Lectionary
Perspectives
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The next few weeks move us to the end of the season after the Epiphany.
Lent is just around the corner! But, before we get to the journey into
God's covenants and our responses (which is the focus of Lent this
year), we still have the opportunity to see God's glory revealed in
Christ, to understand more deeply who Christ is and what he came to do,
and to hear the call to follow Jesus. We will need all of these gifts
as we face the challenge which awaits us in Lent.
The last weeks of Epiphany focus on the spread of the Gospel in Jesus'
ministry, and the way God's glory and God's message is seen and heard
in Christ. The Old Testament readings, as is usual for this time of
year, all relate to the Gospel journey, but also offer some new
insights and perspectives on it.
We begin this week with God's call into a new community in which our
unique gifts and abilities are used for God's purposes, not our own
(expressed through the stories of the call of the fishermen and Jonah's
reluctant preaching to Nineveh). Then the question of authority and how
it works in God's Reign is raised (through the accounts of Jesus'
preaching and authority over demonic spirits, and Moses' promise of a
prophet like himself). This is followed up with the assurance of that
God meets us and restores us where we are (through Isaiah's promise of
strength to the week and the Gospel account of the healing of Peter's
mother-in-law). Then we meet two people with skin diseases who are
healed (Naaman and the man in the Gospel account who ignores Jesus'
instruction to tell no one) in which the question of obedience and
discipline is raised. Finally, Epiphany ends again with the
Transfiguration account, linked with Elijah's dramatic departure in a
chariot of fire - both of which are moments in which God's glory
communicates God's message. It's a journey into glory, into an
understanding of Jesus as the revealer of God's glory, and of God's
communication through God's glorious manifestations.
But, of course, there is also a response required from us. The Epistle
reading often help to identify what we are called to do. In many ways,
it is a simple call to allow the glory revealed in Christ to be
revealed, also, in us. But, to do this we need to learn to align our
priorities with God's; to submit to, and participate in, Christ's
liberating and serving authority; to become "all things to all people"
as we seek to reach them; to embrace the discipline and obedience of
athletes as we follow Jesus; and to become, through word and action,
glory-seekers and glory-revealers.
May God inspire and challenge us in the weeks to come, and may God's
glory revealed in Christ fill us and be reflected through us!
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| Liturgical
Perspectives |
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 I was listening
to an interview on the radio the other day and the person being
interviewed - a stalwart from the anti-apartheid struggle days, who is
now part of the opposition party in our country - was asked about
how they feel about the world at the moment, in the light of the
various crises we face at home and abroad. With a smile in his voice he
expressed his confidence in the future and his lack of fear at the
world's current situation. When asked why he felt like this, he
responded, "Because I have hope!"
Hope is one of the most powerful gifts of following Christ. Along with
faith and love, it is one of the "big three" characteristics of
disciples mentioned by the Apostle Paul. It is hope that is so often
expressed in the spirituals that were sung by the slaves in the United
States and that was expressed by Martin Luther King Jr. in his "I have
a dream" speech. It was hope that sustained Nelson Mandela and other
struggle activists in their long years in prison on Robin Island. It
was hope that fueled the protests of the Arab Spring and the Occupy
movements in the last year. The power of hope cannot be over stated.
For a people of hope like us - the followers of Jesus - nurturing hope
is an essential part of our life. And liturgy is, perhaps, the most
effective tool to keep the seeds of hope alive in our hearts. Through
our prayers, readings, hymns, symbols and rituals, we are reminded,
again and again, of the saving purpose of God, and the future hope we
have in Christ. As this vision takes hold of our hearts, we cannot help
but remember that, no matter what we may face in the world, there is
always another reality - God's Reign - that is at work. Then through
the regular practice of liturgy, we learn to live and speak from the
hope of God's Reign, to embody in our own lives the grace, compassion,
justice and peace of God. There is no excuse for a pessimistic or
cynical Christ-follower. Rather, because of our hope in Christ and our
weekly liturgical enactment of it, we are those who keep hope alive for
the sake of the world.
That's all for now. May the rest of your Epiphany
journey, and your Lenten preparation be inspired! And, may your worship
lead you deeper into the love of God and the love of God's world!
John
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Links
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Lectionary Worship Resources:
(22
January)
(29
January)
(05 February)
(12
February)
On the
Blog:
The
blog has been quiet because I've been on holiday over the last few
weeks. Here is what has been happening, though.
Seeing
and Being Seen
It is this transforming experience of being seen that
Nathaniel represents in this week's Lectionary reading from John
1:43-51. Nathaniel, it seems, was pretty much an "everyman".
Read
more...
Preparing
for Glory
It is all too easy to speak about, pray about, sing about
God's glory and leave it at that. We can listen with wonder to the
experience of Samuel and Nathaniel and leave the sanctuary without so
much as a taste of encounter with God. But, if we allow this to happen,
we will have missed the point of our worship, and we will have missed a
wonderful opportunity.
Read
more...
Living
the Dream
When we resist change, refusing to accept it and clinging,
white-knuckled, to the status quo, we inevitably find ourselves broken,
hurt and defeated. But, when we do the hard work of embracing and
co-operating with change processes, we usually discover a new life and
wholeness, even when the change process itself has been painful. It's
important that we recognise this, because at its heart, the message of
Jesus, preached in this week's Lectionary reading from the Gospel of
Mark, is essentially a call to change.
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