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3rd SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
These passages recall our own stories of hearing and turning toward the Lord. In the
first lesson Jonah physically enacts what the Hebrew understanding of repentance is; he
was headed one way, but turns and heads in a completely different way. Similarly,
the gospel lesson is also a visual aid for repentance-four hear and four move in a new
direction as followers of Jesus Christ. The epistle lesson enters the theme from a much
different angle, that of becoming free of attachments that can obtrude in our path toward
God. Enjoy!
Jonah 3:1-5, 10-The Word of the LORD came . . . a Second Time
The book of Jonah is one of those rare narratives that is a sheer delight to read for
its double entendre, humor, morality, and repentance! Jonah the recalcitrant, AWOL prophet
has run from the Word of the Lord. Such prophetic resistance lands him in the basement of
a big fish where his lament for deliverance is heard. In our lesson’s episode, Jonah
the regurgitated sits on the beach still pulling the seaweed from his beard when God
speaks to him a second time. "Get up, go . . . and proclaim . . . the message that I
tell you." So this time Jonah heads toward his mission city with God’s Word. The
story of Jonah is a wonderful adventure of repentance-a story in which
everything-including the animals-repent at the hearing of God’s Word.
1 Corinthians 7:29-31-Cutting the Strings Of Attachment . . .
In this passage Paul comments on the single life, mourning, celebrating, and
possessions in light of uncertainty-whether an apocalyptic return of Christ or our own end
is in view. Taken together, Paul’s comments focus on attachments-whether in
relationships, feelings and actions or possessions. The bottom line? "The present
form of this world is passing away. I want you to be free from anxieties." The
"as if" and "as though" imperatives seeks to focus Christians on the
uncertainly of life such that they are able to relate to persons and things and pursuits
in an un-attached way.
Mark 1:14-20-Jesus Calls his First Disciples
With the introductory statement that Jesus begins to proclaim the Good News of God,
Mark includes the calling of the first four disciples. This story is unique in that it
includes doublets-two sets of brothers-Simon and Andrew and James and John. Both pairs are
in the act of their vocation; the first two are out in the water casting nets into the
lake; the second pair are in the boat mending nets. Both are called and both
follow-immediately.
