Sermon Transcript: January 22, 2012 The Third Sunday after the Epiphany The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin
Readings: Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Psalm 62:6-14; I Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20
From the Book of Jonah, “And the people of Nineveh believed God.” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
One of the many things that I like about the Old Testament is that, while it is very clear that God chose Israel to be a model and light to world about living in right relationship with God and neighbor, there is an overriding message that God will save whom God chooses to save: That salvation is not dependent upon birthrights or our national origin; it is, instead, a gift of God’s grace.
Jewish teaching tells us that it is the righteous who inherit eternal life. And that righteousness is not simply about adhering to rules and regulations, but rather, it is a righteousness that comes from the heart: from the hearts of those who seek and listen to God and, in seeking and listening to God, they choose to live righteous lives. Righteous lives are measured by how we keep God’s laws of which the Ten Commandments are supreme. As the Psalmist would say, the righteous place their hope in God because they recognize that God is their rock and their salvation. They are content to wait in silence for God. As Proverbs (20:7) says, “A righteous man walks with integrity,” or as Matthew (13:24) says, “The righteous inherit the Kingdom of God.”
Christians say that it is our faith that leads to eternal life: That it is because of our faith that we walk with integrity; that our faith in God is the reason we have hope and are content to wait in silence for God. What we need to realize is that when Jews speak of righteousness they often mean the same as when we speak of faith because the fact is that we cannot be righteous without having faith and we cannot be faithful without being righteous. Our faith or righteousness is demonstrated in how we live every moment of every day; how we embrace God’s values; God’s commands.
Readings: Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Psalm 62:6-14; I Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20
From the Book of Jonah, “And the people of Nineveh believed God.” I speak to you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
One of the many things that I like about the Old Testament is that, while it is very clear that God chose Israel to be a model and light to world about living in right relationship with God and neighbor, there is an overriding message that God will save whom God chooses to save: That salvation is not dependent upon birthrights or our national origin; it is, instead, a gift of God’s grace.
Jewish teaching tells us that it is the righteous who inherit eternal life. And that righteousness is not simply about adhering to rules and regulations, but rather, it is a righteousness that comes from the heart: from the hearts of those who seek and listen to God and, in seeking and listening to God, they choose to live righteous lives. Righteous lives are measured by how we keep God’s laws of which the Ten Commandments are supreme. As the Psalmist would say, the righteous place their hope in God because they recognize that God is their rock and their salvation. They are content to wait in silence for God. As Proverbs (20:7) says, “A righteous man walks with integrity,” or as Matthew (13:24) says, “The righteous inherit the Kingdom of God.”
Christians say that it is our faith that leads to eternal life: That it is because of our faith that we walk with integrity; that our faith in God is the reason we have hope and are content to wait in silence for God. What we need to realize is that when Jews speak of righteousness they often mean the same as when we speak of faith because the fact is that we cannot be righteous without having faith and we cannot be faithful without being righteous. Our faith or righteousness is demonstrated in how we live every moment of every day; how we embrace God’s values; God’s commands.
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