[Yahweh] smote kings in the day of his wrath,

Above:  David and Goliath

Image in the Public Domain

Judgment and Mercy

OCTOBER 17, 2021

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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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1 Samuel 17:1-49 or Jeremiah 32:1-15

Psalm 110

Romans 11:22-36

Luke 16:19-31

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he routed nations;

he heaped corpses high,

He smote heads across a vast terrain.

–Psalm 110:5b-6, Mitchell J. Dahood (1970)

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The key term for this post comes from Romans 11:22–

the kindness and severity of God,

as The Revised English Bible (1989) renders that verse.  That is another way of saying “judgment and mercy.”  That which we call judgment or wrath of God is frequently the proverbial chickens coming home to roost.  As logicians remind us,

If x, then y.

That formula can also work so that y is positive.

One can draw a variety of lessons from these readings.  The lessons include:

1. Never be insensitive to human suffering. (Luke 16)
2. Never think that other people exist to do one’s bidding.  (Luke 16)
3. Never forget that one is vulnerable, regardless of how imposing one may be or seem.  (1 Samuel 17)
4. Never oppress.  (1 Samuel 17)
5. Never think oneself wiser than one is.  (Romans 11)
6. Never lose hope, regardless of how dark the times are or seem to be.  (Jeremiah 32)

After all, God is just/righteous.  Divine judgment and mercy, balanced, are expressions of God’s justice/righteousness.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 28, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JAROSLAV VAJDA, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER, HYMN TRANSLATOR, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOZEF CEBULA, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1941

THE FEAST OF SAINT PAMPHILIUS OF SULMONA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP AND ALMSGIVER

THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER CHANEL, PROTOMARTYR OF OCEANIA, 1841

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM STRINGFELLOW, EPISCOPAL ATTORNEY, THEOLOGIAN, AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2020/04/28/judgment-and-mercy-part-xviii/

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Above:   The Agony in the Garden, by El Greco

Image in the Public Domain

Trust in God

OCTOBER 17-19, 2021

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The Collect:

O Lord God, tireless guardian of your people,

you are always ready to hear our cries.

Teach us to rely day and night on your care.

Inspire us to seek your enduring justice for all the suffering world,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 50

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The Assigned Readings:

1 Samuel 25:2-22 (Monday)

1 Samuel 25:23-35 (Tuesday)

1 Samuel 25:36-42 (Wednesday)

Psalm 57 (All Days)

1 Corinthians 6:1-11 (Monday)

James 5:7-12 (Tuesday)

Luke 22:39-46 (Wednesday)

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Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful,

for I have taken refuge in you;

in the shadow of your wings will I take refuge

until this time of trouble has gone by.

–Psalm 57:1, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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Yet sometimes suffering does happen.  Jesus goes on to die after Luke 22:39-46.  Furthermore, James 5:11 refers to Job.  In addition, much suffering of the innocent results from the actions of others.

Several of the assigned readings for these days speak of deferred yet certain divine justice.  The length of the delay might be relatively brief (as in 1 Samuel 25) or part of an eschatological plan.  Regardless of the duration of the wait, having patience can be quite difficult.  In Revelation 6:10-11 the impatience extends into the afterlife.  How much more difficult will patience be for us on this side of Heaven?

We must try to trust in God.  That is the meaning of belief in the Bible:  to trust.  We can strive for that goal on our own power, but can succeed only by grace.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 31, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE VISITATION OF MARY TO ELIZABETH

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2016/05/31/trust-in-god-2/

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Above:  Paul Writing His Epistles, by Valentin de Boulogne

Image in the Public Domain

Godly Desires

OCTOBER 16 and 17, 2023

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The Collect:

Lord of the feast, you have prepared a table before all peoples

and poured out your life with abundance.

Call us again to your banquet.

Strengthen us by what is honorable, just, and pure,

and transform us into a people or righteousness and peace,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 49

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The Assigned Readings:

Exodus 19:7-20 (Monday)

Amos 9:5-15 (Tuesday)

Psalm 34 (Both Days)

Jude 17-25 (Monday)

Philippians 3:13-4:1 (Tuesday)

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The troubles of the righteous are many:

but the Lord sets them free from them all.

The Lord guards every bone in the body of the righteous:

and so not one of them is broken.

Evil brings death to the wicked:

and those who hate the righteous are brought to ruin.

–Psalm 34:19-21, A New Zealand Prayer Book (1989)

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Psalm 34 is a prayer of thanksgiving by one whom God had delivered from great difficulty.  Much of the text constitutes timeless truth, but I detect a level of optimism which many people from Jeremiah to Jesus might have called excessive.  I, as one who has studied Christian history, add to that list nearly two thousand years’ worth of suffering Christians, many of them martyrs, from St. Stephen to contemporary martyrs.

Nevertheless, the text does provide the unifying theme for this devotion:

Turn away from evil and do good:

seek peace and steadily pursue it.

–Verse 14, A New Zealand Prayer Book (1989)

The reading from Jude speaks of the duties of love.  Among these is practicing compassion, something one can do only if self does not occupy the throne of one’s life.  In that lesson we read also that there will be mockers who follow their godless desires.  That description fits the rape gang at Sodom in Genesis 19.  Lot, who offers his two virgin daughters to that gang, is also of dubious character.  The reading from Amos reminds us that divine favor does not function as a talisman protecting people from the consequences of their sins.  And St. Paul the Apostle, in Philippians, mentions the suffering of many of the faithful (including himself) and the different fates of the righteous and the unrighteous in the afterlife, thereby bringing the readings back around to Psalm 34, but with a more sober and realistic tone.

 May we, following the Apostle’s advice, stand firm in the Lord, walking compassionately in the way of divine love and disregarding the humiliation which enemies of the cross of Christ heap upon those who are of our Lord and Savior.  And may we strive properly

toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

–Philippians 3:14, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 31, 2014 COMMON ERA

PROPER 17:  THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF SAINT AIDAN OF LINDISFARNE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

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Godly Desires

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Above:  Landscape with the Parable of the Sower, by Pieter Brueghel the Elder

Image in the Public Domain

Deuteronomy and Matthew, Part XIII:  Loyalty and Identity

OCTOBER 15-17, 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:

Deuteronomy 13:1-18 (October 15–Protestant Versification)

Deuteronomy 13:2-19 (October 15–Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Versification)

Deuteronomy 14:1-2, 22-23; 14:28-15:15 (October 16)

Deuteronomy 15:19-16:22 (October 17)

Psalm 123 (Morning–October 15)

Psalm 15 (Morning–October 16)

Psalm 36 (Morning–October 17)

Psalms 30 and 86 (Evening–October 15)

Psalms 48 and 4 (Evening–October 16)

Psalms 80 and 27 (Evening–October 17)

Matthew 13:1-23 (October 15)

Matthew 13:24-43 (October 16)

Matthew 13:44-58 (October 17)

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Here is a summary of the contents of Deuteronomy 13:1-16:22:

1. Execute any false prophet or dream-diviner.  (13:1-6/2-7)
2. Execute anyone who entices another person to commit idolatry.  (13:6-11/7-12)
3. Execute the inhabitants of idolatrous towns, burn those towns, and destroy all spoil.  Do not rebuild at any of those sites.  (13:12-18/13-19)
4. Avoid mourning rituals associated with pagan peoples.  (14:1-2)
5. Eat only ritually clean foods.  (14:3-21)
6. Pay a tenth of your crops and livestock to God.  (14:22-26)
7. Provide for the needy and the Levites.  (14:27-29)
8. Provide debts and free slaves every seventh year.  (15:1-18)
9. Sacrifice all male firstlings born into your flock to God, assuming that it is a proper physical specimen.  (15:19-23)
10. Keep a detailed festival calendar and the accompanying instructions.  (16:1-17)
11. Appoint magistrates who will govern honestly and justly, taking no bribes.  (16:18-20)
12. Erect no posts, as in honor to Astarte.  (16:21-22)

I have mixed feelings about that material.  On one hand, I approve of the social justice imperative parts of it.  I find even the acceptance of any form of slavery offensive and the command to execute people intolerable.  I know that one theme of the Law of Moses is absolute loyalty to God, so idolatry equaled treason, but some commands seem barbaric to me.  So far as dietary laws are concerned, I note that I have never cared about them.  Proper refrigeration negates some health concerns, as does thorough cooking.  One analysis of the forbidden list says that those animals did not fit nearly into certain categories.  Assuming that the analysis is correct, what was the problem?  Besides, I like to eat ham and intend to continue to do so.

In Matthew 13 we read a series of mostly agricultural parables:  the sower and the seed, the darnel and the mustard seed, the treasure in the field, the merchant and the pearls, and the fish of mixed quality.  And, at the end of the chapter, people in Nazareth lack faith him.  Perhaps they know too much to realize even more.

From those parables I glean certain lessons:

1. One should remain focused on God, not allowing anything or anyone to function as a distraction.
2. The good and the bad will grow up together and come mixed together.  God will sort everything into the correct categories at the right time.  That task does not fall to us, mere mortals.
3. Nothing is more important than seeking, finding, and keeping the Kingdom of God.

I detect much thematic overlap between that material and Deuteronomy 13:1-16:22, with the notable absence of commands about when to execute or destroy.  Yes, Matthew is more riveting reading than Deuteronomy.

I read the Law of Moses as a Gentile, specifically an Episcopalian who grew up a United Methodist.  The Law was like a household servant who raised children, St. Paul the Apostle tells us.  Now that Christ has arrived on the scene, I have only two commandments, not over 600.  So, as long as I am growing via grace into loving God fully and my neighbor as myself, that ham sandwich should not bother my conscience.  And I refuse to execute anyone, for I serve an executed and resurrected Lord and Savior.  To him I am loyal.  In him, not a law code, do I find my identity.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 7, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT DOMITIAN OF HUY, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP

THE FEAST OF HARRIET STARR CANNON, COFOUNDER OF THE COMMUNITYN OF SAINT MARY

THE FEAST OF SAINT ROSE VENERINI, FOUNDER OF THE VENERINI SISTERS

THE FEAST OF SAINT THEODARD OF NARBONNE, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP; AND SAINTS JUSTUS AND PASTOR, MARTYRS

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/deuteronomy-and-matthew-part-xiii-loyalty-and-identity/

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Above:  An Ecumenical Environmental Stewardship Meeting at St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church, Athens, Georgia, September 24, 2011

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Unity in Christ

OCTOBER 17 and 18, 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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COMPOSITE FIRST READING

Ephesians 2:1-22 (Revised English Bible):

You once were dead because of your sins and wickedness; you followed the ways of this present world order, obeying the commander of the spiritual powers of the air, the spirit now at work among God’s rebel subjects.  We too were once of their number:  we were ruled by our physical desires, and did what instinct and evil imagination suggested.  In our natural condition we lay under the condemnation of God like the rest of mankind.  But God is rich in mercy, and because of his great love for us, he brought us to life with Christ when we were dead because of our sins; it is by grace you are saved.  And he raised us up in union with Christ Jesus and enthroned us with him in the heavenly realms, so that we might display in the ages to come how immense are the resources of his grace, and how great his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace you are saved through faith; it is not your own doing.  It is God’s gift, not a reward for work done.  There is nothing for anyone to boast of; we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the life of good deeds which God designed for us.

Remember then your former condition, Gentiles as you are by birth, “the uncircumcised” as you are called by those who call themselves “the circumcised” because of a physical rite.  You were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the community of Israel, strangers to God’s covenants and the promise that goes with them.  Yours was a world without hope and without God.  Once you were far off, but now in union with Christ Jesus you have been brought near through the shedding of Christ’s blood.  For he is himself our peace.  Gentiles and Jews, he has made the two one, and in his own body of flesh and blood has broken down the barrier of enmity which separated them; for he annulled the law with its rules and regulations, so as to create out of the two a single new humanity in himself, thereby making peace.  This was his purpose, to reconcile the two in a single body to God through the cross, by which he killed the enmity.  So he came and proclaimed the good news:  peace to you who were far off, and peace to those who were near; for through him we both have access to the Father in the one Spirit.

Thus you are no longer aliens in a foreign land, but fellow-citizens with God’s people, members of God’s household.  You are built on the foundations of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the corner-stone.  In him the whole building is bonded together in the Lord.  In him you also are being built with all the others into a spiritual dwelling for God.

RESPONSE FOR MONDAY

Psalm 100 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1 Be joyful in the LORD, all you lands;

serve the LORD with gladness

and come before his presence with a song.

2 Know this:  The LORD himself is God;

he himself has made us, and we are his;

we are the sheep of his pasture.

3 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;

go into his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and call upon his name.

4 For the LORD is good;

his mercy is everlasting;

and his faithfulness endures from age to age.

RESPONSE FOR TUESDAY

Psalm 85:8-13 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

8 I will listen to what the LORD God is saying,

for he is speaking peace to his faithful people

and to those who turn their hearts to him.

9 Truly, his salvation is very near those who fear him,

that his glory may dwell in our land.

10 Mercy and truth have met together;

righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

11 Truth shall spring up from the earth,

and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

12 The LORD will indeed grant prosperity,

and our land will yield its increase.

13 Righteousness shall go before him,

and peace shall be a pathway for his feet.

GOSPEL READING FOR MONDAY

Luke 12:13-21 (Revised English Bible):

Someone in the crowd said to him [Jesus],

Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family property with me.

He said to the man,

Who set me over you to judge or arbitrate?

Then to the people he said,

Beware!  Be on your guard against greed of every kind, for even when someone has more than enough, his possessions do not give him life.

And he told them this parable:

There was a rich man whose land yielded a good harvest.  He debated with himself: “What am I to do?  I have not the space to store my produce.  This is what I will do, ” said he:  ”I will pull down my barns and build them bigger.  I will collect in them all my grain and other goods, and I will say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid by, enough for many years to come:  take life easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.’”  But God said to him, “You fool, this very night you must surrender your life; and the money you have made, who will get it now?” That is how it is with the man who piles up treasure for himself and remains a pauper in the sight of God.

GOSPEL READING FOR TUESDAY

Luke 12:35-38 (Revised English Bible):

[Jesus continued,]

Be ready for action, with your robes hitched up and your lamps alight.  Be like people who wait for their master’s return from a wedding party, ready to let him in the moment he returns and knocks.  Happy are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes.  Truly I tell you:  he will hitch up his robe, seat them at table, and come and wait on them.  If in the middle of the night or before dawn when he comes he still finds them awake, and they are happy indeed.

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The Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; 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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Some Related Posts:

Week of Proper 24:  Monday, Year 1:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/08/week-of-proper-24-monday-year-1/

Week of Proper 24:  Tuesday, Year 1:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/week-of-proper-24-tuesday-year-1/

A Prayer for All Bishops of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/a-prayer-for-all-bishops-of-the-one-holy-catholic-and-apostolic-church/

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Ephesians 2 speaks of unity in Christ.  In the Pauline historical context, the unity was that of Jews and Gentiles.  Times have moved along and circumstances have changed.  To stay local, with a radius of about seven miles from my front door in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, congregations of various Christian denominations have their meeting places.  A partial list follows:

1. African Methodist Episcopal–1
2. United Methodist–3
3. Episcopal–1
4. Roman Catholic–1
5. National Baptist–1
6. Free Will Baptist–1
7. Southern Baptist–2
8. Cooperative Baptist–1
9. Presbyterian (U.S.A.)–2
10. Presbyterian in America–1
11. Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)–2
12. Churches of Christ–1
13. Christian Church and Churches of Christ–1
14. Independent–1
15. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America–1
16. Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod–1

Of course, separate denominational identities need not lead to hostilities, mutual or otherwise.  I am ritualistic, but some of my best friends are not.  We bear different denominational labels, but we all follow Jesus.  So, as a saying goes,

It’s all good.

Yet many lack this positive attitude.  I recall a late-season episode of Cheers (1982-1993).  Woody and Kelly had discovered on their honeymoon that they belonged to different Lutheran denominations, he to the Missouri Synod and she to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).  They spent much of the episode arguing until he agreed to convert, saying,

Yes, dear.

The episode highlighted the relatively minor differences between and among many denominations, and how much many of us emphasize them.

Our unity as Christians is in Christ, first and foremost.  May we focus on that.

KRT

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/unity-in-christ/

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:  James Tissot’s (Public Domain) Depiction of Saint Paul

Image in the Public Domain

Of Faith and Works

OCTOBER 17, 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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Romans 1:16-25 (Revised English Bible):

For I am not ashamed of the gospel.  It is the saving power of God for everyone who has faith–the Jew first, but the Greek also–because in it the righteousness of God is seen at work, beginning in faith and ending in faith; as scripture says,

Whoever is justified through faith shall gain life.

Divine retribution is to be seen at work, falling from heaven on all the impiety and wickedness of men and women who in their wickedness suppress the truth.  For all that can be known of God lies plain before their eyes; indeed God himself has disclosed it to them.  Ever since the world began God himself has disclosed it to them.  Ever since the world began his invisible attributes, that is to say his everlasting power and deity, have been visible to the eye of reason, in the things he has made.  Their conduct, therefore, is indefensible; knowing God, they have refused to honour him as God, or to render him thanks.  Hence all their thinking has ended in futility, and their misguided minds are plunged in darkness.  They boast of their wisdom, but they have made fools of themselves, exchanging the glory of  the immortal God for an image shaped like mortal man, even for images like birds, beasts, and reptiles.

For this reason God has given them up to their own vile desires, and the consequent degradation of their bodies.  They have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and have offered reverence and worship to created things instead of to the Creator.  Blessed is he for ever, Amen.

Psalm 19:1-4 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1  The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the firmament shows his handiwork.

2  One day tells its tale to another,

and one night imparts knowledge to another.

3  Although they have no words or language,

and their voices are not heard,

4  Their sound has gone out into all lands,

and their message to the ends of the world.

Luke 11:37-41 (Revised English Bible):

When he [Jesus] had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to a meal, and he came in and sat down.  The Pharisee noticed that he had not begun by washing before the meal.  But the Lord said to him,

You Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and plate; but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.  You fools!  Did not he who made the outside make the inside too?  But let what is inside be given to charity, and all is clean.

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The Collect:

Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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“Faith” is a word with more than one meaning.  In Hebrews 11, for example, it means “conviction issuing in action,” as Volume IX of The Interpreters’ Bible (1954) describes it.  Such faith empowers one to endure suffering rather than deny a proposition one cannot prove empirically.  The author of James understood faith to mean intellectual acceptance of a proposition, hence most of James 2.  Faith of that sort is insufficient alone; one needs works, too.

Paul, however, understood faith differently.  For him faith was “the attitude of condition of perfect trust in God’s mercy or ‘grace,’ complete reliance on it–rather than one’s own effort or merit–for one’s salvation, and eager receptivity.”  (The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume IX, 1954, page 392).   So, when Paul wrote of the sufficiency of faith, he meant this–not what James did when the author of that short epistle wrote,

You see then it is by action and not by faith alone that a man is justified….As the body is dead when there is no breath left in it, so faith divorced from action is dead.  (James 2:24 and 26, Revised English Bible)

Yet for Paul, writing in Romans 1, faith and action could not be divorced from each other.  Rather, his understanding was close to that in Hebrews 11.  These are examples of fine distinctions that merely casual readers and not-so-casual scoffers do not consider important.  Yet such details matter greatly.  I begin with them because starting with an accurate grasp of the text increases my probability of arriving at a correct understanding of what it means.

Let us consider the portion from Luke 11.  (We will continue the story with the post for the next day’s readings.)  Ceremonial washing of hands, pots, and other items was part of Judaism.  It still is, especially if one is Orthodox.  There is nothing wrong with this, for all of us, in our religious traditions, engage in certain acts which make no or little sense to those who believe and practice differently.  The problem was legalism, however.  Insisting on ritual washing while ignoring the Biblical imperatives for social and economic justice annoyed Jesus.  First Century C.E. Palestinian Jewish orthodoxy of the sort Jesus condemned was the kind that one could not afford to practice if one were poor, as were most Jews at that time and place.  So our Lord and Savior condemned an exclusive, self-congratulatory system of religious practice.

Now let us consider Paul’s understanding of faith again.  It is a complete reliance on divine mercy, not one’s merit.  Do see the link between the readings in your life?  In matters of faith–as Paul understood it in Romans 1–are you more like Jesus or his dinner host?  And where ought your answer to that question to lead you spiritually?  I cannot answer that for you.  May you be responsive to God’s leading in your life with regard to this and all other questions.  And may I be likewise responsive to divine guidance in mine.

May the peace of God be with you now and forever.  Amen.

KRT

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/of-faith-and-works/

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