Friendship IV

Above:  Micah

Image in the Public Domain

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For the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year 1, according to the U.S. Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970

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O Lord, Heavenly Father, in whom is the fullness of light and wisdom:

enlighten our minds by thy Holy Spirit, and give us grace to receive thy Word

with reverence and humility, without which no man can understand thy truth.

Grant this for the sake of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Worship–Provisional Services (1966), 126

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Micah 7:1-7

Hebrews 13:1-8

Luke 22:24-34

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I am sufficiently pedantic to notice the first line of the reading from Micah 7:

Woe is me!

I am sufficiently pedantic to note that

Woe is I!

is technically correct, given that “I” is a subject and “me” is an object.

The main idea of that passage is not pedantry, of course.  No, Micah 7:1-7 describes a crumbling society.  Courts are corrupt, “friends” betray each other frequently, close relatives are not trustworthy, and evil is ubiquitous and dominant.

Yet I will look to the LORD,

I will wait for the God who saves me,

My God will hear me.

–Micah 7:7, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985)

There is a Gospel hymn, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” One verse reads, in part:

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?

If so, they are enemies, not friends.  A friend is one who behaves as a friend.

Behaving as a friend does not entail prioritizing one’s ego.  Behaving as a friend does entail practicing hospitality.  Behaving as a friend can constitute part of one’s lived faith–practicing the Golden Rule.  Behaving as a friend entails seeking the best for others.

The question du jour, O reader, is,

How good a friend am I?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 12, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE ELEVENTH DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF SAINT JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE VISITATION

THE FEAST OF ALICIA DOMON AND HER COMPANIONS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS IN ARGENTINA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS BARTHOLOMEW BUONPEDONI AND VIVALDUS, MINISTERS AMONG LEPERS

THE FEAST OF SAINT LUDWIK BARTOSIK, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR

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