You cannot conceive, nor can I, of the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God.

Above:  Christ Healing an Infirm Woman, by James Tissot

Image in the Public Domain

The Appalling Strangeness of the Mercy of God

SEPTEMBER 26, 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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1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 or Jeremiah 23:23-29

Psalm 107:1-3, 170-32

Romans 9:1-6, 16

Luke 13:10-17

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The twin themes of divine judgment and mercy dominate these five readings, O reader.

I know, O reader, that, if you have paid attention to and read this weblog for a while, you can probably guess what I will write next.  The Bible is repetitive.  Lectionaries keep taking me into repetitive territory.  The Bible repeats itself because people missed a given message the first many times.

–Graham Greene, Brighton Rock (1938)

The mercy of God present in Jesus, healing on the Sabbath, appalled one synagogue official in Luke 13:10-17.  This mercy should have filled that man with joy on behalf of the formerly afflicted woman.  No, he stood of conventional piety, according to which Christ’s actions were inappropriate–even sinful–on the Sabbath.  Jesus did not provide first aid; that would have been fine, according to conventional piety.  Neither did he provide emergency relief that saved her life; that also would have been fine, according to conventional piety.  Had he healed her on any of the other six days of the week, that would have been fine, according to conventional piety.  So much for that version of conventional piety!

The easy way out is to stand on one’s perceived moral superiority to that synagogue official.  The easy way out is to denounce him and stop there.  However, I know myself well enough to affirm that I have my own version of conventional piety–the rules of the spiritual road, as I understand them, so to speak.  If Jesus were to stand in front of me and transgress any of those rules, I would probably take offense at him.  That would be my problem and sin, not his.

You, O reader, probably resemble that remark.  Who among us is a spiritual superhero, greater than mere mortals?

May God forgive all of us our spiritual blindness and fixations that prevent us from responding as we should.  And may we follow divine leading in repenting of those sins.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 25, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARK THE EVANGELIST, MARTYR, 68

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2020/04/25/the-appalling-strangeness-of-the-mercy-of-god/

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O LORD, you have duped me, and I have been your dupe;

Above:  Icon of Jeremiah

Image in the Public Domain

Arguing Faithfully with God

SEPTEMBER 19, 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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1 Samuel 12:19-24 or Jeremiah 20:7-18

Psalm 107:1-15

Romans 8:26-39

Luke 12:49-13:9

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Relationships with God can be difficult; read today’s lesson from Jeremiah, for example.  It starts with,

you have outwitted me and have prevailed.

A few verses later, one reads,

But the LORD is on my side, strong and ruthless,

therefore my persecutors shall stumble and fall powerless.

Nevertheless, a few verses later, one reads,

A curse on the day when I was born!

This is vintage Jeremiah.  It is stronger than Psalm 107, consistent with our reading from Jeremiah.  The reading from Romans 8, in contrast, is upbeat:

If God is on our side, who is against us?…for I am convinced that…nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

–Verses 31, 38, and 39, The Revised English Bible (1989)

I suppose that, depending on the time of day, Jeremiah, a prophet of God, changed his mind about whether God was on his side.  That was fine, for Jeremiah had a relationship with God, at least.

My second favorite aspect of Judaism is arguing faithfully with God.  (Monotheism is my favorite aspect of Judaism.)  Islam is about submitting to God.  In Judaism, however, one can kvetch at God and be pious.  One can also be pious in the same way in Christianity, fortunately.  After all, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Repentance remains vital, though.  Although nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, divine judgment and mercy remain in balance.  We human beings retain our free will; may we use it wisely.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 24, 2020 COMMON ERA

GENOCIDE REMEMBRANCE

THE FEAST OF SAINT EGBERT OF LINDISFARNE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK; AND SAINT ADALBERT OF EGMONT, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY

THE FEAST OF SAINT FIDELIS OF SIGMARINGEN, CAPUCHIN FRIAR AND MARTYR, 1622

THE FEAST OF JOHANN WALTER, “FIRST CANTOR OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH”

THE FEAST OF SAINT MELLITUS, BISHOP OF LONDON, AND ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2020/04/24/arguing-faithfully-with-god-part-iii/

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Above:  The Parable of the Sower

Image in the Public Domain

Being Good Soil

JUNE 18, 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:

Isaiah 6:(8) 9-13 or Ezekiel 17:22-24 or Daniel 4:1-37

Psalm 7

Matthew 14:10-17 (18-33) 34-35 or Mark 4:1-25 or Luke 8:4-25; 13:18-21

Ephesians 4:17-24 (26-32; 5:1-2) 3-7 or 2 Peter 2:1-22

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Your mind must be renewed by a spiritual revolution so that you can put on the new self that has been created in God’s way, in the goodness and holiness of the truth.

–Ephesians 4:23-24, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

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Much of the content of the assigned readings, with their options, functions as commentary on that summary statement.  To borrow a line from Rabbi Hillel, we ought to go and learn it.

The commission of (First) Isaiah might seem odd.  Does the text indicate that God is commanding Isaiah to preach to the population but not to help them avoid the wrath of God?  Or, as many rabbis have argued for a long time, should one read imperative verbs as future tense verbs and the troublesome passage therefore as a prediction?  I prefer the second interpretation.  Does not God prefer repentance among sinners?  The pairing of this reading with the Parable of the Sower and its interpretation seems to reinforce this point.  I recall some bad sermons on this parable, which is not about the sower.  The sower did a bad job, I remember hearing certain homilists say.  To fixate on the sower and his methodology is to miss the point.  The name of the story should be the Parable of the Four Soils, a title I have read in commentaries.  One should ask oneself,

What kind of soil am I?

Am I the rocky soil of King Zedekiah (in Ezekiel 17:11-21) or the fertile soil of the betrayed man in Psalm 7?  A mustard seed might give rise to a large plant that shelters many varieties of wildlife, and therefore be like the Davidic dynastic tree in Ezekiel 17:22-24 and Nebuchadnezzar II in Daniel 4, but even a mustard seed needs good soil in which to begin the process of sprouting into that plant.

One might be bad soil for any one of a number of reasons.  One might not care.  One might be oblivious.  One might be hostile.  One might be distracted and too busy.  Nevertheless, one is bad soil at one’s own peril.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 16, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE TWENTIETH DAY OF ADVENT

THE FEAST OF GUSTAF AULEN, SWEDISH LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT FILIP SIPHONG ONPHITHAKT, ROMAN CATHOLIC CATECHIST AND MARTYR IN THAILAND

THE FEAST OF MAUDE DOMINICA PETRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MODERNIST THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF RALPH ADAMS CRAM AND RICHARD UPJOHN, ARCHITECTS; AND JOHN LAFARGE, SR., PAINTER AND STAINED GLASS MAKER

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2016/12/16/being-good-soil-2/

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Above:   Archelaus

Image in the Public Domain

Deeds and Creeds

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

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The Collect:

Merciful God, gracious and benevolent,

through your Son you invite all the world to a meal of mercy.

Grant that we may eagerly follow this call,

and bring us with all your saints into your life of justice and joy,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 52

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The Assigned Readings:

Amos 5:12-14

Psalm 50

Luke 19:11-27

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“Consider this well, you who forget God,

lest I rend you and there be none to deliver you.

Whoever offers me the sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me;

but to those who keep in my way will I show the salvation of God.”

–Psalm 50:23-24, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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The traditional title for the pericope from Luke 19 is the Parable of the Pounds.  That reading is superficially similar to the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), which teaches the imperative of diligence in the work of God.  In the case of Luke 19:11-27, however, the real point is quite different.

Textual context matters.  Immediately prior to the parable we read of our Lord and Savior’s encounter with Zacchaeus, a man who worked as a tax collector for the Roman Empire.  He was a literal tax thief, although, as we read, he changed his ways and made more restitution than the Law of Moses required.  Immediately after the parable Jesus enters Jerusalem at the beginning of that fateful Holy Week.  The story of Zacchaeus explains verse 11a (“As they were listening to this”); the context of the impending Triumphal Entry is crucial to understanding the pericope which Volume IX (1995) of The New Interpreter’s Bible calls “The Parable of the Greedy and Vengeful King.”

The nobleman in the parable resembles members of the Herodian Dynasty, especially Archelaus (reigned 4 B.C.E.-6 C.E.), son of Herod the Great (reigned 47-4 B.C.E.), Governor of Galilee then the client king of the Jews.  Herod the Great, who traveled to Rome to seek the title of king, reigned as one because the Roman Republic then Empire granted him that title.  He was also a cruel man.  Biblical and extra-Biblical sources agree on this point, constituting a collection of stories of his tyranny and cruelty.  In Matthew 2 he ordered the Massacre of the Innocents, for example.  Archelaus, a son of Herod the Great, ruled as the Roman-appointed ethnarch of Idumea, Judea, and Samaria, after traveling to Rome.  Archelaus sought the title of King, which the Emperor Augustus denied him after meeting with a delegation of Jews.  Archelaus, mentioned by name in Matthew 2:22, was also cruel and tyrannical, victimizing Jews and Samaritans alike.  On one day alone he ordered the massacre of 3000 people at the Temple precinct in Jerusalem.  Eventually Augustus deposed him.  Herod Antipas, full brother of Archelaus, ruled on behalf of the Roman Empire as the tetrarch of Galilee and Perea from 4 B.C.E. to 39 C.E., when he sought the title of King and found himself banished to Gaul instead.  Antipas, a chip off the old block, ordered the execution of St. John the Baptist (Matthew 14:3-10) and sought to kill Jesus, who called the tetrarch “that fox” (Luke 13:32).

A trope in the interpretation of parables of Jesus is that one of the characters represents God.  That does not apply accurately to the parable in Luke 19:11-27.  In fact, the unnamed nobleman, who orders the execution of his political opponents, is an antitype of Jesus, who enters Jerusalem triumphantly in the next pericope and dies on the cross a few days later, at the hands of Roman officials.  The Kingdom of God is quite different from the Roman Empire, built on violence and exploitation.  The kingship of Jesus is quite different from the model that the Roman Empire offers.

Amos 5 condemns those in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah who profess to follow Yahweh, yet oppose the establishment of justice, especially for the needy.  There is nothing wrong with religious rituals themselves, but engaging in them while perpetuating injustice makes a mockery of them.  God is unimpressed, we read.

God, in Psalm 50, addresses those who recite divine statutes yet do not keep them, who think wrongly that God is like them.  They will not find deliverance in God, we read.  That Psalm fits well with Amos 5, of course.  Then there are the evildoers who do not even pretend to honor God and do not change their ways.  Their path is doomed in the long run also.

One must reject the false dichotomy of deeds versus creeds.  In actuality, I argue, deeds reveal creeds.  One might detect a dichotomy between deeds and words, but, barring accidents, no dichotomy between deeds and creeds exists.

What do your deeds reveal about your creeds, O reader?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 1, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAMUEL STENNETT, ENGLISH SEVENTH-DAY BAPTIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER; AND JOHN HOWARD, ENGLISH HUMANITARIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT JUSTIN MARTYR, APOLOGIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT PAMPHILUS OF CAESAREA, BIBLE SCHOAR AND TRANSLATOR; AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS

THE FEAST OF SAINT SIMEON OF SYRACUSE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2016/06/01/deeds-and-creeds/

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Above:  A Bonfire

Image Source = Fir0002

A Consuming Fire

The Sunday Closest to August 24

Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost

AUGUST 21, 2022

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The Assigned Readings:

Jeremiah 1:4-10 and Psalm 71:1-6

or 

Isaiah 58:9b-14 and Psalm 103:1-8

then 

Hebrews 12:18-29

Luke 13:10-17

The Collect:

Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name; 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:

Prayer of Praise and Adoration:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/prayer-of-praise-and-adoration-for-the-fourteenth-sunday-after-pentecost/

Prayer of Confession:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/prayer-of-confession-for-the-fourteenth-sunday-after-pentecost/

Prayer of Dedication:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/prayer-of-dedication-for-the-fourteenth-sunday-after-pentecost/

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Many passages in the Bible speak of the imperative of obeying God.  Among them is Hebrews 12:18-29, which includes the promise of destruction for disobedience and concludes with

For our God is a consuming fire.

–12:29, The New Jerusalem Bible

That is scary, is it  not?

The Law of Moses is clear:  Anyone who works on the Sabbath day has earned a death sentence:

And the Lord said to Moses:  Speak to the Israelite people and say:  Nevertheless you must keep My sabbaths, for this is a sign between Me and you throughout the ages, that you may know that I the LORD have consecrated you.  You shall keep the sabbath, for it is holy for you.  He who profanes it shall be put to death:  whoever does work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his kin.  Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD:  whoever does work on the sabbath day shall be put to death.  The Israelite people shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout the ages as a covenant between Me and the people of Israel.

–Exodus 31:12-17a, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures 

(Fortunately this law does not apply to me, a Christian.  As I understand theology, the cultural details of the Law of Moses are not universal principles for all time.)

Jesus, a Jew, lived under occupation in his homeland.  One way the Jews of the time, a minority in the Roman Empire, retained and asserted their identity was to keep religious laws.  But there were Jewish sects, some of which disagreed with each other strongly, and therefore there was a multiplicity of interpretations of religious laws.  So, did Jesus violate the Sabbath laws when he healed on that day?  He did not think so, and I side with him:  Every day of the week is a good day to commit good deeds.

The readings for this Sunday speak of the imperative of repenting, literally turning around.  The prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah (all the Isaiahs) decried a variety of sins, from committing idolatry to exploiting the poor economically.  Observing holy rituals did not fool God into thinking that perpetrators of these perfidious acts were righteous, the prophets said correctly.  The Temple system at the time of Jesus was corrupt, demanding offerings from those who could not spare the money.  Jesus, of course, opposed that system.

Another there running through these readings is one which becomes clearer after one reads the lections in their literary contexts:  Many of those who consider themselves religious insiders, people close to God, are fooling themselves.  And many of the alleged outsiders are really insiders.

The God of these readings is the deity who cares for the widows and the orphans, executes judgment for the oppressed peoples, and whose kingdom is like a large, uncontrollable, and frequently unwanted pest of a plant that gives shelter to a variety of species, not all of whom like each other.  This is the God who defines “insider” and “outsider” differently than many people do.  This is the God whose Gospel comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable.  This is the God I recognize in Jesus, who ate with notorious sinners, causing scandal.  This is the God each of us is called to follow.

A New Zealand Prayer Book (1989) offers a fitting conclusion to this post.  In the Eucharistic rite, just after a reading from Scripture, the lector says

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.

The congregation replies,

Thanks be to God.

With that in mind, I say

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church or just to one who reads this post.

Whether or not one who reads this post answers

Thanks be to God

sincerely reveals much about that person’s spiritual state.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 3, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARUTHAS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF MAYPHERKAT AND MISSIONARY TO PERSIA

THE FEAST OF SAINT BERNARD OF PARMA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY IN ASIA

THE FEAST OF JOHN OWEN SMITH, UNITED METHODIST BISHOP IN GEORGIA

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/05/27/a-consuming-fire/

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Above:  Frederick Douglass (1817-1895), U.S. Abolitionist and Former Slave

Slavery

OCTOBER 26 and 27, 2022

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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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COMPOSITE FIRST READING

Ephesians 6:1-24 (Revised English Bible):

Children, obey your parents; for it is only right that you should.  Honour your father and your mother is the first commandment to carry a promise with it:

that it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth.

Fathers, do not goad your children to resentment, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Slaves, give single-minded obedience to your earthly masters with fear and trembling, as if to Christ.  Do it not merely to catch their eye or curry favour with them, but as slaves of Christ do the will of God wholeheartedly.  Give cheerful service, as slaves of the Lord rather than of men.  You know that whatever good anyone may do, slave or free, will be repaid by the Lord.

Masters, treat your slaves in the same spirit:  give up using threats, and remember that you both have the same Master in heaven; there is no favouritism with him.

Finally, find your strength in the Lord, in his mighty power.  Put on the full armour provided by God, so that you may be able to stand firm against the stratagems of the devil.  For our struggle is not against human foes, but against cosmic powers, against the authorities and potentates of this dark age,  against the superhuman forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore, take up the armour of God; then you will be able to withstand them on the evil day and, after doing your utmost, to stand your ground.  Stand fast, I say.  Fasten on the belt of truth; for a breastplate put on integrity; let the shoes on your feet be the gospel of peace, to give you firm footing; and, with all these, take up the great shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the burning arrows of the evil one.  Accept salvation as your helmet, and the sword which the Spirit gives you, the word of God.  Constantly ask God’s help in prayer, and pray always in the power of the Spirit.  To this end keep watch and persevere, always interceding for all God’s people.  Pray also for me, that I may be granted the right words when I speak, and may boldly and freely make known the hidden purpose of the gospel, for which I am am ambassador–in chains.  Pray that I may speak of it boldly, as is my duty.

You will want to know how I am and what I am doing; Tychicus will give you all the news.  He is our dear brother and trustworthy helper in the Lord’s work.  I am sending him to you on purpose to let you have news of us and put fresh heart into you.

Peace to the community and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  God’s grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with undying love.

RESPONSE FOR WEDNESDAY

Psalm 145:10-19 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

10 All your works praise you, O LORD,

and all your faithful servants bless you.

11 They make known the glory of your kingdom

and speak of your power;

12 That the peoples may know of your power

and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;

your dominion endures throughout all ages.

14 The LORD is faithful in all his words

and merciful in all his deeds.

15 The LORD upholds all those who fall;

he lifts up those who are bowed down.

16 The eyes of all wait upon you, O LORD,

and you give them their food in due season.

17 You open wide your hand

and satisfy the needs of every living creature.

18 The LORD is righteous in all his ways

and loving in all his works.

19 The LORD is near to those who call upon him,

to all who call upon him faithfully.

RESPONSE FOR THURSDAY

Psalm 144:1-10 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1  Blessed be the LORD my rock!

who trains my hands to fight and my fingers to battle;

2  My help and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer,

my shield in whom I trust,

who subdues the peoples under me.

3  O LORD, what are we that you should care for us?

mere mortals that you should think of us?

4  We are like a puff of wind;

our days like a passing shadow.

5  Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down;

touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.

6  Hurl the lightning and scatter them;

shoot out your arrows and rout them.

7  Stretch out your hand from on high;

rescue me and deliver me from the great waters,

from the hand of foreign peoples,

8  Whose mouths speak deceitfully

and whose right hand is raised in falsehood.

9  O God, I will sing to you a new song;

I will play to you on a ten-stringed lyre.

10  You give victory to kings

and have rescued David your servant.

COMPOSITE GOSPEL READING

Luke 13:22-35 (Revised English Bible):

He [Jesus] continued his journey through towns and villages, teaching as he made his way towards Jerusalem.  Someone asked him,

Sir, are only a few saved?

His answer was:

Make every effort to enter through the narrow door; for I tell you that many will try to enter but will not succeed.

When once the master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may stand outside and knock and say, “Sir let us in!” but he will answer, “I do not know where you come from.”  Then you will protest, “We used to eat and drink with you, and you taught in our streets.”  But he will repeat, “I tell you, I do not know where you come from.  Out of my sight, all of you, you and your wicked ways!”  There will be wailing and grinding of teeth there, when you see prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves are driven away.  From east and west, from north and south, people will come and take their places at the banquet in the kingdom of God.  Yes, and some are now last who will be first, and some who are first will be last.

At that time a number of  Pharisees came and warned him [Jesus],

Leave this place and be on your way; Herod wants to kill you.

He replied,

Go and tell that fox, “Listen:  today and tomorrow I shall be driving out demons and working cures; However, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, because it is unthinkable for a prophet to meet his death anywhere but in Jerusalem.”

[He continued,]

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, city that murders the prophets and stones the messengers sent to her!  How often have I longed to gather your children, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings; but you would not let me.  Look!  There is your temple, forsaken by God.  I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, “Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord!”

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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:

Week of Proper 25:  Wednesday, Year 1:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/week-of-proper-25-wednesday-year-1/

Week of Proper 25:  Thursday, Year 1:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/week-of-proper-25-thursday-year-1/

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Antebellum U.S. defenders of chattel slavery used Ephesians 6:5-9 (mostly 6:5-8, actually; 9 was sometimes inconvenient) to justify the Peculiar Institution.  This interpretation was faulty for a few reasons.  First, slavery in the Roman Empire was not chattel slavery.  Beyond that, the Pauline assumption about the Second Coming of Jesus was that it was imminent, a matter of the very near future–the medium term if not the short term.  So reforming society was not a priority; God, the assumption held, would take care of that part soon.  Preparing oneself for the parousia was immediately important.  Jesus had not returned by the 1800s, so social reform was legitimately on the table.  The Abolitionists (many of them Evangelicals) understood the link between the Golden Rule and imperative to destroy slavery, and many White Southern Evangelicals did not.  As I tell my students, look beyond stereotypes, in this case, Evangelicalism.  It exists on a spectrum and defies easy definition.

The lack of a condemnation of slavery mars the Pauline tradition for me.  Galatians 3:28 tells us that the labels free and slave lose their meaning in Christ, but Paul should have taken the matter to its logical and ethical conclusion:  insistence on radical equality in society.  Alas, egalitarianism upsets many a societal apple cart, for people seem to like privileges which come with rank.

Ephesians 6 continues with a description of metaphorical Christian armor for a battle against evil.  This makes for tacky and cheap toys one can buy from certain Christian bookstores.  And the less we say about Bibleman merchandise, the better.  Kitsch does not become the Bible or religious retail; I suspect that it embarrasses Jesus.  I imagine him now, in Heaven, shaking his head and saying,

I did not suffer and die so that children can play with cheap plastic shields of faith.

No, it is better to be serious about resisting evil in all its forms.  I live slightly northwest of Atlanta, Georgia, one of the centers of human trafficking, i.e., slavery.  Modern slavery assumes many forms and exists in many places.  These days is most often economic and/or sexual.  A foreign worker lured on false pretenses and held against her will is a slave.  A woman forced to work as a prostitute is a slave.  Slavery, unfortunately, is alive and well all over the world.  This spiritual battle continues, and people of good will need to win it, with God’s help.

KRT

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

Above:  Wedding Rings

Source = Jeff Belmonte

Men, Women, Paul, and Jesus

OCTOBER 24 and 25, 2022

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COMPOSITE FIRST READING

Ephesians 5:1-33 (Revised English Bible):

In a word, as God’s dear children, you must be like him.  Live in love as Christ loved you and gave himself up on your behalf, an offering and sacrifice whose fragrance is pleasing to God.

Fornication and indecency of  any kind, or ruthless greed, must not be so much as mentioned among you, as befits the people of God.  No coarse, stupid, or flippant talk:  these things are out of place; you should rather be thanking God.  For be very sure of this:  no one given to fornication or vice, or the greed which makes an idol of gain, has any share which makes an idol of gain, has any share in the kingdom of Christ and of God.  Let no one deceive you with shallow arguments; it is for these things that divine retribution falls on God’s rebel subjects.  Have nothing to do with them.  Though you once were darkness, now as Christians you are light.  Prove yourselves at home in the light, for where light is, there is a harvest of goodness, righteousness, and truth.  Learn to judge for yourselves what is pleasing to the Lord; take no part in the barren deeds of darkness, but show them up for what they are.  It would be shameful even to mention what is done in secret.  But everything is shown up by being exposed to the light, and whatever is exposed in the light becomes light.  That is why it is said:

Awake, sleeper,

rise from the dead,

and Christ will shine upon you.

Take great care, them, how you behave:  act sensibly, not like simpletons.  Use the present opportunity to the full, for these are evil days.  Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.  Do not give way to drunkenness and the ruin that goes with it, but let the Holy Spirit fill you:  speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and songs; sing and make music from your heart to the Lord; and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ give thanks every day for everything to our God and Father.

Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives, be subject to your husbands as though to the Lord; for the man is the head of the woman, just as Christ is the head of the church.  Christ is, indeed, the saviour of that body; but just as the church is subject to Christ, so must women be subject to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for it, to consecrate and cleanse it by water and word, so that he might present the church to himself all glorious, with no stain or wrinkle or anything of the sort, but holy and without blemish.  In the same way men ought to love their wives, as they love their own bodies.  In loving his wife a man loves himself.  No one ever hated his own body; on the contrary, he keeps it nourished and warm, and that is how Christ treats the church, because it is his body, of which we are living parts.

That is why

(in the words of scripture)

a man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.

There is hidden here a great truth, which I take to refer to Christ and to the church.  But it applies also to each one of you:  the husband must love his wife as his very self, and the wife must show reverence for her husband.

RESPONSE FOR MONDAY

Psalm 37:27-33 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

27  The righteous are always generous in their lending,

and their children shall be a blessing.

28  Turn from evil, and do good,

and dwell in the land for ever.

29  For the LORD loves justice;

he does not forsake his faithful ones.

30  They shall be kept safe for ever,

but the offering of the wicked shall be destroyed.

31  The righteous shall possess the land

and dwell in it for ever.

32  The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,

and their tongue speaks what is right.

33  The law of their God is in their heart,

and their footsteps shall not falter.

RESPONSE FOR TUESDAY

Psalm 128 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1 Happy are they who fear the LORD,

and who follow in your ways!

2 You shall eat the fruit of your labor;

happiness and prosperity shall be yours.

3 Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house,

your children like olive shoots round about your table.

4 The man who fears the LORD

shall thus be blessed.

5 The LORD bless you from Zion,

and may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.

6 May you live to see your children’s children;

may peace be upon Israel.

COMPOSITE GOSPEL READING

Luke 13:10-21 (Revised English Bible):

He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath, and there was a woman there possessed by a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years.  She was bend double and quite unable to stand up straight.  When Jesus saw her he called her and said,

You are rid of your trouble,

and he laid hands on her.  Immediately she straightened up and began to praise God.  But the president of the synagogue, indignant with Jesus for healing on the sabbath, intervened and said to the congregation,

There are six working day:  come and be cured on one of them, and not on the sabbath.

The Lord gave him this answer:

What hypocrites you are!

he said.

Is there a single one of you who does not loose his ox or his donkey from its stall and take it out to water on the sabbath?  And here is this woman, a daughter of Abraham, who has been bound by Satan for eighteen long years:  was it not right for her to be loosed from her bonds on the sabbath?

At these words all his opponents were filled with confusion, while the mass of the people were delighted at all the wonderful things he was doing.

What is the kingdom of God like?

he [Jesus] continued.

To what shall I compare it?  It is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his garden; and it grew to be a tree and the birds came to roost among its branches.

Again he said,

To what shall I compare the kingdom of God?  It is like yeast which a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour till it was all leavened.

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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:

Week of Proper 25:  Monday, Year 1:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/11/week-of-proper-25-monday-year-1/

Week of Proper 25:  Tuesday, Year 1:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/week-of-proper-25-tuesday-year-1/

The Feast of Aquila, Priscilla, and Apollos (February 13):

http://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/feast-of-aquila-priscilla-and-apollos-february-13/

The Feast of Sts. Lydia, Dorcas, and Phoebe, Holy Women (January 29):

http://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2010/06/15/feast-of-sts-lydia-dorcas-and-phoebe-holy-wome-january-29/

The Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, Equal to the Apostles (July 22):

http://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/feast-of-st-mary-magdalene-equal-to-the-apostles-july-22/

The Feast of Joanna, Mary, and Salome (August 3):

http://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2010/01/29/feast-of-joanna-mary-and-salome-august-3/

The Feast of Sts. Mary and Martha of Bethany, Friends of Jesus (July 29):

http://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/feast-of-sts-mary-and-martha-of-bethany-friends-of-jesus-july-29/

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Ephesians 5:2 sets the tone for the rest of the chapter, which flows organically from Chapter 4.

Live in love as Christ loved you and gave himself up on your behalf, an offering and sacrifice whose fragrance is pleasing to God.

Therefore exploitative behavior, whether sexual or economic, is off-limits, as is all else that does not build up others.  And, in terms of relationships, there is no license for one to lord over another in the style of a dictator.  So nobody ought to read Ephesians 6:22-24 outside of the context of Ephesians 5:21

(Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.)

and 5:25-33.  To do so is to engage in the Biblical malpractice of prooftexting. If wives are then supposed to be subject to their husbands, husbands ought to be subject to their wives, according to Ephesians 5:21.

Women feature prominently and favorably in the New Testament.  We read of Paul working with women in ministry.  The example of Prisca/Priscilla comes to mind immediately.  And Jesus treated women as equals, violating social conventions.  So he, for example, saw no difficulty with Mary of Bethany sitting at his feet as a male disciple would or with speaking at length and intelligently to the woman at the well.  Our Lord also depended on certain women for financial support of his ministry.  And let us never forget the women at the cross and the tomb.  Furthermore, there is Galatians 3:28; in Christ, it tells us, there is no male or female.

I invite you, O reader, to consider the end of Ephesians 5 in the context of these facts and the rest of the epistle, which speaks of acting compassionately, thinking of feelings and reputations of others, and being tender-hearted with one another.  All of this occurs within the context of an understanding that we are parts of the body of Christ; one part ought not to oppress another.  Then I invite you to act and continue to act accordingly.

KRT

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/men-women-paul-and-jesus/

Above:  Bishop Neil Alexander at Christ Episcopal Church, Norcross, Georgia, on January 16, 2011

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Building Up the Body of Christ (II)

OCTOBER 21 and 22, 2022

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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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COMPOSITE FIRST READING

Ephesians 4:1-32 (Revised English Bible):

I implore you then–I, a prisoner for the Lord’s sake:  as God has called you, live up to your calling.  Be humble always and gentle, and patient too, putting up with one another’s failings in the spirit of love.  Spare no effort to make fast with bonds of peace the unity which the spirit gives.  There is one body and one spirit, just as there is one hope held out in God’s call to you; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all.

But each of us has been given a special gift, a particular share in the bounty of Christ.  That is why the scripture says:

He ascended into the heights;

he took captives into captivity;

he gave gifts to men.

Now the word “ascended” implies that he also descended to the lowest level, down to the very earth.  He who descended is none other than he who ascended far above all heavens, so that he might fill the universe.  And it is he who has given some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip God’s people for work in his service, for the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity inherent in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God–to mature manhood, measured by nothing less than the full stature of Christ.  We are no longer to be children, tossed about by waves and whirled around by every fresh gust of teaching, dupes of cunning rogues and their deceitful schemes.  Rather we are to maintain the truth in a spirit of love; so shall we fully grow up into Christ.  He is the head, and on him the whole body depends.  Bonded and held together by every constituent joint, the whole frame grows through the proper functioning of each part, and builds itself up in love.

Here then is my word to you, and urge it on you in the Lord’s name:  give up living as pagans do with their futile notions.  Their minds are closed, they are alienated from the life that is in God, because ignorance prevails among them and their hearts have grown hard as stone.  Dead to all feeling, they have abandoned themselves to vice, and there is no indecency that they do not practise.  But that is not how you learned Christ.  For were you not told about him, were you not as Christians taught the truth as it is in Jesus?  Renouncing your former way of life, you must lay aside the old human nature which, deluded by its desires, is in process of decay:  you must be renewed in mind and spirit, and put on the new nature created in God’s likeness, which shows itself in the upright and devout life called for by the truth.

Then have done with falsehood and speak the truth to each other, for we belong to one another as parts of one body.

If you are angry, do not be led into sin; do not let sunset find you nursing your anger; and give no foothold to the devil.

The thief must give up stealing, and work hard with his hands to earn an honest living, so that he may have something to share with the needy.

Let no offensive talk pass your lips, only what is good and helpful to the occasion, so that it brings a blessing to those who hear it.  Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, for that Spirit is the seal with which you were marked for the day of final liberation.  Have done with all spite and bad temper, with rage, insults, and slander, with evil of any kind.  Be generous to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.

RESPONSE FOR FRIDAY

Psalm 24:1-6 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1 The earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it,

the world and all who dwell therein.

2 For it is who founded it upon the seas

and made it firm upon the rivers of the deep.

3 “Who can ascend the hill of the LORD?

and who can stand in his holy place?”

4 “Those who have clean hands and a pure heart,

who have not pledged themselves to falsehood,

nor sworn by what is a fraud.

5 They shall receive a blessing from the LORD

and a just reward from the God of their salvation.”

6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,

of those who seek your face, O God of Jacob.

RESPONSE FOR SATURDAY

Psalm 122 (New Revised Standard Version):

I was glad when they said to me,

Let us go to the house of the LORD!

Our feet are standing

within your gates, O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem–built as a city

that is bound firmly together.

To it the tribes go up,

the tribes of the LORD,

as was decreed for Israel,

to give thanks for the name of the LORD.

For there the thrones of judgment were set up,

the thrones of the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

May they prosper who love you.

Peace be within your walls,

and security within your towers.

For the sake of my relatives and friends

I will say,

Peace be within you.

For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,

I will seek your good.

COMPOSITE GOSPEL READING

Luke 12:54-13:9 (Revised English Bible):

He [Jesus] also said to the people,

When you see clouds gathering in the west, you say at once, “It is going to rain,” and rain it does.  And when the wind is from the south, you say, “It will be hot,” and it is.  What hypocrites you are!  You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but cannot interpret the faithful hour.

Why can you not judge for yourselves what is right?  When you are going with your opponent to court, make an effort to reach a settlement with him while you are still on the way; otherwise he may drag you before the judtge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into jail.  I tell you, you will not be let out until you have paid the very last penny.

At that time some people came and told him [Jesus] about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.  He answered them:

Do you suppose that, because these Galileans suffered this fate, they must have been greater sinners than anyone else in Galilee?  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all of you come to the same end.  Of the eighteen people who were killed when the tower fell on them at Siloam–do you imagine they must have been more guilty than all the other people living in Jerusalem?  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all come to an end like theirs.

He told them this parable:

A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, but found none.  So he said to the vine-dresser, “For the last three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any.  Cut it down.  Why should it go on taking goodness from the soil?”  But he replied, “Leave it, sir, for this one year, while I did round it and manure it.  And it it bears next season, well and good; if not, you shall have it down.”

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The Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; 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:

Week of Proper 24:  Friday, Year 1:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/10/week-of-proper-24-friday-year-1/

Week of Proper 24:  Saturday, Year 1:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/10/week-of-proper-24-saturday-year-1/

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The readings from Luke 12-13 and Ephesians 4 speak of how to live and not to live, but Ephesians 4 provides the succinct summary:

Let there be no more bitter resentment or anger, no more shouting or slander, and let there be no bad feeling of any kind among you.  Be kind to each other, be compassionate.  Be as ready to forgive others as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.–Verses 31-32, J. B. Phillips, The New Testament in Modern English, 1972

Not letting go of resentment, anger, shouting, slander, and bad feeling tears down the body, of which we Christians are part–with Christ himself as the cornerstone, but practicing kindness, compassion, and forgiveness has a positive effect on said body, not to mention oneself.  Living according to the latter standard reduces stress, but acting according the former one increases it–certainly for oneself.  And one’s anger toward another might not even affect him or her, for he or she might not be aware of it.

Pauline thought includes the concept of the Church as the body of Christ.  So, accordingly, what one member does or refuses to do affects the other members.  Whatever part we are, we need to be the best one possible.  Jesus and Paul, just to name two relevant people, sacrificed themselves for that body.  And we Christians of today benefit greatly from what they did.  And we have no warrant for selfishness.

Our fellow human beings do not exist for us to manipulate or destroy, no more than we exist for them to use us in the same ways.  Rather, we all bear the image of God.  So may we cherish one another, build each other up, work for the common good without harming each other, love one another, and, as much as possible, enjoy each other’s company–all in Christ, of course.  All that we do should be in Christ.

KRT

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/building-up-the-body-of-christ-ii/

Above:  A Rooster and a Hen

Image Source = Andrei Niemimaki

Jesus, Our Mother Hen

NOVEMBER 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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Romans 8:31-39 (Revised English Bible):

With this in mind, what are we to say?  If God is on our side, who is against us?  He did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all; how can he fail to lavish every other gift upon us?  Who will bring a charge against those whom God has chosen?  Not God, who acquits!  Who will pronounce judgement?  Not Christ, who died, or rather rose again; not Christ, who is at God’s right hand and pleads our cause!  Then what can separate us from the love of Christ?  Can persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger, or sword?

We are being done to death for your sake all day long,

as scripture says;

we have been treated like sheep for slaughter

–and yet, throughout it all, overwhelming victory is ours through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that there is nothing in death or life, in the realm of spirits or superhuman powers, in the world as it is or the world as it shall be, in the forces of the universe, in heights or depths–nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Psalm 30 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

1  I will exalt you, O LORD,

because you have lifted me up

and have not let my enemies triumph over me.

2  O LORD my God, I cried out to you,

and you restored me to health.

3  You brought me up, O LORD, from the dead;

you restored my life as I was going down to the grave.

4  Sing to the LORD, you servants of his;

give thanks for the remembrance of his holiness.

5  For his wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye,

his favor for a lifetime.

6 Weeping may spend the night,

but joy comes in the morning.

7  While I felt secure, I said,

“I shall never be disturbed.

You,  LORD, with your favor, made me as strong as the mountains.”

8  Then you hid my face,

and I was filled with terror.

9  I cried to you, O LORD;

I pleaded with the LORD, saying,

10  “What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the Pit?

will the dust praise you or declare your faithfulness?

11  Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me;

O LORD, be my helper.”

12  You have turned my wailing into dancing;

you have put off my sack-cloth and clothed me with joy.

13  Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing;

O LORD my God, I will give you thanks for ever.

Luke 13:31-35 (Revised English Bible):

At that time a number of  Pharisees came and warned him [Jesus],

Leave this place and be on your way; Herod wants to kill you.

He replied,

Go and tell that fox, “Listen:  today and tomorrow I shall be driving out demons and working cures; However, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, because it is unthinkable for a prophet to meet his death anywhere but in Jerusalem.”

[He continued,]

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, city that murders the prophets and stones the messengers sent to her!  How often have I longed to gather your children, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings; but you would not let me.  Look!  There is your temple, forsaken by God.  I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, “Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord!”

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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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The passage from Romans builds on what precedes it:  God’s justification of us and our adoption into the family of God.  Therefore the lack of condemnation makes sense, for God has removed condemnation.

Yet we need to remember that not everybody belongs to this category.  Certainly Herod Antipas, a duplicitous man and a Roman puppet, was not among the justified.  He wanted to kill Jesus, after all.  By their fruits you shall know them.  Yet Jesus went on to die for all, including the same Herod Antipas.   And the love of God extended to all, even Herod Antipas.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God, but the same love does not immunize us from the consequences of our actions.  Jesus is our mother hen, according to the analogy from Luke 13.  May we be good eggs.  May we rejoice God’s heart by responding affirmatively to grace.

It is the least we can do.

KRT

Above:  Christ as Emperor, Ravenna, Italy

Image in the Public Domain

Predestination and Salvation

NOVEMBER 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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Romans 8:26-30 (Revised English Bible):

In the same way the Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness.  We do not even know how we ought to pray, but through our inarticulate groans, the Spirit himself is pleading for us, and God who searches our inmost being knows what the Spirit means, because he pleads for God’s people as God himself wills; and in everything, as we know, he co-operates for good with those who love God and are called according to his purpose.  For those whom God knew before ever they were, he also ordained to share the likness of his Son, so that he might be the eldest among a large family of brothers; and those whom he foreordained, he also called, and those whom he called, he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Psalm 91:9-16 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

9  Because you have made the LORD your refuge,

and the Most High your habitation,

10  There shall no evil happen to you,

neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.

11  He shall give his angels charge over you,

to keep you in all his ways.

12  They shall bear you in their hands,

lest you dash your foot against a stone.

13  You shall tread upon the lion and adder;

you shall trample the young lion and the serpent under your feet.

14 Because he is bound to me in love,

therefore I will deliver him;

I will protect him, because he knows my name.

15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him;

I am with him in trouble;

I will rescue him and bring him to honor.

16 With long life will I satisfy him,

and show him my salvation.

Luke 13:22-30 (Revised English Bible):

He [Jesus] continued his journey through towns and villages, teaching as he made his way towards Jerusalem.  Someone asked him,

Sir, are only a few saved?

His answer was:

Make every effort to enter through the narrow door; for I tell you that many will try to enter but will not succeed.

When once the master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may stand outside and knock and say, “Sir let us in!” but he will answer, “I do not know where you come from.”  Then you will protest, “We used to eat and drink with you, and you taught in our streets.”  But he will repeat, “I tell you, I do not know where you come from.  Out of my sight, all of you, you and your wicked ways!”  There will be wailing and grinding of teeth there, when you see prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves are driven away.  From east and west, from north and south, people will come and take their places at the banquet in the kingdom of God.  Yes, and some are now last who will be first, and some who are first will be last.

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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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The text from Romans is one of those I read only partially until a few years ago.  Being raised United Methodist, I did not grow up assuming predestination of any form.  Yet, as my study of ecclesiastical history tells, the following facts are true:

• The Apostle Paul believed in predestination.
• St. Augustine of Hippo believed in predestination.
• Roman Catholic theology has long included predestination.
• The theology of the Protestant Reformers of the 1500s included predestination.
• John Calvin believed in Double Predestination, the idea that all of us are predestined, some to Heaven and others to Hell.
• Martin Luther arrived at Single Predestination, the idea that some people are predestined to Heaven and nobody is predestined to damnation.  Those predestined to Heaven will be Christians, and the rest have access to eternal afterlife through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

And, as Jesus makes plain, works play a part.  Read Matthew 25:31-46, which is similiar to Luke 13:22-30.  This formulation (faith and works) assumes that faith is intellectual, but Paul (as I have covered in earlier posts covering Romans–I am writing in a series) used the term “faith” to include actions flowing from attitudes.  Not all who claim to be of God are of God; deeds will make plain who is and who is not.

People have used God and Jesus to justify, among other things:

• Racial chattel slavery
• Jim Crow segregation
• Racism
• Xenophobia
• Homophobia
• Mysogyny
• Male chauvinism
• Economic injustice
• Fascist dicatorships (as in Spain, during the Franco era)
• Cultural imperialism
• Warfare against those whose sole “offense” is to be different

There is a simple test for determining what is of God and what is not:  Is X compassionate?  Put another way, “What would Jesus do?”

He would love.  He would have compassion.  He did.

So should we.  Then we will know God, who will know us.  And our predestined state will not be an issue.

KRT

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/predestination-and-salvation/