READING ECCLESIASTICUS/SIRACH

PART XVII

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Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 24:1-34

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The contents of Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 24:1-34 should sound familiar to scholars and serious students of Hebrew wisdom literature.  There is nothing new here, except phrasing.  Divine wisdom, personified as feminine, is the first creation of God.  Wisdom was present and active in the creation of the world.  This sounds like Proverbs 8:22 so far.  Divine wisdom also exists in the Law of Moses, as in Baruch 3:37-4:1.  Ben Sira could not have imagined the application of this language about divine wisdom to Jesus (John 1 and 1 Corinthians 1:30, minus the Arianism) and the Blessed Mother of God (the “Seat of Wisdom”).

Other parallels exist.  Some of the language echoes praises of the Egyptian goddess Isis.  There are also allusions to Exodus 13:21-22; 14:19-20; and other verses in Proverbs 8 and Baruch 3, among other cultural references.

We read that divine wisdom sought (24:7) and found (24:10-12) a dwelling place among people.  We read language reminiscent of the tent in the wilderness (Exodus 25:8-9).  The author of 1 Enoch took a different position, though:

Wisdom could not find a place in which she could dwell;

but a place was found (for her) in the heavens.

Then Wisdom went out to dwell with the children of the people,

but she found no dwelling place.

(So) Wisdom returned to her place

and she settled permanently among the angels.

Then Iniquity went out of her rooms,

and found whom she did not expect.

And she dwelt with them,

like rain in a desert,

like dew on a thirsty land.

–1 Enoch 42:1-3, translated by E. Isaac

Wisdom is also like six types of trees, we read (24:13-17).  She is like a majestic cedar of Lebanon, a cypress, a palm tree, a rosebush, an olive tree, and a plane tree.  Wisdom, in other words, is like perfumes and spices used to make anointing oil and temple incense; she has priestly attributes.

Wisdom–like Jesus, later, relative to 175 B.C.E.–invites her disciples to approach her and eat their full of her fruit (24:19).

References and allusions to the Hebrew Bible abound.  I choose not to list most or all of them in this post.  I may have even detected one which two commentaries I consulted did not mention.  In Ezekiel 2:3, the scroll of divine judgment tasted sweet as honey.  And we read in Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 24:20 that the teaching of divine wisdom is sweeter than honey.

The Christological parallels to divine wisdom interest me more than likening that wisdom to six rivers.  So, I return to Christological parallels.  We read in 24:21 that those who consume the fruit of wisdom will hunger for more wisdom and that those who drink wisdom will thirst for more wisdom.  This is a partial parallel of sorts to a subsequent work, the Gospel of John.  Jesus is the bread from Heaven in John 6:22f.  Yet he, the bread of life, forever quenches the hunger and thirst of all who eat and drink of Jesus (6:35).  And everyone who drinks the living water will never thirst again (John 4:3-14).  Just as the Logos of God (John 1) is greater than yet similar to the wisdom of God, the bread of life and the water of life are greater than yet similar to the fruit and water of wisdom.

We are deep in the territory of metaphors, of course.  Metaphors which differ superficially may point in the same, pious direction.  Seek God and divine wisdom, we read; feast on it.

The human race has nothing to boast about to God, but you, God has made members of Christ Jesus and by God’s doing he has become our wisdom, and our virtue, and our holiness, and freedom.

–1 Corinthians 1:29-30, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 4, 2023 COMMON ERA

LABOR DAY (U.S.A.)

THE FEAST OF PAUL JONES, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF UTAH, AND PEACE ACTIVIST; AND HIS COLLEAGUE, JOHN NEVIN SAYRE, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND PEACE ACTIVIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT BIRINUS OF DORCHESTER, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF DORCHESTER, AND “APOSTLE OF WESSEX”

THE FEAST OF E. F. SCHUMACHER,GERMAN-BRITISH ECONOMIST AND SOCIAL CRITIC

THE FEAST OF SAINT GORAZD OF PRAGUE, ORTHODOX BISHOP OF MORAVIA AND SILESIA, METROPOLITAN OF THE CZECH LANDS AND SLOVAKIA, HIERARCH OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA, AND MARTYR, 1942

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM MCKANE, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

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READING ECCLESIASTICUS/SIRACH

PART II

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Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 1:1-30

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Ben Sira combined thoughts from the Book of Proverbs with the Torah in a way the authors of Proverbs did not.

In the treasures of wisdom are wise sayings,

but godliness is an abomination to the sinner.

If you desire wisdom, keep the commandments,

and the Lord will supply it to you.

For the fear of the Lord is wisdom and instruction,

and he delights in fidelity and meekness.

–1:25-27, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

The canon of scriptures is broad and generous enough to include conflicting opinions.  This fact is one reason I reject both Biblical inerrancy and infallibility.  History and science are two other reasons.  I, as an Episcopalian, value scripture, tradition, and reason to matters of faith and theology.

Ben Sira’s cosmology was typical for his context.  The literal reading of Genesis 1:1-2:4a requires one to understand the Earth as a disc with a dome above it, and with water below the disc and above the dome.  This cosmology, imported from ancient residents of Mesopotamia, finds poetic expression in the first few verses of chapter 1.

Then we read of divine wisdom as a creation (verse 9) and a gift of God.  The link between this concept and the presentation of Jesus as the Logos of God (John 1) is clear, with some theological changes on the road to John 1.  But this is neither the time nor the place to rehash the Arian controversy of the 300s C.E.

Verse 32 distinguishes between righteous anger and unrighteous anger.  There is no justification for unjust anger, we read; it leads to the angry person’s ruin.  This is impossible to refute convincingly.  I recall watching a true crime program years ago and learning that the duration of the average violent crime is three seconds. What happens during those three seconds damages, wrecks, and often claims lives.  Beyond violent crime, grudges may have no effect on their targets, but they harm those who harbor and nurture them.

On the other hand, not becoming angry can indicate a grave moral failing.  If systemic economic and other forms of social injustice do not anger someone, that person has a faulty moral conscience.  People of good conscience may disagree about how best to correct such injustice, but they proceed from solid moral ground.  Certain public figures on the far right describe themselves as champions of liberty yet praise Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong, or minimize the horror of chattel slavery.  If one can read those remarks and watch those videos yet not feel moral disgust, one is morally faulty.

Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 1, like the Book of Proverbs, is excessively optimistic (verse 12, for example).  Given that I have already written about excessive, unrealistic optimism recently at this weblog, I choose not to repeat myself on this point in this post.

Despite that excessive and unrealistic optimism, much of chapter 1 does not require faith to accept.  Faith is unnecessary when abundant evidence exists.  One example follows:

Do not be a hypocrite before others,

over your lips keep watch.

–Verse 29, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)

This is timeless advice.  One may identify examples from the past and present, wherever or whenever one lives.  Hypocrisy offends; it violates trust.  Hypocrisy differs from changing one’s mind after examining and analyzing evidence or learning from experience.  Hypocrisy is disingenuous.  Furthermore, loose lips sink far more than ships; they frequently torpedo the hypocrite’s reputation and may provide incriminating evidence of an offense.  How many people are in prison partially because of damning evidence they voluntarily posted on social media outlets?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 6, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD

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READING THE BOOK OF PROVERBS

PART VI

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Proverbs 8:1-9:18

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Given that wisdom literature personifies divine wisdom as feminine, also personifying her opposite as feminine works well, from a rhetorical angle.  And juxtaposing Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly with admonitions against committing adultery–which may, in this case, double as idolatry–heightens the contrast between Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly.  We are travelers in the land of metaphors.  God is no more anthropomorphic or masculine than wisdom is necessarily feminine.  Yet I enjoy metaphors and accept them for what they are.  Symbolic language is frequently the only type of language sufficient to verbalize truths which would otherwise be indescribable.

In the original, gendered Hebrew text, Lady Wisdom raises her voice and calls out to men and mankind.  She describes her audience as “dullards” to knowledge.  This is moral, liked knowledge, as in Genesis 2 and 3.  This knowledge is divine wisdom, the fruit of which is better than all fine gold (8:19).  We read a repetition of the injunction to love wisdom, and she refers to her lovers (8:17, 21).  Lady Wisdom refers to herself as the first of God’s creations (8:22), present at the creation of the world.

And I was by Him, an intimate, I was His delight day after day, playing before Him at all times, playing in the world, His earth, and my delight with humankind.

–Proverbs 8:30-31, Robert Alter

The metaphorical language of Lady Wisdom, present at the creation of the world, informed early Christology.  So, at the end of the first century C.E., the author of the Gospel of John (without referring to the Logos of God as a created being), applied many of those elements to the Second Person of the Trinity, incarnated as Jesus.

Accepting discipline/reproof is another recurring motif.  Lady Wisdom disciplines/reproves, for the sake of those who receive this treatment.  We must distinguish between abuse and discipline/reproof.  Lady Wisdom seeks to guide people on the correct path, but Lady Folly knowingly leads people to their destruction.  Some people cannot learn wisdom, sadly (9:7-10); they lack the requisite awe of God.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 18, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF BARTHOLOMÉ DE LAS CASAS, “APOSTLE TO THE INDIANS”

THE FEAST OF ARTHUR PENRHYN STANLEY, ANGLICAN DEAN OF WESTMINSTER, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF EDWARD WILLIAM LEINBACH, U.S. MORAVIAN MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH FERARD, FIRST DEACONESS IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

THE FEAST OF JESSAMYN WEST, U.S. QUAKER WRITER

THE FEAST OF R. B. Y. SCOTT, CANADIAN BIBLICAL SCHOLAR, HYMN WRITER, AND MINISTER

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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)

Above: Calvary Episcopal Church, Americus, Georgia, December 24, 2017

Photographer = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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Proverbs 9:1-6

Psalm 34:9-14

Ephesians 5:15-20

John 6:51-58

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Almighty and ever-loving God,

you have given great and precious promises to those who believe. 

Grant us the perfect faith, which overcomes all doubts,

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 26

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Merciful Father,

since you have given your only Son as the sacrifice for our sin,

also give us grace to receive with thanksgiving

the fruits of this redeeming work

and daily follow in his way;

through your Son, Jesus Christ,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 75-76

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The four assigned readings, taken together, proclaim a straight-forward message:  Listen to God.  Receive divine wisdom.  Love righteousness, not evil ways.  All that is easier to summarize than to do.

Defining some terms may help to elucidate this matter.

1. Righteousness is right relationship with God, self, others, and all of creation.  Biblically, righteousness and justice are interchangeable.
2. Wickedness is the rejection of divine generosity.  Therefore, the wicked cannot be generous.  They also deny that they depend upon God for everything, so they imagine that they must take care of themselves.  This attitude opens the door to amoral, harmful, and exploitative actions toward others.  The wicked perform evil deeds–bad, malicious, and perverse actions.  Yet they take care of themselves.  Or do they, ultimately?

The beginning of wisdom and morality, therefore, is the acknowledgment of (a) complete dependence on God, and (b) mutuality.  We all depend upon God and each other.  We are all responsible to and for each other, also.  What one person does affects others.  And nobody has the moral right to exploit anyone.

Food is a theme in Proverbs 9 and John 6.  Proverbs 9 tells of two banquets.  Lady Wisdom invites people to her banquet in verses 1-12.  Then Lady Folly’s banquet fills verses 13-18.  Lady Wisdom invites people to eat her food and drink her wine.  The first chapter of the Gospel of John links Jesus (the Logos, or Word, of God) to Lady Wisdom.  (However, Sarah Ruden’s lively translation translates Logos in John 1 as “true account.”)  Jesus, in John 6, speaks at length about the bread of life and the flesh and the blood of the Son of Man.  This language is unmistakably Eucharistic.  I, having Anglo-Catholic tendencies, affirm Transubstantiation.

Another link between Proverbs 9 and John 6 stands out in my mind.  Those who attend Lady Folly’s banquet at in Sheol (Proverbs 9:19).  Yet:

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.

–John 6:54, The New American Bible–Revised Edition

I immediately recall the refrain to Suzanne Toolan’s hymn, “I Am the Bread of Life,” based on John 6:

And I will raise you up,

And I will raise you up,

and I will raise you up on the last day.

–Quoted in Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006)

The crucifixion of Jesus carries more than one meaning simultaneously.  One of these meanings is the reminder that Jesus died unjustly.  The Gospel of Luke drives this point home; a veritable parade of people attests to the innocence of Jesus in the Lucan Passion narrative.  How often do we perpetuate injustice, perhaps in the name of God and Christ?  As often as we do so, we act as the wicked do; we join the ranks of the evil and the guests at Lady Folly’s banquet.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 13, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FIFTH DAY OF EASTER

THE FEAST OF JOSEPH BARBER LIGHTFOOT, BISHOP OF DURHAM

THE FEAST OF HENRI PERRIN, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC WORKER PRIEST

THE FEAST OF JOHN GLOUCESTER, FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER

THE FEAST OF LUCY CRAFT LANEY, AFRICAN-AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN EDUCATOR AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARTIN I, BISHOP OF ROME, AND MARTYR, 655; AND SAINT MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR, EASTERN ORTHODOX MONK, ABBOT, AND MARTYR, 662

THE FEAST OF SAINT ROLANDO RIVI, ROMAN CATHOLIC SEMINARIAN AND MARTYR, 1945

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Adapted from this post

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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)

Above:  Archaia Korinthos, Greece

Image Source = Google Earth

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1 Samuel 3:1-10

Psalm 67

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

John 1:43-51

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Lord God, you showed your glory and

led many to faith by the works of your Son. 

As he brought gladness and healing to his people,

grant us these same gifts and lead us also to perfect faith in him,

Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 15

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Almighty and eternal God,

Governor of all things in heaven and on earth,

mercifully hear the prayers of your people,

and grant us your peace in our days;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 22

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Nathanael said to [Jesus], “How do you know me?”  Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”

–John 1:48, The New American Bible–Revised Edition

I begin with the proverbial low-hanging fruit: What was amazing about Jesus seeing St. Nathanael sitting under a fig tree?  Father Raymond E. Brown, in the first volume of his two-volume commentary on the Gospel of John, lists one interpretation after another in a long endnote.  Then he concludes:

We are far from exhausting the suggestions, all of which are pure speculation.

I do not presume to know more about the Gospel of John than Father Raymond E. Brown did.

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We all belong to God.  We all need to serve God.  Some of us may be so fortunate as (a) to know how to do that in circumstances, and (b) to be able to do that.  If one continues to read after 1 Samuel 3:10, one finds that God sometimes tells us uncomfortable truths.  Speaking these truths–even in love and tact–may be awkward.

The reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians requires context.  Pagan temple prostitution did occur in ancient Corinth.  And, given Platonic philosophy regarding the body and the soul, some Corinthian Christians may have excused sexual immorality (as with pagan temple prostitutes) as being justifiable.  If the body was only a hindrance to the soul, why not?

Yet what if the body is not a hindrance to the soul?  In Hebrew thought, continued in Pauline epistles, the Greek philosophical separation of body and soul does not exist.  Rather, “soul” means “essential self,” one with the body.  Furthermore, in Pauline theology, the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).  The body, then, deserves great respect.

Without falling into the trap of fun-damn-mentalism and the excesses of Pietism and Puritanism, I affirm this timeless principle.  We, who are in the flesh, serve God with our bodies and how we use them properly.  How we treat others, in the flesh, is of great spiritual and moral importance.  Whatever good we do to others in the flesh, we do to Jesus.  Whatever good we do not to others in the flesh, we do not do to Jesus.  Whatever evil we commit to others in the flesh, we do to Jesus.

I do not understand John 1:48, but I grasp this point well.  It troubles me, for sins of omission are as real as sins of commission.  Pray we me:

God of all mercy,

we confess that we have sinned against you,

opposing your will in our lives.

We have opposed your goodness in each other,

in ourselves, and in the world you have created.

We repent of the evil that enslaves us,

the evil we have done,

and the evil done on our behalf.

Forgive, restore, and strengthen us 

through our Savior Jesus Christ;

that we may abide in your love

and serve only your will.  Amen.

—Enriching Our Worship (1998), 19

The line about “the evil done on our behalf” indicts me every time.  What response does that line elicit from you, O reader?

John 1:51 echoes Genesis 28:12 and reminds us that a better world is possible.  Heaven and Earth can be one by divine action.  In the meantime, may we, by grace, act both collectively and individually to leave the Earth better and made more just than we found it.  The Golden Rule requires that of us.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 9, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FOURTEENTH DAY OF LENT

THE FEAST OF HARRIET TUBMAN, U.S. ABOLITIONIST

THE FEAST OF EMANUEL CRONENWETT, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT FRANCES OF ROME, FOUNDER OF THE COLLATINES

THE FEAST OF JOHANN PACHELBEL, GERMAN LUTHERN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF SAINT PACIAN OF BARCELONA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF BARCELONA

THE FEAST OF SAINT SOPHRONIUS OF JERUSALEM, ROMAN CATHOLIC PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM

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Adapted from this post

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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)

Above:  Oak Tree in the Midlands of England, 1865-1890

Image in the Public Domain

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Isaiah 61:1-3, 10-11

Luke 1:46b-55

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

John 1:6-8, 19-28

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Almighty God, you once called John the Baptist

to give witness to the coming of your Son and to prepare his way. 

Grant us, your people, the wisdom to see your purpose today

and the openness to hear your will,

that we may witness to Christ’s coming and so prepare his way;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 13

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Almighty God, through John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ,

you once proclaimed salvation;

now grant that we may know this salvation and serve you

in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 13

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The emphasis in three of the four readings this week is on comfort.

• The context in (Third) Isaiah 61:1-3, 10-11 is the disappointment of many Jewish former exiles regarding the condition of their ancestral homeland.
• The readings from the New Testament share the context of the first century of the Common Era.  The Magnificat blends comfort and castigation–comfort for those who need it and castigation for those who deserve it.  Divine judgment and mercy remain in balance.  As I have read, the purpose of the Gospel is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.  That saying is consistent with the Gospel of Luke, with its theme of reversal of fortune.  Indeed, comfort for the afflicted is frequently an affliction for those afflicting them.

Given that the emphasis this week is divine comfort, may we dwell there, too.  May we frolic in it and thank God for it.  And may we ponder how God is calling us to function as agents of divine comfort.  How much better would the world be if more people went out of their way to comfort others instead of ignoring or afflicting them?  Receiving grace imposes the obligation to extend it to others.  Grace is free, not cheap.

So, O reader, pay attention and look around.  How is God calling you to extend comfort?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 1, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE EIGHTH DAY OF LENT

THE FEAST OF SAINTS ANNA OF OXENHALL AND HER FAITHFUL DESCENDANTS, SAINT WENNA THE QUEEN, SAINT NON, SAINT SAMSON OF DOL, SAINT CYBI, AND SAINT DAVID OF WALES

THE FEAST OF EDWARD DEARLE, ANGLICAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF GEORGE WISHART, SCOTTISH CALVINIST REFORMER AND MARTYR, 1546; AND WALTER MILNE, SCOTTISH PROTESTANT MARTYR

THE FEAST OF RICHARD REDHEAD, ANGLICAN COMPOSER, ORGANIST, AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF SAINT ROGER LEFORT, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF BOURGES

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Adapted from this post

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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)

Above:  Icon of Sts. Simon Peter and Michael the Archangel

Image in the Public Domain

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Isaiah 49:1-6

Psalm 40:1-12 (LBW) or Psalm 92:1-5 (LW)

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

John 1:29-41

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Lord God, you showed your glory and

led many to faith by the works of your Son. 

As he brought gladness and healing to his people,

grant us these same gifts and lead us also to perfect faith in him,

Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 15

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Almighty and eternal God,

Governor of all things in heaven and on earth,

mercifully hear the prayers of your people,

and grant us your peace in our days;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 22

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We can trust God because of what God has done.  In Hebrew theology, God is like what God has done.  Consider many texts of the Hebrew Bible, O reader; they recount what God has done then they encourage people to trust God.

What has God done in these readings?

1. God has arranged for the Babylonian Exile to end.
2. God has protected the people of Israel during that exile.
3. God has made the people of Israel a light to the nations.
4. God has healed the author of Psalm 40 from a serious illness.
5. God has made the author of Psalm 92 happy with His work.
6. God has enriched the lives of the Corinthian Christians whom St. Paul the Apostle began to criticize in 1 Corinthians 1:10.
7. God has sent the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth.

What items will you, O reader, add to the list of what God has done?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 19, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SARGENT SHRIVER AND HIS WIFE, EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER, HUMANITARIANS

THE FEAST OF SAINT ALESSANDRO VALIGNANO, ITALIAN JESUIT MISSIONARY PRIEST IN THE FAR EAST

THE FEAST OF CHARLES WINFRED DOUGLAS, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, LITURGIST, MUSICOLOGIST, LINGUIST, POET, HYMN TRANSLATOR, AND ARRANGER

THE FEAST OF HENRY TWELLS, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER

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Adapted from this post

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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)

Above:  The Tabernacle

Image in the Public Domain

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Isaiah 61:10-62:3

Psalm 147:13-21 (LBW) or Psalm 147:12-20 (LW)

Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-18

John 1:1-18

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Almighty God, you have filled us with the

new light of the Word who became flesh and lived among us. 

Let the light of our faith shine in all that we do;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 15

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O God, our Maker and Redeemer,

who wonderfully created and in the incarnation of your Son

yet more wondrously restored our human nature,

grant that we may ever be alive in him who made himself to be like us;

through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with

you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 19

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The people of God are precious to God.  All people are precious to God, of course.  I focus on the people of God in this post because that is the axis of the through line in the assigned readings.

The readings from Isaiah and the Psalms, in the context of the Babylonian Exile, speak of the vindication of the Jewish exiles.  Reading the first portion of Psalm 147 augments this theme.

Ephesians 1:5 refers to God having predestined certain people through Jesus Christ “for adoption toward him.”  Adopted children of God receive an inheritance.  The audience in the Epistle to the Ephesians was Gentile Christians.

John 1:14, in the Greek text (not necessarily in most English translations) speaks of the Word (Logos) of God–Jesus–pitching a tent in humankind.  This tent is the Tent of the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:8-9).  John 1:14 contains echoes of Joel 3:7; Zechariah 2:10; Ezekiel 43:7; Sirach 24:8; and other passages.

When the Prologue proclaims that the Word made his dwelling among men, we are being told that the flesh of Jesus Christ is the new localization of the ancient Tabernacle.  The Gospel will present Jesus as the replacement of the Temple (ii.19-22), which is a variation of the same theme.

—Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John I-XII (1966), 33

The verb meaning “to pitch a tent” or “to dwell” occurs also in Revelation 7:15 (to refer to God’s presence in Heaven) and in Revelation 21:3:

He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people.

God is present among us.  Do we notice?  God may seem thoroughly camouflaged, given the way the world is.  Yet God, who has long been present, will not depart.  People are precious to God.  Do we notice?  Do we consider others precious to God?  Do we think of ourselves as precious to God?

How we think of ourselves and others dictates how we treat others.  This underpins the Golden Rule.  This also underpins mutuality, a Biblical virtue.

So, how do we think of ourselves and others?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 16, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF SAINT ROBERTO DE NOBOLI, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY IN INDIA

THE FEAST OF SAINT BERARD AND HIS COMPANIONS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS IN MOROCCO, 1220

THE FEAST OF EDMUND HAMILTON SEARS, U.S. UNITARIAN MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF EDWARD BUNNETT, ANGLICAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF SAINT JUANA MARIA CONDESA LLUCH, FOUNDER OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE HANDMAIDS OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, PROTECTRESS OF WORKERS

THE FEAST OF TIMOTHY RICHARD MATTHEWS, ANGLICAN PRIEST, ORGANIST, AND HYMN TUNE COMPOSER

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Adapted from this post

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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)

Above:  Annunciation to the Shepherds, by Rembrandt van Rijn

Image in the Public Domain

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First Service (Christmas Eve)

Isaiah 9:2-7

Psalm 96

Titus 2:11-14

Luke 2:1-20

Second Service (Christmas Dawn)

Isaiah 52:7-10

Psalm 97 (LBW) or Psalm 2 (LW)

Hebrews 1:1-9

John 1:1-14

Third Service (Christmas Day)

Isaiah 62:10-12

Psalm 98

Titus 3:4-7

Luke 2:1-20

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Almighty God, you made this holy night shine with the brightness of the true Light.

Grant that here on earth we may walk in the light of Jesus’ presence

and in the last day wake to the brightness of his glory;

through your only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 14

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Almighty God, you have made yourself known in your Son, Jesus, redeemer of the world.

We pray that his birth as a human child will set us free from the old slavery of our sin;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 14

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O God, as you make us glad by the yearly festival of the birth of your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ,

grant that we, who joyfully receive him as our Redeemer,

may with sure confidence behold him when he comes to be our judge;

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 16

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The Christian observance of Christmas began in the West, in the 300s.  At Rome, by 336, December 25 had become the beginning of the church year.  Pope St. Gregory I “the Great” (d. 604) wrote of three Christmas Masses–at St. Mary Major, at midnight; at St. Anastasia’s Church, at dawn; and at St. Peter’s, during the day.

Luke 2:1-20 is not historical.  I, as a student of history, cannot refute the evidence for this conclusion.  However, I embrace the prose poetry of Luke 2:1-20, for it speaks of a great truth:  Jesus, not the Emperor Augustus, was the Son of God and the savior of the world, regardless of what the Roman government and coinage claimed.

I have the sources and background to parce all the assigned readings.  Yet I choose not to do so in this post.  Instead, O reader, I invite you to frolic in divine audacity, evident in the incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity as a baby (however that worked).  I invite you, O reader, to frolic in divine audacity, which continues to influence lives and societies for the better.  I also invite you, O reader, to frolic in the mystery of divine love, to feel comfortable leaving the mystery mysterious, and to respond favorably to God daily, in gratitude.

Merry Christmas!

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 9, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY:  THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF JULIA CHESTER EMERY, UPHOLDER OF MISSIONS

THE FEAST OF EMILY GREENE BALCH, U.S. QUAKER SOCIOLOGIST, ECONOMIST, AND PEACE ACTIVIST

THE FEAST OF GENE M. TUCKER, UNITED METHODIST MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF JOHANN JOZEF IGNAZ VON DÖLLINGER, DISSDENT AND EXCOMMUNICATED GERMAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, THEOLOGIAN, AND HISTORIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT PHILIP II OF MOSCOW, METROPOLITAN OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA, AND MARTYR, 1569

THE FEAST OF THOMAS CURTIS CLARK, U.S. DISCIPLES OF CHRIST EVANGELIST, POET, AND HYMN WRITER

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Adapted from this post

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READING THE GENERAL EPISTLES, PART XIV

Above:  Ben Burton Park, Athens, Georgia, November 11, 2017

Photographer = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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1 John 1:1-2:29

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Circa 100 C.E., a disciple of St. John the Evangelist, writing as that apostle, addressed a Johannine Christian community.   That church had recently suffered a schism; Gnostics had broken away.

Gnosticism was problematic for several reasons.

1. It understood knowing to be a saving deed.
2. This allegedly salvific knowledge was a secret.  Therefore, Gnostics were self-appointed spiritual elites.
3. Gnosticism understood all that was material to be evil.  This doctrine refuted the Incarnation and all the spin-off Christological doctrines–the Resurrection and the Atonement, in particular.  In Gnostic thought, Jesus only seemed to have a body, and another man occupied the cross intended for Christ.
4. The cosmology and God-concept of Gnosticism were convoluted.  That, however, is a topic for another time and post.

The author of First John knew the Gospel of John well.  He wrote in Johannine terms.  The opening of First John imitated John 1:1-18.  The Johannine definition of eternal life as knowing God via Jesus carried over.  So did reserving the language of divine sonship for Jesus and referring to Christians as “children of God.”  One may also recognize the Johannine motif of indwelling, present in First John.

One who has read the General Epistles and who has a good memory of them may read 1 John 1:1-2:29 and detect themes covered elsewhere in the General Epistles.  Straighten up and fly right.  Good and evil are fighting in the world.  Do not give into evil, forbidden desires.  Live in mutuality.  Cling to Jesus.  Beware of false teachers.  These false teachers are Antichrists, for they deny Christ.

Sin is a major topic in First John, a subtle text.  Some of the subtleties are so subtle that one may easily miss them.  For the sake of clarity, I choose to cover part of 1 John 3, so for as it seems to contradict 1 John 1 and 2.

If we say we have no sin in us,

we are deceiving ourselves

and refusing to admit the truth;

but if we acknowledge our sins,

then God who is faithful and just

will forgive our sins and purify us

from everything that is wrong.

To say that we have never sinned

is to call God a liar

and to show that his word is not in us.

I am writing this, my children,

to stop you sinning;

but if anyone should sin,

we have an advocate with the Father,

Jesus Christ, who is just;

he is the sacrifice that takes our sins away,

but not only us,

but the whole world.

–1 John 1:8-2:2, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

Consider the following passage, too, O reader:

Surely everyone who entertains this hope

must purify himself, must try to be pure as Christ.

Anyone who sins at all

breaks the law,

because to sin is to break the law.

Now you know that he appeared in order to abolish sin,

and that in him there is no sin;

and anyone who sins

has never seen him or known him.

My children, do not let anyone lead you astray:

to live a holy life

is to be holy just as he is holy;

to lead a sinful life is to belong to the devil,

since the devil was a sinner from the beginning.

It was to undo all that the devil has done

that the Son of God appeared.

No one who as been begotten by God sins;

because God’s seed remains in him,

he cannot sin when he has been begotten by God.

–1 John 3:3-9, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

A superficial reading of the two passages leads one to conclude that they contradict each other.  Yet a close reading reveals the logical progression.  Jesus destroys sin.  Therefore, to the extent one is in Christ, one cannot sin.  To the extent one is in tune with God, one cannot sin.  In the original context of First John, the second passage does not argue for the sinlessness of Christians.  Rather, 3:9 is:

…the strongest, most principles denial that sinfulness could ever be reckoned a birth certificate of godliness.

–C. Clifton Black, in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume XII (1998), 413

The author of First John was apparently arguing against false teachers who held that there was a warrant for sin in the Christian life.  This false teaching continued to cause confusion in the germane Johannine community after the schism.

Perhaps paraphrasing 1 John 3:9, outside of the original context, helps:

To the extent that one is in Christ, one is not and cannot be a slave to sin.

The light of Christ dispels the darkness of evil, in other words.  May we–individually and collectively–live our lives in the light (1 John 1:7).

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 2, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF PETRUS HERBERT, GERMAN MORAVIAN BISHOP AND HYMNODIST

THE FEAST OF CARL DOVING, NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF JAMES ALLEN, ENGLISH INGHAMITE THEN GLASITE/SANDEMANIAN HYMN WRITER; AND HIS GREAT-NEPHEW, OSWALD ALLEN, ENGLISH GLASITE/SANDEMANIAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIA ANNA KRATOCHWIL, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN AND MARTYR, 1942

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