According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)

Above:  The Angel in the Tomb

Image in the Public Domain

Hope and Fear, Part II

MARCH 31, 2024

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Isaiah 25:6-9

Psalm 118:1-2, 15-24

1 Corinthians 15:19-28

John 20:1-9 (10-18) or Mark 16:1-8

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O God, you gave your only Son

to suffer death on the cross for our redemption,

and by his glorious resurrection

you delivered us from the power of death. 

Make us die every day to sin,

so that we may live with him forever in the joy of the resurrection;

through 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), 20-21

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Almighty God the Father, through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ,

you have overcome death and opened the gate of everlasting life to us. 

Grant that we,

who celebrate with joy the day of our Lord’s resurrection,

may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 47

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Isaiah 24-27, part of Third Isaiah, is a proto-apocalypse.  Daniel contains a fully fully-developed apocalypse in chapters 7-12, which date to the Hasmonean period.  Revelation (the Apocalypse of John) and some pseudepigraphal works are fully-developed apocalypses, too.  Isaiah 24-27 contains many of the features of those later writings.

The apocalyptic genre is optimistic, for it proclaims that God will win in the end.  The proto-apocalypse in Isaiah 24-27 is optimistic in so far as it speaks of the metaphorical resurrection of Judah while using the language of destroying death and reviving corpses.

The assigned readings, taken together, speak of an illness.  A conquered people may move into a better future.  And the resurrection of Jesus makes renewed individual and collective life in God possible.

As I write these words, I live in troubled, cynical times.  Anti-democratic forces, competing in elections around the world, have much popular support.  Sometimes they win elections.  Many candidates who speak favorably of family values engage in political bullying and celebrate cruelty and insensitivity.  Many such candidates frequently win elections, too.  The great web of mutuality that protects members of society–the most vulnerable ones, especially–continues to fray under the assault by a selfish variety of individualism.  The morally neutral act of remaining informed regarding current events becomes an occasion of inviting excessive stress into one’s life.  Hope seems to be in short supply.  Positive statements about the Kingdom of God may ring hollow.  One may feel like the women at the empty tomb of Jesus–afraid.  I do.

And, when we turn our attention to death itself, we may experience the depths of despair and the harsh reality of someone’s loss.  The light may go out of our lives, as it did for Theodore Roosevelt on February 12, 1884, when his mother and first wife died.

I understand my grief well enough to know not to resort to platitudes.  I comprehend that death stings.  I know from the past and from current events that the world has long been and continues to be rife with delusion and injustice.  I, as a student of history, grasp that history does not repeat itself, but that history rhymes.  It rhymes because many people fail to learn the lessons of the past.

Yet the Christian hope teaches me that the Reverend Doctor Maltbie Davenport Babcock (1858-1901) was correct:

This is my Father’s world,

O let me ne’er forget

That though the wrong seems oft so strong,

God is the ruler yet.

This is my Father’s world:

The battle is not done,

Jesus who died shall be satisfied,

And earth and heaven be one.

–Quoted in The Hymnal (1933), #70

Happy Easter!

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 18, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE TWENTY-SECOND DAY OF LENT

THE FEAST OF SAINT LEONIDES OF ALEXANDRIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR, 202; ORIGEN, ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN; SAINT DEMETRIUS OF ALEXANDRIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; AND SAINT ALEXANDER OF JERUSALEM, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF SAINT CYRIL OF JERUSALEM, BISHOP, THEOLOGIAN, AND LITURGIST

THE FEAST OF ELIZA SIBBALD ALDERSON, POET AND HYMN WRITER; AND JOHN BACCHUS DYKES, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT PAUL OF CYPRUS, EASTERN ORTHODOX MARTYR, 760

THE FEAST OF ROBERT WALMSLEY, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST HYMN WRITER

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Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA

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Above:  The Persian Empire

Image in the Public Domain

Angels and Antichrists

APRIL 11 and 12, 2024

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The Collect:

Holy and righteous God, you are the author of life,

and you adopt us to be your children.

Fill us with your words of life,

that we may live as witnesses of the resurrection of your Son,

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 33

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The Assigned Readings:

Daniel 9:1-19 (Thursday)

Daniel 10:2-19 (Friday)

Psalm 4 (Both Days)

1 John 2:18-25 (Thursday)

1 John 2:26-28 (Friday)

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Answer me when I call, defender of my cause;

you set me free when I am hard-pressed;

have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

–Psalm 4:1, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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The congregation in 1 John had suffered from schism.  Gnostics or proto-Gnostics, who denied that Jesus was God incarnate, had departed from the church (and apparently deprived it of many large potential contributions).  The author of 1 John labeled these schismatics antichrists, meaning that they were not merely mistaken, but were evil and in league with Satan.

In Daniel 10 we read of a vision of an angel.  According to that chapter, an angel speaks to Daniel, who has interceded on behalf of his people.  This angel has been struggling with the guardian angel of the Persian Empire, who has delayed him for three weeks.  Fortunately, though, St. Michael the Archangel, having  come to the friendly angel’s aid, has made the visit to Daniel possible.

These readings, taken together, indicate a worldview substantially different from mine, for I am largely a product of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment.  I understand scientific materialism, laws of nature, and the basics of rationalist philosophy.  I am, in fact, no mystic.  I am, actually, a Modernist, in the sense of being the opposite of a Postmodernist.  Thus I struggle with these pericopes.

I do, however, glean some meaning from them.  There is a higher reality, I affirm.  My understanding of it does not include national guardian angels, but I acknowledge that God exists and cares about us and justice.  Thus prayers for justice are worthwhile and can lead to changes for the better.  However, I also detect a negative aspect in these readings.  True, sometimes people who oppose one are evil, but to apply that label wrongly places them outside the range of repentance and persuasion.  One might think of the allegedly evil as legitimate targets of hatred and destruction.  But what does engaging in that kind of invective and activity make one?  I encourage opposing evil (actual or imagined) in such as way that one does not become evil in actuality.  Trusting in God is a fine start.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 18, 2014 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF MARC BOEGNER, ECUMENIST

THE FEAST OF DOROTHY SAYERS, NOVELIST

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2014/12/18/angels-and-antichrists/

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Above:  The Beginning of the Nicene Creed, from The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 358

Scan Source = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

First-Person Plural

FEBRUARY 15 and 16, 2024

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The Collect:

Holy God, heavenly Father, in the waters of the flood you saved the chosen,

and in the wilderness of temptation you protected your Son from sin.

Renew us in the gift of baptism.

May your holy angels be with us,

that the wicked foe may have no power over us,

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 27

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The Assigned Readings:

Daniel 9:1-14 (Thursday)

Daniel 9:15-25a (Friday)

Psalm 25:1-10 (Both Days)

1 John 1:3-10 (Thursday)

2 Timothy 4:1-5 (Friday)

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For your Name’s sake, O LORD,

forgive my sin, for it is great.

–Psalm 25:10, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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Psalm 25 and 2 Timothy 4:1-5 employ the singular form of the first and second persons, but Daniel 9 and 1 John 1 use the plural form of the first person.

We have sinned….

If we say that we have no sin….

We declare to you….

If we confess our sins….

“We” excludes “Jesus and me,” an unwarranted invasion of hyper-individualism into a faith system with communitarian moral and ethical foundations.

We believe in one God….

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 358

The Nicene Creed uses the plural form of the first person in the translation of the Nicene Creed from the books of worship of The Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  This is appropriate, for the plural form of the first person, in the context of the Nicene Creed, speaks of the faith of the Church.  Thus the rejection of the tradition of saying,

I believe in one God….,

constitutes not a heresy or an innovation but a return to original practice and an affirmation of a great truth.  The original Greek version of the Creed, a eucharistic prayer, begins with “We believe…..”  And, as U.S. Lutheran liturgist Philip H. Pfatteicher tells us:

The use of the singular pronoun has led to the explanation that in the Creed one professes one’s own faith.  While there is an element of personal involvement in the profession to be sure, what in fact one does in professing the Creed is to bind oneself to the faith of the church, and so “we believe” is altogether appropriate.

—Commentary on the Lutheran Book of Worship:  Lutheran Liturgy in Its Ecumenical Context (Minneapolis, MN:  Augsburg Fortress, 1990), page 146

A healthy balance of the “me” and the “we” places individual faults and responsibilities within the context of one’s community.  We are responsible to and for each other, not just ourselves.  We are also accountable to God, just you (singular) and I are.  This ethic of dependence upon God, of interdependence within community, and of mutual responsibility contradicts cherished American notions of self-made people and rugged individualism, which are idols.  May we who need to overcome them do so by grace, and cease to deny or ignore that particular sin within us.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 6, 2014 COMMON ERA

THE SEVENTH DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR B

THE FEAST OF SAINT NICETIUS OF TRIER, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK, ABBOT, AND BISHOP; AND SAINT AREDIUS OF LIMOGES, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

THE FEAST OF SAINT ABRAHAM OF KRATIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK, ABBOT, BISHOP, AND HERMIT

THE FEAST OF SAINT NICHOLAS OF MYRA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF PHILIP BERRIGAN, SOCIAL ACTIVIST

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2014/12/11/first-person-plural/

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Dana Carvey as “the Church Lady,” from Saturday Night Live in the 1980s:

Image Source = http://thatsagoodblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/church-lady-tingles-for-justin-bieber.html

“Isn’t that special?”

(Have I dated myself with this cultural reference?)

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February 26, 2024

Collect and lections from the Episcopal Lesser Feasts and Fasts Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints

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Follow the assigned readings with me this Lent….

Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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Daniel 9:1-10 (Revised English Bible):

In the first year of the reign of Darius son of Ahasuerus (a Mede by birth, who was appointed ruler over the kingdom of the Chaldeans) I, Daniel, was reading the scriptures and reflecting on the seventy years which, according to the word of the LORD to the prophet Jeremiah, were to pass while Jerusalem lay in ruins.  Then I turned to the Lord God in earnest prayer and supplication with fasting and with sackcloth and ashes.  I prayed and made this confession to the LORD my God:

Lord, great and terrible God, keeping covenant and faith with those who love you and observe your commandments, we have sinned, doing what was wrong and wicked; we have rebelled and rejected your commandments and your decrees.   We have turned a deaf ear to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings and princes, to our forefathers, and to all the people of the land.  Lord, the right is on your side; the shame, now as ever, belongs to us, the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem, and to all the Israelites near and far in every land to which you have banished them for their disloyal behaviour towards you.  LORD, the shame falls on us, on our kings, our princes, and our forefathers.  We have sinned against you.  Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God, because we have rebelled against him.  We have not obeyed the LORD our God, in that we have not conformed to the laws which he laid down for our guidance through his servants the prophets….

Psalm 79 (Revised English Bible):

The heathen have invaded your domain, God;

they have defiled your holy temple and laid Jerusalem in ruins.

The dead bodies of your servants they have thrown out as food for the birds;

everyone loyal to you they have made carrion for wild beasts.

All round Jerusalem their blood is spilt like water,

and there is no one to give them burial.

We suffer the taunts of our neighbours, the gibes and mockery of those about us.

How long, LORD, will you be roused to such fury?

How long will you let your indignation blaze like a fire?

Pour out your wrath on nations that do not acknowledge you,

on kingdoms that do not call on you by name,

for they have devoured Jacob and left his homeland a waste.

Do not remember against us the guilt of past generations;

rather let your compassion come swiftly to meet us,

for we have been brought so low.

Help us, God our saviour, for the honour of your name;

for your name’s sake rescue us and wipe out our sins.

Why should the nations ask,

Where is their God?

Before our very eyes may those nations know your vengeance for the slaughter of your servants.

Let the groaning of the captives reach your presence

and in your great might save those under the sentence of death.

Turn back sevenfold on their heads, Lord,

the contempt our neighbours pour on you.

Then we, your people, the flock which you shepherd,

will give you thanks for ever and repeat your praise to all generations.

Luke 6:27-38 (Revised English Bible):

Contextual note: This passage takes place during the Sermon on the Plain and immediately after the Beatitudes and Woes.–KRT

[Jesus said,]

But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who treat you spitefully.  If anyone hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; if anyone takes what is yours do not demand it back.

Treat others as you would kike them to treat you.  If you love only those who love you, what credit is that to you?  Even sinners love those who love them?  Again, if you do good only to those who are good to you, what credit is there in that?  Even sinners do as much.  And if you lend only where you expect to be repaid, what credit is there in that?  Even sinners lend to each other to be repaid in full.  But you must love your enemies and do good, and lend without expecting any return; and you will have a rich reward; you will be sons of the Most High, because he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.  Be compassionate, as your Father is compassionate.

Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned; give, and gifts will be given you.  Good measure, pressed and shaken down and running over, will be poured into your lap; for whatever measure you deal out to others will be dealt to you in turn.

The Collect:

Let your Spirit, O Lord, come into the midst of us to wash us with the pure water of repentance, and prepare us to be always a living sacrifice to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever and ever.  Amen.

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I extended the Daniel reading slightly and typed the entire psalm, not just the first nine verses specified in the Lesser Feasts and Fasts Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints to establish context.  Sometimes I extend the lections, but never do I omit verses.

One point I get out of the way is to refer you to the post for the Tenth Day of Lent, for my comments there apply to these readings, also.

Sometimes Biblical passages make us uncomfortable.  Today’s psalm numbers among those for me.  The imagery is unpleasant and the cry for vengeance contradicts Jesus from the Sermon on the Plain.  Yet let us not turn away from unpleasant parts of the Scriptures.  The Book of Psalms contains a variety of human emotions, from adoration to vengeance.  At difficult times I have identified with the cries for vindication and vengeance.  And I am not alone in this.

In the excerpt from the Lukan Gospel we read that we should not judge others.  Here is Jesus, again, raising the standard.  I know that I judge others at least once on a good day and many times on a bad day.  Seldom do I give this voice, but I know my thoughts.  And the Gospels remind me that I should not have done what I did.  The truth is that appearances can be deceptive and that we do not know everything.  Yet God knows all, and therefore judgment about others resides there properly.

So, why do more of us not try more assiduously to refrain from such judgmental attitudes?  (I begin with myself.)  We, like the Apostles of Jesus, do not understand as well as well as we think we do.  The first step in correcting this spiritual disorder is recognizing its existence.  The rest is primarily in the hands of God, although our free will is an important factor, too.

Too often the experiences many vulnerable people have of church members is that of judging, as in the attitude of Dana Carvey’s great character, the Church Lady.  An oft-repeated thought follows: the church should be hospital for sinners.  Yet too often it resembles an assembly of the self-righteous.  And our righteousness is worthless and illusory.  And yet we judge.

Lord, have mercy on us.

KRT

Written on February 22, 2010

Edited on October 28, 2010