PREACHING THE LECTIONARY: THE McGREGOR PAGE
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Epiphany 5
February 9, 2003
Isaiah 40:21-31
Psalm 147:1-11, 20c
1 Corinthians 9:16-23
Mark 1:29-39
The Old News Is the Good News
Supersessionism seems to be endemic to religion based on the revelation of God. It starts early in the Bible when it is revealed that the offering of the first born Cain is rejected in favor of the second born Able. By divine revelation the first born Ishmael is rejected in favor of Isaac, then Jacob in favor of Isau and finally the late born Joseph in favor of his brothers. Jesus may be addressing the supersession issue with these words, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished." (Matthew 25:17-18)
His words notwithstanding, the church went ahead and assumed that it had superseded the synagog. Then in the seventh century, Islam claimed new revelation and presumed to supersede Christianity. Finally, in the nineteenth century, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints claimed also to supersede its older sibling. All claimed the same God. Each claimed the other got the message wrong.
"Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? ... He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:21,29-31) Isaiah reminds us that the old news is the good news.
Jesus is not concerned that the old news of God is defective but that those to whom it is entrusted have failed to deliver it: "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:20) Jesus appears concerned that his own followers will fail to deliver the good news of God faithfully to the world: "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid." (Matthew 5:14)
If all of Jesus' followers had had the zeal of Paul to deliver the Gospel to the world, the world would now have it -- not the power struggle of competing religions but the good news of God. "If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!" (2 Corinthians 9:16)
Underlying this message is the proposition that the truth about God unifies rather than divides God's people. "Praise the LORD! How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting. The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel... His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner; but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love." (Psalm 147:1-2, 10-11)
Roland McGregor, Pastor
Asbury United Methodist Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
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