понедельник, 4 января 2021 г.

What would I preach on this coming Sunday? (First Sunday after Epiphany)

I have been pondering what I might preach on this coming Sunday, 10 January 2021. (I hope to take up a role as minister of a local church later in the year.) 

Let me first lay out options if I were preaching following the church calendar (lectionary). In terms of the church calendar, which seeks to replicate the events of Christ's life in the Scripture reading and preaching of the church, we find ourselves in the season of Epiphany, after the birth of Christ but before the start of his public ministry. Various options for preaching present themselves:
  • The Murder of the Innocents (Matthew 2:13ff) trad. 28 December
  • The Circumcision of Christ (Luke 2:21 cf. Galatians 4) trad. 1 January
  • The Baptist of Christ (Matthew 3/Mark 1/Luke 3/John 1) trad. the first Sunday after Epiphany (10 January this year) 
  • Christ's genealogy in the gospel of Luke (Luke 3:23-38), emphasising his connection with the whole human race
  • The presentation of Christ (Luke 2:22ff) trad. 2 February
  • Christ in the Temple (Luke 2:41-52), which speaks both of His human nature and of his awareness of His divine Sonship (2:49) 
At this time it would seem right to focus on the first thirty plus years of the Lord's earthly life, leading up to his baptism in the Jordan. A related passage might be Romans 5:12-21 which speaks of Christ as the Other Adam, or the concept of recapitulation, developed theologically by Irenaeus of Lyon, as suggested by Ephesians 1:10. Here is a quotation from Irenaeus' writings:

"For this reason, He also passed through every stage of life, restoring fellowship with God to all [stages of life]... God recapitulated in himself the ancient formation of man, so that he might kill sin, deprive death of its power, and impart life to man." (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3:6,12) 

There is, of course, no compulsion to follow the church calendar and there may be other more pressing subjects relevant for God's people on a given Sunday. A Scripture which has been relevant recently is 2 Corinthians 2:14 (in particular the words "in every place"). 

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