Archive for January 2021
Above: Tear Ducts
Image in the Public Domain
The Gift of Tears to Shed
NOVEMBER 1, 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 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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Isaiah 25:6-9
Psalm 24
Revelation 21:1-6a
John 11:32-44
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[The Lord GOD] will destroy death for ever….
–Isaiah 25:8a, The Revised English Bible (1989)
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Writing another devotional blog post for All Saints’ Day can prove challenging, given how many I have composed. My perspective on this hobby of writing lectionary-based devotions is unique, O reader. I am the only mortal who knows how often I have repeated myself.
Anyway, the connection between Isaiah 25:5-9 and Revelation 21:1-6a is obvious. Isaiah 25:6-9, set during the great eschatological banquet, is a fine choice to pair with Revelation 21:1-6a.
I have joined the company of those who visit someone’s grave and talk. In my case, those are the graves of my father (who had Alzheimer’s Disease and died a combination of ailments on October 30, 2014) and my girlfriend (who struggled with mental illness until she died violently on October 14, 2019). Therefore, Isaiah 25:6-9 has special meaning for me. Perhaps you, O reader, also find special meaning in this text. We mere mortals grieve because we are human and have emotions. We need not grieve alone. Hopefully, we can rely on other people to help us through the grieving process. And God is with us, of course.
Jesus wept.
–John 11:35, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
Jesus weeps with us. We are not alone.
Sister Ruth Fox, O.S.B., wrote “A Franciscan Blessing” (1985), which reads, in part:
May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer
from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish,
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.
One day, I will be a position to help someone experiencing grief. I will be able to assist that person because of my grief. So be it. Life in God requires people to look out for each other.
The Feast of All Saints is an occasion to ponder all who have preceded us in the Christian faith. They constitute a “great cloud of witnesses.” Some are famous. Most are obscure. We may know a few of them by name. To miss them is legitimate.
At the right time (the time of God’s choosing), may we join them on the other side of the veil. In the meantime, we have work to do and God to glorify.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 30, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF LESSLIE NEWBIGIN, ENGLISH REFORMED MISSIONARY AND THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT BATHILDAS, QUEEN OF FRANCE
THE FEAST OF FREDERICK OAKELEY, ANGLICAN THEN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST
THE FEAST OF SAINTS GENESIUS I OF CLERMONT AND PRAEJECTUS OF CLERMONT, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS; AND SAINT AMARIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
THE FEAST OF SAINT JACQUES BUNOL, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1945
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2021/01/30/the-gift-of-tears-to-shed/
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Above: Cooks Union United Methodist Church, Miller County, Georgia
Image Source = Google Earth
Hard of Hearing
OCTOBER 30, 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 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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Genesis 21:1-19 or Zechariah 7:4-14
Psalm 144:1-4, 9-15
Revelation 21:1-8
John 15:18-25
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My father served as the pastor of Cooks Union United Methodist Church, outside Colquitt, Georgia, from June 1985 to June 1986. One of the parishioners was Don, an elderly man. Don was hard of hearing. He frequently missed much of the contents of my father’s sermons and misheard other parts of those sermons. Don also missed much context, so, when we correctly heard what my father said, Don often misunderstood the meaning. Don frequently became upset with my father, accusing my father of having said X when my father had said Y. This was unfair, of course; my father had done nothing wrong.
Many people have been hard of hearing in matters pertaining to morality. Many still are. Morals need not be abstract. How do we treat one another? How do governments treat vulnerable people? What kinds of policies do politicians support? Living according to the Golden Rule is one way to earn the world’s enmity.
God is kinder to the vulnerable than many people and governments are. The divine preference for the poor recurs throughout the Bible. And economic injustice and judicial corruption frequently occur on lists of collective and individual sins, alongside idolatry, that God judges harshly. Yet, to hear many ministers speak, one would know that the Biblical authors spilled more ink condemning economic injustice and judicial corruption than various sexual practices.
May we, by grace, not be hard of hearing in matters of the Golden Rule.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 30, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF LESSLIE NEWBIGIN, ENGLISH REFORMED MISSIONARY AND THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT BATHILDAS, QUEEN OF FRANCE
THE FEAST OF FREDERICK OAKELEY, ANGLICAN THEN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST
THE FEAST OF SAINTS GENESIUS I OF CLERMONT AND PRAEJECTUS OF CLERMONT, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS; AND SAINT AMARIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
THE FEAST OF SAINT JACQUES BUNOL, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1945
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2021/01/30/hard-of-hearing/
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Above: Image of COVID-19, by the Centers for Disease Control
Image in the Public Domain
A Covenant People
OCTOBER 23, 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 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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Genesis 17:1-22 or Ruth 4:1-17
Psalm 143
Revelation 21:1-6a
John 15:1-17
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The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) includes part of Genesis 17 only one–on the Second Sunday in Lent, Year B. The RCL guts the chapter, though. The RCL assigns only verses 1-7 and 15-16. As Matthew Thiessen observes in Jesus and the Forces of Death: The Gospels’ Portrayal of Ritual Impurity Within First-Century Judaism (2020), the RCL avoids the verses that talk about circumcision. One who hears a RCL-based sermon on Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 hears
a very carefully edited, essentially Christianized (or de-Judaized) version of Genesis 17.
–2
The Humes lectionary, in contrast, fills the hole the RCL creates.
Without chasing a proverbial rabbit, I repeat here what I have written elsewhere, in another lectionary-based devotion, recently: Within Judaism, over time, as reflected in the Bible and in non-canonical Jewish texts, a range of opinions regarding circumcision existed. Judaism has never been a monolithic religion, despite what you, O reader, may have heard or read.
Circumcision was a common practice in many cultures in the area of antiquity. In the case of the Jews, it was significant for more than one reason. Hygiene was one reason for circumcision. The practice was also a fertility rite, a ritual of initiation into the covenant people, and an act of ritual purification. The practice, perhaps most importantly, functioned as a marker of identity in God and the divine covenant.
Circumcision is a sign–a covenant I believe remains in effect. I, as a Gentile, function under a second covenant.
Wholeness and restoration–collectively and individually–are possible only in God, via a covenant. As in Ruth 4, God frequently acts through people to create wholeness and restoration. God also acts directly often.
…there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness. The world of the past has gone.
–Revelation 21:4b, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
The “world of the past” in Revelation 21:4b remains the world of the present. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to claim and damage lives and livelihoods. Tears, death, mourning, and sadness remain, in a heightened reality, the cruel companions of victims of the pandemic. One point of Revelation is the imperative of keeping faith and focusing on the light while the darkness threatens to overwhelm with despair and hopelessness.
One joins a covenant by grace. One drops out of a covenant by works of darkness. That is classical Jewish Covenantal Nomism. In other words, remain faithful to God, who is faithful.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu told a story about a Jew in a Nazi death camp. A guard was mocking a pious Jew, forced to perform the degrading, unpleasant, and disgusting task of cleaning the toilet. The guard asked,
Where is your God now?
The Jew answered,
He is beside me, here in the muck.
Where is God during the COVID-19 pandemic? God is sitting beside the beds of patients. God is walking beside essential workers. God is grieving with those who mourn. God is present with those working to develop or to distribute vaccines. God is with us, here in the muck.
God is faithful. May we be faithful, too.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 29, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS LYDIA, DORCAS, AND PHOEBE, COWORKERS OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2021/01/29/a-covenant-people-part-viii/
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Above: The Last Judgment, by Fra Angelico
Image in the Public Domain
Deeds and Creeds
OCTOBER 16, 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 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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Genesis 19:1-26 or Ruth 3
Psalm 142
Revelation 20:11-15
John 14:15-31
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NSFW Alert: “Feet” in Ruth 3 are not feet. No, they are genitals. The Hebrew Bible contains euphemisms. In the case of Ruth 3, we have a scene that is unfit for inclusion in a book of Bible stories for children.
The Reverend Jennifer Wright Knust offers this analysis of the Book of Ruth:
To the writer of Ruth, family can consist of an older woman and her beloved immigrant daughter-in-law, women can easily raise children on their own, and men can be seduced if it serves the interests of women.
—Unprotected Texts: The Bible’s Surprising Contractions About Sex and Desire (2011), 33
Speaking or writing of interpretations you may have read or heard, O reader, I turn to Genesis 19. Open an unabridged concordance of the Bible and look for “Sodom.” Then read every verse listed. You will find that the dominant criticism of the people of Sodom was that they were arrogant and inhospitable. The willingness to commit gang rape against angels, men, and women seems inhospitable to me.
The author of Psalm 142 described the current human reality. That author descried Christ’s reality in John 14:15-31. Christ was about to die terribly. Yet that same Christ was victorious in Revelation 20.
The standard of judgment in Revelation 20:14 may scandalize many Protestants allergic to any hint of works-based righteousness:
…and every one was judged according to the way in which he had lived.
—The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
This is not a new standard in the Bible. It exists in the Hebrew Bible. Matthew 25:31-46 its people over the head, so to speak, with this standard. The Letter of James keeps hitting people over the head with it for five chapters. Deeds reveal creeds. The standard of divine judgment in Revelation 20:14 makes sense to me.
So, what do I believe? What are my creeds? What are your creeds, really? I refer not to theological abstractions, but to lived faith. Theological abstractions matter, too. (I am not a Pietist.) Yet lived faith matters more. Do we live according to the love of God? God seems to approve of doing that. Do we hate? God seems to disapprove of doing that.
As St. Paul the Apostle insisted, faith and works are a package deal. The definition of faith in the Letter of James differs from the Pauline definition. Faith in James is intellectual. Therefore, joining faith with works is essential, for faith without works is dead. In Pauline theology, however, faith includes works. If one understands all this, one scotches any allegation that the Letter of James contradicts Pauline epistles.
Deeds reveal creeds. If we value one another, we will act accordingly. If we recognize immigrants as people who bear the image of God, we will resist the temptation of xenophobia, et cetera. Knowing how to act properly on our creeds may prove challenging sometimes. Practical consideration may complicate matters. Political actions may or may not be the most effective methods to pursue.
By grace, may we–collectively and individually–act properly, so that our deeds may reveal our creeds, to the glory of God and for the benefit of our fellow human beings.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 28, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT ALBERT THE GREAT AND HIS PUPIL, SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS, ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIANS
THE FEAST OF DANIEL J. SIMUNDSON, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF HENRY AUGUSTINE COLLINS, ANGLICAN THEN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOSEPH BARNBY, ANGLICAN CHURCH MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF SOMERSET CORRY LOWRY, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2021/01/28/deeds-and-creeds-vi/
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Above: Ruth and Boaz, by Julian Schnorr von Carolsfield
Image in the Public Domain
Judgment and Mercy
OCTOBER 9, 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 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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Genesis 18:16-33 or Ruth 2:1-13
Psalm 141
Revelation 19:11-21
John 14:1-14
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Divine judgment and mercy are in balance throughout the Bible. The intercession of Abraham on the behalf of the people of Sodom (Genesis 18:16-33) proved to be in vain, but he did haggle God down. That story expresses something positive about God. When we turn to Revelation 19:11-21, we need to notice that the triumph of suffering, divine love in Christ (mercy, for sure) follows judgment on Babylon (code for the Roman Empire).
I offer a lesson that may be difficult: Mercy for the oppressed may be judgment and punishment of the oppressors. Furthermore, oppressors may not think of themselves as such. They may be the heroes of their own stories. They may think they are righteous, just.
All of us should squirm in discomfort when we think about the human capacity for self-delusion. Human psychology can be a person’s worst enemy. It can also be the worse foe of any community, nation-state, government, institution, corporation, et cetera. Human psychology is the worst enemy of Homo sapiens and Planet Earth.
Thomas Jefferson, a slaveholder, wrote regarding the consequences of slavery for the United States of America:
I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his his justice cannot sleep forever.
The Apocalypse of John is about, among other topics, what will happen when divine judgment wakes up. That warning remains germane at all times and in all places. Exploitation, economic injustice, needless violence, and oppression are always present, to some degree. They are evil. God will vanquish them and inaugurate the fully realized Kingdom of God.
In the meantime, one duty of we who follow God is to leave the world better than we found it.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 27, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS JEROME, PAULA OF ROME, EUSTOCHIUM, BLAESILLA, MARCELLA, AND LEA OF ROME
THE FEAST OF SAINT ANGELA MERICI, FOUNDRESS OF THE COMPANY OF SAINT URSULA
THE FEAST OF SAINT CAROLINA SANTOCANALE, FOUNDRESS OF THE CAPUCHIN SISTERS OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
THE FEAST OF CASPAR NEUMANN, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF PIERRE BATIFFOL, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, HISTORIAN, AND THEOLOGIAN
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2021/01/27/judgment-and-mercy-part-xxi/
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Above: Ruth, the Dutiful Daughter-in-Law, by William Blake
Image in the Public Domain
The Inclusive Gospel of Jesus
OCTOBER 2, 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 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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Genesis 18:1-15 or Ruth 1:1-19
Psalm 140
Revelation 19:1-10
John 12:37-50
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I detect some themes in the assigned readings. These include:
- Failure to believe, sometimes despite evidence:
- The victory of God over evil regimes, institutions, and people;
- Divine destruction of the corrupt, violent, exploitative, and oppressive world order ahead of replacing it with the fully realized Kingdom of God;
- The divine preference for the poor; and
- God acting in the lives of people, often via other people.
This week, the Humes lectionary takes us to the Book of Ruth, a delightful book about the faithfulness of God, especially in the lives of women. The Book of Ruth also teaches that some Gentiles have faith in the God of the Jews. When one considers that the text may date to either the Babylonian Exile or to the Postexilic period, one may recognize more hope in the story than one would see otherwise. One may even recognize a protest against Ezra 9:9, 10 and Nehemiah 13:23-30, as well as an assertion that foreigners may join the Jewish community.
Divine love includes all who follow God, after all. I, as a Gentile, approve of that message. Divine love also reaches out to those who reject it. Divine love calls upon all people to respond affirmatively.
I do not presume to know who has gone to Heaven or Hell, or who will go to either reality. I guess that Adolf Hitler, for example, is in Hell. However, I affirm that even Hitler was not beyond redemption. I also affirm that he made decisions, which had negative consequences for himself and the world.
The Gospel of Jesus is inclusive. The love of God is inclusive. When we say that salvation comes via Jesus, what does that mean? That question is distinct from what we think it means? I leave to the purview of God what belongs there. My role is to point toward Jesus. To whom else would I, a Christian, point?
How inclusive do we who claim to follow God want to be? Do we want to include all those whom God includes? In other words, who are our Gentiles?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 26, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS TIMOTHY, TITUS, AND SILAS, COWORKERS OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2021/01/26/the-inclusive-gospel-of-jesus-part-ii/
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Above: Nero
Image in the Public Domain
Deceptive Appearances
SEPTEMBER 25, 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 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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Genesis 16:1-15 or Nehemiah 9:5-38
Psalm 139:1-18, 23-24
Revelation 13:11-18
John 12:1-11
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As I wrote in the previous post in this series, the author (“John,” whoever he was) of the Revelation depicted the Roman Empire as being evil.
When we–you, O reader, and I–turn to Revelation 13:11-18, we read of the Antichrist–perhaps Nero (“666” in Greek), originally. Anyhow, the reference is to a Roman Emperor. To make matters especially confusing, some of the Antichrist’s works are legitimate and wondrous. In other words, appearances can deceive.
The reading from Nehemiah 9 speaks of faithful acts of God and of faithless, oblivious people. It also mentions penitent people. Genesis 16 follows up on the covenant in Genesis 15. Genesis 16 sets up a series of unfortunate events in subsequent chapters. One may draw the conclusion the text invites one to make: Wait for God to fulfill divine promises. Do not act to make them happen. Have faith. Trust God.
Yet one may also wonder how to know which works come from God. Appearances can deceive, after all. Besides, one may not expect God to act in a certain way (such as the Incarnation or the crucifixion). Therefore, one may see God act and fail to recognize what God has done and is doing.
I offer no easy answer to this difficult question. I have only one answer: pray. Prayer consists primarily of listening and watching, actually. The best definition of prayer I can muster is the heightened sense of awareness of being in the presence of God. As Psalm 139 tells us, we can never leave the presence of God. We can, however, be oblivious to it or be aware of it.
May God help us to identify correctly all that is of God. And may we pay attention.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 25, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE CONVERSION OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2021/01/25/deceptive-appearances/
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Above: Ezra Preaches the Law
Image in the Public Domain
Two Kingdoms
SEPTEMBER 18, 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 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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Genesis 15:1-18 or Nehemiah 8:1-4a, 5-6, 8-10
Psalm 138
Revelation 12:1-12
John 11:45-57
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Some authors of certain books of the New Testament favored submission to earthly authority, namely the Roman Empire. The treatment of the Roman Empire in Luke-Acts was politically deft, shifting blame from imperial officials to hostile Jews. The greatest shift of blame from the Roman Empire to hostile Jews came in the Gospel of John, though. (Read John 11:45-57, for example, O reader.) The author (“John,” whoever he was) of Revelation spared no words regarding the Roman Empire, though. He depicted that empire as being irredeemably evil.
The nature of apocalyptic literature is that most language is symbolic. A literal reading, therefore, produces nonsense. Revelation 12:1-12 contains references to pagan mythology and Jewish scripture, some of it mythological in genre. Without getting lost in the mythological weeds (something easy to do), I cut to the chase. The Roman Empire was evil. God was going to destroy it.
This reading raises two question I will address:
- How to relate to evil; and
- How to relate to God.
First, never submit to evil. Resist it always. (That was quick.)
Second, trust God, who is faithful. In the full Biblical sense, to believe in God is to trust in God. We mere mortals can trust God, who has established covenants and given the Law of Moses. Rules matter; they provide definition to generalizations. What does “love your neighbor” mean, in practical terms? That is just one example of how laws (many of them bound by time and circumstances) flesh out timeless principles in the Law of Moses.
I write this blog post during troublesome times on Planet Earth. I write this blog post during perilous times in the United States of America. I write this blog post eighteen days after Donald Trump, then the President of the United States, sent a mob of domestic terrorists to assault the Capitol Building and endanger the lives of the Vice President, the members of both houses of Congress, their staffers, and Capitol Police officers. I write this blog post eighteen days after five people died in that insurrection. I write this blog post four days after United States military personnel had to guard the Capitol grounds for the inauguration of President Joseph R. Biden. I write this post as some members of the Republican Party continue to doubt the legitimacy of the presidential election of 2020. Some even go so far as to claim that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who died on March 5, 2013, participated in a plot to rig the American presidential election of 2020. I write this blog post in a political climate in which even objective reality is a matter of dispute, and some people claim, with straight faces, that a man dead for nearly seven years rigged or helped to rig the U.S. presidential election, and Trump is a savior figure who will deliver the nation from Deep State Democrats who are pedophiles who drink the blood of children.
Authoritarianism is on the rise in the United States. Much of the “Religious Right” supports an authoritarian, even theocratic agenda. Authoritarianism is a form of evil. Resistance is the only morally justifiable response to it.
God will win in the end. That is one message of Revelation 12:1-12. Yet we mere mortals do not live in the end times. No, we live in the in-between times. We live between the writing of the prophecy and the fulfillment of it. And we have moral obligations, which accompany the covenant.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 24, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF THE ORDINATION OF FLORENCE LI-TIM-OI, FIRST FEMALE PRIEST IN THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION
THE FEAST OF GEORGE A. BUTTRICK, ANGLO-AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR; AND HIS SON, DAVID G. BUTTRICK, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN THEN UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND LITURGIST
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIE POUSSEPIN, FOUNDRESS OF THE DOMINICAN SISTERS OF CHARITY OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE VIRGIN
THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF PODLASIE, 1874
THE FEAST OF SAINT SURANUS OF SORA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND MARTYR, 580
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2021/01/24/two-kingdoms-iv/
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Above: Tear Ducts
Image in the Public Domain
The Tears of the Christ
SEPTEMBER 11, 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 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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Genesis 13:1-16 or Ezra 1:1-7; 3:8-13
Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26
Revelation 7:9-17
John 11:1-3. 16-44
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Jesus wept.
–John 11:35, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
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They will never hunger or thirst again; neither the sun nor scorching wind will ever plague them because the Lamb who is at the throne will be their shepherd and will lead them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away all tears like their eyes.
–Revelation 7:16-17, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
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I could take so many paths through the assigned readings for this week. These readings are rich texts. I will take just one path, however.
Before I do, here are a few notes:
- Abraham waited for God to tell him which land to claim. Abraham chose well.
- Lot chose land on his own. He chose poorly. However, at the time he seemed to have chosen wisely; he selected fertile land.
- I agree with Psalm 136. Divine mercy does endure forever.
- The chronology of the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah weaves in and out of those books. I know, for I blogged my way through them in chronological order at BLOGA THEOLOGICA last year.
For the record, the chronological reading order of Ezra-Nehemiah follows:
- Ezra 1:1-2:70; Nehemiah 7:6-73a;
- Ezra 3:1-4:5;
- Ezra 5:1-6:22;
- Ezra 4:6-24;
- Nehemiah 1:1-2:20;
- Nehemiah 3:1-4:17;
- Nehemiah 5:1-19;
- Nehemiah 6:1-7:5;
- Nehemiah 11:1-12:47;
- Nehemiah 13:1-31;
- Nehemiah 9:38-10:39;
- Ezra 7:1-10:44; and
- Nehemiah 7:73b-9:38.
I take my lead in this post from the New Testament readings. Tears are prominent in both of them. Tears are on my mind during the COVID-19 pandemic. They are also on my mind as I continue to mourn the violent death of my beloved. Her departure from this side of the veil of tears has left me shaken and as forever changed me.
The full divinity and full humanity of Jesus are on display in John 11. We read that Jesus wept over the death of his friend, St. Lazarus of Bethany. We also read of other people mourning and weeping in the immediate area. We may not pay much attention to that. We may tell ourselves, “Of course, they grieved and wept.” But two words–“Jesus wept”–remain prominent.
There is a scene in The Gospel According to Saint Matthew (1964) that fits this theme. At the time, Hollywood studios had recently released technicolor movies about a Jesus who had no tear ducts yet had an impressive command of Elizabethan English while resembling a Northern European. Yet Pier Paolo Pasolini, who committed about half of the Gospel of Matthew to film, presented a Jesus who had tear ducts. Immediately after the off-camera decapitation of St. John the Baptist, the next shot was a focus on Christ’s face. He was crying. So were the men standing in front of him.
Jesus wept.
We weep. Jesus weeps with us until the day God will wipe away all tears of those who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 23, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN THE ALMSGIVER, PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA
THE FEAST OF CHARLES KINGSLEY, ANGLICAN PRIEST, NOVELIST, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF EDWARD GRUBB, ENGLISH QUAKER AUTHOR, SOCIAL REFORMER, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JAMES D. SMART, CANADIAN PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF PHILLIPS BROOKS, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF MASSACHUSETTS, AND HYMN WRITER
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2021/01/23/the-tears-of-the-christ/
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Above: The Tower of Babel, from Metropolis (1927)
A Screen Capture
Glorifying God
SEPTEMBER 4, 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 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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Genesis 11:1-9 or Acts 28:16-31
Psalm 135:1-14
Revelation 6:1-17
John 9:1-41
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The gospel of Christ will always stand in judgment of the things that are happening in the political, economic, and social spheres of communities and nations. And if this is so, then martyrdom is not as far away as we think. The word “martyr” in Greek is the same word from which we get the word “witness.”
–Ernest Lee Stoffel, The Dragon Bound: The Revelation Speaks to Our Time (1981), 49-50
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To be a witness to God can be risky. The risk may or may not involve violence, injury or death. However, even under the best of circumstances, to ignore or minimize that risk is foolish. Risk may even come from conventionally religious people–from powerful ones, perhaps.
I detect an element of humor in John 9:1-41. (Reading the Bible in such a way as to miss humor is far too common.) By the time a reader arrives at the end of the story, one may imagine steam pouring out of the ears of some of the Pharisees, if this story were in the form of a Looney Tunes cartoon. This would make for a wonderful scene in verse 27, with the healed man’s question,
Do you want to become his disciples yourselves?
—The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
At the end of that story, the healed man found himself expelled from the synagogue. His plight must have resonated with members of the Johannine Jewish Christian community, on the margins of their Jewish communal life. Therefore, some Jews referred to other Jews as “the Jews.”
At the end of the Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul the Apostle lived under house arrest in Rome. Ultimately, he did via beheading.
God may have struck down many enemies and oppressors of Israel, but many of the faithful have suffered and/or died for the faith, too.
The story of the Tower of Babel is a myth. Anyone consulting it in search for a reliable source of linguistic origins is on a doomed mission. That is not to say, however, that the story contains no truth.
This is a story about the folly of self-importance–collective self-importance, in this case. Verse 5 reads:
The LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the people had built.
—The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
That verse conveys the insignificance of human achievements relative to God.
The desire to make a name for ourselves–collectively and individually–is a great value in many societies. It is not, however, a value the Bible champions. Psalm 135 reads, in part:
Hallelujah.
Praise the name of the LORD;
give praise, you servants of the LORD,
who stand in the house of the LORD,
in the courts of the house of our God.
Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;
sing hymns to His name, for it is pleasant.
For the LORD has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel, as His treasured possession.
–Verses 1-4, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
If we–collectively or individually–have a name that should last for generations, centuries, and millennia, God will give it to us. That name may not persist in human memory, though.
Some of them left a name behind them,
so that their praises are still sung.
While others have left no memory
and disappeared as though they had not existed.
They are now as though they had never been,
and so too, their children after them.
–Ecclesiasticus 44:8-9, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
So be it.
To seek to glorify God and to maintain divine standards of political, economic, and social justice can be dangerous. At minimum, the risk is social marginalization and scorn. Much of this contempt may come from conventionally devout people who should know better. To serve God or to serve Caesar. To glorify God or to glorify oneself? To worship God or to worship country? The decisions are ours to make?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 23, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN THE ALMSGIVER, PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA
THE FEAST OF CHARLES KINGSLEY, ANGLICAN PRIEST, NOVELIST, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF EDWARD GRUBB, ENGLISH QUAKER AUTHOR, SOCIAL REFORMER, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JAMES D. SMART, CANADIAN PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF PHILLIPS BROOKS, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF MASSACHUSETTS, AND HYMN WRITER
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2021/01/23/glorifying-god-vii/
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ORDINARY TIME DEVOTIONS 
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