Epiphany
January 9, 2017

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 49:1-7

And now the Lord says,
   who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
   and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honored in the sight of the Lord,
   and my God has become my strength—
he says,
‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
   to raise up the tribes of Jacob
   and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
   that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’ –Isaiah 49:5-6

For some in our culture today the word “Globalization” is at least to be feared at worst a dirty word. Our call as God’s people serving the entire world is ancient. We were called to be trendsetters in sharing the love of God with all people from early times. Isaiah reminds us of that in our scripture today. It is too light a thing for our work to be limited to our tribe, our nation.

At least a small thread of the church universal has woven the call to reach the ends of the earth with Jesus’ message since its inception. The apostle Thomas took Jesus seriously when he said Go into all the world and carried Christ’s love to India. Jesuit priest carried the love of Christ to the Americas at times in defiance of the desires of their hierarchy. Methodist missionaries served the tribes removed by our government to what is now Oklahoma from their native spaces.

I doubt there are many places on this earth that do not know the name Jesus or the group Christian. Our purpose today is helping all understand our call is love, not power or greed or forcing our culture on others in the name of Christ. To be successful, we must take on the whole garment* of Christ and let his live shine through us.

Prayer: Lord, become our strength as we deal with our unfounded fears. Let your strength infuse our whole beings when we do face danger in your service. Help us lift our drooping hands and strengthen our weak knees**. Amen.

*Relates to Galatians 3:27
**Relates to Hebrews 12:12

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.