Above: The Cover of the Sheet Music to The Fall of Jerusalem and Zion March, 1900
Image Source = Library of Congress
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The Collect:
Loving God, by tender words and covenant promise you have joined us to yourself forever,
and you invite us to respond to your love with faithfulness.
By your Spirit may we live with you and with one another in justice, mercy, and joy,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 25
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The Assigned Readings:
Ezekiel 16:1-14 (Thursday)
Ezekiel 16:44-52 (Friday)
Ezekiel 16:53-63 (Saturday)
Psalm 103 (All Days)
Romans 3:1-8 (Thursday)
2 Peter 1:1-11 (Friday)
John 7:53-8:11 (Saturday)
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The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love.
He will not contend forever,
or nurse His anger for all time.
–Psalm 103:8-9, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
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As the readings for these three days remind us, God both judges and shows mercy. Often mercy follows judgment, in fact. We have received ample grace from God. Such generosity warrants a response of gratitude and ethical living from us. (Grace is free, but not cheap.) One aspect of that ethical living (as in 2 Peter 1:7) is brotherly affection, one of the four loves in the New Testament.
We read also of ways in which God’s glory becomes evident because of or despite human actions. If you, O reader, ever wondered if God will receive glory, the answer is “yes.” Nevertheless, it is better to be a vehicle of divine glorification than an obstacle to it.
John 7:53-8:11, the pericope regarding the woman caught in adultery, is a floating story actually of Synoptic origin. One can read the Gospel of John without it, moving from 7:52 to 8:12 without missing a beat. Usually I like to read an excerpt from the canonical Gospels in the immediate context of what happens before and after it, but today I will not follow that practice with regard to this pericope.
This is a story about a trap. Those religious authorities who sought to ensnare Jesus cared nothing about the location of the man with whom the woman had committed adultery. Jesus probably reminded them of the fact that the punishment for them under the Law of Moses was stoning also. Then our Lord and Savior forgave the woman, who had been a pawn just a few minutes prior.
May our thankfulness to God lead us to treat our fellow human beings ethically. And may we understand that, when we accuse others, we might open ourselves up to charges (even if not legal ones) also.
Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make, you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.
–Jesus in Matthew 7:1-2, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
Also, forgiving each other goes a long way toward building better families, communities, cultures, and societies. So does minding one’s own business. Understanding the scope of one’s own business leads one to recognize the difference between doing what is necessary and proper to build up one’s neighbors and making matters worse. When we love one another properly, as God commanded, we glorify the deity by acting correctly toward others. We cannot love God, whom we cannot see, if we do not love human beings, whom we can see.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 4, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE FIFTH DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF JOSEPH MOHR, AUSTRIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT BARBARA, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN OF DAMASCUS, HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN CALABRIA, FOUNDER OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE POOR SERVANTS AND THE POOR WOMEN SERVANTS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE
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Adapted from this post:
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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