The lessons for each Sunday in the church year proclaim God’s grace in Jesus Christ. Also derived from a Sunday’s texts are lessons for the Christ-inspired and Christ-like life of God’s people. The comments here will help you find hunger-related threads – sermon starters – among the themes of this day’s texts. (We're presuming you have already done your exegetical work on the texts.) God bless your proclamation (and teaching) of what is most certainly true!

Epiphany is an historically preeminent holiday for the Christian church. The celebration of Christ’s birth developed after the church’s several centuries of celebrating Christ’s glorious epiphany. The traditional themes are good – e.g., God’s outpouring of grace to the whole world, Christ attracting people of all kinds, the nature and mission of Jesus – but in this week’s Sermon Starters we’ll go in some slightly different directions. In any case, Epiphany packs more of a wallop than as the faint echo of Christmas-past. But then, you already knew that . . . .

· The Isaiah reading is fairly quirky on the face of it: A city/state being the focal point for googobs of goods that pile into caravans accompanied by hordes of worshipers and then head towards their ultimate use: Offerings at the Temple.

· Is this a triumph (of Yawhistic worship) or of ancient consumerisms? Does this text envision the restoration of Jerusalem as a commercial center or a worship center? Is this part of Isaiah evidence of the Temple cult’s predominance within Judaism, with its attendant institutional focus? How does this offerings-and-tribute to God message compare with other thoughts of Isaiah about justice? How would these offerings have been used? Could the Temple itself be unjust?

· Isaiah’s evidence of the triumphal status of religion is the quality and quantity of offerings. At this time of transition between two budget years, what’s the measure of your congregation’s status or “victories”?

· On the other side of these questions is an obvious reality: The generosity of boodles of people who want to bring googobs of goods to the praise of Yaweh. Their understanding of the stewardship of their lives. Their identity as God’s people.

· Yet another: The formerly destroyed city gets a new lease on life. These gifts will rebuild the city, both physically and in terms of its pride. The people who bring these gifts will be former enemies.

· Still another, slightly more metaphysical: All these “gifts” are already God’s boodles and googobs. The funds we bring (or send) to eliminate world hunger are not just evidence of our generosity or love for others; they also show our understanding of God’s preeminence, God’s ultimate ownership, God’s claim on what we think is ours. In a sense, we never “give” because none of this world’s goods are really ours in the first place.

· Think about this guy – probably in his earlier, non-profligate years – and his understanding of his lifework. THEN read the psalm in that context.

· You’re looking at the inner struggles of a ruler – read “king” if you want, but “president” or “mayor” or “legislator” could also work here – who’s trying still to answer the question, “What’s a leader for?”

· The question can certainly be applied to the current political situation – primary elections their attendant campaigns will occupy news outlets for weeks. It would be easy (and correct) to ask how any of us prays for or holds accountable would-be leaders in terms of their attention to justice, their fairness to people who are poor. (Notice the emphasis on our behavior, not taking potshots are their behavior or non-behavior.)

· There may be even more radical thoughts embedded here. For example, the king who collects tribute from foreign governments so that he can rescue homeless people, protect those in need, help people who are poor. A radical notion about “taxes”, hmmm?

· On this day of Epiphany, we celebrate the travel and restful homage of wise people from Iraq or Iran. Solomon was also wise – at least at the start of his rule. We can also celebrate the wisdom of any leaders – ourselves included – who understand what gifts are for, what godly kingdoms are all about,

· This might also be a good Sunday to think together about the wisdom we seek in rulers as we vote, as we analyze messages, as we pray for leaders.

· This might also be a good Sunday to spotlight the wisdom of this church in bringing God’s will to bear on political leaders through our Washington office and through offices in selected states. Our work in corporate social responsibility asks for the same kind of godly leadership among business leaders.

· You might have some fun putting the texts side-by-side in order to find answers to the question, “What kinds of wisdom could God be calling us to exhibit?” We live in a world of fear, and so wisdom may be in short supply.

· As you comb the texts looking for that answer, pay especially close attention to the small places where “wisdom” might show up or be proclaimed. Or maybe just be waving its small hand from the back of the classroom.

· Other starter questions: What’s wise about giving? Who’s a wise leader? Where’s wisdom to be found among people who are poor? Where’s wisdom to be found in the face of its opposites? (Cf., “Herods” in any time.) What’s wise about the ELCA’s hunger minstries – (e.g., the ways we work and the decision we make together)?

· The Ephesians text also suggests how God’s big Wisdom Plan for the World works. You could easily join together the goals of ELCA World Hunger with the goals of global mission. (“Preach the Gospel; if necessary use words.”)

· A standard theme for this Sunday is God’s revelation of Messiah in the form of an adorable and adored baby. God-in-Christ. The start of our examination of Jesus as wholly man and wholly God.

· You might explore a sidebar thought, though, by examining who this baby Messiah really is: A first-born child of a working class family currently in refugee status. The descendant of a royal lineage, with all the privileges and trappings of “royalty” washed away.

· Fulfilled biblical prophecy aside – were there no other babies born in Bethlehem during the time between Micah’s foretelling and Jesus’ birth? – this baby is unlikely material for Savior of the World.

· Larger (and more current) questions might go something like this: Where DO we look for our salvation? Is it possible that right now, in some Central American or African village, a baby has been born, whose growth and maturing will eventuate in some kind of salvation for people? An even harder one: How are babies being born in your congregation or community being dedicated to the proposition that their lives will bring (some part of) God’s salvation to bear on the world? (More on this when we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus.)

· A specific answer to these queries: God favors people who are poor, and we probably need to humble ourselves to the proposition that our world’s salvation may very well be housed in some small village, in the eyes of some bright-and-burning-vision child who doesn’t know where her next meal is coming from.

1. Have fun making up a story about a “Once upon a time” king/queen who really loved people who were poor and walked around, incognito, to see how the people treated the poor. Use puppets or drawings if possible. Oh, yes, one other thing: The queen/king in the story shows up at the door to your church and finds – Voila! – all kinds of evidence that these people in this place get it. HERE the people who owe their allegiance to this ruler contribute generously, they get things done, they take care of people who are poor, and they even know personally people who are poor. The end of the story? The king/queen decides to stay here. (God with us, Emmanuel!) Yes, you can tell stories . . .

1. With the primary election season upon us, you might want to talk together about what makes a good national or local leader. The psalm for today is a godly standard by which to make those judgments. Steer clear of partisan discussions or endorsements by keeping the subject generic. At the same time, examples help the conversations stay rooted in present realities.

2. Talk together about what kinds of “wisdom” actually rule the world today. Think of the Wise Men, or Paul’s words in Ephesians, of the psalm of Solomon as you critique wisdom that is rooted in economic theory, law, psychology/sociology, humanitarian concerns, spiritual truths. How do each of these kinds of wisdom actually “rule”?

3. For fun, play with the lectionary as a collection of ironies. Examples: The wise men may have come from parts of the Middle East enmeshed in war; Herod as arbiter of God’s Good News, the verses in the psalm omitted by lectionary-framers, all the references to Arabic countries in today’s lessons, baby-as-Messiah. The ultimate irony, perhaps: That God would choose we who are Gentiles to also receive the covenantal grace of God.

2. Analyze current political rhetoric for evidence of a candidate’s care for the poor. Not just the presidential candidates, and not just their words. You’re looking for what lies behind the rhetoric, or what the rhetoric is pointing to. Tell someone about what you find.

3. Write some thankful or questioning letters to business or political leaders. Not about any specific piece of legislation or corporate, but about their general frame of mind or their collected actions. Make your questions appreciative and curious, not accusatory or shame-infested.

The fog of a global-warmed Chicago greets my eyes and sensitivities on this gray morning. While the freeways and skyways whir with visions of autos and planes whizzing to their destinations, I sit here thinking of people like you, people who are thinking of people like me. How we’re joined – in thought and by the Spirit – to millions of other people around this planet. How we’re freed from foggy thinking and mindless actions, how we’re buoyed by the Boy Jesus, and strengthened by each other’s witness. It’s a good frame of mind from which to begin a sermon-writing time. . . . .

· In your case – as well as the members of your congregation – God’s “what’s next?” will compel you to more than what you’re doing now, to another plateau of excellence or initiative. The answer to your next question will be another, better question. You’ll wear the commissioning of your baptism like the uniform of a service technician. You’ll move past your wilderness experiences to greater significance, more-focused life-giving, more serenity.

· Know anyone who hears God’s voice? Not psychotics or overly imaginative folks, but those who claim the source of their activity as a heard experience, with God as speaker. No?

· Think again: God’s voice is all around, sometimes quiet and sometimes loud. Sometimes it’s the sound of crying, sometimes the sound of pleasing praise. Most often the voice of God comes in another language, the vernacular of poverty, the lilt of unknown tongues.

· What is God saying? God is pleased with Jesus, and those who follow him. All the way to the cross, all the way along dusty and difficult paths of disregard. God is crying out for justice, demanding obedience, inviting you to accomplish his will. God asks you to confess and repent, to amend your sinful lives. God speaks comfortably but with steady insistence: Get to work while there’s time.

· God is pleased to know that you and your congregation have shown your willingness to hear his voice. God wants you to hear what God so dearly wants: The salvation – here-and-now as well as eternal – of God’s people.

· So who will your congregation listen to today? What stories/voices of people living in poverty? What stories/voice that tell of faithful obedience, of successful ventures that diminish hunger and poverty? What testimonies of those who have given time, money and attention to help restore the lives of Gulf Coast residents? What neighbors close at hand? What immigrants/refugees some denigrate as “illegals”?

· It starts with washing – in first century times a rare event except for the super-rich – and moves to no-nonsense commissioning to service. (“I am pleased with my dear Son because now he has a real job!”)

· In Jesus’ case, baptism moved him to give away whatever he had or could have been, and instead to risk death for what he believed, said and did.

· Baptism washes away “pretend” and pretense about God’s will for the world. Scrubbed clean, we head out into the world to get dirty again. Gloriously inspired, we risk inglorious service to others.

· What does God want of you or your people? For what uncomfortable, risky or dirty service will you give up everything? What transforming force will you succumb to? What new direction towards what new temporary wilderness?

· God wants the poor to be served and freed. God wants the mighty to be cast down from their thrones. God wants the world to be fed. God wants injustice to be punished or rendered feckless. God wants a million small deeds of kindness, advocacy, insistence, generosity to amass into a world-changing force.

· What God wants is what the ELCA hunger ministries want. When you join yourself to the larger enterprises of this church body, you can do what God wants for the world, what God wants with your life. Right now, you know what that means, and all you need is a nudge. This could be it.

1. Spend time at the font, no matter what size it is. Without resorting to re-baptizing simulations, let children put their fingers in the water and learn how to make the sign of the cross on their foreheads. Use the words, “God is well-please with you, (name)” to send them back to their pews with a blessing. Or maybe an early, “Go in peace and serve the Lord” or “Go in peace; feed the hungry.”

2. If your sound system allows this possibility, and if you can find another off-stage co-dramatist, engage in a “conversation with God” about kids doing what God wants. Feeding the hungry, caring about people who are poor, speaking up on behalf of those whose voices are silenced. Write the “drama” yourself, or ask a family in the congregation to do so.

3. Do an “And then . . . .” exercise regarding the gifts children give to ELCA World Hunger. Using your own knowledge of this church’s hunger ministries and/or materials you’ve gleaned from the most recent hunger packet, imagine a chain of events that starts with the contributions being collected (in coin boxes?) on this day until the money ends up buying something (or the services of someone) that serves people who are poor. End with the phrase, “And God was well-pleased.” (You can also adapt this causal chain idea to the idea of “what’s next?”)

1. Ask participants to talk about their own baptisms. The date, place, circumstances. Be sensitive to folks who were baptized as infants – they may have no knowledge and certainly no memory of the event – as well as participants baptized as teens or adults. For all participants, talk about the idea of “remembering your Baptism”, especially as a commissioning to do God’s will. Especially with regards to poverty and injustice. When it comes to “daily baptizing”, what do participants wish could be washed from their souls each day? How would that happen? How would that effect God’s call to end hunger?

2. The idea of “What’s next?” can be compelling for participants of any age. Look at the Isaiah text again, and think together of how participants come to ask that question, and how they seek God’s answer for their lives. Given the preponderance of life-altering circumstances and events – e.g., stages of life, economic downturn, niggling urgings to risk wisely, difficult or trying times – how are participants drawn toward the question and its eventual answer? In what ways does the question gets asked, and how might “combating hunger and injustice” be one of the answers?

3. An interesting sidebar in the Matthew text: Jesus talks about just doing this baptism thing because it’s the right thing to do now. Using some of the same questions as in Items 1 and 2 above, talk with participants about the times and ways in their lives when they felt compelled to do something good “just because it’s the right thing to do.” How might Jesus have felt that way? Why might he have felt that way? Where did his decision(s) take him next, and where long-term?

4. Think together how the good work of ELCA World Hunger helps people living in poverty to answer their own “What’s next?” please with God in new and hopeful ways.

1. If you keep a journal, focus your entries for one week on questions associated with “What’s next?” If you don’t keep a journal, think about the question in your quiet moments for this coming week. Talk about what you write (or think) with someone who knows you well.

2. If you have a mission statement, revise it now, with some of this week’s ideas in mind. If you have no mission statement, write one right now. Visit http://www.franklincovey.com/fc/library_and_resources/mission_statement_builder for one example of a helpful process.

3. Listen for “God’s voice” this week. Be especially observant for quiet or surprising evidence. Take note of what you hear. Make sense of it with a friend.

I was baptized on October 11, 1942, with Karen Nielsen as the other baptized-one that day. I’ve lost track of her – this was California and a long time ago – but I haven’t lost track of my baptism. Although I don’t experience the nearly mystical essence of baptism that some report, I understand “washing” pretty well. In fact, because I have no hair at the topmost part of me, when I wash my entire face I get to remember a lot more, if only because that cleansing water goes from the front of me to the top of me. How about you? What happens when you remember your baptism? Something worth sharing with your hearers, perhaps? Just a thought . . . .