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:  Good Shepherd

Image in the Public Domain

Sacred Violence and Good Shepherds

APRIL 21, 2024

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Acts 4:23-33

Psalm 23

1 John 3:1-2

John 10:11-18

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God of all power,

you called from death our Lord Jesus Christ,

the great shepherd of the sheep. 

Send us as shepherds to rescue the lost,

to heal the injured,

and to feed one another with knowledge and understanding;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

OR

Almighty God,

you show the light of your truth to those in darkness,

to lead them into the way of righteousness. 

Give strength to all who are joined in the family of the Church,

so that they will resolutely reject what erodes their faith

and firmly follow what faith requires;

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), 22

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Almighty God, merciful Father,

since you have wakened from death the Shepherd of your sheep,

grant us your Holy Spirit that we may know the voice of our Shepherd

and follow him that sin and death may never pluck us out of your hand;

through Jesus Christ, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 52

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The Fourth Sunday of Easter is Good Shepherd Sunday on more than one lectionary.

• YHWH is the Good Shepherd in Psalm 23.  In that text, only divine goodness and steadfast love either pursue or accompany the psalmist.  The enemies, not invited to the divine banquet, do not harm the psalmist.
• Jesus is the Good Shepherd in John 10.   He knows his sheep, who, in turn, recognize him.  And the Good Shepherd sacrifices himself for his sheep.
• Yet many in the “the world”–kosmos, in Greek–fail to recognize God and Jesus.  These spiritually blind people live according to the values which the Beatitudes (Matthew 5) and the Beatitudes and Woes (Luke 6) contradict.  Many of these spiritually blind people are conventionally religious, by the standards of their cultures or subcultures.

“Sacred violence” is a value of the kosmos, the morally disordered world.  Notice the absence of “sacred violence” in Psalm 23 and John 10, O reader.  God does not smite the psalmist’s foes.  God does, however, force them to watch a grand banquet to which God did not invite them.  And the perpetrators of the violence in John 10 are not acting out of divine love.  These two readings contradict some disturbing stories of violence committed in the name of God and allegedly in obedience to divine commands.  Elijah’s massacre of the prophets of Baal Peor (1 Kings 18:40-41) comes to my mind immediately.

I, having read the full canon of the Bible–all 73 books–reject the stereotype of God changing character between Testaments.  Divine judgment and mercy exist in balance in both the Old and the New Testaments.  Beautiful passages about divine mercy exist in both Testaments.  Likewise, so do harrowing passages about divine judgment.

I am a Christian.  Therefore, my concept of God hinges on Jesus of Nazareth.  I read stories about Jesus dying violently, not having people killed.  I read about Jesus expressing righteous anger, something everyone should do.  Yet I read no stories about Jesus ordering hatred or violence.  So, God, as I understand God, does not order hatred and violence either.  No, God is love.  God triumphs over hatred and violence with love.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 21, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE TWENTY-FOURTH DAY OF LENT

THE FEAST OF JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, CARL PHILIPP EMANUEL BACH, AND JOHANN CHRISTIAN BACH, COMPOSERS

THE FEAST OF SAINT LUCIA OF VERONA, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC TERTIARY AND MARTYR, 1574

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARK GJANI, ALBANIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1947

THE FEAST OF SAINT NICHOLAS OF FLÜE AND HIS GRANDSON, SAINT CONRAD SCHEUBER, SWISS HERMITS

THE FEAST OF SAINT SERAPION OF THMUIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

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Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA

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Advertisement

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 Brazen Serpent, by James Tissot

Image in the Public Domain

Judgment and Mercy

MARCH 10, 2024

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Numbers 21:4-9

Psalm 27:1-9 (10-18)

Ephesians 2:4-10

John 3:14-21

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God of all mercy, by your power to hear and to forgive,

graciously cleanse us from all sin and make us strong;

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), 18

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Almighty God, our heavenly Father,

your mercies are new every morning,

and though we have in no way deserved your goodness,

you still abundantly provide for all our wants of body and soul. 

Give us, we pray, your Holy Spirit

that we may heartily acknowledge your merciful goodness toward us,

give thanks for all your benefits,

and serve you in willing obedience;

through 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), 37

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Before the seraphim became a class of angels in Hebrew thought, they were venomous snakes.  This helps to explain why the vision in Isaiah 6 was terrifying; Isaiah ben Amoz reported a vision of venomous snakes.  The snakes in Numbers 21:4-9 were seraphim, too.  And the cure for their bites was sympathetic magic–in this case, gazing upon a copper representation of such a seraph.

Numbers 21:4-9 offers another story I find theologically troubling.  My concept of God–modeled on Jesus–does not mesh with YHWH sending venomous snakes to bite ungrateful, murmuring Hebrews in a desert.  Yet I acknowledge that at least one Biblical author attributed that action to God.

During the Hellenistic period, a Jewish author, writing as Solomon, also accepted that YHWH had sent the seraphim, among other natural punishments (locusts and flies) at different times.  That author wrote, in part:

For when the dire venom of beasts came upon them

and they were dying from the bite of the crooked serpents,

your anger endured not to the end.

But as a warning, for a short time they were terrorized,

though they had a sign of salvation, to remind them of the precept of your law.

For the one who turned toward it was saved,

not by what was seen,

but by you, the savior of all.

–Wisdom of Solomon 16:5-7, The New American Bible–Revised Edition

Divine judgment and mercy remain in balance.  What is that balance?  Sometimes we wrongly blame or ascribe credit for misfortune to God.  We need to be careful about what we say and write about God, even reverently.  Otherwise, we may depict God as a monster, one whose face we would quake and tremble to seek.  Yet God is not a warm fuzzy, of course.

Judgment is real.  God sends nobody to Hell, though.  No, as C. S. Lewis wrote, the doors to Hell are locked from the inside.  People condemn themselves.  Salvation comes by grace; damnation comes by free will.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 16, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE TWENTIETH DAY OF LENT

THE FEAST OF SAINT ADALBALD OF OSTEVANT, SAINT RICTRUDIS OF MARCHIENNES, AND THEIR RELATIONS

THE FEAST OF SAINT ABRAHAM KIDUNAIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC HERMIT; AND SAINT MARY OF EDESSA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ANCHORESS

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN CACCIAFRONTE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK, ABBOT, BISHOP, AND MARTYR, 1183

THE FEAST OF SAINT MEGINGAUD OF WURZBURG, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK AND BISHOP

THE FEAST OF THOMAS WYATT TURNER, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC SCIENTIST, EDUCATOR, AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST; FOUNDER OF FEDERATED COLORED CATHOLICS

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM HENRY MONK, ANGLICAN ORGANIST, HYMN TUNE COMPOSER, AND MUSIC EDUCATOR

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Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA

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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:  Good Shepherd

Image in the Public Domain

Hesed

APRIL 30, 2023

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Acts 6:1-9; 7:2a, 51-60

Psalm 23

1 Peter 2:19-25

John 10:1-10

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God of all power,

you called from death our Lord Jesus Christ,

the great shepherd of the sheep. 

Send us as shepherds to rescue the lost,

to heal the injured,

and to feed one another with knowledge and understanding;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

OR

Almighty God,

you show the light of your truth to those in darkness,

to lead them into the way of righteousness. 

Give strength to all who are joined in the family of the Church,

so that they will resolutely reject what erodes their faith

and firmly follow what faith requires;

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), 22

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Almighty God, merciful Father,

since you have wakened from death the Shepherd of your sheep,

grant us your Holy Spirit that we may know the voice of our Shepherd

and follow him that sin and death may never pluck us out of your hand;

through Jesus Christ, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 52

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The lectionary wisely omits 1 Peter 2:18:

Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh.

—The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

I realize that the First Epistle of Peter dates to a time and comes from a cultural setting in which the Church was young, small, and not influential.  Nevertheless, I reject any defense that these circumstances excused not denouncing the indefensible.

This is Good Shepherd Sunday.  “Good Shepherd” is a metaphor originally applied to YHWH (Psalm 23; Ezekiel 34) then to Jesus.  Instead of going over shepherds again, I choose to focus on competing translations of one line in Psalm 23.  Divine goodness and mercy may either pursue or attend/accompany one.  Enemies cannot catch up.  After leading many lectionary discussions and comparing translations of Psalms, I have become accustomed to competing, feasible translations of text and lines.  I do not know if I should prefer divine goodness and mercy pursuing me or walking beside me.  Perhaps that does not matter.  Either way, the metaphor provides comfort.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 20, 2022 COMMON ERA

WEDNESDAY IN EASTER WEEK

THE FEAST OF JOHANNES BUGENHAGEN, GERMAN LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN, MINISTER, MINISTER, LITURGIST, AND “PASTOR OF THE REFORMATION”

THE FEAST OF SAINTS AMATOR OF AUXERRE AND GERMANUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS; SAINT MAMERTINUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AND SAINT MARCIAN OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

THE FEAST OF CHRISTIAN X, KING OF DENMARK AND ICELAND; AND HAAKON VII, KING OF NORWAY

THE FEAST OF MARION MACDONALD KELLERAN, EPISCOPAL SEMINARY PROFESSOR AND LAY LEADER

THE FEAST OF ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

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Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA

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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:  Judas Iscariot, by James Tissot

Image in the Public Domain

Judas Iscariot

MARCH 27, 2024

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Isaiah 50:4-9a

Psalm 70:1-2 4-6 (LBW) or Psalm 18:21-30 (LW)

Romans 5:6-11

Matthew 26:14-25

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Almighty God, your Son our Savior suffered at the hands of men

and endured the shame of the cross. 

Grant that we may walk in the way of his cross

and find it the way of life and peace;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 20

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Merciful and everlasting God the Father,

who did not spare your only Son

but delivered him up for us all that he might bear our sins on the cross;

grant that our hearts may be so fixed with steadfast faith in our Savior

that we may not fear the power of any adversaries;

through Jesus Christ, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 43

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In context, Isaiah 50:4-9a is an odd lection to read on this Sunday.  The speaker–the prophet/servant (Second Isaiah)–is pious yet merely human, therefore, sinful.  He believes that the suffering of the exiles during the Babylonian Exile has been justified.  Yet he also anticipates the divine vindication of that exiled population, for the glory of God.  Applying this reading to sinless Jesus (who suffered an unjust execution as an innocent man) requires astounding theological gymnastics.

Judas Iscariot played an essential role in a divine plan.  The writers of the four canonical Gospels portrayed him negatively, for one major obvious reason.  The Gospel of John added that Judas was an embezzler (John 12:6).  Despite all this, Judas was not outside the mercy of God.  And he had not committed the unpardonable sin–blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:32; Mark 3:28; Luke 12:10).  Judas may have thought that he knew what he was doing, but he did not.  Recall Luke 23:24, O reader:

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

—The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)

I do not pretend to know the ultimate fate of Judas Iscariot.  I am not God.  I do, however, repeat my position that the only people in Hell are those who have condemned themselves.  God sends nobody to Hell.  Divine mercy and judgment exist in a balance I cannot grasp, for I am not God.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 12, 2022 COMMON ERA

HOLY TUESDAY

THE FEAST OF HENRY SLOANE COFFIN, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR; AND HIS NEPHEW, WILLIAM SLOANE COFFIN, JR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST

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 ZENO OF VERONA, BISHOP

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Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA

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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:  Ash Wednesday Cross

Image in the Public Domain

Repentance

FEBRUARY 14, 2024

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Joel 2:12-19

Psalm 51:1-13

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:2

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

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Almighty and ever-living God, you hate nothing you have made,

and you forgive the sins of all who are penitent. 

Create in us new and honest hearts, so that,

truly repenting of our sins, we may obtain from you,

the God of all mercy, full pardon and forgiveness;

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), 17

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Almighty and everlasting God,

because you hate nothing you have made

and forgive the sins of all who are penitent,

create in us new and contrite hearts that we,

worthily repenting of our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,

may obtain from you, the God of all mercy,

perfect remission and forgiveness;

through 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), 32

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The prophet Joel, in the 400s B.C.E. interpreted a plague of locusts as divine punishment on the people for disobeying the Law of Moses repeatedly and habitually.  He also understood that repentance remained an option.

I do not share Joel’s first assumption.  I do not interpret natural disasters as acts of divine judgment.  Those who live in Kansas may expect tornadoes.  Those who reside near the Gulf of Mexico may expect hurricanes and tropical storms.  Those who live near fault lines may expect earthquakes.  Those who live near active volcanoes may expect volcanic activity.  Those who live in a flood plain may expect floods.  Such is nature.

The Hebrew prophetic tradition could not make up its mind when repentance remained an option and when God had stopped listening.  (I know; I read the Hebrew prophetic books carefully recently.)  However, I have made up my mind on part of the issue:  So long as one has breath, repentance remains an option.  Whether one can repent after death is a question I cannot answer.  The answer to that question is for God to provide.  I do not presume to know the balance of divine judgment and mercy.

Remorse for sins prepares the way for repentance of those sins.  Talk is cheap.  Nevertheless, some words are necessary and helpful.  Martin Luther was correct; language–especially sacramental language–has power.  And actions are where, as a cliché says, the rubber meets the road.

Lent is a season in which the Church (that part of it with good liturgical sense, at least) focuses on repentance.  We mere mortals need to repent individually.  Societies, cultures, kingdoms, empires, nation-states, and institutions need to repent collectively.  Even the best of us, who have mastered the Lutheran theological category of civil righteousness, have fallen far short of God’s standard.  The rest of us have fallen far short of the same standard, too.  Everyone above a very young age struggles with habitual sins we know better than to commit.

Fortunately, God welcomes penitents and knows that we mere mortals are, poetically, like dust.  May we be penitent dust daily.  And may we observe Lent in such a way that we grow spiritually during this season.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 29, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS LYDIA, DORCAS, AND PHOEBE, CO-WORKERS OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE

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Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA

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Don’t you dare do that in my name!

Above:  Clarke County Jail, Athens, Georgia

Image Source = Google Earth

God is Watching Us

MARCH 27, 2022

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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:

Hosea 11:1-11

Psalm 105

Colossians 3:1-11

John 18:15-27

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God is a like a loving father in Hosea 11:1-11.  The people of Israel and Judah are like a perpetually rebellious son in that passage.  Not only does God call for the people (plural) to repent in Hosea 1:1-11, but God also repents of destructive plans.  Mercy follows judgment.

In context, those collective, persistent sins involved committing idolatry and treating human beings badly.  Authors in both the Old and New Testaments banged the drum of the message that God cares deeply about the treatment of human beings, especially vulnerable ones, by individuals, communities, systems, institutions, and governments.

Recently, in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, where I live, I read about a local miscarriage of justice.  Without ever receiving either proper mental health care or a trial, an elderly, mentally ill woman spent nearly a year in the Clarke County jail.  The District Attorney’s Office had refused to drop the charges at the time the article went to print.  There should never have been any legal charges, just proper mental health care.

When governments act unjustifiably, they do so in the name of the people.  I say,

I say,

Repent of injustice.

I say,

God is watching us.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 7, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF FRANÇOIS FÉNELON, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF CAMBRAI

THE FEAST OF SAINT ALDRIC OF LE MANS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF SAINT ANGELA OF FOLIGNO, PENITENT AND HUMANITARIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT GASPAR DEL BUFALO, FOUNDER OF THE MISSIONARIES OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD

THE FEAST OF SAINT LUCIAN OF ANTIOCH, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR, 312

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2021/01/07/god-is-watching-us/

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The love of Christ impels us.

Above:  Icon of the Crucifixion

Image in the Public Domain

Loving Like Jesus

MARCH 13, 2022

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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:

Hosea 2:2-23 (Protestant and Anglican)/Hosea 2:4-25 (Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox)

Psalm 33

Colossians 1:15-29

John 13:18-38

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The commandment of Jesus in the Gospel reading is that we love one another as he has loved us.  Keep in mind, O reader, that the love of Jesus took him to the cross.  I consider that every time I hear my bishop, Robert C. Wright, of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, tell people to “love like Jesus.”  Bishop Wright is well-acquainted with the Passion Narratives in the Gospels.

God is the only, universal deity.  The message of salvation is for all human beings with a pulse.  Divine judgment and mercy, ever in balance, are also on the menu.  Love has to be voluntary.  “Yes” can mean anything only if “no” is a feasible option.

That is the slogan of the Claretians, a Roman Catholic order whose members perform many good works in the name of Jesus.  The love of Christ impelled St. Paul the Apostle and the original surviving disciples of Jesus.  It continues to impel people, faith communities, and religious orders.  May it compel more individuals, communities, and religious orders as time rolls on.  After all, we never see Jesus face to face in this life except in the faces of other human beings.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 6, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2021/01/06/loving-like-jesus-part-iii/

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The word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri in the days of Uzziah, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash king of Israel.

Above:  Hosea

Image in the Public Domain

Idolatry

MARCH 6, 2022

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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:

Hosea 1:1-11 (Protestant and Anglican)/Hosea 1:1-2:2 (Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox)

Psalm 25

Colossians 1:1-14

John 12:20-36

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–Hosea 1:1, Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible (2019)

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The reading from Hosea provides a timeframe.  Dates of reigns are approximate, on the B.C.E.-C.E. scale, due to the use of relative dating in antiquity.  Furthermore, if one consults three sources, one may find three different sets of dates for the reigns of the listed monarchs.  With that caveat, I cite The Jewish Study Bible to tell you, O reader, the following regnal spans:

• Azariah (Uzziah) of Judah:  785-733 B.C.E.
• Jotham of Judah:  759-743 B.C.E.
• Ahaz of Judah:  743-735-727/715 B.C.E.
• Hezekiah of Judah:  727/715-698-687 B.C.E.
• Jeroboam II of Israel:  788-747 B.C.E.
• Fall of Samaria:  722 B.C.E.

The chronological problem is obvious:  Kings Ahaz and Hezekiah of Judah do not belong in Hosea 1:1.  However, one may know that the decline of the northern Kingdom of Israel followed the death of King Jeroboam II, just as the decline of the southern Kingdom of Judah began during the reign of King Hezekiah.  The beginning of a kingdom’s decline informs the reading of Hosea, set in the northern Kingdom of Israel.  One may reasonably conclude that the lessons of this book were also for subjects in the Kingdom of Judah.

Divine judgment is a prominent theme in this reading from Hosea.  Divine forgiveness will come up in Chapter 2.  For now, however, the emphasis is on judgment.  In that context, one reads that idolatry is a form of spiritual adultery and prostitution.

All the LORD’s paths are mercy and forgiveness,

for those who keep his covenant and commands.

–Psalm 25:10, The Revised New Jerusalem Bible (2019)

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Whoever serves me, must follow me,

and my servant will be with me wherever I am.

–John 12:26a, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)

The invitation in Lent is to walk out of the darkness and into the light.  The invitation is not to let the darkness overtake one.  The invitation is to follow Jesus in the shadow of the cross.

The most enticing form of idolatry may not involve statues or anything else tangible.  No, the most enticing form of idolatry may be the temptation to think of God as being manageable.  God is not manageable.  God is not domesticated.  And God is not a vending machine.  God judges.  God shows mercy.  God forgives the sins of the penitent.  And God deserves more love than anyone and anything else in our lives.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 6, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2021/01/06/idolatry-part-iv/

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Above:  St. Barnabas

Image in the Public Domain

Son of Encouragement

APRIL 25, 2021

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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:

Acts 11:19-30

Psalm 23

1 Thessalonians 2:9-20

Luke 14:15-24

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A few themes converge in this set of readings.  Divine judgment and mercy exist in balance.  Only divine love may pursue the faithful in Psalm 23, but the enemies have pronounced judgment on themselves.  Indeed, one may understand the wrath of God as proverbial chickens to roost.  Accepting an invitation to the divine banquet then making bad excuses for not attending is a bad option.  On the other hand, encouraging others in the faith, as St. Joseph Barnabas did to and with St. Paul the Apostle, is a wise course of action.

“Barnabas” means “Son of Encouragement.”  That is a fitting name for the saint.

May each of us be a ____ of encouragement–a son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, father, mother, neighbor, friend, et cetera–of encouragement.  The emphasis  belongs on “of encouragement.”  May we encourage each other in Christ, so that we all may achieve our full stature in Christ, not pronounce judgment on ourselves.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 7, 2020 COMMON ERA

TUESDAY IN HOLY WEEK

THE FEAST OF SAINT TIKHON OF MOSCOW, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX PATRIARCH

THE FEAST OF SAINT GEORGE THE YOUNGER, GREEK ORTHODOX BISHOP OF MITYLENE

THE FEAST OF JAY THOMAS STOCKING, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINTS MONTFORD SCOTT, EDMUND GENNINGS, HENRY WALPOLE, AND THEIR FELLOW MARTYRS, 1591 AND 1595

THE FEAST OF RANDALL DAVIDSON, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2020/04/07/son-of-encouragement/

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Ah, that these words of mine were written down,

Above:  The Angel in the Empty Tomb

Image in the Public Domain

I Know That My Redeemer Liveth

MARCH 31, 2024

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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:

Acts 2:42-47 or Job 19:7-27c

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

1 Corinthians 15:12-20

Mark 16:1-8

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inscribed on some monument

with iron chisel and engraving tool,

cut into the rock for ever.

This I know:  that my Avenger lives,

and he, the Last, will take his stand on earth.

After my awaking, he will set me close to him,

and from my flesh I shall look upon God.

He, whom I shall see will take my part:

these eyes will gaze on him and find him not aloof.

My heart within me sinks…

You, then, that mutter, “How shall we track him down,

what pretext shall we find against him?”

may well fear the sword on your own account.

There is an anger stirred to flame by evil deeds;

you will learn that there is indeed a judgment.

–Job 19:23-29, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

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In the context of the Book of Job in its final form, the continued faith of Job, afflicted with divine consent by the loyalty tester (the Satan) then rejected by surviving relatives and insulted repeatedly by so-called friends, makes little sense.  The Avenger/Vindicator/Redeemer, or kinsman-redeemer who was to avenge innocent blood, had to be God, for whom the alleged friends presumed to speak.  One irony in the Book of Job, in its final form, is that we who read Chapters 1, 2, and 42 know that Elihu, Zophar, Bildad, and Eliphaz were wrong when claiming that God protects the innocent, in Job’s case.  Yet Job still trusts in God.

The reading of this passage on Easter Sunday makes sense.  Did not the resurrection of Jesus vindicate him?  And does it not vindicate we who, in faith, accept his resurrection?

Job’s attitude, in contrast to the forgiving spirit of Jesus on the cross, is understandable.  Job’s attitude also vindicates the human need for justice.  God will judge and show mercy as God deems appropriate.

The Gospel of Mark originally ended with,

…and they were terrified

at the empty tomb.  Such fear was understandable; the women at the tomb had no hindsight regarding the resurrection of Jesus.  Hindsight was impossible at the time.

I try to minimize how much I anthropomorphize God.  Some of it is unavoidable, given human perspective.  To a great extent, God is, for lack of a better word, other–not quite unknowable, but still other.  The somewhat unknowable other terrifies us sometimes, even in showing extreme mercy, for we do not understand.  With hindsight, however, we can find reasons to rejoice, not fear.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 26, 2019 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ISABEL FLORENCE HAPGOOD, U.S. JOURNALIST, TRANSLATOR, AND ECUMENIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT ANDRA GIACINTO LONGHIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF TREVISO

THE FEAST OF PHILIP DODDRIDGE, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF VIRGIL MICHEL, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK, ACADEMIC, AND PIONEER OF LITURGICAL RENEWAL

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2019/06/26/i-know-that-my-redeemer-liveth/

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