Worship Notes February 9

Worship Notes

The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Year A

February 9, 2014

The Season

Today we are in the second of four consecutive Sundays in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Last Sunday we heard the familiar and beloved Beatitudes: “Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . those who mourn . . . the meek . . . those who hunger and thirst for righteousness . . . the merciful . . . the pure in heart . . . the peacemakers . . . those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake . . .” (Matthew 5:3-12). Today our Gospel reading picks up where we left off last week.

In Word

“Light shines in the darkness for the upright; the righteous are merciful and full of compassion” (Psalm 112:4). So sings our psalmist for today, bringing together themes from the prophet Isaiah in our First Lesson and Jesus in the Gospel. Our psalmist concludes: “They [the righteous] have given freely to the poor, and their righteousness stands fast forever; they will hold up their head with honor” (v. 9).

Our prophet announces the rebellion of God’s people. It seems they honor God with their lips and with their religious fasts, but they look out for their own interests. Speaking through the prophet, God makes clear the kind of fast that is pleasing:

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? (Isaiah 58:6-7).

Our text goes on; is it the prophet or is it God who speaks? “Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly . . .” (v. 8a). We see that our prophet and our psalmist sing the same song!

But there is more! Jesus pronounces: “You are the salt of the earth . . . You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13a, 14a). These words follow immediately on the heels of the Beatitudes. Jesus is not saying, “You have salt” or “You reflect light.” Rather, we are salt; we are light. Both salt and light are activated and recognized in relationship. Salt enhances and preserves; light illumines. Being salt and light means to engage others in relationships that lift up and build up the other. Being salt and light is a high calling, indeed!

The Apostle Paul in our Second Lesson announces, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Paul does not rely on eloquent words, but on the power of the cross. He makes an astonishing confession: “And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling” (v. 3). If the power of God can work through Paul’s weakness and fear and trembling, how much more might God work through ours! It doesn’t take much salt to flavor a great mound of bread dough. And only a tiny flame can illumine a dark room.

In Song

Marty Haugen is the songwriter for both our Opening Song and Song of the Day. “Here in this place new light is streaming, Now is the darkness vanished away . . .” So we sing in our Opening Song, “Gather Us In.” Haugen continues, lifting up themes for today: “Called to be light to the whole human race. . . . Call us anew to be salt for the earth.” Our Song of the Day, “Bring Forth the Kingdom,” is a paraphrase of our Gospel: “You are salt for the earth, O people: Salt for the Kingdom of God! . . . You are a light on the hill, O people: Light for the City of God!”