Epiphany
We know the word: a moment of piercing awareness, the sudden jolt of understanding. This is the season of Epiphany, a season celebrating the revelation of the Savior, the light of the world. Throughout the season we focus on the ministry of Jesus: the calling of the disciples, the teachings of Christ, his miracles, and finally his transfiguration. The epiphany of Epiphany is that this is no mere teacher or prophet— this is the Son of God, the Messiah. Epiphany calls us to live God’s mission, announcing the good news of Christ’s arrival to every culture and to those who live across the street. We, the church, are sent out as the manifestation of Jesus to a watching world (from Seeking God’s Face by Philip Reinders).
- Calling -
O Lord, open our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim Your praise.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen. Alleluia!
The Lord has manifested his glory:
O come, let us adore him.
- Constitution -
Read/Listen, Meditate, Pray, and Contemplate on God’s Word, remembering that God is with you and ready to speak to you because he loves you.
Praying the Psalms
Psalm 93
[1] The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty;
the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt.
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
[2] Your throne is established from of old;
you are from everlasting.
[3] The floods have lifted up, O LORD,
the floods have lifted up their voice;
the floods lift up their roaring.
[4] Mightier than the thunders of many waters,
mightier than the waves of the sea,
the LORD on high is mighty!
[5] Your decrees are very trustworthy;
holiness befits your house,
O LORD, forevermore.
Psalm 94
[1] O LORD, God of vengeance,
O God of vengeance, shine forth!
[2] Rise up, O judge of the earth;
repay to the proud what they deserve!
[3] O LORD, how long shall the wicked,
how long shall the wicked exult?
[4] They pour out their arrogant words;
all the evildoers boast.
[5] They crush your people, O LORD,
and afflict your heritage.
[6] They kill the widow and the sojourner,
and murder the fatherless;
[7] and they say, “The LORD does not see;
the God of Jacob does not perceive.”
[8] Understand, O dullest of the people!
Fools, when will you be wise?
[9] He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
[10] He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke?
He who teaches man knowledge—
[11] the LORD—knows the thoughts of man,
that they are but a breath.
[12] Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD,
and whom you teach out of your law,
[13] to give him rest from days of trouble,
until a pit is dug for the wicked.
[14] For the LORD will not forsake his people;
he will not abandon his heritage;
[15] for justice will return to the righteous,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.
[16] Who rises up for me against the wicked?
Who stands up for me against evildoers?
[17] If the LORD had not been my help,
my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
[18] When I thought, “My foot slips,”
your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up.
[19] When the cares of my heart are many,
your consolations cheer my soul.
[20] Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
those who frame injustice by statute?
[21] They band together against the life of the righteous
and condemn the innocent to death.
[22] But the LORD has become my stronghold,
and my God the rock of my refuge.
[23] He will bring back on them their iniquity
and wipe them out for their wickedness;
the LORD our God will wipe them out.
Old Testament Reading
Job 13
[1] “Behold, my eye has seen all this,
my ear has heard and understood it.
[2] What you know, I also know;
I am not inferior to you.
[3] But I would speak to the Almighty,
and I desire to argue my case with God.
[4] As for you, you whitewash with lies;
worthless physicians are you all.
[5] Oh that you would keep silent,
and it would be your wisdom!
[6] Hear now my argument
and listen to the pleadings of my lips.
[7] Will you speak falsely for God
and speak deceitfully for him?
[8] Will you show partiality toward him?
Will you plead the case for God?
[9] Will it be well with you when he searches you out?
Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man?
[10] He will surely rebuke you
if in secret you show partiality.
[11] Will not his majesty terrify you,
and the dread of him fall upon you?
[12] Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;
your defenses are defenses of clay.
[13] “Let me have silence, and I will speak,
and let come on me what may.
[14] Why should I take my flesh in my teeth
and put my life in my hand?
[15] Though he slay me, I will hope in him;
yet I will argue my ways to his face.
[16] This will be my salvation,
that the godless shall not come before him.
[17] Keep listening to my words,
and let my declaration be in your ears.
[18] Behold, I have prepared my case;
I know that I shall be in the right.
[19] Who is there who will contend with me?
For then I would be silent and die.
[20] Only grant me two things,
then I will not hide myself from your face:
[21] withdraw your hand far from me,
and let not dread of you terrify me.
[22] Then call, and I will answer;
or let me speak, and you reply to me.
[23] How many are my iniquities and my sins?
Make me know my transgression and my sin.
[24] Why do you hide your face
and count me as your enemy?
[25] Will you frighten a driven leaf
and pursue dry chaff?
[26] For you write bitter things against me
and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.
[27] You put my feet in the stocks
and watch all my paths;
you set a limit for the soles of my feet.
[28] Man wastes away like a rotten thing,
like a garment that is moth-eaten.
New Testament Reading
1 Corinthians 1
[1] Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,
[2] To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord 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 was given you in Christ Jesus, [5] that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—[6] even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—[7] so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, [8] who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. [9] God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
[10] I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. [11] For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. [12] What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” [13] Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? [14] I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, [15] so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. [16] (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) [17] For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
[18] For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. [19] For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
[20] Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? [21] For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. [22] For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, [23] but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, [24] but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. [25] For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
[26] For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. [27] But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; [28] God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, [29] so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. [30] And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, [31] so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
- Communion -
Pray for yourself, others, our church, our neighbors, and the world.
Pray the Lord’s Prayer & the collect of the week:
Our Father who art in heaven...
Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
- Commission -
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14)
Let us go forth in the name of Christ.