Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series III
In the pre-1970 church year, this would probably have been one of the gesima Sundays, partly because there could only be six Sundays after the Epiphany, and this only when Easter came late in April. The orientation of this Sunday would be more toward Lent than Epiphany. But in some of the churches, the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany would have a Transfiguration orientation, which provided a fitting climax to Epiphany with its "This is my beloved Son" identification of Jesus by God the Father. That event on the mountain also builds a bridge from the Epiphany season into Lent.
There is virtually no echo of the Voice that announced in Jesus' baptism on the First Sunday after Epiphany, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased," evident in this seldomly observed section of Epiphany; it is necessary to turn to the Gospel for the Day to discover the Epiphany emphasis upon the manifestation of Jesus Christ as the Promised One of God. Once more, it is an infirm person who begs Jesus for relief from, in this case leprosy, who becomes the occasion for the revelation that Jesus has the power of God to heal and the mind of God to have mercy upon a sick and miserable outcast from society. The works that Jesus was able to perform, in response to the needs of people, manifested his divine natureto those who were healed and all who witnessed those deeds. Jesus let his gracious actions toward people identify himself in a profound manner as the Son of God.
The Prayer of the Day
New collects for this and the remaining Sundays in the Epiphany season had to be prepared by some of the liturgical churches, because the collects for this Sunday are related to the Transfiguration of the Lord. The new collects are oriented toward knowing the will of God and responding to God's will in obedient action. For example, the collect of the Book of Common Prayer, which is a reworking of a classic collect, reads:
O God, the strength ofall who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ, our Lord....
Once more, it becomes obvious that if there are to be three sets of lessons, and if the Prayers for the Day are to be in harmony with them, three sets of prayers will need to be composed. Rather obliquely, in the confession "in our weakness we can do no good without you," the prayer expresses a positive response to the Gospel for the Day. Specifically, those who have experienced the grace of God as the leper did (Mark 1:40-45), should become evangelists for the Lord who manifests his nature in his healing ministry.
The Psalm of the Day
Psalm 32 (L, R) - Two portions of this psalm speak to the manifestation theme - Jesus' cleansing of the leper - in the Gospel for the Day. One declares (vs. 7, 8): "Therefore all the faithful will make their prayers to you in time of trouble.... You are my hiding-place; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance." Later in verse 11, the psalmist says "Great are the tribulations of the wicked; but mercy embraces those who trust in the Lord." The leper had begged Jesus on his knees, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." Jesus did.
Psalm 42 (E) - This very familiar psalm speaks to the condition of the leper in today's Gospel: "Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? And why are you so disquieted within me?" The leper had good reason for having a "heavy soul," but he reacted to his malady - and his opportunity in the presence of Jesus - to the psalmist's advice: "Put your trust in God." He did - through his plea to Jesus - and, accordingly, was restored to full health. This psalm, which has baptismal overtones, does complement the Gospel for the Day quite well.
The Psalm Prayer (LBW - Psalm 42)
Lord God, never-failing fountain of life, through the saving waters of baptism you called us from the depth of sin to the depths of mercy. Do not forget the trials of our exile, but from the wellspring of the Word satisfy our thirst for you, so that we may come rejoicing to your holy mountain, where you live now and forever.
The readings:
2 Kings 5:1-4 (L, C); 5:1-15 (E)
This is the familiar story of the Syrian military man, Naaman, who had leprosy and, had he been a Jew, would have been banished from society and sentenced to shouting, "Unclean! Unclean!" as long as he lived. But he was informed, by the Hebrew slave girl to his wife, that he should seek out the prophet Elisha, who had the power to heal him. A letter from the King of Israel provided him with entre to Elisha, who invites him to his home, but doesn't see him when he gets there. A servant of the prophet tells him to go to the Jordan and wash; furious over Elisha's failure to see him and the cure that is proposed; Naaman flies off in a huff. Lucky for him, his advisers convince him to obey the word of the prophet; he goes to the Jordan, washes himself seven times, and he is healed. He was clean once more, as clean as the leper Jesus healed in today's Gospel.
Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46 (R)
This chapter of Leviticus spells out all the gory details of the fate of any person who contracted any sort of a skin disease, especially leprosy. These excerpts from the chapter reveal that such people had to go to the priests for diagnosis and, if they were diagnosed as lepers, pronounced unclean. Their fate was exile from society and the worship of the temple, allowing their hair to grow long and hang down, wearing torn clothing, and going around shouting, "Unclean!"
The combination of these two readings helps to comprehend the situation of the leper who begged Jesus for healing, as well as Jesus' response of not only healing the man but sending him back to the priests who had condemned him in the first place. Both might find a place in a sermon on the Gospels for the Day.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (E, L, C)
Paul's familiar image of the Christian life, as the running of a race in which only one person may win, is meant to assure believers that faithful Christians will be "winners" in the Kingdom of God; they will receive an "imperishable crown" when this life - the race - is finished. Thus, what he says, particularly about the discipline involved in the running of this race, suggests that the Christian might realize the proximity of Lent and get ready to "get in shape" - that is, to engage in the rigorous and penitential spiritual exercises of Lent - and be strengthened to keep the faith all of his/her life. The reading has little or nothing to do with the other lessons.
1 Corinthians 10:31--11:1 (R)
For some reason or other, the Lutheran commission which originally adopted this passage from the Roman Catholic Ordo for the Sixth Sunday in Epiphany dropped it in favor of the above reading, but the Roman lectionary retains it. Two portions of one verse - "do all to the glory of God" and "that of many, they may be saved" - give it some homiletical utility in conjunction with the Gospel for the Day. The "eating and drinking" - "to the glory of God" - suggests a powerful sermon for contemporary Christians, but one fraught with the danger of moralism or law, not gospel, orientation.
Mark 1:40-45
This is the lovely story of the way things should be for those who really believe that Jesus is Lord. Those who are desperately ill, or in any other impossible situation, ought to be able to speak to him in prayer, ask him for healing - in true faith - and hear his response: "I will; be clean (or healed)." That's what happened in this familiar incident. A leper broke the Levitical law, approached Jesus, and instead of shouting "unclean," he begged Jesus on his knees, "If you will, you can make me clean." Jesus simply said, "I will; be clean," and the man was cured of his infirmity. Jesus told him two things: He was not to tell anyone about this healing, and, second, he was to go to the priests for re-diagnosis and a clean bill of health. The man did neither; he disobeyed Jesus and went off telling everyone what Jesus had done for him, so that Jesus was besieged by people seeking cures and healing from conditions beyond themselves, the priests, or physicians of the time. Christ intends only good health and happiness for all people.
A Sermon on the Gospel, Mark 1:40-45 - "The 'Instant' Evangelist."
A couple of decades ago, I met and lived with a black Baptist pastor for ten days; his name was Al Robb. He was a natural evangelist, who engaged everyone he met in conversations about the faith. He could talk to anybody about the things the Lord had done for him - and he did. It seemed to me that his relationship with the Lord was so intimate and genuine, and that he was so grateful for the blessings he had received from God in Jesus Christ, that he just had to tell people about his Lord.
I believe it was that way with the leper, who went to Jesus and was healed. I don't think he even heard what Jesus said to him - that he was so full of gratitude for his cure that he simply had to go out and tell everyone he encountered about the mercy and power he received from Jesus Christ. The man was an "instant evangelist" - no training, not even a directive - in fact, he had been forbidden - to speak about Jesus. He's something of a model, isn't he, for all who have been cleansed by Jesus in baptism and given the promise of eternal life.
1. Those who know that they have been cleansed of their sin by the Word and water of baptism are candidates for evangelism. People saved by the grace of God, and not by any good works they have done, tell others - out of gratitude - what God has done for them . That's "natural" evangelism.
2. Telling others about Jesus - basic evangelism - is equally as important as developing a spiritual life, because it is at the heart of one's response to God's grace in Jesus Christ. Like the leper, we have been healed by a word, the Word. The church needs always natural evangelists to communicate the Good News to the world.
3. Trust the Lord - and tell the world the story of how Jesus has come into your life. Become an instant evangelist, energized by the Good News in Jesus and saved by his grace.
4. The Lord in heaven blesses his evangelists, because they have taken up his work where he left off.
A Sermon on the First Lesson, 2 Kings 5:1-14 (L, C); 5:1-15 (E) and Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46 (R) - "The Healing Word."
(Note: If I were preaching a series on these "Great Stories of the Faith," I would combine the two Old Testament readings into a single sermon, as below. However, it is more likely that I would preach on the Gospel and use the Elisha-Naaman story as an illustration.)
1. Naaman might as well have had "AIDS." There was no known cure for his leprosy, despite the fact that he was a "mighty man" in Syria's army. He was doomed to a miserable death.
2. Wasn't he lucky that he was a Syrian and not a Jew; he would have been stripped of his military position and honors and doomed to a life of social exile. (Here's where Leviticus 13 comes into the picture.)
3. It was more fortuitous that he knew a Jewess; a slave girl referred him to Elisha, and after a complicated diplomatic process he went to Elisha - and, ultimately, was cured of his leprosy. He had to humble himself before he was healed - and obey the prophet.
4. Elisha cured the man with a word, much as Jesus cleansed the leper in today's Gospel, and also as Jesus heals and restores us to a right relationship with God. The very power of God works through his Word - and gives new life to humble believers.
A Sermon on the Second Lesson, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (E, L, C) - "The Race of Races."
1. That's how Paul pictures the Christian life. Believers "run the course" to gain an "incorruptible crown" - eternal life, which is really a free gift of God in Christ. Running the race is living the Christian life, living out the faith.
2. Reject the rat race of the world - that is, allow the faith to determine how you live rather than permitting the world to set the agenda for your life.
3. But the spiritual life also must be developed by those who hope to finish the race. Spiritual steroids - deceiving one's self that one's good works gain God's grace, and that a person does not need to respond to the Word - will do the "runner" no good. Faith alone, through grace, prepares people for the crown.
4. Run "the race of races" to receive the crown that Jesus has already prepared for all who believe in him.
1 Corinthians 10:31--11:1 (R) - "In Imitation of Christ."
1. True believers, with Paul, attempt to live for others in imitation of Christ, which is a proper response to the Gospel of our Lord.
2. True believers will reject the "imitation life" - that is, what the world claims is "real life," living for self and what one can "get out of life."
3. True believers do those things that are pleasing to God and avoid those things which might destroy the faith that other people have in God.
4. True believers live in the shadow of the cross - and that guarantees that they will be living "in imitation of Christ."
There is virtually no echo of the Voice that announced in Jesus' baptism on the First Sunday after Epiphany, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased," evident in this seldomly observed section of Epiphany; it is necessary to turn to the Gospel for the Day to discover the Epiphany emphasis upon the manifestation of Jesus Christ as the Promised One of God. Once more, it is an infirm person who begs Jesus for relief from, in this case leprosy, who becomes the occasion for the revelation that Jesus has the power of God to heal and the mind of God to have mercy upon a sick and miserable outcast from society. The works that Jesus was able to perform, in response to the needs of people, manifested his divine natureto those who were healed and all who witnessed those deeds. Jesus let his gracious actions toward people identify himself in a profound manner as the Son of God.
The Prayer of the Day
New collects for this and the remaining Sundays in the Epiphany season had to be prepared by some of the liturgical churches, because the collects for this Sunday are related to the Transfiguration of the Lord. The new collects are oriented toward knowing the will of God and responding to God's will in obedient action. For example, the collect of the Book of Common Prayer, which is a reworking of a classic collect, reads:
O God, the strength ofall who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ, our Lord....
Once more, it becomes obvious that if there are to be three sets of lessons, and if the Prayers for the Day are to be in harmony with them, three sets of prayers will need to be composed. Rather obliquely, in the confession "in our weakness we can do no good without you," the prayer expresses a positive response to the Gospel for the Day. Specifically, those who have experienced the grace of God as the leper did (Mark 1:40-45), should become evangelists for the Lord who manifests his nature in his healing ministry.
The Psalm of the Day
Psalm 32 (L, R) - Two portions of this psalm speak to the manifestation theme - Jesus' cleansing of the leper - in the Gospel for the Day. One declares (vs. 7, 8): "Therefore all the faithful will make their prayers to you in time of trouble.... You are my hiding-place; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance." Later in verse 11, the psalmist says "Great are the tribulations of the wicked; but mercy embraces those who trust in the Lord." The leper had begged Jesus on his knees, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." Jesus did.
Psalm 42 (E) - This very familiar psalm speaks to the condition of the leper in today's Gospel: "Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? And why are you so disquieted within me?" The leper had good reason for having a "heavy soul," but he reacted to his malady - and his opportunity in the presence of Jesus - to the psalmist's advice: "Put your trust in God." He did - through his plea to Jesus - and, accordingly, was restored to full health. This psalm, which has baptismal overtones, does complement the Gospel for the Day quite well.
The Psalm Prayer (LBW - Psalm 42)
Lord God, never-failing fountain of life, through the saving waters of baptism you called us from the depth of sin to the depths of mercy. Do not forget the trials of our exile, but from the wellspring of the Word satisfy our thirst for you, so that we may come rejoicing to your holy mountain, where you live now and forever.
The readings:
2 Kings 5:1-4 (L, C); 5:1-15 (E)
This is the familiar story of the Syrian military man, Naaman, who had leprosy and, had he been a Jew, would have been banished from society and sentenced to shouting, "Unclean! Unclean!" as long as he lived. But he was informed, by the Hebrew slave girl to his wife, that he should seek out the prophet Elisha, who had the power to heal him. A letter from the King of Israel provided him with entre to Elisha, who invites him to his home, but doesn't see him when he gets there. A servant of the prophet tells him to go to the Jordan and wash; furious over Elisha's failure to see him and the cure that is proposed; Naaman flies off in a huff. Lucky for him, his advisers convince him to obey the word of the prophet; he goes to the Jordan, washes himself seven times, and he is healed. He was clean once more, as clean as the leper Jesus healed in today's Gospel.
Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46 (R)
This chapter of Leviticus spells out all the gory details of the fate of any person who contracted any sort of a skin disease, especially leprosy. These excerpts from the chapter reveal that such people had to go to the priests for diagnosis and, if they were diagnosed as lepers, pronounced unclean. Their fate was exile from society and the worship of the temple, allowing their hair to grow long and hang down, wearing torn clothing, and going around shouting, "Unclean!"
The combination of these two readings helps to comprehend the situation of the leper who begged Jesus for healing, as well as Jesus' response of not only healing the man but sending him back to the priests who had condemned him in the first place. Both might find a place in a sermon on the Gospels for the Day.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (E, L, C)
Paul's familiar image of the Christian life, as the running of a race in which only one person may win, is meant to assure believers that faithful Christians will be "winners" in the Kingdom of God; they will receive an "imperishable crown" when this life - the race - is finished. Thus, what he says, particularly about the discipline involved in the running of this race, suggests that the Christian might realize the proximity of Lent and get ready to "get in shape" - that is, to engage in the rigorous and penitential spiritual exercises of Lent - and be strengthened to keep the faith all of his/her life. The reading has little or nothing to do with the other lessons.
1 Corinthians 10:31--11:1 (R)
For some reason or other, the Lutheran commission which originally adopted this passage from the Roman Catholic Ordo for the Sixth Sunday in Epiphany dropped it in favor of the above reading, but the Roman lectionary retains it. Two portions of one verse - "do all to the glory of God" and "that of many, they may be saved" - give it some homiletical utility in conjunction with the Gospel for the Day. The "eating and drinking" - "to the glory of God" - suggests a powerful sermon for contemporary Christians, but one fraught with the danger of moralism or law, not gospel, orientation.
Mark 1:40-45
This is the lovely story of the way things should be for those who really believe that Jesus is Lord. Those who are desperately ill, or in any other impossible situation, ought to be able to speak to him in prayer, ask him for healing - in true faith - and hear his response: "I will; be clean (or healed)." That's what happened in this familiar incident. A leper broke the Levitical law, approached Jesus, and instead of shouting "unclean," he begged Jesus on his knees, "If you will, you can make me clean." Jesus simply said, "I will; be clean," and the man was cured of his infirmity. Jesus told him two things: He was not to tell anyone about this healing, and, second, he was to go to the priests for re-diagnosis and a clean bill of health. The man did neither; he disobeyed Jesus and went off telling everyone what Jesus had done for him, so that Jesus was besieged by people seeking cures and healing from conditions beyond themselves, the priests, or physicians of the time. Christ intends only good health and happiness for all people.
A Sermon on the Gospel, Mark 1:40-45 - "The 'Instant' Evangelist."
A couple of decades ago, I met and lived with a black Baptist pastor for ten days; his name was Al Robb. He was a natural evangelist, who engaged everyone he met in conversations about the faith. He could talk to anybody about the things the Lord had done for him - and he did. It seemed to me that his relationship with the Lord was so intimate and genuine, and that he was so grateful for the blessings he had received from God in Jesus Christ, that he just had to tell people about his Lord.
I believe it was that way with the leper, who went to Jesus and was healed. I don't think he even heard what Jesus said to him - that he was so full of gratitude for his cure that he simply had to go out and tell everyone he encountered about the mercy and power he received from Jesus Christ. The man was an "instant evangelist" - no training, not even a directive - in fact, he had been forbidden - to speak about Jesus. He's something of a model, isn't he, for all who have been cleansed by Jesus in baptism and given the promise of eternal life.
1. Those who know that they have been cleansed of their sin by the Word and water of baptism are candidates for evangelism. People saved by the grace of God, and not by any good works they have done, tell others - out of gratitude - what God has done for them . That's "natural" evangelism.
2. Telling others about Jesus - basic evangelism - is equally as important as developing a spiritual life, because it is at the heart of one's response to God's grace in Jesus Christ. Like the leper, we have been healed by a word, the Word. The church needs always natural evangelists to communicate the Good News to the world.
3. Trust the Lord - and tell the world the story of how Jesus has come into your life. Become an instant evangelist, energized by the Good News in Jesus and saved by his grace.
4. The Lord in heaven blesses his evangelists, because they have taken up his work where he left off.
A Sermon on the First Lesson, 2 Kings 5:1-14 (L, C); 5:1-15 (E) and Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46 (R) - "The Healing Word."
(Note: If I were preaching a series on these "Great Stories of the Faith," I would combine the two Old Testament readings into a single sermon, as below. However, it is more likely that I would preach on the Gospel and use the Elisha-Naaman story as an illustration.)
1. Naaman might as well have had "AIDS." There was no known cure for his leprosy, despite the fact that he was a "mighty man" in Syria's army. He was doomed to a miserable death.
2. Wasn't he lucky that he was a Syrian and not a Jew; he would have been stripped of his military position and honors and doomed to a life of social exile. (Here's where Leviticus 13 comes into the picture.)
3. It was more fortuitous that he knew a Jewess; a slave girl referred him to Elisha, and after a complicated diplomatic process he went to Elisha - and, ultimately, was cured of his leprosy. He had to humble himself before he was healed - and obey the prophet.
4. Elisha cured the man with a word, much as Jesus cleansed the leper in today's Gospel, and also as Jesus heals and restores us to a right relationship with God. The very power of God works through his Word - and gives new life to humble believers.
A Sermon on the Second Lesson, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (E, L, C) - "The Race of Races."
1. That's how Paul pictures the Christian life. Believers "run the course" to gain an "incorruptible crown" - eternal life, which is really a free gift of God in Christ. Running the race is living the Christian life, living out the faith.
2. Reject the rat race of the world - that is, allow the faith to determine how you live rather than permitting the world to set the agenda for your life.
3. But the spiritual life also must be developed by those who hope to finish the race. Spiritual steroids - deceiving one's self that one's good works gain God's grace, and that a person does not need to respond to the Word - will do the "runner" no good. Faith alone, through grace, prepares people for the crown.
4. Run "the race of races" to receive the crown that Jesus has already prepared for all who believe in him.
1 Corinthians 10:31--11:1 (R) - "In Imitation of Christ."
1. True believers, with Paul, attempt to live for others in imitation of Christ, which is a proper response to the Gospel of our Lord.
2. True believers will reject the "imitation life" - that is, what the world claims is "real life," living for self and what one can "get out of life."
3. True believers do those things that are pleasing to God and avoid those things which might destroy the faith that other people have in God.
4. True believers live in the shadow of the cross - and that guarantees that they will be living "in imitation of Christ."
