Epiphany +3A - In All Seasons

Four Seasons - Longbridge Road


Isaiah 9:1-4
There will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time [the Lord] brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

The people who walked in darkness
  have seen a great light;
 those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
  on them light has shined.
You have multiplied the nation,
  you have increased its joy;
 they rejoice before you
  as with joy at the harvest,
  as people exult when dividing plunder.
For the yoke of their burden,
  and the bar across their shoulders,
  the rod of their oppressor,
  you have broken as on the day of Midian.


Matthew 4:12-23
Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
“Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
  on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
the people who sat in darkness
  have seen a great light,
 and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
  light has dawned.”

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.


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It is estimated that about 5% of the U.S. population suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder, a type of depression that is related to change in seasons. It most often causes depression in fall and winter months, when daylight shortens, when weather conditions prevent time outdoors or time in sunlight, and when both bodies and psyches are prone to go into hibernation mode.

Like other manifestations of depression, seasonal affective disorder can be managed through treatment - sun lamps, medication, therapy - but it is unique in that it is, literally, seasonal.

In both senses of the word: seasonal, as pertaining to seasons of the year; and seasonal, as in, something felt for a season or span of time.

Isaiah and Matthew were probably not talking about clinically-diagnosed seasonal depression in our readings today….and also…the prophet Isaiah and Matthew’s quotation of him show us a keen awareness of the way that humans experience seasons of the heart and of the mind and of the spirit.

Both speak of people who have been sitting in a season of darkness; a season of shadows. Both speak of the way that there will yet be a season of light; of relief and restoration.

Both speak truth, and both speak promise, and both draw us close to the reminder that our lives go through seasons, ups and downs and ins and outs, dark times and bright times.

The witness of the Hebrew Scriptures to us is that God is present in all the seasons of our lives.

The prophets spoke to God’s covenant people in seasons of faithfulness and unfaithfulness, seasons of exile and seasons of homecoming, seasons of need and seasons of prosperity, seasons of oppression and seasons of liberation.

The rhythm of Sabbath - resting each seventh day, resting each seventh year, resting each seven-times-seventh year - shows God’s provision for creation in seasons of work and seasons of rest.

Job teaches us about seasons of suffering.

Proverbs teaches us about seasons of wisdom and foolishness.

Psalms sings to us about seasons of lament and seasons of praise.

The poet of Ecclesiastes speaks to us of everything in this world having a season, everything ebbing and flowing in its appointed time. Seasons of planting and harvest, seasons of mourning and seasons of laughing, seasons of tearing down and seasons of building, seasons of life and seasons of death.

Friends, beware of anyone who tries to explain the life of faith to you in terms of a perpetual season of joy, or anyone who tries to explain God and creation to you in terms of utter inflexibility and changelessness.

Because the witness of scripture shows us that everything has a season. Creation has seasons. Our faith has seasons. Our life circumstances come and go. Even God goes through seasons of judgement and grace, blessing and grief. The difference with God, however, is that God proves faithful to one crucial, constant, unfailing thing: God’s steadfast lovingkindness for all people and all creation, in every season of nature and life.

Jesus comes to us as the embodiment of this steadfast lovingkindness. He himself goes through seasons of grief and of joy, seasons of public witness and seasons of withdrawal to the wilderness. Jesus lives among us to usher in a new season, a new era: the birth of the kingdom of heaven on earth.

Don’t let anybody try to tell you that this kingdom of heaven is something that only exists in some far-off future.

Jesus knew, and his followers believed, that the kingdom arrived the moment that the star rose in the sky over Bethlehem.

When Jesus says, “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near,” He means, the season of the kingdom has arrived, and we are invited to incline our hearts toward this kingdom, which leads us into a new and unfolding era of God’s love for the world.

The season of the kingdom means new stirrings of goodness, compassion, and concern for one another and creation; this kingdom shows us that seasons of healing and reconciliation are possible; it draws us into new seasons of humility and generosity and graciousness.

For the disciples in our gospel today, they jump at this invitation to follow Jesus into the season of the kingdom, to turn their hearts and lives in a new direction. Their season of discipleship is just beginning. So is ours.

Jesus goes with them, and with us, through all the bumps and bruises of life and faith. Jesus doesn’t write us off for our sins or failures. When we stumble for a season, Jesus meets us with sufficient grace, and calls us to follow, again and again.

Jesus keeps leading and teaching us and loving us, whatever the season. He keeps revealing the kingdom of heaven to us, whether we are disciples or doubters or skeptics. Jesus keeps squaring our shoulders toward new creation. Jesus keeps training our hearts in righteousness. Jesus keeps whispering words of hope and healing into our ear.

Jesus assures us that God’s love sticks with us through every season of life. Jesus, in his own sufferings, shows us that God’s love sticks with us even in seasons of darkness and shadow.

Which means that God’s love goes with you in seasons of depression, and God’s love holds your hand on the way to therapy, and God’s love cheers you on when you take that med or switch on that sun lamp or settle your spirit with that mindfulness practice. Because God’s love shows up in tools and seasons of healing.

And God’s love goes with you in seasons of doubt, or stretches of apathy or confusion in your life of faith. God’s love is patient and kind, when you are not being kind to yourself and to your heart. God’s love makes room for your questions. God’s love is big enough to hold your worries and fears. God’s love is strong enough that God is not offended or scared off or angered by the seasons where your heart needs some extra space to try to figure things out.

And God’s love goes with you in seasons of profound disappointment, and God’s love clings to you when you wish things had gone differently, and God’s love sustains you when you must endure through things you don’t like or that you don’t understand. God’s love assures you that you are seen and heard. And that this, too, in faith, shall pass.

And God’s love goes with you in seasons of grief. God’s lovingkindness surrounds you when you take the nap or drink the water or go on the long walk or do whatever it is that you do to take care of your fragile self. God’s lovingkindness comes to you through those who deliver the meals, send the cards, ask you the honest question, “how are you doing, really?” God’s love holds you when it is time to cry. And God’s love holds you when it is not time to cry.

God in Christ promises that there is light, even for those of us who still sit in darkness. God in Christ promises that there is no season beyond God’s reach, no season outside of God’s sight, no season outside of God’s embrace.

God’s love is constant, the foundation. And whether you sit in darkness or step into the light, whether you sit in your boats or rush to the shore, whether you feel embraced by the community or on the fringes, beyond it all, Jesus assures you that the kingdom is here. Grace is real. Hope is alive. Resurrection is true. Everything may spin and change around you, but the biggest change has already been started among us: the turning of this world, bit by bit, moment by moment, toward the full life and love of God’s new creation.

The Psalmist writes, “Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

The people who sat in darkness will see a great light.

As the world sits at rest in winter, waiting to be reborn into spring;
As the bright flourishing of summer knows that everything falls again in autumn;
As the world moves through its seasons, bearing the mark of the one who created it:

So may you also pass with grace through all the seasons of life: seasons of shadow and light, mourning and joy, adversity and prosperity, anger and reconciliation, loneliness and love.

And as you move through these seasons, remember that you, too, bear the image of the one who created you, the one who loves you, the one who sticks by you, and the one who holds you close.

May you trust so deeply in God’s unfailing love that you, with Julian of Norwich, can say in all seasons of life: “All will be well, and all will be well, and all manner of things will be well.”

Amen.

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