SERMON 15 JANUARY 2017

SERMON 15 JANUARY 2017 - THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY

Collect:

Heavenly Father, by your grace alone you accepted us and called us to your service:       strengthen us by your Spirit and make us worthy of our calling; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

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Readings

First Reading:  Isaiah 49:1-7  - The Servant’s Mission

49 Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb he named me. 2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. 3 And he said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’ 4 But I said, ‘I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward with my God.’

5 And now the Lord says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honoured in the sight of the Lord, and my God has become my strength — 6 he says, ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’

7 Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the slave of rulers, ‘Kings shall see and stand up, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.’

Psalm 40:1-14 - Thanksgiving for Deliverance and Prayer for Help

1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. 2 He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. 4 Happy are those who make the Lord their trust, who do not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods. 5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts towards us; none can compare with you. Were I to proclaim and tell of them, they would be more than can be counted.

6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt-offering and sin-offering you have not required. 7 Then I said, ‘Here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. 8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.’

9 I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. 10 I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.

11 Do not, O Lord, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe for ever. 12 For evils have encompassed me without number; my iniquities have overtaken me, until I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me.

13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me. 14 Let all those be put to shame and confusion who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonour who desire my hurt.

Second Reading:  1 Corinthians 1:1-9 -  Salutation

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord[a] and ours:

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, 5 for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— 6 just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.’

Gospel

John 1:29-42 - The Lamb of God and The First Disciples of Jesus

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” 31 I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ 32 And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” 34 And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’

35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ 39 He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). 42 He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).

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Who is Jesus to you?

How do you know about Jesus?

What is your earliest or most profound memory about someone TELLING you about God or Jesus?

What is your earliest or most profound memory of someone SHOWING you God or Jesus?

Our Gospel reading describes a man called Andrew meeting Jesus and then going and looking for his brother, Simon and saying to him, ‘We have found the Saviour’.

Andrew is famous because he brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Peter.’ In their language, the word ‘Peter’ sounds similar to their word for ‘Rock’ – Jesus said He would build His Church on Simon Peter, the rock, and Simon Peter became one of the early leaders of the church.

So Andrew TOLD someone about Jesus, and then (more importantly, I believe) SHOWED him Jesus…

Someone has TOLD each of us about God – and we also all know someone who has SHOWED us God…

This last week, two people have told me moving stories about Christians they know who did something the Christian probably thought was small, but which meant a lot to them, and maybe even showed them God’s very real and very alive love.

The first story was about a Christian who visited a lady’s friend in hospital, who told her friend how special that Christian’s visit was, and what a special person the Christian is – and the most beautiful part is that the visitor could tell her friend how the Christian had been there for her too. She even wrote to the Christian, saying “yup, I told her how you had been there for me too...

You are a true example of what religion should be, you live it, it defines you. Thanks for being there for my pal” …

So, like Andrew, this Christian not only TOLD people about Jesus, but actually SHOWED them Jesus, by being there…

The second person told about one simple instance of someone simply taking the time to forward an email to try and help them get business, and how this was encouraging for them, and as importantly, helped them remember and realise, and I quote “I am very grateful, and it just struck me that each and every one of us can make such a difference in people’s lives, simply by being aware, and using whatever we may have.”

This second person (also a Christian) was reminded how they too had helped someone find a job - they remarked that people had thought it was a great event, but (from their perspective), all it was really was their hearing what the person wanted, remembering that they know someone in that field, and getting them to meet…

She said “We all know someone or something that can be beneficial to others” -  and here I suggest she is getting to understand that even though her actions seemed insignificant, THEY ARE NOT, because each act of Christ-like love is VERY SIGNIFICANT, whether the results are visible and publicized or not, because this is exactly how we ALL, like Andrew, SHOW God to others, like Andrew did…

And like us, Andrew was an ordinary person – even Isaiah describes himself as inadequate, saying ‘I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward with my God.’

Paul also reminds us that “the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind… so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift… He will also strengthen you… God is faithful”.

The second Christian continued, describing someone as “not your usual idea of a good Christian” who helped an unemployed neighbor as much as they could “by buying groceries, kids’ clothes etc., and mostly, being friends and being there to listen to them and hold their hands” and then, after listening to the man’s woes, inviting him to work with her, vouching for his character, and facilitating his getting a job, not any job, but a job that the man can’t stop talking about, that he loves….

She closed by writing something important, something our readings emphasize: “It doesn’t always mean that we have to be incredibly connected, or have lots of influence or anything, it simply means being aware and connecting up the dots.  We all can do something!”

It’s so true!

I’m sure we all have stories of how we and people we know, who, like Isaiah, like Paul, like Andrew, PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND ME who have TOLD people about God, and even SHOWED them God…

Think about it, pray about it, remember your earliest or most profound memory about someone TELLING you OR YOU TELLING SOMEONE about God or Jesus, remember your earliest or most profound memory of someone SHOWING you OR YOU SHOWING SOMEONE God or Jesus….

I encourage you to take the time to complete a leaf that you can add to our thanksgiving tree…

In closing, I pray we are all encouraged and filled by the Holy Spirit to go out, showing people that CHRIST IS ALIVE, in us, as we LOVE and CARE for others, in Jesus’ name…

AMEN!

Rev Gavin Smith