Third Sunday after the Epiphany - Sermon Text and video of the Divine Service


Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer

Third Sunday after the Epiphany  

Isaiah 9:1-4      
1 Corinthians 1:10-18          
Matthew 4:12-23

O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.

The Light of Christ Shines in the Dark

Matthew tells us that Jesus moves from his childhood home of Nazareth to Capernaum by the sea. His reason for moving is unlike our usual reasons for moving. For example, we move because of employment opportunities; to be closer to family; to inhabit a larger or smaller home because we entered a new phase in our lives; move to a different house and community in order to enjoy retirement and conclude our baptismal journey.  Jesus moves for none of these reasons. Jesus moves in order to fulfill Scripture. His move is a fulfillment of Isaiah 9. 

This is the fifth of ten Old Testament citations that Matthew draws our attention to in his gospel. Through Matthew, the Holy Spirit shows us the different ways in which Jesus comes to fulfill God’s prophesies and promises. In today’s move and fulfillment, Jesus moves into explicitly gentile territory. Jesus is Immanual. Jesus is God with us. Our heavenly Father’s desire is that the world knows that Jesus comes for everyone. So, the nice Jewish man moves to live amongst a dense Gentile territory. God is for the Jews and the Gentiles. Jesus comes for the Chosen and the pagans. Jesus comes to save us all through His cross.  

In his new home and territory, Jesus inhabits a place that is a dark, troubled, and idolatrous memory for Israel. Zebulun and Naphtali are sons of Jacob. God established his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and then Jacob. Jacob had twelve sons who eventually became tribal leaders. After the Exodus from Egypt, the different tribes of Israel were assigned their own regions in the Promised Land. The tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali were up in the north, in what became known as Galilee. The region around Capernaum by the sea, Jesus’ new home, is the source of painful memories for Israel. Long before the Assyrians invaded the northern tribal regions in the 8thcentury BC, the Chosen people, God’s own tribes, turned away from Him to worship the Canaanite gods. The prophets were sent to the north to call people back to the Living God. They called them to repent, to return to the Lord, and live according to God’s instructions, to love God and love the neighbors. By and large, whatever positive result the prophets saw, did not last long. 

The Bible tells us that God allowed Assyria to enter and decimate the northern tribes as divine punishment for abandoning God. The cities were destroyed. Many of the people, especially the leaders, the educated, the skilled labor, were exiled out of the land into Assyria and elsewhere. Unlike the Babylonian captivity of the south some years later, the northern tribes did not have the privilege of returning home. Since the rise and fall of the Assyrian and Babylonian civilizations, new waves of gentiles, including the Greeks and the Romans have dwelled in the territories that were once under the stewardship of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali. As a consequence, Gentiles were the majority inhabitants of Capernaum and the area surrounding it. There were Jews who maintained the faith entrusted to them, but the majority are Gentiles. The vast majority of Gentiles are not God seekers. They are pagans. They live without the covenantal promises of the Living God. They worship idols made of human hands. Some of their deities demanded blood and the lives of children. Immorality of all shades is rampant. These are a people who live without the Lord’s life affirming commands. Where the One True God is no longer welcomed and obeyed, the people quickly descend into spiritual darkness. As Isaiah poetically describes Galilee of the Gentiles, they are a people dwelling in darkness. They dwell in the region and shadow of death. 

Such is the grace of God, that the Christ, the light of the world, enters their midst unbidden. Compelled to leave the familiarity and comforts of His home in Nazareth, Jesus dwells among them. He works for them. He builds their homes. He repairs their broken furniture and tools. He is a neighbor to them. Whether they realize it or not, Isaiah’s words are fulfilled: “the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” 

The Scriptures attest that Jesus is co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Word that is intimately involved in the creation of the universe. Thus, it is fitting that the incarnate Word of God is not content to witness by deed alone. From that Gentile landscape Jesus begins his ministry of the preached word. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 

What a summary statement! Of course, Jesus used more than those nine words. But, that summarizes the content of his preaching to those would listen to Him. What a kindness to Jew and Gentile to be told what God expects of them. Jesus explains to Jew and Gentile alike that they are living in darkness. They seek to live apart from God by relying on their own merits, the traditions of their fathers, their own self-worth, or the worship of other gods. Throw your faith upon Jesus. Hear His Words. Repent. Confess your sins. Place your faith in the One True God. Follow the light of the world. Seek God’s Word to fill your minds. Respond with faith. And know that life as it is now will come to an end abruptly. For the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Be ready for God’s imminent reign. 

 I think it is much easier to look back and see problems and decline in a civilization than to recognize them as we are in the midst of them. Yet, I can say with confidence that there are plenty of people in our midst who are dwelling in a state of deep spiritual confusion and darkness. Are we a land of spiritual gentiles? I don’t know. What I see though is a large group of families who a few generations ago, were involved in their churches. For various reasons, many have whole-heartedly turned away from God and dismissed as “not relevant” the visible presence of the body of Christ on earth, meaning the church. When people withdraw from the church they eventually stop reading their Bibles, praying, confessing Christ as their Lord and Savior, and passing the faith onto the next generation. A couple of generations later, even the impulse to get the children baptized, taken to Sunday school, and confirmed disappears. In other words, people of faith leave the faith and then descend into spiritual darkness. In spite of this current reality, the Church persists. We continue to worship. In our worship, we seek the renewal of our minds through repentance, receiving the Word, the Sacrament of the Altar, and Christ’s promise of forgiveness. And we learn to do what Jesus did. In a land of spiritual darkness, he loved God and neighbor, and he spoke the truth of faith using words. Many of the lessons of those words of Jesus have direct bearing on us today, including “Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

In a land of darkness, Jesus Christ remains the Savior, the crucified and risen light for the world. He is our hope and our salvation. We cast our faith upon Jesus Christ because He comes to us unbidden. He is grace upon grace. He comes for us.

The peace of Christ which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.  

 

Ten Old Testament citations in Matthew. Jesus fulfills what the prophet says… 

1.    1:22-23

2.    2:14-15

3.    2:16-18

4.    2:23

5.    4:12-16

6.    8:16-17

7.    12:15-21

8.    13:34-35

9.    21:4-5

10. 27:6-10

 

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