
Amos 3:1–11
2 “You only have I known
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities.
3 “Do two walk together,
unless they have agreed to meet?
4 Does a lion roar in the forest,
when he has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from his den,
if he has taken nothing?
5 Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,
when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
when it has taken nothing?
6 Is a trumpet blown in a city,
and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster come to a city,
unless the Lord has done it?
7 “For the Lord God does nothing
without revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared;
who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken;
who can but prophesy?”
9 Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod
and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria,
and see the great tumults within her,
and the oppressed in her midst.”
10 “They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord,
“those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.”
11 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“An adversary shall surround the land
and bring down your defenses from you,
and your strongholds shall be plundered.”
It is difficult to make much of a connection between this reading and the others assigned for the week, except by distinction. In Amos, concerning Israel, God declares, “‘They do not know how to do right’” (10). In contrast to Matthew, we hear, “Immediately [the fishermen] left the boat and their father and followed him” (Mt. 4:20,22). The condemnation of Israel’s unwillingness will feel threatening to us in our worship, just as the sign that says “Wrong Way” does when we are driving near a highway. Then, upon hearing the Gospel reading and the readiness of the first disciples to respond to Jesus’ call, we see “Enter Here” and feel relieved.
Consider another parallel: Do you remember the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness of and fund research into Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS) in 2014? You had to video yourself pouring ice cold water over your head as if to wake yourself from slumber over the seriousness of the terrible disease, promise to make a contribution to the ALS Association, and then challenge someone else by name to do the same. Devotionally, to hear these words from Amos is like pouring that ice-cold water over your head. Hearing Amos and Matthew together, you say: “I’m not going to pretend that I am actually responding to the call of Christ on my life like Peter and Andrew; I will acknowledge my own complacency to the gospel like that of Israel in Amos;” then, shivering under the cold realization of your sinful condition, you continue: “I will humbly by God’s power seek to follow Jesus, and, as I am able, encourage others to do the same. It is like–to extend the water illustration–a renewal of our baptismal vows to follow Christ as Lord and Savior.
Today, Holy Spirit, let us be chilled by the reading from Amos in preparation for the challenge implicit in the reading from Matthew.
How Difficult I Find Your Thoughts (Psalm 139:1-18)
1 O Lord, you have searched me out and known me; *
Psalm 139:1–18, New Coverdale Psalter (BCP 2019)
you know my sitting down and my rising up; you understand my thoughts from afar.
2 You examine my path and my places of rest, *
and are acquainted with all my ways.
3 Indeed, there is not a word on my tongue, *
but you, O Lord, know it altogether.
4 You have enclosed me behind and before, *
and have laid your hand upon me.
5 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, *
so excellent I cannot attain to it.
6 Where shall I go then from your Spirit, *
or where shall I flee from your presence?
7 If I climb up to heaven, you are there; *
if I make my bed in the Grave, you are there also.
8 If I take the wings of the morning *
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
9 Even there shall your hand lead me, *
and your right hand shall hold me.
10 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,” *
then shall my night be turned to day.
11 Even the darkness is not dark to you, and the night is as clear as the day; *
the darkness and the light to you are both alike.
12 For you yourself made my inmost parts; *
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
13 I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; *
marvelous are your works, and my soul knows it very well.
14 My bones were not hidden from you *
when I was made in secret and fashioned in the depths of the earth.
15 Your eyes beheld my substance, while I was yet unformed; *
and in your book were all my members written,
16 Which day by day were fashioned, *
when as yet there was none of them.
17 How dear to me are your thoughts, O God. *
How great is the sum of them!
18 If I were to count them, they would be more in number than the sand. *
When I wake up, I am present with you.
In our worship on this Sunday, we might imagine the questions on the lips of the four fishermen in Matthew, the psalmist asks, “Where shall I go then from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” (6). Similarly, we might also imagine them declaring in astonishment, “How dear to me are your thoughts, O God. How great is the sum of them” (17). The Hebrew word for “dear” in the passage can also be translated as “costly” (see Ps. 49:8) or “difficult” (NET).
Devotionally, we might reflect on the double meaning of “dear” and “difficult” displayed throughout the poem. For instance, the phrase “You have enclosed me in behind and before” (or, ESV: “You hem me in behind and before”) cuts two ways: it is “dear” comfort to be hemmed in when we need God’s protection; but it is “difficult” when we realize being hemmed means being limited by God in our movements. To be hemmed in by God means nothing truly harmful can get in, yes, but also that we are impeded from leaving. “Where shall I flee?” indeed.
Beloved, there is both comfort and compulsion to the call of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Today, in the Spirit, we ponder in the beauty of Psalm 139 all that puts us at ease alongside all that makes us squirm.
Words of Eloquent Wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:10-17)
10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
1 Corinthians 1:10–17
It may seem strange to hear from Paul what appears to be depreciation of baptism. A couple of points in response to this:1) Paul did baptize a few new believers (16), so he wasn’t opposed to it; and 2) as a traveling apostle, he often appointed elders in each city and left all church functions, including baptism, in their hands. Sadly, in Corinth at this time, baptism apparently became the activity around which competing church leaders marked their territory and established “power” bases within the community. So when Paul states, “Christ did not send me to baptize,” he means that Christ did not send him to promote a faction of Christians (as they were doing) but rather to proclaim, without prejudice, the gospel of Jesus Christ in the world.
In our churches, when we lose sight of the fact that we have universal good news to share and that that is our purpose, we can easily fall into propping up one party line or another as the perceived priority. The wisdom of God is “in Christ crucified” (a featured phrase in our NT reading next week from 1 Corinthians 1:20-24.
See how C.H. Spurgeon in this excerpt from a sermon on “the precious blood” implies, like Paul, that diverting attention from the cross produces division in the church: “Whereas there are some who urge you to look to your doctrinal intelligence as a ground of comfort, I beseech you beloved, look only to the blood; whereas there are others who would set up a standard of Christian experience and urge that this is to be the channel of your consolation, I pray you, while you prize both doctrine and experience, rest nowhere your soul’s weight but in the precious blood. Some would lead you to high degrees of fellowship; follow them, but not when they would lead you away from the simple position of a sinner resting upon the blood. There are those who could teach you mysticism, and would have you rejoice in the light within; follow them as far as they have the warrant of God’s Word, but never take your foot from that Rock of Ages, where the only safe standing can be found.”
For pastors especially: Today, Holy Spirit, reading Paul in this passage assists us to examine ourselves and see if there is any vain intention toward “eloquent wisdom” (17), or misplaced devotion to lesser things, anything which would put us at odds with pure fellowship in the church community and distract the body from prioritizing the gospel of Christ.
Repent (Matthew 4:12-22)
12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
Matthew 4:12–22
15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people dwelling in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,
on them a light has dawned.”
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 18 While walking 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. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Only Matthew gives us a summary statement of John the Baptist’s preaching and our Lord’s that are exactly the same: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (3:2,4:17). What shall we make of this? Without going overboard, it does appear that Matthew would have us hold a little longer to the exhortation to “repent” by making it a singular theme for both the Forerunner and the Messiah at this juncture. The basic meaning of the most common word in Hebrew for “repent” is “to turn back,” and in Greek “to change one’s mind.” In both of these, there is the demand for a conscious, determined change of course, which will affect the whole of one’s life.
Devotionally, one distinction between the messaging of the Baptist and that of Christ is that only in the case of Jesus does the call to repent go through to the invitation “follow me” (19). As was true for the fishermen in our reading, so it is with us: For our Lord, the imperative is not simply to prepare the heart but to give it over to him, to place ourselves at his disposal with every—absolutely every—part of our lives.
The refrain of a famous Spanish-language “corito” (short Christian chorus) inspired by this passage can be translated this way: “Sweet Lord, you have looked into my eyes/ Kindly smiling, you have called out my name/ In the sand I have abandoned my small boat/ Now with you I seek another sea.”
Today, Holy Spirit, with the content of Jesus’ earliest preaching as our guide, we ponder anew the cost of what it truly means to leave off everything that hinders and to follow him without reservation.
Today in the Spirit
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