Above: Vineyards and Gazebo, 1905-1915
Photographed by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii
Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-prokc-20156
Image Source = Library of Congress
Nehemiah and 1 Timothy, Part III: Leadership and Economic Justice
SEPTEMBER 20 AND 21, 2022
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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
–The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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The Assigned Readings:
Nehemiah 4:7-23 (September 20–Protestant Versification)
Nehemiah 4:1-17 (September 20–Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Versification)
Nehemiah 5:1-16 (September 21)
Nehemiah 6:1-6, 15-16 (September 21)
Psalm 130 (Morning–September 20)
Psalm 56 (Morning–September 21)
Psalms 32 and 139 (Evening–September 20)
Psalms 100 and 62 (Evening–September 21)
1 Timothy 3:1-6 (September 20)
1 Timothy 4:1-16 (September 21)
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Whenever I call upon you, my enemies will be put to flight;
this I know, for God is on my side.
–Psalm 56:9, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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1 Timothy 3 and 4 concern themselves with the trust which is leadership and the imperative of true teaching in the context of the church. Those matters relate to Nehemiah, who led by example for the common good in Jerusalem centuries before the author of 1 Timothy wrote. Nehemiah faced stiff opposition in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, but he succeeded with divine help. And, in response to economic injustice, he declared a jubilee, something out of Leviticus 25 and Deuteronomy 15. He even set an example by denying himself his legal portion of the governor’s food allowance.
Economic justice is among the great preoccupations of the Bible. How one ought to practice it differs according to one’s individual circumstances as well as one’s time and societal setting, but the imperative is timeless. Those who exercise authority have an obligation to think of the common good and to act for it. May they not only seek to do so, but, by grace, succeed.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 10, 2013 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF HENRY VAN DYKE, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND LITURGIST
THE FEAST OF HOWARD THURMAN, PROTESTANT THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM LAW, ANGLICAN PRIEST
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