Epiphany Week 7

Psalm: Psalm 119:33-40 

Old Testament: Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18 

Gospel: Matthew 5:38-48 

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 3:10-23

This week our passages all seem to relate together better than some weeks.  Throughout the first three chapters of 1 Corinthians the major theme, which we haven’t even explored yet, is the idea of earthly wisdom/foolishness compared to the wisdom of God.  So let’s start with the Corinthians passage and then work our way backwards.  Paul begins by writing about the importance of building one’s foundation on a solid foundation, which is Jesus Christ.  Every foundation will be burned through the fire and tested to see if it will stand.  I encourage you to read through this passage this week and try to make sense of verse 15, “If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” Is he saying that everyone will be saved, or is he only talking about Christians who have a solid foundation, but somehow got a bit confused?  Verses like this just remind me that there is always something to learn and ponder when it comes to Scripture and remind us that we don’t read scripture in a vacuum.  We must understand this in relation to all that Paul has taught and also read what others have said about this passage.

Epiphany Week 6

Psalm: Psalm 119:1-8 

Old Testament: Deuteronomy 30:15-20 

Gospel: Matthew 5:21-37 

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

We are still in the time of Epiphany week, or in some traditions “Ordinary Time.” Ordinary in this sense is like the ordinal serial numbers, (first, second) not ordinary meaning “normal.”  But our theme this week doesn’t necessarily have to do with the idea of Epiphany as we have discussed the last five weeks.  The last couple of weeks we haven’t focused on the 1 Corinthians passages, but this week it has a number of interesting things to discuss.

Epiphany Week 5

Psalm: Psalm 112:1-9, 10 

Old Testament: Isaiah 58:1-9a, 9b-12 

Gospel: Matthew 5:13-20 

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 2:1-12, 13-16

Welcome to Epiphany week five or the first Sunday of the Winter Olympics.  We are already watching plenty of Olympic action in our house.  I wish the Scripture provided a great analogy I could compare to an Olympic athlete.  It doesn’t have much athletic imagery, but it does discuss a lot about how we are to live.  You can’t expect to be a great athlete if you don’t follow a certain lifestyle, and particularly the two Old Testament readings explore the idea of how followers of the Lord are supposed to live.  They reveal a lifestyle of righteousness that is outward focuses rather than self-seeking.  Last week we discussed this theme in the Beatitudes and Kingdom Ethics in general. 

Epiphany Week 4

Psalm: Psalm 15 

Old Testament: Micah 6:1-8 

Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12    

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

This week the question we have to ask ourselves comes from the first line of the Psalm, “O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill?”  how do we please God and live in obedience to him? (of course this question presumes in fact that we do want to please God) The Psalmist goes on to answer that question, describing the ways a righteous person walks.  He or she walks with integrity, speaks the truth, does no evil, and they do not take interest on loans or bribes.  The Lord calls his followers to a higher standard.