Holy Textures is a spot for my musings on the various Biblical texts that come our way through the Revised Common Lectionary.
My goal is to provide timely, short, easy to use and faith-provoking background commentary for your sermon or bible study preparation.
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Year C - Season of Epiphany - 2022
This year Epiphany falls on Thursday, so the only option to use this story is to shift it to January 2. This will provide an occasion for education about the lectionary and "12 Days of Christmas" as you explain why its January and we are still reading about the three magi. But on the other hand, perhaps a story about noticing the signs that the sky are revealing, and being moved to do what is required may be helpful for these times.
Easter is later this year, which gives a stretch of "ordinary" Sundays to catch one's breath before launching into Lent. This means there are 8 Sundays following Epiphany before Ash Wednesday, March 2. 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 the last two sections of 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, 8 and 9 regardless of the dates.
Advent and Christmas are often such busy times for worship leaders, I puzzle as to when is the best time to post information for getting ready for Epiphany as well. But I trust these musings will not pile on "one more thing to worry about." But instead will add assurance that the gifts of God's love and presence endures within and beyond the needs of any time. I pray that as you prepare worship for others you yourselves receive the blessings you are creating. May it be so.
David Ewart
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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 9, 2022
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22.
"Jesus' baptism is not about repentance. It is about his identity being publicly, ritually re-rooted into God."
Epiphany 2
January 16, 2022
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 23, 2022
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 30, 2022
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 6, 2022
If this is the final Sunday before Ash Wednesday, this reading may be replaced by 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
February 13, 2022
If this is the final Sunday before Ash Wednesday, this reading may be replaced by 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
February 20, 2022
If this is the final Sunday before Ash Wednesday, this reading may be replaced by 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
February 27, 2022
If this is the final Sunday before Ash Wednesday, this reading may be replaced by 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 this year.
If this is the final Sunday before Ash Wednesday, this reading may be replaced by 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 27, 2022
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."
And here are key dates for 2022.
Short, easy to use, faith inspiring explanations of the meaning of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John for your sermon, homily, bible study, or reflection.
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