We have made it to the second to last Sunday in the Epiphany season, the penultimate week of Epiphany I guess you could say.  We remain in a predictable lectionary pattern with an Epistle in 1^st Corinthians and a Gospel lesson from Luke.  We mix in a Psalm as always and a reading from Genesis.  I’ll be curious to see how they all fit together.

Here are the readings:

• Genesis 45:3-11, 15
• 1 Corinthians 15:35-38,42-50
• Luke 6:27-38
• Psalm 37:1-12, 41-42

God’s plans supersede those of men and at times can even use men’s wickedness for his purpose.  The Old Testament lesson is tricky if you’re not familiar with the story of Joseph and his brothers.  The story certainly increases in poignancy and depth when you have been reading it from the beginning.  This moment that brothers are reunited, the previously stronger and powerful brothers now at the mercy of the one who they almost killed but ultimately sold into slavery (and then told their dad he had been killed by a wild animal).   Instead of a day of reckoning, the brothers are welcomed with a kiss and a brother who has had time to understand God’s hand in all that has transpired.  Knowing how we live our lives, how will it be on the day we meet our maker?  Will we, like the brothers, look at our relationship and imagine it is broken beyond repair and that death is most certainly coming, or will we find a God who embraces us and weeps with joy at our arrival?   Either way, like Joseph and Egypt at the time of the reading, God has been storing up a bounty for us, a place to come when the rest of existence is desolate and unproductive.  We are so richly cared for and provided for by our God.

Psalm 37 sounds a little like Psalm 1 we had last week, at least in the beginning.  Of the verses listed here, my eyes were drawn to verse 7, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.”  As the father of a four-year-old I know how hard it can be for some folks to be still, but even as adults, we do not want to wait on the Lord.   We don’t like to wait for answers, nor do we like it when the answer is no.  If we go in reverse, we see the words of the Psalmist telling us to do things like put our trust in the Lord and to delight in Him.  Similarly to a point I’m not sure I made very well on Sunday; our identity and our riches should be found in God and not in the things that this life places above all things.  I was thinking last night how ironic it is that we have “In God We Trust” on our money here in the United States.  I would argue that folks more readily put their trust and faith in the money rather than the phrase printed on it.  All I know is that I’m ready for the second half of verse 12 and that abundance of peace.

A continuation in the Epistle as Paul continues to discuss the afterlife, but in a much different way.  One of the powerful messages here is that Paul is speaking from a position of stating fact and not from opinion.  He is leaving no doubt that what he said earlier is true and is simply moving on to other facets of the issue.  It is interesting to note that Paul’s interpretation of our lives is in contrast to some of those our adult Sunday School class has been hearing about as we dive into apocryphal (heretical) writings that influenced some early Christians.  Paul’s main message here is that the sin of this life, which clings to our bodies like dirt will not be following us to heaven.  His great line of what is sown in dishonor is raised in glory.  Powerful stuff to go along with perishable and imperishable.  Sin is to death as righteousness is to heaven.  There’s no gray area.  Sorry Catholics, but there doesn’t seem to be a purgatory where we are somewhere in between.

I mentioned Sunday morning that William Barclay had called the beginning of the Beatitudes “startling.”   I’d say that where we pick up the Gospel reading this week is equally so.  It can be hard to swallow those first couple lines, ones about loving our enemies and not only that but doing nice things to those who hate us.  Bless people who curse us and pray for those who abuse us (and not just by saying bless their heart).  How about giving to everyone who begs from you?  What goes through our minds at the intersection with the person holding the cardboard sign?  Do we question the validity of their situation, do we start pretending to mess with the radio or be on the phone, so we don’t have to make eye contact with them?  I’ve told the story a hundred times, but I always think about what the late Pastor Richie Yowell said about an interaction he had with a beggar in Harrisonburg.  Richie didn’t have much money to spare at the time and the only thing in his pocket was a $20 bill.  I think most of us would have sunk that right back in our pocket and hunted for some coins, but Richie handed over that $20 he really needed himself.  Someone later asked him how he knew if that person wasn’t just going to spend that money on alcohol or drugs.  Richie’s response was that he had done what he was called to do, so what was done with the money wasn’t nearly as much a concern.  The words here in Luke remind us that being a good Christian is more than just going to a building on a Sunday, singing a couple hymns, staying awake for the sermon and then going home.  Being a Christian is truly living life differently than other people.   This is the definition, if not the instruction manual of how to be in the world but not of it.

Join me this week in studying these texts and not just giving them a quick once over as I have done here.   Then join me Sunday for worship and let’s see what the Lord has given us to share with one another.