Above:   Rehoboam, by Hans Holbein the Younger

Image in the Public Domain

Divisiveness

SEPTEMBER 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 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 Kings 12:1-20

Psalm 119:57-64

Romans 7:7-13

John 7:40-44

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The Law of God is holy; both the Psalmist and St. Paul the Apostle agree to that proposition in two of the assigned readings for today.  Yet St. Paul admits that he also finds the definition of sin that the Law proves to be a temptation to sin.  This passage precedes the famous portion of scripture in which the Apostle confesses that he knows the difference between right and wrong yet often commits the latter, even though he wants to do the former.  He is divided within himself.

In 1 Kings 12 the foolishness of the newly crowned King Rehoboam leads to the division of the Kingdom of Israel.  He ends up as the King of Judah instead.  So begins the decline of the realm King Saul once led.  We know via hindsight that both kingdoms will fall and ten tribes will become lost.

We also read of division in John 7.  Is Jesus the Messiah?  Or is he a blasphemer?  His life is certainly at risk.

As David Ackerman writes in Beyond the Lectionary (2013), unity does not require unanimity.  In the Christian context Jesus is the source of unity and the Christian Church

is a group of unlike-minded people who live out their faith and practice discipleship together.

–Page 96

Yet frequently one reads and/or hears of and encounters denominations and congregations formed or divided by the quest for like-mindedness and founded by the act of schism.  Even those who seek to reject denominationalism create new denominations, although many members of officially “undenominational” bodies object to that statement.

Part of the problem of divisiveness is that it is inherently human.  We like to keep company with people similar to ourselves.  Although the variety of denominations certainly keeps many people in the Christian fold by providing options, the scandal of denominations is that they divide the body of Christ.  I belong to a denomination–a fairly liberal one, in fact.  I like attending church where nobody will call me a heretic, for I know the sting of hearing that accusation.  Nevertheless, I also understand denominational inertia and am willing to surrender certain minor points of doctrine and practice for the sake of organic unity with a denomination or denominations with which mine is quite similar.  When organic union is not yet an option or never will be, perhaps ecumenism is on the table.  But how common are these attitudes?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 18, 2017 COMMON ERA

PROPER 6:   THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF SAINTS DELPHINUS OF BORDEAUX, AMANDUS OF BORDEAUX, SEVERINUS OF BORDEAUX, VENERIUS OF MILAN, AND CHROMATIUS OF AQUILEIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS

THE FEAST OF ADOLPHUS NELSON, SWEDISH-AMERICAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF ANSON DODGE, EPISCOPAL PRIEST

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM BINGHAM TAPPAN, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, POET, AND HYMN WRITER

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2017/06/18/divisiveness/

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Above:   Amnon and Tamar, by Jan Steen

Image in the Public Domain

The Way of Faithfulness

AUGUST 13, 2023

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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ,  who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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2 Samuel 13:1-20, 27b-29

Psalm 119:25-32

1 Corinthians 5:1-5

John 7:1-9

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I have chosen the way of faithfulness;

I set your ordinances before me.

–Psalm 119:30, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

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If certain characters in today’s readings had acted according to Psalm 119:30, those lessons would have turned out differently.  There would have been no rape of Tamar by her half-brother, Amnon.  Absalom would not have murdered Amnon in revenge.  Certain Corinthian Christians would not have engaged in pagan sexual practices.  The life of Jesus would never have been in peril.  In the case of Jesus, his opponents in question probably considered him guilty of blasphemy, a capital offense, according to the Law of Moses.  They thought they were righteous.

Is not it frequently true that villains imagine themselves to be heroes and the wicked mistake themselves for the righteous?  Much of the time we do not know what we are doing.  Nevertheless, the consequences of our actions speak for themselves.  We should learn from them.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 18, 2017 COMMON ERA

PROPER 6:   THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF SAINTS DELPHINUS OF BORDEAUX, AMANDUS OF BORDEAUX, SEVERINUS OF BORDEAUX, VENERIUS OF MILAN, AND CHROMATIUS OF AQUILEIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS

THE FEAST OF ADOLPHUS NELSON, SWEDISH-AMERICAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF ANSON DODGE, EPISCOPAL PRIEST

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM BINGHAM TAPPAN, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, POET, AND HYMN WRITER

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2017/06/18/the-way-of-faithfulness/

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Above:   Christ Pantocrator

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

The Proper Emphasis on God

JULY 23, 2023

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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ,  who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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Judges 6:11-18, 36-40

Psalm 61

Acts 19:11-16

John 5:10-18

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In the first three readings the emphasis is on God and divine actions.  We learn of God disregarding social standing and calling Gideon and working through St. Paul the Apostle.  The Psalmist understands that he is subordinate to and dependent upon God, to be sure.

In John 5, however, the issue (and the charge of blasphemy) is relevant to who Jesus was and claimed to be:  Son of God, equal to God.  In the Johannine Gospels Jesus claims openly to be the Son of God.  This stands in contrast to the Christ of the Gospel of Mark, who does not deny being the Son of God, yet orders others not to spread the word yet.

Christ, of course, being the genuine article, gets to announce himself.  The rest of us are supposed to follow him in words and deeds.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 17, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF EDITH BOYLE MACALISTER, ENGLISH NOVELIST AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT EMILY DE VIALAR, FOUNDER OF THE SISTERS OF SAINT JOSEPH OF THE APPARITION

THE FEAST OF JANE CROSS BELL SIMPSON, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN POET AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINTS TERESA AND MAFALDA OF PORTUGAL, PRINCESSES, QUEENS, AND NUNS; AND SANCHIA OF PORTUGAL, PRINCESS AND NUN

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2017/06/17/the-proper-emphasis-on-god/

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Above:  Moses

Image in the Public Domain

Prelude to the Passion, Part III

SEPTEMBER 3, 2023

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The Collect:

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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The Assigned Readings:

Numbers 11:1-30 or Isaiah 45:14-25 or Jeremiah 4:19-31 or Zechariah 8:1-23

Psalm 68:11-31 (32-35) or Psalm 120 or Psalm 82

John 10:19-21 (22-30) 31-42

1 Corinthians 14:1-40

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The assigned readings, taken together, present a balanced picture of divine judgment and mercy.  Sometimes God’s judgment on one group is in the service of mercy on another group.  And, as much as God is angry with the Israelites in Numbers 11, He still provides manna to them and advises Moses to share his burden with 70 elders.  Judgment is dominant in Jeremiah 4, but mercy rules in Zechariah 8.

1 Corinthians 14, sexism aside, offers the timeless principle that all people do in the context of worship should build up the faith community.

As for the “Prelude to the Passion” part of this post, we turn to John 10.  Jesus survives an attempt to arrest (then execute) him for committing blasphemy, per Leviticus 24:10-16.  He was innocent of the charge, of course.  The story, however, does establish that Jesus kept avoiding death traps prior to Holy Week.

A point worth pondering is that the accusers of Jesus in John 10 were most likely sincere.  This should prompt us who read the account today to ask ourselves how often we are sincerely wrong while attempting to follow the laws of God.  Those who oppose God and agents thereof are not always consciously so.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 18, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT:  THE TWENTY-SECOND DAY OF ADVENT

THE FEAST OF MARC BOEGNER, ECUMENIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT GIULIA VALLE, ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN

THE FEAST OF SAINT ISAAC HECKER, FOUNDER OF THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2016/12/18/prelude-to-the-passion-part-iii/

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Above:  Christ Pantocrator

Image in the Public Domain

Responding to God

NOVEMBER 29, 2023

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The Collect:

God of power and might, your Son shows us the way of service,

and in him we inherit the riches of your grace.

Give us the wisdom to know what is right and

the strength to serve the world you have made,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 53

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The Assigned Readings:

Ezekiel 33:7-20

Psalm 7

John 5:19-40

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God is my shield and defense;

he is the savior of the true in heart.

God is a righteous judge;

God sits in judgment everyday.

If they will not repent, God will whet his sword;

he will bend his bow and make it ready.

–Psalm 7:11-13, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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Striving to be a merely decent human being is a worthy goal, one which falls into the Lutheran category of civic righteousness–that is, good yet incapable of saving one from the consequences of sin.  Yet the standard of mere human decency evaded our Lord and Savior’s critics in John 5.  He was healing people on the Sabbath.  His critics complained about the timing, as if there were ever a bad day to commit a good deed.  His identification of God as his Father seemed blasphemous to them also.  In the Law of Moses the penalty for committing blasphemy is death.

The call to repent–to change one’s mind, to turn around–exists in both main pericopes today.  There is good news for the penitent and bad news for the impenitent, for judgment and mercy coexist.  God keeps offering opportunities to change course for the better and to receive forgiveness, but some people reject the offer.  This point fits well with the rest of Ezekiel, which proceeds from the assumption that sin led to the Babylonian Exile.

That call to repent repeats.  Striving to be a merely decent human being is a good beginning of a positive response to God.  That little bit is possible only via grace, which bestows the free will with which we respond to God positively or negatively.  Shall we reply positively?

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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Responding to God

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