SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
Readings:
Key Verses (using the World English Bible):
Rom. 12:9-10a, 16: “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good. In the love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate to one another… Be of the same mind one toward another.”
John 2:5: “[Jesus’] mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever he says to you, do it.’”
Reflection
“I pray… for those whom you have given me…
Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me,
that they may be one, even as we are.”
(John 17:9, 11b)
Jesus prays these words in the Gospel of John a few hours before his betrayal and arrest. This so-called “High Priestly Prayer” isn’t just a kind of review of the purpose behind Jesus’ mission—it’s also a window into Jesus’ thoughts during his final night on earth. Clearly, he is worried about his followers who must now be left behind.
And Jesus was right to be worried. History shows that, from the very beginning, Christianity has been beset by division and quarrel. Just decades after Jesus’ crucifixion, Paul begs for unity among the divided brothers, even as he himself once opposed Peter “to his face”. After that, Christians disagreed about everything from Jesus’ divine/human nature, to the canon of Scripture, even to the proper calculation and observance of Easter. All of these divisions persist to this day—and they’re not going away any time soon.
But the 20th century brought with it a spirit of the celebration of social diversity. Even if its implementation has never been perfect, much of modern Western society lives with the ideal that, regardless of age, race, religion, and increasingly, sexual orientation, everyone has something positive to bring to the world table.
Enter in the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity”. Proposed in 1908 within the Roman Catholic Church, this eight-day period between January 18th-25th was embraced by Christians of various denominations (Orthodox, Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, and others), who in the 1950s began to work on joint liturgical material for use during the week. The dates themselves are symbolically significant. January 18th commemorates Peter’s confession of Jesus as Messiah. January 25th celebrates Paul’s conversion to the Way he once persecuted. The symbolism deepens when we realize that these are the same two apostles that argued over Christian practice. Their eventual reconciliation and collaboration serve as excellent examples for the Christian ecumenical movement.
Paul’s words to the Romans in today’s reading can also serve as a similar example. “Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good.” It strikes me that maybe this is where “Love the sinner, hate the sin” comes from, a saying sadly often used in a condescending or disingenuous way. But Paul is quick to bracket this guideline with “Let love be without hypocrisy… In the love of the brothers [i.e., ‘believers in Christ’] be tenderly affectionate to one another.” We will often disagree about what it means to be a Christian—it’s in our nature. But when we do, we must maintain a genuine and loving spirit of fellowship.
Yes, the quarrels of modern Christianity are sad. But the divisions themselves don’t have to be. We really can cling to that which is good in all of them because we all have differing gifts to offer at our common altar. I can attest to this from personal experience. My Roman Catholic upbringing instilled in me prayers and traditions that sustain me to this day. Attending a college with Quaker roots taught me the value of silence, of waiting in quietness for the still, small voice of God. Being received into the Episcopal Church opened up for me a community that fully accepts me for who I am. A Greek Orthodox eucharist immersed me in the mystical beauty of the divine reality. A Congregationalist service showed me a God who is found in simplicity, and in the here and now. All of these things should be celebrated, for they all point and lead us towards the God we’ve come to know in Christ. And if all of us continue sincerely to walk together in that direction, then we will in fact be one, just as he and the Father are one.
Prayer of the Day
Almighty God,
you inspired Simon Peter, first among the apostles,
to confess Jesus as Messiah and Son of the living God.
Keep your Church
steadfast upon the rock of this faith,
so that in unity and peace
we may proclaim the one truth
and follow the one Lord,
the same Savior Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
—Collect for the Confession of St. Peter, January 18 (adapted) from the Book of Common Prayer, 1979
Or,
Almighty and everlasting God,
you govern all things in heaven and earth.
Mercifully hear the supplications of your people,
and grant us your peace
all the days of our life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
—Collect for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany (adapted) from the Book of Common Prayer (1662)
Hymn: “The Church’s one foundation”
(Words: Samuel J. Stone, 1866; adapted by Joseph A. Soltero, 2015, from The Hymnal 1982 of the Episcopal Church, and final stanza from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, 2006
Tune: ‘Aurelia’, Samuel S. Wesley, 1864)
The Church’s one foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord,
She is his new creation
By water and the Word.
From heav’n he came and sought her
To be his holy bride.
With his own blood he bought her,
And for her life he died.
Elect from every nation,
Yet one o’er all the earth.
Her charter of salvation:
One Lord, one faith, one birth.
One holy Name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses,
With every grace endued.
The world, with scornful wonder,
May see her sore oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder,
By heresies distressed,
Yet saints their watch are keeping,
Their cry goes up, “How long?”
And soon the night of weeping
Shall be the morn of song!
‘Mid toil and tribulation,
And tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation
Of peace forevermore,
Till, with the vision glorious,
Her longing eyes are blest,
And then the Church victorious
Shall be the Church at rest.
On earth she still has union
With God, the Three in One,
And mystic, sweet communion
With those whose rest is won.
O happy, holy chorus!
Lord, grant us by your grace
That we, like saints before us,
May see you face to face.
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