Isaiah 58.1-12

1 Shout out, do not hold back!
    Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
    to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet day after day they seek me
    and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practised righteousness
    and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgements,
    they delight to draw near to God.
3 ‘Why do we fast, but you do not see?
    Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day,
    and oppress all your workers.
4 Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
    and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
    will not make your voice heard on high.
5 Is such the fast that I choose,
    a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
    and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord ?
6 Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of injustice,
    to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
    and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
    and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.
If you remove the yoke from among you,
    the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
10 if you offer your food to the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
    and your gloom be like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you continually,
    and satisfy your needs in parched places,
    and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water,
    whose waters never fail.
12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
    you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
    the restorer of streets to live in.

 

 

REFLECTION

 This prophecy from Isaiah reflects the idea of a people who were using the laws and ordinances wrongly. They did not use them to meet God, but to serve their purposes. They did not see the gift to their life but expected something from God in return. Humanity thing more highly of themselves than they are. We live with great ideas, philosophies, theories, we have created great things, but in the end we think more than we live. We want peace but cannot live it. We blame others and believe we are not part of the problem. God is trying to let them see themselves and even in this, humanity could not see. We may see this prophecy as aimed at the Jewish people, but it is aimed at humanity. This is still as relevent today as it was then. As Jesus says in the Gospel reading, " 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.'

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Psalm 112

1 O praise the Lord. Blessed are they that fear the Lord:

and greatly delight in his commandments.

2 Their children shall be mighty in the land:

an upright race who will be blessed.

3 Riches and plenty shall be in their house:

and their righteousness shall stand for ever.

4 Light arises in darkness for the upright:

gracious and merciful are the righteous.

5 It goes well with those who act generously and lend:

who guide their affairs with justice.

6 Surely they shall never be moved:

the righteous shall be held in everlasting remembrance.

7 They will not fear bad tidings:

their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

8 Their hearts are confident and will not fear:

they will see the downfall of their enemies.

9 They give freely to the poor:

their righteousness stands for ever,

their head is uplifted in glory.

10 The wicked shall see it and be angry:

they shall gnash their teeth and consume away;

and the hope of the wicked shall fail.

 

 

1 Corinthians 2.1-16

1 When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom.
2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3 And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.
4 My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
5 so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.
6 Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish.
7 But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.
8 None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But, as it is written,
‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the human heart conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him’—
10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
11 For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.
13 And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.
14 Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are discerned spiritually.
15 Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny.
16 ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord
    so as to instruct him? ’But we have the mind of Christ.

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REFLECTION 

As Paul writes to the Corinthians, he wants them to know that he did not want the believers to be moved by his words, but to live in a way that made the focus about God and the works of Jesus.  He does not give them rules and expectations but focuses on the work of the Holy Spirit. Paul knows that people will see the wrong thing and make their faith about Paul and his words and he wants to avoid this. The light that shines in us is the work of the Holy Spirit in us. guiding us and moving us. This guidance will ensure that all we do and say fulfills the law.

 

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Matthew 5.13-20

13 ‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. 14 ‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. 17 ‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

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REFLECTION

I always feel that a this time of Epiphany that the readings move to looking at us. This reading Jesus is telling the believers that their lives need to be different. They are like salt, which brings flavour to the food. They need to be light shining out so others can see. Jesus does not make groups or differences, age, gender, personality types, Jesus sees those of faith are different. They are different in how they see life and the world. I believe Jesus did not think this was a job or an act of knowledge and preparation. I believe Jesus thought that belief would change people and it would be the reflection of the change which would change people.

Jesus also talks about the law and the prophets. It is interesting that even while Jesus was a live the people believed Jesus was taking away the law and that there was no need for the prophecies, Jesus he comes to fulfill them, but what does that mean to us, what did it mean to his listeners? I believe Jesus came to show a life that lived the law, though he was not motivated by some social approval. The change in believers did not overcome the law, in fact in living in to this new relationship people would live the law more fully. 

Jesus came as an epiphany of God's love for humanity. Jesus knows that there were and are many people who need an epiphany and that we can say it is Jesus, but people need a present reflection and Jesus knew that the epiphany is the life of God's people in the world.

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