Archive for the ‘Coronavirus’ Tag
Above: Image of COVID-19, by the Centers for Disease Control
Image in the Public Domain
A Covenant People
OCTOBER 23, 2022
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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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Genesis 17:1-22 or Ruth 4:1-17
Psalm 143
Revelation 21:1-6a
John 15:1-17
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The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) includes part of Genesis 17 only one–on the Second Sunday in Lent, Year B. The RCL guts the chapter, though. The RCL assigns only verses 1-7 and 15-16. As Matthew Thiessen observes in Jesus and the Forces of Death: The Gospels’ Portrayal of Ritual Impurity Within First-Century Judaism (2020), the RCL avoids the verses that talk about circumcision. One who hears a RCL-based sermon on Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 hears
a very carefully edited, essentially Christianized (or de-Judaized) version of Genesis 17.
–2
The Humes lectionary, in contrast, fills the hole the RCL creates.
Without chasing a proverbial rabbit, I repeat here what I have written elsewhere, in another lectionary-based devotion, recently: Within Judaism, over time, as reflected in the Bible and in non-canonical Jewish texts, a range of opinions regarding circumcision existed. Judaism has never been a monolithic religion, despite what you, O reader, may have heard or read.
Circumcision was a common practice in many cultures in the area of antiquity. In the case of the Jews, it was significant for more than one reason. Hygiene was one reason for circumcision. The practice was also a fertility rite, a ritual of initiation into the covenant people, and an act of ritual purification. The practice, perhaps most importantly, functioned as a marker of identity in God and the divine covenant.
Circumcision is a sign–a covenant I believe remains in effect. I, as a Gentile, function under a second covenant.
Wholeness and restoration–collectively and individually–are possible only in God, via a covenant. As in Ruth 4, God frequently acts through people to create wholeness and restoration. God also acts directly often.
…there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness. The world of the past has gone.
–Revelation 21:4b, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
The “world of the past” in Revelation 21:4b remains the world of the present. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to claim and damage lives and livelihoods. Tears, death, mourning, and sadness remain, in a heightened reality, the cruel companions of victims of the pandemic. One point of Revelation is the imperative of keeping faith and focusing on the light while the darkness threatens to overwhelm with despair and hopelessness.
One joins a covenant by grace. One drops out of a covenant by works of darkness. That is classical Jewish Covenantal Nomism. In other words, remain faithful to God, who is faithful.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu told a story about a Jew in a Nazi death camp. A guard was mocking a pious Jew, forced to perform the degrading, unpleasant, and disgusting task of cleaning the toilet. The guard asked,
Where is your God now?
The Jew answered,
He is beside me, here in the muck.
Where is God during the COVID-19 pandemic? God is sitting beside the beds of patients. God is walking beside essential workers. God is grieving with those who mourn. God is present with those working to develop or to distribute vaccines. God is with us, here in the muck.
God is faithful. May we be faithful, too.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 29, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS LYDIA, DORCAS, AND PHOEBE, COWORKERS OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2021/01/29/a-covenant-people-part-viii/
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Above: Tear Ducts
Image in the Public Domain
The Tears of the Christ
SEPTEMBER 11, 2022
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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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Genesis 13:1-16 or Ezra 1:1-7; 3:8-13
Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26
Revelation 7:9-17
John 11:1-3. 16-44
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Jesus wept.
–John 11:35, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
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They will never hunger or thirst again; neither the sun nor scorching wind will ever plague them because the Lamb who is at the throne will be their shepherd and will lead them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away all tears like their eyes.
–Revelation 7:16-17, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
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I could take so many paths through the assigned readings for this week. These readings are rich texts. I will take just one path, however.
Before I do, here are a few notes:
- Abraham waited for God to tell him which land to claim. Abraham chose well.
- Lot chose land on his own. He chose poorly. However, at the time he seemed to have chosen wisely; he selected fertile land.
- I agree with Psalm 136. Divine mercy does endure forever.
- The chronology of the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah weaves in and out of those books. I know, for I blogged my way through them in chronological order at BLOGA THEOLOGICA last year.
For the record, the chronological reading order of Ezra-Nehemiah follows:
- Ezra 1:1-2:70; Nehemiah 7:6-73a;
- Ezra 3:1-4:5;
- Ezra 5:1-6:22;
- Ezra 4:6-24;
- Nehemiah 1:1-2:20;
- Nehemiah 3:1-4:17;
- Nehemiah 5:1-19;
- Nehemiah 6:1-7:5;
- Nehemiah 11:1-12:47;
- Nehemiah 13:1-31;
- Nehemiah 9:38-10:39;
- Ezra 7:1-10:44; and
- Nehemiah 7:73b-9:38.
I take my lead in this post from the New Testament readings. Tears are prominent in both of them. Tears are on my mind during the COVID-19 pandemic. They are also on my mind as I continue to mourn the violent death of my beloved. Her departure from this side of the veil of tears has left me shaken and as forever changed me.
The full divinity and full humanity of Jesus are on display in John 11. We read that Jesus wept over the death of his friend, St. Lazarus of Bethany. We also read of other people mourning and weeping in the immediate area. We may not pay much attention to that. We may tell ourselves, “Of course, they grieved and wept.” But two words–“Jesus wept”–remain prominent.
There is a scene in The Gospel According to Saint Matthew (1964) that fits this theme. At the time, Hollywood studios had recently released technicolor movies about a Jesus who had no tear ducts yet had an impressive command of Elizabethan English while resembling a Northern European. Yet Pier Paolo Pasolini, who committed about half of the Gospel of Matthew to film, presented a Jesus who had tear ducts. Immediately after the off-camera decapitation of St. John the Baptist, the next shot was a focus on Christ’s face. He was crying. So were the men standing in front of him.
Jesus wept.
We weep. Jesus weeps with us until the day God will wipe away all tears of those who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 23, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN THE ALMSGIVER, PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA
THE FEAST OF CHARLES KINGSLEY, ANGLICAN PRIEST, NOVELIST, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF EDWARD GRUBB, ENGLISH QUAKER AUTHOR, SOCIAL REFORMER, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JAMES D. SMART, CANADIAN PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF PHILLIPS BROOKS, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF MASSACHUSETTS, AND HYMN WRITER
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2021/01/23/the-tears-of-the-christ/
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Above: The Logo of the Moravian Church
Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor
The Victory of Suffering Love
AUGUST 28, 2022
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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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Genesis 8:13-22; 9:12-17 or Acts 28:1-10
Psalm 134
Revelation 5:1-14
John 8:48-59
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Revelation 5:1-14 provides the keynote for this blog post. This scriptural text is one I cannot read without hearing the finale of Handel’s Messiah thundering inside my cranium.
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by his blood, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
Ernest Lee Stoffel, writing in The Dragon Bound: The Revelation Speaks to Our Time (1981), summarized verses 6-14 with five words:
THE VICTORY OF SUFFERING LOVE.
Stoffel elaborated:
What is this really saying? I believe it is saying the suffering love of God is the key that will help us live with our suffering and ourselves. There is something in the universe that has not been defeated by pain and evil and sin. That something is the crucified love of the Creator. I have to believe that love is the key to the world’s destiny, and that it will triumph over my pain and sin. I believe I can give my pain and sin to that love, which is also wisdom….
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I go off the Humes lectionary briefly to bring in a germane text:
“I have told you all this
so that you may find peace in me.
In the world you will have hardship,
but be courageous:
I have conquered the world.”
–John 16:33, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
Divine, suffering love has triumphed and conquered. This love figuratively hung up its bow of war in the beautiful mythology of Genesis 9:12-17. This divine love called and accompanied St. Paul the Apostle. This love has long inspired people to bless the Lord.
What should a person or a faith community do with the “victory of suffering love” in the context of heartbreaking, preventable human suffering? I write this post during the COVID-19 pandemic. The news is mostly grim. The temptation to curse God, fate, or whatever, then to curl up in a ball of despair is great. Yes, vaccines are available, to an extent. Yes, more vaccines are in the process of gaining official approval. And yes, people continue to die needlessly, before they can receive a vaccination. We, as a species, will spend a long time digging our way out of the wreckage of this pandemic. Furthermore, many people will never recover from the economic carnage. Many people will always have health-related effects of COVID-19. And the dead will remain deceased. None of this had to happen.
Do we trust that the crucified love of the Creator has remained unconquered? Do we trust that Jesus has conquered the world? Depending on the time of day, I may or may not so trust. Yet I know that I must take my fears and doubts to the foot of the cross of Christ and deposit them there. Having faith is not living free of doubts. No, having faith entails wrestling with them and even with God. Having faith entails never giving up the idol of false certainly and resisting the allure of easy answers to difficult questions.
God is faithful. God is faithful when we neglect to be faithful. God is faithful when we strive unsuccessfully to be faithful. God is faithful when we are faithful. May we stand, sit, or assume any posture we can in the presence of God wherever we are. And may we bless the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth, whose love remains unconquered. May we cooperate with that love. May it conquer our despair and grief. May it heal the world.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 22, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOHN JULIAN, ANGLICAN PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMNOLOGIST
THE FEAST OF ALEXANDER MEN, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1990
THE FEAST OF SAINT LADISLAO BATTHÁNY-STRATTMANN, AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PHYSICIAN AND PHILANTHROPIST
THE FEAST OF LOUISE CECILIA FLEMING, AFRICAN-AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY AND PHYSICIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT VINCENT PALLOTTI, FOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE CATHOLIC APOSTALATE, THE UNION OF CATHOLIC APOSTOLATE, AND THE SISTERS OF THE CATHOLIC APOSTOLATE
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2021/01/22/the-victory-of-suffering-love/
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Above: The Healing of the Ten Lepers, by James Tissot
Image in the Public Domain
Gratitude
NOVEMBER 25, 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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Deuteronomy 8:1-20
Psalm 65
2 Corinthians 9:6-15
Luke 17:11-19
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The heading of notes on Deuteronomy 8:1-20 in The Jewish Study Bible is
The temptation to pride and self-sufficiency in the land.
Indeed, pride and self-sufficiency are obstacles to thanking God.
We can never thank God enough. That is reality. So be it. They can look for reasons to thank God. They can be as mundane as lovely cloud formations and as extraordinary as a blessed and rare event. They can include, as in Luke 17:11-19, the opportunity to shake off stigma and rejoin one’s family and community. That seems extraordinary to me.
Were the other nine healed lepers not grateful? No. I propose that they may have been in a hurry to get back home as soon as possible. Saying “thank you” to Jesus would have been proper, though.
I draft this post in days of uncertainty. I am behaving responsibly and obeying orders to shelter in place during the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. Reasons for gratitude can be difficult to find, from a certain perspective. On the other hand, the light of God shines most brightly in the darkness. I have no challenge identifying reasons for gratitude.
I do not know what the circumstances of Thanksgiving Day will be 2020 (the year I draft this post), much less 2021 (the first year this post will be on the schedule) or any other year. I have no idea what will happen five seconds from now. I do know, however, that reasons for gratitude will exist, and that nobody should be too proud and labor under delusions of self-sufficiency to thank God for what God has done.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 2, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT ALEXANDER OF ALEXANDRIA, PATRIARCH; AND SAINT ATHANASIUS OF ALEXANDRIA, PATRIARCH AND “FATHER OF ORTHODOXY”
THE FEAST OF CHARLES SILVESTER HORNE, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF CHARLES FRIEDRICH HASSE, GERMAN-BRITISH MORAVIAN COMPOSER AND EDUCATOR
THE FEAST OF JULIA BULKLEY CADY CORY, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT SIGISMUND OF BURGUNDY, KING; SAINT CLOTILDA, FRANKISH QUEEN; AND SAINT CLODOALD, FRANKISH PRINCE AND ABBOT
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2020/05/02/gratitude-part-v/
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ORDINARY TIME DEVOTIONS 
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