A Faithful Response, Part XVI

Above:  Paul Writing His Epistles, by Valentin de Boulogne

Image in the Public Domain

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For the Fourth Sunday of the Season of God the Father, Year 1, according to the U.S. Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970

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O Thou who from the beginning didst create us for life together:

grant that, by thy fatherly grace, we may put aside suspicion and fear,

and live as one family on earth, praising thy name;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Worship–Provisional Services (1966), 127

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Genesis 3:22-4:7

Ephesians 6:1-9

Matthew 8:14-22

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I begin this post by addressing and dispensing with the proverbial elephant in the room in Ephesians 6; I reject all forms of slavery in all places and at times as immoral.  Nobody should ever reconcile Christianity to any form of slavery.  Unfortunately, the history of Christianity contains people doing just that, since antiquity.

The image of sin crouching at the door, waiting to ambush, in Genesis 4:7, is memorable.

Yet you can be its master.

–Genesis 4:7f, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985)

I recall owning and framing a napkin that read,

LEAD ME NOT INTO TEMPTATION.  I CAN FIND MY OWN WAY.

That describes much of human experience accurately.  Yet we need not commit every sin we experience temptation to perform.  We can, by grace, follow God and not offer excuses for not doing so.  We can demonstrate the love of God in how we behave toward our fellow human beings.  The Golden Rue can define our lives.

Sin crouches at the door, waiting to ambush us daily.  The first step in avoiding a trap, of course, is knowing of its existence.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 14, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF SAINT VENANTIUS HONORIUS CLEMENTIUS FORTUNATUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF POITIERS

THE FEAST OF DOROTHY ANN THRUPP, ENGLISH HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MYSTIC

THE FEAST OF ROBERT MCDONALD, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND MISSIONARY

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