Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

Call to Worship

L: Gather us in, the brokenhearted and the joyful.

P: Gather us in, the weak and the strong.

L: Gather us in, the fearful and the brave.

P: Gather us in, the young and the old.

L: Gather us in, to sing of God’s works.

P: Gather us in, to praise Jesus Christ.

L: Gather us in, to worship and wonder.

P: Gather us in, to know of God’s love

First Lesson: Isaiah 40:21-31

The New International Version (Chapter 40)

21 Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

Has it not been told you from the beginning?

Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,

and its people are like grasshoppers.

He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,

and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

23 He brings princes to naught

and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.

24 No sooner are they planted,

no sooner are they sown,

no sooner do they take root in the ground,

than he blows on them and they wither,

and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

25 “To whom will you compare me?

Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:

Who created all these?

He who brings out the starry host one by one

and calls forth each of them by name.

Because of his great power and mighty strength,

not one of them is missing.

27 Why do you complain, Jacob?

Why do you say, Israel,

“My way is hidden from the LORD;

my cause is disregarded by my God”?

28 Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the LORD

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 9:16-23

The New International Version (Chapter 9)

16 For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. 18 What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.

19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

Message

We live in a great country. We really do. I’m not sure we always appreciate that fact or really understand it. Maybe if we would spend time traveling around the world and seeing the situations and circumstances some of the people in other countries live in, we would truly begin to appreciate all that we have. If we would experience other forms of government, we might really come back with a deeper appreciation of what we have here in America. According to the constitution, we who are Americans have “rights”. Many of them. And today, we are practicing just one of those rights, the right to assemble ourselves.

If someone came in here today and told us we could not be here, that we needed to leave, we would argue that we have a right to be here. We might even say, “I know my rights.” We hear that phrase a lot don’t we. I know my rights. You can’t do this to me. I have rights. This phrase is a way we argue for getting what we think we deserve. As if my rights aren’t respected, then I am being treated unfairly. By claiming our rights we argue we have something we deserve.

I know my rights and you better not try to take them from me. Well, the apostle Paul had certain “rights” as well. In the Old Testament, God made special provision for the Levites to receive parts of the offerings in order to be taken care of. In the same way, Jesus, while talking to His disciples also indicates that as they go and preach, should trust that those who receive them will support them. They are to rely on the generosity of others.

Paul as a later disciple of Jesus, and minister of the gospel could also expect that the church would help to financially support him. He could expect it, but he makes it clear in his letter to the Corinthians that he didn’t take advantage of what he had a right to expect. In other words, he didn’t make demands even though he had a right to do so.

As he continues to write to this Corinthian church, Paul notes another pattern in his ministry. “Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.” He doesn’t demand that the people to whom he is reaching with the gospel act like him. Instead, he says, he became like them.

Now this doesn’t mean that he accepts their behaviors or excuses away their immoral acts. Instead, it means, he gives up his rights when he talks to them. Again, it means he doesn’t wait for them to come to him on his terms or with the proper demonstrations of respect and willingness to listen. Instead, Paul goes where they are and tells them about the grace of God.

He doesn’t demand his rights be attended to. Instead, to serve God’s kingdom, he humbles himself. To minister to others, he lowers himself. In the only way he can, he becomes like them.

Which should remind us of someone else. Christ, too, humbled Himself. Christ, too, didn’t wait for us to get to His level, but instead came to us, to meet us where we are. He didn’t demand His rights, to remain in Heaven, but He lowered Himself and He became like us. And He did so that we might be saved.

Today, we receive communion, the Lord’s Supper. A reminder that Christ did not demand what He could have but instead, in love and compassion, He gave Himself up for each and every one of us. And communion is a celebration of that truth.