Archive for the ‘August 6: Transfiguration’ Category
Above: The Parable of the Net
Image in the Public Domain
Good News and Bad News
AUGUST 6, 2023
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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
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1 Kings 3:5-12
Psalm 119:129-136
Romans 8:28-30
Matthew 13:44-52
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O God, your ears are always open to the prayers of your servants.
Open our hearts and minds to you,
that we may live in harmony with your will
and receive the gifts of your Spirit;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 26
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O God, the Protector of all who trust in you,
without whom nothing is strong and nothing is holy,
increase and multiply your mercy on us,
that with you as our Ruler and Guide,
we may so pass through things temporal,
that we lose not the things eternal;
through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 71
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Redeem me from human oppression….
–Psalm 119:134a, The Revised New Jerusalem Bible (2019)
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Good news and bad news come together.
- The reading from 1 Kings 3 marinates in hindsight and the wasted potential of King Solomon, who had come to power like Michael Corleone, settling disputes with murder. One may reasonably speculate that King Solomon had already cast his die before 1 Kings 3. Nevertheless, hope springs eternal, to quote a cliché.
- We read a portion of Psalm 119, in which the author extols God’s commandments in the context of human oppression.
- Single Predestination (Romans 8:28-30) is to Heaven. Those not so predestined have the witness of the Holy Spirit available to them.
- We read that, at the end of the age, the angels will separate the wicked from the righteous. This is good news for the righteous and bad news for the wicked. Divine judgment and mercy exist in balance.
I paid little attention to predestination when I was a Methodist. My theology has shifted, however, into Anglican-Lutheranism, which includes Single Predestination. After growing up ignoring passages such as Romans 8:28-30, I have embraced them.
The good news of Single Predestination, paired with the witness of the Holy Spirit, is grace. Those predestined receive one form of grace. Those not predestined receive another form of grace. Their free will to accept or reject the witness of the Holy Spirit exists because of grace. Everything boils down to grace.
We human beings do not have to earn everything. We cannot earn grace. If we accept it, we also accept its demands on our lives. Grace is free, not cheap.
Good news and bad news come together. We mere mortals make our bad news and some of our good news. God brings us good news. Are we receptive to it?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYL0R
JUNE 18, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM BINGHAM TAPPAN, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER. POET, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF ADOLPHUS NELSON, SWEDISH-AMERICAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF BERNARD MIZEKI, ANGLICAN CATECHIST AND CONVERT IN SOUTHERN RHODESIA, 1896
THE FEAST OF JOHANN FRANCK, HEINRICH HELD, AND SIMON DACH, GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITERS
THE FEAST OF RICHARD MASSIE, HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF VERNARD ELLER, U.S. CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN MINISTER AND THEOLOGIAN
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Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA
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Above: Icon of the Transfiguration
Image in the Public Domain
The Light of Christ
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Appearances can deceive. That statement is true in many contexts. Consider the historical figure we call Jesus (or Jeshua or Joshua) of Nazareth, O reader. I am Christologically orthodox, so I affirm the Incarnation, but I also make a distinction between the Second Person of the Trinity prior to the Incarnation and the person we call Jesus. The distinction I make is a purely historical one; I refer to Jesus as the incarnated Second Person. Perhaps I am splitting a hair. If so, so be it.
As I was writing, appearances can deceive. We do not know what Jesus looked like, but we can be certain that he did not look like a northern European. Reconstructions I have seen plausibly depict Jesus as someone with dark skin, short hair, and brown eyes. One may realistically state that his appearance most days was dramatically different from that on the day of the Transfiguration. One may also ask how the Apostles knew the other two figures were Moses and Elijah, who were not wearing name tags.
The Gospels are more works of theology than history, as I, trained in historical methodology, practice my craft. One should never underestimate the four canonical Gospels as works of finely-honed theology, complete with literary structure. I know this, so I choose not to let the absence of name tags bother me. I accept the theological point that Jesus was and remains consistent with the Law and the Prophets. I also accept the theological point that the Transfiguration revealed the divine glory present in Jesus, en route to die in Jerusalem. The prose poetry, with echoes of Moses encountering God on a mountain, accomplishes its purpose.
What are we supposed to do with this story of Jesus? 2 Peter 1:19 points to the answer:
…the message of the prophets] will go on shining like a lamp in a murky place, until day breaks and the morning star rises to illumine your minds.
—The Revised English Bible (1989)
May the light of Christ illumine our minds and shape our lives. (As we think, we are.) May that light direct our private and public morality, so that we (both individually and collectively) will not betray Jesus in either our deeds or our words. May we take that light with us as we travel with Jesus, and not attempt to box it up, even out of reverence. May the light of Christ shine in us, both individually and collectively, as we, in the words of Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church,
love like Jesus.
We know how Jesus loved, do we not? We know that he loved unconditionally and all the way to the cross. The call of Christian discipleship is the summons to follow Jesus, wherever he leads. Details vary according to where, when, and who one is, but the call,
follow me,
is constant. So is the command to transfigure societies, for the glory of God and for the common good, with the Golden Rule as the gold standard of private and public morals, ethics, and policies.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 7, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF COLBERT S. CARTWRIGHT, U.S. DISCIPLES OF CHRIST MINISTER, LITURGIST, AND WITNESS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
THE FEAST OF GUGLIELMO MASSAIA, ITALIAN CARDINAL, MISSIONARY, AND CAPUCHIN FRIAR
THE FEAST OF JOHN SCRIMGER, CANADIAN PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, ECUMENIST, AND LITURGIST
THE FEAST OF SAINT VICTRICIUS OF ROUEN, ROMAN CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR AND ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
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O God, who on your holy mount revealed to chosen witnesses your well-beloved Son,
wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistening:
Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world,
may by faith behold the King in his beauty;
who with you, O Father, and you, O Holy Spirit,
lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Exodus 34:29-35
Psalm 99 or 99:5-9
2 Peter 1:13-21
Luke 9:28-36
—Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2010), 509
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2019/08/07/the-light-of-christ-part-vi/
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Above: The Reunion of Esau and Jacob, by Francesco Hayez
Image in the Public Domain
Facing God, Other People, and Ourselves
AUGUST 6, 2023
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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 33:1-11 or Isaiah 17:7-13
Psalm 17:1-8
1 Corinthians 4:1, 9-21
Matthew 10:16-33
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One might suffer for any one of a variety of reasons. One might suffer (as in the case of Damascus, in Isaiah 17) as punishment for idolatry and injustice. Maybe (as in 1 Corinthians 4 and Matthew 10) one might suffer for the sake of righteousness. Perhaps one is merely unfortunate. Or maybe another explanation fits one’s circumstances.
Either way, the commandment to remember, honor, and obey God remains. Also, judgment for disobedience is both collective and individual.
As worthwhile as those points are, another one interests me more. Certain verses in Genesis 32 and 33 refer to faces–of Jacob, Esau, and God. Karen Armstrong, writing in In the Beginning: A New Interpretation of Genesis (1996), makes a vital point: they are all the same face. Jacob, in confronting Esau, also confronts God and himself.
We human beings go to great lengths to avoid facing God, other people, and ourselves. In the city in which I live, seldom do I enter a store or a restaurant in which music is not playing; silence is apparently anathema. Unfortunately, the music is almost always bad, especially in one thrift store, the management of which pipes contemporary Christian “seven-eleven” songs over the speakers. (I avoid that thrift store more often than not.) Or, if there is no music, a television set is on. Sensory stimulation is the order of the day.
But when we are alone and silent, we cannot ignore God and ourselves so easily. And if we cannot face ourselves honestly, we cannot face others honestly either. If we persist in running away, so to speak, we will cause our own suffering. It will not be a matter of God smiting us, but of us smiting ourselves.
One would think that silence would be welcome in more churches. The silence at the end of the Good Friday service in The Episcopal Church is potent, for example. Yet many churchgoers have an aversion to silence. And I recall that, one Good Friday, during that potent silence after the service had ended, someone’s cellular telephone rang, causing spiritual and liturgical disruption.
if we are to become the people we are supposed to be in God, we need to take time to turn off the distracting stimulation and face God, others, and ourselves.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 30, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF CLARENCE JORDAN, SOUTHERN BAPTIST MINISTER AND WITNESS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF RAVENNA AND DEFENDER OF ORTHODOXY
THE FEAST OF SAINT VICENTA CHÁVEZ OROZCO, FOUNDRESS OF THE SERVANTS OF THE HOLY TRINITY AND THE POOR
THE FEAST OF SAINT WILLIAM PINCHON, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2018/07/30/facing-god-other-people-and-ourselves/
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Above: Samson in the Temple of Dagon, by Gustave Dore
Image in the Public Domain
New Life
AUGUST 6, 2023
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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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Judges 16:1-5, 16-31
Psalm 119:17-24
Acts 20:7-12
John 6:37-40
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Samson was a foolish, reckless man who paved the way to his downfall. His great accomplishment (deliverance for Israel) was also an act of revenge marked by a body count exceeding that to his life before then. He was quite different from the author of Psalm 119, who was pious.
Eutychus was also foolish, for he fell asleep in a third-story window. He suffered fatal injuries, but St. Paul the Apostle raised the young man from the dead.
New life is a theme in John 6:37-40, in which Jesus speaks of eternal and everlasting life. In the Gospel of John eternal life is knowing God via Christ (17:3). Everlasting life is simply the afterlife. In Johannine theology there is no eternal life apart from God in Christ. So may nobody commit the theological error of speaking or writing of eternity apart from God.
New life can be physical or spiritual, but it is also a gift from God. May we use it for the glory of God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 17, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF EDITH BOYLE MACALISTER, ENGLISH NOVELIST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT EMILY DE VIALAR, FOUNDER OF THE SISTERS OF SAINT JOSEPH OF THE APPARITION
THE FEAST OF JANE CROSS BELL SIMPSON, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN POET AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINTS TERESA AND MAFALDA OF PORTUGAL, PRINCESSES, QUEENS, AND NUNS; AND SANCHIA OF PORTUGAL, PRINCESS AND NUN
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2017/06/17/new-life/
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Above: The Destruction of Sodom
Image in the Public Domain
The Apocalyptic Discourse, Part IV
AUGUST 6, 2023
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The Collect:
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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The Assigned Readings:
Genesis 19:1-29
Psalm 59
Matthew 24:33-35 (36-44) or Luke 17:20-37
1 John 2:3-29 or 2 John 1-13 or 2 Peter 2:1-22
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False teaching becomes apparent in bad behavior. Simply put, one will know a tree by its fruits, or deeds reveal creeds. If I affirm that I have a moral obligation to think of the best interests of others, I will act accordingly more often than not.
Living according to love is the best way to spend one’s time on Earth. By doing so one will not, for example, seek to rape anyone–such as daughters or angels–as in Genesis 19. By living according to love (as in 2 John 5b-6) one will not seek anyone’s blood or life. By living according to love one will not mislead anyone spiritually or theologically. By living according to love one will think of the best interests of others and recognize them as being one’s own best interests, and therefore seek the common good, not selfish gain.
God has called us to love one another and to glorify Himself, not to become legalistic people who imagine ourselves to be spiritual elites.
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment , are gummed up in the sentence “You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
–Romans 13:8-10, Revised Standard Version–Second Edition (1971)
Furthermore,
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such there is no law.
–Galatians 5:22-23, RSV II (1971)
And such things do not provoke divine, apocalyptic wrath.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 17, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE TWENTY-FIRST DAY OF ADVENT
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, ABOLITIONIST AND FEMINIST; AND MARIA STEWART, ABOLITIONIST, FEMINIST, AND EDUCATOR
THE FEAST OF EGLANTYNE JEBB AND DOROTHY BUXTON, FOUNDERS OF SAVE THE CHILDREN
THE FEAST OF FRANK MASON NORTH, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER
THE FEAST OF MARY CORNELIA BISHOP GATES, U.S. DUTCH REFORMED HYMN WRITER
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2016/12/17/the-apocalyptic-discourse-part-iv/
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Above: Icon of Abraham
Image in the Public Domain
Waiting for God, Part I
AUGUST 4-6, 2022
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The Collect:
Almighty God, you sent your Holy Spirit to be the life and light of your church.
Open our hearts to the riches of your grace,
that we may be ready to receive you wherever you appear,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 44
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The Assigned Readings:
Job 21:1-16 (Thursday)
Ecclesiastes 6:1-6 (Friday)
Genesis 11:27-32 (Saturday)
Psalm 33:12-22 (All Days)
Romans 9:1-9 (Thursday)
Acts 7:1-8 (Friday)
Matthew 6:19-24 (Saturday)
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We are waiting for Yahweh;
he is our help and our shield,
for in him our heart rejoices,
in his holy name we trust.
Yahweh, let your faithful love rest on us,
as our hope has rested in you.
–Psalm 33:20-22, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
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Sometimes the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. This reality has frustrated many for ages and contradicted incarnations of Prosperity Theology (a heresy that does not die) since antiquity. In the Book of Job the titular character’s alleged friends insisted that he must have done something to deserve his suffering. The text, with all of its layers of authorship, explains in Chapters 1 and 2 why Job suffered; God allowed it. Job was a pawn in a heavenly wager.
We who follow God wait for God, but, if we are realistic, we will not expect that doing so will lead to life on Easy Street. Sometimes, in fact, it will lead to suffering for the sake of righteousness. On other occasions suffering will just happen, seemingly for no reason. Suffering is a part of life, I have become convinced.
Yet we need not suffer alone. In Christ Jesus God suffered in human flesh, after all. The divine promise is not that a proper relationship with God will be present during suffering. This has been my experience. We are members of God’s household via grace, not lineage, and the pilgrimage of faith begins with one step. In God we find intangible and eternal (in the Johannine sense of that word, that is, “of God,” see 17:3) treasures, the variety that outlasts and is vastly superior to the most appealing temporal prizes.
Of course we should love God for selfless reasons; the rewards will come. I recall a story about a woman who walked around carrying a torch and a bucket of water. The torch, she said, was to burn up heaven and the water was to extinguish the flames of hell so that nobody would seek to follow God to enter heaven or to avoid hell. Yet we humans seem to have mixed motivations much of the time, do we not? Certain evangelists emphasize the possibility of damnation to frighten people into salvation. Although I affirm the existence of both heaven and hell, I argue that terror is not a basis for a mature relationship with God, whom many Jews and Christians describe as loving and compassionate.
May we wait for Yahweh, who is our loving and compassionate help and shield, in whom our hearts rejoice. May we wait for God in times of prosperity and of scarcity, of suffering and of ease, of pain and of pleasure.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 23, 2016 COMMON ERA
WEDNESDAY IN HOLY WEEK
THE FEAST OF GEORGE RUNDLE PRYNNE, ANGLICAN PRIEST, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR, PATRIARCH OF ARMENIA
THE FEAST OF HEINRICH VON LAUFENBERG, GERMAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT TURIBIUS OF MOGROVEJO, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF LIMA
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2016/03/23/waiting-for-god-part-i/
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Above: Absalom Conspires Against David
Image in the Public Domain
Building Up Our Neighbors, Part II
AUGUST 6, 2021
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The Collect:
Gracious God, your blessed Son came down from heaven
to be the true bread that gives life to the world.
Give us this bread always,
that he may live in us and we in him,
and that, strengthened by this food,
may live as his body in the world,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 44
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The Assigned Readings:
2 Samuel 17:15-29
Psalm 34:1-8
Galatians 6:1-10
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Proclaim with me the greatness of the LORD;
let us exalt his Name together.
–Psalm 34:3, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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That is easier to do when we bear each other’s burdens and share each other’s joys.
Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
–Galatians 6:2, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
Yes, as the passage continues, we read that each person has a responsibility to carry his or her own loads, but that statement exists in the context of mutual burden-bearing. Some burdens are too great for one person to bear alone. Personal responsibility and communal responsibility do not cancel each other out.
The story in 2 Samuel 17 illustrates those points well. In the context of Absalom’s rebellion against King David, each person on the King’s side had a crucial part to play, but the effort was bigger than any one of them. And, if some people had failed, others would have died. Furthermore, David’s soldiers needed to eat properly, and the burden of feeding them required more than one person.
God has provided each of us with abilities we can use for the benefit of each other and for divine glory. Often, however, someone or certain people must create the opportunities for others to develop those talents. Likewise, one presented with such an opportunity has a responsibility to make the most of it. When all goes well, many people benefit. So I ask you, O reader, has God granted you the responsibility to help another person in such a way recently? And has some agent of God aided you in some great way recently? I suspect that the answer to both questions is “yes.”
The best principle for carrying one’s weight while helping others bear burdens comes from Acts 4:32-35: giving as one is able and receiving as one has need.
MAY 27, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ALFRED ROOKER, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST PHILANTHROPIST AND HYMN WRITER; AND HIS SISTER, ELIZABETH ROOKER PARSON, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF CHARLES WILLIAM SCHAEFFER, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER, HISTORIAN, THEOLOGIAN, AND LITURGIST
THE FEAST OF CLARENCE DICKINSON, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2015/05/28/building-up-our-neighbors-part-ii/
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Above: Malta, July 29, 2001
Image Source = Jet Propulsion Laboratory
1 Samuel and Acts, Part IX: If God Is For Us….
AUGUST 4-6, 2023
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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:
1 Samuel 18:10-30 (August 4)
1 Samuel 19:1-24 (August 5)
1 Samuel 20:1-23 (August 6)
Psalm 110 (Morning–August 4)
Psalm 62 (Morning–August 5)
Psalm 13 (Morning–August 6)
Psalms 66 and 23 (Evening–August 4)
Psalms 73 and 8 (Evening–August 5)
Psalms 36 and 5 (Evening–August 6)
Acts 27:27-44 (August 4)
Acts 28:1-15 (August 5)
Acts 28:16-31 (August 6)
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The readings from 1 Samuel and the Acts of the Apostles emphasize the positive. Yes, Saul tries to kill David, but the younger man escapes. David falls in love; surely that is positive. And Paul and his fellow prisoners survive a shipwreck. The story of Luke-Acts ends before Paul’s beheading; he is in Rome, teaching.
The unifying element in each narrative is that God was with the heroic figure. Yet bad things do happen to faithful people. Accounts of Christian martyrs confirm this fact. And August 6 is the Feast of the Transfiguration. After the Transfiguration our Lord and Savior traveled to Jerusalem for the fateful, final Passover week of his earthly life. But he emerged victorious on the other side, did he not?
I will not resolve the problem of why bad things happen to good people in this blog post. But I can make one definitive statement: It is better to suffer while on God’s side than to do so while not on God’s side.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 14, 2012 COMMON ERA
PROPER 23: THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF ALL CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES
THE FEAST OF SAMUEL ISAAC JOSEPH SCHERESCHEWSKY, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF SHANGHAI
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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/05/03/1-samuel-and-acts-part-ix-if-god-is-for-us/
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Above: An Old Family Bible
Image Source = David Ball
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God of glory,
as we prepare to study the Bible,
may we approach the texts with our minds open,
our intellects engaged,
and our spirits receptive to your leading,
so that we will understand them correctly
and derive from them the appropriate lessons.
Then may we act on those lessons.
For the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Amen.
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KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 7, 2011 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF HENRY MELCHIOR MUHLENBERG, SHEPHERD OF LUTHERANISM IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES
THE FEAST OF FRED KAAN, HYMNWRITER
THE FEAST OF JOHN WOOLMAN, ABOLITIONIST
Posted October 7, 2011 by neatnik2009 in August 1, August 10, August 11, August 12, August 13, August 14, August 15, August 16, August 17, August 18, August 19, August 2, August 20, August 21, August 22, August 23, August 24, August 25, August 26, August 27, August 28, August 29, August 3, August 30, August 31, August 4, August 5, August 6: Transfiguration, August 7, August 8, August 9, Christ the King Sunday, December 1, December 2, July 1, July 10, July 11, July 12, July 13, July 14, July 15, July 16, July 17, July 18, July 19, July 2, July 20, July 21, July 22, July 23, July 24, July 25, July 26, July 27, July 28, July 29, July 3, July 30, July 31, July 4, July 5, July 6, July 7, July 8, July 9, June 1, June 10, June 11, June 12, June 13, June 14, June 15, June 16, June 17, June 18, June 19, June 2, June 20, June 21, June 22, June 23, June 24, June 25, June 26, June 27, June 28, June 29, June 3, June 30, June 4, June 5, June 6, June 7, June 8, June 9, Labor Day, May 18, May 19, May 20, May 21, May 22, May 23, May 24, May 25, May 26, May 27, May 28, May 29, May 30, May 31: Visitation, November 10, November 11, November 12, November 13, November 14, November 15, November 16, November 17, November 18, November 19, November 1: All Saints, November 20, November 21, November 22, November 23, November 24, November 25, November 26, November 27, November 28, November 29, November 2: All Souls, November 3, November 30, November 4, November 5, November 6, November 7, November 8, November 9, October 1, October 10, October 11, October 12, October 13, October 14, October 15, October 16, October 17, October 18, October 19, October 2, October 20, October 21, October 22, October 23, October 24, October 25, October 26, October 27, October 28, October 29, October 3, October 30, October 31: All Hallows' Eve/Reformation, October 4, October 5, October 6, October 7, October 8, October 9, September 1, September 10, September 11, September 12, September 13, September 14: Holy Cross, September 15, September 16, September 17, September 18, September 19, September 2, September 20, September 21, September 22, September 23, September 24, September 25, September 26, September 27, September 28, September 29, September 3, September 30, September 4, September 5, September 6, September 7, September 8, September 9, Thanksgiving Day, Trinity Sunday
Above: Habakkuk
God is Sufficient
AUGUST 5 and 6, 2022
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Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2010), of The Episcopal Church, contains an adapted two-years weekday lectionary for the Epiphany and Ordinary Time seasons from the Anglican Church of Canada. I invite you to follow it with me.
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FIRST READING FOR FRIDAY
Nahum 2:1-3 and 3:1-7 (TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures):
(YHWH speaking)
Behold on the hills
The footsteps of a herald
Announcing good fortune!
A shatterer has come up against you.
Man the guard posts,
Watch the road;
Steady your loins,
Brace all your strength!
For the LORD has restored the Pride of Jacob
As well as the Pride of Israel,
Though marauders have laid them waste
And ravaged their branches.
…
Ah, city of crime,
Utterly treacherous,
Full of violence,
Where killing never stops!
Crack of whip
And rattle of wheel,
Galloping steed
And bounding chariot!
Charging horsemen,
Flashing swords,
And glittering spears!
Hosts of slain
And heaps of corpses,
Dead bodies without number–
They stumble over bodies.
Because of the countless harlotries of the harlot,
The winsome mistress of sorcery,
Who ensnared nations with her harlotries
And peoples with her sorcery,
I am going to deal with you
–declares the LORD of Hosts.
I will lift up your skirts over your face
And display your nakedness to the nations
And your shame to kingdoms.
I will throw loathsome things over you
And disfigure you
And make a spectacle of you.
All who see you will recoil from you
And will say,
“Nineveh has been ravaged!”
Who will console her?
Where shall I look for
Anyone to comfort you?
FIRST READING FOR SATURDAY
Habakkuk 1:12-2:4 (TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures):
(Habakkuk speaking)
You, O LORD, are from everlasting;
My holy God, You never die.
O LORD, You have made them a subject of contention;
O Rock, You have made them a cause for complaint.
You whose eyes are too pure to look upon evil,
Who cannot countenance wrongdoing,
Why do You countenance treachery,
And stand by idle
While the one in the wrong devours
The one in the right?
You have made mankind like the fish of the sea,
Like creeping things that have no ruler.
He has fished them all up with a line,
Pulled them up in his trawl,
And gathered them in his net.
That is why he rejoices and is glad.
That is why he sacrifices in his trawl
And makes offerings to his net;
For through them his portion is rich
And his nourishment fat.
Shall he then keep emptying his trawl,
And slaying nations without pity?
I will stand on my watch,
Take up my station at the post,
And wait to see what He will say tome,
What He will reply to my complaint.
The LORD answered me and said:
Write the prophecy down,
Inscribe it clearly on tablets,
So that it can be read easily.
For there is yet a prophecy for a set term,
A truthful witness for a time that will come.
Even if it tarries, wait for it still;
For it will surely come, without delay:
Lo his spirit within him is puffed up, not upright,
But he righteous man is rewarded with life
For his fidelity….
RESPONSE FOR FRIDAY
Psalm 124 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 If the LORD had not been on our side,
let Israel now say;
2 If the LORD had not been on our side,
when enemies rose up against us;
3 Then would they have swallowed us up alive
in their fierce anger toward us;
4 Then the waters would have overwhelmed us
and the torrent gone over us;
5 Then would the raging waters
have gone over us.
6 Blessed be the LORD!
he has not given us over to be a prey for their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler;
the snare is broken, and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the Name of the LORD,
the maker of heaven and earth.
RESPONSE FOR SATURDAY
Psalm 9:7-12 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
7 But the LORD is enthroned for ever;
he has set up his throne for judgment.
8 It is he who rules the world with righteousness;
he judges the peoples with equity.
9 The LORD will be a refuge for the oppressed,
a refuge in time of trouble.
10 Those who know your Name will put their trust in you,
for you never forsake those who seek you, O LORD.
11 Sing praise to the LORD who dwells in Zion;
proclaim to the peoples the things he has done.
12 The Avenger of blood will remember them;
he will not forget the cry of the afflicted.
GOSPEL READING FOR FRIDAY
Matthew 16:24-28 (J. B. Phillips, 1972):
Then Jesus said to his disciples,
If anyone wants to follow in my footsteps he must give up all right to himself, take up his cross and follow me. For the man who wants to save his life will lose it; but the man who loses his life for my sake will find it. For what good is it for a man to gain the whole world at the price of his real life? What could a man offer to buy back that life once he has lost it?
For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father and in the company of his angels and then he will repay every man for what he has done. Believe me, there are some standing here today who will know nothing of death till they have seen the Son of Man coming as king.
GOSPEL READING FOR SATURDAY
Matthew 17:14-20 (J. B. Phillips, 1972):
When they returned to the crowd again a man came and knelt in front of Jesus.
Lord, have pity on my son,
he said,
for he is a lunatic and suffers terribly. He is always falling into the fire or into the water. I did bring him to your disciples but they couldn’t cure him.
Jesus returned,
You really are an unbelieving and difficult people. How long must I be with you, and how long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me!
Then Jesus spoke sternly to the evil spirit and it went out of the boy, who was cured from that moment.
Afterwards the disciples approached Jesus privately and asked,
Why weren’t we able to get rid of it?
Jesus replied
Because you have so little faith. I assure you that if you have faith the size of a mustard-seed you can say to this hill, ‘Up you get and move over there!” and it will move–and you will find nothing is impossible.
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The Collect:
Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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For a while now I have been reading and writing a series of lessons from the theologically-oriented histories and from certain prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible. Some themes have repeated in the arrangement of texts, in close proximity to each other, so I have run out of new things to say, hence my more frequent practice of combining texts from two consecutive days. The Canadian Anglican lectionary I am following will move along to Ezekiel next, before returning to the Pauline epistles for the first reading. I will welcome new and different material, for variety is the spice of life, especially with regard to the Bible.
We read in Nahum that God will destroy the foreign powers who impose exile on the ancient Jews. And God, we read, is with the humble, not the puffed up. And Jesus tells each of us to take up his or her cross and follow him, and to focus primarily on spiritual matters, not temporal pursuits. Furthermore, we read, we need not have much faith, but we ought not have too little of it. We must, above all, have the proper orientation–toward God.
Certain themes repeat in the Bible. A few of them follow:
- God dislikes haughtiness.
- God likes humility.
- Obedience to God leads to suffering sometimes.
- Disobedience to God leads to suffering sometimes.
- God can use our few resources to great effect.
May we walk humbly with God, trusting God to be sufficient. This difficult much of the time for many of us. We fret because we do not know and because we know this be true. Planning becomes impossible after a point, and panic can set in. Yet God is more faithful than we can imagine. So may we walk humbly with God, trusting God to be sufficient.
KRT
ORDINARY TIME DEVOTIONS 
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