The Fourth Sunday of Epiphany

Reception

Good evening, we continue tonight in our working through the church calendar, in the season of Epiphany, celebrating the public ministry of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus, Holy Anointed One. But, these weeks have often come with a fair bit of reading that is hard to keep up with. As you may have caught up, we read from the Old Testament, New Testament, and finish with a Gospel Reading—that can be a lot to remember, even if we’re using short sections. So I’m instituting or experimenting with two ways to elucidate the teachings of these Holy Scriptures. First, by discussing each section one-by-one, tying in their themes as we move along. Second, by providing slides with the verses behind me, emphasizing certain sections for particular focus. If tonight is more clear than other nights, please let me know, I am here to serve, not be served. So, let us begin in prayer and the Old Testament Reading.

Collect for Purity/Collect of the Day

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Old Testament

A reading from the Old Testament, the Book of Exodus,

Micah 6:1–8 “Hear now what the Lord is saying, “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, And let the hills hear your voice. “Listen, you mountains, to the indictment of the Lord, And you enduring foundations of the earth, Because the Lord has a case against His people; Even with Israel He will dispute. “My people, what have I done to you, And how have I wearied you? Answer Me. “Indeed, I brought you up from the land of Egypt And ransomed you from the house of slavery, And I sent before you Moses, Aaron and Miriam. “My people, remember now What Balak king of Moab counseled And what Balaam son of Beor answered him, And from Shittim to Gilgal, So that you might know the righteous acts of the Lord.” With what shall I come to the Lord And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”

The Word of the Lord, Thanks be to God.

Exposition

We begin with the book of Micah, one of the minor prophets in the Old Testament Scriptures. Micah, that word, literally means, “Who is like God?” So when we read today’s lesson, we stop to focus on the comparisons made, for “who is like God?” The passages today are the start of the final section of Micah, in which there’s an allegorical lawsuit between God and Israel. Think again to the comparisons, “who is like God?” But also to a theme we’ve discussed before that before God we are always in the wrong, and the uplifting thought that that ironically means we can place our entire trust in Him, radically.

So Micah opens not with instruction, or a declaration of our wrongdoing, but with summons. “Hear what the Lord says: Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.” This is covenant language. Israel is not being given a moral pep talk; she is being brought before the court of heaven. She has failed, as she repeatedly did before (and after) Christ’s incarnation. Creation itself is called as witness—the ancient mountains, the enduring foundations of the earth, that which came before man—because the dispute between God and His people is not a passing disagreement but a breach of covenant fidelity. It’s a breach of that which came before man and Creation. For man was the ultimate Creation, and He is the ultimate Creator. And see in this courtroom sketch, that God is not absent or indifferent. He speaks, and when He speaks, the cosmos listens.

And yet the most startling thing about this courtroom scene is that God does not begin with accusation. He begins with a question that exposes the tragedy of forgetfulness: “O my people, what have I done to you? How have I wearied you?” The Lord recounts His saving acts—not to boast, but to remind. He brought them up from Egypt. He redeemed them from slavery. He sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. He turned curse into blessing. Grace precedes demand. Deliverance comes before obedience. God reminds Israel who He has been before He tells them who they are to be. Another reminder of his all-goodness and our relative depravity. It’s like that phrase, biting the hand that feeds you. God is not accusing, but weeping. Think of the shortest verse in Scripture, “Jesus wept,” and compare that with Micah’s prophecies. Think of Christ on the Cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

The people respond, but they respond anxiously, defensively, and desperately. “With what shall I come before the Lord?” They escalate quickly: burnt offerings, calves, thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil. The logic is transactional. Surely God can be satisfied if we give Him enough. Surely holiness can be purchased through excess. Or in our lives, surely I can do enough good to counteract the bad. And when that fails, and it always will, the question becomes darker still: “Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” This is what happens when covenant relationship collapses into religious performance. God becomes a creditor instead of a Father. We turn our relationship strictly into one of an arbiter in a courtroom, rather than He who brings us into judgment. In truth, it is He who helps us realize our faults but also He who saves. Or, as Micah prophecies, will come to save.

And Micah’s response cuts through the confusion with devastating clarity: “He has told you, O man, what is good.” Not hidden. Not secret. Not esoteric. What does the Lord require? To do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Not more sacrifice, but rightly ordered life. Not louder religion, but faithful presence. Justice that reflects God’s righteousness, mercy that mirrors His steadfast love, humility that recognizes creaturely dependence.

This is not moral minimalism. It is covenant realism. To walk humbly with God is to live daily before His face, shaped by His character. Saint Augustine presses this point to its deepest level when he says that when we ask what we should offer, the Lord answers: offer yourself. Of all earthly creatures, God has made nothing better than you, and so He seeks yourself from yourself, because you have lost yourself. This is the tragedy Micah exposes. Israel is offering everything except the one thing God truly desires: a self returned to its Creator.

Epiphany begins here. God reveals that He does not want to be managed by offerings. He wants to be known through obedience that flows from gratitude. Micah prepares us for Christ by stripping away the illusion that holiness can be manufactured. What God requires is not self-destruction but self-surrender. And that surrender, as Paul will soon show us, will take a form that the world calls foolish. So we turn now to our New Testament reading,

New Testament Lesson

A reading from the New Testament, the letter to the Corinthians,

1 Corinthians 1:18–31 “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.””

The Word of the Lord, Thanks be to God.

Exposition

St. Paul opens this passage by drawing a line that runs straight through history: “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.” Notice the present tense. Salvation is not merely a past decision or a future hope; it is an ongoing reality. And the cross functions as a lens. It reveals not only who God is, but who we are becoming.

For those who are perishing, the cross is nonsense. It does not compute. Power should dominate, not submit. Wisdom should explain, not suffer. Victory should silence enemies, not forgive them. Chrysostom describes this rejection with almost medical precision when he says that the power of the cross is not recognized by those who are perishing because they are out of their minds, rejecting the very medicine that brings salvation. The problem is not that the cure is weak; it is that the patient refuses it.

Paul explains why this rejection is so persistent. Jews ask for signs. Greeks seek wisdom. Both are looking for God on their own terms, by their own cultural milieus, through their own skewed lenses. The Jews wanted signs that confirm expectations. The Greeks, wisdom that flatters human reason. They all looked for that which satisfied them. But God refuses both frameworks. Instead, He gives Christ crucified. The wisdom of God, the power (sign) of God, incarnate. To the Jews, this is described as a stumbling block. To the Gentiles, it is foolishness. Ambrosiaster clarifies why: it offends Jewish expectations because the Son of God does not conform to sabbath observance as they imagine it should; [and] it offends Gentile rationality because doctrines like the virgin birth and resurrection sound irrational to philosophical ears. Christ violates every category.

And yet Paul insists that this rejected Christ is precisely the wisdom and power of God. What looks weak shames the strong. What looks foolish unmasks false wisdom. The cross does not merely save individuals; it dismantles entire systems of boasting. God chooses what is low and despised so that no one may boast before Him. Salvation leaves no room for self-congratulation.

Paul then brings the argument home personally: “Consider your calling, brothers.” Look at yourselves. Not many wise. Not many powerful. Not many of noble birth. God’s election itself reveals His logic. The church is living proof that salvation is grace, not achievement.

And then Paul reaches the theological summit: Christ Jesus has become for us wisdom from God—righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. St. Ambrose clarifies the mystery when he says that Christ was made our sanctification not by changing what He was, but by sanctifying us in the flesh. Christ does not escape humanity to save us. He enters it fully and redeems it from within. The wisdom of God is not abstraction; it is incarnation.

Here Epiphany shines with unsettling brilliance. God reveals His glory not in dominance but in descent. Not in human excellence but in divine humility. The cross is not God’s concession to weakness; it is His chosen instrument of renewal. And this cruciform wisdom, once received, reshapes what we call blessed.

Gospel Reading

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, According to St. John,

Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Matthew 5:1–12 “When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Thus Ends the Readings of the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

The Word of the Lord, Thanks be to God.

Exposition

We see finally these themes explicated by Paul in their original setting. In what are called the Beatitudes, Christ’s blessings are counter-intuitive, counter-cultural, to that which was accepted/acceptable at the time. As the Jews sought signs, and the Greeks, wisdom, so did the secular world promote the rich, powerful, and conquering. Yet, when Jesus ascends the mountain and opens His mouth, He does not do so by issuing commands, or following cultural norms. He begins by pronouncing blessing. The Beatitudes are not instructions for climbing into the kingdom; they are descriptions of those who already belong to it. Jesus is revealing the inner logic of life under God’s reign. He is revealing that which brings true power, true wisdom. The Greeks and Jews missed the wisdom and sign right before their eyes, what makes them think they know what is valuable or virtuous. Christ comes to show that those that are truly rich are spiritually rich, that those that are truly powerful are meek, that those that are truly victorious are the peacemakers, not the conquerors.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Not self-sufficient, not spiritually impressive, but those who know they have nothing to leverage before God. “Blessed are those who mourn.” Those who see the world truthfully, who grieve sin, loss, and brokenness. “Blessed are the meek.” Not the passive, but those whose strength is restrained and ordered under God. These are not virtues the world celebrates. They are dispositions formed by dependence.

Jesus continues: those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers. Each beatitude echoes Micah’s triad—justice, mercy, humility—but now embodied in persons shaped by Christ’s presence. This is what the kingdom looks like when it takes flesh.

Then Jesus turns the blessing toward suffering: persecution, reviling, false accusation. “Blessed are you,” He says, “when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” The blessing is not the suffering itself, but the union with Christ it reveals. Jerome captures this paradox when he explains that it is within anyone’s power to rejoice when their good character is injured by slander, but only if they do not seek empty glory. The one who lives for human approval cannot rejoice here. Only the one anchored in God’s judgment can.

Jerome wrote that it is in the power of any one of us to attain, that when our good character is injured by calumny, we rejoice in the Lord. He only who seeks after empty glory cannot attain this. Let us then rejoice and exult, that our reward may be prepared for us in heaven. This is the cross translated into daily life. The Beatitudes are not poetic ideals; they are the lived consequences of cruciform wisdom. To live this way is to accept that the kingdom is revealed not through domination but through faithfulness. Not through applause but through endurance.

And this is why Epiphany matters. Jesus is not merely teaching ethics; He is revealing reality. The blessed life is hidden now, misunderstood now, often rejected now—but it is secure because its reward is prepared in heaven. The mountain sermon unveils the shape of a life that has seen the true King and reordered its loves accordingly.

Conclusion

On this Fourth Sunday of Epiphany, these three texts do not merely sit beside one another; they interpret one another. Micah tells us that God does not want religious excess but a self returned in justice, mercy, and humility. Paul tells us that such a life is impossible apart from the foolish (counter-cultural) wisdom of the cross. And Jesus shows us what that wisdom looks like when it becomes flesh in His people.

Again, He is revealing that which brings true power and true wisdom. The Greeks and Jews missed the wisdom and sign right before their eyes, what makes them think they know what is valuable or virtuous. Christ comes to show that those that are truly rich are spiritually rich, that those that are truly powerful are meek, that those that are truly victorious are the peacemakers, not the conquerors.

What Micah demands, Christ fulfills. What Paul proclaims, Jesus embodies. The self God seeks in Micah is the self remade by the cross in Corinthians and self declared blessed in Matthew.

Epiphany reveals that God’s glory is not hidden behind power but disclosed through gift. God gives Himself in Christ, and in doing so, He makes it possible for us to give ourselves back to Him. Not as payment, not as leverage, but as response. The cross dismantles boasting, the Beatitudes dismantle pride, and the kingdom advances quietly through transformed lives.

Justice without the cross becomes moralism. The cross without the Beatitudes becomes abstraction. The Beatitudes without Epiphany become impossible ideals. But together, they reveal the gospel whole: God acts first, God gives fully, God calls us into participation.

So let us offer ourselves, not in fear, but in faith. Let us boast only in the Lord. And let us rejoice, even when misunderstood, because the kingdom of heaven has already been revealed among us.

Amen.

Psalmic Prayer (ex Psalmo 37)

Everlasting God, we give our trust and thanks in you for your goodness. You, who fades away the evildoers in time. You, who gives us the desires of our hearts. Do all in your time, not ours, allows us to commit our ways to You, Trusting in You, and your goodness. Help us be still before Your Son Jesus Christ, waiting patiently as we are ever-united in Him. Keep us from anger, wrath, all that separate us from Your character. And, let us live as You did, for the meek shall inherit the land, and delight in Your abundant peace, the peace of God. Amen.

Benediction

Let us end tonight in a benediction, from the words of St. Paul,

1 Thessalonians 5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Go in Peace in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.