Above: Abraham and Melchizedek, by Dieric Bouts the Elder
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
Sovereign God, you turn your greatness into goodness for all the peoples on earth.
Shape us into willing servants of your kingdom,
and make us desire always and only your will,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 50
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The Assigned Readings:
Genesis 14:17-24
Psalm 91:9-16
Romans 15:7-13
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Because they have set their love upon me,
therefore will I deliver them;
I will lift them up, because they know my name.
They will call upon me, and I will answer them;
I am with them in trouble,
I will deliver them and bring them to honour.
–Psalm 91:14-15, Common Worship (2000)
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Who was Melchizedek? He was a mysterious figure, the King of Salem (Jerusalem) and a “priest of the Most High” (Genesis 14:18, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures). “The God Most High” might have been Yahweh; the text is ambiguous. So Melchizedek, to whom the victorious warrior and patriarch Abram (Abraham) paid a tithe might have belonged to a pagan cult. If so, the patriarch paid homage to a pagan deity. On the other hand, Melchizedek might have been a Gentile devotee of Yahweh. Sometimes one wishes that certain Biblical texts were unambiguous.
Interpreting “the God Most High” to mean Yahweh meshes well with Romans 15:7-13. St. Paul the Apostle, who quoted, in order, Psalm 18:49, Deuteronomy 32:43, Psalm 117:1, and Isaiah 11:10 (all from the Septuagint; sometimes that translation contains some words crucial to his point and absent from other versions), argued that God calls both Jews and Gentiles. The Gospel is therefore inclusive.
Romans 15:7-13 brings up issues far beyond Jewish-Christian relations. During the time of St. Paul Christianity was a Jewish sect, albeit one open to Gentiles. Furthermore, the Apostle was always Jewish. He dealt with issues of identity, some of which went back to the time of Abraham. Would permitting uncircumcised Gentile men to convert to Christianity without first becoming Jews threaten Jewish identity? Many Jews (including Christians) thought so. Passages such as the pericope from Romans took on greater and different significance after the formal split of Christianity from Judaism during the Second Jewish War in 135 C.E.
Within Christianity the pericope remains significant. We, the Gentiles, have our own “Gentiles,” whom we define according to a variety of standards, including race, ethnicity, gender, language, culture, and physical capabilities. Labeling as outsiders those whom God calls insiders is sinful. It harms them and hinders the community of faith while making those who label narrowly feel good about themselves in the context of their imagined exclusive status. And most of us who call ourselves Christians have engaged in this unfortunate behavior or will do so, given sufficient time.
May God forgive us, help us to do better, and create a more inclusive community of faith, for the glory of God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 3, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF HENRY THOMAS SMART, ENGLISH ORGANIST AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH FERRARD, ANGLICAN DEACONESS
THE FEAST OF IMMANUEL NITSCHMANN, GERMAN-AMERICAN MORAVIAN MINISTER AND MUSICIAN; HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW, JACOB VAN VLECK, U.S. MORAVIAN MORAVIAN BISHOP, MUSICIAN, COMPOSER, AND EDUCATOR; HIS SON, WILLIAM HENRY VAN VLECK, U.S. MORAVIAN BISHOP; HIS BROTHER, CARL ANTON VAN VLECK, U.S. MORAVIAN MINISTER, MUSICIAN, COMPOSER, AND EDUCATOR; HIS DAUGHTER, LISETTE (LIZETTA) MARIA VAN VLECK MEINUNG; AND HER SISTER, AMELIA ADELAIDE VAN VLECK, U.S. MORAVIAN COMPOSER AND EDUCATOR
THE FEAST OF JOHN CENNICK, BRITISH MORAVIAN EVANGELIST AND HYMN WRITER
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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