Above: Odd Fellows Widows’ and Orphans’ Home, Corsicana, Texas, 1910
J149681 U.S. Copyright Office
Copyright deposit; Jno. J. Johnson; 1910
Copyright claimant’s address: Ennis, Tex.
Photographer = John J. Johnson
Image Source = Library of Congress
Reproduction Number = LC-USZ62-133853
The Idol of Public Respectability
MAY 18, 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:
Proverbs 1:1-7
Psalm 119:145-176
Mark 12:35-37 or Luke 20:41-47
1 John 2:3-29
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The term “fear of God” should be “awe of God,” for the latter translation conveys the concept accurately. Certain distractions can draw our attention away from God and the awe thereof. Among these are suffering (not necessarily a distraction, per Psalm 119, yet a distraction for many), worldly appetites (also not necessarily distractions inherently, but distractions for many), and false teaching (always a distraction). The issue is idolatry. An idol is an object, teaching, philosophy, or practice that draws attention and awe away from God. Many idols for many people are not idols for many other people. If someone treats something as an idol, it is an idol for that person.
One can seem to be holy and free of idols yet be disingenuous. In the parallel readings from mark (extended) and Luke Jesus condemns those who put on airs of righteousness yet crave public respectability and devour the property of widows, in violation of the Law of Moses. The spiritual successors of the scribes Jesus condemned are numerous, unfortunately. Some of them even have their own television programs.
Public respectability is not a virtue in the Gospel of Luke:
Alas for you when the world speaks well of you! This was the way their ancestors treated the false prophets.
–Luke 6:26, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
That saying’s companion is:
Happy are you when people hate you, drive you out, abuse you, denounce your name on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice when that day comes and dance for joy, then your reward will be great in heaven. This was the way their ancestors treated the prophets.
–Luke 6:23, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
This is a devotion for the Feast of the Ascension. The selection of these lections seems odd, I admit, but one can make the connection. After the Ascension Jesus was no longer physically present with his Apostles. Afterward, however, the Holy Spirit descended upon them and empowered them to do much to spread the word of Jesus and to glorify God. Of the original Apostles (including St. Matthias, who replaced Judas Iscariot) only two did not die as martyrs. St. John the Evangelist suffered much for God and died of natural causes. Those Apostles (minus Judas Iscariot) did not crave and did not receive public respectability. They did, however, glorify God and change the world for the better.
May we resist the idol of public respectability and, by grace, live so as to glorify God and benefit our fellow human beings.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 12, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MARTIN DOBER, MORAVIAN BISHOP AND HYMN WRITER; JOHANN LEONHARD DOBER, MORAVIAN MISSIONARY AND BISHOP; AND ANNA SCHINDLER DOBER, MORAVIAN MISSIONARY AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF EDITH CAVELL, NURSE AND MARTYR
THE FEAST OF SAINT KENNETH OF SCOTLAND, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY
THE FEAST OF SAINT NECTARIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE, ARCHBISHOP
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2016/10/12/the-idol-of-public-respectability/
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LENTEN AND EASTER DEVOTIONS 
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