Archive for the ‘June 18’ Category
Above: Icon of Hosea
Image in the Public Domain
Repentance
JUNE 18, 2023
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hosea 5:15-6:6
Psalm 50:1-15 (LBW) or Psalm 119:65-72 (LW)
Romans 4:18-25
Matthew 9:9-13
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
O God, the strength of those who hope in you:
Be present and hear our prayers;
and, because in the weakness of our mortal nature
we can do nothing good without you,
give us the help of your grace,
so that in keeping your commandments
we may please you in will and deed,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 24
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
O God, from whom all good proceeds,
grant to us, your humble servants,
that by your holy inspiration we may think the things that are right
and by your merciful guiding accomplish them;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 64
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For I desire goodness, not sacrifice;
Obedience to God, rather than burnt offerings.
–Hosea 6:6, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985, 1999)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Yet the Law of Moses commands sacrifices and burst offerings.
Hebrew prophets did not always express themselves as clearly as some of us may wish they had. In context, Hosea 6:6 referred to God rejecting the opportunistic appearance of repentance or a habitually errant population. Divinely-ordained rituals were not properly talismans; they did not protect one from one’s proverbial chickens coming home to roost. Hosea 6:6 asserted the primacy of morality over rituals.
I am neither a puritan nor a pietist. I favor polishing God’s altar and eschew condemning “externals.”
God, metaphorically, is a consuming fire. Before God, therefore, false repentance does not impress. The attitude in Psalm 119 is preferable:
Before I was humbled, I strayed,
but now I keep your word.
You are good, and you do what is good;
teach me your statutes.
–Psalm 119:67-68, The Revised New Jerusalem Bible (2019)
Sometimes recognizing one’s need to repent may be a challenge. How can one repent if one does not think one needs to do so? How can one turn one’s back on one’s sins (some of them, anyway) unless one knows what those sins are? Self-righteousness creates spiritual obstacles.
How happy are they who know their need for God, for the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
–Matthew 5:3, J. B. Phillips, The New Testament in Modern English–Revised Edition (1972)
The test, O reader, for whether you need God is simple. Check for your pulse. If you have one, you need God. We all stand in the need of grace; may we admit this then think and act accordingly.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 2, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT ALEXANDER OF ALEXANDRIA, PATRIARCH; AND SAINT ATHANASIUS OF ALEXANDRIA, PATRIARCH AND “FATHER OF ORTHODOXY”
THE FEAST OF CHARLES SILVESTER HORNE, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH HASSE, GERMAN-BRITISH MORAVIAN COMPOSER AND EDUCATOR
THE FEAST OF ELIAS BOUDINOT, IV, U.S. STATESMAN, PHILANTHROPIST, AND WITNESS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
THE FEAST OF JULIA BULKLEY CADY CORY, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT SIGISMUND OF BURGUNDY, KING; CLOTILDA, FRANKISH QUEEN; AND CLODOALD, FRANKISH PRINCE AND ABBOT
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: The U.S. $100 Bill
Image in the Public Domain
Faithful Servants of God, Part IV
JUNE 18, 2023
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ecclesiastes 9:1-12 or Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
Psalm 9:11-20
Galatians 5:1-26
Matthew 6:22-34
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
–Galatians 5:14-15, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
As I write repeatedly, the Law of Moses contains both timeless principles and culturally specific examples thereof. One of these timeless principles is the Golden Rule. It is short, sweet, and to the point. One might, with verbosity, attempt to work around it, but the Golden Rule remains golden and wonderfully succinct. It is also difficult to live up to much of the time.
Another timeless principle of the Law of Moses is that all of us depend entirely on God and partially on each other. We are therefore interdependent and responsible both to and for each other, as well as to God. These points underpin much of the content of scripture assigned for this Sunday.
Often we violate the Golden Rule in the name of looking out for ourselves. We imagine vainly that we must and can rely on our own resources. That attitude is the origin of much evil. But, in Christ, we are free, by grace, to become people who uphold a high standard of radical love–even sacrificial love. The servant is not greater than the master, after all.
May we, while seeking to follow God, care more about being loving and compassionate than about confirming our biases. May we seek to love, not to be right in our own eyes, with their frequently defective moral vision.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 22, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT DEOGRATIAS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF CARTHAGE
THE FEAST OF EMMANUEL MOURNIER, PERSONALIST PHILOSOPHER
THE FEAST OF JAMES DE KOVEN, EPISCOPAL PRIEST
THE FEAST OF THOMAS HUGHES, BRITISH SOCIAL REFORMER AND MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post:
https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2018/03/22/devotion-for-the-eighth-sunday-after-the-epiphany-year-a-humes/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Judah and Tamar, by the School of Rembrandt van Rijn
Image in the Public Domain
Vindication
JUNE 18, 2023
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Genesis 38:1-26
Psalm 35:19-25
Acts 5:1-11
Matthew 12:43-45
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In June 1996 my father became the pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church in rural Appling County, Georgia, U.S.A. One of the adult Sunday School classes was reading and discussing the Book of Genesis at the rate of a chapter per week. I recall that, on the Sunday morning after they had read and discussed Chapter 37, the teacher skipped directly to Chapter 39.
Genesis 38 is a hot potato. What are we to make of a story that approves of a childless widow pretending to be a pagan temple prostitute, seducing her father-in-law, and becoming pregnant with twins, his children? Judah (the father-in-law) understands the deception by Tamar (the widow) as justified, per the rules governing levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5-10). As Professor Amy-Jill Levine says, we must accept that people did things differently then.
The author of Psalm 35 prays for divine vindication against enemies. Perhaps that mindset informs the treatment of the selfish people (struck dead by God) in Acts 5. The sense of grievance certainly informs Matthew 12:43-45, which literally demonizes Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus. One can reasonably imagine members of a marginalized Jewish Christian community demonizing the non-Christian Jews circa 85 C.E.
The desire for divine vindication can be legitimate. Yet may we who seek vindication never surrender to hatred and thereby become as those who seek to harm us or otherwise deny us that which is rightfully ours.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 15, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOHN ELLERTON, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER AND TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF CARL HEINRICH VON BOGATSKY, HUNGARIAN-GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINTS LANDELINUS OF VAUX, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AUBERT OF CAMBRAI, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; URSMAR OF LOBBES, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND MISSIONARY BISHOP; AND DOMITIAN, HADELIN, AND DODO OF LOBBES, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONKS
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2017/06/15/vindication-2/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: The Parable of the Sower
Image in the Public Domain
Being Good Soil
JUNE 18, 2023
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
Isaiah 6:(8) 9-13 or Ezekiel 17:22-24 or Daniel 4:1-37
Psalm 7
Matthew 14:10-17 (18-33) 34-35 or Mark 4:1-25 or Luke 8:4-25; 13:18-21
Ephesians 4:17-24 (26-32; 5:1-2) 3-7 or 2 Peter 2:1-22
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Your mind must be renewed by a spiritual revolution so that you can put on the new self that has been created in God’s way, in the goodness and holiness of the truth.
–Ephesians 4:23-24, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Much of the content of the assigned readings, with their options, functions as commentary on that summary statement. To borrow a line from Rabbi Hillel, we ought to go and learn it.
The commission of (First) Isaiah might seem odd. Does the text indicate that God is commanding Isaiah to preach to the population but not to help them avoid the wrath of God? Or, as many rabbis have argued for a long time, should one read imperative verbs as future tense verbs and the troublesome passage therefore as a prediction? I prefer the second interpretation. Does not God prefer repentance among sinners? The pairing of this reading with the Parable of the Sower and its interpretation seems to reinforce this point. I recall some bad sermons on this parable, which is not about the sower. The sower did a bad job, I remember hearing certain homilists say. To fixate on the sower and his methodology is to miss the point. The name of the story should be the Parable of the Four Soils, a title I have read in commentaries. One should ask oneself,
What kind of soil am I?
Am I the rocky soil of King Zedekiah (in Ezekiel 17:11-21) or the fertile soil of the betrayed man in Psalm 7? A mustard seed might give rise to a large plant that shelters many varieties of wildlife, and therefore be like the Davidic dynastic tree in Ezekiel 17:22-24 and Nebuchadnezzar II in Daniel 4, but even a mustard seed needs good soil in which to begin the process of sprouting into that plant.
One might be bad soil for any one of a number of reasons. One might not care. One might be oblivious. One might be hostile. One might be distracted and too busy. Nevertheless, one is bad soil at one’s own peril.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 16, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE TWENTIETH DAY OF ADVENT
THE FEAST OF GUSTAF AULEN, SWEDISH LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT FILIP SIPHONG ONPHITHAKT, ROMAN CATHOLIC CATECHIST AND MARTYR IN THAILAND
THE FEAST OF MAUDE DOMINICA PETRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MODERNIST THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF RALPH ADAMS CRAM AND RICHARD UPJOHN, ARCHITECTS; AND JOHN LAFARGE, SR., PAINTER AND STAINED GLASS MAKER
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2016/12/16/being-good-soil-2/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Stone Retaining Wall, October 1979
Photographer = Carl Fleischhauer
Image Source = Library of Congress
Barriers
JUNE 16-18, 2022
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Collect:
O Lord God, we bring before you the cries of a sorrowing world.
In your mercy set us free from the chains that bind us,
and defend us from everything that is evil,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 40
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
Isaiah 56:9-12 (Thursday)
Isaiah 57:1-13 (Friday)
Isaiah 59:1-8 (Saturday)
Psalm 22:19-28 (All Days)
Romans 2:17-19 (Thursday)
Galatians 3:15-22 (Friday)
Matthew 9:27-35 (Saturday)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Yahweh, do not hold aloof!
My strength, come quickly to my help,
rescue my soul from the sword,
the one life I have from the grasp of the dog!
Save me from the lion’s mouth,
my poor life from the wild bulls’ horns!
–Psalm 22:19-21, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
No, the LORD’s arm is not too short to save,
Or His ear too dull to hear;
But your iniquities have been a barrier
Between you and your God,
Your sins have made Him to turn His face away
And refuse to hear you.
–Isaiah 59:1-2, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
That passage from Isaiah goes on to say that God will
…repay fury to His foes;
He shall make requital to His enemies,
Requital to the distant lands.
–Isaiah 59:18b, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
Then justice and righteousness will prevail, and the words of God will be in the mouths of the people
from now on, for all time.
–Isaiah 59:21d, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
God establishes no barriers between himself and us. No, we erect and maintain such walls. We even become attached to them and defend some of them as righteous. Our moral blind spots prevent us from recognizing every example of this in which we have participated and take part. Therefore sometimes we mistake the work of God for evil, or at least as negative. There is frequently an element of the self-defensive in such reactions, for recognizing acts of God as what they are would require us to admit that we are not as holy as we imagine ourselves to be. It would also require us to question certain “received wisdom,” to which we have become attached and by which we define ourselves.
We would do much better to embrace divine offers of love and reconciliation, and to accept the freedom Christ brings, as well as the accompanying demands of grace upon our lives. Grace is free, but not cheap.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 5, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF OZORA STEARNS DAVIS, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT EUPHRASIA OF CONSTANTINOPLE, ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN
THE FEAST OF HARRIET KING OSGOOD MUNGER, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF THOMAS HORNBLOWER GILL, ENGLISH UNITARIAN THEN ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2016/03/05/barriers/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Lightbulb in Darkness
Image in the Public Domain
The Light of Christ
JUNE 18, 2019
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Collect:
God of heaven and earth, before the foundation of the universe
and the beginning of time you are the triune God:
Author of creation, eternal Word of salvation, life-giving Spirit of wisdom.
Guide is to all truth by your Spirit, that we may
proclaim all that Christ has revealed and rejoice in the glory he shares with us.
Glory and praise to you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 37
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
Proverbs 8:4-21
Psalm 124
Ephesians 5:15-20
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If Yahweh had not been on our side
–let Israel repeat it–
if Yahweh had not been on our side
when people attacked us,
they would have swallowed us alive
in the heat of their anger.
–Psalm 124:1-3, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The wisdom literature of the Old Testament identifies the power of God as masculine and the wisdom of God as feminine. Thus, for example, we read Psalm 124, in which God has delivered Israel, and Proverbs 8, in which Lady Wisdom (Sophia) offers spiritual discipline more valuable than gold or rubies. Spiritual discipline is also the theme of Ephesians 5:15-20. Be filled with God; do not be drunk, it says.
The context of that passage is the renunciation of pagan ways. Christianity was a young and small religion, and was still a school of Judaism. The author’s concern in the passage was that Ephesian Christians behave themselves–be good examples. This entailed curtailing certain appetites and resisting temptations.
That can prove difficult to do in any time and at any place. Indeed, I think of a cocktail napkin I saw years ago. It read,
LEAD ME NOT INTO TEMPTATION. I CAN FIND MY OWN WAY.
My own temptations keep me busy. Among my spiritual difficulties is the fact that, quite often, virtues and vices resemble each other. I know well that resolving to do the right thing is easy, but succeeding is frequently challenging. Fortunately, God knows that I, like my fellow human beings, am dust, and grace is abundantly available.
In some ways my cultural context is similar to that of Ephesians 5. Christianity is old, not new, but, in the Western world, it is increasingly in the position of occupying minority status. In the United States, for example, the fastest-growing religious category is “none.” Some people are overtly hostile to religion; Reza Aslan calls them antitheists, a category distinct from atheists. Some adherents of other religions are openly hostile to Christianity. In such contexts the advice from Ephesians 5:15-20 proves especially helpful. May the light of Christ shine through us who identify as Christians. May it scatter the darkness of ignorance and antipathy. May we, by grace, comport ourselves in a manner worthy of Christ, our Master.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
FEBRUARY 26, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT ALEXANDER OF ALEXANDRIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF EMILY MALBONE MORGAN, FOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY OF THE COMPANIONS OF THE HOLY CROSS
THE FEAST OF FRED ROGERS, EDUCATOR AND U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2016/02/26/the-light-of-christ/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: The Beheading of St. Paul, by Enrique Simonet
Image in the Public Domain
The Problem of Suffering
JUNE 17 and 18, 2021
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Collect:
O God of creation, eternal majesty,
you preside over land and sea, sunshine and storm.
By your strength pilot us,
by your power preserve us,
by your wisdom instruct us,
and by your hand protect us,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 40
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
Job 29:1-20 (Thursday)
Job 29:21-30:15 (Friday)
Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32 (Both Days)
Acts 20:1-16 (Thursday)
Acts 21:1-16 (Friday)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
and his mercy endures for ever.
Let all those whom the LORD has redeemed proclaim
that he redeemed them from the hand of the foe.
–Psalm 107:1-2, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Placing that Psalm in the lectionary for these two days seems ironic, especially when considering the other two pericopes.
The titular character of the Book of Job suffered, but not because of any sin he committed. Compounding his plight was the fact that he had to endure alleged friends, who blamed him for his plight. They insisted that, since God does not punish the innocent, Job must have sinned, thus prompting his extreme suffering. They advised him to repent of his sins, therefore. Actually, the text tells us, God permitted the suffering as a test of loyalty. Job protested his innocence and lamented his fate. Anyone who speaks of the “patience of Job,” as if he had any, ought to pay better attention to the story.
Meanwhile, in the Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul the Apostle was traveling to Jerusalem. He hoped to arrive in time for the first day of Pentecost. At Caesarea the Apostle learned that his journey would take him to a bad fate. He accepted the prophecy calmly, saying,
…I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.
–Acts 21:13c, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
He went on to die for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ at Rome “off-camera,” so to speak, after the end of the Acts of the Apostles.
The alleged friends of Job thought that suffering resulted necessarily from sins. Yet St. Paul the Apostle suffered for the sake for the sake of righteousness.
Nevertheless, the assumption that we suffer solely or primarily because of our wrongdoing persists. Also commonplace is a related assumption which says that, if we live righteously, we will prosper and be safe and well. This is the heresy of Prosperity Theology.
Tell that heresy to Jesus and to the Christian martyrs, if you dare,
I say. I conclude that false ideas live on because too many people pay little or no attention to the evidence around them. Perhaps these individuals are merely incurious. (Many people are not very inquisitive, intellectually or otherwise.) Or maybe they are distracted among the other details of life. Regardless of the reason(s), they need to pay better attention and respond to the situation that is, not the situation they imagine exists.
To claim that God never punishes the innocent or permits them to suffer is to make a pious comment–one which is false. What is the functional difference between permitting innocent people to suffer and punishing them? I recognize none. One is passive and the other is active, but the results are the same. The problem of suffering is complicated for we monotheists, for we lack the luxury of blaming an evil deity for misfortune while letting a good deity off the hook. Yes, how we live on this plane of reality affects the afterlife, but the rain still falls on the just and on the unjust in this life. Wicked people still prosper and righteous people still suffer on this side of Heaven. All of this can be difficult to reconcile with the idea of a loving and just God, hence bad theology in defense of God. I prefer an honest question to a false certainty, however.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 24, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THOMAS ATTWOOD, “FATHER OF MODERN CHURCH MUSIC”
THE FEAST OF SAINT DIDACUS JOSEPH OF CADIZ, CAPUCHIN FRIAR
THE FEAST OF OSCAR ROMERO, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF SAN SALVADOR; AND THE MARTYRS OF EL SALVADOR
THE FEAST OF PAUL COUTURIER, ECUMENTIST
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2015/03/25/the-problem-of-suffering/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: First Phonograph
Image Source = Library of Congress
Proverbs and John, Part VII: Like a Broken Record
JUNE 18-20, 2023
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
Proverbs 20:5-25 (June 18)
Proverbs 22:1-21 (June 19)
Proverbs 22:22-23:12 (June 20)
Psalm 42 (Morning–June 18)
Psalm 89:1-18 (Morning–June 19)
Psalm 97 (Morning–June 20)
Psalms 102 and 133 (Evening–June 18)
Psalms 1 and 33 (Evening–June 19)
Psalms 16 and 62 (Evening–June 20)
John 17:1-26 (June 18)
John 18:1-14 (June 19)
John 18:15-40 (June 20)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I am tiring rapidly of the Book of Proverbs. Of course I have dipped into it over the years. And, years ago, I read it from beginning to end as part of a project to read all 78 books of the Slavonic Bible. Yet the Slavonic Bible project was in the 1990s. Now, as a daily lectionary takes me through Proverbs again, this time in conjunction with the Gospel of John, I find myself agreeing with the Fourth Gospel and arguing with Proverbs quite often. Proverbs tends to flit about from topic to topic, saying things like
Put your trust in the LORD and he will deliver you.
–20:22b, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures
I reply,
Tell that to Jesus.
The next verse in Proverbs is true, however:
False weights are an abomination to the LORD;
Dishonest scales are not right.
–20:23, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures
Today I find myself repeating myself yet again: Proverbs is excessively optimistic and the Gospel of John subverts certain traditional notions of sin, suffering, and shame, including many in Proverbs.
I will be glad when the lectionary leaves Proverbs behind. Maybe I will sound less like a broken record…record…record…record…record….record…record…..
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 16, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF RUFUS JONES, QUAKER THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN FRANCIS REGIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST
THE FEAST OF JOSEPH BUTLER, ANGLICAN BISHOP
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/proverbs-and-john-part-vii-like-a-broken-record/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: An Old Family Bible
Image Source = David Ball
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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: Jehoiada
When People Are Hurting
JUNE 18, 2022
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2 Chronicles 24:17-25 (TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures):
But after the death of Jehoiada, the officers of Judah came, bowing low to the king; and the king listened to them. They forsook the House of the LORD God of their fathers to serve the sacred posts and idols; and there was wrath upon Judah and Jerusalem because of this guilt of theirs. The LORD sent prophets among them to bring them back to Him; they admonished them but they would not pay heed. Then the spirit of God enveloped Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest; he stood above the people and said to them,
Thus God said: Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD when you cannot succeed? Since you have forsaken the LORD, He has forsaken you.
They conspired against him and pelted him with stones in the court of the House of the LORD, by order of the king. King Joash disregarded the loyalty that his father Jehoiada had shown to him, and killed his son. As he was dying, he said,
May the LORD see and requite it.
At the turn of the year, the army of Aram marched against him; they invaded Judah and Jerusalem, and wiped out all the officers of the people from among the people, and sent all the booty they took to the king of Damascus. The invading army of Aram had come with but a few men, but the LORD delivered a very large army into their hands, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. They inflicted punishments on Joash. When they withdrew, having left him with many wounds, his courtiers plotted against him because of the murder of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him in bed. He died and was not buried in the tombs of the kings.
Psalm 89:19-33 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
19 You spoke once in a vision and said to your faithful people:
“I have set the crown upon a warrior
and have exalted one chosen out of the people.
20 I have found David my servant;
with my holy oil have I anointed him.
21 My hand will hold him fast
and my arm will make him strong.
22 No enemy shall deceive him,
nor any wicked man bring him down.
23 I will crush his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and love shall be with him,
and he shall be victorious through my Name.
25 I shall make his dominion extend
from the Great Sea to the River.
26 He will say to you, ‘You are my Father,
my God, and the rock of my salvation.’
27 I will make him my firstborn
and higher than the kings of the earth.
28 I will keep my love for him for ever,
and my covenant will stand firm for him.
29 I will establish his line for ever
and his throne as the days of heaven.
30 “If his children forsake my law
and do not walk according to my judgments;
31 If they break my statutes
and do not keep my commandments;
32 I will punish their transgressions with a rod
and their iniquities with the lash;
33 But I will not take my love from him,
nor let my faithfulness prove false.”
Matthew 6:24-34 (An American Translation):
[Jesus continued,]
No slave can serve two masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other, or stand by the one and make light of the other. You cannot serve God and money. Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, wondering what you will have to eat or drink, or about your body, wondering what you will have to wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body than clothes. Look at the wild birds. They do not sow or reap, or store their food in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more account than they? But which of you with all his worry can add a single hour to his life? Why should you worry about clothing? See how the wild flowers grow. They do not toil or spin, and yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his splendor was never dressed like one of them. But if God so beautifully dresses the wild grass, which is alive today and is thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more surely clothe you, you who have so little faith? So do not worry and say, ‘What shall we have to eat?’ or ‘What shall we have to drink?’ or ‘What shall we have to wear?’ For these are all things the heathen are in pursuit of, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need all this. But you must make his kingdom, and uprightness before him, you greatest care, and you will have all these other things besides. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries of its own. Let each be day be content with its own ills.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Collect:
Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love, that through your grace we may proclaim your truth with boldness, and minister your justice with compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A Related Post:
Week of Proper 6: Saturday, Year 1:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2010/12/05/week-of-proper-6-saturday-year-1/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jehoash/Joash, the accounts tell us, was one-year-old when his father died and Athaliah usurped the throne. So he was seven years old when Jehoiada placed him on the throne formally. Counting the six years in the Temple, Jehoash/Joash reigned for about forty years. And he was faithful so long as Jehoiada was alive. But after Jehoiada died of old age, Jehoash/Joash turned to familiar bad habits of idolatry, which ran deeply in the culture. He also ordered the killing of those who criticized him for this. The author of 2 Chronicles 24:17-24 interpreted a successful foreign invasion and the murder of Jehoash/Joash as divine punishment and just desserts.
This theology of punishment can become a slippery slope toward insensitivity. Since 2005 some prominent religious figures (whom I choose to leave unnamed) have described the ravages of Hurricane Katrina and the 2009 Haiti earthquake as divine punishment for sins. And members of a congregation in Topeka, Kansas, picket various funerals, such as those of U.S. soldiers, Amish school children killed by a lone gunman, and a former First Lady of the United States. They carry signs such as “THANK GOD FOR DEAD SOLDIERS” and utter homophobic words, claiming that God is punishing the U.S. for tolerating homosexuality. Once I visited the church website, where I found a jaw-dropping description for these protests: “love crusades.”
I do not pretend to understand how divine judgment works. However, I propose that one ought to focus primarily on demonstrating love, sympathy, and compassion, not on pronouncing the wrath of God when people are hurting.
KRT
http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/when-people-are-hurting/
ORDINARY TIME DEVOTIONS 
You must be logged in to post a comment.