The Second Sunday after
Epiphany
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Prelude, Welcome, and Information Hymn
#308 O Morning
Star, How Fair and Bright |
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The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you
all. And also with
you. Psalm: Psalm 40:1-11 I waited
patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the
miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to
our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. Happy are
those who make the Lord their trust, who do not
turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods. You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your
wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you. Were I to proclaim and tell of them, they would be more than can be counted. Sacrifice
and offering you do not desire, but you
have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not
required. Then I said,
“Here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight
to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” I have told
the glad news of deliverance in the
great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. I have not
hidden your saving help within my heart, I have
spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not
concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation. Do not, O Lord, withhold your mercy from me; let
your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever. |
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The Lord be with you. And
also with you. Let us pray. Holy God, our strength and our
redeemer by your Spirit hold us forever, that through your grace we may
worship you and faithfully serve you, follow you and joyfully find you,
through Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior and Lord. Amen. |
Reading:
Isaiah 49:1-7
A reading from the prophet Isaiah
Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb
he named me. He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his
hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me
away. And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be
glorified.” But I said, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength
for nothing and vanity; yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my
reward with my God.” And now the Lord says, who formed me in the
womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be
gathered to him, for I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God has
become my strength— he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be
my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of
Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach
to the end of the earth.”
Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one
deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the slave of rulers, “Kings shall see
and stand up, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves, because of
the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
The Word of the Lord
Reading:
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
A reading from the first letter to the Corinthians
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our
brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who
are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those
who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord
and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God
that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been
enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— just as the
testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— so that you are not
lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be
blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you
were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Word of the Lord.
Gospel
Verse:
Alleluia! In the Word was
life, and the life was the light of all people. Alleluia! (John 1:4)
Gospel Reading: John 1:29-42
A reading from the Gospel of John
The next day (John) saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I
said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before
me.’ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this
reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw
the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I
myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to
me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes
with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this
is the Son of God.” The next day John again was standing with two of his
disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is
the Lamb of God!”
The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When
Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking
for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are
you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he
was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in
the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said
to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). He
brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John.
You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise
to you, O Christ.
Sermon
(added at the end of the document)
Hymn
#311 Hail to
the Lord’s Anointed
Thanks and Offertory
Prayers of the Church:
Gracious God, when we are together, we always
gather to “come and see.” Let us see your mercy and care as we pray for the
world, the church, and for all people according to their needs.
As you sent
Jesus to be the Lamb of God, help us to be your people in every way, we pray...
Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
As you sent
Jesus to be the Son of God, increase our faith and help us to live that faith
out in our actions, we pray... Lord, in your mercy, Hear
our prayer.
As you sent
Jesus as our eternal rabbi, bless us with an understanding of what you have
done for us through him, we pray... Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
As you sent
Jesus to be the Messiah, anointed for your mission of salvation, help us to be
grateful and willing to share what we have received from you, we pray... Lord,
in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
As you sent
Jesus to be the Prince of Peace, grant peace to Ukraine, Russia, Iran, and
Afghanistan, and to all who suffer the terrors and dangers of war anywhere, we
pray… Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
As you sent
Jesus to be our healer, grant healing to all those struggling with the COVID-19
virus, the seasonal “flu”, and the RSV virus as well as all who work for
healing in any way, we pray... Lord, in your mercy, Hear
our prayer.
As you sent Jesus to call us all to "come and see", bless all who serve in the name of your Son, especially Peace Christian Church, a Lutheran Fellowship in Chatham, and their interim pastor, Pastor Paul Sodtke, we pray... Lord in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
As you sent
Jesus to be so much in all our lives, hear our silent prayers for those we care
for and for those who have asked for our prayers … * … we pray… Lord, in your mercy, Hear
our prayer. {*Gail Mauer, Deb Kirschner, Rose Gotzmeister}
Gracious
God, we know you hear our prayers. Grant what is best for us as we pray in the
name of Jesus. Amen.
Hymn #574 Here I Am, Lord
The
Lord’s Prayer
Finally let
us pray for all things as our Lord would have us ask:
Our
Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done, on earth as it is in
heaven.
Give
us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against
us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For
thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Closing prayer
O God of justice and love, we give thanks to you that you illumine our
way through life with the words of your Son. Give us the light we need, awaken
us to the needs of others, and at the end bring all the world to your feast;
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy
Spirit, be honor and glory forever.
Amen.
Benediction & Sending
May the Lord
bless us and keep us.
May the
Lord’s face shine upon us with grace and mercy.
May the Lord
look upon us with favor and X give us peace.
Amen.
Hymn
#715 Christ, Be
Our Light
Go in peace. Serve
the Lord. Thanks be to God.
W
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Upcoming Services for the rest
of January and for February: (All services begin at 11:00am) January
22 Holy Communion at St. John's (Epiphany III) January
29 YouTube (Epiphany IV) February
5 Holy Communion at St. John’s (Epiphany
V) February
12 YouTube (Epiphany VI) February
19 Holy Communion at St. John’s (Epiphany
VII) February
22 Holy Communion at St. John’s (Ash
Wednesday*) (* Time to be announced) February
26 Holy Communion at St. John’s (Lent
I) |
What are you
looking for?... Come and see.
·
At this point
in John’s Gospel, Jesus has just received John’s baptism in the Jordan River.
From there on, the narrative is full of titles given to Jesus by either John or
one or the other of the two disciples who follow him. Despite the human
‘wisdom’ on titles, in Scripture, titles are important. They carry weight and
reveal a depth of meaning.
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These titles
include “Lamb of God”, “Son of God”, “Rabbi”, and “Messiah”. There are other
titles such as “the Son of Man”. Calling Jesus “the Christ” is simply calling
him “Messiah” since it’s the same word in two different languages.
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John calls
Jesus the “the Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world!” as Jesus comes toward him. He
goes on to explain how he comes to use this title.
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We all can
remember the Paschal Lamb and the blood smeared on the door posts of the
Hebrews at Passover to show the Angel of Death that the household should be
“passed over.” The blood of that lamb says more than the blood of a lamb
offered in sacrifice at the temple. The blood of the Lamb of God indicates the
people of God and is tied to salvation and the freedom of the people from
oppression and slavery. In Jesus’ case, the oppression and slavery come from
sin and it is he who takes away the
sin of the world.
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John later
calls Jesus the Son of God, telling all around him that the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on
whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the
Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the
Son of God.” This was not something John made up; it was revealed
to him as part of his prophetic ministry and with what he had seen, he had to
use this title.
·
Two of John’s
disciples, one of whom was Andrew, began to follow Jesus as he walked on. Jesus
asked them What are you looking
for? They responded
Rabbi… where you staying? This seems to be an odd answer, but with
the use of the title “Rabbi”, it makes sense. What they are saying means they
want to be where he is so they can learn from him as a teacher. A rabbi is more
than a school teacher or instructor. A rabbi is a teacher of the Law, a
scholar, and a religious leader, familiar with the ways of God. A rabbi’s
teaching, while respected, are often disputed and rabbinical dialogues are
known for subtlety and depth. (In the musical, “Fiddler on the Roof”,
in the song “If I Were a Rich Man”, the main character speaks of
the advice he’d give - if he were rich - to wisdom seekers “Posing problems that would cross a rabbi’s eyes!”) To call
Jesus “rabbi” places him in a special place in Jewish society.
·
Lastly,
Andrew tells his brother, Simon “We
have found the Messiah” (“Messiah” is translated as “Christ” in
Greek.) Andrew declares Jesus to be the one anointed by God for a special
purpose. The coming of the Messiah was longed for by in the Jewish society of
the time. In those days in a like manner, kings, prophets, and priests were
anointed since they had a special place in the society. Andrew subsequently
brings Simon to Jesus and Jesus changes the man’s name to ‘Peter.’ Peter’s life
is now changed since a new name means a new life.
· The titles of Jesus given here identify him and his mission without elevating him beyond everyone else and making him unapproachable. He says Come and see. All the disciples are invited to follow, to see, and to learn and the rest of the Gospel provides us with an ever deeper insight into who Jesus is if only we Come and see.
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