Welcome to Holy Textures

Year C - Season of Epiphany - 2016

Holy Textures is a spot for my musings on the various Gospel texts that come our way through the Revised Common Lectionary.

My goal is to provide timely, short, easy to use and thought-provoking background commentary for your sermon or bible study preparation.

This year Epiphany falls on a Wednesday, January 6. There are 5 Sundays following Epiphany before Ash Wednesday, February 10. This will give us time to sample Luke 3, 4, and 5 - with one detour into John (for reasons that escape my imagination).

Unfortunately it also means we miss Luke's version of the Sermon the Mount - texts that every Christian needs to hear every year in my not-so-humble opinion. So if I can be presumptuous, I recommend playing Epiphany in "Shuffle" mode, and at least every other year, work back from Transfiguration Sunday and include Epiphany 6, 7, and 8 regardless of the dates.

Easter is on the early side this year - March 27, which means Epiphany is shortened. I like a long Season of Epiphany because it gives a chance to catch one's breath after Advent-Christmas before plunging into getting ready for Lent. But not so this year. So let's catch our breath quickly!

Epiphany of the Lord
January 6  or  May be used on the First Sunday of January
Matthew 2:1-12.   
"That this comet is understood to be a sign of the birth of a "child who has been born King of the Jews" is particularly frightening to Herod since HE is King of the Jews and this unknown child is a threat to him and his heirs." 

Baptism of the Lord
First Sunday After The Epiphany
January 10, 2016
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22.  
"Jesus' baptism is not about repentance. It is about his identity being publically, ritually re-rooted into God." 

Epiphany 2
January 17, 2016
John 2:1-11.  
"But since this is a sign and not a miracle, the point is not, 'Wow! How did that happen?' The point is, 'Wow! Who did that?'" 

Epiphany 3
January 24, 2016
Luke 4:14-21.
"A passage like this always reminds me of Jonah. When the Spirit of the Lord shows up - run away! Because a God-sized blessing always comes with a God-sized mission."  

Epiphany 4
January 31, 2016
Luke 4:21-30.  
"This, of course, will not be the last time words and wits will fail Jesus' opponents and they will resort to violence." 

Epiphany 5
February 7, 2016
May be replaced by readings for Transfiguration Sunday below.
Luke 5:1-11.  
"We should also remember that this is the last time that Simon, James, and John will fish in the old way. Jesus is about to ask them to re-imagine what it means for them to be fishers - and to re-imagine who 'fish' might be. So the moral of this story is NOT, 'Let's keep doing what we have always done before and trust that one day God will fill our nets.'" 

Epiphany 6
Not used in 2016
May be replaced by readings for Transfiguration Sunday below.
Luke 6:17-26.  
"There are at least two sermons in today's text. One comforting and one possibly discomforting. Blessed indeed is the preacher with the courage to preach both." 

Epiphany 7
Not used in 2016
May be replaced by readings for Transfiguration Sunday below. 
Luke 6:27-38.  
"The word used here for love, agape in Greek, does NOT mean romantic love, liking, or even friendship. What it does mean is whole-hearted, unreserved, unconditional desire for the well-being of the other. Expecting nothing in return." 
"

Epiphany 8
Not used in 2016
May be replaced by readings for Transfiguration Sunday below. 
Luke 6:39-49.  
"These sayings point to the impossible possibility of heaven on earth. They show us how God intends us to live together. But because this age is not living in the way God desires us, it means that opting to live God's way right now will require both wisdom and innocence; courage and humility." 
 

Epiphany 9
Not used in 2016
May be replaced by readings for Transfiguration Sunday below.  
Luke 7:1-10.
"It is crucial for our understanding of the Good News to recognize that "Good News" is not just a proclamation. It is also a response. It requires not only a Jesus, but also a centurion to be realized. And the centurion is both the model and the challenge for you and me." 

Transfiguration Sunday
February 7, 2016
Luke 9:28-36, (37-43).  
"Jesus' response to the news that the father begged the disciples to cure his son but they could not is an insult felt all the more sharply because it is given in public."