Above: Premium Yeast Powder, 1870
Image Source = Library of Congress
Reproduction Number = LC-USZ61-1537
Causing Dissensions and Offenses, Part II
AUGUST 16-18, 2021
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The Collect:
Ever-living God, your Son gives himself as living bread for the life of the world.
Fill us with such knowledge of his presence that we may be strengthened and sustained
by his risen life to serve you continually,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 45
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The Assigned Readings:
Genesis 43:1-15 (Monday)
Genesis 45:11-15 (Tuesday)
Genesis 47:13-26 (Wednesday)
Psalm 36 (All Days)
Acts 6:1-7 (Monday)
Acts 7:9-16 (Tuesday)
Mark 8:14-21 (Wednesday)
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The daily readings of the Revised Common Lectionary continue the motif of good and drink. Jesus, in a pericope (John 4:7-26) for the previous post, was the living water. Joseph, of whom St. Stephen spoke in Acts 7, fed not only his family but the entire Egyptian Empire. Unfortunately, he enslaved the populace in the process. On the other hand, Jesus brings freedom and serves as the ultimate thirst quencher (John 4:13-14). Speaking of spiritual food and drink, one might, like the Pharisees of Mark 8:15, have bad food and not know it. Herod Antipas was not a sympathetic figure either, but he lacked the pretense of holiness. Sometimes deceivers are unambiguously bad, but others think they are righteous.
Yeast functions as a metaphor in Mark 8. It indicated
the diffusion of veiled evil.
—The New Interpreter’s Study Bible (2003), page 1823
Herod’s veil was the authority of the Roman Empire, legitimized by violence and oppression. The Pharisaic veil was the Temple system, which depended on economic exploitation and a form of piety which favored the wealthy. One lesson I have derived from these passages is that political legitimacy does not necessarily indicate moral fitness.
Do not let an arrogant man approach me,
do not let the wicked push me off course.
There they have fallen, those wicked men,
knocked down, unable to rise.
–Psalm 36:12-13, Harry Mowvley, The Psalms Introduced and Newly Translated for Today’s Readers (1989)
Yet many such arrogant people thrive in this life for a long time, for many of the godly suffer because of them. Economically exploitative systems continue to exist, and many people who consider themselves righteous defend them. Oppressive violence persists, and many who consider themselves godly defend it. Yet the testimony of faithful people of God, from antiquity to current times, against it remains also. The words of Hebrew prophets thunder from the pages of the Old Testament, for example. The condemnations of repression and exploitation are ubiquitous. Dare we listen to them and heed them?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 1, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAMUEL STENNETT, ENGLISH SEVENTH-DAY BAPTIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER; AND JOHN HOWARD, ENGLISH HUMANITARIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT JUSTIN MARTYR, APOLOGIST
THE FEAST OF SAINTS PAMPHILUS OF CAESAREA, BIBLE SCHOLAR AND TRANSLATOR; AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS
THE FEAST OF SAINT SIMEON OF SYRACUSE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2015/06/02/causing-dissensions-and-offenses-part-ii/
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ORDINARY TIME DEVOTIONS 
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