Sermon for the 3rd Sunday after the Epiphany - January 21, 2024

“God Alone”

Sermon for the Third Sunday after Epiphany

(This sermon has comments on all four readings for this Day, in this order:)

The Gospel: Mark 1:14-20

The Old Testament Lesson: Jonah 3:1-5, 10

The Epistle: 1 Corinthians 7: 29-35

The Psalm: Psalm 62

Let us pray: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

In our Gospel lesson for today, we heard Jesus, early in His public ministry, saying to Simon Peter and Andrew, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men” (Mark 1:17). They were fishermen for fish, but now they were to become fishermen for people. And the Greek word for “men” doesn’t just mean “men” (males), but all human beings - men, women, children, Jews and non-Jews, all people.

And fishing for people means trying to share the Good News of Jesus with people so that they might be caught for the Kingdom of God by faith in Jesus. Last week, we heard of one of the simplest ways of doing so, as Philip was “found” by Jesus and then invited his friend, Nathaniel, to “come and see” about Jesus, too. For us, that might mean inviting someone to worship or Bible study or Sunday School or to consider St. James School for their children to attend or just giving someone a Portals of Prayer devotion book or something else to read that points to Jesus.

Even that is not easy for us to do, though, is it, especially in a culture where the two things we are not to talk about, if we want to keep peace with others, are politics or religion? What would we say if someone responded as Nathaniel did at first - “What good can come of that” (John 1:46)? What would we say? And what would people think of us - that we were a religious fanatic, or a “pushy” person? And so, we often don’t say or do much of anything and don’t invite others.

This being fishermen for others is not even easy, at times, for people like Peter and Andrew, who were called to full-time witness for Christ. Think about Jonah, a prophet of God, in our Old Testament lesson for today. Before this reading, Jonah had been called by God to go to the great city of Nineveh and call the people to repentance for the great evils they were doing. Instead, Jonah went in the opposite direction, away from Nineveh. If you remember the story, it took being swallowed by a great fish and spending three days and three nights in its belly and then being vomited out onto dry land to stop Jonah from running away. Then, as our Old Testament lesson begins, Jonah was given a second chance, and this time went and preached judgment for the Ninevites unless they repented of their sins. God’s Word, preached by Jonah, worked. God’s Word has power, brought by God Himself, and the people, including the king, were turned from their evil ways and did not perish, at least for a while.

When you read on in Jonah, Chapter 4, Jonah was not happy, but very angry, because he hated the Ninevites and the evil they had done to God’s people and others, and did not think they deserved to be forgiven. Obviously, Jonah still needed lots of learning and growing to be the prophet and fisherman God wanted him to be. And don’t we all have the same sort of struggles at times, in forgiving and forgetting, and maybe even in forgiving ourselves for our failures in the past?

Look now at the Epistle lesson for today. This is a hard passage and can easily be misunderstood because we don’t have the whole context. In verse 25 of 1 Corinthians 7, Paul had said, “I have no command of God, but I give my judgment” on what follows. This is very rare in the Scriptures - but Paul is honest in saying that what he writes in this little section is his best judgment, but not a Scriptural command.

He also speaks in verse 26 of “the present distress” - which seems to refer to increasing trouble and persecution for Christians and increasing opposition from many groups and from the Roman government. He also speaks of ”the appointed time growing short” and "the present form of this world passing away” and may have thought in his own judgment that the end of all things and the return of Christ might be very soon. He therefore wanted people to be ready, with proper “devotion to the Lord,” and not being anxious about many things that might pull them away from the Lord. So, when Paul says, “Let those who have wives live as though they have none,” we know we can’t do that and wouldn’t want to, as we love our spouse and family.

Here, Scripture interprets Scripture and helps us. It was God who instituted marriage and brought the first man and woman, whom He had created, together, with all the joys and blessings, and then the challenges of marriage and family when sin later came in (Genesis 2:21-24 and Matthew 19:4-6). Paul wrote on another occasion, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8). Our care for spouse and family is obviously very important as part of our service to God and others.

We hear so much about life/work balance these days and know it is so hard to keep the right balance in marriage and family and all we do. We fall short all too often and forget what Paul is really most concerned about, keeping the Lord and His will foremost in this balance. And God in His Word gives us the guidance and help we really need, reminding us in the First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods before Me,” the Lord Himself (Deuteronomy 5:7 and 6:13-14).

That brings me to one more Scripture, assigned for this day, that we haven’t even looked at - the Psalm for this day, Psalm 62. There’s not a place where psalms neatly fit in a Communion service, so they are often omitted. But Psalm 62 is very important to hear. You can just listen, as I read from this psalm, or you can turn to this psalm in the front of your hymnal, before the regular worship services begin, and follow along.

We speak as Lutherans of three great “solas” or “alones” - that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, as revealed by Scripture alone. But as David says in this psalm, all this can only come through one more “alone,” God alone. And we know from the Scriptures as a whole, that David is referring to the one true Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Most think that David wrote this psalm at a very difficult time in his life, probably when his own son, Absalom, had overthrown him and become king, and many were now trying to kill David. David knew that his hope was only in God, as he says again and again in this psalm.

In verses 1-2, David says, “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation. He alone is my Rock and my Salvation, my Fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.” In verse 3 he says he feels like a leaning wall or a tottering fence, battered by others. Yet he repeats, in verse 5, “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him. He only is my Rock and my Salvation.”

And in verses 9-10, Davis says that whether people are high and mighty or lowly, they are only like a breath of air compared with God and His power. David knows he cannot set his heart on them or on riches either, which can come and go so quickly. So, in verses 11-12, he admits that power belongs only to God and His steadfast love.

The psalm ends with the words: “For You will render to a man, according to his work.”But that is really the work of God alone. When people asked Jesus, “What must we do to be doing the work of God?” Jesus answered, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom God has sent” (John 6:27-29). Jesus Himself, of course, is the “Son of Man,” sent from God to be our Savior, in whom we should believe and trust.

Or as Paul said in Romans 3-4, “We hold that one is justified by faith apart from the works of the law” (Romans 3:28). And he said, “To the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” (Romans 4:5). Of course, we try to do good works, but not to try to earn our salvation, but to thank our Lord for His saving work and to help others. Paul also says that even faith is “the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:29, 31). Our trust is in the saving work of Jesus, who gave His life for us. He alone is our Savior and has already accomplished for us what we really need.

So again, as Psalm 62:1, 6 says, “God alone is our Rock and our Salvation.” And David says to us in v. 8, “Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him.” Listen to His Word and talk with Him in prayer. “Cast all your cares upon Him, for He truly cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7), whether single or married, young or old.

And remember His “steadfast love” for you and me in Christ. He can help us become better fishermen, with the courage to invite others to “come and see” about Jesus. And He can help us reflect God’s love and forgiveness in a better way with friends and our spouse and family. And God is a “refuge” and strength for us (Psalm 62:8) in whatever we face in the days ahead.

Let us rise for prayer: “Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” our Savior. Amen. (Philippians 4:7)