Above: The New Novel, by Winslow Homer
Image in the Public Domain
Upright and Religious Lives
OCTOBER 26 and 27, 2023
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The Collect:
O Lord God, you are the holy lawgiver, you are the salvation of your people.
By your Spirit renew us in your covenant of love,
and train us to care tenderly for all our neighbors,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 51
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The Assigned Readings:
Numbers 5:5-10 (Thursday)
Deuteronomy 9:25-10:5 (Friday)
Psalm 1 (Both Days)
Titus 1:5-16 (Thursday)
Titus 2:7-8, 11-15 (Friday)
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Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked,
nor lingered in the way of sinners,
nor sat in the seats of the scornful!
Their delight is in the law of the LORD,
and they meditate on his law day and night.
They are like trees planted by streams of water,
bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither;
everything they do shall prosper.
It is not so with the wicked;
they are like the chaff which the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes,
nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.
For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked is doomed.
–Psalm 1, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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Psalm 1 is excessively optimistic in places, for not everything the righteous do prospers. Indeed, many of the wicked do quite well for themselves in this life. That quibble aside, I note the recognition of ultimate justice, for all of us will answer to the same God, in whom dwell both judgment and mercy.
Thea assigned readings from the Old and New Testaments focus on how to live on this plane of reality. We learn about consequences of sins also. Sometimes those consequences assume the form of restitution to the wronged person or the wronged person’s next of kin. Or they might assume the form of a donation to a priest if there is no next of kin. But what about the situation in which the collective sins? Moses interceded with God to avoid the destruction of the people, who were stubborn, grumbling ingrates who had not surrendered their slave mentalities. Many members of that first generation of partially liberated people died due to their sins and the second generation entered the Promised Land. Words from Titus could have applied to that first generation:
They claim to know God but by their works they deny him; they are outrageously rebellious and quite untrustworthy for any good work.
–1:16, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
Speaking of slavery, God had liberated that first generation physically from servitude in Egypt. Thus the birth of the Hebrew nation was its passage through the parted waters of the Sea of Reeds. Those who designed the lectionary I am following skipped Titus 2:9-10:
Slaves must be obedient to their masters in everything, and do what is wanted without argument, and show complete honesty at all times, so that they are in every way a credit to the teaching of God our Saviour.
—The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
I side with God in Exodus, not with St. Paul the Apostle, in this matter. Slavery is wrong in all its forms at all times and in all places.
Another portion of the Letter of Titus is less troublesome, although not without a history of excessively rigorous interpretation and enforcement:
[God’s grace] has taught us that we should give up everything contrary to true religion and all our worldly passions; we must be self-restrained and live upright lives in this present world, waiting in hope for the blessing which will come with the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ.
–2:12-14, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
Off the top of my head I can repeat a list of allegedly self-indulgent and therefore sinful deeds:
- Attending plays,
- Reading novels,
- Playing dominoes,
- Playing chess,
- Playing cards,
- Playing soccer,
- Wearing fashionable clothes,
- Wearing ribbons in one’s hair (sorry, ladies),
- Drinking coffee,
- Drinking tea,
- Eating meat,
- Eating pastries,
- Dancing,
- Hosting a dance at home,
- Attending circuses,
- Watching television, and
- Watching television.
I have found references to all of these in various sources, which have dated the condemnations from centuries ago the present day. On the other hand, would not opposing slavery constitute part of leading an upright and religious life at any time. One might think so.
May we who profess to follow God do so in reality, forsaking petty nonsense and pursuing love of our fellow human beings and seeking the best for them.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 3, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ARTHUR CARL LICHTENBERGER, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
THE FEAST OF J. R. R. TOLKIEN, NOVELIST
THE FEAST OF JIMMY LAWRENCE, EPISCOPAL PRIEST
THE FEAST OF PRUDENCE CRANDALL, EDUCATOR
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ORDINARY TIME DEVOTIONS 
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