Above:  The Anointing of David

Image in the Public Domain

Seeing Others as God Sees Them

OCTOBER 3, 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 16:1-13 or Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

Psalm 108:1-6, 13

Romans 10:5-15

Luke 14:1-14

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Seeing other people as God sees them can be challenging.  First, we must see past our blindness, erroneous attitudes we have learned and affirmed.  We like our categories, do we not?  Second, we are not God.  We know much less than God does.  How can we look upon the heart of someone we do not know?  We cannot know the hearts of many other people.

We can and must reserve judgments not rooted in sufficient evidence.  We can do this by grace.  We can properly arrive at some conclusions.  Some people, for example, are stone-cold serial killers.  Extreme examples are easy and safe ones.  Most of life occupies the vast grayness and ambiguity that defies black-and-white simplicity.

Some of the advice in today’s readings may seem odd, counter-intuitive, or wrong.  Why should exiles not resist their captors?  If one is going to be in exile for a long time, one should hope to prosper, actually, according to Jeremiah.  When we turn to the Gospel of Luke, we enter the territory of reversal of fortune.  The first will be last and the last will be first in Luke.  That Gospel also says that blessed are the poor and woe to the rich.  In that line of thought we read a commandment to be kind to those who cannot repay one.  Do not seek to exalt oneself, we read.  When one is kind, one should be genuinely kind.  Jeremiah and Luke offer advice and commandments that contradict conventional wisdom.

Related to that seeming folly is the theme of of not judging prematurely.  The wealthy and prominent are not necessarily better than the poor and the the marginalized.  Social status and character are separate matters.  I guarantee that each person is facing struggles of which others may not know.  Each of us may know well someone who is frequently a cause of stress and frustration.  That person may be doing the best he or she can, given circumstances.  Seeing others as God sees them is a spiritual feat possible only by grace.

Perfection (as we usually understand that word) is an impossible moral and spiritual standard.  We can, however, improve morally and spiritually, by grace.  We can be more patient with and forgiving of each other, by grace.  We can reserve judgments properly and more often, by grace.  May we do so, by grace.  Perfection, in the Biblical sense, is being suited for one’s purpose.  We can also do that only by grace.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 26, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM COWPER, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT ADELARD OF CORBIE, FRANKISH ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK AND ABBOT; AND HIS PROTÉGÉ, SAINT PASCHASIUS RADBERTUS, FRANKISH ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK, ABBOT, AND THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF ROBERT HUNT, FIRST ANGLICAN CHAPLAIN IN JAMESTOWN, VIRGINIA

THE FEAST OF RUTH BYLLESBY, EPISCOPAL DEACONESS IN GEORGIA

THE FEAST OF SAINT STANISLAW KUBISTA, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1940; AND SAINT WLADYSLAW GORAL, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP AND MARTYR, 1945

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2020/04/26/seeing-others-as-god-sees-them/

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Above:   Figs

Image in the Public Domain

Overcoming the World

OCTOBER 3-5, 2022

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The Collect:

Benevolent, merciful God:

When we are empty, fill us.

When we are weak in faith, strengthen us.

When we are cold in love, warm us,

that we may love our neighbors and

serve them for the sake of your Son,

Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 49

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The Assigned Readings:

Habakkuk 1:5-17 (Monday)

Habakkuk 2:5-11 (Tuesday)

Habakkuk 2:12-20 (Wednesday)

Psalm 3 (All Days)

James 1:2-11 (Monday)

1 John 5:1-5, 13-21 (Tuesday)

Mark 11:12-14, 20-24 (Wednesday)

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LORD, how many adversaries I have!

how many there are who rise up against me!

How many there are who say of me,

“There is no help for him in his God.”

But you, O LORD, are a shield about me;

you are my glory, the one who lifts up my head.

–Psalm 3:1-3, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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Earthly fortunes and military conquests are temporary, even if some are long-term.  Whatever material and financial assets we own, we cannot take them with us after we die.  History records that the Persian Empire conquered the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire and that the Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great defeated the Persian Empire.  Furthermore, we know that successor empires of the Macedonian Empire competed with each other and fell to conquests in time.

There is God, whom no earthly power can conquer or come close to defeating.  We read at the end of John 16, shortly before the torture and execution of Jesus, these words placed in his mouth:

In the world you will have suffering.  But take heart!  I have conquered the world.

–Verse 3:3b, The Revised English Bible (1989)

We know by faith that Roman officials killed Jesus, but that a resurrection followed a few days later.  We also read the following in 1 John 5:

For to love God is to keep his commandments; and these are not burdensome, because every child of God overcomes the world.  Now, the victory by which the world is overcome is our faith, for who is victor over the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

–Verses 3-5, The Revised English Bible (1989)

In the Biblical sense to believe in God is to trust in God.  Affirming a theological proposition intellectually is much easier than internalizing it and acting on it.  To settle for the former (mere intellectual assent) is to be like the barren fig tree of Mark 11.  Yes, the text of Mark 11 indicates that Jesus cursed a fig tree out of fig season, but out of season a healthy fig tree exhibits evidence of the ability to bear figs in season.  Furthermore, the context of Mark 11:12-14, 20-24, set during Holy Week and bookending the cleansing of the Temple, indicates that the story of the cursed fig tree pertains to Jesus’s displeasure with the management and operation of the Temple.

May we who claim to follow Jesus bear good fruits and otherwise show year-round evidence of our spiritual vitality in Christ.  May we trust in Jesus and act accordingly.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 20, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT ALCUIN OF YORK, ABBOT OF TOURS

THE FEAST OF JOHN JAMES MOMENT, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF LUCY ELIZABETH GEORGINA WHITMORE, BRITISH HYMN WRITER

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2016/05/20/overcoming-the-world/

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Above:  Paul Writing His Epistles, by Valentin de Boulogne

Image in the Public Domain

Propagating the Gospel

OCTOBER 2-4, 2023

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The Collect:

God of love, giver of life, you know our frailties and failings.

Give us your grace to overcome them,

keep us from those things that harm us,

and guide us in the way of salvation,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 48

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The Assigned Readings:

Judges 14:1-20 (Monday)

Judges 16:1-22 (Tuesday)

Judges 16:23-31 (Wednesday)

Psalm 28 (All Days)

Philippians 1:3-14 (Monday)

Philippians 1:15-21 (Tuesday)

Mathew 9:2-8 (Wednesday)

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A thoroughly unoriginal statement tells us that great responsibility accompanies great blessings.  Grace, although free, is not cheap.  It cost Jesus his life.  It led to multiple imprisonments of St. Paul the Apostle and finally his execution by beheading.  Jesus healed people, proclaimed the good news, and aroused much opposition.  Paul preached Christ crucified and got into much trouble also.  Through them and many others the Gospel has prospered, however.

The story of Samson is a cautionary tale.  He was intellectually dense and prone to revenge.  Samson also had poor judgment, especially regarding women.  His actions and bad judgment created needless and difficult circumstances, such as the one in which he died.  And his last act, not quite triumphant, was one of revenge.  Samson ruined his life.

How one spends life matters.  May we spend it creating a legacy of love, kindness, and reconciliation.  (This is possible only via grace, of course.)  May we succeed in that which is eternal–of God (per John 17:2)–and help the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  May we abet this propagation of the Gospel as a matter of goal and consequence, not, as many have, in spite of themselves, while attempting to suppress it.  The fact that those who oppose the Gospel wind up becoming vehicles of its spread comforts me, but is not seeking to propagate it then succeeding better?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 21, 2014 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF GEORGIA HARKNESS, UNITED METHODIST THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT KENNETH OF WALES, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT

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Propagating the Gospel

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Above:  Moses Views the Holy Land, by Frederic Leighton

Image in the Public Domain

Deuteronomy and Matthew, Part V:  Hearing and Doing, Judgment and Mercy

OCTOBER 2 AND 3, 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 3:1-29 (October 2)

Deuteronomy 4:1-20 (October 3)

Psalm 96 (Morning–October 2)

Psalm 116 (Morning–October 3)

Psalms 132 and 134 (Evening–October 2)

Psalms 26 and 130 (Evening–October 3)

Matthew 7:1-12 (October 2)

Matthew 7:13-29 (October 3)

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If you, Lord, were to mark what is done amiss,

O Lord, who could stand?

But there is forgiveness with you,

so that you shall be feared.

–Psalm 130:2-3 (The Book of Common Prayer, 2004)

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If you should keep account of what is done amiss:

who then, O Lord, could stand?

But there is forgiveness with you:

therefore you shall be revered.

–Psalm 130:3-4 (A New Zealand Prayer Book, 1989)

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But the LORD was wrathful with me on your account and would not listen to me.  The LORD said to me, “Enough!  Never speak to Me of this matter again!….

–Deuteronomy 3:26 (TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures)

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Deuteronomy 3-4 functions well as one unit, as does Matthew 7.  Lectonaries are wonderful, helpful guides to reading the Bible intelligently, but sometimes they become too choppy.  They work well because one of the best ways to read one part of the Bible is in the context of other portions thereof, thereby reducing the risk of prooftexting.

There is much to cover, so let us begin.

I start with the violence–er, genocide–in Deuteronomy 3.  I notice the Golden Rule in Matthew 7:12 also.  Genocide is, of course, inconsistent with doing to others that which one wants done to one’s self.  So I side with the Golden Rule over genocide.

The main idea which unites Deuteronomy 3-4 with Matthew 7 is the balance between divine judgment and divine mercy.  In simple terms, there is much mercy with God, but justice requires a judgment sometimes.  Mercy exists in Matthew 7:7-11 yet judgment takes central stage in 7:24-27.  And divine judgment is prominent in Deuteronomy 3:23-28 and chapter 4, mixed in with mercy.

One tradition within the Torah is that the sin which kept Moses out of the Promised Land was a lack of trust in God, for the leader had struck a rock twice–not once–to make water flow from it.  He had drawn attention and glory away from God in the process back in Numbers 20:6-12.  A faithless and quarrelsome generation had died in the wilderness.  Yet their children inherited the Promised Land.  Judgment and mercy coexisted.

Richard Elliott Friedman’s Commentary on the Torah informs me of textual parallels and puns.  For example, Moses imploring God for mercy is like Joseph’s brothers imploring the Vizier of Egypt for the same in Genesis 42.  And the Hebrew root for “Joseph” is also the root for the divine instruction to stop speaking to God about entering the Promised Land.  God is cross at Moses for asking to cross the River Jordan–the only time that a certain Hebrew word for anger occurs in the Torah.  That word becomes evident in Friedman’s translation of Deuteronomy 3:25-26 and 27b:

“Let me cross and see the good land that’s across the Jordan, this good hill country and the Lebanon.”  But YHWH was cross at me for your sakes and He would not listen to me.  “Don’t go on speaking to me anymore of this thing…..you won’t cross this Jordan.”

The TANAKH rendering is more stately, but Friedman’s translation does bring out the double entendres nicely.

I do not even pretend to understand how divine judgment and mercy work.  Both, I think, are part of divine justice.  I, as a matter of daily practice, try not to pronounce divine judgment o  others, for that is God’s task.  So I try to extend the assumption of mercy toward them with regard to this life and the next one, so as to avoid the sin of hypocrisy mentioned in Matthew 7:1-5 and to work toward living according t the Golden Rule more often.  For, as I think so I do.  As William Barclay wrote in his analysis of Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus demands hearing and doing (The Gospel of Matthew, Revised Edition, Volume 1, Westminster Press, 1975, pages 291-292).  That is the same requirement of the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 4.

Hearing and doing the commandments of God is difficult.  May we succeed by a combination of divine grace and human free will.  And, when we err, may we do so on the side of kindness, not cruelty, anger, and resentment.  May we leave the judgment to God.  I would rather err in forgiving the unforgivable than in being improperly wrathful.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 1, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS PHILIP AND JAMES, APOSTLES AND MARTYRS

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/deuteronomy-and-matthew-part-v-hearing-and-doing-judgment-and-mercy/

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Above:  An Entrance to a Gated Community

Image Source = Pixeltoo

The Universality of the Gospel of Jesus

OCTOBER 3 AND 4, 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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Sometimes lectionaries, the useful tools that they are, chop up material too much.  The readings for Monday and Tuesday in the Week of Proper 22, Year 1, on the Canadian Anglican lectionary I am following, provide examples to support this generalization.

KRT

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COMBINED READING FOR MONDAY AND TUESDAY

Galatians 1:1-24 (Revised English Bible):

From Paul, an apostle commissioned not by any human authority or human act, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead.  I and all the friends now with me send greetings to the churches of Galatia.

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, to rescue us out of the present wicked age as our God and Father willed; to him be glory for ever and ever!  Amen.

I am astonished to find you turning away so quickly from him who called you by grace, and following a different gospel; only there are some who unsettle your minds by trying to distort the gospel of Christ.  But should anyone, even I myself or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel of Christ.  But should anyone, even I myself or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel other than the gospel I preached to you, let him be banned!  I warned you in the past and now I warn you again:  if anyone preaches a gospel other than the gospel you received, let him be banned!

Now do I  sound as if I were asking for human approval and not for God’s alone?  Am I currying favour with men?  If I were still seeking human favour, I should be no servant of Christ.

I must make it clear to you, my friends, that the gospel you heard me preach is not of human origin.  I did not take it over from anyone; no one taught it me; I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

You have heard what my manner of life was when I was still a practising Jew:  how savagely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it; and how in the practice of our national religion I outstripped most of my Jewish contemporaries by my boundless devotion to the traditions of my ancestors.  But then in his good pleasure God, who from my birth had set me apart, and who had called me through his grace, chose to reveal his Son in and through me, in order that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles.  Immediately, without consulting a single person, without going up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me, I went off to Arabia, and afterwards returned to Damascus.

Three years later I did go up to Jerusalem to get to know Cephas, and I stayed two weeks with him.  I saw none of the other apostles, except James, the Lord’s brother.  What I write is plain truth; God knows I am not lying!

Then I left for the regions of Syria and Cilicia.  I was still unknown by sight to the Christian congregations in Judaea; they had simply heard it said,

Our former persecutor is preaching the good news  of the faith which once he tried to destroy,

and they praised God for what had happened to me.

RESPONSE FOR MONDAY

Psalm 111:1-6 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1 Hallelujah!

I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart,

in the assembly of the upright, in the congregation.

2 Great are the deeds of the LORD!

they are studied by all who delight in them.

3 His work is full of majesty and splendor,

and his righteousness endures for ever.

4 He makes his marvelous works to be remembered;

the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.

5 He gives food to those who fear him;

he is ever mindful of his covenant.

6 He has shown his people the power of his works

in giving them the lands of the nations.

RESPONSE FOR TUESDAY

Psalm 139:1-14 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1 LORD, you have searched me out and known me;

you know my sitting down and my rising up;

you discern my thoughts from afar.

2 You trace my journeys and my resting-places

and are acquainted with all my ways.

3 Indeed, there is not a word on my lips,

but you, O LORD, know it altogether.

4 You press upon me behind and before

and lay your hand upon me.

5 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is so high that I cannot attain to it.

6 Where can I go then from your Spirit?

where can I flee from your presence?

7 If I climb up to heaven, you are there;

if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.

8 If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

9 Even there your hand will lead me

and your right hand hold me fast.

10 If I say, “Surely the darkness will cover me,

and the light around me turn to night,”

11 Darkness is not dark to you;

the night is as bright as the day;

darkness and light to you are both alike.

12 For you yourself created my inmost parts;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

13 I will thank you because I am marvelously made;

your works are wonderful, and I know it well.

14 My body was not hidden from you,

while I was being made in secret

and woven in the depths of the earth.

COMBINED GOSPEL READING FOR MONDAY AND TUESDAY

Luke 10:25-42 (The Jerusalem Bible):

There was a lawyer who, to disconcert him [Jesus], stood up and said to him,

Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life.

He said to him,

What is written in the Law”  What do you read there?

He replied,

You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.

Jesus said,

You have answered right; do this and life is yours.

But the man was anxious to justify himself and said to Jesus,

And who is my neighbor?

Jesus replied,

A man was once on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of brigands; they took all he had, beat him and then made off, leaving him half dead.  Now a priest happened to be travelling down the same road, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  In the same way a Levite who came to the place saw him, and passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan traveller who came upon him was moved with compassion when he saw him.  He went up and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them.  He then lifted him on to his mount, carried him to the inn and looked after him.  Next day, he took out two denarii and handed them to the innkeeper.  ”Look after him,” he said, “and on my way back I will make good any extra expense you have.”

[Jesus continued,]

Which of these three, do you think, proved himself a neighbour to the man who fell into the brigands’ hands?

He replied,

The one who took pity on him.

Jesus said to him,

Go, and do the same yourself.

In the course of their journey he came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.  She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking.  Now Martha who was distracted with all the serving said,

Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself?  Please tell her to help me.

But the Lord answered:

Martha, Martha,

he said,

you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one.  It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.

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The Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; 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 22:  Monday, Year 1:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/04/25/week-of-proper-22-monday-year-1/

Week of Proper 22:  Tuesday, Year 1:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/04/27/week-of-proper-22-tuesday-year-1/

The Feast of Saints Mary and Martha of Bethany, Friends of Jesus (July 29):

http://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/feast-of-sts-mary-and-martha-of-bethany-friends-of-jesus-july-29/

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There exists uncertainty as to whether St. Paul wrote the Letter to the Galatians to churches in a region called Galatia (perhaps 49 or 50 C.E.) or to ethnic Galatians, whom he had visited during his second and third missionary journeys, which would date the epistle to circa 55 C.E.  This is a matter for scholars to debate, and it has no bearing on my devotional use of the letter.

What matters is this:  Paul had visited these congregations then moved along.  And Jewish Christians who insisted that Gentiles must follow the Law of Moses–down to males undergoing circumcision–came after Paul and created confusion.  Paul then wrote this epistle, in which he labeled these other teachings

another gospel (1:7).

Those who teach that false gospel, he wrote, should be

banned (1:9),

for Paul understood his gospel as being of divine origin (1:12).  This message came from a man who had been a zealous persecutor of the nascent Jesus movement and a meticulous keeper of the Law of Moses (1:13-15).  But now he was a missionary to the Gentiles (1:16).

Comparing translations helps me understand a text more clearly.  Certainly any text loses something in translation; the Bible is no exception.  Yet consulting a series of versions does reveal a variety of meanings present in the original text.  And some renderings are more lively than others.  One of the better versions is the J. B. Phillips New Testament in Modern English (1972 revision), which refers to the other gospel as

a travesty of the gospel of Christ (1:7).

Indeed, as a Gentile, raised in a faith tradition which draws heavily from Paul’s influence, I am grateful that he won this argument.  Paul was correct; to insist upon imposing the old ways on Gentile believers is a travesty.  It would also have transformed Christianity into a perpetually small and marginal sect.

Challenging old ideas is a theme we find also in Luke 10.  I refer you, O reader, to the links I have provided, for I have covered that material already.  Yet, without repeating myself too much, I can say this:  Samaritans were despised heretics and women were subordinate to men in that society.  Yet Jesus told a story about a compassionate Samaritan and some religious figures who did not help a man in need.  And our Lord welcomed a female disciple.

Faith groups ought not to be gated communities.  Jews, Gentiles, men, women–all can hear the gospel Paul proclaimed.  Galatians is a glorious and justly quoted work, one which we begin to explore with this post.  For now, I offer this take-away message:  May we not, even out of piety, erect obstacles in the paths of those whom God has called.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is universal, so may we refrain from resisting that fact.

KRT

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/the-universality-of-the-gospel-of-jesus/

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:  Map of Galilee

Image in the Public Domain

Leaving Judgment to God

OCTOBER 3, 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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Zechariah 8:20-23 (TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures):

Thus said the LORD of Hosts:

Peoples and the inhabitants of many cities shall yet come–the inhabitants of one shall go to the other and say, “Let us go and entreat the favor the LORD, let us seek the LORD of Hosts; I will go, too.”  The many peoples and the multitude of nations shall come to seek the LORD of Hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD.

Thus said the LORD of Hosts:

In those days, ten men from nations of every tongue will take hold–they will take hold of every Jew by a corner of his cloak and say, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”

Psalm 87 (1979 Book of Common Prayer): 

1  On the holy mountain stands the city he has founded;

the LORD loves the gates of Zion

more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

2  Glorious things are spoken of you,

O city of our God.

3  I count Egypt and Babylon among those who know me;

behold Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia:

in Zion were they born.

4  Of Zion it shall be said, “Everyone was born in her,

and the Most High himself shall sustain her.”

5  The LORD will record as he enrolls the peoples,

“These also were born there.”

6  The singers and the dancers will say,

“All my fresh springs are in you.”

Luke 9:51-56 (The Jerusalem Bible):

Now as the time drew near to be taken up to heaven, he resolutely took the road for Jerusalem and sent messengers ahead of him.  These set out, and they went into a Samaritan village to make preparations for him, but the people would not receive him because he was making for Jerusalem.  Seeing this, the disciples James and John said,

Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?

But he turned and rebuked them, and they went off to another village.

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The Collect:

O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; 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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Jerusalem figures prominently in all this day’s readings.  Psalm 87 speaks of God sustaining Jerusalem, a city, which, according to Zechariah 8, will become a magnet for international pilgrims. Then there is Jesus in Luke 9:51.  The standard English translation of that verse says that he set his face toward Jerusalem.  William Barclay renders that verse to say that Jesus “fixed his face firmly to go to Jerusalem,” while The Jerusalem Bible says that our Lord “resolutely took the road for Jerusalem.”  He and his Apostles were pilgrims, too, but their journey was no mere pilgrimage.  (I write these words on Monday in Holy Week 2011, so the culmination is very much on my mind.)

As Jesus and company set out they face immediate opposition from Samaritans.  Members of a previous generation of Samaritans obstructed the construction of the Second Temple, a fact of which many observant Jews in Jesus’ time were aware.  In fact, many Jews of our Lord’s time and place despised Samaritans, and many Samaritans reciprocated.  Jesus, however, spoke once of a Good Samaritan.  On another occasion he healed a Samaritan leper.  In the Gospel of John our Lord spoke at length to a Samaritan woman.  If he had a problem with Samaritans, he kept it to himself.

As Jesus  set out from Galilee and passed through Samaria en route to Jerusalem, he took a direct route to that holy city.  And he kept moving along when he and his Apostles faced rejection by some local Samaritans.   His actions are consistent with his instructions in Luke 10:11-12:  When a town does not welcome one of his disciples, that disciple ought to depart that town and leave judgment to God.

The Gospels record instances of Jesus condemning holier-than-thou religious figures and speaking ill of Roman puppet leaders.  Yet they also include a multitude of stories of our Lord associating with social outcasts and forgiving repentant sinners.  His mission was one primarily one of restoring people to wholeness (including in their community settings) rather than condemnation.  We who claim the label “Christian” need to keep this lesson in mind and to act accordingly.

So may we go about the business God has given us while leaving judgment to God.  There is much work to do, and there are many people forgive and help lead to wholeness.  We can stand up for what is right and good without uttering a harsh word.  I think of Father Joe, by Tony Hendra.  The eponynomous Catholic priest in that book never excused that of which he disapproved, but neither did he utter any derogatory words while expressing himself, at least in Hendra’s presence.

Jesus calls us to be positive influences where and when we are.  You might know or know of someone who self-identifies as Christian but who is prone to eruptions of spiritual negativity laced with presumptions of know-it-allism.  I do.  Without questioning the sincerity of these individuals, I propose that they, in their attitudes, hurt the cause they seek to advance.

I do not know what God’s judgment upon the residents of that Samaritan village was, but that is none of my business.  Nor was not the proper concern of James and John.  It is the proper concern of God, who is also prone to extravagant and scandalous mercy.

KRT

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/leaving-judgment-to-god/

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