Archive for the ‘Psalm 34’ Tag
Above: Marriage Cross
Image in the Public Domain
Being Subject to One Another
AUGUST 25, 2024
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Joshua 24:1-2, 14-18
Psalm 34:15-22
Ephesians 5:21-31
John 6:60-69
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
God of all creation,
you reach out to call people of all nations to your kingdom.
As you gather disciples from near and far,
count us also among those
who boldly confess your Son Jesus Christ as Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 27
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
O almighty God, whom to know is everlasting life,
grant us without doubt to know your Son Jesus Christ
to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life
that, following his steps,
we may steadfastly walk in the say that leads to eternal life;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 77
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Cultural context is crucial. Consider that assertion, O reader, as we ponder Ephesians 5:21-31.
- Patriarchy was ubiquitous. The text did not question it. We may justly question patriarchy, though.
- A household was like a small fortress with bolted outer gates and inner doors. These security measures were necessary because the society lacked domestic police forces.
- Wives were frequently much younger than their husbands.
- So, the theme of reciprocal service and protection within marriage was relatively progressive. The husband had the duty to sacrifice himself to protect his wife, if necessary.
David Bentley Hart translates 5:21 to read:
Being stationed under one another in reverence for the Anointed, ….
The Revised New Jerusalem Bible offers a variation on the standard English-language translation:
Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.
J. B. Phillips‘s final translation (1972) of the New Testament provides a different and thought-provoking version of this verse:
And “fit in with” each other, because of your common reverence for Christ.
Clarence Jordan‘s version of this epistle, the Letter to the Christians in Birmingham, renders this verse as follows:
Put yourselves under one another with Christ-like respect.
I, without justifying ancient social norms I find objectionable, do try to understand them in context. I also recognize that a text says what it says, not what (a) I wish it ways, and (b) what it may superficially seem to say. So, within the context of ancient Roman society, we have a text about reciprocal service and protection within marriage. The text makes clear that there is no room for exploitation in marriage. The model for the husband is Jesus, who laid down his life.
Speaking of Jesus, he lost some followers in John 6:66. Yet may we say with St. Simon Peter:
Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we know that you are the Holy One of God.
—The Revised New Jerusalem Bible
The theme of the importance of following God exists in Joshua 24, a book edited together from various sources after the Babylonian Exile. The Book of Joshua benefits from centuries of hindsight. Other portions of the Hebrew Bible tell us which choice–polytheism–adherents of the Hebrew folk religion made for centuries. Yet the authorial voice in the sources of the Hebrew Bible is that of the priestly religion. This is appropriate.
Serve God and God alone, that authorial voice repeats. Avoid idolatry and practical atheism, it tells us again and again. This is a message for the community first and the individual second. Western rugged individualism is alien to the Bible.
If we apply the advice to be subject to one another/fit in with each other/be stationed under one another/put ourselves under one another out of reverence for Christ–or God, if you, O reader, prefer–to our communities, congregations, and mature (as opposed to casual or immature) relationships, we will have stronger communities, congregations, and mature relationships. To value other people because of who they are–not what they can do for us–is to orientate relationships in a mutually healthy direction. Everyone benefits, regardless of the cultural context, with its societal norms. This approach, if it becomes normative, will transform those societal norms for the common good.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 14, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE SIXTH DAY OF EASTER
THE FEAST OF EDWARD THOMAS DEMBY AND HENRY BEARD DELANY, EPISCOPAL SUFFRAGAN BISHIPS FOR COLORED WORK
THE FEAST OF SAINTS ANTHONY, JOHN, AND EUSTATHIUS OF VILNIUS, MARTYRS IN LITHUANIA, 1347
THE FEAST OF GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL, COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF SAINT LUCIEN BOTOVASOA, MALAGASY ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR, 1947
THE FEAST OF SAINT WANDREGISILUS OF NORMANDY, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AND SAINT LAMBERT OF LYONS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND BISHOP
THE FEAST OF SAINT ZENAIDA OF TARSUS AND HER SISTER, SAINT PHILONELLA OF TARSUS; AND SAINT HERMIONE OF EPHESUS; UNMERCENARY PHYSICIANS
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Calvary Episcopal Church, Americus, Georgia, December 24, 2017
Photographer = Kenneth Randolph Taylor
Three Banquets, Part II
AUGUST 18, 2024
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Proverbs 9:1-6
Psalm 34:9-14
Ephesians 5:15-20
John 6:51-58
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Almighty and ever-loving God,
you have given great and precious promises to those who believe.
Grant us the perfect faith, which overcomes all doubts,
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 26
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Merciful Father,
since you have given your only Son as the sacrifice for our sin,
also give us grace to receive with thanksgiving
the fruits of this redeeming work
and daily follow in his way;
through your Son, Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 75-76
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The four assigned readings, taken together, proclaim a straight-forward message: Listen to God. Receive divine wisdom. Love righteousness, not evil ways. All that is easier to summarize than to do.
Defining some terms may help to elucidate this matter.
- Righteousness is right relationship with God, self, others, and all of creation. Biblically, righteousness and justice are interchangeable.
- Wickedness is the rejection of divine generosity. Therefore, the wicked cannot be generous. They also deny that they depend upon God for everything, so they imagine that they must take care of themselves. This attitude opens the door to amoral, harmful, and exploitative actions toward others. The wicked perform evil deeds–bad, malicious, and perverse actions. Yet they take care of themselves. Or do they, ultimately?
The beginning of wisdom and morality, therefore, is the acknowledgment of (a) complete dependence on God, and (b) mutuality. We all depend upon God and each other. We are all responsible to and for each other, also. What one person does affects others. And nobody has the moral right to exploit anyone.
Food is a theme in Proverbs 9 and John 6. Proverbs 9 tells of two banquets. Lady Wisdom invites people to her banquet in verses 1-12. Then Lady Folly’s banquet fills verses 13-18. Lady Wisdom invites people to eat her food and drink her wine. The first chapter of the Gospel of John links Jesus (the Logos, or Word, of God) to Lady Wisdom. (However, Sarah Ruden’s lively translation translates Logos in John 1 as “true account.”) Jesus, in John 6, speaks at length about the bread of life and the flesh and the blood of the Son of Man. This language is unmistakably Eucharistic. I, having Anglo-Catholic tendencies, affirm Transubstantiation.
Another link between Proverbs 9 and John 6 stands out in my mind. Those who attend Lady Folly’s banquet at in Sheol (Proverbs 9:19). Yet:
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.
–John 6:54, The New American Bible–Revised Edition
I immediately recall the refrain to Suzanne Toolan’s hymn, “I Am the Bread of Life,” based on John 6:
And I will raise you up,
And I will raise you up,
and I will raise you up on the last day.
–Quoted in Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006)
The crucifixion of Jesus carries more than one meaning simultaneously. One of these meanings is the reminder that Jesus died unjustly. The Gospel of Luke drives this point home; a veritable parade of people attests to the innocence of Jesus in the Lucan Passion narrative. How often do we perpetuate injustice, perhaps in the name of God and Christ? As often as we do so, we act as the wicked do; we join the ranks of the evil and the guests at Lady Folly’s banquet.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 13, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE FIFTH DAY OF EASTER
THE FEAST OF JOSEPH BARBER LIGHTFOOT, BISHOP OF DURHAM
THE FEAST OF HENRI PERRIN, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC WORKER PRIEST
THE FEAST OF JOHN GLOUCESTER, FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER
THE FEAST OF LUCY CRAFT LANEY, AFRICAN-AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN EDUCATOR AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARTIN I, BISHOP OF ROME, AND MARTYR, 655; AND SAINT MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR, EASTERN ORTHODOX MONK, ABBOT, AND MARTYR, 662
THE FEAST OF SAINT ROLANDO RIVI, ROMAN CATHOLIC SEMINARIAN AND MARTYR, 1945
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Elijah in the Wilderness, by Washington Allston
Image in the Public Domain
Eternal Life and Communal Life
AUGUST 11, 2024
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 Kings 19:4-8
Psalm 34:1-8
Ephesians 4:30-5:2
John 6:41-51
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Almighty and everlasting God,
you are always more ready to hear than we are to pray,
and to give us more than we either desire or deserve.
Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy,
forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid,
and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask,
except through the merit of your Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 26
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Almighty and everlasting God,
always more ready to hear than we to pray
and always ready to give more than we either desire or deserve,
pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy,
forgiving us the good things we are not worthy to ask
but through the merits and mediation
of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 74
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Just as the Kingdom of God is simultaneously present and future in the Synoptic Gospels, eternal life is present for those who follow Jesus. “Eternal” carries a range of meanings in the Bible, depending upon the author one reads. In the Johannine tradition, it means “of God,” and eternal life is knowing God via Jesus. This definition differs from the Pauline tradition of eternal life–a blessed afterlife. Yet consider, O reader, that the present tense of eternal life in the Gospel of John is consistent with the Realized Eschatology of the Johannine Gospel.
Amen, Amen, I say to you,
one who believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
–John 6:47-48, The Revised New Jerusalem Bible
Ephesians 5:1 tells us–collectively, in context–to “become imitators of God.” The textual context, flowing from chapter 4, is mutuality under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Forgiveness is a key feature of this model of communal life (4:32). This is bold living. In the historical context of the Epistle to the Ephesians, this is bold living amid a hostile culture. So, amid hostility and persecution, the faith community could pray, in the words of Psalm 34:3:
In the LORD do I glory.
Let the lowly hear and rejoice.
–Robert Alter
Boldness had defined Elijah’s actions as recently as 1 Kings 18. Yet, not surprisingly, Elijah’s massacre of the prophets of Baal Peor had displeased Queen Jezebel of Israel. So, Elijah had abandoned all boldness, started hiding out in the wilderness, and commenced a pity party. The prophet forgot about the one hundred prophets of YHWH safely hidden and supplied with food and drink in two caves (1 Kings 18:4). If Queen Jezebel had succeeded in having Elijah killed, one hundred prophets of YHWH would have carried on his work.
Fear and ego may blind us to a key fact: Although each of us has work from God, that work will continue via other people (agents of God) if we move away, chicken out, et cetera. God’s work does not depend solely on you, O reader, or on me. Nevertheless, you and I have an obligation to God to fulfill faithfully the work God has assigned us.
I lived in Athens, Georgia, for sixteen years and two months. While there, I became so active in St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church that I became part of the woodwork, so to speak. Immediately before I left, I had been teaching a lectionary discussion class, serving as the parish librarian, and scheduling the lectors and the money counters for a few years. The COVID-19 pandemic had abruptly terminated the sixth year of my parish movie series in March 2020. The film series had not resumed when I left Athens in October 2021. Before I left, more than one person asked me how the work I did in the parish would continue. I reassured them that the work would continue. After I left, four people replaced me within short order. Then a fifth person started a new movie series.
God is central. Also, in faith community, each person is important, yet nobody is irreplaceable. God grants spiritual gifts as necessary. So, lest we forget this, we may need to get over ourselves. Eternal life is her; may we–as faith communities and as individuals–frolic in it and in so doing, become imitators of God, like beloved children. May we not grieve the Holy Spirit.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 12, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE FOURTH DAY OF EASTER
THE FEAST OF HENRY SLOANE COFFIN, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR; AND HIS NEPHEW, WILLIAM SLOANE COFFIN, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST
THE FEAST OF CARL F. PRICE, U.S. METHODIST HYMNOLOGIST AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF SAINT DAVID URIBE-VELASCO, MEXICAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1927
THE FEAST OF SAINT JULIUS I, BISHOP OF ROME
THE FEAST OF SAINT TERESA OF JESUS OF THE ANDES, CHILEAN ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN
THE FEAST OF SAINT ZENO OF VERONA, BISHOP
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: All Saints
Image in the Public Domain
The Communion of Saints
NOVEMBER 1, 2023
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Isaiah 26:1-4, 8-9, 12-13, 19-21
Psalm 34:1-10
Revelation 21:9-11, 22-27 (22:1-5) (LBW) or Revelation 7:2-17 (LW)
Matthew 5:1-12
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Almighty God, whose people are knit together
in one holy Church, the body of Christ our Lord:
Grant us grace to follow your blessed saints
in lives of faith and commitment,
and to know the inexpressible joys
you have prepared for those who love you;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 36
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
O almighty God, by whom we are graciously knit together
as one communion and fellowship
in the mystical body of Jesus Christ, our Lord,
grant us to follow your blessed saints
in all virtuous and godly living
that we may come to those unspeakable joys
which you have prepared for those who unfeignedly love you;
through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 116
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The communion of saints is the whole family of God, the living and the dead, those whom we love and those whom we hurt, bound together in Christ by sacrament, prayer, and praise.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), 862
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.
—The Westminster Larger Catechism (1647)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I am a ritualistic Episcopalian and a student of history. Therefore, ecclesiastical history appeals to me. The study of lives of the sains–glorified, canonized, beatified, declared venerable, or none of these–is a spiritually profitable venture. Reading about how members of the family of Christ have lived their baptismal vows in a variety of cultures, places, and centuries can help one live one’s baptismal vows. I find that my ongoing study of lives of the saints frequently makes me feel spiritually inadequate.
Notice the quote from the Episcopal catechism, O reader. The communion of saints includes
those whom we love and whose whom we hurt.
Our spiritual kinfolk include those whom we do not recognize as being so. Therefore, we hurt them. We may even feel justified in doing this to them.
Who are your “secret” (to you) kinfolk in Christ, O reader? Who are mine?
May we all, by grace, grow into our spiritual vocations of glorifying God, and fully enjoying God forever. May we do this together. And may we cease to hurt one another.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 21, 2022 COMMON ERA
PROPER 16: THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR C
THE FEAST OF SAINT BRUNO ZEMBOL, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC FRIAR AND MARTYR, 1942
THE FEAST OF SAINTS CAMERIUS, CISELLUS, AND LUXURIUS OF SARDINIA, MARTYRS, 303
THE FEAST OF SAINT MAXIMILLIAN OF ANTIOCH, MARTYR, CIRCA 353; AND SAINTS BONOSUS AND MAXIMIANUS THE SOLDIER, MARTYRS, 362
THE FEAST OF SAINT VICTOIRE RASOAMANARIVO, MALAGASY ROMAN CATHOLIC LAYWOMAN
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: All Saints
Image in the Public Domain
The Communion of Saints
NOVEMBER 1, 2023
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in the mystical body of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord:
Give us grace to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living,
that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit
lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
—Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2006), 663; also Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), 59
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18
Psalm 34:1-10, 22
1 John 3:1-3
Matthew 5:1-12
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Episcopal Church has seven Principal Feasts: Easter Day, Ascension Day, the Day of Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, All Saints’ Day, Christmas Day, and the Epiphany.
The Feast of All Saints, with the date of November 1, seems to have originated in Ireland in the 700s, then spread to England, then to Europe proper. November 1 became the date of the feast throughout Western Europe in 835. There had been a competing date (May 13) in Rome starting in 609 or 610. Anglican tradition retained the date of November 1, starting with The Book of Common Prayer (1549). Many North American Lutherans first observed All Saints’ Day with the Common Service Book (1917). The feast was already present in The Lutheran Hymnary (Norwegian-American, 1913). The Lutheran Hymnal (Missouri Synod, et al, 1941) also included the feast. O the less formal front, prayers for All Saints’ Day were present in the U.S. Presbyterian Book of Common Worship (Revised) (1932), the U.S. Methodist Book of Worship for Church and Home (1945), and their successors.
The Feast of All Saints reminds us that we, as Christians, belong to a large family stretching back to the time of Christ. If one follows the Lutheran custom of commemorating certain key figures from the Hebrew Bible, the family faith lineage predates the conception of Jesus of Nazareth.
At Christ Episcopal Church, Valdosta, Georgia, where I was a member from 1993 to 1996, I participated in a lectionary discussion group during the Sunday School hour. Icons decorated the walls of the room in which we met. The teacher of the class called the saints depicted “the family.”
“The family” surrounds us. It is so numerous that it is “a great cloud of witnesses,” to quote Hebrews 12:1. May we who follow Jesus do so consistently, by grace, and eventually join that great cloud.
+++++++++++++
Gendered language does not bother me. Gender is, after all, a reality of human life. Besides, neutering language frequently blurs the divide between the singular and the plural, hence my objections to the singular “they,” “them,” “their” and “themselves.” One can–and should–be inclusive linguistically in such a way as to respect the difference between the singular and the plural. I do understand the issue of clarity, however. I know that how members of one generation, in a particular cultural context, perceive a gendered term, such as “sons,” differs greatly from how others elsewhere, at another time, do. Certain modern English translations of the Bible, in an admirable attempt to be inclusive, obscure subleties of gendered terms sometimes. However, translating a text literally does not make those subtleties clear, either. Commentaries are necessary for that.
Consider, for example, Romans 8:14-17, O reader. In that passage the Greek for “sons of God” often comes across in modern English as “children of God.” Likewise, we read “children” when the Greek word means “sons.” The cultural context, in which sons, but not daughters, inherited, is vital to understanding that portion of scripture, in which Christians, whether they are biologically sons or daughters, inherit, via Jesus. Thus “sons of God” includes daughters. None of that is superficially evident, however.
In contrast, “children,” as in “children of God, as opposed to “children of Satan,” in 1 John 3:1 and 3:10 is a literal translation from the Greek; the Greek word is not gender-specific. That fact is not superficially evident, however, given the recent tendency to gloss over gendered language. A commentary is necessary to understand that aspect of 1 John 3:1 and 3:10.
Our societies condition us in ways that frequently do not apply to the cultural contexts that informed ancient texts.
In 1929 Lesbia Scott wrote:
They lived not only in ages past,
There are hundreds of thousands still,
The world is bright with the joyous saints
Who love to do Jesus’ will.
You can meet them in school, or in lanes, or at sea,
In church, or in trains, or in shops, or at tea,
For the saints of God are just folk like me,
And I mean to be one too.
The apocalyptic hope present in Daniel 7, the community focus of Psalm 34, and the counter-cultural values of the Beatitudes should encourage us to persist is fidelity to God, to do so in faith community, and without resorting to serial contrariness, to lead lives that reject those cultural values contrary to the message of the Beatitudes. We must do this for the glory of God and the benefit of people near, far away, and not yet born. And, when our earthly pilgrimage ends, others will take up the cause we join what Hebrews 12:1 calls
a great cloud of witnesses.
Members of that great cloud of witnesses are sons and daughters of God–inheritors of the promise, by the grace of God. Certain cultures restrict inheritance rights according to gender, but God does not. Each of us, by grace and faith, can be among the sons of God and the children of the light.
And I mean to be one, too.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 17, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JUTTA OF DISIBODENBERG, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBESS; AND HER STUDENT, SAINT HILDEGARD OF BINGEN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBESS AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF GERARD MOULTRIE, ANGLICAN PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND TRANSLATOR OF HYMNS
THE FEAST OF SAINT ZYGMUNT SZCESNY FELINSKI, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF WARSAW, TITULAR BISHOP OF TARSUS, AND FOUNDER OF RECOVERY FOR THE POOR AND THE CONGREGATION OF THE FRANCISCAN SISTERS OF THE FAMILY OF MARY
THE FEAST OF SAINT ZYGMUNT SAJNA, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1940
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2018/09/17/the-communion-of-saints-part-iii/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: All Saints
Image in the Public Domain
The Communion of Saints
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Episcopal Church has seven Principal Feasts: Easter Day, Ascension Day, the Day of Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, All Saints’ Day, Christmas Day, and the Epiphany.
The Feast of All Saints, with the date of November 1, seems to have originated in Ireland in the 700s, then spread to England, then to Europe proper. November 1 became the date of the feast throughout Western Europe in 835. There had been a competing date (May 13) in Rome starting in 609 or 610. Anglican tradition retained the date of November 1, starting with The Book of Common Prayer (1549). Many North American Lutherans first observed All Saints’ Day with the Common Service Book (1917). The feast was already present in The Lutheran Hymnary (Norwegian-American, 1913). The Lutheran Hymnal (Missouri Synod, et al, 1941) also included the feast. O the less formal front, prayers for All Saints’ Day were present in the U.S. Presbyterian Book of Common Worship (Revised) (1932), the U.S. Methodist Book of Worship for Church and Home (1945), and their successors.
The Feast of All Saints reminds us that we, as Christians, belong to a large family stretching back to the time of Christ. If one follows the Lutheran custom of commemorating certain key figures from the Hebrew Bible, the family faith lineage predates the conception of Jesus of Nazareth.
At Christ Episcopal Church, Valdosta, Georgia, where I was a member from 1993 to 1996, I participated in a lectionary discussion group during the Sunday School hour. Icons decorated the walls of the room in which we met. The teacher of the class called the saints depicted “the family.”
“The family” surrounds us. It is so numerous that it is “a great cloud of witnesses,” to quote Hebrews 12:1. May we who follow Jesus do so consistently, by grace, and eventually join that great cloud.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 13, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF PETER OF CHELCIC, BOHEMIAN HUSSITE REFORMER; AND GREGORY THE PATRIARCH, FOUNDER OF THE MORAVIAN CHURCH
THE FEAST OF GODFREY THRING, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JANE CREWDSON, ENGLISH QUAKER POET AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF NARAYAN SESHADRI OF JALNI, INDIAN PRESBYTERIAN EVANGELIST AND “APOSTLE TO THE MANGS”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in the mystical body of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord:
Give us grace to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living,
that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit
lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Year A:
Revelation 7:9-17
1 John 3:1-3
Psalm 34:1-10, 22
Matthew 5:1-12
Year B:
Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9 or Isaiah 25:6-9
Psalm 24
Revelation 21:1-6a
John 11:32-44
Year B:
Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18
Psalm 149
Ephesians 1:11-23
Luke 6:20-31
—Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2006), 663; also Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), 59
+++++++++++++++++++++
Revelation 7:(2-8), 9-17
1 John 3:1-3
Matthew 5:1-12
—Lutheran Service Book (2006), xxiii
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Originally published at SUNDRY THOUGHTS
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Caesar’s Coin, by Peter Paul Rubens
Image in the Public Domain
The Presence of God
OCTOBER 22, 2023
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Song of Songs 2:8-13 or Isaiah 59:1-4, 7-14, 20-21
Psalm 34:11-22
1 Corinthians 12:12-31
Matthew 22:15-33
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Song of Songs is a text between a man and a woman, lovers, perhaps married. They are in mortal danger because of their love. I reject overly metaphorical interpretation of the book, such as it is between YHWH and Israel or Christ and the Church. Nevertheless, the affirmation that God is present in the details of our lives does sacramentalize them.
Speaking of our lives, we Christians have the calling to fulfill our roles in the Church, the body of Christ. We are all important in that respect. If we do not do our part, we diminish the Church.
The readings from which Isaiah 59 and Psalm 34 complement each other. God does not separate Himself from us. No, we separate ourselves from God. We do this collectively and individually. We do this via rife injustice. We do this via idolatry. We do this via violence. These sins have consequences in this life and the next one, we read, but God remains faithful and merciful. Divine judgment comes bound up with divine mercy, however.
Speaking of idolatry, what was one of our Lord and Savior’s supposedly devout adversary doing with that idolatrous, blasphemous Roman coin? The Pharisaic trick question was, in the mind of the man who asked it, supposed to entrap Jesus, who might sound like a traitor by advising against paying the Roman head tax or might offend Zealots, Jewish nationalists. The empire had instituted the head tax in the province of Judea in 6 C.E. The tax had prompted insurrection. The tax’s existence contributed to the First Jewish War, after the time of Jesus and before the composition of the Gospel of Matthew. The tax was payable only in Roman coinage. At the time of the scene the coinage bore the image of Caesar Tiberius (I) and the inscription (in Latin) translated
Tiberius Caesar, august son of the divine Augustus, high priest.
Jesus found the middle way and turned the tables, so to speak, on those seeking to ensnare him in his words.
Another trick question followed. Some Sadducees, who rejected belief in the afterlife, asked a question, rooted in levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5-10). At the time of the writing of that law, the concept of the afterlife was not part of Judaism. Those Sadducees had missed the point and weaponized scripture. Jesus challenged their religious authority.
Tip: Do not attempt to entrap Jesus in his words.
If we will trust God to help us lead holy lives mindful of the divine presence in all details, especially those we might think of as mundane or not sacred yet not bad, we will find sacred meaning in tasks as simple as housework. We will also be too busy finding such meaning that we will not act like those people condemned in Isaiah 59 or those who attempted to ensnare Jesus verbally. No, we will be too busy being aware of living in the presence of God to do any of that.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 16, 2018 COMMON ERA
PROPER 19: THE SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF SAINT CYPRIAN OF CARTHAGE, BISHOP AND MARTYR, 258; AND SAINTS CORNELIUS, LUCIUS I, AND STEPHEN I, BISHOPS OF ROME
THE FEAST OF GEORGE HENRY TRABERT, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER, MISSIONARY, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR AND AUTHOR
THE FEAST OF JAMES FRANCIS CARNEY, U.S.-HONDURAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, MISSIONARY, REVOLUTIONARY, AND MARTYR, 1983
THE FEAST OF MARTIN BEHM, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2018/09/16/the-presence-of-god-part-vi/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Joshua and the Israelite People
Image in the Public Domain
Living in Community, Part I: Misunderstanding
AUGUST 19-21, 2021
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Collect:
Holy God, your word feeds your people with life that is eternal.
Direct our choices and preserve us in your truth,
that, renouncing what is evil and false, we may live in you,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 45
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
Joshua 22:1-9 (Thursday)
Joshua 22:10-20 (Friday)
Joshua 22:21-34 (Saturday)
Psalm 34:15-22 (All Days)
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 (Thursday)
Romans 13:11-14 (Friday)
Luke 11:5-13 (Saturday)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The man who does right may suffer many misfortunes,
but the LORD rescues him from them all.
He keeps him safe from physical harm,
not a bone of his body is broken.
–Psalm 34:20-21, Harry Mowvley, The Psalms Introduced and Newly Translated for Today’s Readers (1989)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I have read and written of martyrs, such as St. James Intercisus (died circa 421), whose lives contradicted those verses. Reality has proven much of the Book of Psalms to be naively optimistic.
The theme of this post comes from Romans and 1 Thessalonians. I begin with Romans 13:12b-13a:
Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day….
—The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
I continue with 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11:
God destined us not for his retribution, but to win salvation through our lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that, awake or asleep, we should still be united to him. So give encouragement to each other, and keep strengthening one another, as you do already.
—The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
Rabbi Hillel, who was an old man when Jesus was a juvenile, summarized the Torah by quoting the Shema then saying,
The rest is commentary; go and learn it.
I apply the same statement to the remainder of the pericopes from Romans 13 and 1 Thessalonians 5. It is commentary; go and learn it.
Living properly in community before God requires much of us. It means that we must put up with inconveniences sometimes, for the sake of hospitality, which was frequently a matter or life or death in Biblical times. It also means that, among other things, we must lay aside misunderstandings and encourage one another. The altar in Joshua 22 was, in fact, not a threat to the central place of worship. Neither did it constitute evidence of any variety of treachery before God, contrary to the charge in verse 16. How many people might have died needlessly had the planned war against the transjordan tribes, based on a misunderstanding, occurred?
Often those who plot and commit errors seek to behave correctly, but they proceed from false assumptions and understandings. This statement remains correct in current times, unfortunately. More people (especially those who decide policies) need to check their information more often. The rest of us (not the policy makers) carry erroneous assumptions in our heads. As I heard a professor who is an expert in critical thinking say years ago, our most basic assumptions are the ones we do not think of as being assumptions. How can we live in peace with our neighbors if we do not understand their actions correctly?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 1, 2015 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 SAINTS PAMPHILUS OF CAESAREA, BIBLE SCHOLAR AND TRANSLATOR; AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS
THE FEAST OF SAINT SIMEON OF SYRACUSE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2015/06/02/living-in-community-part-i/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: The Stoning of St. Stephen, by Paolo Uccello
Image in the Public Domain
Causing Dissensions and Offenses, Part I
AUGUST 12-14, 2021
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Collect:
Ever-living God, your Son gives himself as living bread for the life of the world.
Fill us with such knowledge of his presence that we may be strengthened and sustained
by his risen life to serve you continually,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 45
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
Job 11:1-20 (Thursday)
Job 12:1-25 (Friday)
Job 13:1-19 (Saturday)
Psalm 34:9-14 (All Days)
Acts 6:8-15 (Thursday)
Romans 16:17-20 (Friday)
John 4:7-26 (Saturday)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
See that you never say anything wrong;
do not deceive people by telling lies.
Turn from bad behaviour to good,
try your best to live in peace.
–Psalm 34:14-15, Harry Mowvley, The Psalms Introduced and Newly Translated for Today’s Readers (1989)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
One might start by refraining from blaming victims for their plights.
The titular character of the Book of Job, the opening of that composite text informs us, suffered not because of any sin he had committed. No, God had permitted Satan, then an employee of God in the Hebrew theology of the time, to test the loyalty of Job. (The adversary did not become God’s rival in Jewish theology until much later. Many readers miss that point and read the Book of Job anachronistically.) The primary guilty party in the case of the suffering of the impatient Job, then, was God. (The expression “the patience of Job” makes no sense to me, based on the text which bears his name.) Job’s alleged friends, including Zophar the Naamathite, argued however that God, being just, would not permit the innocent to suffer, so Job must have done something wrong. Job gave as good as he got, as Chapters 12 and 13 indicate:
But you invent lies;
All of you are quacks.
If you would only keep quiet
It would be considered wisdom on your part.
–Job 13:4-5, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
Nevertheless, much of what Job’s alleged friends said sounds like what one reads elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, especially in the Books of Psalms and Proverbs, stated authoritatively. (Those books are too naively optimistic in places. Of course some of those raised to follow God grow up and depart from the proper path, despite Proverbs 22:6, for example.) These alleged friends were not entirely wrong, but they proceeded from a false assumption, one common in antiquity as well as today. Old ideas–including demonstrably false ones–persist. If one’s sins necessarily lead to one’s suffering, how does one explain the crucifixion of Jesus, the living bread, the living water, and the sinless one? One must also, if one is to be intellectually thorough and honest, contend with the sufferings and martyrdoms of many faithful, mere mortals, from antiquity to current events.
There are, of course, various reasons for suffering. The Buddhist statement that suffering results from wrong desiring covers much of that territory well. One might suffer because of the wrong desiring of another person or because of one’s own wrong desiring. Even that, however, does not account for the suffering one must endure apart from that with causation in wrong desiring. Why do some children enter the world with terrible diseases with genetic causes, for example?
St. Paul the Apostle, writing in Romans 16:17, urged his audience
to keep an eye on those who cause dissensions and offenses, in opposition to the teaching that you have learned; avoid them.
—The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
I file Zophar the Naamathite and the false witnesses against St. Stephen in that category.
A complicating factor is that “those who cause dissensions and offenses” usually do not think of themselves as such. They might even consider themselves as righteous people, or at least as people who perform necessary, if unpleasant, deeds for the greater good. Furthermore, you, O reader, and I might be among these people, according to others. The only infallible judge of such matters is God.
We can attempt to act kindly, at least, and to refrain from blaming victims for their afflictions.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 1, 2015 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 SAINTS PAMPHILUS OF CAESAREA, BIBLE SCHOLAR AND TRANSLATOR; AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS
THE FEAST OF SAINT SIMEON OF SYRACUSE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This is post #700 of ORDINARY TIME DEVOTIONS.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2015/06/02/causing-dissensions-and-offenses-part-i/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: The Virgin with David and Solomon
Image in the Public Domain
Building Up Our Neighbors, Part III
AUGUST 7, 2021
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Collect:
Gracious God, your blessed Son came down from heaven
to be the true bread that gives life to the world.
Give us this bread always,
that he may live in us and we in him,
and that, strengthened by this food,
may live as his body in the world,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 44
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
1 Kings 2:1-9
Psalm 34:1-8
Matthew 7:7-11
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Taste and see that the LORD is good;
happy are they who trust in him!
–Psalm 34:8, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
King David’s final advice to his son and royal heir, Solomon, disturbs me. The counsel to obey divine commandments is good, but the elements about killing people detracts from that noble sentiment. In contrast, after Matthew 7:7-11, where we read that God knows how to bless people, we find the Golden Rule in verse 12. Smiting people does not constitute obeying the Golden Rule relative to them. Then again, the theological position of much of the Bible is that Yahweh is the Smiter-in-Chief.
I have strong doses of idealism and realism (not in the Greek philosophical meanings of those words) in my thinking. Sometimes delivering one person from a dangerous situation entails smiting others, especially when they are unrepentant. Yet I also understand that God loves everybody and that all people are my neighbors. Part of the reality of living with flawed human nature is having to make the least bad decisions sometimes.
Nevertheless, to seek to build up as many of our neighbors as possible is a fine ethic by which to live. It is one which we can accomplish by grace. We might know that we ought to do it, but being able to follow through successfully is a different matter. As the former Presbyterian Church in the United States (the “Southern” Presbyterian Church) declared in A Brief Statement of Belief (1962) regarding total depravity:
Sin permeates and corrupts our entire being and burdens us with more and more fear, hostility, guilt, and misery. Sin operates not only within individuals but also within society as a deceptive and oppressive power, so that even men of good will are unconsciously and unwillingly involved in the sins of society. Man cannot destroy the tyranny of sin in himself or in his world; his only hope is to be delivered from it by God.
—The Confession of Faith of The Presbyterian Church in the United States Together with the Larger Catechism and the Shorter Catechism (Richmond, VA: The Board of Christian Education, 1965; reprint, 1973), page 332
May we do the best we can, by the grace of God.
MAY 27, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ALFRED ROOKER, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST PHILANTHROPIST AND HYMN WRITER; AND HIS SISTER, ELIZABETH ROOKER PARSON, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF CHARLES WILLIAM SCHAEFFER, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER, HISTORIAN, THEOLOGIAN, AND LITURGIST
THE FEAST OF CLARENCE DICKINSON, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2015/05/28/building-up-our-neighbors-part-iii/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
ORDINARY TIME DEVOTIONS 
You must be logged in to post a comment.