Above: John T. Neufeld, a U.S. Mennonite Conscientious Objector During World War I

Image in the Public Domain

The Endurance of the Saints

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

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The Collect:

Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come.

By your merciful protection awaken us to the threatening dangers of our sins,

and keep us blameless until the coming of your new day,

for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever . Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 18

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The Assigned Readings:

Zechariah 13:1-9

Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19

Revelation 14:6-13

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Restore us, O God of hosts;

show us the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.

–Psalm 80:7, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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Having been disciplined a little,

they will receive a great good,

because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;

like gold in the furnace he tried them,

and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.

–Wisdom of Solomon 3:5-6. The New Revised Standard Version:  Catholic Edition (1991)

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That quote from the Wisdom of Solomon refers to the fate of the “souls of the righteous,” but the sentiment is consistent with the assigned readings.  In them we have accounts of suffering, usually in apocalyptic circumstances, such as we find in Zechariah 13 and Revelation 14.  Those who endure the suffering will be as gold or refined silver.

That is one understanding of suffering.  Truly it is a perspective on the subject consistent with apocalyptic literature and the experiences of people who have suffered for their faith and emerged stronger in that faith.  It has also been my experience, even though I suffered not for the sake of righteousness but because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Stronger faith as a result of suffering is a grace I have received.

Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the faith of Jesus.

–Revelation 14:12, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

Today many of the saints suffer for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  May they endure their tribulations and reign with Christ.  May those who cause them to suffer change their ways and follow Christ also.  And may we who are fortunate not to face such difficulties support those who do.  May we also refrain from making excuses for spiritual laxity and from overestimating our troubles when many of our coreligionists must endure much just to live faithfully.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SHEPHERD KNAPP, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINTS JOHN DUCKETT AND RALPH CORBY, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND MARTYRS IN ENGLAND

THE FEAST OF NIKOLAI GRUNDTVIG, HYMN WRITER

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The Endurance of the Saints

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Above:  Christ with Beard

Image in the Public Domain

Subversive Compassion

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2019

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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:

Isaiah 6:1-7:9

Psalm 61 (Morning)

Psalms 138 and 98 (Evening)

1 Peter 2:13-25

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I have covered the reading from Isaiah already, so I refer you, O reader, to the labeled links for them.  At this time and place I choose to say the following:  A pressing question for many Christians in the latter portion of the first century C.E. was whether one could be both a good Christian and a good Roman.  Also, the author of 1 Peter assumed that Jesus would be back quite soon to sort out the world order.  As I write these words, our Lord has not returned. The world order is what we have made it; may we exercise our agency responsibly to improve it.  This does involve resisting authority sometimes, as in the case of tyrannical governments.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer plotted to assassinate Adolf Hitler.  Many faithful Christians–Protestants and Roman Catholics–sheltered Jews and resisted the Third Reich.  And, throughout church history, bishops have called monarchs to account.

We who read and interpret the Bible must be careful to read it as a whole, not to fixate so much on certain passages that we ignore inconvenient ones and distort the composite meaning of the texts.  There is something called confirmation bias, which means that we tend to pay attention to evidence which supports our opinions and ignore or dismiss that which does not.  I look for this in myself and try to safeguard against prooftexting, the confirmation bias method of misreading the Bible.

I keep returning to the example Jesus set.  (I am a professing Christian, literally a “partisan of Christ.”)  He violated many religious customs, some of them from the Law of Moses itself.  He seems to have favored compassion over any other factor when they came into conflict.  And he taught this ethic with his words.  So we have in our Lord the union of words and deeds favoring compassion above all else in guiding our actions toward others.  Compassion trumps all else.

As much as I disagree with those aspects of Christian traditions which deal favorably with tyrants and dictators, justify servitude, and smile upon gender inequality, I find Jesus to be the strong counterpoint to them.  Somewhere–very soon after our Lord’s time on the planet ended–the church began to accommodate itself–frequently in ways inconsistent with Christ–to the Roman Empire.  Jesus was a subversive.  I mean this as a compliment.  I follow the subversive, or at least I try to do so.  If I am to be an honest Christian, this is what I must do.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 3, 2011 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JOHN OWEN SMITH, UNITED METHODIST BISHOP IN GEORGIA

THE FEAST OF SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY IN ASIA

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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

Above:  The Missal (1902), by John William Waterhouse (1849-1917)

Image in the Public Domain

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Here I share with everyone a proposed form of the Prayers of the People, for congregational use, for the Season After Pentecost.  Anyone may modify this form to fit local needs and update it as people leave or enter office.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

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The congregational response to “We pray to you, O God” is “Hear our prayer.”

As God’s people, sanctified by the Holy Spirit, we ask that our lives may become prayer pleasing to you, and that all people and institutions which profess to follow our Lord, may express God’s love and grace to others.

We pray to you, O God,

Hear our prayer.

That

• Barack, our President;
• Nathan, our Governor;
• Nancy, our Mayor;
• And all other government officials and all influential persons

may exercise their power and authority wisely and for the common good, so that all people everywhere may be treated with dignity and respect, dwell in safety, and have everything they need,

we pray to you, O God,

Hear our prayer.

That we may love you with our whole heart and life and strength, and love our neighbors as ourselves,

we pray to you, O God,

Hear our prayer.

That we may be good stewards of Mother Earth,

we pray to you, O God,

Hear our prayer.

We intercede for

• (first names here);
• And our men and women in the armed forces, especially (names here);
• And all people struggling with vocational and career issues.

I invite your prayers, silent or aloud.

(Pause)

We pray to you, O God,

Hear our prayer.

We thank you for

• (names here), who celebrate their birthdays this week;
• And (names here), who celebrate their wedding anniversaries this week.

I invite your thanksgivings, silent or aloud.

(Pause)

We pray to you, O God,

Hear our prayer.

That all who have passed from this life to the next will know the boundless joy and peace of eternal rest,

we pray to you, O God,

Hear our prayer.

The celebrant concludes with a collect.

Above:  Daniel

Image Source = Urharec

Good Reason for Hope in Dark Times

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

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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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THE FIRST READING:

Daniel 6:1-28 (Revised English Bible):

It pleased Darius to appoint a hundred and twenty satraps to be in charge of his kingdom, and over them three chief ministers, to whom the satraps were to submit their reports so that the king’s interests might not suffer; of these three ministers, Daniel was one.  Daniel outshone the other ministers and the satraps because of his exceptional ability, and it was the king’s intention to appoint him over the whole kingdom.  Then the ministers and satraps began to look round for some pretext to attack Daniel’s administration of the kingdom, but they failed to find any malpractice on his part, for he was faithful to his trust.  Since they could discover neither negligence nor malpractice, they said,

We shall not find any ground for bringing a charge against this Daniel unless it is connected with his religion.

These ministers and satraps, having watched for an opportunity to approach the king, said to him,

Long live King Darius!  We, the ministers of the kingdom, prefects, satraps, courtiers, and governors, have taken counsel and are agreed that the king should issue a decree and bring into force a binding edict to the effect that whoever presents a petition to any god or human being rather than the king during the next thirty days is to be thrown into the lion-pit.  Now let your majesty issue the edict and have it put in writing so that it becomes unalterable, for the law of the Medes and the Persians may never be revoked.

Accordingly the edict was signed by King Darius.

When Daniel learnt that this decree had been issued, he went into his house.  It had in the roof-chamber windows open towards Jerusalem; and there he knelt down three times a day and offered prayer and praises to his God as was his custom.  His enemies, on the watch for an opportunity to catch him, found Daniel at his prayers making supplication to his God.  Then they went into the king’s presence and reminded him of the edict.

Your majesty,

they said,

have you not issued an edict that any person who, within the next thirty days, presents a petition to any god or human being other than your majesty is to be thrown into the lion-pit?

The king answered,

The matter has been determined in accordance with the law of the Medes and the Persians, which may not be revoked.

So they said to the king,

Daniel, one of the Jewish exiles, has disregarded both your majesty and the edict, and is making petition to his God three times a day.

When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was greatly distressed; he tried to think of a way to save Daniel, and continued his efforts till sunset.  The men watched for an opportunity to approach the king, and said to him,

Your majesty must know that by the law of the Medes and Persians no edict or decree issued by the king may be altered.

Then the king gave the order for Daniel to be brought and thrown into the lion-pit; but he said to Daniel to be brought and thrown into the lion-pit; but he said to Daniel,

Your God whom you serve at all times, may he save you.

A stone was brought and put over the mouth of the pit, and the king sealed it with his signet and with the signets of his nobles, so that no attempt could be made to rescue Daniel.

The king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no woman was brought to him, and sleep eluded him.  He was greatly agitated and, at the first light of dawn, he rose and went to the lion-pit.  When he came near he called anxiously,

Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you serve continually been able to save you from the lions?

Daniel answered,

Long live the king!  My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths and they have not injured me; he judged me innocent, and moreover I had done your majesty no injury.

The king was overjoyed and gave orders that Daniel should be taken up out of the pit.  When this was done no trace of injury was found on him, because he had put his faith in his God.  By order of the king those who out of malice had accused Daniel were brought and flung into the lion-pit along their children and their wives, and before they reached the bottom the lions were upon them and devoured them, bones and all.

King Darius wrote to all peoples and nations of every language throughout the whole world:

May your prosperity increase!  I have issued a decree that in all my royal domains everyone is to fear and reverence the God of Daniel,

for he is the living God, the everlasting,

whose kingly power will never be destroyed;

whose sovereignty will have no end–

a saviour, a deliverer, a worker of signs and wonders

in heaven and on earth,

who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

Prosperity attended Daniel during the reigns of Darius and Cyrus the Persian.

THEN RESPONSE #1:

Canticle 12, Part I (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

(Part of the Song of the Three Young Men)

Glorify the Lord, you angels and all powers of the Lord,

O heavens and all waters above the heavens.

Sun and moon and stars of the sky, glorify the Lord,

Praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, every shower of rain and fall of dew,

all winds and fire and heat.

Winter and summer, glorify the Lord,

praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O chill and cold,

drops of dew and and flakes of snow.

Frost and cold, ice and sleet, glorify the Lord,

praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

Glorify the Lord, O nights and days,

O shining light and enfolding dark.

Storm clouds and thunderbolts, glorify the Lord,

praise him and highly exalt him for ever.

OR RESPONSE #2:

Psalm 99 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1 The LORD is King;

let the people tremble;

he is enthroned upon the cherubim;

let the earth shake.

2 The LORD is great in Zion;

he is high above all peoples.

3 Let them confess his Name, which is great and awesome;

he is the Holy One.

4 “O mighty King, lover of justice,

you have established equity;

you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.”

5 Proclaim the greatness of the LORD our God

and fall down before his footstool;

he is the Holy One.

6 Moses and Aaron among his priests,

and Samuel among those who call upon his Name,

they called upon the LORD, and he answered them.

7 He spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud;

they kept his testimonies and the decree that he gave them.

8 “O LORD our God, you answered them indeed;

you were a God who forgave them,

yet punished them for their evil deeds.”

9 Proclaim the greatness of the LORD our God

and worship him upon his holy hill;

for the LORD our God is the Holy One.

THEN THE GOSPEL READING:

Luke 21:20-28 (Revised English Bible):

[Jesus continued,]

But when you see Jerusalem encircled by armies, then you may be sure that her devastation is near.  Then those who are in Judaea must take to the hills; those who are in the city itself must leave it and those who are out in the country must not return; because this is the time of retribution, when all that stands written is to be fulfilled.  Alas for women with child in those days, and for those who have children at the breast!  There will be great distress in the land and a terrible  judgement on this people.  They will fall by the sword; they will be carried captive into all countries; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by Gentiles until the day of the Gentiles has run its course.

Portents will appear in sun and moon and stars.  On earth nations will stand helpless, not knowing which way to turn from the roar and surge of the sea.  People will faint with terror at the thought of what is coming upon the world; for the celestial powers will be shaken.  Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  When all this begins to happen, stand upright and hold your heads high, because your liberation is near.

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The Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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I must attend to some history before I get to my main point.  Here is a partial list of Persian kings and other crucial dates, courtesy of The Jewish Study Bible (Oxford University Press, 2004):

• Reign of Cyrus II (the Great) = 559-530 B.C.E.
• Capture of Babylon = 539 B.C.E.
• Reign of Cambyses = 530-522 B.C.E.
• Reign of Darius I = 522-486 B.C.E.
• Reign of Xerxes I = 486-465 B.C.E.
• Reign of Artaxerxes I = 465-424 B.C.E.
• Reign of Darius II = 423-405 B.C.E.
• Reign of Artaxerxes II = 405-359 B.C.E.
• Exiles begin to return from Babylonia in 538 B.C.E.
• Second Temple completed in 515 B.C.E.

So, given the contents of Daniel 5 and Daniel 6, the king’s name is really Cyrus.

Now, for the substance….

These are troubling readings.  This day’s lesson from Luke 21 is part of the small apocalypse from that gospel.  The horrific images and dark warnings were past tense for the original audience of that book, written after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 C.E.  And, as for Daniel 6, I understand that, according to Deuteronomy 19:16-19, the penalty for bearing false witness is to suffer the same potential fate as the one of whom a person lied, but what did the wives and children do?  Furthermore, Darius/Cyrus was the most powerful man in the empire; he could have lifted the original edict at any time.

Yet there is hope in dark times.  Yes, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 C.E., but the Jews and their religion have survived.  Yes, the Chaldeans/Neo-Babylonians demolished the Kingdom of Judah in 587 B.C.E., but the Persians conquered them, allowed Jewish exiles to go home, and facilitated the construction of the Second Temple.  Yes, Daniel got in trouble because he did his job better than some jealous peers, who manipulated the king into trying to execute him, but God saved Daniel.  And even when one dies for one’s Christian faith, the blood of the martyrs waters the church.

The readings take a dark turn toward the end of the church year, but the darkness has not extinguished all light.  In a few days I will, God willing, begin writing devotions for Advent.  (I am working a few months ahead of schedule, obviously.)  Advent is about preparing the birth of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.  As the Revised English Bible (1989) renders John 1:1-5,

In the beginning the Word already was.  The Word was in God’s presence, and what God was, the Word was.  He was with God in the beginning, and through him all things came to be; without him no created thing came into being.  In him was life, and that life was the light of mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never mastered it.

Amen.

KRT

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/good-reasons-for-hope-in-dark-times/

Above:  Everything is In the Past, by Vassily Maximov

Image in the Public Domain

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Sovereign Lord of life,

may we not imprison ourselves in the past,

dwelling on disappointments and plotting revenge

or resting on our laurels.

Instead, may we learn the appropriate lessons from the past,

live in the present faithfully, and

look to the future faithfully.

May we be and remain open to

all the possibilities you present for us to fulfill our vocations.

And, in so doing, may we become the persons we need to become

–for your glory and the sake others.

In the name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity.  Amen.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 11, 2010

THE FEAST OF ALEXANDER FLEMING

Published originally at GATHERED PRAYERS COLLECTED BY KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR on July 17, 2010

Allegory of Faith, by Luis Salvador Carmona

Image Source = Luis Garcia

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Sovereign God,

I confess that I have sought control in matters small, medium, and large.

This has been a recurring, unfortunate, and sinful pattern.

Why have I not learned better that human control is purely illusory?

Why am I stubborn in this sin?

Deliver me–deliver all of us–I pray you–from this sin,

so that trust in you may replace the idolatrous quest for control,

that love for you and all your children may abound,

and that Shalom may result.

In the name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity.  Amen.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 10, 2010 (THE FEAST OF GEOFFREY STUDDERT KENNEDY)

Published originally at GATHERED PRAYERS COLLECTED BY KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR on July 17, 2010

Blue Hills

An Image I Found Installed on My Computer

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Thank you, God, for this beautiful day.

Nature is stunningly beautiful–

a visual, audio, and olfactory feast.

Birds sing,

crickets chirp,

and cats vocalize.

Mountains astound us with their majesty,

plains amaze us with their expansiveness,

and valleys move us to awe and wonder with their beauty.

The sky seems like a magnificent dome,

and the soil nurtures much of our food.

We praise and thank you

for the endless grandeur and beauty of creation.

Amen.

Published originally at GATHERED PRAYERS COLLECTED BY KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR on July 20, 2010

Above:  St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Milledgeville, Georgia, April 30, 2017

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

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Incarnated God, thank you for the precious gift of Jesus.

Thank you, also, for the seven sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist, in which our Lord, your Son, is present with us.

We are what we consume.  May we, by eating the body and drinking the blood of Jesus in transubstantiated forms, become more like Jesus.

And thank you for all spiritual blessings you have imparted to us via this blessed sacrament.

In the name of the Holy and Undivided Trinity.  Amen.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 31, 2010 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA

Published originally at GATHERED PRAYERS COLLECTED BY KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

Above:  Government (1896), by Elihu Vedder, from the Library of Congress, Washington, DC, USA

Image in the Public Domain

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Gracious God, you have taught us to love one another actively and effectively, binding us together in common life.

We pray for–not about–all who seek or hold public office.

We ask that they will seek and understand correctly the common good and the most effective and morally acceptable ways to accomplish that goal.  When traditions work well, may they persist.  But when the quiet dogmas of the past prove ineffectual in the stormy present, may our leaders–and we–think anew and act anew.

May those who seek or hold public office appeal to the higher angels of our nature, eschewing appeals to our prejudices, hatreds, and unfounded antipathies, which detract from the common good.  May our leaders and prospective leaders safeguard civil rights and liberties for all persons, protecting inalienable rights and avoiding the tyranny of the majority.

And may we, as a people, be patient when that is appropriate.  Many solutions require time to work themselves out.  Rome was not built in a day, and major problems did not arise overnight; so why should all fixes be quick ones?

In your name we pray.  Amen.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 13, 2010 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JEREMY TAYLOR

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NOTE:  If you are quite observant and well-informed in early U.S. history, O reader, you will recognize references to the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and Abraham Lincoln.  Long have I loved that part of my nation’s character which enunciates high ideals and struggles to live up to them, improving with time.  No amount of idealism can erase the baser elements of human nature, but they can show us a better way.–KRT

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Published originally at GATHERED PRAYERS COLLECTED BY KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR on August 13, 2010