Homily For The Fifth Sunday After Epiphany

Today is the fifth Sunday after Epiphany.  It is uncommon in the Church calendar to have more than 4 Sundays between Epiphany and the Pre-Lent Sundays commonly called the ‘Gesima Sundays.  Today, being the 5th, greets us with instructions from St. Paul’s Epistle to the Colossians  and Christ’s statement of fact through the parable of the wheat and the tares.  Notice in the collect for today this portion of the prayer - that they who do lean only upon the hope of thy heavenly grace.  Lean ONLY, exclusively.  There is one way, there is but one Christ, and we can only lean successfully on that one hope of heavenly grace given to us in the Gospel.  This is language of need for we readily confess that we need the support of God; we lean upon his hope; he must stabilize us if we are going to make in this world or in the next.  Notice that we lean upon the “hope of God’s heavenly grace”.  

Hope is not a half-hearted expression of a wish like I hope I get a caramel cake for my birthday. Instead, hope is the full expectation that God is good for his word.  Indeed, hope is pregnant with faith.  This hope leads us to trust in heavenly grace.  As you probably know, Grace is God’s unmerited good favor towards us.  Its source is the love of God for sinners.  We receive it, and we live in light of it.  Living in God’s grace, living as St. Paul tells us as the elect of God.  

Our Epistle for today is from St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Notably, he is instructing them as “the elect”, those chosen of God, those a part of the Church, to behave in this life like this is the eternal reality to which they are called.  We know that St. Paul speaks to the Corinthian Church in Chapter 10 of his first Epistle about avoiding the pitfalls that destroyed God’s elect, Israel.  

For all were a part of the covenant people, St. Paul tells us that they ate the same spiritual food, that being manna, and drank of the same spiritual rock, the rock that was Christ that followed them through the Wilderness.  They had access to the same means of grace as God’s elect, but many did not enter the promised land.  They died in the wilderness because although they were inheritors of his promises, they preferred to rest in another hope; they looked to the golden calf, they leaned upon idolatry, and they rested in the arms of the Amalekites in sexual immorality.  They despised their inheritance, much like Esau, and exchanged their allotment among God’s people in Canaan in exchange for momentary pleasure. 

As “holy and beloved”, that is, as people separated from the world and loved of God through Jesus Christ, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, and humbleness.  There is a profound “other centeredness” in this sequence.  

Compassion is concern for another;  kindness is love expressed in actions toward someone else and humility is a lack of self-awareness in comparison with the needs or strengths of others.   Forgiveness on the other hand, is a keen awareness of how we have failed God and how we fail each other and giving to another the forgiveness that we sorely needed from God and were given through Christ Jesus.  

Forgiving even as Christ has forgiven you. When is the last time you thought about what Christ has forgiven you, particularly when you catalog the offenses that someone may have committed against you?  Can we see the offense through the lens of our own forgiveness?  That is what Christ commands us to do here.  With rare exception, we will find when we consider all our sins, known and unknown, yet completely forgiven in Christ, we will be generous in our forgiveness of others. We will hear the words of Jesus, as he taught us to pray - Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against. Notice here that this is a prayer of faith and proportionality. As we forgive, please forgive us.  

Also, remember the story of the ungrateful debtor who was forgiven 10000 pounds but immediately demanded repayment of another debtor who owed him a few hundred.  Beloved, this is a hard truth. We can’t expect forgiveness from God when we refuse to forgive others.  We often seek exceptions. Saying, certainly I am justified in holding a grudge against that person or another.  Yet, God calls us through the words of our Epistle to put on charity above all things for love, as St Peter tells us covers a multitude of sins.   

When we mirror the humility and compassion of Christ, we will be assured of the peace of God ruling in our hearts.  We should remember the peace and rectitude of Christ throughout his earthly ministry, who rested his cause with his Father even when it was contrary to his self-interest. Peace reigned in the heart of our Lord, regardless of his circumstances. This same peace is available to us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  

When we realize that we are one body in Christ, a theme that appears repeatedly in St. Paul writings, we will be thankful. Thankful for the goodness we have received from God. Thankful for the grief that has been spared.  Thankful for the power of God to transform even our sufferings into our sanctification. Thankful that God is at work at all things.  Moreover, St. Paul instructs them to let the word of Christ dwell in you - through wisdom, the practice of godly living.  Wisdom is making the right use, the holy use of the truth of God.  Interestingly enough, St. Paul directs them to teach and admonish one another.  It bears mentioning that the priest, the pastor, is for the equipping of the saints to fully use the gifts of the Spirit to expand the kingdom.  The Apostle assumes this by instructing the saints in Collosae to teach and admonish one another.  When we pray and study the Scriptures, I am often struck by the insight that comes from discussing. 

St. Paul presupposes that Christians will call each other to conform to God’s commandments.  He also mentions the use of music to facilitate thanksgiving, expressing the grace of God through memory of the psalms, the hymnbook of the Jewish church.  Through hymns and spiritual songs that convey the Gospel in varied formats.   

St. Paul in the final verse of our Epistle, summarizes our vocation as Christians,  “whatever we do in word or deed, we are to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”  Letting true thanksgiving order our words and actions.  The redemption we have received is priceless.  Christ shed his precious blood to restore us unto God and engraft us into his people.  We must submit our words and deeds to his Lordship.  This is what is meant by the name of Jesus.  It’s just to add his name to the end of our words and actions.  The name in the ancient world connects to the character, the standing of the one who bears.  

We bear his name and St. Paul reminds us of our duty, our responsibility to conform our words and actions to Christ’s character. Bearing witness to God’s presence in this world.

In conclusion, there is a phrase in Latin that I want us to meditate on in the coming days - Coram Deo. Coram Deo means "in the presence of God".  Coram Deo is a habit of living with an awareness of God’s presence and living for His glory.  It is mindfulness - if I can borrow a term from our contemporary culture.  St. Paul would want us to practice the presence of God through compassion, humility, and forgiveness.  The Apostle admonishes us to practice Christian love with the peace of God ruling our hearts and lives through thanksgiving. For this word of Christ to rest in our hearts Making use of the Scriptures to encourage one another; in word, song and deed.  Whatever we do, as we practice the presence of God, we do it all to conform ourselves to true godliness.  

So, before we celebrate Holy Communion, let us take a few moments and ask God one thing that he would have us submit to Him: a beginning in the practice of His presence. May the Holy Spirit direct us in a small step of obedience, leading to greater awareness of God’s presence and ever-growing obedience to be conformed to the character of Christ our Saviour. Amen.