Archive for the ‘1 Thessalonians 3’ Category
Above: Icon of the Last Judgment
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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Jeremiah 26:1-6 (LBW, LW) or Jeremiah 25:30-32 (LW)
Psalm 105:1-7
1 Thessalonians 3:7-13 (LBW, LW) or 1 Thessalonians 1:3-10 (LW)
Matthew 24:1-14 (LBW, LW) or Mathew 25:31-46 (LW)
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Almighty and ever-living God,
before the earth was formed and even after it ceases to be,
you are God.
Break into our short span of life
and let us see the signs of your final will and purpose;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 30
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Almighty and ever-living God,
since you have given exceedingly great and precious promises
to those who believe,
grant us so perfectly and without all doubt
to believe in your Son Jesus Christ
that our faith in your sight may never be reproved;
through our Savior, Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Lutheran Worship (1982), 92
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Divine judgment and mercy come mixed in the assigned readings. Contexts vary. They include the Day of the LORD, the Exodus, the latter years of the Kingdom of Judah, the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E., and the Second Coming of Jesus. God is faithful and universal, we read. And many people who have a relationship with God may be unaware of that relationship. The flip side is that many people who think they have a relationship with God do not.
In the parable from Matthew 25, those astonished righteous learned that, by helping the vulnerable with whom Jesus identified, they had a relationship with Jesus. Those astonished righteous learned that they had performed good works for Jesus and had been faithful to him.
A parable, by definition, contains layers of meanings. Let us not ignore this layer of meaning, O reader. The parable in Matthew 25:31-46 speaks of service. The parable ought not to lead to Pietism–downplaying doctrine and falling into works-based righteousness. No, the parable should tell us something about divine judgment and mercy; we mere mortals do not understand them. Divine judgment and mercy exist in balance; we cannot grasp what that balance is.
Reread Matthew 25:31-46, O reader. Notice the astonishment of those who thought they were righteous and the astonishment of those who learned they were righteous. Then look around and ponder. The parable counsels against spiritual complacency. Love is active. Jesus has many disciples, a host of whom do not know they are his disciples, based on the parable’s standard. Celebrate grace and Christian service, O reader. Live grace-fully.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 24, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT BARTHOLOMEW THE APOSTLE, MARTYR
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Adapted from this post
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Above: Madonna and Child, by Filippo Lippi
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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Malachi 2:1-2, 4-10 (LBW, LW) or Job 14:1-6 (LW)
Psalm 131 (LBW) or Psalm 90:1-12 (LW)
1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 (LW) or 1 Thessalonians 2:8-13 (LBW, LW)
Matthew 23:1-12 (LBW, LW) or Mathew 24:15-28 (LW)
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Lord God, so rule and govern our hearts and minds
by your Holy Spirit that,
always keeping in mind the end of all things and the day of judgment,
we may be stirred up to holiness here
and may live with you forever in the world to come,
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 29
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O Lord, absolve your people from their offenses
that from the bonds of sins,
which by reason of our weakness we have brought upon us,
we may be delivered by your bountiful goodness;
through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 91
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Malachi 2:3 is not an assigned verse. I suppose that hearing it read aloud in church would raise some awkward issues and prompt gasps of shock. Set in the context of priests offering sacrifices wrongly after the end of the Babylonian Exile, Malachi 2:3 reads:
I will put your seed under a ban, and I will strew dung upon your faces, the dung of your festal sacrifices, and you shall be carried out to its [heap].
—TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures
God seems to take proper worship seriously in Malachi 2.
For all the John 3:16 signs at sporting events, I cannot recall one Malachi 2:3 sign. Perhaps a wiseacre should correct that oversight.
Eschatological overtones in the New Testament combine with musings about the human condition and about trust in God in the Hebrew Bible. Psalm 131 speaks of individual and collective trust in God, described in maternal terms. Matters individual and collective are inseparable, as John Donne (1572-1631) wrote:
No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend’s were.
Each man’s death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
Therefore, in faith community, encouraging one another is part of
a life worthy of God.
–1 Thessalonians 2:12, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
Lives worthy of God, by grace, build up people. Lives worthy of God seek and find the common good. Lives worthy of God play out both individually and collectively. Lives worthy of God remain deeply flawed–sinful. That is the human condition. Yet these lives do not wallow in that sin. No, these lives
…keep tranquil and quiet
like a child in its mother’s arms,
as content as a child that has been weaned.
–Psalm 131:2, The Jerusalem Bible (1966).
Consider that image, O reader. Live accordingly.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 24, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT BARTHOLOMEW THE APOSTLE, MARTYR
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Adapted from this post
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Above: The Lost Piece of Silver,by John Everett Millais
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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The Assigned Readings:
Acts 12:1-19
Psalm 148
1 Thessalonians 3:1-4:2
Luke 15:1-10
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The Gospel of Luke establishes the context for the Parables of the Lost Sheep/Good Shepherd and the Lost Coin:
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear [Jesus]. And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
–Luke 15:1-2, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)
Do you, O reader, identify with the Pharisees and scribes or with the tax collectors and sinners in that passage? Should not anyone be glad that Jesus was spending time in the company of those who knew they needed him? The best translation of the first beatitude (Matthew 5:3) is not,
Blessed are the poor in spirit…,
but
Blessed are those who know their need for God….
God desires us, fortunately for us.
Psalm 148 invites all of creation to praise God. The text never qualifies that principle or says, “unless….” Indeed, times of affliction (as in the readings from Acts and 1 Thessalonians) are times to praise God.
If that principle confused you, O reader, I understand your confusion. Praising God in times of joy and plenty is relatively easy. Yet difficult times cast the blessings of God in stark contrast to what surrounds them. Blessings become easier to recognize. Nevertheless, one is in difficult circumstances. Anxiety, uncertainty, and grief erect high walls to praising God. Yet God is with us in our doldrums. God seeks us, for we are valuable because God says we are.
That is a reason to rejoice and to praise God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 8, 2020 COMMON ERA
WEDNESDAY IN HOLY WEEK
THE FEAST OF HENRY MELCHIOR MUHLENBERG, PATRIARCH OF AMERICAN LUTHERANISM; HIS GREAT-GRANDSON, WILLIAM AUGUSTUS MUHLENBERG, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND LITURGICAL PIONEER; AND HIS COLLEAGUE, ANNE AYRES, FOUNDRESS OF THE SISTERHOOD OF THE HOLY COMMUNION
THE FEAST OF SAINT DIONYSIUS OF CORINTH, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF SAINT HUGH OF ROUEN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP, ABBOT, AND MONK
THE FEAST OF SAINT JULIE BILLIART, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE SISTERS OF NOTRE DAME
THE FEAST OF TIMOTHY LULL, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER, SCHOLAR, THEOLOGIAN, AND ECUMENIST
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Adapted from this post:
https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2020/04/08/devotion-for-the-fifth-sunday-of-easter-year-c-humes/
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Above: Annunciation of the Angel to Saint Zechariah, by Domenico Ghirlandaio
Image in the Public Domain
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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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Jeremiah 33:14-16
Psalm 25
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Luke 1:1-25
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As Karl Barth pointed out, God, not human beings, properly occupies the center of Christian theology. The overabundance of human-centered language in hymnals and in lyrics to music in church is never a good sign.
God is at the center in the readings for this Sunday. God occupies the center of Jeremiah 33, with its prophecy of a restored Davidic monarchy and levitical priesthood. God occupies the center in the prediction of redemption while all around looks dire. God guides people spiritually and forgives sins. God helps us empathize and rejoice with each other as we serve God. God offers good news that seems unbelievable.
A Southern Baptist collegiate ministry sends people to stand in the quadrangle at the Oconee Campus of the University of North Georgia a few times each semester. Sometimes someone stops me to ask me a few questions. One of those questions is,
Do you believe in God?
My answer is always the same:
What do you mean?
I ask because my answer depends on the intent of the questioner. A common understanding of belief in God is intellectual acceptance of the existence of God. In the creeds and in many Biblical passages, though, belief in God indicates trust in God. I always affirm the existence of God, whom I usually trust.
Trust is of the essence of in Luke 1:1-25. In this Sunday’s Gospel reading, the lack of trust is a problem for Zechariah. I do not condemn, though, for my response would also be in so many words,
Yeah, right.
We readers, if we know the Bible well, should think immediately of Abram/Abraham and Sarai/Sarah (Genesis 15:1-20 and 17:1f). We ought also to remember Genesis 16, the beginning of the story of Hagar and Ishmael, as well as the faithlessness of Abram and Sarai.
Returning to Luke 1:1-25, if we continue reading that chapter, we find next week’s Gospel reading, which I mention here only in passing. The contrast between Zechariah and Mary is multifaceted. Trust (or lack thereof) in God is one of those facets.
I do not condemn Zechariah caution and skepticism. I also rejoice that God does not asks us to cease to transform into gullible people. Furthermore, divine grace continues to shower upon those who respond to seemingly unbelievable truths with
Yeah, right.
My favorite Biblical character is St. Thomas the Apostle; I affirm honest doubt. It keeps one from falling for scams and joining cults.
Yeah, right
is frequently the correct reply.
When, however, the seemingly unbelievable is true and of God, we can turn to God and admit that our initial skepticism was wrong, even if it was understandable. Sometimes we need hindsight to see more clearly. And grace continues to abound.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 8, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF EDWARD KING, BISHOP OF LINCOLN
THE FEAST OF FRED B. CRADDOCK, U.S. DISCIPLES OF CHRIST MINISTER, BIBLICAL SCHOLAR, AND RENOWNED PREACHER
THE FEAST OF GEOFFREY STUDDERT KENNEDY, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOHN HAMPDEN GURNEY, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN OF GOD, FOUNDER OF THE BROTHERS HOSPITALLERS OF SAINT JOHN OF GOD
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Adapted from this post:
https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2020/03/08/devotion-for-the-first-sunday-of-advent-year-c-humes/
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Above: A Candle
Image Source = Martin Geisler
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The Collect:
O God of justice and love,
you illumine our way through life with the words of your Son.
Give us the light we need, and awaken us to the needs of others,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 52
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The Assigned Readings:
Amos 8:7-14 (Monday)
Joel 1:1-14 (Tuesday)
Joel 3:9-21 (Wednesday)
Psalm 63 (All Days)
1 Corinthians 14:20-25 (Monday)
1 Thessalonians 3:6-13 (Tuesday)
Matthew 24:29-35 (Wednesday)
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The hit parade of judgment comes in these days’ readings. Among the themes therein is the final judgment, which a glorious future for God’s people will follow. First, however, one must survive the judgment, if one can.
A theme from the New Testament informs the Old Testament lessons nicely. Faith–by which I mean active faith, in the Pauline sense of the word, not in sense of purely intellectual faith one reads about in the Letter of James–is not just for one’s benefit and that of one’s faith community. No, faith is for the good of those whom one draws to God and otherwise encourages spiritually. The people of God have the assignment to function as a light to the nations. That was the mission in which many Hebrews failed in the days of the Old Testament. They became so similar to other nations that they could not serve as a light to those nations. The same holds true for much of Christianity, whether liberal, moderate, or conservative, for organized religion has a knack for affirming certain prejudices while confronting others. Some denominations, especially in then U.S. South, formed in defense of race-based slavery. Others, especially in the U.S. North, formed in opposition to that Peculiar Institution of the South. Many nineteenth-century and twentieth-century U.S. Protestants recycled pro-slavery arguments to defend Jim Crow laws, and one can still identify bastions of unrepentant racism in churches. Also, mysogyny and homophobia remain entrenched in much of organized Christianity.
To separate divine commandments from learned attitudes and behaviors can prove difficult. It is, however, essential if one is to follow God faithfully and to function as a light to others. May those others join us in praying, in the words of Psalm 63:8:
My soul clings to you;
your right hand holds me fast.
–The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 7, 2014 COMMON ERA
PROPER 18: THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF THE SAINTS AND MARTYRS OF THE PACIFIC
THE FEAST OF ELIE NAUD, HUGUENOT WITNESS TO THE FAITH
THE FEAST OF JANE LAURIE BORTHWICK, TRANSLATOR OF HYMNS
THE FEAST OF JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER, POET
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Adapted from this post:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2014/09/07/devotion-for-monday-tuesday-and-wednesday-after-proper-27-year-a-elca-daily-lectionary/
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Above: The Civil Rights March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, 1965
Photographer = Peter Pettus
Image Source = Library of Congress
(http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003675346/)
Reproduction Number = LC-USZ6-2329
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The Collect:
God of compassion, you have opened the way for us and brought us to yourself.
Pour your love into our hearts, that, overflowing with joy,
we may freely share the blessings of your realm and faithfully proclaim
the good news of your Son, Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 39
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The Assigned Readings:
Joshua 1:1-11 (Monday)
1 Samuel 3:1-9 (Tuesday)
Proverbs 4:10-27 (Wednesday)
Psalm 105:1-11, 37-45 (All Days)
1 Thessalonians 3:1-5 (Monday)
2 Thessalonians 2:13-3:5 (Tuesday)
Luke 6:12-19 (Wednesday)
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Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his face continually.
–Psalm 105:4, Common Worship (2000)
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The Psalm tells us to seek God and divine strength continually. That is good advice at all times and in all places. It is also advice consistent with the rest of the assigned readings.
The lections from Joshua and Proverbs are overly optimistic. They follow a certain formula: Obey God and good results will follow; one will prosper, et cetera. This is the overly optimistic viewpoint which leads to the heresy of Prosperity Theology: love God, do the right things, and get rich.
Tell that to Jesus (crucified), St. Paul the Apostle (beheaded after many years of troubles), and most of the original twelve Apostles (the majority of whom died violently). Tell that to the Thessalonian Christians. Tell that to nearly 2000 years’ worth of Christian martyrs and about 5000 years’ worth of faithful Hebrews.
When we challenge social institutions and systems which violate th law of love we confront powerful forces. In so doing we challenge people who might even cite God in attempts to justify their unjustifiable actions and attitudes. And we place ourselves at great risk. We need divine strength to live faithfully and to avoid the pitfalls of hatred, vengeance, and misdirected anger. We should be angry sometimes, for righteous anger does exist. But we ought to channel it properly, lest it corrupt our cause and compromise us.
We can succeed only by the power of God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 14, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF FRANCIS MAKEMIE, FATHER OF U.S. PRESBYTERIANISM
THE FEAST OF EDWARD HENRY BICKERSTETH, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF EXETER
THE FEAST OF JOHN ROBERTS/IEUAN GWYLLT, FOUNDER OF WELSH SINGING FESTIVALS
THE FEAST OF NGAKUKU, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY
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Adapted from This Post:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/devotion-for-monday-tuesday-and-wednesday-after-proper-6-year-a-elca-daily-lectionary/
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Above: An Ocean Storm
Image Source = Mila Zinkova
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Jeremiah 33:14-16 (New Revised Standard Version):
The days are surely coming,
says the LORD,
when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: ”The LORD is our righteousness.”
Psalm 25:1-9 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
my God, I put my trust in you;
let me not be humiliated,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
2 Let none who look to you be put to shame;
let the treacherous be disappointed in their schemes.
3 Show me your ways, O LORD,
and teach me your paths.
4 Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
in you have I trusted all the day long.
5 Remember, O LORD, your compassion and love,
for they are from everlasting.
6 Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions;
remember me according to your love
and for the sake of your goodness, O LORD.
7 Gracious and upright is the LORD;
therefore he teaches sinners in his way.
8 He guides the humble in doing right
and teaches his way to the lowly.
9 All the paths of the LORD are love and faithfulness
to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 (New Jerusalem Bible):
How can we thank God enough for you, for all the joy we feel before our God on your account? We are earnestly praying night and day to be able to see you face to face again and make up any shortcomings in your faith.
May God our Father himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, make it easy for us to come to you. May the Lord be generous in increasing your love and make you love one another and the whole human race as much as we love you. And may he so conform your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless in the sight of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus Christ comes with all his saints.
Luke 21:25-31 (Revised English Bible):
[Jesus continued:]
Portents will appear in sun and moon and stars. On earth nations will stand helpless, not knowing which way to turn from the roar and surge of the sea. People will faint with terror at the thought of what is coming upon the world; for the celestial powers will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When all this begins to happen, stand upright and hold your heads high, because your liberation is near.
Jesus told them a parable:
Look at the fig tree, or at any other tree. As soon as it bud, you can see for yourselves that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all this happening, you may know that the kingdom of God is near.
Truly I tell you: the present generation will live to see it all. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
The Collect:
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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Advent is about what God has done, is doing, and will do. God–in the form of Jesus–became human and dwelt among us. God is present with us in the form of the Holy Spirit. And we have the promise of a return of Christ. Much of the New Testament reflects the unfulfilled expectation that he would return nearly 1,900 years ago. Many times since then predicted dates for the Second Coming have passed without Jesus making a repeat appearance. God’s timing is not ours. So be it.
We who call ourselves Christians bear the responsibility to be salt and light in the world, to leave our part of it better than we found it. We are at our best when we do that rather than slaughter each other over doctrinal disputes. So may we be the best salt and the brightest light we can be, so that, regardless of what God’s timing turns out to be, we
may be blameless in the sight of our God and Father. (1 Thessalonians 3:13, The New Jerusalem Bible).
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 3, 2011 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOHN OWEN SMITH, UNITED METHODIST BISHOP IN GEORGIA
THE FEAST OF SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY IN ASIA
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Adapted from this post:
http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2012/02/22/first-day-of-advent-first-sunday-of-advent-year-c/
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Above: Second Coming Icon
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Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2010), of The Episcopal Church, contains an adapted two-years weekday lectionary for the Epiphany and Ordinary Time seasons from the Anglican Church of Canada. I invite you to follow it with me.
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1 Thessalonians 3:6-13 (The Jerusalem Bible):
However, Timothy is back from you and he has given us good news of your faith and your love, telling us that you always remember us with pleasure and want to see us quite as much as we want to see you. And so, brothers, your faith has been a great comfort to us in the middle of your own troubles and sorrows; now we can breathe again, as you are still holding firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you, for all the joy we feel before our God on your account? We are earnestly praying night and day to be able to see you face to face again and make up any shortcomings in your faith.
May God our Father himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, make it easy for us to come to you. May the Lord be generous in increasing your love and make you love one another and the whole human race as much as we love you. And may he so conform your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless in the sight of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus Christ comes with all his saints.
Psalm 90:13-17 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
13 Return, O LORD; how long will you tarry?
be gracious to your servants.
14 Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning;
so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.
15 Make us glad by the measure of the days that you afflicted us
and the years in which we suffered adversity.
16 Show your servants your works
and your splendor to their children.
17 May the graciousness of the LORD our God be upon us;
prosper the work of our hands;
prosper our handiwork.
Matthew 24:42-51 (The Jerusalem Bible):
Jesus said,
So stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming. You may be quite sure of this that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house. Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
What kind of servant, then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give him their food at the proper time? Happy that servant if his master’s arrival finds him at this employment. I tell you solemnly, he will place him over everything he owns. But as for the dishonest servant who says to himself, “My master is taking his time,” and sets about beating his fellow servants and drinking with drunkards, his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as hypocrites, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.
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The Collect:
Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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Some glad morning when this life is o’er,
I’ll fly away;
To a home on God’s celestial shore,
I’ll fly away.
I’ll fly away, O glory,
I’ll fly away in the morning;
When I die, hallelujah, by and by.
When the shadows of this life have grown,
I’ll fly away;
Like a bird from prison bars has flown,
I’ll fly away.
I’ll fly away, O glory….
Just a few more weary days and then,
I’ll fly away;
To a land where joys shall never end,
I’ll fly away.
I’ll fly away, O glory….
–Albert E. Brumley, 1932
Bishop Henry Irving Louttit, Jr., leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia from 1995 to 2010, is a man I respect greatly. He has diagnosed correctly the problem with the rather annoying gospel song I have quoted above: It is escapist.
The Incarnation is about, among other things, God coming into world to transform and redeem it. So let us not give up on it. Giving up on the world, with its plethora of severe problems, lies at the heart of much apocalyptic thought. The logic runs something like this: Since the world has gone to Hell in a handbasket, the best we Christians can do is hang on until Jesus returns. But how much better, I ask, might the world be if we were more active in the world, if we focused less on prophecy seminars and conferences, and if we got busy doing our best to be salt and light? We ought not strive to get the hell out of Dodge. No, we need to make Dodge a better town.
Apocalyptic thought is almost as old as Christianity. The Apostle Paul expected Jesus to return within his lifetime. And many members of the church at Thessalonica had the same idea. Since then some people have set dates, only to meet with disappointment. William Miller, founder of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, did this more than once. One Colin Hoyle Deal published a book entitled Christ Returns by 1988: 101 Reasons Why in 1979. And, as I write these words, another deadline, May 21, 2011, is in my near future. I expect many people to be disappointed on May 22, 2011. I expect nothing, so I will not be disappointed.
May we focus on being salt and light, to the best of our ability, by the help of God. Then, regardless of whatever God’s plans are on any given day, God will not catch us unawares.
Where shall we start? I propose that we start by loving ourselves and one another in God, in whom we have identity. Paul’s affection for the Thessalonian Christians is obvious in the reading from the epistle. But it is also evident in 1 Thessalonians 2:14-3:5, over which the Canadian Lectionary skips. Consider these words:
What do you think is our pride and our joy? You are…. (2:19a)
For all the references to slanders some in the Thessalonian church had made against Paul, the Apostle was genuinely fond of the congregation.
United by mutual love and affection in God, may we Christians be salt and light in the world, which is our neighborhood, not the enemy camp. We are responsible for our neighborhoods. And if we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem. Empowered by God, we can succeed in our mission.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 7, 2011 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS DRAUSINUS AND ANSERICUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS OF SOISSONS; SAINT VINDICIAN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF CAMBRAI; AND SAINT LEODEGARIUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF AUTUN
THE FEAST OF SAINT PERPETUA AND HER COMPANIONS
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Adapted from this post:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/03/07/week-of-proper-16-thursday-year-1/
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Above: Paul Writing His Epistles (1500s)
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2 Thessalonians 3:1-18 (The Jerusalem Bible):
Finally, brothers, pray for us; pray that the Lord’s message may spread quickly, and be received with honour as it was among you; and pray that we may be preserved from the interference of bigoted and evil people, for faith is not given to everyone. But the Lord is faithful, and he will give you strength and guard you from the evil one, and we, in the Lord, have every confidence that you are doing and will go on doing all that we tell you. May the Lord turn your hearts toward the love of God and the fortitude of Christ.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we urge you, brothers, to keep away from any of the brothers who refuses to work or to live according to the tradition we passed on to you.
You know how you are supposed to imitate us: now we were not idle we were with you, nor did we ever have our meals at anyone’s table without paying for them; no, we worked night and day, slaving and straining, so as not to be a burden on any of you. This was not because we had no right to be, but in order to make ourselves an example for you to follow.
We gave you a rule when we were with you: not to let anyone have any food if he refused to do any work. Now we hear that there are some of you who are living in idleness, doing no work themselves but interfering with everyone else’s. In the Lord Jesus Christ, we order and call on people of this kind to go on quietly working and earning the food that they eat.
My brothers, never grow tired of doing what is right. If anyone refuses to obey what I have written in this letter, take note of him and have nothing to do with him, so that he will feel that he is in the wrong; though you are not to regard him as an enemy but as a brother in need of correction.
May the Lord of peace himself give you peace all the time in every way. The Lord be with with you all.
From me, PAUL, these greetings in my own handwriting, which is the mark of genuineness in very letter; this is my own writing. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
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In real estate, I hear, the three most important features of property are location, location, and location. Likewise, with regard to the Bible, we need to stress the three most important aspects of any text: context, context, and context. Too often (to my great annoyance), I have heard people quote the “if a man will not work, he should not eat” rule out of context. They have made the passage seem almost, if not out right, Social Darwinian in nature.
When we read the New Testament epistles we eavesdrop on one side of ancient correspondence. There was no need for any writer to rehash every aspect of local circumstances, for the intended audience knew those well. If any epistle author had rehashed every such aspect, the result would have been a letter written with the clunkiness and gracelessness style of dialogue from any 1970s SuperFriends episode. Fortunately, there exist Bible scholars who have write and have written useful commentaries. (I could not write these posts without commentaries.) Many early Christians, we know, expected the return of Jesus any day or week or month or year. Most of these continued with their private and public lives, as they should have done. Yet some believers devoted themselves full-time to preparing for the return of Jesus, dropped out of the workforce, and made nuisances of themselves. They did not just drop out; they interfered with others. The message of 2 Thessalonians 3:9 is clear: Be both heavenly-minded and of earthly good.
Indeed, one can be both contemplative and productive. Monks and nuns have modeled this fact for nearly two thousand years. They have done nothing less than to preserve civilization itself. They have also provided health care as well as pharmaceutical products, offered education, given shelter to orphans and to children whose parents could not care for them properly, and modeled lives of single-minded devotion to God. Their work continues; may their numbers increase.
As for the rest of us, may we go about doing the work God has assigned to us. And may we not think mistakenly that all idleness is bad. The human body requires sleep, and Jesus needed quiet time alone. The brain is not wired for multitasking; some brains do it better than others, we cannot do too much simultaneously and well. We need to slow down, move at a proper and sustainable pace, and remain focused on our own goal: To enjoy and glorify God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 10, 2011 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT PAULINUS OF YORK, ARCHBISHOP
THE FEAST OF VIDA DUTTON SCUDDER
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Published originally at ORDINARY TIME DEVOTIONS BY KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR on October 10, 2011
Adapted from this post:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/week-of-proper-16-wednesday-year-2/
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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