Archive for the ‘Proverbs 25’ Tag
Above: The Pool of Bethesda
Image in the Public Domain
Rich in Good Deeds
JUNE 19, 2022
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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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Zephaniah 1:1-18 or Proverbs 25:6-22
Psalm 119:73-77, 103-105
1 Timothy 6:9-21
John 5:1-18
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Idols abound. They include wealth, power, prestige, and foreign religions. Even the most well-meaning people are vulnerable to these temptations.
As we read in 1 Timothy 6, we should be rich in good deeds. As we read in Psalm 119, we should delight in the Law of God. And, as even much of Second Temple Judaism affirmed, performing a good deed on the Sabbath is acceptable.
Those who criticized Jesus for healing on the Sabbath in John 5:16f seemed not to have cared about that final detail. Sabbath laws were flexible in Second Temple Judaism, or at least in portions thereof. There were schools of Judaism. And, within each school, personal agendas informed how some people responded and reacted to various deeds on the Sabbath.
None of this should surprise us–especially Gentiles. I recall a saying from my formative years (as a United Methodist) in southern Georgia, U.S.A., in the Bible Belt:
There are Baptists, then there are Baptists.
So, may we lay aside the stereotype of Second Temple Judaism as a legalistic religion with works-based righteousness. May we do so as we follow the advice (from 1 Timothy 6) to be rich in good works. After all, one knows a tree by its fruits.
We can take nothing with us when we die. We can, at that time, however, leave a legacy of faithful, active love. We can leave a legacy of trust in God, love of God, and love of our fellow human beings. We can leave the world better than we found it. We can leave this life rich in good deeds.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 4, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE ELEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS
THE FEAST OF SAINT ELIZABETH ANN SETON, FOUNDRESS OF THE AMERICAN SISTERS OF CHARITY
THE FEAST OF FELIX MANZ, FIRST ANABAPTIST MARTYR, 1527
THE FEAST OF SAINTS GREGORY OF LANGRES, TERTICUS OF LANGRES, GALLUS OF CLERMONT, GREGORY OF TOURS, AVITUS I OF CLERMONT, MAGNERICUS OF TRIER, AND GAUGERICUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS
THE FEAST OF JOHANN LUDWIG FREYDT, GERMAN MORAVIAN COMPOSER AND EDUCATOR
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https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2021/01/04/devotion-for-the-ninth-sunday-after-the-epiphany-year-d-humes/
https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2021/01/04/rich-in-good-deeds/
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Above: Vegetables
Image in the Public Domain
Nobility and Love
AUGUST 25 and 26, 2022
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The Collect:
O God, you resist those who are proud and give grace those who are humble.
Give us the humility of your Son, that we may embody
the generosity of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 46
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The Assigned Readings:
Proverbs 15:13-17 (Thursday)
Proverbs 18:6-12 (Friday)
Psalm 112 (Both Days)
1 Peter 3:8-12 (Thursday)
1 Peter 4:7-11 (Friday)
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How blessed is anyone who fears Yahweh,
who delights in his commandments!
–Psalm 112:1, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
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These days’ readings, taken together, extol humility, love, and recognition of complete dependence upon God. As one saying from Proverbs states eloquently,
Better a meal of vegetables where there is love
Than a flattened ox where there is hate.
–15:17, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
Like unto that is the commandment to
maintain constant love for one another
–1 Peter 4:8a, The New Revised Standard Version (1989),
which is consistent with the ethic of human responsibilities to and for each other, as in the Law of Moses.
Pride (hubris) goes before the fall. Humility is frequently difficult also, but it is the better path. Yes, each of us bears the image of God, but each of us also carries an imperfect nature. Depravity is not even an article of faith for me, for I have evidence for it, and therefore require no faith to recognize the reality of it. Nevertheless, as I heard growing up, God did not make any garbage. Yes, we humans are equally capable of both nobility and depravity, of love and of death. May we, by grace, succeed more often than not in following the paths of nobility and love.
St. Paul the Apostle offered timeless wisdom in his Letter to the Romans:
Never pay back evil for evil. Let your aims be such as all count honourable. If possible, so far as it lies with you, live at peace with all. My dear friends, do not seek revenge, but leave a place for divine retribution; for there is a text which reads, “Vengeance is mine, says the Lord, I will repay.” But there is another text: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; by doing so you will heap live coals on his head.” Do not let evil conquer you, but use good to conquer evil.
–12:17-21, The Revised English Bible (1989)
That passage cites Leviticus 19:18 and Proverbs 25:21-22. It is also compatible with Matthew 5:43-48.
St. Paul summarized an essential part of Christian ethics better than my capacity to paraphrase it. For that reason I leave you, O reader, with those noble words.
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/nobility-and-love/
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Above: Christ Pantocrator, Daphni, Greece
Duties to God and Each Other
The Sunday Closest to August 31
Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost
AUGUST 28, 2022
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The Assigned Readings:
Jeremiah 2:4-13 and Psalm 81:1, 10-16
or
Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 10:12-18 or Proverbs 25:6-7 and Psalm 112
then
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Luke 14:1, 7-14
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-fifteenth-sunday-after-pentecost/
Prayer of Confession:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/prayer-of-confession-for-the-fifteenth-sunday-after-pentecost/
Prayer of Dedication:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/prayer-of-dedication-for-the-fifteenth-sunday-after-pentecost/
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Let mutual love continue.
–Hebrews 13:1, New Revised Standard Version
Thus I find my theme for this post. That theme unites the assigned readings for Proper 17, Year C. The rest of the Hebrews lection speaks of our obligations to God and each other. These duties exist in the context of mutual love.
I am, among other things, intellectually honest. The readings from Jeremiah 2, Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 10, and Psalm 81 speak of divine judgment for faithlessness among people for God has done much. These lections do not seem loving. And Psalm 112 sounds too much like Prosperity Theology for my comfort. I can think of parts of both Testaments which contradict it. If you, O reader, expect me to provide simple answers to these, I will disappoint you. I could provide such answers, but I would do so insincerely and they would be useless.
I write these words during Advent 2012. (I like to write ahead of schedule.) During this time the words attributed to Hannah in 1 Samuel 2 and Mary in Luke 1 ring in my head.
The LORD makes poor and makes rich,
he brings low, he also exalts.
He raises up the poor from the dust;
he lifts up the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes
and inherit a seat of great honor.
–1 Samuel 2:7-8a, New Revised Standard Version
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He has routed the proud and all their schemes;
he has brought down monarchs from their thrones,
and raised high the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich empty away.
–Luke 1:51b-53, Revised English Bible
Those beloved passages are consistent with Jeremiah 2, Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 10, and Psalm 81. Whether this reversal of fortune is good news depends on who one is.
The context for this reversal of fortune is faithlessness to God, who has done much for us. It is polite to be grateful to one who delivers, is it not? So attitudes occupy the heart of the matter. And we cannot love God, whom we cannot see, unless we love people, whom we can see. Our deeds will reveal our creeds. That much I know for certain. As for the rest, ask God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 17, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MARIA STEWART, EDUCATOR
THE FEAST OF EGLANTYNE JEBB, FOUNDER OF SAVE THE CHILDREN
THE FEAST OF FRANK MASON NORTH, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER
THE FEAST OF SAINT OLYMPIAS, ORTHODOX DEACONESS
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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/05/27/duties-to-god-and-each-other/
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Above: Pilgrims at the Edicule, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, 1941
Image Source = Library of Congress
Proverbs and John, Part VIII: The Violence of the Wicked
JUNE 21 AND 22, 2023
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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
–The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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The Assigned Readings:
Proverbs 24:1-22 (June 21)
Proverbs 25:1-22 (June 22)
Psalm 51 (Morning–June 21)
Psalm 104 (Morning–June 22)
Psalms 142 and 65 (Evening–June 21)
Psalms 118 and 111 (Evening–June 22)
John 19:1-22 (June 21)
John 19:23-42 (June 22)
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Proverbs 24 speaks of the violence which the wicked plot and perpetrate. They will meet their ultimate fate, it says. And they will, but why do so many of them prosper for so long on the earth? I wonder about that point as I read John 19, which contains an account of our Lord’s crucifixion. The Roman Empire persisted in some form or another until 1453. Even after it became officially Christian, it was a state founded on violence. Then it fell to another state founded on violence. The Ottoman Empire arrived at its end only after World War I.
One lesson I draw from history in general and the life of Jesus in particular is that the violence of wicked flows from a place of fear and insecurity. A scared dictator or agent thereof persecutes and/or executes those who call the legitimacy of the state founded on violence into question. Jesus, by his talk of the Kingdom of God, had described the opposite of the Roman Empire and questioned its legitimacy. And he had not kept a low profile during the last Passover week, for he had confronted the Temple leadership, composed of collaborators.
A fearful and nervous government authorizes torture, denies civil liberties, and rules by intimidation. This is an old truth, one as germane today and it was in antiquity. The fact that this truth remains relevant concerns me greatly, for we humans should have learned more than we have.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 16, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF RUFUS JONES, QUAKER THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN FRANCIS REGIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST
THE FEAST OF JOSEPH BUTLER, ANGLICAN BISHOP
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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/proverbs-and-john-part-viii-the-violence-of-the-wicked/
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ORDINARY TIME DEVOTIONS 
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