Archive for the ‘Deuteronomy 5’ Category
Above: Christ and the Apostles
Image in the Public Domain
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Deuteronomy 5:12-15
Psalm 81:1-10 (LBW) or Psalm 142 (LW)
2 Corinthians 4:5-12
Mark 2:23-28
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lord God of all nations,
you have revealed your will to your people
and promised your help to us all.
Help us to hear and to do what you command,
that the darkness may be overcome by the power of your light;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 24
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
O God,
whose never-failing providence sets in order all things
both in heaven and on earth,
put away from us, we entreat you, all hurtful things;
and give us those things that are profitable for us;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 62
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Sabbath is a divine gift. The Deuteronomistic version of the Ten Commandments explains that the Sabbath is a mark of freedom; a free person, not a slave, gets a day off from work each week. This explanation differs from that in the version of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. In Exodus 20:11, the Redactor explains the rationale for the Sabbath as emulating God.
The Sabbath is a divine gift. God liberates us. God frees us to be out best possible selves, communities, congregations, et cetera. In turn, obedience is hardly an onerous requirement. Even during persecution, we are free to cry out to God for deliverance. And we, as those who follow God, can follow it. St. Paul the Apostle is identifying our suffering with that of Jesus. If we suffer with our Lord and Savior–if we take up our cross and follow him–God will not abandon us either. Our triumph may come in the afterlife, but it will come.
The Sabbath is a divine gift. Yet many people, out of misguided piety, transform it into a burden. With that comment I turn my attention to the reading from Mark 2. People have to eat on the Sabbath, do they not? Yes, plucking grain on the Sabbath is work, but the Law of Moses does not forbid all work on the Sabbath. For example, circumcision must occur on the eighth day of a boy’s life, according to the Law of Moses. If that day falls on the Sabbath, so be it. Also, the Jewish tradition understands that keeping some commandments may require violating others, due to circumstances. Prioritizing and ranking commandments is, therefore, necessary.
Yet some people did not receive that memorandum, so to speak.
Lambasting long-dead Pharisees is easy. Examining ourselves spiritually may be challenging, though. Do we have our precious categories, which we maintain strictly and piously, to the detriment of others? Does our piety ever harm anyone or delay someone’s restoration to physical, emotional, or spiritual wholeness? Does our piety ever cause or prolong the suffering of others? If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” we practice misguided piety.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 28, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE THIRTIETH DAY OF LENT
THE FEAST OF JAMES SOLOMON RUSSELL, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, EDUCATOR, AND ADVOCATE FOR RACIAL EQUALITY
THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH RUNDLE CHARLES, ANGLICAN WRITER, HYMN TRANSLATOR, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT GUNTRAM OF BURGUNDY, KING
THE FEAST OF KATHARINE LEE BATES, U.S. EDUCATOR, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF RICHARD CHEVENIX TRENCH, ANGLICAN ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN
THE FEAST OF SAINT TUTILO, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK AND COMPOSER
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: A Vineyard
Image in the Public Domain
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32
Psalm 25:1-9 (LBW) or Psalm 27:1-10 (LW)
Philippians 2:1-5 (6-11)
Matthew 21:28-32
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
God of love, you know our frailties and failings.
Give us your grace to overcome them;
keep us from those things that harm us;
and guide us in the way of salvation;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 28
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
O God, the Strength of all who put their trust in you;
mercifully accept our prayer,
and because through the weakness of our mortal nature
we can do no good thing without your aid,
grant us the help of your grace that,
keeping your commandments,
we may please you in both will and deed;
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), 83
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ezekiel 18 is one of the texts (along with Ezekiel 3:16-21; 14:12-23; 33:30, beyond others outside Ezekiel) that teach individual responsibility before God, therefore divine reward and punishment for how one has acted. These texts contradict Exodus 20:5 and Deuteronomy 5:9, which teach intergenerational reward and punishment.
The theme of collective responsibility occurs in the readings from Philippians and Matthew. This theme and individual responsibility before God are mutually consistent.
A man had two sons.
–Matthew 21:28, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
A careful reader of the Hebrew Bible should read or hear those words and think,
Uh-oh!
Such a person will start with Cain and Abel then take the grand tour of stories of feuding brothers in the Hebrew Bible.
Deeds matter more than intentions. Deeds reveal creeds. Rather than condemn some long-dead Pharisees and feel spiritually smug, I acknowledge an uncomfortable truth. I admit that I, as one of the churchiest people alive, have more in common with the Pharisees than not. I confess to uncertainty whether, had I been a Palestinian Jew during the time of Christ, I would have followed him. The parable, transferred to contemporary times, confronts me.
Clarence Jordan (1912-1969), in his Cotton Patch Version of Matthew, set the parable in a peach orchard. Jesus decreed tat
the hippies and the whores
would take precedence in that version.
If you, O reader, were to update Matthew 21:31, which group would you substitute for tax collectors? Make it a shocking, scandalous reference.
The Parable of the Two Sons warns against spiritual complacency. The textual context of the parable is early in the week of Passover, shortly prior to the crucifixion of Jesus. This setting helps to explain why the tone is so intense. Anyway, warnings against spiritual complacency–whether individual or collective–may need to be intense to attract our attention sometimes.
In the 1990s, I read an editorial in U.S. Catholic magazine. The title was,
Get Off Your Values and Get to Work.
The point was that people should minimize statements of principles and maximize living those principles. This cogent lesson remains relevant sadly. Politicians who have the power to act constructively after a preventable mass shooting or other unfortunate event yet content themselves to offer “thoughts and prayers” engage in copping out. I recall a lesson my father taught me: we need to put feet to our prayers.
That is hard work. So be it.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 17, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, ANGLICAN PRIEST, PRESIDENT OF KING’S COLLEGE, “FATHER OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN CONNECTICUT,” AND “FATHER OF AMERICAN LIBRARY CLASSIFICATION;” TIMOTHY CUTLER, CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, ANGLICAN PRIEST, AND RECTOR OF YALE COLLEGE; DANIEL BROWNE, EDUCATOR, CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, AND ANGLICAN PRIEST; AND JAMES WETMORE, CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND ANGLICAN PRIEST
THE FEAST OF THE BAPTISMS OF MANTEO AND VIRGINIA DARE, 1587
THE FEAST OF SAINT EUSEBIUS OF ROME, BISHOP OF ROME, AND MARTYR, 310
THE FEAST OF GEORGE CROLY, ANGLICAN PRIEST, POET, HISTORIAN, NOVELIST, DRAMATIST, THEOLOGIAN, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM JAMES EARLY BENNETT, ANGLICAN PRIEST
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Zechariah from the Sistine Chapel, by Michelangelo Buonaroti
Image in the Public Domain
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING HAGGAI-FIRST ZECHARIAH, PART III
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Zechariah 1:1-6
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
King Cyrus II of the Persians and the Medes (r. 559-530 B.C.E.) conquered the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire in 539 B.C.E. The following year, he issued a decree permitting Jewish exiles to return to their ancestral homeland (Ezra 1:1-4). The first wave of exiles to return to the ruined homeland (Ezra 1:5-2:70; 1 Esdras 2:8-30; 1 Esdras 5:1-73). The old, prophetic predictions of the homeland being a verdant paradise of piety and prosperity did not match reality on the ground. Grief and disappointment ensued. The land was not as fertile as in the germane prophecies, and the economy was bad.
As of 520 B.C.E., proper worship, as had occurred before the Fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.E.), had not resumed. People had set up an altar–most likely in 520 B.C.E. (as 1 Esdras 5:47-55 indicates, not in 538 B.C.E. (as Ezra 3:1-8 indicates).
Construction of the Second Temple began (Ezra 3:10-13; 1 Esdras 5:56-65a). Yet opposition to that effort caused a pause in construction (Ezra 4:1-23; 1 Esdras 5:65b-73).
Jerusalem, October (prior to October 17), 520 B.C.E.
Zechariah ben Berechiah reported that God had been angry with the previous generation of Judean Jews, and that God urged the current generation to repent. Zechariah stood in line with the great majority of the Hebrew prophetic tradition to that point, starting with Hosea and Amos–some portion (Isaiah 52:13-53:12) of Second Isaiah excepted. First Zechariah also stood in line with Ezekiel regarding individual responsibility before God (Ezekiel 3:18-21; 14:12-23; 18:1-32; 33:1-20), contrary to Exodus 20:5b-6 and Deuteronomy 5:9b-10.
Thus said the LORD of Hosts: Turn back to me–says the LORD of Hosts–and I will turn back to you–said the LORD of Hosts. Do not be like your fathers.
–Zechariah 1:3b-4a, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
The personal pronouns are plural, of course. The message still applies to populations in 2021. That message also applies to individuals. I have to turn back to God daily–more than once, daily, in fact. Perhaps you, O reader, resemble that remark. If so, I do not judge you. On what grounds would I judge you?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 11, 2021 COMMON ERA
PROPER 10: THE SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF NATHAN SODERBLOM, SWEDISH ECUMENIST AND ARCHBISHOP OF UPPSULA
THE FEAST OF SAINT DAVID GONSON, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR, 1541
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN GUALBERT, FOUNDER OF THE VALLOMBROSAN BENEDICTINES
THE FEAST OF SAINTS THOMAS SPROTT AND THOMAS HUNT, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND MARTYRS, 1600
THE FEAST OF SAINT VALERIU TRAIAN FRENTIU, ROMANIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP AND MARTYR, 1952
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Icon of Ezekiel
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING EZEKIEL, PART III
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ezekiel 3:18-21
Ezekiel 14:12-23
Ezekiel 18:1-32
Ezekiel 33:1-20
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for the ancestors’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; but showing love down to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
–Exodus 20:5b-6; Deuteronomy 5:9b-10, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Maybe not, not withstanding 1 Kings 21:29; Exodus 34:7; Nehemiah 9:17; Numbers 14:18; Psalm 103:9; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2; Jeremiah 11:21-23; Jeremiah 15:1; Jeremiah 35:18-19. To the list of passages arguing against intergenerational reward and punishment I add Jeremiah 31:29-30. (The Book of Jeremiah contains layers of composition and editing. Parts of that book contradict each other, as in the cases of intergenerational reward and punishment, and whether the deadline for repentance has passed.)
Sin, responsibility, reward, and punishment, in the Bible, are both collective and individual. The collective varieties are consistent with mutuality. Individual varieties exist within the context of mutuality, too.
Intergenerational influences are real. If you, O reader, know enough about yourself and your ancestors for a few generations, perhaps you can identify intergenerational influences, both positive and negative, in your life. I can identify some in my life.
For the purpose of this post, I bring together four readings on the same theme. Three of them predate the Fall of Jerusalem (586 B,B.E.). Ezekiel 33 postdates the Fall of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 14:12-23 follows a section of threats against false prophets and diviners, and echoes Leviticus 26. Certain individuals may be pious, but, if the population is rebellious against God, these holy people will save only themselves. Divine punishment and reward are individual, we read.
I loved my father, now deceased. He had his virtues and vices, like all human beings. He was responsible for his actions.
I am responsible for my actions, not his.
This message of individual responsibility seems to have fallen primarily on deaf ears, despite repetition, within the Book of Ezekiel.
Imagine, O reader, that you were a Jew born an exile in the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire. Think about how hearing these words would have resonated with you. Imagine, perhaps, that this teaching would have given you hope that God would not judge you for what your ancestors had done wrong. Imagine, maybe, that these words would have encouraged your spiritual journey.
Imagine, O reader, that you were a Jew born in Judea after the end of the Babylonian Exile. Imagine how you may have welcomed the news that, as you strove to live piously, God would judge you based on yourself, not your ancestors.
I am a Christian. As one, I read passages about individual responsibility, reward, and punishment through the prism of atonement via Jesus. The atonement–three theories of which exist in Patristic writings–is the game-changer in my theology regarding the topic of this post. Nevertheless, I affirm that what I do matters. The atonement does not give me a license to act as I choose. I am still morally accountable to God and other human beings. Faithful response to grace is a constant moral principle in Judaism and Christianity.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 22, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT ALBAN, FIRST BRITISH MARTYR, CIRCA 209 OR 305
THE FEAST OF DESIDERIUS ERASMUS, DUTCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, BIBLICAL AND CLASSICAL SCHOLAR, AND CONTROVERSIALIST; SAINT JOHN FISHER, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC CLASSICAL SCHOLAR, BISHOP OF ROCHESTER, CARDINAL, AND MARTYR, 1535; AND SAINT THOMAS MORE, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC CLASSICAL SCHOLAR, JURIST, THEOLOGIAN, CONTROVERSIALIST, AND MARTYR, 1535
THE FEAST OF GERHARD GIESHCEN, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF JAMES ARTHUR MACKINNON, CANADIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, 1965
THE FEAST OF SAINT PAULINUS OF NOLA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF NOLA
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: $100 Trillion Bank Note, Zimbabwe
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING LAMENTATIONS, PART VI
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lamentation 5:1-22
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Book of Lamentations concludes on a thoroughly depressing note. The prayer for restoration ends without hope. Hope was for Chapters 3 and 4, not Chapter 5.
So much has gone wrong by Chapter 5:
- The family structure has broken down (verses 2-3).
- Foreign conquerors have overrun the country (verse 2).
- The people were defenseless (verse 3).
- The economy was and inflation was rampant (verses 4-5).
- The last Assyrian king had fallen from power in 609 B.C.E., but the point that trusting in in foreign powers, not in God, remained valid.
- The voice of the community accepted intergenerational guilt and punishment (Exodus 20:5 and Deuteronomy 5:9, contra Ezekiel 3:16-21; Ezekiel 14:12-23; Ezekiel 18:1-32; Ezekiel 33:1-20).
- Lackeys of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian monarch governed Judah (verse 8).
- Food was scarce (verse 9).
- The social order had broken down. Violence, indignity, rape, and abusive labor were rampant (verses 11-14). Young men performed the work of women, prisoners, slaves, and animals (verse 13).
- Old men no longer administered justice at city gates (verse 14), as in Deuteronomy 22:15; Deuteronomy 25:7; Ruth 4:1-2, 11).
- Temple worship was impossible (verse 15).
- The Davidic Dynasty had ended (verse 16).
- The covenant relationship with God was broken (verses 21-22).
Take us back, O LORD, to Yourself,
And let us come back;
Renew our days as of old!
–Lamentations 5:22b, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
The Book of Lamentations concludes without a divine reply to that plea. It ends without a comforting or easy answer. It concludes with God present yet hiding. Sit with that, O reader. Give the Book of Lamentations its due.
Thank you, O reader, for accompanying me on this journey through the Book of Lamentations. I invite you to remain with me as I move along to the Book of Ezekiel.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 19, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOHN DALBERG ACTON, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC HISTORIAN, PHILOSOPHER, AND SOCIAL CRITIC
THE FEAST OF ADELAIDE TEAGUE CASE, EPISCOPAL PROFESSOR OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION, AND ADVOCATE FOR PEACE
THE FEAST OF MICHEL-RICHARD DELALANDE, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF VERNARD ELLER, U.S. CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN MINISTER AND THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM PIERSON MERRILL, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, SOCIAL REFORMER, AND HYMN WRITER
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Icon of Jeremiah
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING JEREMIAH, PART XII
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jeremiah 17:1-20:18
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Hebrew prophetic books are repetitive. When one reads the genre methodically, one realizes this. Pardon me, therefore, O reader, for not explaining every repeated theme in Jeremiah 17:1-20:18.
Jeremiah 17:1-4 uses powerful imagery to condemn illegitimate worship at cultic sites. Proverbs 3:3 and 7:3 refer to the tablet of the heart, on which the divine commandments are inscribed. Yet in Jeremiah 17:1, those tablets are inscribed with the guilt of Judah instead. Such a heart symbolizes disobedience to God in Ezekiel 2:4 and 3:7. Eventually, God will make a new covenant, one inscribed on the hearts of the people (Jeremiah 31:31-34). For now, however, repentance is not an option. The sins of Judah, not the reparation blood (Leviticus 4:1-7, 13-20), are on the stones of the altar.
2 Kings 22-23 tells of the religious reformation of King Josiah (r. 640-609 B.C.E.). One may read Jeremiah 17:1-4 and surmise that 17:1-4 predates those reforms or that his four successors presided over a rollback of those reforms. Either option is feasible. The second option may be more likely.
God is faithful and forever. Even the most pious and benevolent people, those who keep the covenant, are not forever. The Book of Jeremiah focuses on God and on those who are neither pious nor benevolent, though.
Returning to the imagery of the human heart in 17:9-10, we read that the human heart is crooked and deceitful. The germane Hebrew word, suggestive of deceit, means “crooked.” The human heart is the most crooked thing, we read. This is a spiritual and moral pathology.
Jeremiah 17:11 speaks for itself.
Jeremiah’s desire for vengeance (17:18) was predictable. I have known the same desire under less severe circumstances. Maybe you have, also, O reader.
The Deuteronomic perspective in the Book of Jeremiah and other Hebrew prophetic books teaches that the (northern) Kingdom of Israel and the (southern) Kingdom of Judah declined and fell because of persistent, unrepentant, collective disregard for the moral mandates of the Law of Moses. This is the perspective written into much of the Old Testament, from the perspective of the editors after the Babylonian Exile. Jeremiah 17:19-27 singles out violations of the Sabbath (Deuteronomy 5:14)–especially commercial transactions–as being emblematic of widespread, systemic disregard for the covenant.
Sabbath-keeping has long been a feature of Judaism and Christianity. Keeping the Sabbath–a sign of freedom in the Law of Moses–has been a way of emulating God. On the seventh day, in mythology, God created the Sabbath (Genesis 2:1-3). Sabbath-keeping has always been challenging, in practical terms. Stopping all work on that day (however one defines it) has always been impossible. Certain work has always been crucial to perform on the Sabbath, and members of the clergy have had to take their Sabbath some other time in the week. The Hasmoneans, zealous keepers of the Law of Moses, bowed to reality and engaged in defensive combat (1 Maccabees 2:31-48; 1 Maccabees 9:23-73; 2 Maccabees 15:1-19). If they had done otherwise, they would have lost battles and lives needlessly.
Sabbath-keeping works to the benefit of people. Everyone needs to take time off to live. One should work to live, not live to work. Structural economic factors may restrict one’s options in keeping the Sabbath as one would prefer to do. Also, the common good requires, for example, that public health and safety continue on the Sabbath. Time off is a mark of freedom. Slavery assumes many forms; one can be a wage slave.
The prophecy of the potter (Jeremiah 18:1-12) is familiar, and popular with lectionary committees. I have written about it while blogging through lectionaries. I bring your attention, O reader, to a key point: God, the Creator, is free to handle His creation as He sees fit. I am a piece of pottery, not the potter.
People kept plotting against Jeremiah. Had I been Jeremiah, I would have complained to God, too. I would have prayed to God to show no mercy on the plotters, also. I, too, may have rued the day of my birth. Jeremiah was only human. God knew that before calling Jeremiah to be a prophet.
Jeremiah made no allies by following God’s instructions in Chapter 19 and symbolically smashing a jug. That act led to a flogging and a brief incarceration. Jeremiah suffered intensely and briefly, but Passhur the priest was going to experience “terror all around.” Judah was failing; nobody could change that.
Many people in authority like to maintain their power. Some of them peacefully resign themselves to the realities of age, health, constitutional term limits, and election results; others do not. Many people in authority are servant leaders; others are tyrants or would-be despots. I suppose that nobody in authority wants to hear that the institution, nation-state, kingdom, empire, et cetera, is doomed. Yet how one handles that news is a test of character. Besides, power reveals a person’s character. And, as Heraclitus said,
A man’s character is his fate.
I wonder how Passhur the priest felt in 586 B.C.E., after the Fall of Jerusalem. I wonder if he remembered the words of Jeremiah and wept bitterly.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 10, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JAMES OF NISIBIS, BISHOP; AND SAINT EPHREM OF EDESSA, “THE HARP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT”
THE FEAST OF FREDERICK C. GRANT, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND NEW TESTAMENT SCHOLAR; AND HIS SON, ROBERT M. GRANT, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND PATRISTICS SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF SAINTS OF GETULIUS, AMANTIUS, CAERAELIS, AND PRIMITIVUS, MARTYRS AT TIVOLI, 120; AND SAINT SYMPHROSA OF TIVOLI, MARTYR, 120
THE FEAST OF SAINT LANDERICUS OF PARIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF THOR MARTIN JOHNSON, U.S. MORAVIAN CONDUCTOR AND MUSIC DIRECTOR
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Effects of Acid Rain on a Forest in the Czech Republic, 2006
Photographer = Lovecz
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Exodus 34:1-10 or 1 Kings 22:29-43
Psalm 62:1-8, 11-12
Hebrews 5:12-6:12
Mark 9:30-37
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The key mark of discipleship is servanthood.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Some themes recur in the readings for this week:
- God is faithful.
- Trust in God.
- Do not commit apostasy.
- People reap what they sow.
- Christ is the exemplar of the type of service that defines greatness.
Exodus 34:7 requires unpacking. The principle that God punishes or forgives members of subsequent generations based on the sins of an ancestor exists also in 1 Kings 21:29, Nehemiah 9:17, Deuteronomy 5:9, Numbers 14:18, Psalm 103:8, Joel 2:13, and Jonah 4:2. Yet we read the opposite view–individual moral responsibility–in Ezekiel 18 and Jeremiah 31:29-30. The Bible contradicts itself sometimes.
The best explanation for the opinion we read in Exodus 34:7 comes from Professor Richard Elliot Friedman: effects of one’s actions are apparent generations later. I recognize ways in which actions of two of my paternal great-grandfathers influence me indirectly. This is one example of something, that, from a certain point of view, looks like intergenerational punishment and reward by God.
The decisions of others influence us. Some of them even restrict our options. We may suffer because of the decisions of those who have preceded us; we may suffer because of their sins. This is the way of the world. Yet we are morally responsible for ourselves and each other, not those who have died. No, they are responsible for their sins, just as we are responsible for ours.
May we–individually and collectively–refrain from visiting the consequences of our sins on those who will succeed us. We owe them that much, do we not?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 25, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JAMES BAR-ZEBEDEE, APOSTLE AND MARTYR
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2019/07/25/devotion-for-proper-22-year-b-humes/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Christ in the Synagogue at Capernaum, a Fresco
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Job 3:1-26 (or 1:1-19) or Deuteronomy 5:6-21
Psalm 40
James 1:17-27
Mark 1:21-28
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying “What is this? A new teaching! With authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”
–Mark 1:28, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
One may legitimately question whether Christ’s action in Mark 1:21-28 constituted a teaching. Assuming that it was, was it a new teaching?
Despite traditional Christian attempts to divorce Jesus from Judaism, one would have had a difficult time finding someone more Jewish than Jesus of Nazareth. Judaism was not monolithic two millennia ago. (Neither is it monolithic today.) Jesus was a man of his culture, place, and faith. With ease he quoted Deuteronomy, the various Isaiahs, and Rabbi Hillel. There was continuity from the Hebrew Bible (as in the Ten Commandments, repeated in Deuteronomy 5) to Jesus.
There is much continuity from the Hebrew Bible to the New Testament. The teaching to walk, not just talk, the talk, is present in both, as in the context of the Ten Commandments and the Letter of James. The theme of trusting in God, who cares about us (as in Psalm 40), is also present in the New Testament. As one considers the lilies of the field, one may recall that Job had a different opinion in Job 3. If each of us lives long enough, each of us also sometimes thinks that God does not care about us.
Occasionally, at the Oconee Campus of the University of North Georgia, where I teach, someone from a campus ministry politely asks me if I believe in God. I ask this person what he or she means, for the answer depends on the question. Many people used “believe in God” to mean “affirm the existence of God,” but belief, in the creedal sense, is trust. My answer is that I always affirm the existence of God and usually trust in God.
I (usually) trust in God, incarnate in the historical figure of Jesus of Nazareth, whose teachings were mostly old, in continuity with the Hebrew Bible. The Golden Rule and the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) are old, for example.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 13, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MILTON SMITH LITTLEFIELD, JR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN AND CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMNAL EDITOR
THE FEAST OF SIGISMUND VON BIRKEN, GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT, U.S. POET, JOURNALIST, AND HYMN WRITER
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post:
https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2019/06/13/devotion-for-the-third-sunday-after-the-epiphany-year-b-humes/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: The Widow’s Mite, by James Tissot
Image in the Public Domain
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FOR THE SEVENTH SUNDAY OF KINGDOMTIDE, ACCORDING TO A LECTIONARY FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP IN THE BOOK OF WORSHIP FOR CHURCH AND HOME (1965)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Heavenly Father, in whom we live and move and have our being:
We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit that in all the
cares and occupations of our daily life we may remember that we are ever walking in your sight;
for your name’s sake. Amen.
–Modernized from The Book of Worship for Church and Home (1965), page 154
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ezekiel 18:23-32
Psalm 38
James 1:17-27
Luke 21:1-4
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Responsibility comes in two varieties–collective and individual. My Western culture emphasizes the latter, frequently to the exclusion or minimization of the former. Other cultures commit the opposite errors. A balance is proper.
The theme of individual responsibility is present. Ezekiel 18 (as well as 3:16-21; 14:12-23; and 33:1-20) argues against the theology of Exodus 20:5 and Deuteronomy 5:9, whereby God holds members of subsequent generations accountable for one’s sins. Yes, one’s life can have consequences for members of subsequent generations. I can, for example, identify how two of my great-grandfathers on my father’s side influence me, for good and ill. I am not responsible for their sins, however. I am, of course, responsible for my own.
The theme of collective responsibility is also present. In Luke 21:21:1-4 we read the story of the widow’s mite. If we read immediately before and after it also, however, we find context. In Luke 20:45-57 Jesus denounces those scribes who “devout widows’ houses” while seeking and enjoying social status, as well as maintaining the appearance of piety. Then we read of a devout and impoverished widow donating money she cannot spare to the Temple. Next, in 21:5, Jesus predicts the destruction of that Temple. A progression is evident.
We are responsible for what we do in groups as well as by ourselves. We are also responsible for sins of omission. May we, by grace, care effectively for each other, individually and collectively, and never “devour widows’ houses” or stand by idly and silently while that happens, when we have an opportunity to say or do something to protest, if not to protect the exploited.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 11, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MARY SLESSOR, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARY IN WEST AFRICA
THE FEAST OF GEORGE FOX, FOUNDER OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS
THE FEAST OF MIEP GIES, RIGHTEOUS GENTILE
THE FEAST OF SAINT PAULINUS OF AQUILEIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC PATRIARCH
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Icon of Aaron
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
Exodus 4:1-17 or Deuteronomy 5:1-33 or Deuteronomy 31:23-29 or Daniel 12:1-13
Psalm 119:113-136
Matthew 10:9-23 or Luke 12:1-12
2 Corinthians 11:1-12:1
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If we love God, we will keep divine commandments, the summary of which is to love God with our whole selves and to practice the Golden Rule. Details of those generalizations tend to be culturally specific, but the principles are timeless. We cannot keep divine commandments all the time, but we can be aware of the mandate to obey God, try to obey, and trust in the faithfulness of God. We will have help for our vocations from God. This help might arrive via human beings or directly from God. Furthermore, circumstances might be quite treacherous and we might suffer and/or die, but God will never abandon those who are faithful.
Appropriately a recurring theme in some of the assigned readings for this day is speaking. To be precise, God sends Aaron to speak for Moses and the Holy Spirit to speak through persecuted Christians. Speech is powerful; it can build up or tear down. Speech can inspire people to greatness and positive action or convince them that all hope is lost or that they should act negatively. It can glorify God or blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. Speech can exonerate or convict the innocent. It can bless or curse. Speech can elevate a situation with beauty and profundity or downgrade it with vulgarity.
Out of the same mouth come praise and curses. This should not be so, my friends. Does a fountain flow with both fresh and brackish water from the same outlet? My friends, can a fig tree produce olives, or a grape vine produce figs? No more can salt water produce fresh.
–James 3:10-12, The Revised English Bible (1989)
May we glorify God via our words and deeds, and may God speak and act through us. Grace is free yet never cheap; it will cost us something. Grace will require us to sacrifice that which detracts and distracts from glorifying God. Grace will also never abandon us and will flow through us to benefit others and glorify God. Will we be willing vehicles of grace?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 12, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MARTIN DOBER, MORAVIAN BISHOP AND HYMN WRITER; JOHANN LEONHARD DOBER, MORAVIAN MISSIONARY AND BISHOP; AND ANNA SCHINDLER DOBER, MORAVIAN MISSIONARY AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF EDITH CAVELL, NURSE AND MARTYR
THE FEAST OF SAINT KENNETH OF SCOTLAND, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY
THE FEAST OF SAINT NECTARIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE, ARCHBISHOP
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post:
https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2016/10/12/devotion-for-pentecost-sunday-year-d/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
You must be logged in to post a comment.