2

nd

Sunday After the

Epiphany

nd

Sunday After the

Epiphany

1. Two of todays readings talk about marriage.

a. The first selection is from 3rd Isaiah, the prophet who inspired the Jews who had
returned to their homeland after the Babylonian exile and were struggling to rebuild
their country and their relationship with God

Previously the relationship between God and the people of Israel had been described by Hosea
with the metaphor of a marriage gone bad, where the wife had become promiscuous and had
betrayed her husband. So Israel had been punished by defeat and exile.
But now the exile was over. The Israelites had repented from their sins of idolatry and social
injustice. They had been forgiven by God and this was a new beginning
This passage from Isaiah is about the rebuilding of the relationship between God and his
people, more than about rebuilding of Jerusalem. This relationship is described as a new
marriage in which God is the bridegroom and Israel his bride.
For Isaiah, this a new beginning: God and his people are like a young couple in love getting
ready to be married.

b. Marriage is also the occasion of the first miracle performed by Jesus in the Gospel of
John

Jesus and his mother had been invited to a wedding. In the middle of dinner, the hosts ran out
of wine, and Mary urged Jesus to do something about it. Jesus at first seemed to be reluctant to
get involved and perform a miracle, but then relented and changed the water into wine.
When I was a kid, I remember an old priest explaining the circumstances of this miracle by
saying us that Jesus had been invited to come with a friend, but he showed up with 12 guys,
who were very thirsty, so the party ran out of wine and Mary told Jesus to do something about
it.
John is not interested in explaining why they ran out of wine. In his Gospel John writes about
only 7 miracles. John calls them signs. This is the first, and it serves the purpose to disclose
the creative powers of Jesus. His disciples witnessed it, and they believed his divinity

2nd Sunday After the

Epiphany

2. I want to use the occasion of these 2 Bible passages mentioning marriage to talk about
marriage, which is something we dont talk enough about.
In the Church we celebrate special moments of grace, when we come in contact with God. These are
occasions when God touches us and we touch God. We call them Sacraments and Sacramental rites.
In todays readings the importance of marriage is emphasized by the fact that Marriage is the setting of
Jesus first miracle and in Isaiah is the metaphor of Gods passionate love for his people.
I remember a number of Fr. Bills sermons when he emphasize that human beings are created to be in a
relationship with an other person. We are not meant to be alone, our whole makeup leads us to relate
closely to another person.
So, when we reach maturity we fall in love with our spouse and he/she becomes the partner of our life.
We live in a relationship that is physical, emotional and spiritual.
All Sacraments give us Gods grace. In Marriage when we love our spouse we give and receive Gods
grace. The same grace of God we received in Baptism and continue to receive in the Eucharist also
comes to us in every moment of love in our Marriage, whether is physical love, or when we help each
other or are supportive, compassionate, patient, forgiving, or happy together God is love and each
moment of love brings us closer to God
I suspect that there are more grace giving occasions in the Sacrament of Marriage than in any other
Sacrament.

3. I nearly missed out on marriage by becoming a Roman Catholic Priest

We were told in no uncertain terms that marriage was not for us. My classmates and I have to choose either
Marriage or Ordination. Never mind that St. Peter and the other apostles were married. Never mind that in the first
1,000 years of the Church priest were married. The Pope at some point said NO, mostly for economic reasons, and
now that is the end of that.
Fortunately, the Anglican Church did away with mandatory celibacy for the clergy; and I believe that having married
clergy has done the church a world of good: theology should not be left to celibate folks.
I I eventually decided to resign as a R.C. priest, and, a couple of years after that, I married Barbara. It is the best
decision I made in my life, and it helped me learn to love and to be loved. That is not something that comes from
book knowledge

2nd Sunday After the

Epiphany

3. In the past, the Church excluded other people from marriage: gays. They are children of the same
God, they are good Christians, like the rest of us they are meant to be in a relationship.
But when it comes to marriage, they were told: this is not for you! They dont choose to be gay. They dont want
to be different. This is how they were created by God. But they are excluded from marriage, just I was excluded
from marriage. Why? Because its always been that way. Slavery was justified the same way.
The Episcopal Church has always been on the forefront of human rights because we recognize that the
commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves means that we cannot discriminate against anyone. I am
proud that this church ordains women and gays to be deacons, priests and Bishops. If the Pope has a problem
with that, its not our problem.
Last year, the Episcopal Church finally approved a rite for the marriage of same-sex partners. We do it because
we recognize that all human beings are meant to live in a relationship. We are all children of the same God and
we are all meant to be happy, and God blesse all those who love.

4. The Anglican communion just this past week voted to sanction the Episcopal Church for its stand on
same sex marriages.
The Anglican communion includes churches of countries where homosexuality is a crime punishable by death.
They are some of the least developed, and may I say barbaric cultures on earth.
The sanctions will not allow our presiding Bishop to participate in some meetings of the Anglican communion. But
this is not the R.C. Church. No one can order us to hold believes against our conscience. So the Episcopal church
will continue to lead in civil rights and in proclaiming that we are all equal as children of God. Jesus gave his life
for all of us. We are all entitled to receive all 7 Sacraments.
There are some who are fond of digging up Old Testament passages condemning homosexuality. The Old
Testament reflects the barbaric laws of Middle Eastern cultures of 3,000 years ago. The O.T. includes a long list of
crimes punishable by death, not just homosexuality, but also, for instance, adultery, not being a virgin on you
wedding night, and children disobeying their parents. Did you ever disobey your parents? Are your children
perfectly obedient? Have you ever stoned to death one of your disobedient children?
Those who appeal to O.T. laws conveniently forget that Jesus rejected the 613 laws of the O.T. and said that his
followers must live by 2 commandments: love God and love your neighbors, even the neighbors we dislike. Lets
learn to read the Bible in its proper context, and lets not use the Bible to justify our biases.
We are all Gods creatures, we are all created to be in relationships. We all learn to love and to care for one
another by being loved. The Sacrament of Marriage enables to get closer to God by simply loving our spouses
and caring for them. Live in love.