Third Sunday after Epiphany Year A 2020
Old Testament Reading: Amos 3:1-11
Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. “Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet? Does a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Does a young lion cry out from his den, if he has taken nothing? Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth, when there is no trap for it? Does a snare spring up from the ground, when it has taken nothing? Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the LORD has done it? “For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?” Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt, and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see the great tumults within her, and the oppressed in her midst.” “They do not know how to do right,” declares the LORD, “those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.” Therefore thus says the Lord God: “An adversary shall surround the land and bring down your defenses from you, and your strongholds shall be plundered.”
1. What is the prophet trying to express in this passage?
Psalm 139:1-11 Page 794, BCP
Domine, probasti
1
LORD, you have searched me out and known me; *
you know my sitting down and my rising up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
2
You trace my journeys and my resting-places *
and are acquainted with all my ways.
3
Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, *
but you, O LORD, know it altogether.
4
You press upon me behind and before *
and lay your hand upon me.
5
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; *
it is so high that I cannot attain to it.
6
Where can I go then from your Spirit? *
where can I flee from your presence?
7
If I climb up to heaven, you are there; *
if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.
8
If I take the wings of the morning *
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
9
Even there your hand will lead me *
and your right hand hold me fast.
10
If I say, "Surely the darkness will cover me, *
and the light around me turn to night,"
11
Darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day; *
darkness and light to you are both alike.
12
For you yourself made my inmost parts; *
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
13
I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; *
marvelous are your works, and my soul knows it very well.
14
My bones were not hidden from you *
when I was made in secret and fashioned in the depths of the earth.
15
Your eyes beheld my substance, while I was yet unformed; *
and in your book were all my members written,
16
Which day by day were fashioned, *
when as yet there was none of them.
17
How dear to me are your thoughts, O God. *
How great is the sum of them!
18
If I were to count them, they would be more in number than the sand. *
When I wake up, I am present with you.
1. Is the omnipresence of God a more comforting or troubling reality?
Epistle Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:10-17
I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ." Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.
- What does this passage reveal about the nature of the Church?
The Gospel: Matthew 4:12-23
When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: "Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles--the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned." From that time Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea-- for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
1. How good are you at fishing for people?