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 119:121–144
Ayin
[121] I have done what is just and right;
do not leave me to my oppressors.
[122] Give your servant a pledge of good;
let not the insolent oppress me.
[123] My eyes long for your salvation
and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise.
[124] Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love,
and teach me your statutes.
[125] I am your servant; give me understanding,
that I may know your testimonies!
[126] It is time for the LORD to act,
for your law has been broken.
[127] Therefore I love your commandments
above gold, above fine gold.
[128] Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right;
I hate every false way.
Pe
[129] Your testimonies are wonderful;
therefore my soul keeps them.
[130] The unfolding of your words gives light;
it imparts understanding to the simple.
[131] I open my mouth and pant,
because I long for your commandments.
[132] Turn to me and be gracious to me,
as is your way with those who love your name.
[133] Keep steady my steps according to your promise,
and let no iniquity get dominion over me.
[134] Redeem me from man’s oppression,
that I may keep your precepts.
[135] Make your face shine upon your servant,
and teach me your statutes.
[136] My eyes shed streams of tears,
because people do not keep your law.
Tsadhe
[137] Righteous are you, O LORD,
and right are your rules.
[138] You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness
and in all faithfulness.
[139] My zeal consumes me,
because my foes forget your words.
[140] Your promise is well tried,
and your servant loves it.
[141] I am small and despised,
yet I do not forget your precepts.
[142] Your righteousness is righteous forever,
and your law is true.
[143] Trouble and anguish have found me out,
but your commandments are my delight.
[144] Your testimonies are righteous forever;
give me understanding that I may live.
Old Testament Reading
Job 31
[1] “I have made a covenant with my eyes;
how then could I gaze at a virgin?
[2] What would be my portion from God above
and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
[3] Is not calamity for the unrighteous,
and disaster for the workers of iniquity?
[4] Does not he see my ways
and number all my steps?
[5] “If I have walked with falsehood
and my foot has hastened to deceit;
[6] (Let me be weighed in a just balance,
and let God know my integrity!)
[7] if my step has turned aside from the way
and my heart has gone after my eyes,
and if any spot has stuck to my hands,
[8] then let me sow, and another eat,
and let what grows for me be rooted out.
[9] “If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
[10] then let my wife grind for another,
and let others bow down on her.
[11] For that would be a heinous crime;
that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
[12] for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon,
and it would burn to the root all my increase.
[13] “If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,
when they brought a complaint against me,
[14] what then shall I do when God rises up?
When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
[15] Did not he who made me in the womb make him?
And did not one fashion us in the womb?
[16] “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
[17] or have eaten my morsel alone,
and the fatherless has not eaten of it
[18] (for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father,
and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow),
[19] if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
or the needy without covering,
[20] if his body has not blessed me,
and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
[21] if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
because I saw my help in the gate,
[22] then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
and let my arm be broken from its socket.
[23] For I was in terror of calamity from God,
and I could not have faced his majesty.
[24] “If I have made gold my trust
or called fine gold my confidence,
[25] if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant
or because my hand had found much,
[26] if I have looked at the sun when it shone,
or the moon moving in splendor,
[27] and my heart has been secretly enticed,
and my mouth has kissed my hand,
[28] this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
for I would have been false to God above.
[29] “If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,
or exulted when evil overtook him
[30] (I have not let my mouth sin
by asking for his life with a curse),
[31] if the men of my tent have not said,
‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?’
[32] (the sojourner has not lodged in the street;
I have opened my doors to the traveler),
[33] if I have concealed my transgressions as others do
by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
[34] because I stood in great fear of the multitude,
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—
[35] Oh, that I had one to hear me!
(Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!)
Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
[36] Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;
I would bind it on me as a crown;
[37] I would give him an account of all my steps;
like a prince I would approach him.
[38] “If my land has cried out against me
and its furrows have wept together,
[39] if I have eaten its yield without payment
and made its owners breathe their last,
[40] let thorns grow instead of wheat,
and foul weeds instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.
New Testament Reading
2 Corinthians 1
[1] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:
[2] Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
[3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, [4] who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. [5] For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. [6] If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. [7] Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
[8] For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. [9] Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. [10] He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. [11] You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
[12] For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. [13] For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand—[14] just as you did partially understand us—that on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you.
[15] Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace. [16] I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. [17] Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? [18] As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. [19] For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. [20] For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. [21] And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, [22] and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
[23] But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. [24] Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.
- 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...
Most loving Father, whose will it is for us to give thanks for all things, to fear nothing but the loss of you, and to cast all our care on you who care for us: Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which you have manifested to us in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; 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.