Reflections for

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, Feb 08, 2015

Isaiah 40:21-31; Psalm 147:1-11, 20c; 1 Corinthians 9:16-23; Mark 1:29-39

Living by the Word

Boast not

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

Jan 24, 2006 by Ray Rhoads

Several decades ago, when I was filling out my application for seminary admission, I came to a question that asked me to provide biblical justification for my calling. I knew I wanted to attend seminary, but found it difficult to state why. Then I remembered my Wesley Foundation pastor preaching on 1 Corinthians 9:16b, and I wrote, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.” The text expressed the urgency I felt and even a tinge of divine necessity—although I think I knew even then that I was going a bit too far.

Living by the Word

No comparison

Isaiah 40:21-31; Psalm 147:1-11

Jan 25, 2003 by Paul Keim

Isaiah faced a challenge. How was he to awaken an exiled community from the lethargy of despair? The people’s confidence had been shattered; their entire worldview was drained of its mimetic properties. Former glories lay in ruins. Now the people lived in the land of the dreaded enemy, a people who goaded them with “Sing us some of those songs of Zion, miserable losers!"

Living by the Word

Who is like thee?

Isaiah 40:21-31

Jan 26, 2000 by Mary W. Anderson

We humans know our language cannot communicate the greatness of the divine, but we try anyway. We love to use the prefix omni, which takes a common adjective and expands it to the size of the universe: omnifarious, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, omni-loving, omni-merciful, omni-cool. The omni words are reserved for God and God alone.

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Revised Common Lectionary © 1992 the Consultation on Common Texts. Used by permission.