Archive for the ‘Jeremiah 14’ Category
Above: Icon of Jeremiah
Image in the Public Domain
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READING JEREMIAH, PART X
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Jeremiah 14:1-15:9
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The title for this post comes from The New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume VI (2001).
God, we read, will not listen to intercessions for the people of the Kingdom of Judah any longer. That is why certain prayers do not work in Jeremiah 14:1-15:9. We return to a theme from earlier in the Hebrew prophetic tradition: repentance is no longer an option. The Book of Jeremiah, like other Hebrew prophetic books, is inconsistent about whether repentance is no longer an option. I, having finished rereading the Book of Jeremiah and having read earlier Hebrew prophetic books as of the time I type these words, make that statement with authority and without fear of being objectively inaccurate.
Some aspects of this block of scripture beg for explanation.
Translations of 14:18 vary, for the Hebrew text is difficult. The priest and the prophet
roam the land,
They do not know where,
in TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985). However, the priest and the prophet
ply their trade in a land they do not know,
in The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011). In The Revised English Bible (1989), they
wander without rest in the land.
Other translations offer variations on those renderings.
15:4 tells us:
I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, on account of King Manasseh son of Hezekiah of Judah, and of what he did in Jerusalem.
—TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
King Manasseh of Judah (r. 698/687-642 B.C.E.) was one of the monarchs certain Biblical authors loved to despise. 2 Kings 21:1-18 unloaded on the idolatrous monarch. 2 Chronicles 33:1-20 softened that blow by adding material about the monarch’s supposed repentance. 2 Kings 21:1-18 knew nothing about this alleged repentance, however. Later, an anonymous author, drawing from 2 Chronicles 33:1-20, composed The Prayer of Manasseh, an apocryphal text which enriches The Book of Common Prayer (1979).
Idolatry offers the theological clue to the interpretation of the drought in Jeremiah 14:1-15:9. The author wants people to recall the famine and drought in 1 Kings 17:1-18:46, meant to prove the ineffectiveness of Baal Peor, the Canaanite storm and fertility god.
The promise (15:8) that:
Their widows shall be more numerous
Than the sands of the seas.”
—TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
calls back ironically to the divine promise regarding the number of descendants of Abraham (Genesis 22:17) and Jacob (Genesis 32:13; cf. 1 Kings 4:20; Isaiah 10:22; Hosea 2:1).
She who bore seven is forlorn,
Utterly disconsolate;
Her sun has set while it is still day,
She is shamed and humiliated.
The remnant of them I will deliver to the sword,
To the power of their enemies
–declares the LORD.
–Jeremiah 15:9, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
This forlorn, disconsolate mother is Jerusalem personified. Themes, being what they are, occur in different and subsequent contexts, though. The stories of the mother and her seven sons, all martyrs during the Seleucid period, fill 2 Maccabees 7 and 4 Maccabees 8-18.
One should read scripture in various contexts, including literary genres and the historical record. Another context in which to read scripture is other scripture. We who have read the Bible know the rest of the story with regard to the final years of the Kingdom of the Judah. We know that matters got worse before they improved. We know that repentance was still an option.
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
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Above: Statue of Jeremiah, Salisbury Cathedral
Image in the Public Domain
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READING JEREMIAH, PART V
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Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
Jeremiah 26:1-24
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Jeremiah 7:1-20:18 consists of oracles primarily from the reign (608-598 B.C.E.) of Jehoiakim (born Eliakim) of Judah. For more about Jehoiakim, read 2 Kings 23:36-24:7; 2 Chronicles 36:5-8; 1 Esdras 1:39-42.
The Assyrian Empire had consumed the (northern) Kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C.E. then the Kingdom of Aram in 720 B.C.E. In 612 B.C.E., the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire had conquered the Assyrian Empire. In 608 B.C.E., Judah was struck between two powerful neighbors–Egypt and Babylonia, themselves enemies. After the death of King Josiah (r. 640-609 B.C.E.) in combat against Pharaoh Neco II of Egypt (r. 610-595 B.C.E.), Judah had become a vassal state of Egypt. Neco II had appointed the next King of Judah, Jehoahaz, also known as Jeconiah and Shallum (2 Kings 23:31-35; 2 Chronicles 36:1-4; 1 Esdras 1:34-38). Jehoahaz had reigned for about three months in 609 B.C.E. before Neco II had replaced him with another son of Josiah and taken him into captivity in Egypt. Neco II had also appointed Eliakim and changed his name to Jehoiakim in 608 B.C.E. He served as an Egyptian vassal until 605 B.C.E., when he became a Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian vassal.
Jeremiah spent most of his prophetic career speaking difficult truths to a nation under foreign domination. This context was extremely politically dangerous.
This sermon is thematically consistent with Hosea 6:4-6; Micah 3:9-12; and Amos 2:4-6. It is also thematically consistent with many other passages of Hebrew scripture. The link between idolatry and social injustice (especially economic injustice) is clear. Sacred rituals, even those the Law of Moses mandates, are not talismans. The joining of lived collective piety and justice on one hand and sacred ritual on the other hand is imperative. The combination of social injustice and sacred ritual makes a mockery of sacred ritual.
Mend your ways and your actions,
Jeremiah preached at the Temple. Then he unpacked that statement:
…if you execute justice between one man and another; if you do not oppress the stranger, the orphan, and the widow; if you do not shed the blood of the innocent in this place; if you do not follow other gods, to your own hurt–then only will I [YHWH] let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers for all time. See, you are relying on illusions that are of no avail….
–Jeremiah 7:5-8, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
Pay attention to 7:11, O reader:
Do you consider this House, which bears My name, to be a den of thieves? As for Me, I have been watching–declares the LORD.
—TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
This is an allusion in Jesus’s mouth during the Temple Incident/the Cleansing of the Temple in Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; and Luke 19:46. Notice that Jeremiah predicted the destruction of the First Temple.
Chronology is not the organizing principle in the Book of Jeremiah. The Temple Sermon of Jeremiah is a case in point. We return to it and read of its aftermath in Jeremiah 26:1-24.
Idols abound. They may be tangible or intangible. If an activity, idea, or object functions as an idol for someone, it is an idol for that person. Money is one of the more common idols. Greed contributes greatly to economic injustice, and corruption is one of the major causes of institutionalized poverty. Obliviousness to participation in the violation of God’s moral commandments, including mutuality, will not shield us from the consequences of those sins any more than keeping sacred rituals will do so.
Circa 608 B.C.E. God was still holding out the possibility of repentance, prompting the cancellation of divine punishment, according to Jeremiah 26:3. This contradicts other passages from the Book of Jeremiah and other Hebrew prophetic books composed or begun prior to the Book of Jeremiah. Perhaps one reason for the contradiction is the addition of later material to the early Hebrew prophetic books, as late as the Babylonian Exile. I suppose that maintaining the hard line of the time for repentance having passed was difficult to maintain after the Fall of Babylon (539 B.C.E.).
The priests and prophets said to all the people, “This man deserves the death penalty, for he has prophesied against this city, as you yourselves have heard.
–Jeremiah 26:11, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
Jeremiah prophesied against a government and a population under foreign domination. There was no separation of religion and state either. The prophet worked in a dangerous milieu.
Jeremiah had allies, though. Some cited the example of Micah, who had issued a dire prophesy (Micah 3:12) and had not received a death sentence. Fortunately for Jeremiah, the court’s sentence remained unfulfilled. Ahikam, a high-ranking royal official (2 Kings 22:12), saved him. Ahikam was also the father of Gedaliah, the assassinated governor of Judah after the Fall of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 40:1-41:18).
Uriah ben Shemiah, from Kiriath-jearim, was not as fortunate as Jeremiah was. Uriah, also prophesying in the name of YHWH, said what Jeremiah proclaimed. Uriah fled to Egypt for safety because King Jehoiakim wanted him dead. Royal agents found Uriah in Egypt and returned him to Judah, to die.
One may legitimately wonder why God protected Jeremiah from threats to his life yet did not spare faithful Uriah ben Shemaiah.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 7, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT MATTHEW TALBOT, RECOVERING ALCOHOLIC IN DUBLIN, IRELAND
THE FEAST OF SAINT ANTHONY MARY GIANELLI, FOUNDER OF THE MISSIONARIES OF SAINT ALPHONSUS
THE FEAST OF FREDERICK LUCIAN HOSMER, U.S. UNITARIAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF HUBERT LAFAYETTE SONE AND HIS WIFE, KATIE HELEN JACKSON SONE, U.S. METHODIST MISSIONARIES AND HUMANITARIANS IN CHNA, SINGAPORE, AND MALAYSIA
THE FEAST OF SEATTLE, FIRST NATIONS CHIEF, WAR LEADER, AND DIPLOMAT
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Above: The Grief of Hannah
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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1 Samuel 1:1-20 or Jeremiah 14:1-22
Psalm 101
Romans 5:12-21
Luke 11:27-36
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Your love and justice will I sing,
to you, Yahweh, will I chant,
I will rhapsodize about your dominion complete.
When will you come to me?
–Psalm 101:1b-2a, Mitchell J. Dahood (1970)
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The Psalter in The Book of Common Prayer (1979) renders the third line quoted above as,
I will strive to follow a blameless course…
The germane notes in Dahood’s third (of three) volumes on the Book of Psalms for The Anchor Bible series cite Hebrew words and linguistic nuances to justify his choice of translation. Part of the pleasure of reading Dahood on the Psalms is studying, after a fashion, under a master of his field–in his case, ancient Semitic languages. I recommend purchasing his three volumes on the Psalms if one seeks to study the Book of Psalms deeply.
Part of the Hebrew text of Psalm 101 can legitimately read in English as,
I will strive to follow a blameless course,
and as,
I will rhapsodize about your dominion complete.
Think about that, O reader. One rendering focuses on deeds; the other zeroes in on joyfulness and singing. No single English-translation can capture the richness of the Hebrew text.
The attitude of the Psalmist, like that of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:1-20, contrasts with that of the wicked people and generations in the other assigned readings.
- Human nature is flawed; that is obvious to me. Human depravity is not even an article of faith for me; I need no faith to accept that for which I have evidence.
- Sadly, false prophets (frequently supporting a political establishment) remain with us. One may read of the false prophets in the Book of Jeremiah and think readily of some of some of their contemporary counterparts.
- The quest for signs indicates faithlessness. Furthermore, human memories and attention spans can be fleeting. Consider, O reader, John 6. One reads of the Feeding of the Five Thousand in the first fifteen verses. One also reads in verse 30, set on the following day, “Then what sign will you do, that we may see, and believe you?”
May we, by grace, pay attention. May we mark, learn, and inwardly digest the law of of God. May we find that law written on our hearts. Then may we rejoice. May we rhapsodize consistently and strive to follow a blameless course. And may we succeed, by grace.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 19, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF SAINT ALPHEGE, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, AND MARTYR, 1012
THE FEAST OF DAVID BRAINERD, AMERICAN CONGREGATIONALIST THEN PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARY AND MINISTER
THE FEAST OF SAINT EMMA OF LESUM, BENEFACTOR
THE FEAST OF MARY C. COLLINS, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MISSIONARY AND MINISTER
THE FEAST OF OLAVUS PETRI, SWEDISH LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN, HISTORIAN, LITURGIST, MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, HYMN TRANSLATOR, AND “FATHER OF SWEDISH LITERATURE;” AND HIS BROTHER, LAURENTIUS PETRI, SWEDISH LUTHERAN ARCHBISHOP OF UPPSALA, BIBLE TRANSLATOR, AND “FATHER OF SWEDISH HYMNODY”
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2020/04/19/devotion-for-proper-15-year-c-humes/
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Above: The Embrace of Elizabeth and the Virgin Mary
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
Holy God, our righteous judge, daily your mercy
surprises us with everlasting forgiveness.
Strengthen our hope in you, and grant that all the
peoples of the earth may find their glory in you,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 51
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The Assigned Readings:
Jeremiah 9:1-16 (Thursday)
Jeremiah 9:17-26 (Friday)
Jeremiah 14:1-6 (Saturday)
Psalm 84:1-7 (All Days)
2 Timothy 3:1-9 (Thursday)
2 Timothy 3:10-15 (Friday)
Luke 1:46-55 (Saturday)
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Happy are the people whose strength is in you!
whose hearts are set on the pilgrims’ way.
–Psalm 84:4, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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And woe to those who hearts are not set on the pilgrims’ way. They are deceitful, advancing from evil to evil. They cheat each other and lie. They wear themselves out by working iniquity. Those of them who claim to be religious preserve an empty, outward shell of religion. God, who scatters the proud in their conceit and casts the mighty from their thrones, is not impressed with such people:
Speak thus–says the LORD:
The carcasses of men shall lie
Like dung upon the fields,
Like sheaves behind the reaper,
With none to pick them up.
–Jeremiah 9:21, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
Yet this same deity is also God the merciful. In the midst of judgment we read the following words:
For what else can I do because of My poor people?
–Jeremiah 9:6c, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
Later we read:
Thus said the LORD:
Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom;
Let not the strong man glory in his strength;
Let not the rich man glory in his riches.
But only in this should one glory:
In his earnest devotion to Me.
For I the LORD act with kindness,
Justice, and equity n the world;
For in these I delight–declares the LORD.
–Jeremiah 9:22-23, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
Furthermore, as Luke 1:46-55 (the Magnificat), echoing the song of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:1-10, reminds us, God has filled hungry people with good things, sent the rich away empty, and remained faithful to divine promises.
What is one supposed to make of this seeming contradiction between divine judgment and mercy? I propose, as I have written repeatedly in weblog posts, that good news for the oppressed is frequently bad news for the unrepentant oppressors. Furthermore, one should consider the issue of discipline, for a responsible parent does not permit a child to get away with everything. Judgment and mercy exist in balance with each other; God is neither an abuser nor a warm fuzzy. God is God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 31, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE VISITATION OF MARY TO ELIZABETH
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2016/05/31/devotion-for-thursday-friday-and-saturday-before-proper-25-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/
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Above: Civil Rights Memorial, Montgomery, Alabama
Photographer = Carol M. Highsmith
Image Source = Library of Congress
Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-highsm-05791
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The Collect:
O God, we thank you for your Son,
who chose the path of suffering for the sake of the world.
Humble us by his example,
point us to the path of obedience,
and give us strength to follow your commands,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 46
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The Assigned Readings:
Jeremiah 14:13-18 (Thursday)
Jeremiah 15:1-9 (Friday)
Jeremiah 15:10-14 (Saturday)
Psalm 26:1-8 (All Days)
Ephesians 5:1-6 (Thursday)
2 Thessalonians 2:7-12 (Friday)
Matthew 8:14-17 (Saturday)
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I will wash my hands in innocence, O Lord,
that I may go about your altar,
To make heard the voice of thanksgiving
and tell of all your wonderful deeds.
Lord, I love the house of your habitation
and the place where your glory abides.
–Psalm 26:6-8, Common Worship (2000)
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Christian liberty is the freedom to follow Christ without the shackles of legalism. All the Law of Moses and the Prophets point to the love of God and one’s fellow human beings, our Lord and Savior said. Rabbi Hillel, dead for about two decades at the time, would have continued that teaching with
Everything else is commentary. Go and learn it.
Many of those laws contained concrete examples of timeless principles. A host of these examples ceased to apply to daily lives for the majority of people a long time ago, so the avoidance of legalism and the embrace of serious study of the Law of Moses in historical and cultural contexts behooves one. St. Paul the Apostle, always a Jew, resisted legalism regarding male circumcision. In my time I hear certain Protestants, who make a point of Christian liberty from the Law of Moses most of the time, invoke that code selectively for their own purposes. I am still waiting for them to be consistent –to recognize the hypocrisy of such an approach, and to cease from quoting the Law of Moses regarding issues such as homosexuality while ignoring its implications for wearing polyester. I will wait for a long time, I suppose.
My first thought after finishing the readings from Jeremiah was, “God was mad!” At least that was the impression which the prophet and his scribe, Baruch, who actually wrote the book, left us. In that narrative the people (note the plural form, O reader) had abandoned God and refused repeatedly to repent–to change their minds and to turn around. Destruction would be their lot and only a small remnant would survive, the text said. Not keeping the Law of Moses was the offense in that case.
The crux of the issue I address in this post is how to follow God without falling into legalism. Whether one wears a polyester garment does not matter morally, but how one treats others does. The Law of Moses, when not condemning people to death for a host of offenses from working on the Sabbath to engaging in premarital sexual relations to insulting one’s parents (the latter being a crucial point the Parable of the Prodigal Son/Elder Brother/Father), drives home in a plethora of concrete examples the principles of interdependence, mutual responsibility, and complete dependence on God. These belie and condemn much of modern economic theory and many corporate policies, do they not? Many business practices exist to hold certain people back from advancement, to keep them in their “places.” I, without becoming lost in legalistic details, note these underlying principles and recognize them as being of God. There is a project worth undertaking in the name and love of God. The working conditions of those who, for example, manufacture and sell our polyester garments are part of a legitimate social concern.
Abstract standards of morality do not move me, except occasionally to frustration. Our Lord and Savior gave us a concrete standard of morality–how our actions and inactions affect others. This is a paraphrase of the rule to love one’s neighbor as one loves oneself. I made this argument in a long and thoroughly documented paper I published online. In that case I focused on the traditional Southern Presbyterian rule of the Spirituality of the Church, the idea that certain issues are political, not theological, so the denomination should avoid “political” entanglements. In 1861 the founders of the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America (the Presbyterian Church in the United States from 1865 to 1983) invoked the Spirituality of the Church to avoid condemning slavery, an institution they defended while quoting the Bible. By the 1950s the leadership of the PCUS had liberalized to the point of endorsing civil rights for African Americans, a fact which vexed the openly segregationist part of the Church’s right wing. From that corner of the denomination sprang the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) in 1973. This fact has proven embarrassing to many members of the PCA over the years, as it should. The PCA, to its credit, has issued a pastoral letter condemning racism. On the other hand, it did so without acknowledging the racist content in the documents of the committee which formed the denomination.
May we, invoking our Christian liberty, seek to love all the neighbors possible as we love ourselves. We can succeed only by grace, but our willingness constitutes a vital part of the effort.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 19, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT POEMAN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AND SAINTS JOHN THE DWARF AND ARSENIUS THE GREAT, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONKS
THE FEAST OF SAINT AMBROSE AUTPERT, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN PLESSINGTON, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR
THE FEAST OF SAINT MACRINA THE YOUNGER, ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN
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Adapted from This Post:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2014/07/19/devotion-for-thursday-friday-and-saturday-before-proper-17-year-a-elca-daily-lectionary/
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Above: Design Drawing for a Stained -Glass Window with the Publican
Image Source = Library of Congress
(http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/LAMB2006000957/)
Designed by J. & R. Lamb Studios between 1857 and 1999
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The Assigned Readings:
Joel 2:23-32 and Psalm 65
or
Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 35:12-17 or Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22 and Psalm 84
then
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
Luke 18:9-14
The Collect:
Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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Some Related Posts:
Proper 25, Year A:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/11/proper-25-year-a/
Prayer 25, Year B:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/proper-25-year-b/
Prayer of Praise and Adoration:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/prayer-of-praise-and-adoration-for-the-twenty-third-sunday-after-pentecost/
Prayer of Confession:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/prayer-of-confession-for-the-twenty-third-sunday-after-pentecost/
Prayer of Dedication:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/prayer-of-dedication-for-the-twenty-third-sunday-after-pentecost/
Joel 2:
http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/devotion-for-january-23-lcms-daily-lectionary/
2 Timothy 4:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/week-of-proper-4-saturday-year-2/
Luke 18:
http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/twenty-second-day-of-lent/
http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/devotion-for-the-forty-second-day-of-easter-lcms-daily-lectionary/
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The biblical texts contain many repeated themes. Among them is the command to obey God’s laws coupled with warnings of the consequences for not doing so followed by those consequences. The Prophet Jeremiah, aware of those sins and their consequences, asked God for mercy on the people in Chapter 14. In Jeremiah 15, however, God paid “no” in many words.
Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 35, which speaks of the divine preference for the poor, the widows, the orphans, and the wronged, begins with:
To keep the law is worth many offerings;….—35:1, The Revised English Bible
Much of the Old Testament tradition agrees with that statement. So does the Pharisee from the parable in Luke 18:9-14. He has kept the Law of Moses as best he knows how, as his tradition has told him to do. But he misses one thing, another element of the Old Testament tradition: humility before God.
You desire no sacrifice, or I would give it:
But you take no delight in burnt offerings.
The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit:
A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
–Psalm 54:16-17, A New Zealand Prayer Book (1989)
St. Paul the Apostle understood all this well. What admirers wrote in his name after he died the Apostle could have said during his lifetime:
I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith;….—2 Timothy 4:7, The New Jerusalem Bible
The crown of righteousness is a matter of grace; we do not earn it. Yes, James 2:24 (The Revised English Bible) tells us:
You seen then it is by action and not by faith alone that a man is justified.
But faith, in that formulation, is intellectual, so words are necessary for justification to God. In the Pauline tradition, however, faith is inherently active, so:
For all alike have sinned, and are justified by God’s free grace alone, through his act of liberation in the person of Christ Jesus.
–Romans 3:23-24, The Revised English Bible
Therefore:
What room then is left for human pride? It is excluded. And on what principle? The keeping of the law would not exclude it, but faith does. For our argument is that people are justified by faith quite apart from any question of keeping the law.
–Romans 3:27-28, The Revised English Bible
According to St. Paul, the Law of Moses did its job until Christ did his, so Jesus has fulfilled the Law.
Even in judgment there can be hope, hence the lection from Joel. The judgment which Jeremiah hoped would not come did arrive. Later, however, so did mercy in extravagant doses. Grace indeed!
Grace is also something we are supposed to extend to each other.
In January 2013 Jim McGown, a friend (now deceased), gave me a good book, the last of a sequence of fine volumes he imparted to me. The last book is a daily devotional guide for Lent, Year C, by Bishop N. T. Wright. The following lines come from Wright’s discussion of the parable from Luke:
Wasn’t the poor chap [the Pharisee] simply doing what God had told him to do?
Well, from one point of view, yes. But Jesus was constantly nudging people, or positively shoving them, towards seeing everything differently. Prayer is about loving God, and the deepest Jewish traditions insist that loving God is something you do with your hart, mind, soul and strength, and your neighbour as yourself, not calculating whether you’ve done everything just right and feeling smug because your neighbour hasn’t managed it so well.
–Lent for Everyone: Luke, Year C—A Daily Devotional (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2012, pages 77-78; published originally in the United Kingdom in 2009 by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge)
So I extend to you, O reader, a small portion of grace which a friend, at God’s prompting, gave to me. Each of us is called to respond positively to God, who has done much for us. Part of this sacred vocation is extending grace to our fellow human beings. We have an excellent role model: Jesus of Nazareth. May we follow him.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 8, 2013 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT BENEDICT II, BISHOP OF ROME
THE FEAST OF DAME JULIAN OF NORWICH, SPIRITUAL WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT MAGDALENA OF CANOSSA, FOUNDER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF CHARITY AND THE SONS OF CHARITY
THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER OF TARENTAISE, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP
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Adapted from this post:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/proper-25-year-c/
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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