Above:  The Calling of St. Matthew, by Hendrick ter Brugghen

Image in the Public Domain

The Power of Words

JUNE 2, 2024

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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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Job 11:7-20 or Deuteronomy 15:7-11

Psalm 43

James 3:1-13

Mark 2:13-28

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Words matter.  They can inflict pain, even when one imagines oneself to be acting righteously, as in the case of Zophar the Naamathite, who proceeded from a false assumption while lecturing Job on repentance.  Words can call others to discipleship.  Words can remind one  of the divine mandate on individuals and societies to care for the less fortunate.  Words can reach the throne of God.

Words can create justice or injustice; they make the future.  May we, being mindful of the power of words, trust in God and strive to use these tools for the common good and the glory of God.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 16, 2019 COMMON ERA

TRINITY SUNDAY, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF GEORGE BERKELEY, IRISH ANGLICAN BISHOP AND PHILOSOPHER; AND JOSEPH BUTLER, ANGLICAN BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF JOHN FRANCIS REGIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST

THE FEAST OF NORMAN MACLEOD, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER; AND HIS COUSIN, JOHN MACLEOD, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, LITURGIST, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF RUFUS JONES, U.S. QUAKER THEOLOGIAN AND COFOUNDER OF THE AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE

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Originally published at ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS

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Above:  A Fig Tree, 1915

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-matpc-01901

If Only

NOVEMBER 5 and 6, 2021

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The Collect:

O God, you show forth your almighty power

chiefly by reaching out to us in mercy.

Grant to us the fullness of your grace,

strengthen our trust in your promises,

and bring all the world to share in the treasures that come

through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 52

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The Assigned Readings:

Deuteronomy 15:1-11 (Friday)

Deuteronomy 24:17-22 (Saturday)

Psalm 146 (Both Days)

Hebrews 9:15-24 (Friday)

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

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Blessed is the man whose help is the God of Jacob:

whose hope is in the Lord his God,

the God who made heaven and earth:

the sea and all that is in them,

who keeps faith forever:

who deals justice to those that are oppressed.

–Psalm 146:5-7, The Alternative Service Book 1980

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For there will never cease to be needy ones in your land, which is why I command you:  open your hand to the poor and needy kinsman in your land.

–Deuteronomy 15:11, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985)

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Deuteronomy 15:11 follows two pivotal verses:

There shall be no needy among you–since the LORD your God will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as a hereditary portion–if only you heed the LORD your God and take care to keep all this instruction that I enjoin upon you this day.

–Deuteronomy 15:4-5, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985)

“If only” is a major condition in that passage.

The readings from Deuteronomy acknowledge the reality of the presence of needy people and provide culturally specific ways to minimize the social problem.  These include:

1. Forgiving debts of Hebrews (but not for foreigners) and the freeing of servants every seventh year;
2. Refraining from exploiting strangers, widows, and orphans;
3. Leaving olives on trees and grapes in vineyards for the poor to pick; and
4. Leaving grain in the fields for the poor to glean.

Examples change according to the location and time, but the principle to care for the less fortunate on the societal and individual levels is constant.

Failure to obey these laws was among the charges Hebrews prophets made against their society.  The Temple system at the time of Jesus exploited the poor and promoted collaboration with the Roman Empire and a form of piety dependent upon wealth.  The story of the cursed fig tree in Mark 11 uses the fig tree as a symbol for Israel and the cursing of the plant as an allegory of our Lord and Savior’s rejection of the Temple system, for the two parts of the reading from Mark 11 function as bookends for the cleansing of the Temple.

And when the chief priests and scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching.

–Mark 11:19, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

Therefore I find a fitting segue to the pericope from Hebrews 9, with its theme of cleansing from sin by blood.  (Let us never give the Resurrection of Jesus short shrift, for, without the Resurrection, we have a perpetually dead Jesus.)  Jesus died because of, among other reasons, the threat he posed to the political-religious Temple system, the shortcomings of which he criticized.  The actual executioners were Romans, whose empire took the law-and-order mentality to an extreme.  Our Lord and Savior was dangerous in the eyes of oppressors, who acted.  God used their evil deeds for a redemptive purpose, however.  That sounds like grace to me.

If only more societies and governments heeded the call for economic justice.  If only more religious institutions sought ways to care effectively for the poor and to reduce poverty rates.  If only more people recognized the image of God in the marginalized and acted accordingly.  If only more governments and societies considered violence to be the last resort and refrained from using it against nonviolent people.  If only…, the world would be a better place.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 6, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT VINCENTIA GEROSA AND BARTHOLOMEA CAPITANIO, COFOUNDERS OF THE SISTERS OF CHARITY OF LOVERE

THE FEAST OF ISAIAH, BIBLICAL PROPHET

THE FEAST OF JAN HUS, PROTO-PROTESTANT MARTYR

THE FEAST OF OLUF HANSON SMEBY, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2015/07/06/if-only/

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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:  Vineyards and Gazebo, 1905-1915

Photographed by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-prokc-20156

Image Source = Library of Congress

Nehemiah and 1 Timothy, Part III:  Leadership and Economic Justice

SEPTEMBER 20 AND 21, 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:

Nehemiah 4:7-23 (September 20–Protestant Versification)

Nehemiah 4:1-17 (September 20–Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Versification)

Nehemiah 5:1-16 (September 21)

Nehemiah 6:1-6, 15-16 (September 21)

Psalm 130 (Morning–September 20)

Psalm 56 (Morning–September 21)

Psalms 32 and 139 (Evening–September 20)

Psalms 100 and 62 (Evening–September 21)

1 Timothy 3:1-6 (September 20)

1 Timothy 4:1-16 (September 21)

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Whenever I call upon you, my enemies will be put to flight;

this I know, for God is on my side.

–Psalm 56:9, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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1 Timothy 3 and 4 concern themselves with the trust which is leadership and the imperative of true teaching in the context of the church.  Those matters relate to Nehemiah, who led by example for the common good in Jerusalem centuries before the author of 1 Timothy wrote.  Nehemiah faced stiff opposition in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, but he succeeded with divine help.  And, in response to economic injustice, he declared a jubilee, something out of Leviticus 25 and Deuteronomy 15.  He even set an example by denying himself his legal portion of the governor’s food allowance.

Economic justice is among the great preoccupations of the Bible.  How one ought to practice it differs according to one’s individual circumstances as well as one’s time and societal setting, but the imperative is timeless.  Those who exercise authority have an obligation to think of the common good and to act for it.  May they not only seek to do so, but, by grace, succeed.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 10, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF HENRY VAN DYKE, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND LITURGIST

THE FEAST OF HOWARD THURMAN, PROTESTANT THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM LAW, ANGLICAN PRIEST

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/nehemiah-and-1-timothy-part-iii-leadership-and-economic-justice/

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Above:  Christ Healing the Blind Man, by Eustace Le Sueur

Restoration

The Sunday Closest to October 26

The Twenty-Third Sunday After Pentecost

OCTOBER 24, 2021

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FIRST READING AND PSALM:  OPTION #1

Job 42:1-6, 10-17 (TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures):

Job said in reply to the LORD:

I know that You can do everything,

That nothing you propose is impossible for You.

Who is this who obscures counsel without knowledge?

Indeed, I spoke without understanding

Of things beyond me, which I did not know.

Hear now, and I will speak;

I will ask, and You inform me.

I had heard You with my ears,

But now I see You with my eyes;

Therefore I recant and relent,

Being but dust and ashes.

…

The LORD restored Job’s fortunes when he prayed on behalf of his friends, and the LORD gave Job twice what he had before.

All his brothers and sisters and all his former friends came to him and had a meal with him in his house.  They consoled, and comforted him for all the misfortune that the LORD had brought upon him.  Each gave him one kesitah and each one gold ring.Thus the LORD blessed the latter years of Job’s life more than the former.  He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand she-asses.  He also had seven sons and three daughters.  The first he named Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch.  Nowhere in the land were women as beautiful as Job’s daughters to be found.  Their father gave them estates together with their brothers.  Afterward, Job lived one hundred and forty years to see four generations of sons and grandsons.  So Job died old and contented.

Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22) (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1 I will bless the LORD at all times;

his praise shall ever be in my mouth.

2 I will glory in the LORD;

let the humble hear and rejoice.

3 Proclaim with me the greatness of the LORD;

let us exult his Name together.

4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me

and delivered me out of all my terror.

5 Look upon him and be radiant,

and let not your faces be ashamed.

6 I called in my affliction and the LORD heard me

and saved me from all my troubles.

7 The angel of the LORD encompasses those who fear him,

and he will deliver them.

8 Taste and see that the LORD is good;

happy are they who trust in him.

19 Many are the troubles of the righteous,

but the LORD will deliver him out of them all.

20 He will keep all his bones;

not one of them shall be broken.

21 Evil shall slay the wicked,

and those who hate the righteous will be punished.

22 The LORD ransoms the life of his servants,

and none will be punished who trust in him.

FIRST READING AND PSALM:  OPTION #2

Jeremiah 31:7-9 (TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures):

For thus said the LORD:

Cry out in joy for Jacob,

Shout at the crossroads of the nations!

Sing aloud in praise, and say:

Save, O LORD, Your people,

The remnant of Israel.

I will bring them in from the northland,

Gather them from the ends of the earth–

The blind and the lame among them,

Those with child and those in labor–

In a vast throng they shall return here.

They shall come with weeping,

And with compassion will I guide them.

I will lead them to streams of water,

by a level road where they will not stumble.

For I am ever a Father to Israel,

Ephraim is My first-born.

Psalm 126 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1 When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,

then were we like those who dream.

2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter,

and our tongue with shouts of joy.

3 Then they said among the nations,

“The LORD has done great things for them.”

4 The LORD has done great things for us,

and we are glad indeed.

5 Restore our fortunes, O LORD,

like the watercourses of the Negev.

6 Those who sowed with tears

will reap with songs of joy.

7 Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed,

will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.

SECOND READING

Hebrews 7:23-28 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):

The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues for ever.  Consequently he is able for all time to save those who draw near God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens.  He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; for he did this once for all when he offered up himself.  Indeed, the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been make perfect for ever.

GOSPEL READING

Mark 10:46-52 (Revised English Bible):

They came to Jericho; and as he was leaving the town, with his disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus (that is, son of Timaeus), a blind beggar, was seated at the roadside.  Hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout,

Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me!

Many of the people told him to hold his tongue; but he shouted all the more,

Son of David, have pity on me.

Jesus stopped and said,

Call him;

so they called the blind man:

Take heart,

they said.

Get up; he is calling you.

At that he threw off his cloak, jumped to his feet, and came to Jesus.  Jesus said to him,

What do you want me to do for you?

The blind man answered,

Rabbi, I want my sight back.

Jesus said to him,

Go; your faith as healed you.

At once he recovered his sight and followed him on the road.

The Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; 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:

Proper 25, Year A:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/11/proper-25-year-a/

Job 42:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/week-of-proper-21-friday-year-2-and-week-of-proper-21-saturday-year-2/

Hebrews 7:

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/week-of-2-epiphany-thursday-year-1/

Mark 10:

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2010/11/07/week-of-8-epiphany-thursday-year-1/

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2011/07/16/week-of-8-epiphany-thursday-year-2/

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2010/11/14/week-of-proper-3-thursday-year-1/

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/07/16/week-of-proper-3-thursday-year-2/

Luke 18 (Parallel to Mark 10):

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/week-of-proper-28-monday-year-1/

Prayers for Inclusion:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/prayers-for-inclusion/

A Prayer for the Blind:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/a-prayer-for-the-blind/

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The theme for Proper 25, Year B, is restoration.  Job, who had lost so much, got much more back.  Descendants of the original Judean exiles would return to their ancestral homeland.  And a blind man sought and received his sight back in the last healing by Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Mark.

Blindness was common in the ancient world, and it resulted from various causes.  It was, in Jewish custom of the time, a ritual blemish, rendering one unfit to serve as a priest (Leviticus 21:18).  And a blind animal was not suitable for ritual sacrifice (Leviticus 22:22 and Deuteronomy 15:21).  So the blind man was, in the estimation of many people in his culture, defective, perhaps even punished by God.  That must have taken an emotional toll on the man.  Yet the Law (in Leviticus 19:14) forbade placing an obstacle in the way of the blind, so those who told the blind man to be quiet violated the Law of Moses.

Healing stories involving Jesus are about more than correcting the physical, emotional, and psychological disorders of people.  They also speak of the restoration to society.  The blind man no longer had a ritual blemish; he was no longer allegedly defective or punished by God.

As I write these words, I belong to a culture which considers itself fairly enlightened.  It is, in many ways.  We even have the Americans with Disabilities Act.  And, based  on the architecture of certain church buildings in which I have worshiped, I recognize a lack of concern for handicapped access in the late 1800s and early 1900s yet a keen attention to this issue in structures from more recent decades.  Yet the disabled still face many challenges in getting from Point A to Point B, entering many buildings, and using many restrooms.  Our lack of concern for them forces many of them to the margins; we are not as enlightened as we like to think we are.

Jesus restored people to society; we ought to do the same, as we are able.

KRT

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/restoration/