Sermon for the 1st Sunday of Epiphany, 2021
Homily for Epiphany 1, 2021
Fr. Tony Melton
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
By and large, I’ve refrained from bemoaning 2020. It was a hard year, no doubt. But, for all of us at CTK, it was an exciting year. I mean, who knew what God had in store for us in 2020? There is so much that is different now, and a lot of it is really good. But there were many challenges. One of the biggest challenges of 2020, in my opinion, was knowing what to do at any given moment. It seemed like 2020 was a long string of no-win scenarios. Compounding the stress was the near impossibility of getting good information on any of these decisions. Never in my life have I felt more powerless to get the facts, with no spin, no agenda. No-win scenarios presented by manipulative sources on social and news media, from both sides of the aisle. It was extremely frustrating. Wasn’t it for you?
Once again, the propers for this 1st Sunday after Epiphany are so perfectly suited for this moment in time. In the midst of the frustration about not knowing what to do, our Collect asks God that we may “both perceive and know what things we ought to do.” The theme this Sunday is Wisdom. Wisdom: the ability to perceive and know what things to do. Wisdom: the ability to find the best way through a no-win scenario. Wisdom: the ability to withstand manipulation and deceit; to know the Truth. 2020 put a premium on Wisdom.
Our texts this morning is ALL of our propers. We will start in the Old Testament reading from Proverbs 8, which establishes that the second person of the Trinity IS Wisdom. Then, we’ll turn to Psalm 93, which establishes that the second person of the Trinity is the King. Then, we’ll turn to the Gospel, Luke 2, the boy Jesus in the Temple, which shows Jesus as the Son of the Father and the Solomonic King. Wisdom Incarnate. We will end in the Epistle to consider what it means for us to belong to the Divine King of Wisdom.
Turn in your booklets to page 6. In Proverbs 8, Wisdom is pictured as a women calling out to those in the city, inviting them to come and receive her gifts, which are better than rubies. Up till chapter 8 verse 21, the reader might think that this is simply a literary personification. Oh, I get it, Solomon is making Wisdom into a very generous women so that I know that I should pursue Wisdom. Got it. But then in verse 22, where our lesson picks up, Wisdom continues to speak, and we learn that this Wisdom is pre-existent. Look while I read from the top, “The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.” For 8 verses, Wisdom is shown to be eternal and intimately with God. Verse 30 is perhaps the clearest proof that Wisdom is, in fact, the 2nd person of the Trinity, the eternally begotten Son of the Father. Listen, “Then I (Wisdom) was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him.”
When arguing that Jesus was divine, the Church Fathers often went to Proverbs 8. Jesus, they argued, is Wisdom personified. Wisdom, eternally with God, brought forth from God not by an act of Creation, since that would mean that Jesus had a beginning and wouldn’t therefore be eternal, but by “eternal generation” meaning that God for all eternity begets constantly the Son. The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit existed always and the being of the Son is eternally generated by the Father. Proverbs 8 speaks of Wisdom as having this type of relationship with the Father, and therefore establishes that the second person of the Trinity IS Wisdom personified.
Psalm 93 is probably less of a surprise. It asserts that God is the King of the Universe. Throughout the Psalms, there are clear intimations of the plurality of the Godhead, and that the 2nd person of the Trinity would be the one to reign over the earth. The clearest passage is from Psalm 110, David says, “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” So, when we read Psalm 93 and we hear “The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty” we must keep this in mind. This is talking about the Son. Verse 2, “Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.” So, Psalm 93 establishes that this Son is King.
When I was in grade school there was an art project where each student took a profile picture of their head and we carefully cut the shape out of the picture. We used the picture of our head for one project, but the cutout with a big noggin-shaped hole in the middle, we used to shine a light through it so that an inverted silhouette was cast upon a paper backdrop. From that we were able to draw the outline of our head. At the time, it was really popular for the boys to have massive step-cuts, with super shaved sides with a drastic plume of hair jutting out horizontally. The awesomeness of this hairdo was only improved by taking styling gel and carefully creating symmetrical curls, like two barrel waves. Needless to say, my silhouette looked absolutely ridiculous. These two Old Testament passages are like the cutouts of a profile. They present an image of the Messiah, the Divine King of Wisdom. And when the light of God shines through these prophetic cutouts, it casts the outline of an image, the image of Jesus, even the boy-Jesus, sitting at the feet of the elders growing in Wisdom and stature.
The story of the boy Jesus at the Temple is precious. Not only is it our only episode from the childhood of Jesus, but it is full of pathos and power. Imagine begin Mary and Joseph losing their only child. Imagine finding the boy Jesus sitting at the feet of the doctors, hearing them and asking questions. Imagine being slightly rebuffed, “How is it that ye sought me? Didn’t you know that I must be about my Father's business?” What do we see here? This is the first time that Jesus voices His filial relationship to God the Father. And what is He doing? He is astonishing all with his understanding and answers, and growing even more in wisdom and in favor with God and men.
The silhouette of the Messiah has another Old Testament filter that clarifies the image: the Messiah will be a New Solomon. This should come as no surprise. We’ve already established from Proverbs 8 that the Son is Wisdom and from Psalm 93 that the Son is King. Solomon was the wisest earthly king, so the Old Testament casts the hope that St. Matthew picks up in his Gospel, that a “greater than Solomon” would arise and rule the world in Wisdom. In our Gospel today, we see the boy Jesus fitting our silhouette perfectly. There is no doubt that He is the Divine King of Wisdom, the New and Greater Solomon. And we live in His Kingdom.
What does this mean? It means that the Kingdom of God should be known for its Wisdom. The Church should be wise, and pursue Wisdom because her King is the Divine King of Wisdom. Christmas is about Jesus being born. Epiphany is about Jesus being known. Known by the kings of the earth, known by all to be the King of all, known for His glory, His beauty manifest to the world, notorious for His Wisdom. The Church is called to manifest Jesus to the world. What are we known for? What do we want to be known for? Is the Church known for its wisdom? Broadly speaking, yes. Remember, it is in-vogue to bash the Church, but be wary of speaking harshly of the Bride of Christ. Our children sing, “The world is bright with the joyous saints who love to do Jesus’ will.” This is true. The Church is full of Wisdom because Holy Spirit fills the Church with Jesus, the King of Wisdom. But does the Church need to continually grow in Wisdom? No doubt. This was especially evident in 2020. The Church needs more wisdom. Even Jesus, Wisdom Incarnate, deigned to grow in Wisdom. He listened to Proverbs. He sought Wisdom more than silver, gold, and rubies. So must we.
I began by lamenting the inability to know what we ought to do. The need for Wisdom is so big because the choices are so hard and the Truth is so difficult to find. It is tempting to turn to the right or to the left to find the answers. There are always people who confidently tell us what we ought to do. And God does give wisdom to mankind. But we can always be sure to find Wisdom in Christ, and to get it we must ask for it. “O God, grant that we may both perceive and know what things we ought to do.” Give us Wisdom, King Jesus. We feel lost. Show us the way. Is there anything more needful for the Church to do right now than to beg God for Wisdom?
One of the great conundrums of almost every thinking boy is, “If Solomon was so wise, then why would he marry all those women?” When I was a freckly-faced, step-cutted boy who didn’t have an understanding of “other” motives of men, this decision of Solomon was utterly inexplicable to me. Girls…yuck. The downfall of wise king Solomon reminds us of an important point found in our Collect: Grant that we may know the things we ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill the same. Solomon was wise, and those who followed him were wise, but his heart was not transformed to fully love the True, Good, and Beautiful. Jesus the New Solomon doesn’t merely show us what we ought to do, but He grants grace and power to do the things we ought to do.
This is why St. Paul so confidently commands the Romans to "be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” Isn’t it wonderful that those who follow King Jesus will be made Wise and Good? They will know the Good, love the Good, and do the Good by the power of God. Ask God for Wisdom and Transformative Grace. Pray the Collect this week. Memorize it. Tattoo it on your forearm. Whatever. Let it be a reminder that we are a people of Wisdom, and that the Epiphany of King Jesus to the World is through us. They should see Him in us. We are to fit in His silhouette.
Now may Jesus, the Eternal King, Wisdom Incarnate, the Greater-than-Solomon, grant you Wisdom to know and Grace to do all that pleases the Father. + In the Name of the Triune God. Amen.