Worship Notes for February 2, 2014

Worship Notes

The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, Year A

February 2, 2014

The Season

When Easter is late, as it is this year (April 20), we are afforded more Sundays after Epiphany. This time around we are immersed in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount for four consecutive Sundays. Today we hear the Beatitudes: “Blessed are . . .” Jesus counts those blessed whom the world considers lowly, or, at best, unfortunate. We at Concordia call ourselves—and strive to be—a “Matthew 25 Congregation,” after Jesus’ declaration, “When you did it to the least of these, you did it to me” (v. 40). What might it look like for us to be a “Sermon on the Mount Congregation”?

In Word

We sing today with our psalmist: “Lord, who may dwell in your tabernacle? Who may abide upon your holy hill?” In the next verse, the psalmist answers the psalmist’s own question: those who are blameless and do what is right. That sets the bar very high, indeed! We wonder if our psalmist has been in conversation with our prophet, Amos, who also answers his own question: What does the Lord require of you? To do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. Both Amos and the psalmist insist that authentic worship has more to do with the way we live our lives than the words we sing in the sanctuary.

The Apostle Paul writes in today’s Second Lesson: “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” The notion of a crucified Messiah is foolishness, nonsensical, preposterous! The phrase is an oxymoron. So much so that Paul—then Saul—himself stood by as Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was stoned to death for professing Christ crucified (Acts 7:58). But the power of the cross compelled Paul to renounce his former credentials in Judaism—and they were impressive and many—and to spend the rest of his life proclaiming Christ crucified. Paul knew that power, and yet he could profess: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection . . .” (Philippians 3:10). The power of God—the power of the resurrection—is revealed most profoundly in its opposite—in the cross. Foolishness?

If the power of God is revealed most profoundly under its opposite—and it is—then we see the power of God at work in the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted . . .”

In Song

Today we sing two songs of David Haas, one of the most popular and successful of contemporary composers for the church. “We Are Called” is based on our First Lesson from Micah 6:8: “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” The Song of the Day, “Blest Are They,” is considered to be the composer’s most popular hymn, translated into many languages. It is based on the Beatitudes, which constitute our Gospel reading for today.