According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
The Sabbath is a divine gift. The Deuteronomistic version of the Ten Commandments explains that the Sabbath is a mark of freedom; a free person, not a slave, gets a day off from work each week. This explanation differs from that in the version of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. In Exodus 20:11, the Redactor explains the rationale for the Sabbath as emulating God.
The Sabbath is a divine gift. God liberates us. God frees us to be out best possible selves, communities, congregations, et cetera. In turn, obedience is hardly an onerous requirement. Even during persecution, we are free to cry out to God for deliverance. And we, as those who follow God, can follow it. St. Paul the Apostle is identifying our suffering with that of Jesus. If we suffer with our Lord and Savior–if we take up our cross and follow him–God will not abandon us either. Our triumph may come in the afterlife, but it will come.
The Sabbath is a divine gift. Yet many people, out of misguided piety, transform it into a burden. With that comment I turn my attention to the reading from Mark 2. People have to eat on the Sabbath, do they not? Yes, plucking grain on the Sabbath is work, but the Law of Moses does not forbid all work on the Sabbath. For example, circumcision must occur on the eighth day of a boy’s life, according to the Law of Moses. If that day falls on the Sabbath, so be it. Also, the Jewish tradition understands that keeping some commandments may require violating others, due to circumstances. Prioritizing and ranking commandments is, therefore, necessary.
Yet some people did not receive that memorandum, so to speak.
Lambasting long-dead Pharisees is easy. Examining ourselves spiritually may be challenging, though. Do we have our precious categories, which we maintain strictly and piously, to the detriment of others? Does our piety ever harm anyone or delay someone’s restoration to physical, emotional, or spiritual wholeness? Does our piety ever cause or prolong the suffering of others? If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” we practice misguided piety.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 28, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE THIRTIETH DAY OF LENT
THE FEAST OF JAMES SOLOMON RUSSELL, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, EDUCATOR, AND ADVOCATE FOR RACIAL EQUALITY
THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH RUNDLE CHARLES, ANGLICAN WRITER, HYMN TRANSLATOR, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT GUNTRAM OF BURGUNDY, KING
THE FEAST OF KATHARINE LEE BATES, U.S. EDUCATOR, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF RICHARD CHEVENIX TRENCH, ANGLICAN ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN
THE FEAST OF SAINT TUTILO, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK AND COMPOSER
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
God (YHWH, Elohim, or whichever other name one prefers to use; a Christian term is God the Father) is one. God is sovereign. God is just. These characteristics come from the assigned readings from the Hebrew Bible, before I turn to Romans 8 and John 3.
The readings from Romans 8 and John 3 add Jesus and the Holy Spirit to the mix. Thus, we have all the ingredients for the formula of the Trinity. The word “Trinity” never appears in the New Testament. The ingredients of it do, however. The current, orthodox form of that doctrine is the result of successive councils and rebuttals against heresies during the first few centuries of Christianity.
I have read enough books and portions of books to know that every Trinitarian heresy began as a well-meaning attempt to explain the Trinity. So, I choose not to play that game. No, I embrace the mystery and focus on its meanings. One meaning is that, although God is one, God is complex, not simple.
In Christian terms, spiritual birth via the Holy Spirit is essential. This may be quiet or dramatic. Itay include an event one can mark as the time of spiritual renewal or it may sneak up on someone. I belong the company of people who have, within their active memory, always known God via Jesus. The dates I can mark on a timeline are mostly sacramental. They include one baptism, one confirmation, and three reaffirmations, with each of the last four occurring in the presence of a bishop in Apostolic Succession.
Lutheran minister and liturgist Philip H. Pfatteicher tells us that Trinity Sunday is:
not the feast of a doctrine but…the celebration of the richness of the being of God and the occasion of a thankful review of the now-completed mystery of salvation, which is the work of the Father thorugh the Holy Spirit.
—Commentary on the Lutheran Book of Worship: Lutheran Liturgy in Its Ecumenical Context (1990), 301
So, on Trinity Sunday, as well as all other days, may we thank God for the
now-completed mystery of salvation.
And, with the author of Psalm 96, may we ascribe glory and might to God. May our words, thoughts, and actions glorify God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 27, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE TWENTY-NINTH DAY OF LENT
THE FEAST OF CHARLES HENRY BRENT, EPISCOPAL MISSIONARY BISHOP OF THE PHILIPPINES, BISHOP OF WESTERN NEW YORK, AND ECUMENIST
THE FEAST OF SAINTS NICHOLAS OWEN, THOMAS GARNET, MARK BARKWORTH, EDWARD OLDCORNE, AND RALPH ASHLEY, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS, 1601-1608
THE FEAST OF PETER LUTKIN, EPISCOPAL COMPOSER, LITURGIST, AND MUSIC EDUCATOR
THE FEAST OF ROBERT HALL BAYNES, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF MADAGASCAR
THE FEAST OF SAINT RUPERT OF SALZBURG, APOSTLE OF BAVARIA AND AUSTRIA
THE FEAST OF STANLEY ROTHER, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, MISSIONARY, AND MARTYR IN GUATEMALA, 1981
ORDINARY TIME DEVOTIONS 
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