Archive for the ‘Jeremiah 8’ Category
Above: Inconsolable Grief, by Ivan Kramskoi
Image in the Public Domain
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READING SECOND ISAIAH, PART VIII
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Isaiah 50:1-52:12
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In Second Isaiah, YHWH is the father and Jerusalem is the mother of the covenant community, metaphorically.
The Third Servant Song is Isaiah 50:4-9. The audience this time is the covenant community–especially those members thereof who have fallen away. The Third Servant Song occurs in the textual context of divine frustration with Hebrew exiles (50:1-3, 10-11), many of whom remained rebellious. Reading the Third Servant Song on Christian autopilot identifies the servant as Jesus. This is overly simplistic and ahistorical. The servant here speaks the message of God to disheartened Hebrew exiles. The theology of Isaiah 50:4-9 is that the exiles deserved the Babylonian Exile (40:1-3), but that YHWH was about to vindicate them anyway.
Some of the despairing exiles relied on God and accepted this message. Others rejected it and, poetically, laid down in pain. They did not respond favorably and faithfully to God, mighty, strong, and sovereign. They rejected grace. They rejected God, in whom judgment and mercy exist in balance.
In Jeremiah (8:11; 27:8-11; 28:1-17), false hopes and prophets of peace and restoration belied the upcoming Fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.E.) and its aftermath. The truth was hard to hear. Words of comfort were mostly lies. Those words of comfort that were not lies focused on seemingly distant restoration, eventually.
In contrast, in a different time, words of imminent divine deliverance and consolation seemed, to many, ridiculous. After so many years of the Babylonian Exile, that response was predictable.
When populations have been poor, oppressed, discriminated against, et cetera, the hope of a better future may seem ridiculous. Yet there is always a better future with God. How many people want to embrace that hope? How many people think they can embrace that hope? And to what extend is the continued state of poverty, oppression, discrimination, et cetera, a self-fulfilling prophecy?
The answers to the these questions vary according to circumstances, of course. Machinery of oppression, discrimination, and the maintenance of poverty exists. Most people over the course of documented time have lacked the agency that proponents of pulling oneself up by one’s bootstraps assume many people have. Telling someone without shoes,
Pull yourself up by your bootstraps,
is cruel and unrealistic. Yet other people are fortunate enough to possess agency. But do they know this? And do they know how to use that agency most effectively?
Second Isaiah addressed a population, of course.
Above: Bonny Thomas (1965-2019), Whose Death Broke My Heart and Shattered My Life
Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor
On the individual level, grief can be as crippling as it is on the collective level. I know this grief. I know the grief over the death of dreams and aspirations. I also know the grief that lingers after someone has died. I know what life-shattering grief is; I deal with it daily. I talk to God about it. I remain broken, and I talk to God about it. Doing that is what I know to do. I am broken and shattered, but I am not alone.
We–collectively and individually–are all broken. The fortunate are less broken that others. Leaning into the strength and faithfulness of God is the way of healing.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 10, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MYLES HORTON, “FATHER OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT”
THE FEAST OF SAINTS EUMENIOUS AND PARTHENIOS OF KOUDOUMAS, MONKS AND FOUNDERS OF KOUDOMAS MONASTERY, CRETE
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOSEPH OF DAMASCUS, SYRIAN ORTHODOX PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1860
THE FEAST OF SAINT NICHOLAS SPIRA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
THE FEAST OF RUED LANGGAARD, DANISH COMPOSER
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Above: Jehoiakim Burns the Word of God
Image in the Public Domain
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READING JEREMIAH, PART XVI
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Jeremiah 36:1-32
Jeremiah 45:1-5
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When I taught history survey courses in colleges and universities, I told my students:
Keep your facts straight and your chronology in order.
The Book of Jeremiah does not always keep its facts straight. I have noted some examples of this already in this series of posts. I point to two examples in this post. I have more examples to point out when I get to them. I am a serious student of history; I stand by the objective reality that x either happened or did not. I make no apology for this.
The Book of Jeremiah does not keep its chronology straight, either.
- Zedekiah was the last King of Judah. He reigned from 597 to 586 B.C.E. He was the named monarch in Jeremiah 24, 27, 28, 32, 37, and 38.
- Jehoiakim, nephew of Zedekiah, reigned as the King of Judah from 608 to 598 B.C.E. Jehoiakim was the named monarch in Chapters 25, 26 (completing the story in 7 and 8, by the way), 35, and 45. The events of Chapter 35 transpired after those of Chapter 36.
- Jeremiah 39 and 52 cover the Fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. Off-screen, so to speak, the city fell between Chapters 32 and 33, and before 10:23-25.
The Book of Jeremiah is messing with my head. The beginning should come before the middle, which should precede the end. Linear story-telling has its virtues.
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In 608 B.C.E., Eliakim ben Josiah came to the throne of Judah as Jehoiakim, succeeding a deposed and exiled brother, Jehoahaz ben Josiah (r. 609 B.C.E.). Both brothers were vassals of Pharoah Neco II (reigned 610-595 B.C.E.). During the reign of Jehoiakim, the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire replaced Egypt as the power to which Judah’s monarch served as a vassal. Jehoiakim was also a tyrant who had prophets who spoke inconvenient truths arrested and executed circa 608 B.C.E. Intervention spared the life of Jeremiah from Jehoiakim’s wrath (Jeremiah 26). Yet, circa 608 B.C.E., Uriah ben Shemaiah died for saying what Jeremiah proclaimed (Jeremiah 26).
The events of Jeremiah 36 occurred in 605 B.C.E. That year, Jeremiah had no access to the Temple. Therefore, he sent his scribe, Baruch ben Neriah, in his place. The scribe used the words of divine judgment and the invitation to repent. These words met with a chilly reception. King Jehoiakim burned the scroll.
The LORD now says of Jehoiakim, king of Judah: No descendant of his shall sit on David’s throne; his corpse shall be thrown out, exposed to heat by day, frost by night. I will punish him and his descendants for their wickedness; upon them, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the people of Judah I will bring all the evil threats to which they will not listen.
–Jeremiah 36:30-31, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
King Jehoiakim’s reign ended in 598 B.C.E.
- He may have died peacefully in his sleep, in his palace (2 Kings 24:6). “He rested with his forefathers” usually indicated a peaceful death.
- He may have become a prisoner in the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire (2 Chronicles 36:6; 1 Esdras 1:40).
- He may have died in battle, outside the walls of Jerusalem. His corpse may have remained unburied, a sign of disgrace and disrespect (Jeremiah 22:19; 36:30-31).
Despite the prophecy, a son of Jehoiakim succeeded him. King Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah reigned for about three months in 597 B.C.E. before becoming a prisoner in the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire (2 Kings 24:8-17; 2 Kings 25:27-30; 2 Chronicles 36:9-10; 1 Esdras 1:43-46).
Above: Baruch Writing Jeremiah’s Prophecies
Image in the Public Domain
Turning to Jeremiah 45, we remain in 605 B.C.E., according to the text.
God commanded Jeremiah to tell Baruch ben Neriah:
Thus said the LORD: I am going to overthrow what I have built, and uproot what I have planted–this applies to the whole land. And do you expect great things for yourself? Don’t expect them. For I am going to bring disaster upon all flesh–declares the LORD–but I will at least grant your life in all the places where you may go.
–Jeremiah 45:4-5, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
This work exacted a heavy toll on Jeremiah and his scribe. The divine promise of not getting killed in the line of duty applied to the prophet, also (Jeremiah 1:19). Ebed-melech, another ally of Jeremiah, had a divine guarantee of his life, too (Jeremiah 39:18). Despite this divine promise, being Jeremiah or one of his allies was risky.
One may not want to hear God say to one:
And do you expect great things for yourself? Don’t expect them.
Baruch, of course, went to Egypt with Jeremiah (43:6).
Some interpretive difficulties arise in Jeremiah 45.
- The text dates the prophecy to 605 B.C.E.
- Yet Chapter 45 follows exile in Egypt for Jeremiah and Baruch, and flows thematically from Chapter 44.
- Nevertheless, as I keep repeating, chronology is not the organizing principle in the Book of Jeremiah. Structurally, the Book of Jeremiah reminds me of certain movies by Atom Egoyan, the acclaimed Canadian movie director. Egoyan does not favor linear story-telling; he often has three timeframes running in his movies, and cuts from one timeframe to another one periodically. For proper understanding of The Sweet Hereafter (1997) and Ararat (2002), for example, one needs to watch at least three times.
- The translation of the end of 45:5 varies. TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985) goes one way, with, “…but I will, at least, grant you your life.” The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011) goes another way, with, “…but I will grant you your life as spoils of war….”
And do you expect great things for yourself? Don’t expect them.
God’s reward to Jeremiah, Baruch, and Ebed-melech was survival in a terrifying time.
That does not seem like much of a reward, does it? Yet, as St. Teresa of Calcutta said, God calls people to be faithful, not successful. This is a difficult teaching. I struggle with it. Maybe you do, too, O reader. I read that Jeremiah and Baruch did.
By human standards, Jeremiah was a failure. He was on the outs with authorities. His message convinced few people. He died in involuntary exile in a land where he had warned people not to go. And, by human standards, Jeremiah dragged Baruch down with him.
Yet, thousands of years later, faithful Jews and Christians utter the names of Jeremiah and Baruch with respect. Many Jews and Christians still study and read the Book of Jeremiah. The faithful legacy of Jeremiah and Baruch endures.
By that standard, Jeremiah and Baruch succeeded.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 12, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF EDWIN PAXTON HOOD, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, PHILANTHROPIST, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF CHRISTIAN DAVID JAESCHKE, GERMAN MORAVIAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER; AND HIS GRANDSON, HENRI MARC HERMANN VOLDEMAR VOULLAIRE, MORAVIAN COMPOSER AND MINISTER
THE FEAST OF ENMEGAHBOWH, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND MISSIONARY TO THE OJIBWA NATION
THE FEAST OF JOSEPH DACRE CARLYLE, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF MILTON SMITH LITTLEFIELD, JR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN AND CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMNAL EDITOR
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Above: Jeremiah and Jerusalem
Image in the Public Domain
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READING JEREMIAH, PART VI
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Jeremiah 8:4-10:25
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Jeremiah 8:4-10:25, in its final form, consists of disparate material. 10:23-25 indicates that Jerusalem has fallen to the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire. This material is later than much of the other content of this section of the Book of Jeremiah; it is temporally contemporary with Chapters 33, 39-44, and perhaps 45. Jeremiah speaks to God in some of the passages in Jeremiah 8:4-10:25; God speaks in other passages.
Given that I am reading Hebrew prophetic books systematically, almost all of the themes in Jeremiah 8:4-10:25 are familiar to me from recent reading and blogging. I choose not to repeat myself concerning them in this post. If I were dropping into the Book of Jeremiah, as in the case of a lectionary, I would offer more comments, though.
The Book of Jeremiah is the only Hebrew prophetic book to mention circumcision. Jeremiah refers to the circumcision of the heart in 4:4; 6:10; and 9:25/9:26 (depending on versification). This fits neatly with Chapter 7, which argues against assuming that ritual propriety shields against the consequences of persistent immorality. This theme of the circumcision of the heart recurs in Romans 2:28-29.
Other than the circumcision of the heart, I focus on God lamenting people’s sins and the consequences of those sins. Hellfire-and-damnation Christians seem to overlook this. God, as presented in Jeremiah 8;4-10:25, wishes that circumstances were different.
Assuredly, thus said the LORD of Hosts:
Lo, I shall smelt and assay them–
For what else can I do because of My poor people?
Their tongue is a sharpened arrow,
They use their mouths to deceive.
One speaks to his fellow in friendship,
But lays an ambush for him in his heart.
Shall I not punish them for such deeds?
–says the LORD–
Shall I not bring retribution
On such a nation as this?
–Jeremiah 9:6-8, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
May we–collectively and individually–refrain from grieving God.
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: 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: Samson
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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Judges 13:1-5, 24 or Jeremiah 8:18-9:1
Psalm 92
Romans 3:1-10, 23-31
Luke 10:1-24
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All people are sinful, we read. Societies and institutions are sinful. The icing on the cake is the depressing reading from Jeremiah. That is almost as somber as a movie by Vittorio De Sica. Shoeshine (1946), Bicycle Thieves (1948), and Umberto D. (1952) are realistic and depressing works of art.
There is good news, however: God can work through us. God worked through the conventionally pious Psalmist, the frequently oblivious Apostles, and that idiot, Samson. God worked through Jeremiah and St. Paul the Apostle. God can work through corrupt institutions. God can work through you and me, O reader. God is sovereign.
That settles one question, but not another one. No excuses for bad character and institutional corruption are valid. Being an instrument of God does not exempt one from moral obligations. Yes, God can work through scuz buckets, but being being a scuz bucket is still wrong.
May we, by grace, be the most moral instruments of God possible. May our public and private morality be as close to the divine ideal as possible.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 16, 2020 COMMON ERA
THURSDAY IN HOLY WEEK
THE FEAST OF SAINT BERNADETTE OF LOURDES, VISIONARY
THE FEAST OF CALVIN WEISS LAUFER, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMNODIST
THE FEAST OF ISABELLA GILMORE, ANGLICAN DEACONESS
THE FEAST OF SAINT MIKEL SUMA, ALBANIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, FRIAR, AND MARTYR, 1950
THE FEAST OF PETER WILLIAMS CASSEY, AFRICAN-AMERICAN EPISCOPAL DEACON; AND HIS WIFE, ANNIE BESANT CASSEY, AFRICAN-AMERICAN EPISCOPAL EDUCATOR
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2020/04/16/devotion-for-proper-12-year-c-humes/
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Above: Jesus Healing the Blind Man, by Eustache Le Sueur
Image in the Public Domain
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For the Ninth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year 1, according to the U.S. Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970
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Grant, we beseech thee, merciful God, that thy church, being gathered together in unity by the Holy Spirit,
may manifest thy power among all peoples, to the glory of thy name:
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with thee and the same Spirit,
one God, world without end. Amen.
—The Book of Common Worship–Provisional Services (1966), 120
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Jeremiah 8:4-7
1 Peter 2:7-10
Luke 18:31-43
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The theme of rebellion against God unites the three assigned readings. This is especially appropriate liturgically on the Sunday preceding Lent, with its focus on confession of sin and on repentance.
I advise you, O reader, to read all of Jeremiah 8, with its vivid poetic language about divine judgment. That is collective punishment for collective sin. Western civilization, with its individualism, gives short shrift to collective responsibility, sin, and punishment. The Hebrew Bible is not a product of Western civilization, though. Likewise, “you” is plural in 1 Peter 2:7-10.
The blind man in Luke 18:35-43 was more perceptive than the Apostles and the crowd at Jericho. His story, set in contrast to 18:31-34 by the author of the Gospel of Luke, has long pointed out the spiritual blindness of the other people.
Spiritual and moral blindness is both collective and individual; they influence each other. We, as members of society, are subject to societal influences. But what is society but people? When enough people change their minds, societal norms shift. We, collectively and individually, need to move toward a state in which the Golden Rule is normative and nothing–not even citations of religious laws–is an acceptable reason to violate the Golden Rule. This will not usher in the Kingdom of God, for only God can do that. This will, however, create societies with less spiritual and moral blindness.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 2, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ALL SOULS/THE COMMEMORATION OF ALL FAITHFUL DEPARTED
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Above: The Dream of Nebuchadnezzar
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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Daniel 2:24, 31-49
Psalm 38:15-22
Revelation 3:14-22
Mark 11:12-14, 20-25
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For in you, O LORD, have I fixed my hope;
you will answer me, O Lord my God.
For I said, “Do not let them rejoice at my expense,
those who gloat over me when my foot slips.
Truly, I am on the verge of falling,
and my pain is always with me.
I will confess my iniquity
and be sorry for my sin.
Those who are my enemies without cause are mighty,
and many in number are those who wrongfully hate me.
Those who repay evil for good slander me,
because I follow the course that is right.
O LORD, do not forsake me;
be not far from me, O my God.
Make haste to help me,
O Lord of my salvation.
–Psalm 38:15-22, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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At first glance the readings David Ackerman has appointed for the First Sunday of Advent do not fit well together. However, upon further reflection, one might realize that they do. The message is that we–individuals, institutions, societies–ought to rely on God, not on our own devices.
In David 2 we have an interpretation of a dream. There are four successive empires–traditionally Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian, Median, Persian, and Macedonian–of declining value. The fifth in the sequence is the divided empire of the late Alexander the Great. At the end of that sequence, according to Daniel 2, God’s reign on earth will commence.
O, if only it had!
The Roman Empire is the power in Mark 11. Jesus curses a fig tree for producing no figs. The text notes that this happened outside of fig season. The story, however, is symbolic. It follows directly from the Triumphal Entry of Jesus and wraps around the cleansing of the Temple. The fig tree relates to the Temple. Just as the fig tree is producing just leaves and not small green figs (as it ought to do), the Temple is barren of anything of spiritual worth. The fig tree is also a recurring Biblical symbol of Israel itself, as in Jeremiah 8:13, Hosea 9:10, Joel 1:7, and Micah 7:1. One can therefore reasonably read the cursing of the fig tree as a scathing critique of the religious life of Israel.
When we turn to the Church at Laodicea in Revelation 3 we find another scathing critique. The congregation relies on its wealth, not on God, who literally vomits (although many translations render the verb “spits”) that church out. The church has succumbed to the temptation to convert material wealth into an idol.
The text from Psalm 38 explains itself.
In Beyond the Lectionary (2013) Ackerman emphasizes
the importance of awakening the insights that God provides
(page 8).
Those insights tell us both individually and collectively not to trust in military forces, in governments, in wealth, or in imagined righteousness when we ought to acknowledge our complete dependence on God. To do anything other than to rely completely on God is to commit idolatry. That is a difficult and strong statement, I know. I also acknowledge that I have long been guilty of this idolatry and continue to be so. I confess this sin here, in this post, readily. Fortunately, grace abounds, so all of us have hope.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 28, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER CHANEL, PROTOMARTYR OF OCEANIA
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Adapted from this post:
https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2017/04/28/devotion-for-the-first-sunday-of-advent-ackerman/
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Above: Fig Tree Cleaving a Rock, Transjordan, Circa 1930-1933
Image Source = Library of Congress
Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-matpc-14982
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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:
Genesis 3:1-7 (8-15) 16-24 or Jeremiah 8:4-13 or Jeremiah 24:1-10 or Habakkuk 3:1-19
Psalm 140
Matthew 21:12-22 or Mark 11:12-25 (26)
Colossians 1:29-2:5 (16-19) 20-23
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God is the only proper source of confidence, human philosophies and accomplishments are puny and transitory at best and deceptive at worst. They are also seductive. Consequences of giving into them in the assigned readings include exile, pestilence, famine, and destruction.
The readings from Matthew and Mark, despite their slight chronological discrepancy, are mostly consistent with each other. In the narrative they follow the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem immediately. We read that Jesus takes great offense to people profiting by converting Roman currency (technically idols, given the image of the Emperor, described as the “Son of God”) into money theologically suitable for purchasing sacrificial animals. He also curses and kills a fig tree for not bearing figs. We who read these accounts are supposed to ask ourselves if we are fruitful or fruitless fig trees. One will, after all, know a tree by its fruits.
Are we the kind of people who would have followed Jesus all the way to Golgotha or are we the variety of people who would have plotted or ordered his execution or at least denied knowing him or would have shouted “Crucify him!”?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 17, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE TWENTY-FIRST DAY OF ADVENT
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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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2016/12/17/devotion-for-proper-16-year-d/
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Above: Ephesus
Photographer = Osmo Visuri
Image Source = Library of Congress
Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-matpc-23106
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The Collect:
O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus,
you are the city that shelters us, the mother who comforts us.
With your Spirit accompany us on our life’s journey,
that we may spread your peace in all the world,
through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 41
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The Assigned Readings:
Jeremiah 6:10-19 (Monday)
Jeremiah 8:4-13 (Tuesday)
Psalm 119:73-80 (Both Days)
Acts 19:21-27 (Monday)
Acts 19:28-41 (Tuesday)
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Your hands have made me and held me firm,
give me understanding and I shall learn your commandments.
–Psalm 119:73, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
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Among the sins of people in Jeremiah 6 and 8 was having an attitude other than that manifested in Psalm 119:73-80. If they did not know better, they should have. They lacked any legitimate excuse for their sins, especially those that harmed the vulnerable. This sinful population reaped what it sowed.
One might wonder if Demetrius, a silversmith of Ephesus, had a way of knowing better. He profited by making and selling silver shrines of the goddess Artemis, and the spread of Christianity threatened his business. Demetrius incited violence against traveling companions of St. Paul the Apostle. Fortunately, the town clerk refused to submit to mob rule. Judaism was not unknown among Gentile populations in the Hellenistic age, so perhaps that fact deprived Demetrius of an excuse. Yes, Christianity was young and misconceptions regarding it were commonplace. Even the Roman historian Tacitus repeated some inaccurate information regarding Christians and Christianity as if it were accurate. He could have conducted a fact check easily, but he did not. Likewise, Demetrius could have learned much about Christianity, for there was a church in the city. He was also without an excuse.
Sometimes we humans become accustomed to certain sets of propositions, even those which are false. Yet we might not recognize them as being such. Greed is another spiritually blinding factor, as in Jeremiah 6 and Acts 19. Righteousness becomes economically inconvenient. Regardless of the reason(s) for our spiritual blindness, may we repent of it and may God forgive us for it.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 12, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT GREGORY THE GREAT, BISHOP OF ROME
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2016/03/12/devotion-for-monday-and-tuesday-after-proper-9-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/
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Above: Christ Healing a Bleeding Woman
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
Compassionate God, you have assured the human family of eternal life through Jesus Christ.
Deliver us from the death of sin, and raise us to new life,
in your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 39
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The Assigned Readings:
Jeremiah 8:14-22
Psalm 68:1-10, 19-20
Luke 8:40-56
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God, you rained down a shower of blessings,
when your heritage was weary you gave it strength.
Your family found a home, which you
in your generosity provided for the humble.
–Psalm 68:9-10, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
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The lection from Jeremiah 8 is grim. It comes from a section of prophecies of judgment against Jerusalem. (Nevertheless, Hebrew puns are present.) In some portions of the reading the identity of the speaker is unclear, but the tone is never vague–doom will arrive, and mourning will be abundant.
In Luke 8 grief and anguish give way to joy. Jesus heals a ritually unclean woman with a gynecological condition. He restores her to her community and ends her mental and emotional anguish. Then he raises the daughter of Jairus, a leader of a synagogue, from the dead. Our Lord and Savior restores the family of Jairus to wholeness and the daughter to life and community.
We mere mortals share our lives with each other when we live in community. We might guard our privacy, but even those matters we choose not to disclose influence our lives in community. Whenever we grieve and mourn, that affects others. Likewise, whenever we rejoice and laugh, that affects others also. May we support each other in positive living for the glory of God and the benefit of others, remembering that, as John Donne wrote so well,
No man is an island.
I think of the woman from Luke 8:42b-48. The text informs us that she had endured her medical condition and the related stigma and stresses for twelve years. How many people had tried to help her in any way? And how many, guarding their ritual purity, had shunned her? No woman is an island, even if she is ritually impure.
Sometimes politicians and pundits sneer at empathy, but it is a great virtue in short supply much of the time. So is its cousin, sympathy. Can we empathize or sympathize with a desperate father, a shunned woman, and a member of a doomed community? How will we express that empathy or sympathy?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 4, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF PAUL CUFFEE, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARY TO THE SHINNECOCK NATION
THE FEAST OF SAINT CASIMIR OF POLAND, PRINCE
THE FEAST OF EMANUEL CRONENWETT, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF SAINTS MARINUS OF CAESAREA, ROMAN SOLDIER AND CHRISTIAN MARTYR, AND ASTERIUS, ROMAN SENATOR AND CHRISTIAN MARTYR
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2016/03/04/devotion-for-wednesday-after-proper-5-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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