Lessons for January 28, 2007 – Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

The first lesson

Jeremiah 1:4-10
 
    The Lord gave me a message. He said, [5] "I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world." 
    [6] "O Sovereign Lord," I said, "I can't speak for you! I'm too young!" 
    [7] "Don't say that," the Lord replied, "for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. [8] And don't be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and take care of you. I, the Lord, have spoken!" 
    [9] Then the Lord touched my mouth and said, "See, I have put my words in your mouth! [10] Today I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms. You are to uproot some and tear them down, to destroy and overthrow them. You are to build others up and plant them."  (NLT)

Psalm 71:1-6
 
L.  O Lord, you are my refuge; never let me be disgraced. 
C.  Rescue me! Save me from my enemies, for you are just.
L.  Turn your ear to listen and set me free. 
C.  Be to me a protecting rock of safety, where I am always welcome.
L.  Give the order to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
C.  My God, rescue me from the power of the wicked, from the clutches of cruel oppressors. 
L.  O Lord, you alone are my hope.
C.  I've trusted you, O Lord, from childhood. 
L.  Yes, you have been with me from birth; from my mother's womb you have cared for me.
C.  No wonder I am always praising you! (NLT)

The second lesson

1 Corinthians 13:1-13
 
    If I could speak in any language in heaven or on earth but didn't love others, I would only be making meaningless noise like a loud gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I knew all the mysteries of the future and knew everything about everything, but didn't love others, what good would I be? And if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, without love I would be no good to anybody. [3] If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would be of no value whatsoever. 
    [4] Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud [5] or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. [6] It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. [7] Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 
    [8] Love will last forever, but prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will all disappear. [9] Now we know only a little, and even the gift of prophecy reveals little! [10] But when the end comes, these special gifts will all disappear. 
    [11] It's like this: When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child does. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. [12] Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now. 
    [13] There are three things that will endure—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. (NLT)

The Gospel Lesson

Luke 4:21-30
 
    Then he said, "This Scripture has come true today before your very eyes!" 
    [22] All who were there spoke well of him and were amazed by the gracious words that fell from his lips. "How can this be?" they asked. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" 
    [23] Then he said, "Probably you will quote me that proverb, 'Physician, heal yourself'—meaning, 'Why don't you do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum?' [24] But the truth is, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown. 
    [25] "Certainly there were many widows in Israel who needed help in Elijah's time, when there was no rain for three and a half years and hunger stalked the land. [26] Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a widow of Zarephath—a foreigner in the land of Sidon. [27] Or think of the prophet Elisha, who healed Naaman, a Syrian, rather than the many lepers in Israel who needed help." 
    [28] When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. [29] Jumping up, they mobbed him and took him to the edge of the hill on which the city was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, [30] but he slipped away through the crowd and left them.  (NLT)