Year A Epiphany 3 23 January 2011
Isaiah 9: 1-4 Psalm 27: 1, 4-9 1 Corinthians 1: 10-18 Matthew 4: 12-23
Do you wonder what it must feel like to live in the shadow of deep darkness? Or maybe that is where you feel you are at now. The prophet Isaiah saw a people who were in need. It wasn’t just a need for food, clothing and shelter, but the need ran much deeper.
I have no doubt that there are so many people affected by the floods at present feeling like they are living in a land of darkness and for some they will feel that they will be living in the land of such deep darkness it could be described, as Matthew’s gospel quotes, as the very shadow of death.
Do you recall the song “Stormy Weather”? If you take notice of the lyrics you’ll realise that the author describes a state of living in a shadow, as if walking under a big dark cloud. I’m not sure if the experience is common to everyone, but certainly those who have struggled with depression and those who’ve experienced considerable grief will understand.
The shadow or darkness that the scriptures tell us about is like this but deeper and darker. It is the very shadow of death and it is more than an illusion. It is a reality.
The reality of living in the shadow of the death is that the full effects of a fallen world are our experience and reality. Our fallen world subject to decay due to sin is hard enough but the even more drastic consequence is that of our eternal life.
I can’t comprehend how so many would rather live in the shadow of death when they could be living in the light of God’s Good News. Most probable is that they do not comprehend the reality of the situation, and just how simply good the Gospel message is.
Isaiah 9:2 “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned”.
In the deep darkness and dawning light is a fantastic thing.
I’m currently at Tamworth and am earning the title of Niki the gadget queen. When there is a need for something I usually have it in my handbag. One of my obsessions is torches. I have two torches travelling with me and both have been used. It would be silly to have these lights and not use them.
Similarly it seems a pointless waste to be living in the land of deep darkness when we could be living in the light.
Matthew 4:16, 17 “16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” 17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
The message that Jesus preached was the first part of the good news: the kingdom of heaven is near. The fullness of the good news was the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus also informed the people that to be ready for this kingdom they needed to repent.
“Repent” is a word we hear in Christian circles and is associated with a feeling of regret, yet it is not an emotion, though emotions may accompany, but essentially repentance is an intellectual event. To repent means to “change your mind”… or turn around in your thinking. For example the human race thinks it has no need for God. At some point each human individual needs to rethink this situation. When we decide that we do need God it is called “Repentance”, because we’ve changed our mind. The thoughts and beliefs that we have then determine our actions and also impact on our emotions.
The scriptures tell us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, the reason being, just as I’ve said, from our thoughts our actions and emotions flow. It isn’t an easy thing though and we don’t have to feel like a failure when we struggle as we have the example of the great psalmist and we see how he strives to put aside his fears:
Psalm 27:1-2, 4-5 “ 1 The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? 4 One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. 5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.”
The Psalmist states truth about God rescuing him and sets it to music, but we notice that in the song he includes his personal feelings and prayer that God will keep him safe… It is like the flip side of the coin. “Yes Lord, I believe, and know the truth about how you love me… but help my unbelief.”
Psalm 40:7-9 “7 Hear my voice when I call, LORD; be merciful to me and answer me. 8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek. 9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Savior.”
In the epistles, the letters of the New Testament, we find the apostles striving to convey the truth about Jesus Christ to a Christian audience. These people had received the Gospel, the good news, but due to their error in their thinking some of their actions were completely wrong.
The error of the Corinthian church was not so different from the church today. Some were saying they belonged to Peter, and others were saying that they followed Paul, and still others were saying they belonged to Appollis. Similarly we will find an attitude of spiritual pride in the churches today where one will say, “I belong to the such and such Church…. You should come here to OUR church, because YOUR church doesn’t have the truth and ours does.”
We might say, “I follow tradition, tried and tested and true… so I am right and you are wrong”. We might say, “I follow contemporary worship… so I am right and you are wrong!” We could even say, “We don’t follow set readings and structure…. The Spirit of Jesus isn’t confined to structure”. All these things are both true and false. Although I’ve even heard things like, “You must speak in tongues to have the Holy Spirit and you are not a true Christians without it.”
St. Paul was very upset about this kind of thinking and I hate it too. It is arrogant and narrow minded.
1 Corinthians 1:13-18 “13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 18 For 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.”
What is it that we value in our churches? What qualities do we look for in our leaders? Is it abilities and reputation, or talent and artistic ability, good looks or charisma? I imagine that in our churches we would greatly value eloquence and wisdom…. Actually I would really like to have it while I’m writing these reflections…. But rather than write with poetic phrases and awesome analogies (which I really do appreciate) I’d rather write something that is powered by the Holy Spirit, enlightens the mind with truth and speaks straight to the heart.
King David was a small man, who was too young and unimpressive to be anointed, but he was the one that God chose. God is concerned about the heart and unfortunately for us this is not something that we can see on the outside, however, as I have said, from our beliefs our actions and emotions flow. Do we fully appreciate the genuine hearts in our community and are we working at having this attitude ourselves?
I have no doubt that St. Paul was capable of eloquent words, but his was striving to be simply true to the message of God and mission that he was given to preach the good news. He explained that the message seemed like foolishness. It certainly seems too good to be true. Do we understand what that message is?
The message seems foolish. We are sinners who constantly fail God and yet while we were still sinning and rejecting God he came into this world as one of us and suffered and died for us. How crazy is that??? Not only that, but the pre-requisite for receiving eternal life is not some hard initiation ceremony or a life of penitence and abstinence, but the pre-requisite is simply to repent and to believe in Jesus Christ. It is so simple and yet so many choose to live a life needlessly in the dark. So many are insulted when it is suggested that they are sinners, yet we are all sinners. It is a fact of humanity that we fail to be perfect and that is what sin means… to miss the mark of perfection.
1 Corinthians 1:18 “18 For 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.”
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