Category: Uncategorized

· Luke 19:28-40  (Palm Liturgy)

·  Isaiah 50:4-9a   (Passion Liturgy)

·  Philippians 2:5-11

·  Luke 22:14-23:56

·  or Luke 23:1-49

Dear Friends,

The title of this Sunday reveals the conflicting themes that we attempt to address on one morning:  The festive entry of Jesus into Jerusalem set alongside the suffering and rejection of Good Friday.  Perhaps the Prayer Book editors wanted to ensure that the people coming for Palm Sunday would not be able to get to Easter resurrection without taking into account the cross of Good Friday.

The Entry to Jerusalem this year is told by Luke 19:28-40. Given the huge influx of visitors to the city for Passover, Jerusalem would have been overflowing.  By now many have heard of Jesus for the many works of healing and other signs of God’s power shown by him.  Many would have wanted to see such a figure if they could.  It is not hard to imagine how the Jewish and Roman authorities feared a riot. 

The Passion

Isaiah 50 describes a prophet who has stood firm in declaring the word of God to the people, even though it has caused rejection and shame to be heaped on him.  He relies on the Lord to vindicate and uphold him.

Luke’s Passion Narrative: We are invited this year to allow Luke to tell us the story of how our Lord was betrayed, suffered, and died on the cross.  The full narrative begins with the Lord’s Supper (Thursday evening) and carries through to the Sabbath (Friday-Saturday).

When Paul wants to teach the Philippian Church about their attitude and behavior as brothers and sisters in Christ, he seems to have reached back to an earlier, hymn like summary of Christ’s life, death and resurrection.  Christ empties himself of his divinity, takes our humanity in order to be a servant, and humbles himself to die on a cross.  Then exalted by God, Christ is worthy of our worship – and imitation: “Have THIS mind among yourselves…”

Comment:  The Prayer Book may have overloaded this one day with more than we can absorb!  Perhaps the best we can do is allow it to wash over us, and wait to see how the Holy Spirit will move to speak through it all. But if anyone can sum it up concisely, it was whoever composed the “hymn” used by Paul.  We worship and adore the Christ who emptied himself that he might love, serve, and heal us.  Shall we not renew our determination to offer ourselves to be likewise emptied in God’s service to the people around us? David S. Robinson, RectorSaint Matthew’s Episcopal ChurchMaple Glen, PA 19002

·  Exodus 34:29-35

·  2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2

·  Luke 9:28-36, [37-43a]

Dear Friends,

In Exodus, Moses returns from the encounter with God on the holy mountain, carrying the ten commandments.  The people are afraid of Moses because his face shines with the glory of God. He learns to place a veil over his face when he speaks with the people, but removes the veil when he goes to speak with God.

Luke’s Gospel tells us the story of Jesus, who on the mountain with a few of his disciples, begins to shine with the glory of God.  The disciples are afraid when a cloud (God’s glory) overshadows them and they hear for themselves the voice of God, calling them to listen to Jesus.

Speaking to the Church in Corinth, Paul uses the image of the veil worn by Moses differently from the original context.  He now sees the Jews of his day as veiled and unable to see glory when they read the law of Moses. He declares a greater glory has come to those who are given freedom from legalism by the Spirit of God. Christians now can see the Lord (Jesus) with unveiled faces and discover that they begin to be changed by this glory.

Comment: God’s glory upsets us. The appearance of angel messengers induces fear in men and women when they bring a message from the Divine being.  Glory points to a reality so beyond us that it undoes us.  Everything we stand on – our abilities, our accomplishments, our sense of self – pales in comparison to this radiant life and being! Our vulnerability as temporary creatures of dust is vividly revealed. But God veils the glory of the divine being in the flesh of Jesus his Son so that we might look upon him, listen to him, and receive from him this very life and being that we fear. God’s glory that undoes me is the same glory that loves me and gives me a new kind of life!

• Genesis 45:3-11, 15
• 1 Corinthians 15:35-38,42-50
• Luke 6:27-38

• Jeremiah 17:5-10
• 1 Corinthians 15:12-20
• Luke 6:17-26
• Psalm 1

• Isaiah 6:1-8, [9-13]
• 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
• Luke 5:1-11

The call of the prophet Isaiah in chapter 6 takes place in response to a vision in which Isaiah sees the throne of God.  The contrast between the holiness and glory of the divine presence and his own not so holy and glorious existence overwhelms him.  He feels lost, but he is claimed, restored, and called by the mercy of God, invited to become part of God’s work to restore the world.

Jeremiah 1:4-10

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

 Luke 4:21-30

 Psalm 71:1-6

Dear Friends,

Jeremiah resists the call of God upon him, saying, “I am only a boy…I don’t know how to speak.”  But the Lord who has always known him has consecrated and appointed him, and promises to be with Jeremiah in this calling.

Luke’s Gospel tells the story of Jesus’ visit to his hometown.  There is more here at work than the limiting expectations of people who saw him grow up among them.  That dynamic is real, but Jesus “throws gas on the fire” but proclaiming the favor of God for foreign unbelievers, provoking the rage of all in the synagogue.

The context of the famous “Hymn to Love” in 1 Corinthians 13 is a community that was wrangling over who had the most impressive and important spiritual gifts.  Without love, says Paul, the most dramatic and impressive act is just a lot of noise.  We might infer from this the opposite as well:  that with love, the most mundane and simple act is the glory of God among us.

Comment:  When faced with my own limitations (Jeremiah’s “too young” could become “too busy” or “too old”), I must continually be reminded that “it’s not about me.” The power of God is not limited by my thoughts, abilities or accomplishments.  Rather it’s about the Lord who is with me, and about His love that works through an offered and responsive (obedient) life.  The love and power of God is greater than any human limitations or boundaries!

· Isaiah 62:1-51 

· Corinthians 12:1-11

· John 2:1-11

Dear Friends,

Isaiah 62 uses the language of relationship and marriage to describe the rescue of Israel from exile.  The defeat and exile of the Jews was understood by their prophets to be the consequence of their infidelity to the (marriage) covenant with the Lord.   But the Lord refuses to accept this, and in spite of their infidelity, the Lord delights to unite with (marries) his people once again.

John’s Gospel presents us today with the first sign of Jesus – changing water to wine at a wedding. John plainly tells us that Jesus did this to “reveal his glory… and his disciples believed in him.”  The gospel story as it continues will also show that other people come to a different conclusion about Jesus, ultimately rejecting and not believing him.  All of the words and deeds of Jesus require a response from us to this question: is the divine life present in and through him?

Where the divine presence and life of Jesus is welcomed by faith, divine activity follows.  We hear Paul guiding the Corinthian Church so that they might better understand how the divine life is activated among them in a great variety of ways. According to Paul, the Spirit of God is activated in EVERY believer for the good of ALL.

Comment:  God loves all, but love requires a response – it must be reciprocated.  God can truly celebrate and rejoice with those who respond to him with a trusting and welcoming faith. God wants to reveal his glory to everyone – to you, to me!  God wants not only to reveal his presence and power, but to share it with us and through us. Jesus isn’t interested in changing water into wine – he is interested in changing people into vessels of God’s gracious activity.

·  Isaiah 43:1-7

·  Acts 8:14-17

·  Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

·  Psalm 29

 Dear Friends,

·  Isaiah declares God’s love for his people with these beautiful and intimate words: “I have called you by name, you are mine…you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you…whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”   Spoken to a broken and exiled people, this must have been hard to believe!  But these words are also surrounded with the promise of the Lord to accompany his people through the floods and fires that are part of this life.

Luke’s Gospel describes the Baptism of Jesus to affirm and declare the identity of Jesus as the Son of God. He is the mighty one described by John the Baptist who will come with the Holy Spirit and with fire to sort out Israel!

In Acts, Luke continues the story of how the Holy Spirit that came upon Jesus at his Baptism comes upon a group of new believers in Samaria.

Comment: It probably is as difficult for us as it was for the exiled Israelites to trust the news that we are precious, honored, and loved by God.  Jesus heard the voice of God declare this love – have you?  Yet Jesus sought out the most unlikely candidates of his community to demonstrate the love of God for them: immoral, dishonest, unworthy, diseased, forsaken, and foreign (worshipers of other gods!).  We have become so accustomed to these stories, we fail to see the shocking nature of them.  God’s love for us is not based on any human sense of worthiness or deserving.  This is too radical for most of us to accept.  And God loves with a purpose: to conform you and me to the image of his beloved Son.

• Isaiah 60:1-6
• Ephesians 3:1-12
• Matthew 2:1-12

The Book of Isaiah describes the glorious restoration of the people of Israel as the prophet cries out, “Arise, shine, you light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”  Isaiah likely influenced the Gospel of Matthew (below) to describe a visit of the Wise Men to Jesus, because these verses mention gold, frankincense, and the wealth of foreign nations arriving by camel.  The point? To hope in God’s favor to love and save his people.

Matthew’s Gospel contains the visit of the Wise Men (Magi), often enacted by children’s pageants this time of year.  In telling this story (which very well may have historical roots – don’t misunderstand me), the gospel writer is claiming Jesus as the fulfillment of the words of the prophet Isaiah.  God has come to shine with favor on his people, and the whole world is taking notice and paying homage.  This was in fact happening in the time of Matthew’s gospel, as Christian faith was spreading to the east and west, north and south.

In the Letter to the Ephesians, Paul celebrates the great mystery of God’s plan to reveal his grace not only to the Jews, but to the Gentiles. Paul himself is an instrument of this work in which God’s light is spreading throughout the world as it comes to know the “boundless riches of Christ.”

Comment: A mother throws open the curtains, or flips the light switch, and calls out, “Rise and shine!” to a reluctant child who needs to get up and get going.  In a very real way, Jesus is God’s “wake up call” to the entire world.  On Epiphany we celebrate that the sound and light of that call has gone out into all the world, and that people in every corner of the earth respond to that light.  One of the best and most helpful things I do every day is simply remember to look at Christ, to welcome the coming of his light to me and my world.  He says, “Rise and shine!” and gives me the brightness of his own true light.  Lord, help me to rise and shine with your light today!