Archive for the ‘Exodus 34’ Tag
Above: Icon of the Transfiguration
Image in the Public Domain
The Light of Christ
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Appearances can deceive. That statement is true in many contexts. Consider the historical figure we call Jesus (or Jeshua or Joshua) of Nazareth, O reader. I am Christologically orthodox, so I affirm the Incarnation, but I also make a distinction between the Second Person of the Trinity prior to the Incarnation and the person we call Jesus. The distinction I make is a purely historical one; I refer to Jesus as the incarnated Second Person. Perhaps I am splitting a hair. If so, so be it.
As I was writing, appearances can deceive. We do not know what Jesus looked like, but we can be certain that he did not look like a northern European. Reconstructions I have seen plausibly depict Jesus as someone with dark skin, short hair, and brown eyes. One may realistically state that his appearance most days was dramatically different from that on the day of the Transfiguration. One may also ask how the Apostles knew the other two figures were Moses and Elijah, who were not wearing name tags.
The Gospels are more works of theology than history, as I, trained in historical methodology, practice my craft. One should never underestimate the four canonical Gospels as works of finely-honed theology, complete with literary structure. I know this, so I choose not to let the absence of name tags bother me. I accept the theological point that Jesus was and remains consistent with the Law and the Prophets. I also accept the theological point that the Transfiguration revealed the divine glory present in Jesus, en route to die in Jerusalem. The prose poetry, with echoes of Moses encountering God on a mountain, accomplishes its purpose.
What are we supposed to do with this story of Jesus? 2 Peter 1:19 points to the answer:
…the message of the prophets] will go on shining like a lamp in a murky place, until day breaks and the morning star rises to illumine your minds.
—The Revised English Bible (1989)
May the light of Christ illumine our minds and shape our lives. (As we think, we are.) May that light direct our private and public morality, so that we (both individually and collectively) will not betray Jesus in either our deeds or our words. May we take that light with us as we travel with Jesus, and not attempt to box it up, even out of reverence. May the light of Christ shine in us, both individually and collectively, as we, in the words of Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church,
love like Jesus.
We know how Jesus loved, do we not? We know that he loved unconditionally and all the way to the cross. The call of Christian discipleship is the summons to follow Jesus, wherever he leads. Details vary according to where, when, and who one is, but the call,
follow me,
is constant. So is the command to transfigure societies, for the glory of God and for the common good, with the Golden Rule as the gold standard of private and public morals, ethics, and policies.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 7, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF COLBERT S. CARTWRIGHT, U.S. DISCIPLES OF CHRIST MINISTER, LITURGIST, AND WITNESS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
THE FEAST OF GUGLIELMO MASSAIA, ITALIAN CARDINAL, MISSIONARY, AND CAPUCHIN FRIAR
THE FEAST OF JOHN SCRIMGER, CANADIAN PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, ECUMENIST, AND LITURGIST
THE FEAST OF SAINT VICTRICIUS OF ROUEN, ROMAN CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR AND ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
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O God, who on your holy mount revealed to chosen witnesses your well-beloved Son,
wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistening:
Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world,
may by faith behold the King in his beauty;
who with you, O Father, and you, O Holy Spirit,
lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Exodus 34:29-35
Psalm 99 or 99:5-9
2 Peter 1:13-21
Luke 9:28-36
—Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2010), 509
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2019/08/07/the-light-of-christ-part-vi/
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Above: Effects of Acid Rain on a Forest in the Czech Republic, 2006
Photographer = Lovecz
The Sins of the Fathers
OCTOBER 6, 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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Exodus 34:1-10 or 1 Kings 22:29-43
Psalm 62:1-8, 11-12
Hebrews 5:12-6:12
Mark 9:30-37
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The key mark of discipleship is servanthood.
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Some themes recur in the readings for this week:
- God is faithful.
- Trust in God.
- Do not commit apostasy.
- People reap what they sow.
- Christ is the exemplar of the type of service that defines greatness.
Exodus 34:7 requires unpacking. The principle that God punishes or forgives members of subsequent generations based on the sins of an ancestor exists also in 1 Kings 21:29, Nehemiah 9:17, Deuteronomy 5:9, Numbers 14:18, Psalm 103:8, Joel 2:13, and Jonah 4:2. Yet we read the opposite view–individual moral responsibility–in Ezekiel 18 and Jeremiah 31:29-30. The Bible contradicts itself sometimes.
The best explanation for the opinion we read in Exodus 34:7 comes from Professor Richard Elliot Friedman: effects of one’s actions are apparent generations later. I recognize ways in which actions of two of my paternal great-grandfathers influence me indirectly. This is one example of something, that, from a certain point of view, looks like intergenerational punishment and reward by God.
The decisions of others influence us. Some of them even restrict our options. We may suffer because of the decisions of those who have preceded us; we may suffer because of their sins. This is the way of the world. Yet we are morally responsible for ourselves and each other, not those who have died. No, they are responsible for their sins, just as we are responsible for ours.
May we–individually and collectively–refrain from visiting the consequences of our sins on those who will succeed us. We owe them that much, do we not?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 25, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JAMES BAR-ZEBEDEE, APOSTLE AND MARTYR
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2019/07/25/the-sins-of-the-fathers-part-ii/
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Above: Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, Sautee, Georgia, February 8, 2015
Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
Sabbath
AUGUST 18-20, 2022
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The Collect:
O God, mighty and immortal, you know that as fragile creatures
surrounded by great dangers, we cannot by ourselves stand upright.
Give us strength of mind and body, so that even when we suffer
because of human sin, we may rise victorious through
your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 46
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The Assigned Readings:
Numbers 15:32-41 (Thursday)
2 Chronicles 8:12-15 (Friday)
Nehemiah 13:15-22 (Saturday)
Psalm 103:1-8 (All Days)
Hebrews 12:13-17 (Thursday)
Acts 17:1-9 (Friday)
Luke 6:1-5 (Saturday)
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Bless Yahweh, my soul,
from the depths of my being, his holy name;
bless Yahweh, my soul,
never forget all his acts of kindness.
–Psalm 103:1-2, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
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Keeping divine commandments is one way of manifesting love for God. Observing the Sabbath is the dominant issue in these days’ readings, so I focus on it.
Sabbath is an indication of freedom. When the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, they had no days off. Since they were free, however, they had a day off each week. Violating it carried a death sentence, though. (That was unduly harsh!) The reality of the death penalty for that infraction indicated the importance of keeping Sabbath in that culture, which understood that individual violations led to communal punishment.
Our Lord and Savior’s Apostles plucked grain with their hands one Sabbath. This was permissible in Deuteronomy 23:25 yet not in Exodus 34:21. Jesus preferred to cite the former, but his accusers favored the latter. He also understood the precedent David set in 1 Samuel 21:1-6, in which, in an emergency, he and his soldiers consumed holy bread. Jesus grasped a basic reality–people need the Sabbath, but there should be flexibility regarding the rules of the day. In this respect he fit in nicely with his Jewish culture, with its various understandings of Sabbath laws.
Life brings too many hardships to endure (often for the sake of righteousness). Fewer of them would exist if more people would be content to mind their own business. Why, then, do so many observant people add to this by turning a day of freedom into one of misery? I suppose that legalism brings joy to certain individuals.
May we keep the Sabbath as a day of rest, relaxation, and freedom, not legalism and misery. If we must work on our usual Sabbath, may we keep Sabbath another day.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 24, 2016 COMMON ERA
MAUNDY THURSDAY
THE FEAST OF THOMAS ATTWOOD, “FATHER OF MODERN CHURCH MUSIC”
THE FEAST OF SAINT DIDACUS JOSEPH OF CADIZ, CAPUCHIN FRIAR
THE FEAST OF OSCAR ROMERO, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF SAN SALVADOR, AND THE MARTYRS OF EL SALVADOR
THE FEAST OF PAUL COUTURIER, ECUMENIST
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2016/03/24/sabbath/
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Above: Christ Before Pilate, by Mihaly Munkacsy
Image in the Public Domain
Cleansing from Evil that Arises Within Ourselves, Part II
AUGUST 28, 2021
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The Collect:
O God our strength, without you we are weak and wayward creatures.
Protect us from all dangers that attack us from the outside,
and cleanse us from the outside,
and cleanse us from all evil that arises from within ourselves,
that we may be preserved through your Son,
Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 46
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The Assigned Readings:
Exodus 34:8-28
Psalm 15
John 18:28-32
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Lord, who may dwell in your tabernacle?
Who may rest upon your holy hill?
Whoever leads an uncorrupt life
and does the thing that is right;
Who speaks the truth from the heart
and bears no deceit on the tongue;
Who does no evil to a friend
and pours no scorn on a neighbour;
In whose sight the wicked are not esteemed,
but who honours those who fear the Lord.
Whoever has sworn to a neighbour
and never goes back on that word;
Who does not lend money in hope of gain,
nor takes a bribe against the innocent;
Whoever does these things shall never fall.
–Psalm 15, The Book of Common Prayer (2004)
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The reading from Exodus 34 tells of the restoration of the covenant between Yahweh and the recently liberated Hebrews. God, we read, is compassionate and impassioned, encompassing both mercy and judgment. The covenant was something God took seriously and many people did not, occasional ceremonies not withstanding.
As I read John 18:28-32, the first thing I noticed was that those who delivered Jesus to Pontius Pilate’s headquarters were willing to let the Roman authorities execute Jesus yet demonstrated great concern for maintaining their own ritual purity ahead of Passover. The spectacle of people fretting about ritual defilement while being willfully complicit in the execution of an innocent man–a scapegoat, even–is appalling.
Often we Gentiles are prone to point to such stories from the Gospels and condemn the failings of long-dead Palestinian Jews. Those failings deserve condemnation, of course, but what about our sins? How often have we been consciously complicit in injustice (actively or passively) and sought to maintain the illusion of righteousness? We might even fool ourselves, but we do not deceive God, who is both compassionate and impassioned, who commands justice for the widows, the orphans, and the exploited.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 2, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MARGARET E. SANGSTER, HYMN WRITER, NOVELIST, AND DEVOTIONAL WRITER
THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF LYONS (A.K.A. BLANDINA AND HER COMPANIONS)
THE FEAST OF REINHOLD NIEBUHR, UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT STEPHEN OF SWEDEN, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY, BISHOP, AND MARTYR
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2015/06/02/cleansing-from-evil-that-arises-within-ourselves-part-ii/
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Above: Diagram of a U-Turn
Image Source = Smurrayinchester
Godly Imagination
SEPTEMBER 9, 2023
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The Collect:
O Lord God, enliven and preserve your church with your perpetual mercy.
Without your help, we mortals will fail;
remove far from us everything that is harmful,
and lead us toward all that gives life and salvation,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 46
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The Assigned Readings:
Ezekiel 33:1-6
Psalm 119:33-40
Matthew 23:29-36
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The route of transformation–a process which God initiates–is that of turning around. Ezekiel 33, the beginning of which is an assigned reading for today, makes those two points clearly. It also states, contrary either to Exodus 34:7 and Deuteronomy 5:9-10 or to interpretations thereof, that individuals are responsible only for their sins; they carry no responsibility for the sins of any of their ancestors.
Regardless of how nice we think we are, we are complicit in sins of society because of our roles in societal institutions. Our hands might not be as clean as we imagine because others do our dirty work while we are either oblivious or we approve. I think of that reality when I read Jesus from Matthew 23:36:
Truly I tell you: this generation will bear the guilt of it all.
—The Revised English Bible, 1989
To repent is to turn around and to change one’s mind. Changing one’s mind is crucial and difficult, for we become accustomed to ways of being and thinking; we are creatures of habit. I am convinced that more sin flows from lack of imagination than from cartoonish, mustache-twirling perfidy. Yes, there are malicious people who seek out opportunities to harm others each day, but more negativity results from functional fixedness. Those of us who are not malicious might not even be able at certain moments to imagine that what God has said ought be (A) is what God has said ought to be or (B) can come to pass, at least any time soon. Our lack of imagination condemns us and injures others.
How might the world be a better place for more people if more of us had a more highly developed imagination in tune with God? Many of us, in the words of Psalm 119:35 (The Book of Common Prayer, 1979), pray:
Make me go in the path of your commandments,
for that is my desire.
How many of us, however, have the imagination to recognize that route? May we see then follow it to the end, by grace and free will, itself a result of grace.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 15, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARY OF NAZARETH, MOTHER OF GOD
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Bloga Theologica version
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Above: Jesus Heals Two Blind Men, by Julius Schnorr
Image in the Public Domain
Divine Judgment and Mercy
JUNE 8-10, 2023
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The Collect:
O God, you are the source of life and the ground of our being.
By the power of your Spirit bring healing to this wounded world,
and raise us to the new life of your Son, Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 38
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The Assigned Readings:
Lamentations 1:7-11 (Thursday)
Lamentations 3:40-58 (Friday)
Exodus 34:1-9 (Saturday)
Psalm 50:7-15 (All Days)
2 Peter 2:17-22 (Thursday)
Acts 28:1-10 (Friday)
Matthew 9:27-34 (Saturday)
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Hear, O my people, and I will speak:
“I will testify against you, O Israel;
for I am God, your God….”
–Psalm 50:7, Common Worship (2000)
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The assigned readings for these three days juxtapose divine judgment and mercy. The metaphors for the consequences of sin are quite graphic. They do not make for good mealtime conversation, but at least they convey the point well.
There is also extravagant mercy with God. In Matthew 9:27-34, for example, Jesus healed two blind men and a mute whom others in his culture considered a demoniac. I, being a product of the Scientific Revolution and the subsequent Enlightenment, reject the Hellenistic notion that demonic possession causes muteness. No, I seek psychological explanations. None of that changes the reality of restoration to community. Those three men were marginal prior to their healing. The blind men might have even accepted the commonplace assumption that someone’s sin had caused their lack of vision. The lifting of that spiritual burden must have been wonderful also.
We must exercise caution to avoid becoming trapped in a simplistic and false concept of God. Such a false concept is an idol, for it occupies the place God should fill. With God there are great depths of mercy yet also the reality of potential judgment. As a prayer for Good Friday from The Book of Common Prayer (1979) reads:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, we pray you to set your passion, cross, and death between your judgment and our souls, now and in the hour of our death. Give mercy and grace to the living; pardon and rest to the dead; to your holy Church peace and concord; and to us sinners everlasting life and glory; for with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
–Page 282
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 14, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF FRANCIS MAKEMIE, FATHER OF U.S. PRESBYTERIANISM
THE FEAST OF EDWARD HENRY BICKERSTETH, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF EXETER
THE FEAST OF JOHN ROBERTS/IEUAN GWYLLT, FOUNDER OF WELSH SINGING FESTIVALS
THE FEAST OF NGAKUKU, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/divine-judgment-and-mercy/
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Above: Girl with the Pearl Earring, by Johannes Vermeer (Circa 1665)
Image in the Public Domain
Transformed by God
AUGUST 2, 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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Exodus 34:29-35 (Richard Elliott Friedman, 2001):
And it was when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’s hand when he was coming down from the mountain. And Moses had not known that the skin of his face was transformed when He was speaking with him. And Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses; and, here, the skin of his face was transformed, and they were afraid of going over to him. And Moses called to them. And Aaron and all the chiefs in the congregation came back to him, and he spoke to them. And after that all the children of Israel went over. And he commanded them everything that YHWH had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. And Moses finished speaking with them, and he put a veil on his face. And when Moses would come in front of YHWH to speak with Him, he would turn away the veil until he would go out; and he would go out and speak to the children of Israel what had been commanded. And the children of Israel would see Moses’ face, that the skin of Moses’ face was transformed, and Moses would put back the veil on his face until he would come to speak with Him.
Psalm 99 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 The LORD is King;
let the people tremble;
he is enthroned upon the cherubim;
let the earth shake.
2 The LORD is great in Zion;
he is high above all peoples.
3 Let them confess his Name, which is great and awesome;
he is the Holy One.
4 “O mighty King, lover of justice,
you have established equity;
you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.”
5 Proclaim the greatness of the LORD our God
and fall down before his footstool;
he is the Holy One.
6 Moses and Aaron among his priests,
and Samuel among those who call upon his Name,
they called upon the LORD, and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud;
they kept his testimonies and the decree that he gave them.
8 “O LORD our God, you answered them indeed;
you were a God who forgave them,
yet punished them for their evil deeds.”
9 Proclaim the greatness of the LORD our God
and worship him upon his holy hill;
for the LORD our God is the Holy One.
Matthew 13:44-46 (J. B. Phillips, 1972):
[Jesus continued,]
Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like some treasure which has been buried in a field. A man finds it and buries it again, and goes off overjoyed to sell all his possessions to buy himself that field.
Or again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he has found a single pearl of great value, he goes and sells all his possessions and buys it.
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The Collect:
O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; 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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I suspect that the imagery in Exodus is pure poetry. Some Biblical events are like that–words are inadequate for literal descriptions, so we have prose poetry instead. The Revised Common Lectionary pairs this reading from Exodus with an account of the Transfiguration of Jesus for Sunday purposes. And I recognize the same pairing in the readings for the Feast of the Transfiguration. There is another example of a prose-poetic description.
Whatever the details were, contact with God had altered Moses so much that he was obviously different than he was before recent events on the mountain. And so, as Richard Elliott Friedman states, the veil over the leader’s face became an indication of YHWH’s proximity, much like the visible, physical shrine. Something mysterious was occurring, and people recognized this fact immediately. Those who saw it responded with awe and wonder. God was truly in their midst.
When one discovers that one is in the presence of God, how should one act? Two brief parables of Jesus speak to that issue. One man finds a great treasure when not seeking it. But he knows what he has found, stores it safely in the earth temporarily, sells all he owns, and uses the proceeds to purchase the field where he found the treasure. Likewise, a merchant seeking a pearl, a much-admired object of beauty, finds it, sells all his possessions, and uses the money to purchase it. So, whether we seek the knowledge that we are in the presence of God, or whether we stumble upon this realization, we ought to treasure this above all else. Single-minded devotion is the proper response.
We are, of course, always in the presence of God. If we look closely enough, we will recognize God in the faces of those we like and/or love, as well as those with whom we disagree and/or dislike. God is present directly, as well as in those we know and those with whom we are not acquainted. So, when people look at our faces with spiritual perception, will they see God reflected back at them? And do we seek the same in others?
I choose to avoid much negativity, much of which is present in abundance on AM talk radio and in comments sections on many websites. There one can find a plethora of vitriolic comments, many of which reflect more rage than anything else. These are zones for people oblivious to objective reality. So I will not find God there. No, I prefer uplifting content, whether secular or overtly religious. Consider the public domain image at the top of this post, for example. It is an example of great art, but not of a religious nature. Yet Vermeer paintings feed my soul, and in them I find the beauty which comes from God.
God is present in many places; may we find as many as possible. Then may God transform us.
KRT
http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2011/09/27/transformed-by-god/
Above: Moses
Image in the Public Domain
Judgment and Mercy
AUGUST 1, 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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Exodus 33:7-11; 34:5-10, 27-28 (Richard Elliott Friedman, 2001):
And Moses would take the tent and pitch it outside of the camp, going far from the camp, and he called it the Tent of Meeting. And it would be: everyone seeking YHWH would to out to the Tent of Meeting, which was outside of the camp. And it would be, when Moses would go out to the Tent, all the people would get up, and they would stand up, each one at the entrance of the tent, and they would look after Moses until he came to the Tent. And it would be, when Moses came to the Tent, the column of cloud would come down, and it would stand at the entrance of the Tent, and He would speak with Moses. And all the people would see the column of cloud standing at the entrance of the Tent, and all the people would get up and bow, each at the entrance of his tent. And YHWH would speak to Moses face-to-face, the way a man speaks to his fellow man. And he would come back to the camp. And his attendant, Joshua, son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from inside the Tent.
…
And YHWH came down in a cloud and stood before him there, and he invoked the name YHWH. And YHWH passed in front of him and called,
YHWH, YHWH, merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in kindness and faithfulness, keeping kindness for thousands, bearing crime and offense and sin; though not making one innocent; reckoning fathers’ crimes on children and on children’s cildren, on third generations and on fourth generations.
And Moses hurried and knelt on the ground and bowed, and he said,
If I’ve found favor in your eyes, my Lord, may my Lord go among us, because it is a stiff-necked people, and forgive our crime and our sin, and make us your legacy.
And He said,
Here, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I’ll do wonders that haven’t been created in all the earth and among all the nations; and all the people whom you’re among will see YHWH’s deeds, because that which I’m doing with you is awesome….
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And YHWH said to Moses,
Write these words to yourself, because I’ve made a covenant with you and with Israel based on these words.
And he was there with YHWH forty days and forty nights. He did not eat bread, and he did not drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
Psalm 103:5-13 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
5 He satisfies you with good things,
and your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.
6 The LORD executes righteousness
and judgment for all who are oppressed.
7 He made his ways known to Moses
and his works to the children of Israel.
8 The LORD is full of compassion and mercy,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
9 He will not always accuse us,
nor will he keep his anger for ever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor rewarded us according to our wickedness.
11 For as the heavens are as high above the earth,
so is his mercy great upon those who fear him.
12 As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our sins from us.
13 As a father cares for his children,
so does the LORD care for those who fear him.
Matthew 13:36-43 (J. B. Phillips, 1972):
Later, he left the crowds and went indoors, where his disciples came and said,
Please explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.
Jesus replied,
The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the whole world. The good seed? That is the sons of the kingdom, while the weeds are sons of the evil one of this world. The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of this world. The reapers are angels.
Just as weeds are gathered up and burned in the fire so will it happen at the end of the world. The Son of Man will send out his angels and they will uproot from the kingdom everything that is spoiling it, and all those who live in defiance of its laws, and will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be tears and bitter regret. Then the good will shine out like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. The man who has ears should use them!
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The Collect:
O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; 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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Sometimes I feel like a broken record, or at least Mojo Jojo from The Powerpuff Girls; I keep repeating myself. I have an excellent reason for my repetition: the texts keep saying the same things over and over again. So here I am, again, writing that divine judgment and mercy are intertwined.
One point does bear elaboration before I proceed. Consider Exodus 34:6-7, which speak of the passing down of sins through the generations. Richard Elliott Friedman makes the following comment about it on page 291 of his Commentary on the Torah:
…Third, psychologically one can observe traits persevering through that many [four] generations. I have personally observed ongoing dynamics within my family through four generations. This does not mean that an individual’s bad deed will be duplicated by his or her children and grandchildren. But it may recognize that such deeds have consequences, for better or worse (pride and embarrassment, stigmas, reactions, conscious or unconscious imitation), that persist through generations.
Consequences constitute the crux of the issue. Deeds have consequences, and often divine punishment is merely permitting consequences to play out. Much of the time this for disciplinary reasons, so that we will learn our lessons. Responsible parents do not always shield their children from the consequences of bad actions. This is for the good of the children. Since the parental role (often paternal, but sometimes maternal, too) is one Biblical writers applied to God, this analogy works well. Furthermore, forgiveness of sin does not erase the consequences of it. Roman Catholic theology reflects a deep understanding of this fact, hence the teaching on Purgatory, which many people misunderstand.
The God of the Old Testament is merely a vengeful deity, contrary to the oft-repeated stereotype. There is much mercy there, too, as the excerpts from Genesis indicate. This is God, who loves the Israelites enough to liberate them. They can never pay him back, but they can worship only him, demonstrate gratitude for provisions, and obey some commandments. Is this too much to ask? No! But do they do that much? No! Why should God not be angry and disappointed? But does God give up on them? No!
This is God, who speaks to Moses personally in the leader’s own tent for a few chapters in Exodus (until Chapter 40). But God continues to speak to Moses, who is faithful, and who even argues with him from time to time. This is God, who demonstrates caring and much involvement with the Israelites, although mostly by dealing with Moses, who functions as an intermediary.
Yet, as Jesus reminds us in Matthew 13:36-43, there is still judgment for unrepentant. And it will be terrifying.
My note of caution is to repent not out of fear of damnation, but out of love, respect, and awe for God and divine mercy. A relationship built on terror of Hell is one with a father figure whom one thinks might be abusive. That is a dysfunctional spiritual relationship. No, may we love God, who loves us. And may we bear fruits consistent with righteousness. This is possible, by grace.
KRT
http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/judgment-and-mercy/
ORDINARY TIME DEVOTIONS 
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