Archive for the ‘Acts of the Apostles 5’ Category
Above: The Sanhedrin
Image in the Public Domain
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READING LUKE-ACTS, PART LVIII
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Acts 5:12-42
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Acts 5:12-42 picks up from 3:1-4:31. Many of the comments in the post for 3:1-4:31 are germane to 5:12-42.
So [the apostles] left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. And all day long, both at the temple and in their homes, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the Messiah, Jesus.
–Acts 5:41-42, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
I write and speak only for myself, for I am qualified to do that much. In the same position as these apostles, I, hypothetically, would have been cursing (in both meanings of that word), not rejoicing. You, O reader, may write and speak for yourself.
We read of the nascent Church growing in Jerusalem and already scaring religious authorities there. I wonder: How scared of the Church are the authorities where you, O reader, dwell? I do not refer to congregations and Christians getting into trouble for blatantly un-Christlike activities, such as needlessly endangering others and spewing hatred. I recall, for example, news stories of abusive congregations that have practiced child abuse under the cover of the Bible and the freedom of religion. Such criminals deserve legal penalties, and their victims deserve help and wholeness.
No, I refer to Christians and congregations who are behaving in Christlike ways–loving like Jesus, to borrow the advice of Bishop Robert C. Wright, of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta. I refer, for example, to congregations who shelter immigrants and minister to homeless people–illegal activities, sometimes and in some places. If Christians and congregations do not get into legal trouble for loving like Jesus, that is wonderful. If, however, loving like Jesus causes them legal troubles, may they be like the apostles in Acts 5:41-42.
Another matter comes to my mind. Many people of varying religious identities mistake obnoxiousness for piety. Having studied all 73 books of the Bible closely, I cannot locate scriptural justification for obnoxiousness in the name of God. Recent converts frequently cross the line and cross over into obnoxiousness in the zeal. This pattern informs the cliché that recent converts often embarrass longtime adherents.
May we–individually and collectively–bring honor to God and Christ, regardless of our circumstances. May we–individually and collectively–behave ourselves properly.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 12, 2022 COMMON ERA
HOLY TUESDAY
THE FEAST OF HENRY SLOANE COFFIN, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR; AND HIS NEPHEW, WILLIAM SLOANE COFFIN, JR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST
THE FEAST OF SAINT DAVID URIBE-VELASCO, MEXICAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1927
THE FEAST OF SAINT JULIUS I, BISHOP OF ROME
THE FEAST OF SAINT ZENO OF VERONA, BISHOP
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Above: The Death of Ananias, by Raphael
Image in the Public Domain
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READING LUKE-ACTS, PART LVII
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Acts 4:32-5:11
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Acts 2:42-47 relates to 4:32-5:11.
The portion of scripture for this post comes in two parts: 4:32-37 and 5:1-11. 4:32-37 bears the stronger similarity to 2:42-47. The motif of members of Christian community in Jerusalem taking care of each other financially dominates in 4:32-37 and 2:42-47.
Also, we meet St. (Joseph) Barnabas in 4:36-37.
The famous story of Ananias and Sapphira is a cautionary tale. Do not lie to the community, we learn. One may be within one’s rights, legally, but do not lie.
What is done to the community is done to the Spirit of God.
–Dennis Hamm, in Daniel Durken, ed., The New Collegeville Bible Commentary: New Testament (2009), 387
How we regard God and how we think of each other are related to each other.
According to that standard, how do you measure up, O reader?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 9, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF DIETRICH BONHOEFFEFR, GERMAN LUTHERAN MARTYR, 1945
THE FEAST OF JOHANN CRUGER, GERMAN LUTHERAN ORGANIST, COMPOSER, AND HYMNAL EDITOR
THE FEAST OF JOHN SAMUJEL BEWLEY MONSELL, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND POET; AND RICHARD MANT, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF DOWN, CONNOR, AND DROMORE
THE FEAST OF LYDIA EMILIE GRUCHY, FIRST FEMALE MINISTER IN THE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA
THE FEAST OF MIKAEL AGRICOLA, FINNISH LUTHERAN LITURGIST, BISHOP OF TURKU, AND “FATHER OF FINNISH LITERARY LANGUAGE”
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM LAW, ANGLICAN PRIEST, MYSTIC, AND SPIRITUAL WRITER
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Above: The Sanhedrin
Image in the Public Domain
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READING LUKE-ACTS, PART LVI
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Acts 3:1-4:31
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A cliché tells us that no good deed goes unpunished. If the world were not so!
Jesus had clashed with religious authorities. The time for some of his Apostles–Sts. Simon Peter and John, in this case–to do so had arrived. St. Simon Peter, who had often spoken before thinking, had eaten his spiritual Wheaties.
Two major themes stand out in my mind as I ponder Acts 3:1-4:31:
- Acts 3:17 includes the Lucan motif that those who had rejected and crucified Jesus had done so in ignorance. See Luke 23:34, also, O reader.
- Acts 4:18f, in which the commandments of God override human orders to the contrary, belies strict law-and-order arguments that quote the Bible. Acts 4:18f is not the only such passage in the Bible, but it is the one in the section of scripture for this post. We will return to this matter in Acts 5.
My politics regarding the strict law-and-order, my-country-right-or-wrong argument are plain. Neither anarchy nor totalitarianism allow freedom. Disobeying some governments is a moral obligation. Yet, on many other occasions, obeying governments is moral. Everything depends on the circumstances. The timeless principle at work is the Golden Rule.
We all know less than we imagine we do. For example, we may think we know what we are doing when do not. Or we may know partially. Luke 23:34 has the crucified Jesus intercede for those who had put him on the cross and for those who had consented to this action:
Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they are doing.”
—The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
I have recorded my mixed thoughts regarding the extent of this ignorance in Luke 23:34. I have not arrived at a consistent position yet.
Sometimes we do not know what we are doing. However, sometimes we do. And sometimes we know somewhat. I cannot always tell which situation is which.
Nevertheless, I know something, however, slight, regarding sins of ignorance: We all commit them, individually and collectively. And we all–individually and collectively–stand before God in need of forgiveness. May we–collectively and individually–forgive each other, as we–individually and collectively–need forgiveness. And may God forgive us all.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 8, 2022 COMMON ERA
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 AYERS, FOUNDER OF THE SISTERHOOD OF THE HOLY COMMUNION
THE FEAST OF SAINT DIONYSIUS OF CORINTH, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF GODFREY DIEKMANN, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK, PRIEST, ECUMENIST, THEOLOGIAN, AND LITURGICAL SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF SAINT HUGH OF ROUEN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP, ABBOT, AND MONK
THE FEAST OF SAINT JULIE BILLIART, FOUNDER 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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Above: Icon of St. Luke the Evangelist
Image in the Public Domain
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READING LUKE-ACTS, PART I
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The whole of Luke’s gospel is about the way in which the living God has planted, in Jesus, the seed of that long-awaited hope in the world.
–N. T. Wright, Lent for Everyone: Luke, Year C–A Daily Devotional (2009), 2
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The Gospel of Luke is the first volume of a larger work. The Acts of the Apostles is the second volume. One can read either volume spiritually profitably in isolation from the other one. However, one derives more benefit from reading Luke-Acts as the two-volume work it is.
Each of the four canonical Gospels bears the name of its traditional author. The Gospel of Luke is the only case in which I take this traditional authorship seriously as a matter of history. One may recall that St. Luke was a well-educated Gentile physician and a traveling companion of St. Paul the Apostle.
Luke-Acts dates to circa 85 C.E.,. “give or take five to ten years,” as Raymond E. Brown (1928-1998) wrote in his magisterial An Introduction to the New Testament (1997). Luke-Acts, having a Gentile author, includes evidence that the audience consisted of Gentiles, too. The text makes numerous references to the inclusion of Gentiles, for example. Two of the major themes in Luke-Acts are (a) reversal of fortune, and (b) the conflict between the Roman Empire and the Kingdom of God. The smoldering ruins of Jerusalem and the Second Temple in 70 C.E. inform the present tense of the story-telling.
Many North American Christians minimize or ignore the imperial politics in the New Testament. In doing so, they overlook essential historical and cultural contexts. Luke-Acts, in particular, performs an intriguing political dance with the Roman Empire. The two-volume work unambiguously proclaims Jesus over the Emperor–a treasonous message, by Roman imperial standards. Luke-Acts makes clear that the Roman Empire was on the wrong side of God, that its values were opposite those of the Kingdom of God. Yet the two-volume work goes out of its way to mention honorable imperial officials.
Know six essential facts about me, O reader:
- This weblog is contains other blog posts covering Luke-Acts, but in the context of lectionaries. I refer you to those posts. And I will not attempt to replicate those other posts in the new posts. Finding those posts is easy; check the category for the book and chapter, such as Luke 1 or Acts 28.
- I know far more about the four canonical Gospels, especially in relation to each other, than I will mention in the succeeding posts. I tell you this not to boast, but to try to head off anyone who may chime in with a rejoinder irrelevant to my purpose in any given post. My strategy will be to remain on topic.
- My purpose will be to analyze the material in a way that is intellectually honest and applicable in real life. I respect Biblical scholarship that goes deep into the woods, spending ten pages on three lines. I consult works of such scholarship. However, I leave that work to people with Ph.Ds in germane fields and who write commentaries.
- I am a student of the Bible, not a scholar thereof.
- I am a left-of-center Episcopalian who places a high value on human reason and intellect. I value history and science. I reject both the inerrancy and the infallibility of scripture for these reasons. Fundamentalists think I am going to Hell for asking too many questions. I try please God, not fundamentalists. I know too much to affirm certain theological statements.
- I am a sui generis mix of Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican theological influences. I consider St. Mary of Nazareth to be the Theotokos (the Bearer of God) and the Mater Dei (the Mother of God). I also reject the Virgin Birth and the Immaculate Conception with it.
Make of all this whatever you will, O reader.
Shall we begin our journey through Luke-Acts?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 20, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE TWENTY-THIRD DAY OF ADVENT
THE FEAST OF SAINT DOMINIC OF SILOS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
THE FEAST OF BATES GILBERT BURT, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF BENJAMIN TUCKER TANNER, AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL BISHOP AND RENEWER OF SOCIETY
THE FEAST OF D. ELTON TRUEBLOOD, U.S. QUAKER THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF JOHANN CHRISTOPH SCHWEDLER, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT MICHAL PIASCZYNSKI,POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1940
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Above: Saint Peter, by Marco Zoppo
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 5:17-42
Psalm 46
1 Peter 4:12:5:11
Matthew 24:1-14
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Suffering and persecution are prominent in the assigned readings. The passage from Matthew 24, set during Holy Week, precedes the crucifixion of Jesus. Sometimes suffering is a result of obeying God, yet, as we read in Psalm 46:7 (The New Revised Standard Version, 1989),
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
One might also think of lyrics Doris Plenn wrote in response to McCarthyism:
When tyrants tremble, sick with fear,
And hear their death-knell ringing,
When friends rejoice both far and near,
How can I keep from singing?
In prison cell and dungeon vile,
Our thoughts to them are winging;
When friends by shame are undefiled,
How can I keep from singing?
After all, God transformed a Roman cross, a symbol of humiliation and a means of execution, into the ultimate symbol of grace and victory over death and sin.
Here ends the lesson.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 2, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT BLANDINA AND HER COMPANIONS, THE MARTYRS OF LYONS, 177
THE FEAST OF ANDERS CHRISTENSEN ARREBO, “THE FATHER OF DANISH POETRY”
THE FEAST OF MARGARET ELIZABETH SANGSTER, HYMN WRITER, NOVELIST, AND DEVOTIONAL WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT STEPHEN OF SWEDEN, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY, BISHOP, AND MARTYR
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Adapted from this post:
https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2018/06/02/devotion-for-the-seventh-sunday-of-easter-year-a-humes/
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Above: Parable of the Great Banquet, by Jan Luyken
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 5:1-11
Psalm 66
1 Peter 4:1-11
Matthew 22:1-14
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The king’s action–burning the city in which the murderers lived–seems excessive in Matthew 22:7. Yet, if one interprets that passage and the parable from which it comes in the context of the destruction of Jerusalem (70 C.E.), it remains problematic, but at least it makes some sense. Might one understand the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. as divine judgment? One might, especially if one, as a marginalized Jewish Christian in the 80s C.E., were trying to make sense of recent events. A note in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible (2003) links this passage to Matthew 24:27-31 and divine judgment on the Roman Empire.
Scholar Jonathan T. Pennington, rejecting the consensus that “Kingdom of Heaven,” in the Gospel of Matthew, is a reverential circumlocution, contends that the Kingdom of Heaven is actually God’s apocalyptic rule on Earth. The kingdoms of the Earth are in tension with God and will remain so until God terminates the tension by taking over. That understanding of the Kingdom of Heaven fits well with the motif of divine judgment in the Gospel of Matthew.
We also read of divine judgment in Acts 5:1-11, which flows from the end of Acts 4. The sins of Ananias and Sapphira against the Holy Spirit were greed and duplicity. As I read the assigned lessons I made the connection between Acts 5:1-11 and Psalm 66:18 (The New Revised Standard Version, 1989):
If if had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the LORD would not have listened.
The brief reading from 1 Peter 4 is packed with themes and some theologically difficult verses, but the thread that fits here naturally is the call (in verse 8) to love one another intensely while living in and for God. That fits with Acts 5:1-11 (as a counterpoint to Ananias and Sapphira) well. That thought also meshes nicely with Psalm 66 and juxtaposes with the judged in Matthew 22:1-14. At the wedding banquet a guest was supposed to honor the king by (1) attending and (2) dressing appropriately. Infidelity to God brings about divine judgment, just as faithfulness to God (frequently manifested in how we treat others) pleases God.
That is a concrete and difficult standard. It is one we can meet more often than not, though, if we rely on divine grace to do so.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 1, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JUSTIN MARTYR, CHRISTIAN APOLOGIST AND MARTYR
THE FEAST OF SAINT PAMPHILUS OF CAESAREA, BIBLE SCHOLAR AND TRANSLATOR; AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS
THE FEAST OF SAMUEL STENNETT, ENGLISH SEVENTH-DAY BAPTIST MINISTER AND HYMN-WRITER; AND JOHN HOWARD, ENGLISH HUMANITARIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT SIMEON OF SYRACUSE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK
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Adapted from this post:
https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2018/06/01/devotion-for-the-sixth-sunday-of-easter-year-a-humes/
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Above: Judah and Tamar, by the School of Rembrandt van Rijn
Image in the Public Domain
Vindication
JUNE 17, 2018
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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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Genesis 38:1-26
Psalm 35:19-25
Acts 5:1-11
Matthew 12:43-45
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In June 1996 my father became the pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church in rural Appling County, Georgia, U.S.A. One of the adult Sunday School classes was reading and discussing the Book of Genesis at the rate of a chapter per week. I recall that, on the Sunday morning after they had read and discussed Chapter 37, the teacher skipped directly to Chapter 39.
Genesis 38 is a hot potato. What are we to make of a story that approves of a childless widow pretending to be a pagan temple prostitute, seducing her father-in-law, and becoming pregnant with twins, his children? Judah (the father-in-law) understands the deception by Tamar (the widow) as justified, per the rules governing levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5-10). As Professor Amy-Jill Levine says, we must accept that people did things differently then.
The author of Psalm 35 prays for divine vindication against enemies. Perhaps that mindset informs the treatment of the selfish people (struck dead by God) in Acts 5. The sense of grievance certainly informs Matthew 12:43-45, which literally demonizes Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus. One can reasonably imagine members of a marginalized Jewish Christian community demonizing the non-Christian Jews circa 85 C.E.
The desire for divine vindication can be legitimate. Yet may we who seek vindication never surrender to hatred and thereby become as those who seek to harm us or otherwise deny us that which is rightfully ours.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 15, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOHN ELLERTON, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER AND TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF CARL HEINRICH VON BOGATSKY, HUNGARIAN-GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINTS LANDELINUS OF VAUX, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AUBERT OF CAMBRAI, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; URSMAR OF LOBBES, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND MISSIONARY BISHOP; AND DOMITIAN, HADELIN, AND DODO OF LOBBES, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONKS
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2017/06/15/devotion-for-proper-6-ackerman/
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Above: Gamaliel
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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Genesis 32:3-7a; 33:1-4
Psalm 44:23-26
Acts 5:33-42
John 8:12-29
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Awake, O Lord! Why are you sleeping?
Arise, do not reject us forever.
Why have you hidden your face
and forgotten our affliction and oppression?
We sink down into the dust;
our body cleaves to the ground.
Rise up, and help us,
and save us, for the sake of your steadfast love.
–Psalm 44:23-26, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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Psalm 44 is a national lament, but one might read the text and identify with it. Such is the timeless quality of the Book of Psalms.
God gets to judge. Jesus says in John 8 that he does not judge yet others do. We read of Jacob and Esau reconciling in Genesis 33. If we continue reading, however, we learn that the peace did not survive them. We read in Acts 5 that Gamaliel was slow to judge. I conclude that, had more early Christians and contemporary Jews been more like Gamaliel, the subsequent course of Jewish-Christian relations would have been better.
The wasted potential of what Jacob, Esau, and Gamaliel sought to do haunts me.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 2, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT SIGISMUND OF BURGUNDY, KING; SAINT CLOTILDA, FRANKISH QUEEN; AND SAINT CLODOALD, FRANKISH PRINCE AND ABBOT
THE FEAST OF SAINT ATHANASIUS OF ALEXANDRIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF JAMES LEWIS MILLIGAN, HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARCULF OF NANTEUIL, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
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Adapted from this post:
https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2017/05/02/devotion-for-the-second-sunday-after-the-epiphany-ackerman/
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Above: Goliath Laughs at David, by Ilya Repin
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
O God of life, you reach out to us amid our fears
with the wounded hands of your risen Son.
By your Spirit’s breath revive our faith in your mercy,
and strengthen us to be the body of your Son,
Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 33
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The Assigned Readings:
1 Samuel 17:1-23 (Thursday)
1 Samuel 17:19-32 (Friday)
1 Samuel 17:32-51 (Saturday)
Psalm 150 (All Days)
Acts 5:12-16 (Thursday)
Acts 5:17-26 (Friday)
Luke 24:36-40 (Saturday)
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Hallelujah!
Praise God in his holy temple;
praise him in the firmament of his power.
Praise him for his mighty acts;
praise him for his excellent greatness.
Praise him with the blast of the ram’s horn;
praise him with the lyre and harp.
Praise him with timbrel and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe.
Praise him with resounding cymbals;
praise him with loud-clanging cymbals.
Let everything that has breath
praise the LORD.
Hallelujah!
–Psalm 150, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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The reasons to praise God are myriad, beyond any human capacity to count. One of those reasons is that God frequently works via people some of us (at best) consider unlikely agents of grace.
Consider David, O reader. Yes, I know that 2 Samuel 21:19 has Elhanan, son of Jair from Bethlehem kill Goliath of Gath, and that 1 Chronicles 20:5 has the same Elhanan kill Lahmi, brother Goliath. If that is not sufficiently confusing, David plays the lyre for King Saul in 1 Samuel 16 yet has not gone to work for the monarch yet in chapter 17. These contradictions result from the combining of differing traditions in the canon of scripture. Such contradictions are commonplace in the Old Testament, starting in the early chapters of Genesis. One needs merely to read the texts with great attention to detail to detect them.
I use 1 Samuel 17, in which David, not Elhanan, kills Goliath, for that is the version the framers of the lectionary I am following chose.
In 1 Samuel 17 young David seemed to be the least likely person to rid Israel of the menace Goliath posed. A crucified troublemaker from the Galilee seemed to be an unlikely candidate for an inspiring and timeless religious figure. Apostles hiding in fear after the crucifixion of Jesus seemed to be unlikely candidates for leaders in a movement to change the world. They faced persecution; most of them died as martyrs. As Jesus said,
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
–Luke 6:22-23, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
The theme of seemingly unlikely agents of grace occurs in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). It is easy to overlook the fact that many in the original audience found the idea of a good Samaritan shocking, even beyond improbable.
The real question I address is not the identities of agents of grace but human biases regarding who is more or less likely to be one. We mere mortals need to learn theological humility, especially regarding how we evaluate each other. Do we even attempt to look upon each other as God perceives us?
The composite pericope from Acts 5 reminds us that functioning as an agent of grace might lead one to harm. Sometimes people suffer for the sake of righteousness because the light exposes darkness for what it is.
…the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
–John 1:5, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2010)
Perhaps we do not recognize agents of grace sometimes because we are caught up in the darkness and are oblivious to that fact. Mustache-twirling villains, commonplace in simplistic morality plays, are rare in real life. Most “bad guys” imagine themselves to be good, or at least engaged in necessary, if unpleasant work.
Another reason for failing to recognize agents of grace is functional fixedness. We simply do not expect something, so we do not look for it. We seek agents of grace as we know them and miss those agents of grace who do not fit our preconceptions.
How might God surprise you, O reader, with unexpected (to you) agents of grace? And what will that grace cost you?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 18, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MARC BOEGNER, ECUMENIST
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Adapted from this post:
https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2015/12/18/devotion-for-thursday-friday-and-saturday-before-the-second-sunday-of-easter-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/
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Above: Abraham Journeying into the Land of Canaan, by Gustave Dore
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
Almighty God, by grace alone you call us and accept us in your service.
Strengthen us by your Spirit, and make us worthy of your call,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 23
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The Assigned Readings:
Genesis 12:1-9 (Monday)
Genesis 45:25-46:7 (Tuesday)
Psalm 46 (Both Days)
1 Corinthians 7:17-24 (Monday)
Acts 5:33-42 (Tuesday)
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The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
–Psalm 46:7, Common Worship (2000)
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I refuse to defend St. Paul the Apostle’s consistent failure to condemn slavery. Perhaps he thought that doing so was unnecessary, given his assumption that Jesus would return quite soon and correct societal ills. The Apostle was wrong on both counts. At least he understood correctly, however, that social standing did not come between one and God.
Whom God calls and why God calls them is a mystery which only Hod understands. So be it. To fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant partially via notorious trickster and con artist as well as his sons, some of whom sold one of their number into slavery, was to take a route which many people (including the author of this post) would have avoided. And the eleven surviving Apostles (before the selection of St. Matthias) had not been paragons of spiritual fortitude throughout the canonical Gospels. Yet they proved vital to God’s plan after the Ascension of Jesus.
Those whom God calls God also qualifies to perform important work for the glory of God and the benefit of others. This is about God and our fellow human beings, not about those who do the work. So may we, when we accept our assignments, fulfill them with proper priorities in mind. May we do the right thing for the right reason.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 23, 2014 COMMON ERA
PROPER 29–CHRIST THE KING SUNDAY–THE LAST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF JOHN KENNETH PFOHL, SR., U.S. MORAVIAN BISHOP; HIS WIFE, HARRIET ELIZABETH “BESSIE” WHITTINGTON PFOHL, U.S. MORAVIAN MUSICIAN; AND THEIR SON, JAMES CHRISTIAN PFOHL, SR., U.S. MORAVIAN MUSICIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT CLEMENT I OF ROME, BISHOP
THE FEAST OF SAINT COLUMBAN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
THE FEAST OF MIGUEL AUGUSTIN PRO, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR
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Adapted from this post:
https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2014/11/23/devotion-for-monday-and-tuesday-after-the-third-sunday-after-the-epiphany-year-b-elca-daily-lectionary/
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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