For St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church, Athens, Georgia

Above:  The Temptations of Jesus

Image in the Public Domain

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Lent 2019

 

Texts:  Mark 1:12-13; Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13

Reading the Bible for spiritual formation is an ancient Benedictine practice.  My primary purpose in writing this short piece is to ask, how do the accounts (mainly the Lukan and Matthean ones) of the temptations of Jesus challenge us, both as individuals and a parish, to follow Jesus better than we do.

The Temptation to Turn Stones into Bread

Bread was especially precious in ancient Palestine, with relatively little arable land.

We are blessed to be able to purchase our bread inexpensively at stores.  Bread is abundant in our context, so we probably take it for granted more often than not.  We can, however, think of some tangible needs related to scarcity.

One challenge is not to permit tangible needs to overtake intangible necessities.  We all depend entirely on God and dwell within a web of mutual responsibility and dependence.  According to the late Henri Nouwen, this temptation is the temptation to be relevant.  Relevance is not necessarily bad; in fact, it is frequently positive.  However, maintaining the proper balance of tangible and intangible needs is essential.  Furthermore, Christ’s refusal to cave into the temptation to use his power to make bread—to cease to depend on God—ought to remind us never to imagine that we do not depend entirely on God.

Questions

1. Do we permit tangible needs to distract us from intangible necessities?  If so, how?
2. Do we manifest the vain idea that we do not depend entirely on God?  If so, how?

The Temptation to Jump from the Pinnacle of the Temple

Many scholars of the New Testament have proposed what the pinnacle of the Temple was.

That matter aside, this temptation is, according to Nouwen, the temptation to be spectacular.  It is also the temptation to attempt to manipulate God by trying to force God to intervene in a miraculous way.  That effort, like turning stones into bread, would indicate a lack of faith.

We humans frequently like the spectacular, do we not?  We tell ourselves and others that, if only God would do something spectacular, we will believe.  We are like those who, in the Gospels, only wanted Jesus to do something for them, and not to learn from him.

Questions

1. Does our attraction to the spectacular distract us from the still, small voice of God?  If so, how?
2. Does our attraction to the spectacular reveal our lack of faith?  If so, how?
3. Does our attraction to the spectacular unmask our selfishness?  If so, how?

The Temptation to Worship Satan in Exchange for Earthly Authority

Many Palestinian Jews at the time of Christ thought of Satan as the power behind the Roman Empire and of the Roman pantheon as a collection of demons.  Jesus affirmed God the Father as the only source of his identity.

This temptation is about idolatry, power, and morally untenable compromises.

Many well-intentioned people—ministers, politicians, and appointed office holders, for example—have, in the name of doing good, become corrupt and sacrificed their suitability to do good.  They have sacrificed their moral integrity on the altar of amoral realism.

Some compromises are necessary, of course.  As Reinhold Niebuhr reminded us, we cannot help but commit some evil while trying to do good, for human depravity has corrupted social systems and institutions.

Questions

1. Have we established our identity apart from God?  If so, how?
2. How have we, with good intentions, committed or condoned evil?
3. Have we made morally untenable compromises?  If so, how?

The Good News

The good news is both collective and individual.

I discover the principle, then:  that when I want to do right, only wrong is within my reach.  In my inmost self I delight in the law of God, but I perceive in my outward actions a different law, fighting against the law that my mind approves, and making me a prisoner under the law of sin which controls my conduct.  Wretched creature that I am, who is there to rescue me from this state of death?  Who but God?  Thanks be to him through Jesus Christ our Lord!  To sum up then:  left to myself I serve God’s law with my mind, but with my unspiritual nature I serve the law of sin.

–Romans 7:21-25, The Revised English Bible (1989)

Jesus has modeled the way to resist temptation—to trust God and to understand scripture.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 10, 2019 COMMON ERA

THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF MARIE-JOSEPH LAGRANGE, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF SAINT AGRIPINNUS OF AUTUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; SAINT GERMANUS OF PARIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; AND SAINT DROCTOVEUS OF AUTUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN OGLIVIE, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR

THE FEAST OF SAINT MACARIUS OF JERUSALEM, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

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Adapted from this post:

https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2019/03/10/thoughts-and-questions-about-the-temptations-of-jesus/

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Advertisement

beginning of creation, the date of the incarnation, and the date of the crucifixion, symbolically tying the creation and the new creation together. The date thus became the new year’s day throughout Europe from the sixth century and remained so in England (and America) until 1752.

Above:  Icon of the Annunciation

Image in the Public Domain

Glorious Paradoxes

MARCH 25, 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 7:10-14

Psalm 45 or 40:5-10

Hebrews 10:4-10

Luke 1:26-38

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The date of the Feast of the Annunciation of Our Lord is theological, not historical, as I have written elsewhere.  Scholarship regarding the development of the Western Christian calendar reveals that, by the 200s, March 25, according to popular Christian belief in the West, was the

–Philip H. Pfatteicher, Commentary on the Lutheran Book of Worship:  Lutheran Liturgy in Its Ecumenical Context (Minneapolis, MN:  Augsburg Fortress, 1990), 315-316.

If one reads the pericope from Isaiah 7 in the context of that chapter, one reads a story about Ahaz, an impious King of Judah under threat from the forces of Aram and Israel.  Ahaz puts on airs of piety, prompting First Isaiah to retort,

Is it not enough for you to treat men as helpless, that you also treat my God as helpless?

–Isaiah 7:13, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985)

The divine sign (the one Ahaz refused to seek) of deliverance from the Syro-Ephraimite crisis is that a young woman in the court will give birth to a son, we read.  The crisis will end in Judah’s favor by the time that boy has moral reasoning, we read.

Ahaz was quite unlike the king of Psalm 45 and the author of Psalm 40–that is, pious men.  Yet, if he received a sign without asking, and while mocking God, one might have good cause to wonder what God will give to the righteous, not that obedience to God ensures an easy life.  (Ask Jesus.)

God has never been helpless–or has He?  (Untangling Trinitarian knots is risky theological business.)  Certainly the young incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity was helpless, for a time.  And Jesus seemed helpless on the cross, where, as the author of the thoroughly misnamed Letter to the Hebrews wrote, the “offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” has consecrated believers (10:10).

The Incarnation was paradoxical.  God assuming human form and becoming fully human–an infant, even–was paradoxical.  God simultaneously being in Heaven and on Earth was paradoxical.  God simultaneously being helpless and not helpless was paradoxical.  All these paradoxes were glorious.

So is the symbolic tying together of the creation and the new creation.  This tying together is something I do not pretend to understand, but that I affirm via faith, regardless of when the conception of Jesus actually occurred.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 24, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF NICOLAUS SELNECKER, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF JACKSON KEMPER, EPISCOPAL MISSIONARY BISHOP

THE FEAST OF SAINT EDITH MARY MELLISH (A.K.A. MOTHER EDITH), FOUNDRESS OF THE COMMUNITY OF THE SACRED NAME

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2018/05/24/glorious-paradoxes/

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Above:  The River Jordan, 1890

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-ppmsca-02716

Miracles, Actual and Perceived

MARCH 24 and 25, 2022

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The Collect:

God of compassion, you welcome the wayward,

and you embrace us all with your mercy.

By our baptism clothe us with garments of your grace,

and feed us at the table of your love,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 28

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The Assigned Readings:

Joshua 4:1-13 (Thursday)

Joshua 4:14-24 (Friday)

Psalm 32 (Both Days)

2 Corinthians 4:16-5:5 (Thursday)

2 Corinthians 5:6-15 (Friday)

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Rejoice in Yahweh and be glad, you just,

and shout for joy, all you upright of heart!

–Psalm 32:11, Mitchell Dahood, The Anchor Bible (1966)

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The theme of the power of God unites these days’ assigned readings.

The composite reading from Joshua 4, continuing directly from chapter 3, tells of the crossing of the Israelites into Canaan, the Promised Land.  Parallelism is evident, for one reads of a parting of the waters in Exodus 14 and in Joshua 3 and 4.  Each instance of such a parting has a natural explanation.  In Exodus 14:21 the author refers to

a strong east wind

(TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures, 1985).

The miracle of the Exodus from Egypt is therefore not the parting of the Sea of Reeds, but the liberation of the Hebrew slaves by the figurative hand of God.  J. Alberto Soggin, in Joshua:  A Commentary (1972), informs me that occasional earthquakes in Jordan valley cause walls of limestone to collapse, thereby forming natural dams which hold back water until the water forces its way through them.  Soggin provides three documented examples–in 1267, 1906, and 1927.  The miracle in Joshua 3 and 4, therefore, is that the Israelites ceased their wandering and entered the Promised Land.

The mighty power of God, in whom the just should rejoice and be glad, is of the essence in 2 Corinthians 4 and 5.  Via the power of God the just can withstand persecutions and other afflictions.  Through the power of God one can live confidently and faithfully.  By means of the power of God, who has initiated the process of reconciliation with human beings, we can make peace with others and with God.

This process of reconciliation requires us to abandon our slave mentalities.  The majority of Israelites who left Egypt remained slaves in their minds.  They were free yet did not think as free people.  Each of us is a slave to one thing or another if he or she chooses to be.  For many people the chosen master is a grudge or a set of resentments.  Seeking to correct injustice is positive, for it improves society.  However, nursing a grudge distracts a person from his or her purpose in God.  Many of us in Homo sapiens sapiens need first to make peace with ourselves, for, until we do that, we cannot be at peace with other people and with God.  Others of us have, fortunately, arrived at that spiritual place already.

To forgive oneself for being weak and sinful is essential.  To be at ease with one’s inadequacy and God’s sufficiency is crucial if one is to find peace with oneself.  Then one will have an easier time forgiving others for the same weak and sinful state.  This forgiveness might not happen immediately or quickly, but that is fine.  Sometimes one needs to let go, let God, and notice in the fullness of time that one’s anger has faded significantly, if not gone away completely.  When one realizes that this is the case, one has evidence of a miracle.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 29, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF GEORGE DAWSON, ENGLISH BAPTIST AND UNITARIAN PASTOR

THE FEAST OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE CHURCH OF NORTH INDIA, 1970

THE FEAST OF JENNETTE THRELFALL, ENGLISH HYMN WRITER

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2015/11/29/miracles-actual-and-perceived/

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Above:  The Original Text

Image Source = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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Loving God, who loves us, mourns with us, and rejoices with us,

the death of dreams and aspirations is among the most traumatic losses to endure.

It cuts to the emotional core of a person, causing great anguish, grief, and anger.

Regardless if the dream was indeed the one a person should have followed

(assuming that it was not morally wrong, of course),

the pain and disappointment are legitimate, I suppose.

I have known these emotions in this context more than once.

I wish them upon nobody, not even those who inflicted them upon me.

May we, by grace, function as your ministers of comfort

to those experiencing such a death or the aftermath of one

and who are near us or whom you send our way.

And may we, by grace, help others achieve their potential

and refrain from inflicting such pain upon others.

In the name of Jesus, who identified with us, suffered, died, and rose again.  Amen.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 19, 2014 COMMON ERA

HOLY SATURDAY, YEAR A

Above:  The Ascension of Christ, Circa 1873

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-pga-01968

Patience and the Kingdom of God

MARCH 25, 2023

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The Collect:

Almighty God, your Son came into the world to free us

from all sin and death.  Breathe upon us the power

of your Spirit, that we may be raised to new life in Christ

and serve you in righteousness all our days,  through Jesus Christ,

our Savior and Lord, who lives  and reigns with you and the

Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 28

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The Assigned Readings:

Ezekiel 36:8-15

Psalm 130

Luke 24:44-53

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My soul waits for the Lord,

more than the night watch for the morning,

more than the night watch for the morning.

–Psalm 130:5, Common Worship (2000)

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The kingdom of God has arrived,

the canonical Gospels proclaim,

yet it has not arrived completely.

That is my paraphrase of one Gospel theme.  Some of my recent reading for the Historical Jesus group to which I belong proves helpful here.  James D. G. Dunn, in Jesus Remembered (2003), considers Mark 1:15a:

…The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand….

—Revised Standard Version—Second Edition (1971),

words of St. John the Baptist.  That “time,” or kairos in Greek,

…can be readily understood to indicate not simply one event, a date in time, but a period of time.

–page 438

I like this understanding of the Kingdom of God as an age.  Too much of Protestantism overemphasizes events and minimizes ages and processes in personal life and the Bible.  The comprehension of the Kingdom of God as an age and as a promise fulfilled partially, with more to come reconciles several seeming contradictions in biblical texts.  Ezekiel’s vision, yet unfulfilled, will become reality.  The Kingdom of God, evident since Jesus walked the face of the planet, will become more pronounced.

Frustration over the partial fulfillment of the promise is understandable and predictable.  In fact, so is the perception that the Kingdom of God is a promise we will never see made real.  Alfred Firmin Loisy (1857-1940), a French Roman Catholic theologian, said that Jesus promised us the Kingdom of God and all we got was the Church, which Christ founded, but not in the form it took in time.  For these and other opinions the Roman Catholic Church excommunicated him.  Loisy’s disappointment did contain some legitimate points yet missed a crucial truth:  we have received a down payment on the Kingdom of God, which is evident in the Church.  It has been evident in the Church for nearly two thousand years.  But there is more to come.

Patience can be a difficult spiritual lesson to learn.  I am still working on it, in fact.  And even more patience will be necessary for growth in God, whose timeframe is not ours.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 27, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT JAMES INTERCISUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR

THE FEAST OF HENRY SLOANE COFFIN, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGIAN

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2014/01/14/patience-and-the-kingdom-of-god/

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Above:  Easter Vigil, St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, Dunwoody, Georgia, April 8, 2012

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

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The congregational response to “We pray to God” is “Lord, hear our prayer.”

As we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus of Nazareth, we bring our thanksgivings and concerns to the throne of grace.

We pray for

• Justin, the Archbishop of Canterbury;
• Katharine, our Presiding Bishop;
• Robert and Keith, our Bishops;
• Beth, our Rector;

and all lay and clergy members of the the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

We pray to God.

Lord, hear our prayer.

We pray for economic justice, environmental stewardship, good government, and a better society.  We pray especially for

• those who struggle with financial, career, job, and/or vocational issues;
• those who suffer because of tyrants and violence; and
• those who suffer because of the apathy or prejudices of their neighbors.

We pray to God.

Lord, hear our prayer.

We pray for shalom among people everywhere.

We pray to God.

Lord, hear our prayer.

We give thanks for everything which causes God to rejoice, especially

• the beauty of the natural world;
• the beauty which people have created;
• [the birth of G, son/daughter of H and I;]
• loving relationships;
• X, Y, and Z, who celebrate their birthdays this week; and
• A and B, C and D, and E and F, who celebrate their anniversaries this week.

We pray to God.

Lord, hear our prayer.

We pray for all military personnel, especially (insert list here).

We pray to God.

Lord, hear our prayer.

We pray for others for whom we care, especially (insert list here).

We pray to God.

Lord, hear our prayer.

We pray for those who have died, that they will have eternal rest.

We pray to God.

Lord, hear our prayer.

[The celebrant concludes with a Collect.]

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 3, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF SAINT KATHARINE DREXEL, FOUNDER OF THE SISTERS OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

THE FEAST OF SAINT CUNEGOND OF LUXEMBOURG, HOLY ROMAN EMPRESS THEN NUN

THE FEAST OF SAINT GERVINUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF JOHN AND CHARLES WESLEY, ANGLICAN PRIESTS

Above:  Lent Wordle

I found the image in various places online, including here:  http://standrewauh.org/a-study-for-lent/

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The congregational response to “We pray to you, O God” is “Hear our prayer.”

We pray for the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, that it may show the face of Christ to the world and draw people to you,

We pray to you, O God.

We pray for

• Katharine, our Presiding Bishop;
• Robert and Keith, our Bishops; and
• Beth, our Rector;
• and all clergy and lay members,
• that they may serve you faithfully,

We pray to you, O God.

We pray for

• Barack, our President;
• Nathan, our Governor;
• Nancy, our Mayor; and
• all others who hold positions of authority and influence,

that justice may prevail,

We pray to you O God.

That we may, by grace, do your will each day,

We pray to you, O God.

That all who suffer may find succor,

We pray to you, O God.

We pray for (_____) and all who have died, that they may enjoy and glorify you forever,

We pray to you, O God.

We pray for our own needs and those of others.

Congregationally specific petitions follow.

The Celebrant adds a concluding Collect.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 2, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE

Above:  Jerome Pradon as Judas Iscariot in Jesus Christ Superstar (2000)

(A Screen Capture I Took Via PowerDVD)

Genesis and Mark, Part XXIV:  Disappointment, Grudges, Revenge, and Forgiveness

MARCH 25, 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:

Genesis 49:29-50:7, 14-26

Psalm 43 (Morning)

Psalms 31 and 143 (Evening)

Mark 14:1-11

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A Related Post:

Prayer:

http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/prayer-for-saturday-in-the-fourth-week-of-lent/

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After everything from Genesis 45 forward, Joseph’s brothers still feared that he might bear a grudge against them.  He did not, fortunately.  Yet, in Mark 14:10-11, Judas Iscariot had a reason (which made sense to him) to agree to betray Jesus.  The placement of those verses immediately after an unnamed woman anointed our Lord’s head implies a link (explicit elsewhere) between the two.

The story of a woman anointing Jesus, by the way, occurs in some form in each of the four canonical Gospels.  The other citations are Matthew 26:6-13, Luke 7:36-50, and John 12:1-8.  Each account, although different from the others, contains the same core.

Back to our regular programming…..

Jesus will be at Gethsemane before Mark 14 ends.  That is how close to the end of that Gospel we are.  Yes, one unifying thread between the Old Testament and the New Testament readings is death.  Jacob died in Genesis 49 and Jesus was about to die in Mark 14.  And how did fears and anger play out at these occasions?  Joseph repeated his forgiveness of his brothers.  Chief priests, scribes, and Judas Iscariot plotted our Lord’s death.

Judas was arguably disappointed in Jesus, who seemed insufficiently zealous against the occupying Romans.  Those with whom Judas conspired collaborated with the Romans.  So these were natural enemies who became temporary allies for the sake of convenience.  It was all very unseemly.

Joseph could afford to forgive, of course; he was a powerful man in Egypt.  Yet powerful people have nursed old grudges.  But, even more impressive than Joseph’s forgiveness was that of Jesus, who did not even take a grudge to his cross.  That is a fine example to ponder.

As for me, I know about deep, abiding, and justified anger.  My time as a doctoral student at the Department of History of The University of Georgia was traumatic, ending prematurely.  I never came close to the desired credential.  My anger was justified.  Yet it was also spiritually poisonous, so I had to relinquish it.  I harmed myself inwardly while those who committed academic abuse faced no consequences.  The grudge was a burden too heavy to continue to bear.

As for judgment or mercy, I leave that to God.

Revenge is always a burden too heavy to bear; may each of us in the human race drop it if we are carrying it and refuse to  pick it up if we are not carrying it.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 23, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT DESIDERIUS/DIDIER OF VIENNE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF SAINT GUIBERT OF GORZE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN BAPTIST ROSSI, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST

THE FEAST OF NICOLAUS COPERNICUS, SCIENTIST

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/genesis-and-mark-part-xxiv-disappointment-grudges-revenge-and-forgiveness/

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https://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2018/03/20/uga-and-me/

Above:  An Old Family Bible

Image Source = David Ball

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God of glory,

as we prepare to study the Bible,

may we approach the texts with our minds open,

our intellects engaged,

and our spirits receptive to your leading,

so that we will understand them correctly

and derive from them the appropriate lessons.

Then may we act on those lessons.

For the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Amen.

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KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 7, 2011 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF HENRY MELCHIOR MUHLENBERG, SHEPHERD OF LUTHERANISM IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES

THE FEAST OF FRED KAAN, HYMNWRITER

THE FEAST OF JOHN WOOLMAN, ABOLITIONIST

Above:  A Scene from the March for Troy Davis, September 16, 2011

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

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God of justice,

may we have proper priorities.

Taking our cues from the prophets and Jesus,

may we eschew idolatry,

love you fully,

love our neighbors as we love ourselves,

care for widows and orphans,

plead their cases,

feed the hungry,

clothe the naked,

visit the sick and the imprisoned,

resist and condemn judicial corruption and other official injustice,

and value the most vulnerable members of society.

May we love the unloved,

comfort the comfortless,

give hope to the hopeless,

include the improperly excluded,

and recognize your image in each other.

May we succeed by grace and for your glory and our common good.

Amen.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT THOMAS OF VILLANOVA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF VALENCIA

THE FEAST OF PHILANDER CHASE, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH