Above: Saint Matthias
Image in the Public Domain
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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
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Acts 1:15-26
Psalm 47 (LBW) or Psalm 133 (LW)
1 John 4:13-21
John 17:11b-19
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Almighty and eternal God,
your Son our Savior is with you in eternal glory.
Give us faith to see that, true to his promise,
he is among us still, and will be with us to the end of time;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
OR
God, our creator and redeemer,
your Son Jesus prayed that his followers might be one.
Make all Christians one with him as he is with you,
so that in peace and concord
we may carry to the world the message of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 23
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O King of glory, Lord of hosts,
uplifted in triumph above all heavens,
we pray, leave us not without consolation,
but send us the Spirit of truth,
whom you promised from the Father;
for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 57
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Consecrate them in the truth;
your word is truth.
–John 17:17, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
Truth, in the Johannine sense, means “activated integrity.” Truth is also that which is reliable, according to The Anchor Bible Dictionary. This makes sense. How can anything be true if it is unreliable?
May we–you, O reader, and I–consider “activated integrity.” We read of it in the selection for a replacement for Judas Iscariot in Acts 1. We read about the perfect love that casts our fear in 1 John 4. The type of fear that perfect love expels belies activated integrity. We read of an example of the praise of God, who embodies activated integrity, in Psalm 47. And the restoration of wholeness after the breaking of it (Psalm 133; Acts 1) is an expression of activated integrity.
Divine love, we read in 1 John 4, casts out the fear that has to do with punishment. Some fear is healthy and encourages safety. For example, I fear touching hot surfaces. And when I walk at night, I carry a flashlight and watch where I step. I fear stepping into a hole, an anthill, et cetera. Acting based on some fears is a reasonable safety precaution. In contrast, the fear in 1 John 4 holds people and groups back from their spiritual potential. These fears often stand between someone and practicing the Golden Rule. Politicians and media outlets frequently encourage such fear and exaggerate dangers for their own cynical, opportunistic, and nefarious purposes–winning elections based on distortions and damn lies, boosting ratings, perpetuating policies contrary to the Golden Rule, et cetera. Often they do so while citing God and/or family values.
Jesus taught us to love one another, not to live in fear and distrust of each other. He taught us to take up our crosses and to follow him, not to scapegoat and victimize people. So, may divine, perfect love cast out the unreasonable fear in you, O reader. May it also expel such fear from me. May such love fill the void the expelled fear leaves behind. May divine love overflow in you and in me.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 24, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY OF LENT
THE FEAST OF SAINT OSCAR ROMERO, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF SAN SALVADOR; AND THE MARTYRS OF EL SALVADOR, 1980-1992
THE FEAST OF SAINT DIDACUS JOSEPH OF CADIZ, CAPUCHIN FRIAR
THE FEAST OF GEORGE RAWSON, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF GEORGE RUNDLE PRYNNE, ANGLICAN PRIEST, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF PAUL COUTURIER, APOSTLE OF CHRISTIAN UNITY
THE FEAST OF THOMAS ATTWOOD, “FATHER OF MODERN CHURCH MUSIC”
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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