Above: Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, Alabama, April 11, 2006
Photographer = Carol M. Highsmith
Image Source = Library of Congress
Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-highsm-04116
Radical Love for Neighbors
JUNE 18 and 19, 2024
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The Collect:
O God, you are the tree of life, offering shelter to the world.
Graft us into yourself and nurture our growth,
that we may bear your truth and love to those in need,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 39
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The Assigned Readings:
Jeremiah 21:11-14 (Tuesday)
Jeremiah 22:1-9 (Wednesday)
Psalm 52 (Both Days)
Revelation 21:22-22:5 (Tuesday)
Luke 6:43-45 (Wednesday)
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You plot destruction, you deceiver;
your tongue is like a sharpened razor.
You love evil rather than good,
falsehood rather than the word of truth.
You love all words that hurt,
O you deceitful tongue.
–Psalm 52:2-4, Common Worship (2000)
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Liturgical convergence has many advantages. The fact that the Revised Common Lectionary and the new Roman Catholic lectionary are nearly identical is a wonderful affirmation of Christian unity which transcends denominational divisions. The road to the convergence of lectionaries (starting with Holy Mother Church in Advent 1969) has been mostly positive, but has had at least on casualty worth mourning. The season of Kingdomtide, which lasted from the last Sunday in August to late November or early December (the eve of Advent), used to be more commonplace than it has become. Certain Protestant denominations (especially Methodists) observed it. Pockets of observance of it remain. The theme of Kingdomtide is the Kingdom of God, in which socio-economic-political rules are equitable and justice reigns. That emphasis remains present in the current Season after Pentecost, fortunately.
The denunciation of injustice (including corruption) club a reader over the head in the Jeremiah pericopes. This is appropriate. Jesus reminds us in Luke 6:43-45 that the quality of the fruit tells one about the quality of the tree. In other words, character matters. The wicked will face destruction (in the next life even if not in this one) in Psalm 52. And the pericope from Revelation provides part of a vision of the establishment of the fully realized Kingdom of God.
One function of rhetoric of the Kingdom of God is to condemn human systems and institutions founded on and maintained by violence, exploitation, and artificial scarcity. There is more than enough for everyone to have enough in the Kingdom of God. Human reality is different on the plane of existence, though, because of human sinfulness, including greed and insensitivity to needs. The Kingdom of God is partially present among us; may it become fully present in our midst.
Religion which declares the primacy of (alleged) purity of doctrine and opposes necessary and proper movements to decrease social injustice is an opiate of the masses. Such religion constitutes a quest for cheap grace, which makes no demands on its recipients. The love of God and the love for God, however, command us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. They order us to be subversive when the established order is unjust. They command us to break down barriers which function to make some people seem unduly holy and others unduly unworthy. They order us to tell of and to live the divine love for the marginalized and the downtrodden. Those are challenges worth pursuing.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 21, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF RICHARD CHEVENIX TRENCH, ANGLICAN ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN
THE FEAST OF SAINT SERAPION OF THMUIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF THOMAS KEN, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF BATH AND WELLS
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM EDWARD HICKSON, ENGLISH MUSIC EDUCATOR AND SOCIAL REFORMER
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2015/03/21/radical-love-for-neighbors/
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