Archive for the ‘Exodus 34’ Category
READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS
PART LIX
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Psalms 85 and 86
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Psalm 85 flows from a deep spring of communal ennui from either the Babylonian Exile or the period immediately following it. Either timeframe of origin is plausible. The text assumes that divine forgiveness of collective sins (understood as the main cause of the Babylonian Exile in Deuteronomistic theology) is requisite for the divine restoration of the Jewish people and their ancestral homeland.
Truth must precede reconciliation. Remorse for sins must precede amendment of life. These statements apply in both communal and individual cases.
Psalm 86 follows a familiar formula for a personal lament, which may reflect communal, postexilic concerns. An observant reader of the Book of Psalms may identify certain motifs readily, These include a plea for deliverance, an expression of confidence in divine mercy, an assertion of divine sovereignty, and a sense that God is not listening. Why else would the psalmists try to attract divine attention?
Walter Brueggemann notes the “unusual nature of uses of the second person pronouns” in Psalm 86. The scholar concludes:
This repeated use makes an appeal that presents the situation of trouble as squarely Yahweh’s problem…. This psalm is concerned for God’s will or intentionality, and so it engages in persuasion.
—The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary (1984), 62
The interpretation of Psalm 86 as reflecting communal concerns in the wake of the Babylonian Exile makes sense to me, given the content of Third Isaiah (Isaiah 24-27 and 56-66), as well as the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. This is hardly a unanimous scholarly opinion. For example, Father Mitchell J. Dahood, S.J.’s notes indicate that he thought Psalm 86 was a prayer for an Israelite king. And other exegetes interpret the text as an individual lament, but not a lament of a monarch. The citing of Exodus 32-34 (in which God forgave a disobedient people) in Psalm 86 bolsters the communal interpretation.
Imagine the situation, O reader; try a thought experiment. Imagine being a Jewish exile at the end of the Babylonian Exile. Perhaps you are elderly and recall your homeland from half a century prior. Or maybe you, born in the Chaldean Empire, have no memories of the ancestral homeland. Imagine feeling excited about the prospect of ceasing to live in exile. You have high hopes of what that land will be like. Imagine the disappointment you felt upon settling in that homeland and not finding the verdant paradise prophets had predicted. Imagine the frustration over having to struggle with politics over issues as basic as rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem as well as the Temple. Imagine the communal ennui.
Individual faith is an appropriate focus much of the time. Indeed, this is a prominent topic in the Bible. So is communal faith, a topic to which my individualistic culture gives short shrift. The faith of a people or of a congregation is a matter entire books of the Bible address.
Imagine the collective malaise in the wake of the Babylonian Exile. Then notice that, despite concerns that God may not be listening, Psalm 86 indicates hope that God will listen then act consistent with hesed–steadfast love.
The longer I live, the less confident I become regarding alleged certainties I learned in childhood. This is fine; an adult should have a mature faith, not an immature one. The longer I live, the more comfortable I become with uncertainty. Trusting in God can be difficult, even when God does not seem to be remote. Yet this move is essential; the quest for certainty is idolatrous when God requires faith.
Now, O reader, apply these themes to communal faith. Perhaps a congregation has been struggling faithfully for years or decades. Maybe hardships have been a group’s reality for decades or centuries. God may have seemed remote for a long time. Why has God not delivered these groups? And to whom can these groups turn for help?
Faithfulness to God–communal or individual–does not guarantee success as “the world” measures it. Consider the case of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus (213-268) and his flock, O reader.
St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, whom Origen had converted to Christianity, was a lawyer in Neocaesarea, Pontus, Asia Minor, Roman Empire (now Turkey). The church in Neocaesarea consisted of seventeen people when it elected him Bishop of Neocaesarea. St. Gregory served dutifully for decades, during which he shephereded his flock through plagues, natural disasters, the Gothic invasion, and the Decian Persecution. When St. Gregory died, his flock still numbered seventeen.
May we, as groups, live into our best possible character in God. May we discern what God calls us to do and to be. May we disregard prejudices which we may have learned yet which violate the Golden Rule. And may we always trust in God, even when doing so is difficult.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
FEBRUARY 2, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE
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Above: Icon of Ezekiel
Image in the Public Domain
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READING EZEKIEL, PART III
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Ezekiel 3:18-21
Ezekiel 14:12-23
Ezekiel 18:1-32
Ezekiel 33:1-20
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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)
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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
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Above: The Story of Tobit, by the Workshop of the Master of the Prodigal Son
Image in the Public Domain
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READING TOBIT
PART 1
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Tobit 1:1-15
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The Book of Tobit, present in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles, falls into the canon of scripture for about three-quarters of the Christian Church. Tobit, like Esther, Jonah, and Judith, is a work of fiction that teaches theological and spiritual truths. The Catholic Study Bible (1990) and The Catholic Bible–Personal Study Edition (1995) describes the Book of Tobit as a novel. The Saint Joseph Edition of the New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011) accurately describes the Book of Tobit as a novella. The Book of Tobit is too long to be a short story and too short to be a novel.
The Orthodox Study Bible (2008) acknowledges that the Book of Tobit is a work of fiction. The introduction to the Book of Tobit describes the work as a love story in which a father sends his son out into the world. The son finds and saves a bride, whom he brings home. The introduction to the Book of Tobit links this story to Christ in John 3:16 and describes the Book of Tobit as an icon of the story of salvation.
The Book of Tobit is another Hellenistic work about Jews in exile. (The Book of Daniel is also such a work.) Superficially set in the eighth century B.C.E., the Book of Tobit teaches faith in God and trust in providence from the temporal perspective of the second century C.E.
The titular character is Tobit. His son is Tobias. “Tobit” is a shorter variation on “Tobias.” Both names mean, “the LORD is good.”
Tobit 1:2 signals the book’s status as fiction by naming the wrong Neo-Assyrian king. The verse names the monarch as Shalmaneser V (reigned 727-722 B.C.E.) Historical records tell us Sargon II (reigned 722-705 B.C.E.) was the king who completed Shalmaneser V’s work and conquered the northern Kingdom of Israel. (See 2 Kings 17:1-6, O reader.) However, historical records and 2 Kings 15:19 tell us that Tiglath-Pilesar III, also known as Pul (reigned 745-727 B.C.E.), took the tribe of Naphtali into exile.
Tobit was a devout Jew. The impossible internal chronology had Tobit live in excess of 150 years (1:4f), despite his age at death (14:1) being 112. Anyhow, he eschewed idolatry and made his offerings at the Temple in Jerusalem (Numbers 18:12-13; Deuteronomy 18:3-4). Tobit also distributed money to widows, orphans, and converts. He kept the food laws (Exodus 34:15; Leviticus 7:26-27; Leviticus 11:1-47; Leviticus 17:10-14; Deuteronomy 12:23-25; Deuteronomy 14:3-21; and Deuteronomy 15:23) in exile, too. Tobit obeyed the Law of Moses regardless of how difficult doing so proved to be. At home and in exile, Tobit was a model Jew.
Tobit also deposited ten talents of silver with a relative, Gabael, in Media. That amount equaled 3000 shekels.
The germane note in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible (2003) reads:
A substantial amount, but efforts to express in modern monetary units are futile.
Other sources do express that amount in modern monetary units, though. The Catholic Study Bible (1990) estimates the value as being about $10,000. The Saint Joseph Edition of the New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011) estimates the value as being at least $10,000.
We also read of Tobit’s wife, Anna, which means “Grace.” Remember that, O reader; the name is sometimes ironic.
The Book of Tobit contains similarities to the Books of Job and Daniel. We read of Tobit working for the king in Chapter 1. One may recall that Daniel worked for several monarchs. And one may remember accounts of Daniel’s piety. The parallels to Job, already becoming apparent, will become stronger as we continue.
Tobit 1 contains the Theory of Retribution, that God rewards faithfulness and punishes faithlessness. The Theory of Retribution, a hallmark of Deuteronomic theology, is prominent throughout the Book of Tobit and in much of the Hebrew Bible. Deuteronomy 28 teaches the Theory of Retribution, which informs the Books of Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings. In particular, consult Joshua 7:1-8:29; Judges 3:7-11; and 2 Samuel 11:1-12:15, for example, O reader.
The counterbalance also exists un the Hebrew Bible. Blessings also come undeserved. A relationship with God should not be a quid-pro-quo arrangement. See Deuteronomy 4:32-40; 6-11; 8:17-18; 9:4-6; 10:15; and 23:6, O reader. Likewise, that seems undeserved is a form of testing (Deuteronomy 8: 2, 3, 5, 16-17), and repentance following suffering precedes divine mercy (Deuteronomy 30:1-10).
What we do matters. How we respond to God is crucial. One does know a tree by its fruits. And actions have consequences. However, Prosperity Theology remains a heresy. Many of the devout suffer. Many of the devout become martyrs. And many of the devout endure poverty.
The Bible is a nuanced sacred theology. Any impression to the contrary is erroneous.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 25, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM HILEY BATHURST, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF ISAAC WATTS, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JAMES OTIS SARGENT HUNTINGTON, FOUNDER OF THE ORDER OF THE HOLY CROSS
THE FEAST OF PETRUS NIGIDIUS, GERMAN LUTHERAN EDUCATOR AND COMPOSER; AND GEORG NIGIDIUS, GERMAN LUTHERAN COMPOSER AND HYMN WRITER
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Above: Icon of the Transfiguration
Image in the Public Domain
FOR THE FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION (AUGUST 6)
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Appearances can deceive. That statement is true in many contexts. Consider the historical figure we call Jesus (or Jeshua or Joshua) of Nazareth, O reader. I am Christologically orthodox, so I affirm the Incarnation, but I also make a distinction between the Second Person of the Trinity prior to the Incarnation and the person we call Jesus. The distinction I make is a purely historical one; I refer to Jesus as the incarnated Second Person. Perhaps I am splitting a hair. If so, so be it.
As I was writing, appearances can deceive. We do not know what Jesus looked like, but we can be certain that he did not look like a northern European. Reconstructions I have seen plausibly depict Jesus as someone with dark skin, short hair, and brown eyes. One may realistically state that his appearance most days was dramatically different from that on the day of the Transfiguration. One may also ask how the Apostles knew the other two figures were Moses and Elijah, who were not wearing name tags.
The Gospels are more works of theology than history, as I, trained in historical methodology, practice my craft. One should never underestimate the four canonical Gospels as works of finely-honed theology, complete with literary structure. I know this, so I choose not to let the absence of name tags bother me. I accept the theological point that Jesus was and remains consistent with the Law and the Prophets. I also accept the theological point that the Transfiguration revealed the divine glory present in Jesus, en route to die in Jerusalem. The prose poetry, with echoes of Moses encountering God on a mountain, accomplishes its purpose.
What are we supposed to do with this story of Jesus? 2 Peter 1:19 points to the answer:
…the message of the prophets] will go on shining like a lamp in a murky place, until day breaks and the morning star rises to illumine your minds.
—The Revised English Bible (1989)
May the light of Christ illumine our minds and shape our lives. (As we think, we are.) May that light direct our private and public morality, so that we (both individually and collectively) will not betray Jesus in either our deeds or our words. May we take that light with us as we travel with Jesus, and not attempt to box it up, even out of reverence. May the light of Christ shine in us, both individually and collectively, as we, in the words of Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church,
love like Jesus.
We know how Jesus loved, do we not? We know that he loved unconditionally and all the way to the cross. The call of Christian discipleship is the summons to follow Jesus, wherever he leads. Details vary according to where, when, and who one is, but the call,
follow me,
is constant. So is the command to transfigure societies, for the glory of God and for the common good, with the Golden Rule as the gold standard of private and public morals, ethics, and policies.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 7, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF COLBERT S. CARTWRIGHT, U.S. DISCIPLES OF CHRIST MINISTER, LITURGIST, AND WITNESS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
THE FEAST OF GUGLIELMO MASSAIA, ITALIAN CARDINAL, MISSIONARY, AND CAPUCHIN FRIAR
THE FEAST OF JOHN SCRIMGER, CANADIAN PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, ECUMENIST, AND LITURGIST
THE FEAST OF SAINT VICTRICIUS OF ROUEN, ROMAN CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR AND ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
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O God, who on your holy mount revealed to chosen witnesses your well-beloved Son,
wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistening:
Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world,
may by faith behold the King in his beauty;
who with you, O Father, and you, O Holy Spirit,
lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Exodus 34:29-35
Psalm 99 or 99:5-9
2 Peter 1:13-21
Luke 9:28-36
—Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2010), 509
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2019/08/07/devotion-for-the-feast-of-the-transfiguration-august-6/
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Above: Effects of Acid Rain on a Forest in the Czech Republic, 2006
Photographer = Lovecz
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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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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
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The key mark of discipleship is servanthood.
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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
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2019/07/25/devotion-for-proper-22-year-b-humes/
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Above: Moses, by Edward Peck Sperry, 1897
Image Source = Library of Congress
Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-ppmsca-31841
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For the Second Sunday in Lent, Year 1, according to the U.S. Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970
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Lord Jesus Christ, our only King, who came in the form of a servant:
control our wills and restrain our selfish ambitions,
that we may seek thy glory above all things and fulfill our lives in thee. Amen.
—The Book of Common Worship–Provisional Services (1966), 121
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Exodus 34:1-9
1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
Matthew 7:24-29
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When I was a boy, I had a collection of Arch Books. Each volume, a thin paperback book, told one Bible story in words and pictures. This was a wonderful way for a child to learn Bible stories. The Arch Book for the parable from Matthew 7:24-27 has lodged itself in my memory.
Jesus likened himself to a rock. Moses was atop a mountain in Exodus 19 when he received far more than ten commandments from God. (The commandments fill Exodus 20-24.) Moses was atop a mountain again, to receive more commandments and stone tablet versions (Exodus 25-31). While Moses was away, impatient Israelites broke the covenant. Moses, in anger, broke the first stone tablets (Exodus 32). Then Moses interceded on behalf of the people (Exodus 32-33). God restored the covenant in Exodus 34.
We are supposed to read Exodus 34 in the context of the rest of the Torah narrative and of the Hebrew Bible more broadly. We know of the unfortunate habit of murmuring and of relatively short memories of God’s mighty acts yet long memories of Egyptian leftovers.
I am not a psychologist, but psychology intrigues me. Therefore, I listen and read closely in the field. What we remember and what we forget–and why–indicates much about our character and about human nature, for good and for ill. Often our minds work against the better angels of our nature; much of remembering and forgetting is a matter of the unconscious mind. As rational as many of us try to be and like to think of ourselves as being, we tend to be irrational, panicky creatures who forget that, when we harm others, we hurt ourselves, too. We also forget the promises we made recently all too often.
How we behave toward God and how we act toward others are related to each other. Do we recognize God in others? If so, that informs how we treat them. Although I do not see the image of God in Mimi, my feline neighbor whom I feed outside my back door, I recognize her as a creature of God, an animal possessed of great dignity and worthy of respect. Returning to human relations, the Law of Moses teaches, in terms of timeless principles and culturally specific examples, that we have divine orders to take care of each other, and never to exploit one another. That commandment applies to societies, institutions, and governments, not just individuals.
Societies, institutions, governments, and individuals who forget or never learn that lesson and act accordingly are like a man who was so foolish that he build his house on sand, not on rock. The rain will fall, the floods will come, the winds will blow, and the house will fall.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 12, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOSAPHAT, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF POLOTSK, AND MARTYR
THE FEAST OF SAINT FRANCES XAVIER CABRINI, FOUNDRESS OF THE MISSIONARY SISTERS OF THE SACRED HEART
THE FEAST OF RAY PALMER, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM ARTHUR DUNKERLEY, BRITISH NOVELIST, AND HYMN WRITER
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Above: Icon of the Transfiguration
Image in the Public Domain
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FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT, ACCORDING TO A LECTIONARY FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP IN THE BOOK OF WORSHIP FOR CHURCH AND HOME (1965)
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Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be to us both a sacrifice for sin,
and also an example of godly life:
Give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable benefit,
and also daily endeavor ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life;
through the same your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
–Modernized from The Book of Worship for Church and Home (1965), pages 95-96
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Exodus 33:18-23
Psalm 40
Hebrews 12:18-29
Matthew 17:1-9
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The safest language to use when writing or speaking of the nature of God is that of poetic metaphors. God is like a father. God is like a mother eagle. God is like a consuming fire. God is literally none of these, and each of them is insufficient for the task of describing God adequately. No human language can accomplish that job.
Perhaps anthropomorphizing God is impossible for a human being, for each of us has a human perspective. The Bible contains much anthropomorphizing of the divine. A ubiquitous assumption in the Hebrew Bible is that God has some kind of physical (probably human) form. Related to that assumption, as in Exodus 33:18-23, is that to see the divine face is, in the words of a note from The Jewish Study Bible-Second Edition (2014),
too awesome for humans to survive.
–Page 179
That sense of the lethal holiness of God is absent from stories of Abraham, who literally walked with God, according to Genesis. That sense of the lethal holiness of God is also absent from all the stories of Jesus.
The reading from Exodus 33 occurs within a narrative setting. Prior to it Moses is pleading with God, who is refusing to dwell among the Hebrews. In Chapter 34 God renews the covenant. Then, in the construction of the Tabernacle (to replace the tent pitched outside the camp in Chapter 33) occurs and the Presence of the LORD fills the Tabernacle.
There is never a bad time to recommit to God, of course. The season of Lent is a liturgical time set apart to emphasize such matters. We all need reminders, do we not? Fortunately, the church calendar proves helpful in that regard. May we respond faithfully year-round to God, whose compassion is great, who desires that all turn to Him, who balances judgment in mercy in ways we cannot imagine, whose nature eludes us, and who approaches us.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 17, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF ADVENT: THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, ABOLITIONIST AND FEMINIST; AND MARIA STEWART, ABOLITIONIST, FEMINIST, AND EDUCATOR
THE FEAST OF EGLANTYNE JEBB AND DOROTHY BUXTON, FOUNDERS OF SAVE THE CHILDREN
THE FEAST OF FRANK MASON NORTH, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER
THE FEAST OF MARY CORNELIA BISHOP GATES, U.S. DUTCH REFORMED HYMN WRITER
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Above: Temptations of Jesus
Image in the Public Domain
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FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT, ACCORDING TO A LECTIONARY FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP IN THE BOOK OF WORSHIP FOR CHURCH AND HOME (1965)
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Almighty God, you see that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves:
Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls,
that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body,
and from all evil thoughts which may hurt the soul;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
–Modernized from The Book of Worship for Church and Home (1965), page 95
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Ezekiel 33:7-16
Psalm 18
1 John 2:1-3, 15-17
Mark 1:9-12
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A witty saying tells us,
I can resist anything except temptation.
Temptations are indeed strong and alluring, therefore, for lack of a better word, tempting. We, although created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), are “but dust” (Psalm 103:14). We are accountable for our sins (not those of our ancestors; read Ezekiel 18), although the sins of ancestors might affect ancestors for generations (hence Exodus 34:7). We are far from hopeless, fortunately, for we have Christ (who knows temptation) and the Holy Spirit interceding for us (John 14:16 and 26; John 15:26).
But how will we respond to the reality of our responsibility and of divine love? Even if we strive to accept our responsibility and to welcome divine love, we might behave badly. We might be like St. Paul the Apostle in Romans 7, knowing what we ought to do yet being incapable of doing it. Or we might not know precisely what we ought to do. Principles might be plain enough, but their practical applications might prove mysterious to us. Another problem might be the category of sins of omission, which can be more difficult to recognize than sins of commission.
Fortunately, God is faithful; we can rely on that.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 17, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF ADVENT: THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, ABOLITIONIST AND FEMINIST; AND MARIA STEWART, ABOLITIONIST, FEMINIST, AND EDUCATOR
THE FEAST OF EGLANTYNE JEBB AND DOROTHY BUXTON, FOUNDERS OF SAVE THE CHILDREN
THE FEAST OF FRANK MASON NORTH, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER
THE FEAST OF MARY CORNELIA BISHOP GATES, U.S. DUTCH REFORMED HYMN WRITER
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Above: Icon of the Resurrection
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:
Exodus 34:27-28 (29-35) or Deuteronomy 9:8-21
Psalms 71:15-24 or Psalm 75 or Psalm 76
John 21:20-25 or Luke 24:36-49 or John 20:19-31
2 Corinthians 3:7-11 (4:16-5:1) 5:2-5 (6-10) or Revelation 1:1-3 (4-8) 9-20
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Once again we read of the coexistence of divine judgment and mercy. This time the emphasis is on mercy, given the context of the assigned lessons. The bleakest reading comes from Genesis 34, where we learn of two brothers committing violence (including honor killings) in reaction to either the rape of their sister (Dinah) by a foreign man or to her consensual non-marital sexual relations with a foreigner. This story contrasts with the crucifixion of Jesus, in which those complicit in that act of violence unambiguously targeted an innocent man.
We who call ourselves Christians have a responsibility to follow Jesus–Christ crucified, as St. Paul the Apostle wrote. St. Paul, as Saul of Tarsus, had approved of the execution of at least one Christian, St. Stephen (Acts 7:54-8:1a). Saul of Tarsus had also dragged other Christians to prison (Acts 8:1b-3).
We who call ourselves Christians also have a responsibility to follow Jesus, the resurrected one. May we die to our sins. May we die to our desires to commit or condone violence against those we find inconvenient and/or who threaten our psychological safety zones. May we die to the desire to repay evil for evil. May we die to the thirst for revenge. And may God raise us to new life in the image of Christ. May we seek to glorify God alone and succeed in that purpose, by grace.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 10, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOHANN NITSCHMANN, SR., MORAVIAN MISSIONARY AND BISHOP; DAVID NITSCHMANN, JR., THE SYNDIC, MORAVIAN MISSIONARY BISHOP; AND DAVID NITSCHMANN, THE MARTYR, MORAVIAN MISSIONARY AND MARTYR
THE FEAST OF CECIL FRANCES ALEXANDER, POET AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF CHRISTIAN LUDWIG BRAU, NORWEGIAN MORAVIAN TEACHER AND POET
THE FEAST OF SAINTS JOHN LEONARDI, FOUNDER OF THE CLERKS REGULAR OF THE MOTHER OF GOD OF LUCCA; AND JOSEPH CALASANCTIUS, FOUNDER OF THE CLERKS REGULAR OF RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS
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Adapted from this post:
https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2016/10/10/devotion-for-easter-sunday-evening-year-d/
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Above: Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, Sautee, Georgia, February 8, 2015
Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
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The Collect:
O God, mighty and immortal, you know that as fragile creatures
surrounded by great dangers, we cannot by ourselves stand upright.
Give us strength of mind and body, so that even when we suffer
because of human sin, we may rise victorious through
your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 46
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The Assigned Readings:
Numbers 15:32-41 (Thursday)
2 Chronicles 8:12-15 (Friday)
Nehemiah 13:15-22 (Saturday)
Psalm 103:1-8 (All Days)
Hebrews 12:13-17 (Thursday)
Acts 17:1-9 (Friday)
Luke 6:1-5 (Saturday)
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Bless Yahweh, my soul,
from the depths of my being, his holy name;
bless Yahweh, my soul,
never forget all his acts of kindness.
–Psalm 103:1-2, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
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Keeping divine commandments is one way of manifesting love for God. Observing the Sabbath is the dominant issue in these days’ readings, so I focus on it.
Sabbath is an indication of freedom. When the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, they had no days off. Since they were free, however, they had a day off each week. Violating it carried a death sentence, though. (That was unduly harsh!) The reality of the death penalty for that infraction indicated the importance of keeping Sabbath in that culture, which understood that individual violations led to communal punishment.
Our Lord and Savior’s Apostles plucked grain with their hands one Sabbath. This was permissible in Deuteronomy 23:25 yet not in Exodus 34:21. Jesus preferred to cite the former, but his accusers favored the latter. He also understood the precedent David set in 1 Samuel 21:1-6, in which, in an emergency, he and his soldiers consumed holy bread. Jesus grasped a basic reality–people need the Sabbath, but there should be flexibility regarding the rules of the day. In this respect he fit in nicely with his Jewish culture, with its various understandings of Sabbath laws.
Life brings too many hardships to endure (often for the sake of righteousness). Fewer of them would exist if more people would be content to mind their own business. Why, then, do so many observant people add to this by turning a day of freedom into one of misery? I suppose that legalism brings joy to certain individuals.
May we keep the Sabbath as a day of rest, relaxation, and freedom, not legalism and misery. If we must work on our usual Sabbath, may we keep Sabbath another day.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 24, 2016 COMMON ERA
MAUNDY THURSDAY
THE FEAST OF THOMAS ATTWOOD, “FATHER OF MODERN CHURCH MUSIC”
THE FEAST OF SAINT DIDACUS JOSEPH OF CADIZ, CAPUCHIN FRIAR
THE FEAST OF OSCAR ROMERO, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF SAN SALVADOR, AND THE MARTYRS OF EL SALVADOR
THE FEAST OF PAUL COUTURIER, ECUMENIST
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2016/03/24/devotion-for-thursday-friday-and-saturday-before-proper-16-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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