Archive for the ‘John 6’ Category
Above: The Death of Simon Magus
Image in the Public Domain
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READING LUKE-ACTS, PART LXII
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Acts 8:9-25
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The Encarta World English Dictionary (1999) defines simony as:
…in Christianity, the buying or selling of sacred or spiritual things.
That volume then informs me that “simony” derives from the Latin simonia, via French, in the 1200s C.E.
The unabridged Random House Dictionary of the English Language (1973) provides two definitions of simony. The first is:
the making of profit out of sacred things.
The second definition is:
the sin of buying or selling ecclesiastical preferments, benefices, etc.
Both kinds of simony have plagued Christian history. The buying and selling of ecclesiastical offices–even the papacy–has been scandalous. And how many crosses could one have made by putting together all the alleged pieces of the true cross of Christ?
“Simony” derives from Simon Magus, who offered to purchase the Holy Spirit.
Was Simon Magus’s repentance in Acts 8:24 sincere?
We, the readers of Acts 8, are to contrast the attitudes of Simon Magus and the Ethiopian eunuch. We are to seek instruction in the faith, not seek the spectacular and the power that comes from channeling it. Recall the temptations of Jesus, O reader. Remember that one of them was to attract followers by being spectacular.
While miracles are a frequent phenomenon in Luke’s story world, the spectacular is always a means to draw people to hear the word of God.
–Robert W. Wall, in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume X (2002), 140
Yes, but how long are their attention spans? Recall John 6:30, O reader:
So they said to [Jesus], “What sign are you going to give us, then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you going to perform?”
—The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
Recall, O reader, that in the Johannine narrative, those asking these questions had been some of the people Jesus had fed during the Feeding of the Five Thousand on the previous day.
I repeat my question: How long are people’s attention spans?
May we seek a deeper relationship with God because of who God is, `not because of what we think God can do for us.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 18, 2022 COMMON ERA
MONDAY IN EASTER WEEK
THE FEAST OF ROGER WILLIAMS, FOUNDER OF RHODE ISLAND; AND ANNE HUTCHINSON, REBELLIOUS PURITAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT CORNELIA CONNELLY, FOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY OF THE HOLY CHILD JESUS
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARY ANNA BLONDIN, FOUNDER OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE SISTERS OF SAINT ANNE
THE FEAST OF MARY C. COLLINS, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MISSIONARY AND MINISTER
THE FEAST OF SAINTS MURIN OF FAHAN, LASERIAN OF LEIGHLIN, GOBAN OF PICARDIE, FOILLAN OF FOSSES, AND ULTAN OF PERONNE, ABBOTS; SAINTS FURSEY OF PERONNE AND BLITHARIOUS OF SEGANNE, MONKS
THE FEAST OF SAINT ROMAN ARCHUTOWSKI, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1943
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Above: Jesus and His Apostles
Image in the Public Domain
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READING LUKE-ACTS, PART XXI
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Luke 8:16-21; 11:14-36
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In the Gospel of Luke, the Parable of the Lamp functions as an extension of the Parable of the Sower/the Four Soils. Love and devotion to God accumulate within someone and draw others to God via that person. The light shines. Also, nobody has any secrets from God.
Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), 355
The lamp in the parable had a spout, a cover, and a rounded body. This was a small oil lamp. It belonged on a lampstand, not under a bed or in a jar. Theologically, a lamp stood for the light of God, shining in the darkness, in this parable.
The lamp is Jesus. In other words, do not hide Jesus.
Luke 8:19-21, adapted from Mark 3:20-22, tones down the critique of Christ’s biological family. In Mark 3, they think Jesus is out of his mind. That, explicit in Mark 3, is absent in Luke 8.The Lucan version omits the relatives’ motive for seeking to speak with Jesus. Therefore, the Lucan version presents them positively. Nevertheless, the statement of fictive kinship carries over from the Marcan version. The theme of hearing and doing, present in the Parables of the Sower/the Four Soils and the Lamp, continues here. The biological family of Jesus functions as exemplars of hearing and doing in the Lucan version.
The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox insistence on the perpetual virginity of St. Mary of Nazareth puzzles me. Of course, given that I reject the Virgin Birth, perpetual virginity predictably puzzles me. In the Greek language, brothers and sisters can also be cousins. Or they can be brothers and sisters.
The Marcan version of the story fits well with that Gospel’s theme that supposed insiders are really outsiders, and vice versa. The Lucan version of the story is consistent with that Gospel’s toning down of the Marcan theme, given that the Acts of the Apostles follows the Gospel of Luke. So, the eleven apostles who survived the Gospel of Luke could not be dolts if their transformation in Acts was to be believable. Furthermore, the depiction of the biological family of Jesus in Luke 8 flows from previous material, in which St. Mary knew who her (firstborn) son was, Luke 2:39-52 notwithstanding.
The challenge to we of today is to be members of Christ’s spiritual family, that is, to hear the word of God (what God says) and to keep it.
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“Master,” said John, “we saw a man who was casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following with us.”
But Jesus said, “Forbid him not, for he who is not with you is for you.”
–Luke 9:49-50, Helen Barrett Montgomery, The Centenary Translation of the New Testament (1924)
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“He who is not for me is against me, and he who is not gathering with me is scattering.”
–Luke 11:23, Helen Barrett Montgomery, The Centenary Translation of the New Testament (1924)
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Critics of Jesus did not understand that God was acting through Jesus. The healings Jesus performed indicated the presence of the Kingdom of God, not evil. Judgment would come for those who slandered Jesus.
Likewise, when Jesus had removed evil from someone, that person needed to become filled with the word of God (what God said), or else evil would return in greater quantity than it had been when Christ had expelled it.
Luke 11:27 calls back to 8:19-21. Regardless of how blessed and pious Christ’s biological family was, those who listened to and heard the word of God were blessed, too. Loyalty to God, present in Jesus, takes precedence over family ties–no disrespect to relatives intended. This is good news for the vast majority of us not of the family tree of Jesus.
Cutting through the symbolism and Biblical allusions in Luke 11:29-36, the message of these verses is:
- Repentance is crucial,
- The faith of many Gentiles contrasts with the faithlessness of many Jews,
- God seeks to attract all people, and
- The Christian life involves the whole body and all human action.
Seeking signs indicates a lack of trust in God. Receiving a sign and not understanding it indicates obliviousness, at least. Recall the Johannine version of the Feeding of the Five Thousand (John 6:1-14), O reader. You and I may agree that it was an astounding sign. Yet, recall the events of the next day, too.
Then they said to him:
“What sign, then, are you performing, so that we may see it and come to believe in you? What work are you doing? Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness, as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.'”
–John 6:30-21, Helen Barrett Montgomery, The Centenary Translation of the New Testament (1924)
Those who asked that question had fined at the Feeding of the Five Thousand.
We need not seek signs; they are plentiful. We need merely to pay proper attention, understand plainly, and behave and think accordingly, whoever we are.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 30, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE SIXTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS
THE FEAST OF ALLEN EASTMAN CROSS, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF GEORGE WALLACE BRIGGS, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOHN MAIN, ANGLO-CANADIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MONK
THE FEAST OF JOSIAH BOOTH, ENGLISH ORGANIST, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TUNE COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF FRANCES JOSEPH-GAUDET, AFRICAN-AMERICAN EDUCATOR, PRISON REFORMER, AND SOCIAL WORKER
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Above: Icon of Amos
Image in the Public Domain
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READING AMOS, PART VI
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Amos 9:11-15
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One of the obstacles to reading messianic prophecies (such as Amos 9:11-15) with understanding is overcoming one’s preconceptions. The text says what it says. Yet, to cite a cliché many young people may not understand, if one’s tapes are running, one may not grasp the message of the text. If one assumes, for example, that all who affirmed that the Messiah would eventually come agreed on the role of the Messiah, one errs. Ancient Jewish texts from a number of centuries prove that a range of messianic expectations existed and that, in the first century C.E., not all Jews expected the Messiah to come.
Another obstacle may be determining the temporal origin of the text. Amos 9:11-15, for example, may be a Judean addendum from after the Fall of Samaria in 722 B.C.E. is plausible. If it is also accurate, we know something about the agenda vis-à-vis the (southern) Kingdom of Judah. We also know that Judah fell in 586 B.C.E. We may ponder, then, how exiles who had returned to their ancestral homeland thought about Amos 9:11-15. (No royal descendant of King David reigned in Judea, part of the Persian Empire.)
The messianic expectation in Amos 9:11-15 was that of a king. No such king ever reigned. Yet hopes for that model of the Messiah persisted. Jesus did not fit that mold; he resisted those who sought to make him an earthly king (John 6:13).
I became accustomed to theological whiplash during my recent reread of the Book of Hosea. The subsequent editing of that book was obvious, partially in the swinging of the pendulum from divine judgment to divine mercy, then back again. The Book of Amos, however, lacked that pendulum pattern until the epilogue.
The reversal of the curse of Amos 5:11 in 9:14 is consistent with divine judgment and mercy existing in balance.
The Book of Amos, in its final, post-Babylonian Exile form, speaks to people and peoples today. Its moral standards and warnings of the consequences of certain options and policies continue to apply. And divine judgment and mercy remain in balance. That may terrify, comfort, or accomplish both results.
Thank you for joining me, O reader, for this journey through the Book of Amos. I invite you to join me on my project, a walk through the Book of Micah.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 23, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE DAY OF PENTECOST, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF SAINT IVO OF CHARTRES, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF BENJAMIN CARR, ANGLO-AMERICAN COMPOSER AND ORGANIST
THE FEAST OF FREDERICK AUGUSTUS BENNETT, FIRST MAORI ANGLICAN BISHOP IN AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND
THE FEAST OF SAINTS JÓZEF KURGAWA AND WINCENTY MATSUZEWSKI, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND MARTYRS, 1940
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM OF PERTH, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC BAKER AND MARTYR, 1201
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Above: Za’atri Refugee Camp for Syrian Refugees, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, July 18, 2013
Image in the Public Domain
Image Source = United States Department of State
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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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Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Psalm 126
Philippians 4:4-9
John 6:25-35
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All we have comes from God. The Biblical ethic of mutuality begins here. It continues by teaching that we are all responsible to and for each other. We, therefore, have no right to exploit or victimize anyone.
These texts take us–you, O reader, and me–into the realm of collective responsibility. That gets us into laws, policies, and politics. Deuteronomy 26 points to immigrants and refugees, in particular. Nativism and xenophobia are not proper Biblical values, but they are staples of many laws and policies (especially immigration laws and policies) and much political activity. This constitutes a violation of the Golden Rule.
Philippians 4 offers wonderful communal advice. Christian toleration (not of evil, of course) should be a defining characteristic of faith community and society. People ought to fill their minds with that which is noble, good, and pure.
Repaying God for all the blessings God has bestowed is impossible. God does not command repayment, fortunately. A faithful response is in order, though. Gratitude is part of that faithful response. One may properly express that gratitude in more than one way. Words and thoughts of “thank you” are appropriate. Participation in corporate worship, when possible and when responsible, according to public health concerns, is crucial, also. Keeping divine commandments is a mandated expression of love for God in both Testaments. And both Testaments teach that love for God and love for our fellow human beings are intertwined.
So, how grateful are we, collectively and individually? And how many types of people are we willing to love in the name of God? Furthermore, how politically controversial will living according to the Golden Rule be?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
FEBRUARY 3, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS ANSKAR AND RIMBERT, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOPS OF HAMBURG-BREMEN
THE FEAST OF ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER, ENGLISH POET AND FEMINIST
THE FEAST OF SAINT ALFRED DELP, GERMAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1945
THE FEAST OF JEMIMA THOMPSON LUKE, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST HYMN WRITER; AND JAMES EDMESTON, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAMUEL DAVIES, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2021/02/03/devotion-for-thanksgiving-day-u-s-a-year-d-humes/
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Above: Icon of Noah’s Ark
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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Genesis 6:9-22 or Acts 22:21-30
Psalm 127
Revelation 2:18-29
John 6:60-71
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Context matters.
Thyatira was a frontier city and a center of commerce. Idolatry was also commonplace, as in meat sacrificed to false deities. St. Paul the Apostle had addressed other churches regarding this matter. He recognized that, given the non-existence of those gods and goddesses, one could, in good conscience, eat meat sacrificed to them. St. Paul the Apostle also treated that matter cautiously. He knew that many people, still strongly influenced by their culture, did not know that there was only one God.
Whether to consume meat offered to idols remained an issue for many Christians. In my cultural context, however, that is a non-issue. Nevertheless, the question of what an equivalent issue in my time and place may be germane.
Ernest Lee Stoffel, in The Dragon Bound: The Revelation Speaks to Our Time (1981), wrote about improper compromises the Church makes with culture–an evergreen issue. The Church made unacceptable compromises with culture during the age of Christendom. The Church of 2021, increasingly on the margins of society in places where it used to be prominent, has continued to face the pressure to make improper compromises.
May we of the Church be careful, both collectively and individually. May we avoid mistaking being serial contrarians for being faithful disciples of Jesus. The larger culture is not wrong about everything.
And may we never lose faith that God is in charge. God still cares about us and remains with us. We may or may not receive protection from unfortunate events. Nevertheless, God will be with us. we still depend entirely on God. We continue to depend on each other and to be responsible to and for each other. Together, with God’s help, we will come through storms of life, even if they consume us physically, emotionally, and/or economically.
Consider Jesus and St. Paul the Apostle, O reader. Both of them suffered terribly. St. Paul died as a martyr. Jesus died on a cross. (He did not remain dead for long, of course.) As Daniel Berrigan (1921-2016) said, Christians should look good on wood.
I have heard of certain Evangelical megachurches without a cross in sight. Crosses are depressing, some people have explained. How do such people think Jesus felt?
The servant is not greater than the master.
The peace of God, it is no peace,
But strife closed in the sod.
Yet, brothers, pray for but one thing:
The marvelous peace of God.
–William Alexander Percy (1885-1942), 1924; quoted in Pilgrim Hymnal (1958), #340
Amen.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 18, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE CONFESSION OF SAINT PETER THE APOSTLE
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2021/01/18/devotion-for-proper-13-year-d-humes/
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Above: The Stoning of Saint Stephen, by Rembrandt Van Rijn
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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Genesis 6:1-8 or Acts 22:1-22
Psalm 125
Revelation 2:12-17
John 6:41-59
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The Humes lectionary divides Genesis 6 across two Sundays: Today’s portion of Genesis 6 includes the debut of the Nephilim in the Bible. This is an example of pagan folklore adapted for scriptural purposes. And Richard Elliott Friedman, in his Commentary on the Torah (2001), describes stories of the Nephilim as being elements of a larger story
widely separated, distributed across great stretches of the narrative.
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According to Dr. Friedman, Genesis 6:1-5 links to Numbers 13:33, Joshua 11:21-22, and 1 Samuel 17:4. Dr. Friedman describes Goliath of Gath as the last of the Nephilim, the final one to go down to defeat.
The big idea in Genesis 6:1-8 is the increasing wickedness of the human race. “Wicked” and “wickedness” are words many use casually, with little or not thought about what they mean. The Random House Dictionary of the English Language (1973) offers various definitions of “wicked.” The most helpful one, in this context is:
evil or morally bad in principle or in practice; sinful; vicious; iniquitous.
In Jewish theology, wickedness (or one form of it) flows from the conviction that God does not care what we do, therefore we mere mortals are on our own. The dictionary’s definition of wickedness as being evil in principle or practice is helpful and accurate. Moustache-twirling villains exist in greater numbers in cartoons than in real life. Most people who commit wickedness do not think of themselves as being wicked or or having committed wickedness. Many of them think they have performed necessary yet dirty work, at worst. And many others imagine that they are doing or have done God’s work.
One may point to Saul of Tarsus, who had the blood of Christians on his hands before he became St. Paul the Apostle. One lesson to take away from St. Paul’s story is that the wicked are not beyond repentance and redemption.
On a prosaic level, each of us needs to watch his or her life for creeping wickedness. One can be conventionally pious and orthodox yet be wicked. One can affirm that God cares about how we treat others and be wicked. One can sin while imagining that one is acting righteously.
Unfortunately, some of the references in Revelation 2:12-17 are vague. Time has consumed details of the Nicolaitian heresy, for example. And the text does not go into detail regarding what some members of the church at Pergamum were doing. According to Ernest Lee Stoffel, The Dragon Bound: The Revelation Speaks to Our Time (1981), the offense was probably a perceived license to sin, predicated on salvation by grace–cheap grace, in other words. Grace is cheap yet never cheap.
Moral compartmentalization is an ancient and contemporary spiritual ailment. The challenge to be holy on Sunday and on Monday remains a topic on the minds of many pastors. Related to this matter is another one: the frequent disconnect between private morality and public morality. Without creating or maintaining a theocracy, people can apply their ethics and morals in public life. The main caveat is that some methods of application may not work, may be of limited effectiveness, and/or may have negative, unintended consequences. I feel confident, O reader, in stating that the idealistic aspects of the movement that gave birth to Prohibition in the United States of America did not not include aiding and abetting organized crime. But they had that effect.
By grace, may we seek to avoid wickedness and succeed in avoiding it.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 16, 2021 COMMON ERA
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 GUSTAVE WEIGEL, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND ECUMENIST
THE FEAST OF RICHARD MEUX BENSON, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND COFOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY OF SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST; CHARLES CHAPMAN GRAFTON, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, COFOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY OF SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST, AND BISHOP OF FOND DU LAC; AND CHARLES GORE, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF WORCESTER, BIRMINGHAM, AND OXFORD; FOUNDER OF THE COMMUNITY OF THE RESURRECTION; AND ADVOCATE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND WORLD PEACE
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2021/01/16/devotion-for-proper-12-year-d-humes/
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Above: Ruins of Ephesus
Image Source = Google Earth
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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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Genesis 4:1-16 or Acts 21:8-15
Psalm 124
Revelation 2:8-11
John 6:25-40
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Keep the faith, we read. Keep the faith, even though a congregation is small in membership and poor by economic standards. Keep the faith even though one or one’s fellow congregants must suffer and perhaps die for the faith. Keep the faith while enemies of the people of God assail them. Keep the faith in the name of Jesus, the bread of life.
Why does God prefer X to Y? The answer may never become obvious to we mere mortals, as in the matter of the sacrifices Cain and Abel made to God. What is clear, however, is how people respond or react to God’s choosing. One may respond well, as in Acts 2:14:
The Lord’s will be done.
—The Revised New Jerusalem Bible (2019)
Or one may respond badly.
Keep the faith amid disappointment and anger, we read. Keep the faith when hopes and realities do not resemble each other. Do not lash out and behave in an unfortunate and indefensible manner.
Ernest Lee Stoffel, writing in 1981, wrote words (based on Revelation 2:8-11) that are more applicable to the state of the church in 2021.
The church’s present “poverty” in the world–declining membership, gaining little attention in the world, losing her place as a dominant institution in most communities–may be the way to her becoming “rich,” to the recovery of her real power in Christ’s power. The way of bigness and wealth (and this is not to inveigh against large, rich churches) may not be the way. Sometimes it is when we have nothing, when we have been stripped of our securities, and feel no affirmation at all, that we have the most power. The way may be the way of “poverty” before Christ, standing before him, stripped of any affirmation or security.
—The Dragon Bound: The Revelation Speaks to Our Time (1981), 29
After all, we all depend entirely on God, who is faithful. May we keep the faith.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 16, 2021 COMMON ERA
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 GUSTAVE WEIGEL, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND ECUMENIST
THE FEAST OF RICHARD MEUX BENSON, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND COFOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY OF SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST; CHARLES CHAPMAN GRAFTON, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, COFOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY OF SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST, AND BISHOP OF FOND DU LAC; AND CHARLES GORE, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF WORCESTER, BIRMINGHAM, AND OXFORD; FOUNDER OF THE COMMUNITY OF THE RESURRECTION; AND ADVOCATE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND WORLD PEACE
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2021/01/16/devotion-for-proper-11-year-d-humes/
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Above: Ruins of Ephesus
Image Source = Google Earth
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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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Genesis 3:1-19 or Acts 20:17-38
Psalm 123
Revelation 2:1-7
John 6:16-24
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Words have power. Libel and slander are threats. Some words build up. Other words tear down. Some words make truths plain. Other words confuse. Some words heal, but other words harm. And misquoting God is always a bad idea.
Consider Genesis 2:16-17, O reader:
The LORD God gave the man this order: You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden, except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From it you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die.
—The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
Then, O reader, consider Genesis 3:2-3:
The woman answered the snake: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, “You shall not eat it or even touch it, or else you will die!”
—The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
God said nothing about touching the fruit in Genesis 2:16-17.
Misquoting God opens a door that should remain closed.
Nevertheless, I have this complaint to make; you have less love than you used to.
–Revelation 2:4, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
Concern for resisting heresy can come at a high cost, if a congregation, person, et cetera, goes about affirming orthodoxy the wrong way. That cost is too little love. This is also a moral in Morris West’s novel Lazarus (1990), about the fictional Pope Leo XIV, a harsh yet extremely orthodox man.
The late Presbyterian minister Ernest Lee Stoffel offered useful analysis of the message to the church at Ephesus:
This is to say that a church can lose its effectiveness if it has no love. As I think about the mission of the church, as I hear calls for “more evangelism” and a stronger application of the Gospel to the social issues of the day, I wonder if we can do either unless we can love first–love each other and love the world, for Christ’s sake.
—The Dragon Bound: The Revelation Speaks to Our Time (1981), 27
To quote St. Paul the Apostle:
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
–1 Corinthians 13:1-3, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)
Orthodoxy without love is devoid of value. May we who say we follow Jesus really follow him. May we love as he did–unconditionally and selflessly. May we–collectively and individually–love like Jesus. May our orthodoxy and our orthopraxy be like sides of one coin. May our deeds reveal our creeds and not belie our professions of faith.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 15, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER AND MARTYR, 1968
THE FEAST OF ABBY KELLEY FOSTER AND HER HUSBAND, STEPHEN SYMONDS FOSTER, U.S. QUAKER ABOLITIONISTS AND FEMINISTS
THE FEAST OF BERTHA PAULSSEN, GERMAN-AMERICAN SEMINARY PROFESSOR, PSYCHOLOGIST, AND SOCIOLOGIST
THE FEAST OF GENE M. TUCKER, UNITED METHODIST MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF JOHN COSIN, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF COSIN
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2021/01/15/devotion-for-proper-10-year-d-humes/
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Above: Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, by Francisco Herrera the Elder
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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Genesis 2:15-25 or Acts 20:1-12
Psalm 120
Revelation 1:9-10
John 6:1-15
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Genesis 2:15-25 presents, in the format of a myth, a portrait of life in harmony and innocence in the Garden of Eden. That is not the kind of life known during any documented epoch of the human past, or the of the present. Therefore, an encounter with God may seem frightening. Or it may seem intimate and comfortable. Or it may astound. Given the variety of encounters with God, both direct and indirect, as well as the range of people and circumstances, one cannot legitimately say that an encounter with God will definitely proceed in a given manner.
To ask that we have more than a very short-term memory of the encounter is reasonable, though. We read of the Feeding of the Five Thousand in John 6:1-15. If we keep reading, we reach the events of the next day, in the immediate area. We read in John 6:30-31:
So they said, “What sign will you yourself do, the sight of which will make us believe in you? What work will you do? Our fathers ate manna in the desert; as scriptures says, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
—The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
Jesus must have rolled his eyes and muttered an ancient equivalent of,
Oy vey!
The author of the Gospel of John did not record that reaction, of course.
Not being oblivious to God is one step toward living in harmony with God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 15, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER AND MARTYR, 1968
THE FEAST OF ABBY KELLEY FOSTER AND HER HUSBAND, STEPHEN SYMONDS FOSTER, U.S. QUAKER ABOLITIONISTS AND FEMINISTS
THE FEAST OF BERTHA PAULSSEN, GERMAN-AMERICAN SEMINARY PROFESSOR, PSYCHOLOGIST, AND SOCIOLOGIST
THE FEAST OF GENE M. TUCKER, UNITED METHODIST MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF JOHN COSIN, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF COSIN
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2021/01/15/devotion-for-proper-9-year-d-humes/
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Above: The Feeding of the Multitude
Image in the Public Domain
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For the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year 2
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Lectionary from A Book of Worship for Free Churches (The General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States, 1948)
Collect from The Book of Worship (Evangelical and Reformed Church, 1947)
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O Lord, we beseech Thee to keep Thy Church and Household continually in Thy true religion;
that they who do lean only upon the hope of Thy heavenly grace
may evermore be defended by Thy mighty power
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
—The Book of Worship (1947), 132
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Job 38:22-41
Psalm 119:33-48
Romans 8:1-11
John 6:26-35
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More love to thee, O Christ,
More love to thee!
Hear thou the prayer I make
On bended knee;
This is my earnest plea:
More love, O Christ, to thee,
More love to thee,
More love to thee.
–Elizabeth Payson Prentiss (1818-1878), published in 1869
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The readings for this Sunday fit thematically with those for the previous post in this series. I could repeat myself excessively and justify that decision, therefore. However, I do choose not to do so. No, I opt to refer you, O reader, to that post and to focus on the Gospel lection in this post.
John 6:26-35 has much in common with Luke 14:25-35. Both teach us to love Christ most of all. Luke 14:25-35 tells us to love Jesus more than ourselves, our friends, our relatives, and our possessions. John 6:26-35, set on the day following the Feeding of the Five Thousand, identifies Jesus as the Bread of Life. Yesterday’s bread ceases to satisfy after a little while; one becomes hungry again. Daily food is vital for one set of needs. Only Jesus can satisfy other, greater needs. We should love him more than mere food and drink.
One of the consistent themes in the New Testament is the precedence of Jesus. There is x, then there is Jesus. This theme recurs in the Gospels, the Pauline epistles, and the Letter to the Hebrews, for example. X may be good and necessary. It is less important than Jesus, though. He deserves more love than they do. So be it.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 9, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE ELEVENTH DAY OF ADVENT
THE FEAST OF SAINT LIBORIUS WAGNER, GERMAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1631
THE FEAST OF GEORGE JOB ELVEY, ANGLICAN COMPOSER AND ORGANIST
THE FEAST OF JOHN HOWARD BERTRAM MASTERMAN, ANGLICAN SCHOLAR, HYMN WRITER, PRIEST, AND BISHOP OF PLYMOUTH
THE FEAST OF OLIVIER MESSIAEN, CLAIRE DELBOS, AND YVONNE LORIOD, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC MUSICIANS AND COMPOSERS
THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER FOURIER, “THE GOOD PRIEST OF MATTAINCOURT;” AND ALIX LE CLERC, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF NOTRE DAME OF CANONESSES REGULAR OF SAINT AUGUSTINE
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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