Archive for the ‘Psalm 84’ Tag
Above: Temple of Solomon
I scanned the image from a Bible salesman’s sample book from the late 1800s. The volume is falling apart, unfortunately, but it is quite nice to have nevertheless.
Faults of the Temple
MARCH 4-6, 2024
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The Collect:
Holy God, through your Son you have called us to live faithfully and act courageously.
Keep us steadfast in your covenant of grace,
and teach us the wisdom that comes only 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:
1 Kings 6:1-4, 21-22 (Monday)
2 Chronicles 29:1-11, 16-19 (Tuesday)
Ezra 6:1-6 (Wednesday)
Psalm 84 (All Days)
1 Corinthians 3:10-23 (Monday)
Hebrews 9:23-28 (Tuesday)
Mark 11:15-19 (Wednesday)
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How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!
My soul has a desire and a longing to enter the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.
–Psalm 84:1, Common Worship: Daily Prayer (2005)
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The Temple at Jerusalem was the heart of Judaism for a long time. There, for centuries, was the Ark of the Covenant. The Temple was where one had an especially palpable sense of the presence of God, although God dwelt everywhere. King Solomon, using forced labor (see 1 Kings 5:27-30), oversaw the construction of the first Temple, an elaborate structure. Forces of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire destroyed Solomon’s Temple in 587 B.C.E., but the Persian Empire provided support for the construction of the Second Temple. King Herod the Great, a client ruler within the Roman Empire, expanded the Second Temple greatly, creating the Temple of which we read in the Gospels. That Temple was the seat of Judean collaboration with the Roman occupiers. It was also the site of the sacrifices of animals which poor people had purchased with currency they had exchanged for a fee; Roman currency was technically idolatrous. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer in the name of piety. The Temple system was corrupt.
This was why our Lord and Savior criticized that system and competed with it. Thus many of his staunchest opponents benefited from that system. Regardless of the number of purifications and rededications of the Temple, the flaw therein remained, for the upkeep of the Temple depended greatly upon money from people who could not afford to pay.
Thus Jesus, in the New Testament, replaces the Temple and the accompanying system. In him are no political conflicts of interest related to collaboration with an occupying power. In him are no demands for fees the poor cannot afford to pay. In him there is no corruption. He is the Passover lamb, whose blood, death, and Resurrection have atoned for sins. (The Passover lambs in the Book of Exodus protected Israelites from the sins of Egyptians, not themselves, by the way.) He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is, in the words of 1 Corinthians 3, the foundation of the Church, God’s building.
And Judaism has done quite well without a Temple since 70 C.E., not that one should celebrate the Roman destruction of Jerusalem during the First Jewish War.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 10, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN ROBERTS, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR
THE FEAST OF HOWELL ELVET LEWIS, WELSH CONGREGATIONALIST CLERGYMAN AND POET
THE FEAST OF KARL BARTH, SWISS REFORMED THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF THOMAS MERTON, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MONK
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2014/12/11/faults-of-the-temple/
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Above: Christ Pantocrator
Exodus and Hebrews, Part I: Misunderstanding Events
MARCH 24, 2024
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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:
Exodus 8:1-32
Psalm 84 (Morning)
Psalms 42 and 32 (Evening)
Hebrews 1:1-14
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A Related Post:
Prayer:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/prayer-for-monday-of-passion-weekholy-week/
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TECHNICAL NOTE:
Exodus 7:26-8:28 in Jewish and Roman Catholic Bibles equals Exodus 8:1-32 in Protestant ones. So the Exodus citation in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod daily lectionary refers to the Protestant versification.
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With this post I turn to that part of the LCMS daily lectionary (2006 version) which pairs the Book of Exodus and the Letter to the Hebrews. The epistle belongs to the Pauline tradition without St. Paul being its author. Origen, my favorite excommunicated theologian, wrote in the 200s,
As to who wrote the epistle, only God knows.
The epistle opens by explaining the superiority of Jesus:
He is the reflection of God’s glory and bears the impress of God’s own being, sustaining all things by his powerful command; and now that he has purged sins away, he has taken his seat at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high.
–1:3, The New Jerusalem Bible
Meanwhile, in the Book of Exodus, the plagues continue. Frogs, lice or gnats (depending on the translation one consults), and flies overrun Egypt. But the Pharaoh is stubborn. He is the same uncaring character who, in 7:23-24, went home as common Egyptians, desperate for drinking water, dug wells.
How is one supposed to tie these two readings together? Psalm 32:10 (The New Jerusalem Bible) reads
Countless troubles are in store for the wicked,
but one who trusts in Yahweh is enfolded in his faithful love.
Were the ordinary Egyptians wicked? No, course not! They were no more or less sinful than anyone else. So I have difficulty reconciling the God concept in Exodus 8 with the one in Hebrews 1. Is the God who inflicts plagues on innocent civilians the same one whose impress Jesus bears?
I think that a series of natural disasters befell Egypt in rapid succession and that the Hebrews escaped in the process. I think that authors of now-canonical texts interpreted these disasters as acts of God. But I do not think that God victimized innocent civilians. No, that is not the God whose glory I see in Jesus of Nazareth, who sacrificed himself out of love rather than betray it. We have begun Holy Week. May we not proceed through it with a concept of God who attacks innocent populations.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 29, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE FIRST U.S. PRESBYTERIAN BOOK OF CONFESSIONS, 1967
THE FEAST OF JIRI TRANOVSKY, HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINTS LUKE KIRBY, THOMAS COTTAM, WILLIAM FILBY, AND LAURENCE RICHARDSON, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND MARTYRS
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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/exodus-and-hebrews-part-i-misunderstanding-events/
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Above: Christ Episcopal Church, Norcross, Georgia, March 11, 2012
Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
Exodus and Mark, Part I: Liberation Via Jesus
MARCH 17, 2024
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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:
Exodus 1:1-22
Psalm 84 (Morning)
Psalms 42 and 32 (Evening)
Mark 14:12-31
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Some Related Posts:
A Prayer to See Others As God Sees Them:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/a-prayer-to-see-others-as-god-sees-them/
A Prayer for Compassion:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/09/24/a-prayer-for-compassion/
A Prayer to Embrace Love, Empathy, and Compassion, and to Eschew Hatred, Invective, and Willful Ignorance:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/08/03/a-prayer-to-embrace-love-empathy-and-compassion-and-to-eschew-hatred-invective-and-willful-ignorance/
A Prayer of Thanksgiving for the Holy Eucharist:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/31/a-prayer-of-thanksgiving-for-the-holy-eucharist/
Prayer:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/07/prayer-for-the-fifth-sunday-in-lent/
Prayer of Praise and Adoration:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/07/prayer-of-praise-and-adoration-for-the-fifth-sunday-in-lent/
Prayer of Confession:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/07/prayer-of-confession-for-the-fifth-sunday-in-lent/
Prayer of Dedication:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/07/prayer-of-dedication-for-the-fifth-sunday-in-lent/
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Sin permeates and corrupts our entire being and burdens us more and more with 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.
–Total Depravity Paragraph, A Brief Statement of Belief (1962), Presbyterian Church in the United States
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The midwives who spared Hebrew boys were heroines. Too often readers of Exodus might read past the names of Shiphrah and Puah quickly. Yet may we pause and repeat these names with much respect. They put themselves at great risk for strangers. It was the right thing to do.
Jesus, in the other main reading, was about to put himself at risk. (Look ahead: Gethsemane occurs in the next day’s Gospel lection.) He put himself at risk for those he knew and many more he did not–in his generation and succeeding ones. First, though, he instituted the Holy Eucharist, a sacrament in which we take him (literally) into our bodies. If we are what we eat and drink, may the Holy Eucharist make us more like our Lord and Savior.
I have heard and pondered a convincing theological case that the Exodus is the central theme of the Christian Bible. the miracle of the Exodus, according to the Book of Exodus, is not that the waters parted. 14:21 speaks of
a strong east wind
(TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures),
an attempt at a natural explanation. (If one accepts nature as an expression of God, divine workings through nature are natural, not supernatural; no they are just a form of natural we might not understand in the way in which we grasp other natural events.) No, the miracle of the Exodus is that God freed the Hebrews from slavery.
Is not the message of the living Jesus (from the Incarnation to the Resurrection) liberation? Is it not the message of liberation from societal sin (including economically exploitative and/or religiously-backed systems), not just personal peccadilloes? As a supporter of civil rights for all people, I know that this conviction has fueled movements to end Jim Crow in the United States and Apartheid in South Africa, to name just two examples. “Sacrament” derives from the Latin word for or an oath or a solemn obligation. (Thanks to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language for that information.) The solemn obligation I make every time I partake of the Holy Eucharist is to follow my Lord, including in social liberation for my fellow human beings.
Recently I spent a rather intense two days working on a local history project for a fellow parishioner. Athens, Georgia, is the home of the Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery, an abandoned resting place for the remains of African Americans in Clarke County. I prepared a spreadsheet presenting information (derived from death certificates issued from 1919 to 1927) and available from the State of Georgia online) for 236 people. How old were they when they died? Why did they die? What did they do for a living? As I worked two-hour shifts I learned a great deal. And I wondered what their lives were like. Many were former slaves. Others had been born after emancipation. But all who died between 1919 and 1927 lived at the height of Jim Crow in Georgia. And I know that many self-described God-fearing white Christians defended Jim Crow, as many had done for the same relative to slavery. Some argued that God had ordained slavery and segregation–or just segregation. (I have read some of these defenses. I have note cards full of citations and can point to secondary studies on the subject.) Those whites, I am convinced, did not love all of their neighbors as they loved themselves, for they would not have subjected themselves to such an oppressive system and second-class citizenship.
I wonder what my racial attitudes would have been had I been born in 1873, not 1973. It is easy for me to be a racially liberal white person in 2012, but what would I have thought in Georgia in 1912, given the socialization then? Damning racist forebears is like picking low-hanging fruit, not that there is anything wrong with that. Yet I need to examine my own attitudes for the higher-hanging fruit. Everyone needs to examine himself or herself for negative attitudes. Which neighbors (especially as defined by groups) do we love less than others? And which, if any, do we dismiss, despise, or consider inferior? Which, if any, do we think unworthy of fewer civil liberties and civil rights? Do not all of us bear the image of God? Yet we approve of these sinful hierarchies and place ourselves in privileged positions at the expense of others.
The liberation via Jesus is not just of others from ourselves and of each of us from our personal peccadilloes; it is also liberation from ourselves, our biases, our prejudices, and our blind spots. It is liberation to love all our neighbors, people who bear the image of God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 29, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE FIRST U.S. PRESBYTERIAN BOOK OF CONFESSIONS, 1967
THE FEAST OF JIRI TRANOVSKY, HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINTS LUKE KIRBY, THOMAS COTTAM, WILLIAM FILBY, AND LAURENCE RICHARDSON, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND MARTYRS
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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/exodus-and-mark-part-i-liberation-via-jesus/
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Above: Expulsion of the Money Changers from the Temple, by Giotto
Genesis and Mark, Part XX: Reform or Revolution?
MARCH 10, 2024
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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 41:28-57
Psalm 84 (Morning)
Psalms 42 and 32 (Evening)
Mark 11:20-33
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Some Related Posts:
Prayer:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/prayer-for-the-fourth-sunday-in-lent/
Prayer of Praise and Adoration:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/prayer-of-praise-and-adoration-for-the-fourth-sunday-in-lent/
Prayer of Confession:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/prayer-of-confession-for-the-fourth-sunday-in-lent/
Prayer of Dedication:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/prayer-of-dedication-for-the-fourth-sunday-in-lent/
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There is a time to work through the system. And there is a time to confront it.
The Pharonic system was inherently exploitative, creating artificial scarcity. It was also an absolute monarchy. There was no constitution or a concept of civil liberties. So nobody was preparing to found the Egyptian Civil Liberties Union (ECLU), with its infamous papyrus card-carrying members. Tyranny was the political system. Yet Joseph used it to feed many people (domestic and foreign) during a severe and prolonged famine. (Later in Genesis he also enslaved Egyptians to the Pharoah in exchange for food, and the monarch moved people off what had once been their land. There was no excuse for that, but I am getting ahead of myself.) Joseph, at this point (Chapter 41) in Genesis, did something great, concrete, and positive.
The Temple system was also inherently exploitative, requiring poor people to pay money changers so that they (the poor) could buy sacrificial animals with currency not tainted with the Roman claim of imperial divinity, and therefore with idolatry. And the currency changers turned a nice profit, as did the Temple itself. So Jesus condemned religious profiteering. Even worse, the Temple, next door to a Roman fortress which towered over it, was the center of collaboration with the occupying Romans. The timing was also sensitive, for the Passover was the commemoration of God’s deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. So the politics added up, including another attempt to entrap Jesus in his own words. He, of course, was the superior debater.
There is a time to work through the system in place and therefore to accomplish more good than staging a revolution would permit. I have not doubt that the New Deal would have faced more difficulties and been less effective had President Franklin Delano Roosevelt pushed for civil rights for African Americans more than he did. Jim Crow politicians in the South would have erected more barriers than they did. The lesson is simple: The perfect must not become the enemy of the good.
Yet there is also a time to confront the system. The British did have to leave the Indian Subcontinent, for example: Mohandas Gandhi was correct. And Apartheid did have to end in the Republic of South Africa, just as Jim Crow had to fall in the United States. So it is wrong to just a little good when one can do a great deal instead.
May we always know what time it is–time to work through the system and reform it or time to confront it.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 22, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF RICHARD BIGGS, ACTOR
THE FEAST OF ROTA WAITOA, ANGLICAN PRIEST
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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/genesis-and-mark-part-xx-reform-or-revolution/
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Above: Jacob’s Ladder, by William Blake
Genesis and Mark, Part XV: Epiphanies and Reactions or Responses Thereto
MARCH 3, 2024
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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 27:30-45; 28:10-22
Psalm 84 (Morning)
Psalms 42 and 32 (Evening)
Mark 9:1-13
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Some Related Posts:
The Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus (August 6):
http://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/feast-of-the-transfiguration-of-jesus-august-6/
Kings (2009):
http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/kings-2009/
Prayer:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/03/prayer-for-the-third-sunday-in-lent/
Prayer of Praise and Adoration:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/02/prayer-of-praise-and-adoration-for-the-third-sunday-in-lent/
Prayer of Confession:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/02/prayer-of-confession-for-the-third-sunday-in-lent/
Prayer of Dedication:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/02/02/prayer-of-dedication-for-the-third-sunday-in-lent/
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Sometimes poetry can convey truth better than a straight-forward account . That, I am convinced, is why the Gospel accounts of the Transfiguration work so well; they are prose poetry.
Back in Mark 8:27-38, Peter had confessed Jesus as Messiah. then our Lord had predicted his death and resurrection, which Peter did not take well. So Jesus rebuked him. One must take up one’s cross and follow me, Jesus said. Then, in 9;1, came a prediction many have misunderstood:
In truth I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power. (The New Jerusalem Bible)
The Markan account of the Transfiguration follows immediately. Textual context matters very much.
In the Transfiguration we have the true identity of James revealed to Peter, James, and John. The trouble with the proposed three booths (or shelters) was at least two-fold. First, any attempt to institutionalize the moment would have prevented them from moving forward to Jerusalem and the ultimate Holy Week. Second, the three booths would have been the same size, I presume. What would have differentiated Jesus from Moses and Elijah?
All of that builds up to my main point. The three Apostles were terrified. They did not know what to say, but Peter spoke anyway. In contrast, in Genesis 28, Jacob the schemer was
shaken (verse 17, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures),
was confident, and did know what to say. When God becomes present in a spectacular manner, we might be terrified or shaken. Yet, if we are spiritually where we ought to be, confidence is the proper result, for God is with us. But if we are on the wrong side of God….
Recently I found Kings, a 2009 NBC television series, on DVD. It is a retelling of sorts of the Saul-David story from 1 Samuel. The setting is a parallel reality, in contemporary times. Silas Benjamin is the absolute monarch of the Kingdom of Gilboa, the newly-rebuilt capital city of which is Shiloh. Gilboa is at war with Gath, its northern neighbor. The series ran only twelve episodes (including the two-part pilot), for it audience did not find it, unfortunately. In the last episode King Silas, once the chosen of God, hears from God for the first time in a while. God appears in a thunderstorm and tells Silas that David Shepherd is the new chosen king. Silas does not take this well, and David must go into exile in Gath.
That scene culminated a series which began one Reverend Samuels confronting Silas and delivering a message of God’s rejection. Silas said in reaction,
To hell with God.
With an attitude like that, what else was God to say at the end?
May our attitude be much better.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 18, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MALTBIE DAVENPORT BABCOCK, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF ERIK IX OF SWEDEN, KING AND MARTYR
THE FEAST OF JOHN I, BISHOP OF ROME
THE FEAST OF TAMIHANA TE RAUPPARAHA, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY
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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/genesis-and-mark-part-xv-epiphanies-and-reactions-or-responses-thereto/
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Above: Nazareth, Palestine, 1934-1939
Image Source = Library of Congress
Genesis and Mark, Part XI: Rejection
FEBRUARY 25, 2024
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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 16:1-9, 15-17:22
Psalm 84 (Morning)
Psalms 42 and 32 (Evening)
Mark 6:1-13
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Some Related Posts:
Prayer:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/01/26/prayer-for-the-second-sunday-of-lent/
Prayer of Praise and Adoration:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/prayer-of-praise-and-adoration-for-the-second-sunday-in-lent/
Prayer of Confession:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/prayer-of-confession-for-the-second-sunday-in-lent/
Prayer of Dedication:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/prayer-of-dedication-for-the-the-second-sunday-in-lent/
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If you, O reader, are very observant regarding the Book of Genesis, you have noticed something about Chapter 17. It reads as if Chapter 15 does not exist. Do not take my word for it; read the texts for yourself. There is a simple explanation: 15 comes mostly from J and 17 from P. Thus we have two accounts of the Abrahamic Covenant.
While I am discussing textual differences, I turn to the rejection of Jesus at Nazareth. Here are some facts one can confirm with just a little effort:
- The rejection occurs in Mark 6:1-6, Matthew 13:53-48, and Luke 4:16-30.
- The tempting of Jesus in the wilderness occurs in Mark 1:12-13, Matthew 4:1-11, and Luke 4:1-13.
- Thus Mark and Matthew place more chronological distance between the two events than does Luke, who separates them with two verses.
Now you know.
Now for my main point:
Jesus could not work well among those around whom he had grown up. Yet his Apostles performed wonders among strangers, who had no preconceived notions about them. Speaking of preconceived notions (yes, a pun), Sarai/Sarah had a bad attitude toward Hagar. Sarai/Sarah was of two minds about Hagar’s proper relationship to Abram/Abraham, and therefore to her. The second mind–that of scorn and rejection–triumphed.
Sometimes we humans ponder those closest to us genetically, emotionally, or geographically and think that we know more about them that we do. So misunderstandings and jealousies arise, creating unfortunate results–perhaps estrangement. Relationships can be difficult. Actually, some of my best relationships have been to cats, not people, so I am hardly a candidate for dispensing much helpful relationship advice. But I do offer this nugget: May we begin by admitting to ourselves how little we know about others. Disappointment is relative to expectation, which are frequently erroneous. May we deal with people as they are, not as we expect them to be. Doing that will help a great deal and be better for all parties involved.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 14, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF FRANCIS MAKEMIE, FATHER OF U.S. PRESBYTERIANISM
THE FEAST OF NGAKUKU, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY
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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/genesis-and-mark-part-xi-rejection/
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Above: Cain and Abel
Genesis and Mark, Part V: Sin and Attitudes
FEBRUARY 18, 2024
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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 4:1-26
Psalm 84 (Morning)
Psalms 42 and 32 (Evening)
Mark 2:18-28
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Some Related Posts:
Prayer:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/prayer-for-the-first-sunday-in-lent/
Prayer of Praise and Adoration:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/prayer-of-praise-and-adoration-for-the-first-sunday-in-lent/
Prayer of Confession:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/prayer-of-confession-for-the-first-sunday-in-lent/
Prayer of Dedication:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/01/23/prayer-of-dedication-for-the-first-sunday-in-lent/
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Much time had passed since the days when the Law of Moses was relatively new. Lifestyles had changed, as had social, cultural, and political realities. Yet, within Judaism, the Law of Moses remained a divine instructions. So teachers interpreted the Law to fit within their then-current contexts. That was essential background for grasping correctly one reason that Jesus irritated so many people so much. Keeping the Law just so was not a mater of maliciousness; it was an issue of both righteousness and identity, as practitioners understood them.
Jesus walks around, heals many people on the Sabbath, plucks ears of corn on the Sabbath, and eats with notorious sinners. In so doing he called into question the basis of the lived faith of many people. He was courting danger. I wonder, in fact, how well many self-described Christians of today would respond to a preacher who questioned traditional doctrines and practices and dined with notorious sinners. I leave that question with you, O reader. And I ask how I would respond to such a person.
Jesus argued by words and words that his critics had gotten the Law wrong. They had ossified it, despite their attempts to reinterpret it for new circumstances. They had focused so much on arbitrary rules that they had overlooked human necessities. They needed to be flexible. They needed to allow for grace more than they did.
Meanwhile, in Genesis 4, there were two brothers–Cain, an agriculturalist, and Abel, a pastoralist. Both made offerings to God, who accepted that of Abel but rejected that of Cain. The story implies (by lack of details concerning Cain’s offering) that his was substandard. The text does indicate clearly that Cain had a bad attitude. He did kill Abel, after all. Yet the murderer came under divine protection. He lived the rest of his life in exile, but he had divine protection. Grace and judgment coexisted.
God, addressing Cain in verse 7 said,
Surely if you do right,
There is uplift.
But if you do not do right
Sin crouches at the door;
It urge is toward you,
Yet you can be its master.
—TANAKH: The Holy Scripures
The image of sin crouching at the door as if to ambush one is vivid. Sin mastered the character of Cain. That was not a foregone conclusion, though. And sin need not master any of us. I suspect that when sin approaches most often, it does so dressed up as righteousness. In Mark 2, it convinced some people because it came in the guise of Sabbath law.
We must be on guard against the appearance of righteousness without the substance thereof. And we must also mind our attitudes. Cain had a bad attitude in Genesis 4. Our Lord’s opponents in Mark 2 also had bad attitudes. A good attitude alone is insufficient for righteousness, but it cannot hurt–and it can help.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 7, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT DOMITION OF HUY, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP
THE FEAST OF HARRIET STARR CANNON, COFOUNDER OF THE COMMUNITY OF SAINT MARY
THE FEAST OF SAINT ROSE VENERINI, FOUNDER OF THE VENERINI SISTERS
THE FEAST OF SAINT THEODARD OF NARBONNE, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP, AND SAINTS JUSTUS AND PASTOR, MARTYRS
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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/genesis-and-mark-part-v-sin-and-attitudes/
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LENTEN AND EASTER DEVOTIONS 
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