Sermons from January 2019

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Third Sunday after Epiphany: 1/27/2019

1/27/2019
Epiphany 3C

Jesus quoted the prophet Isaiah, who wrote about the price that Israel would pay for their falling away from God, with defeat and exile – which happened in 586 BC. But Isaiah also wrote that God would ultimately return them to their homeland. There would be the feeling of a Jubilee Year – as Moses taught about in Leviticus 25:8-13: A time of release and restoration. Their release from exile happened in 538 BC, when the King of Persia started releasing them to go home.

First Sunday after Epiphany: 1/13/2019

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1/13/2019
Epiphany 1C

John (the theologian) takes us to a heavenly perspective on the importance of the birth of the baby Jesus. It is high theology, and it is easy for the lessons this Sunday to get very complicated very quickly. But there is an important dimension here of who Jesus was. John’s prologue explains the significance of Christmas that I had never heard until I took courses in seminary. Let’s see where John is taking us.

The Epiphany: 1/6/2019

1/6/2019
The Epiphany

Detail: This date, January 6, was celebrated in Egypt as the winter solstice, when the sun god made his appearance (epiphany). Third century Christians chose this date for the Lord’s Epiphany, and connected it with three Gospel ‘epiphany’ stories; the coming of the Magi, the baptism of Jesus (with God’s pronouncement), and the wedding at Cana.