YES! LET IT BE!  Readings and Prayers For The Week Before Epiphany Sunday (January 1-5):

by | Jan 5, 2018 | 0 comments

 

  1. Monday, January 1: Psalm 72: 1-7; 10-14, A “Royal Psalm,” this is ancient Israel’s prayer for a certain kind of king and kingdom. Compare this prayer with Samuel’s warning about what their kings and kingdoms would actually be like, in I Samuel 8: 10-22. Israel would later understand that only a divinely-appointed Messiah would or could fulfill this prayer, a hope kept alive even through centuries of Exile and dispersion.
    1. How does this hope and prayer for a king differ from what Israel too often experienced in a king?
    2. How does Jesus fulfill the hopes and prayers of this Psalm?
      “Lead on, O King Eternal, till sin’s fierce wars shall cease.   And holiness shall whisper the sweet Amen of peace.              For not with swords, loud clashing, nor roll of stirring drums, But deeds of love and mercy, the heavenly kingdom comes.” From the hymn, “Lead On, O King Eternal,” by H.T. Smart

  2. Tuesday, January 2: Ephesians 3: 1-6. These words, like the whole letter To The Ephesians, are meant to help Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ know what they share in common, and so be church together, thus displaying God’s kingdom to the world.
    1. What, in verse 6, is “the mystery” that has now been revealed through Christ and the Gospel?
    2. To what divided and conflicted groups might this “mystery” apply to today?

“Almighty God our heavenly Father, guide the nations of the
world into the way of justice and truth, and establish among
them that peace which is the fruit of righteousness, that they
may become the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus.” from the Book of Common Prayer, Anglican.

  1. Wednesday, January 3: Ephesians 3: 7-13, Paul referred to his imprisonment in verse 1, and ends this section with another reference to it, knowing that his imprisonment could be used to discredit the Gospel he preached. The “rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” to whom the church displays the mystery and wisdom of God might be demonic or human (political, social and economic) or both.
    1. How does the revelation of this mystery (see yesterday’s reading) connect with the coming of the magi (Mt. 2: 1-12), that we will celebrate on Sunday?
      “If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God, it will make in the end no difference at all what you have chosen.” William Law, 18th England
  2. Thursday, January 4: Isaiah 60: 1-6; This is one of the prophecies foretelling “the mystery” referred to in Ephesians 3: 1-13, for it speaks of an ingathering both of Gentiles and of Israel’s exiles into God’s redemptive plan. It also sets the stage for tomorrow’s reading and this Sunday’s Epiphany observance.
    1. Where is God’s glory seen, according to verse 2?
    2. How does the church reflect God’s glory? How might we?
    3. What tribute do, or can, you bring to God? “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” From the Journal of Jim Eliot, missionary to Ecuador, d. 1956
  3. Friday, January 5: Matthew 5: 1-12; called “The Epiphany” or “revealing,” this is the first revealing of Christ to the Gentiles. Ancient churches of Iraq, Iran and Central Asia date their beginnings to interest stirred up by the report of the magi to leaders of the Jewish community in the Persian Empire after their return from Bethlehem, and to later visits by a disciple of the Apostle Thomas.
    1. What new insights or questions strike you as you read this passage “again for the first time?”
    2. How does this event fulfill the promises in Isaiah 60: 1-6?
      “A hard time we had of it.
      At the end we preferred to travel all night,
      Sleeping in snatches,
      With the voices singing in our ears, saying
      That this was all folly.”

From “The Journey of the Magi” by T.S. Eliot

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