Light on the Lessons s5

Light on the Lessons

Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2::1-12

The Epiphany of Our Lord; Cycle A-B-C, January 6, 2017

Leader Guidance

Materials Needed

+ Bibles for everyone (variety of translations often useful)

+ Lectionary sheets (very convenient if you use them in worship)

+ Chalkboard, newsprint, overhead, or another means for displaying information and recording thoughts.

+ Basic reference books for use as needed: Bible dictionary, Bible atlas, concordance, a one-volume Bible commentary.

+Candle for prayers.

I Getting Started

Have the lessons read aloud while others follow the text. Place a lit candle on a table. Ask participants to offer prayer petitions and end each with the group saying, “Jesus, Light of the World, hear our prayer.”

1. Responses will vary. Generally, when we are paralyzed by a difficult problem, we are freed to address it once we have a plan that shows promise of working. So, a vision for a future, including one that depends totally on God, gives a sense of hope in the present.

2. Responses will vary. Many Christians wonder most about the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Others dwell on the mystery of evil in God’s world. What about your group?

3. Responses will vary. Ideally, they would know about the grace of God and the power of forgiveness that Christ brought to clarity.

4. Responses will vary.

II Check the Texts

1. Isaiah 60:1-6

A. Judah faced near total spiritual and social depravity. This was far from the idealistic dreams of the returnees as they journey to Judah to restore the land. This context only sharpens the prophet’s words of hope for a better future.

B. The prophet envisions Judah’s future as a beacon reflecting God’s light to the world, drawing in all nations. They are to be servants, sharing God with the world, rather than the selfishness they now exhibit, according to Isaiah 59.

C. Verses 4-6 seem to expand on verse 3.

D. Verses 5-6 give a materialistic twist. The nations will shower Israel with wealth. Verse 4 seems to look to the gathering of Israel like a family brought together from their dispersion. Discuss how we, too, often mix up the spiritual and the material when we talk about blessings.

E. The themes of God’s light and sharing that light with the world, plus the mention of gold and frankincense in verse 6b, make this a good Epiphany lesson. In fact, verse 6b may be one source of the tradition about the Magi’s gifts..

2. Ephesians 3:1-12

A. “This reason” in verses 1 and 14 connect the verses and set verses 2-13 off as a parenthetical insert into Paul’s prayer. The phrase “for surely…” in verse 2 also suggests the beginning of a digression. The digression, of course, summarizes Paul’s apostleship to the Gentiles.

B. Paul was a prisoner, likely at Rome, which resulted from his offending some Jewish people, described in Acts 21. Jews took great pride in their customs based on the Law. It was this lifestyle that identified them as God’s people. Now Paul was giving the blessings of being God’s people to people who did nothing to keep the Law. Further, Gentiles were the ones who were oppressing Israel. On several counts, Paul with his fixation on Gentiles could be accused on being a traitor to his faith, his race, and his nation.

C. The “mystery” (something hidden) now revealed is God’s plan to incorporate Gentiles into the Israel, making the world the people of God. For a devout Jew, this kind of universalism was not palatable. For us, the idea of the Gospel for all peoples seems like commonsense, but in Paul’s pioneering days, it was definitely not. Paul wanted to stress that bringing in Gentiles was God’s idea, not his, so he uses the idea of a mystery hidden in God’s plan until now.

D. The church proclaims God and God’s ways of wisdom (i.e., salvation). The rulers are cosmic powers, dark spiritual forces which in the Hellenistic world dominated the thoughts and fears of most people.

3. Matthew 2:1-12

A. Micah writes, “who are one of the little clans of Judah,” while Matthew renders it in an opposite sense: “by no means the least among the rulers of Judah.” In Matthew’s view, apparently, Bethlehem, as the city of David, should not be spoken of as a little town!

B. The Magi saw a star that they felt had significance. The star went before them and located the house where the child was. No star can do that. Medieval paintings often show the star as a light over the house. No one back then really understood what a star was.

C. The star image may reflect the idea of stars being associated with angels. Thus, a messenger (angel) could have shown the way. In any case, the stars in Job rejoice at God’s creation of the earth and are associated with heavenly beings (angels). In Revelation 1:20, stars are specifically identified with angels.

D. The Gentile Magi, and not the high priests, are the first, in Matthew’s telling, to honor Jesus. In Luke, the first to honor the Son are shepherds, the poorest of the poor. Both Gospels start as they end: the ones expected to honor Jesus do not, and the least likely, do.

III What Does It All Mean?

1. Gentiles often forget that they are part of God’s family by God’s grace, a late addition indeed. If we had taken that thought more seriously in the past (and the present), Christian relationships with Jews would have traced a more honorable and appreciative trajectory.

2. As a nation we can hardly be a beacon for Christ because we are not a wholly Christian people. However, our nation – in fact, any nation -- can be a beacon of promise, aid, care, justice, and truth, which express God’s desire for just societies everywhere. After Iraq and Afghanistan, some are seriously rethinking America’s role in the world.

3. Responses will vary. The big inclusivity issue for many societies and communities in the future may well be accepting open and practicing homosexuals and their marriages.

4. Talk frankly about verbal witnessing, which challenges very many of us. Consider practicing conversations, such as how do answer a friend who asks, “Why do you go to church so regularly?” or “Why do you believe in Jesus as your Savior, and what is a Savior anyway?”

5. Help the participants feel free to express their frustrations with prayer as well as they rich experiences.

IV Into the Week

Talk about the possibilities given. Invite suggestions for other ideas that will put the learning of this session into practice in the coming week.