READING ECCLESIASTICUS/SIRACH

PART XIII

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Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 16:24-18:14

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Ben Sira, true to his Jewish theological tradition, understands God as having created order from chaos in Genesis 1:1-2:4a.  Chaos is an enemy of gods in ancient Near Eastern mythology.  More than one ancient myth depicts a deity as fighting then defeating chaos and/or an agent of it.  In the Hebrew Bible–Psalms and Job, especially–YHWH vanquishes all the enemies those gods defeated.  These passages which emphasize divine order in nature and YHWH’s victory over the foes of Marduk or whichever deity it was in a given myth teach us of the sovereignty and universality of God.

The focus on collective righteousness and sinfulness is thoroughly Jewish and Biblical.  Yet it is alien to much of the population of my culture, fixated on rugged individualism.  Of course, as we have read, Ben Sira did not ignore individual moral responsibility before God either.  Yet, as we have seen, the author contextualized the individual aspect within the communal aspect.  We of contemporary times would do well to follow this pattern, in mutuality.

We also read of the balance of divine judgment and mercy (17:19f).  God punishes sins–in this life only, according to Ben Sira, who did not believe in an afterlife.  God also forgives sins and welcomes penitence and penitents, we read.

Turn to the Lord and forsake your sins;

pray in his presence and lessen offenses.

Return to the Most High and turn away from iniquity,

and hate abominations intensely.

Know the justice and the judgments of God,

and stood firm the lot that is set before you,

in prayer to God, the Almighty.

–Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 17:25-26, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Version (2002)

“You” and “your” are singular in these verses.  I know; I checked two French translations–La Bible de Jérusalem (1999) and La Bible en français courant (1996).

God is powerful and supreme.  God surpasses human beings–“dust and ashes” (17:32b).  And tracing the wonders of the Lord is impossible.  God continues forever, but people die.  Their lifespans–even the relatively long ones–are long.  And God is more merciful than people.

The compassion of man is for his neighbor,

but the comparison of the Lord is for all living beings.

He rebukes and trains and teaches them,

and turns them back, as a shepherd his flock.

He has compassion on those who accept his discipline

and who are eager for his judgments.

–18:13-14, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

Two words stand out in my mind.  The first word is “rebuke.”  In the Hebrew Bible, only YHWH has the authority to rebuke someone else.  This is a point which Foster R. McCurley, Jr., makes in Ancient Myths and Biblical Faith:  Scriptural Transformations (1983; reprint, 2007), 46.   People in the Hebrew Bible may rebuke others, but they lack the authority to do so.  Jude 9 reinforces this point in an allusion to the Assumption of Moses; even the archangel Michael did not presume to rebuke Satan.  No, Michael said:

May the Lord rebuke you!

—The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)

The Synoptic Gospels mention Jesus rebuking demons and unclean spirits, mostly–and occasionally, wind, a fever, and people.  Jesus rebukes twelve times in the Synoptic Gospels:

• Matthew 8:26; 17:18;
• Mark 1:25; 4:39; 8:33; 9:25;
• Luke 4:35, 39; 4:41; 8:24; 9:42, 55.

Jesus, of course, had the divine authority to rebuke.

Lest I pick Biblical cherries and report incompletely, I point out the following examples from the New Testament:

• St. Simon Peter rebuked Jesus in Matthew 16:22 and Mark 8:32.  One can argue that the apostle did what he lacked the authority to do, though.
• Luke 17:3 quotes Jesus as authorizing the rebuking of a sinner, to inspire repentance.
• When we turn to epistles which bear the name of St. Paul the Apostle yet postdate him, we find three examples.  We read counsel to rebuke those who persist in sin (1 Timothy 5:20).  2 Timothy 4:2 lists rebuking as a duty, alongside tasks including preaching, exhorting and teaching patiently.  Titus 1:13 orders St. Titus to rebuke Cretans–“liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons”–“that they may be sound in the faith.”
• Luke 3:19 tells us that St. John the Baptist had rebuked Herod Antipas “because of Herodias.”
• Luke 23:40 tells us that the penitent insurrectionist–St. Dismas, according to tradition–rebuke of the impenitent rebel–Gestus, according to tradition–who was mocking Jesus.
• 2 Peter 2:16, using the divine passive voice, tells us that God rebuked Balaam in Numbers 22:21-40.

So, according to the New Testament, people may legitimately rebuke each other sometimes.  The severity of rebuking someone–as opposed to merely telling someone off–is vital to remember when considering this matter.  People know partially, but God knows fully.

The second word is “discipline.”  Discipline is not abuse.  No, the purpose of discipline is to correct behavior.  Divine discipline is a recurring theme in Hebrew wisdom literature.  For example, we read in Wisdom of Solomon 3:5 that God disciplines the righteous.  (The context in the Wisdom of Solomon is persecution–also present in the background of the Hebrew and Greek versions of Ecclesiasticus/Sirach.)  Suffering–which God has not caused–becomes a method of spiritual discipline.

That may seem odd.  Yet it makes sense to me.  Suffering has improved my spiritual life and transformed me for the better.  The suffering was not the work of God, but the positive effects of the suffering were the work of God.  Perhaps you, O reader, can identify examples of this principle in your life or in the life of someone you know or have known.  I have found that the light of God seems to shine brighter the darker one’s circumstances become.

Another point regarding discipline is that a loving parent or guardian disciplines a child.  The lack of discipline does that child–or anyone else–no favors.  Discipline is necessary for the individual and collective good.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 22, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JACK LAYTON, CANADIAN ACTIVIST AND FEDERAL LEADER OF THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY

THE FEAST OF JOHN DAVID CHAMBERS, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER AND TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINTS HRYHORII KHOMYSHYN, SYMEON LUKACH, AND IVAN SLEZYUK, UKRAINIAN GREEK CATHOLIC BISHOPS AND MARTYRS, 1947, 1964, AND 1973

THE FEAST OF SAINTS JOHN KEMBLE AND JOHN WALL, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND MARTYRS, 1679

THE FEAST OF SAINTS THOMAS PERRY, RICHARD KIRKMAN, AND WILLIAM LACEY, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS, 1572 AND 1582

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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 Storm on the Sea of Galilee, by Rembrandt van Rijn

Image in the Public Domain

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Job 38

Psalm 107:1-2, 23-32

2 Corinthians 5:14-21

Mark 4:35-41

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O God our defender,

storms rage about us and cause us to be afraid. 

Rescue your people from despair,

deliver your sons and daughters from fear,

and preserve us all from unbelief;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 25

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O Lord, whose gracious presence never fails to guide

and govern those whom you have nurtured

in your steadfast love and worship,

make us ever revere and adore your holy name;

through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 66

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We have two storms in readings today.  God addresses Job out of the tempest.  And Jesus calms a storm, symbolic of the forces of chaos and evil.  Christ is like a mythological storm god in his triumph over that tempest.

The God of Job 38 is not the God of Psalm 107.  The former refuses to answer the question posed.  The latter responds lovingly to those who cry out in need.  I prefer the God of Job 42:7-9 to the God of Job 38:1-42:6.   The former says (although not to Job, unfortunately) that Job was right, and the self-appointed defenders of God were wrong.  This discrepancy in the Book of Job proves multiple authorship of that book.

In Pauline theological terms, the flesh is like the Freudian id; the flesh is the seat of desire and sin.  In Christ, we cease to live in the flesh.  So, God, in Christ, is reconciling the world (kosmos; hostile to God) to the divine self.  The usual translation of 5:18a in English is something like what we read in The New American Bible–Revised Edition:

All this is from God….

Yet David Bentley Hart’s “ruthlessly literal” (to use his term) translation reads:

And all things come out of God.

Theocentrism suits Christian theology.  Too often we mere mortals find ways to place ourselves (or our experience, at least) at the center of theology.  Yet the reconciling, compassionate God, whom many of the faithful misunderstand, invites and implores us to respond faithfully.  In so doing, we cooperate with God in the divine project of reconciliation.  This project reconciles us to God, each other, and ourselves.  In so doing, we, in the words of 2 Corinthians 5:21,

become God’s righteousness.

For the umpteenth time, righteousness is right relationship with God, self, others, and all creation.  Righteousness is interchangeable with justice in the Bible.  To become God’s righteousness is possible only via God.  To become God’s righteousness is to fulfill our potential in God.

Consider the context of 2 Corinthians, O reader.  Recall that the Corinthian house churches had a troubled relationship with St. Paul the Apostle and that those members belonged to quarreling factions.  Remember, too, that some members treated other members with contempt.  So, the call to reconciliation with God and to transformation into God’s righteousness constituted a challenge to the church in Corinth.

It is a challenge for the rest of us, too.  But God is in control; we are not.  So, to channel sage advice from Martin Luther, may we trust in the faithfulness of God.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 5, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE THIRTY-SEVENTH DAY OF LENT

WEDNESDAY IN HOLY WEEK

THE FEAST OF EMILY AYCKBOWM, FOUNDER OF THE COMMUNITY OF THE SISTERS OF THE CHURCH

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIANO DE LA MATA APARICIO, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY AND EDUCATOR IN BRAZIL

THE FEAST OF PAULINE SPERRY, MATHEMATICIAN, PHILANTHROPIST, AND ACTIVIST; AND HER BROTHER, WILLARD LEAROYD SPERRY, CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, ETHICIST, THEOLOGIAN, AND DEAN OF HARVARD LAW SCHOOL

THE FEAST OF RUTH YOUNGDAHL NELSON, U.S. LUTHERAN RENEWER OF SOCIETY

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM DERHAM, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND SCIENTIST

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Adapted from this post

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This is post #2900 of BLOGA THEOLOGICA.

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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:  Parable of the Mustard Seed, by Jan Luyken

Image in the Public Domain

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Ezekiel 17:22-24

Psalm 92:1-5 (6-10), 11-14

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Mark 4:26-34

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God, our maker and redeemer,

you have made us a new company of priests

to bear witness to the Gospel. 

Enable us to be faithful to our calling

to make known your promises to all the world;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 24

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Almighty and everlasting God,

give us an increase of faith, hope, and love;

and that we may obtain what you have promised,

make us love what you have commanded;

through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 65

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The reading from Ezekiel concludes a chapter-long allegory of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah (reigned 597 B.C.E.); the installation, reign, and fall of King Zedekiah (reigned 597-586 B.C.E.); and the demise of the Kingdom of Judah.  Earthly kingdoms fall, but the Kingdom of God will never fall.  It is like a mighty cedar of Lebanon, with birds nesting in the branches.  This is the image one would have expected for the Kingdom of God in Mark 4:30-34.  Instead, the birds nest in a mustard plant–a giant weed.  The mustard plant takes root where it will–wanted or not.

The imagery of a cedar of Lebanon does occur in Psalm 92, in which a righteous man towers like such a tree.  In context, the focus is on the deep roots of the righteous, in contrast with the ephemeral wicked, who are like grass.  But the righteous remain and flourish.  Their well-being is in dependence upon God, which they acknowledge and accept.  So, by divine–if not always human–standards, the righteous flourish.  They always tap into the proverbial water of God and do not fall over easily.

The advice of St. Paul the Apostle to be delightful to God may be the main point of the lection from 2 Corinthians.  Responding faithfully to God delights God.  Righteousness–right relationship with God, self, others, and all creation–delights God.  Righteousness, which is interchangeable with justice, puts one at odds with many elements of the prevailing culture.  This statement is as accurate today as it was when the Beatitudes were new.  Righteousness reveals that the social order is upside down.  Therefore, righteousness threatens and confuses many people, so acclimated to the status quo that they perceive righteousness as turning the world upside down.

I have been writing scripture-based and lectionary-based lectionary posts consistently for more than a decade.  During those years, I made many points, changed my mind occasionally, and been consistent more often than not.  I have also repeated myself many more times than I have repeated.  Relatively seldom have I felt the desire to repeat myself on every key point, the omission of which may raise a question in someone’s mind.  I have not wanted to include a list of standard disclaimers in each post, for to do so would be ridiculous.  I have concluded that, if I were to go about anticipating and refuting every possible misunderstanding of what I have written, I waste my time and miss some possible misunderstandings, too.

Nevertheless, I perceive the need to repeat myself for the umpteenth time regarding a major point.

Serial contrariness in the name of God does not constitute fidelity to God.  The social order gets some matters correct.  The world–kosmos, in Greek–is also our neighborhood, not the enemy camp.  The late Reverend Ernest J. Stoffel, writing about the Revelation of John, frequently used the term

the triumph of suffering love.

That term applies in this context, also.  The triumph of suffering love–of Jesus and all faithful followers of God–can transform the world and make it a better, more caring and compassionate place.  The Kingdom of God is a weed in the perspective of many people.  But it is a glorious weed.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 4, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE THIRTY-SIXTH DAY OF LENT

TUESDAY IN HOLY WEEK

THE FEAST OF SAINT BENEDICT THE AFRICAN, FRANCISCAN FRIAR AND HERMIT

THE FEAST OF ALFRED C. MARBLE, JR., EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF MISSISSIPPI THEN ASSISTING BISHOP OF NORTH CAROLINA

THE FEAST OF ERNEST W. SHURTLEFF, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT GAETANO CATANOSO, FOUNDER OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE DAUGHGTERS OF SAINT VERONICA (MISSIONARIES OF THE HOLY FACE)

THE FEAST OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., U.S. CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER, AND MARTYR, 1968 (ALSO JANUARY 15)

THE FEAST OF SAINT NDUE SERREQI, ALBANIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1954

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Adapted from this post

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READING LUKE-ACTS, PART XXXIV

Above: The Parable of the Mustard Seed, by Jan Luyken

Image in the Public Domain

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Luke 13:18-21

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The Parable of the Mustard Seed exists also in Matthew 13:31-32 and Mark 4:30-32.  Given that this is a series about Luke-Acts, I focus on the version in Luke 13:18-19.  This version of the parable omits any reference to the size of a mustard seed and focuses on the mustard plant providing shelter for the birds of the air.

A mustard plant is a large weed between eight and nine feet tall.  Yet between 725 to 760 mustard seeds make a gram.  Yet Luke 13:18-19 dos not comment on the relative sizes of a mustard seed and a mustard plant.

The mustard plant seems like an improbable image for the Kingdom of God.  A Cedar of Lebanon–majestic and beautiful–seems more likely.  Yet we have a mustard plant instead.  The mustard seed stands for the ministry of Jesus.  The mustard plant symbolizes the final manifestation of the Kingdom of God.

The reference to birds nesting calls back to Daniel 4:12, 21 and Ezekiel 17:22-23.  Yet, in those passages, the birds nest in a great tree, not a tall weed.  A weed is an unwanted plant.  The Church seems like a weed much of the time, does it not?  The birds of the air in the parable include Gentiles, the audience for the Gospel of Luke.

Think about your neighbors in God, O reader.  Many–or most–of them may differ substantially from you.  The identity of your neighbors in God may surprise you.  The surprise may be mutual.

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Yeast (or leaven) usually symbolizes moral corruption in the Bible.  From earlier in the Gospel of Luke, we may recall Jesus denouncing the leaven of the Pharisees–hypocrisy (12:1).  Yet in 13:20-21, the Kingdom of God is like a woman and the leaven carries a positive connotation.  The leaven, mixed into the dough, produces large loaves of bread.

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Putting the two parables together, we read that the Kingdom of God goes where it will.  It may be welcome or unwelcome, but nobody can stop.  This comforts me at a time when church membership and attendance are declining and unbelief is rising in my society.

Nevertheless, may we avoid two errors (among others).  May we not confuse the Church for the Kingdom of God.  And may we not mistake all non-practicing people for pagans.  The Church, supposed to be a hospital for sinners, frequently shoots the wounded and drives them out instead of welcoming them.  To refer to another parable of Jesus, the Church includes both darnel and wheat, and both look alike at a certain stage.  I recall having some of my most fulfilling theological conversations with non-churchgoers and some of my most unpleasant and least productive theological discussions with defensive, closed-minded Christians.  Perhaps you, O reader, recall similar experiences.

The Book of Common Prayer (1979) includes a petition germane to this point:

For all who have died in the communion of your Church, and those whose faith is known to you alone, that, with all the saints, they may have rest in that place where there is no pain or grief, but life eternal, we pray to you, O Lord.

–391

The Church would do well to cease shooting the spiritually wounded.

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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In that day….

Above:  Parable of the Sower

Image in the Public Domain

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For the Third Sunday after Trinity, 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 God, the Protector of all that trust in thee,

without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:

increase and multiply upon us thy mercy;

that thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal,

that we finally lose not the things eternal;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—The Book of Worship (1947), 188

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Isaiah 12

Psalm 25

Acts 9:1-18

Mark 4:1-20

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Isaiah 12 flows directly from Chapter 11.  The first words of Isaiah 12 in TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985) are,

To understand what day that is, one must back up into Isaiah 11.  “That day” is the ideal, peaceful future that will follow “the Day of the Lord.”  In Christian terms, one would describe “that day” as the fully realized Kingdom of God.  Furthermore, “that day” also refers to the return of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.  This text describes a time in our future.  Isaiah 12 praises God, who was faithful, is faithful, will continue to be faithful, and dwells among us.

Psalm 25 and Acts 9:1-18 add repentance to our stable of topics.  Divine forgiveness of sins, another related topic, exists also in Isaiah 12.

We read the familiar “Parable of the Sower” in Mark 4.  I prefer another title, “Parable of the Four Soils,” which I read in a commentary.  The parable seems more concerned with the soils than with the sower and the seeds.  The parable invites each one of us to ask,

What kind of soil am I?

What kind of soil are you, O reader?  Do you have shallow faith that cannot endure trouble or persecution?  Do the cares of the world strangle you faith, as it may be?  Does faith never take root in you?  Or do you have deep faith?  Depending on your answer, O reader, you may have another reason to repent and to seek forgiveness.

We mere mortals need not wait until the time of the fully realized Kingdom of God for God to dwell among us.  God is always present and accessible.  The Quakers are correct; each of us has an Inner Light.  Many of us seem not to know that, though.  Others know about their Inner Light and ignore it.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 13, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT HILARY OF POITIERS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF POITIERS, “ATHANASIUS OF THE WEST,” AND HYMN WRITER; AND HIS PROTÉGÉ, SAINT MARTIN OF TOURS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF TOURS

THE FEAST OF CHRISTIAN KEIMANN, GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF GEORGE FOX, FOUNDER OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS

THE FEAST OF MARY SLESSOR, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARY IN WEST AFRICA

THE FEAST OF SAMUEL PREISWERK, SWISS REFORMED MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

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Above:  Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, by Ludolf Backhuysen

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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Exodus 2:11-25 or 2 Samuel 5:1-3; 6:1-17

Psalm 49:1-12

2 Corinthians 3:1-11

Mark 4:35-41

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In this week’s assigned readings, we read that:

1. Moses, raised as a prince in the Pharonic household, realized his place in the class struggle and acted accordingly.
2. King David performed a lewd dance in public.
3. Proximity to the holiness of God has proven fatal to some and positive for others.
4. Socio-economic prestige has never impressed God.
5. God’s policy has always been to quality the called, not to call the qualified.
6. The Apostles, after spending much time with Jesus, were oddly oblivious to his nature for a long time.

Some things should remain hidden, at least in mixed company.

We need to shed delusions, such as the idea that God finds large bank balances, social prominence, and credentials impressive.  We have vocations from God, who equips us to fulfill them.

We depend entirely on God and lead interdependent lives.  May we understand these realities and act accordingly.  May we resist injustice, as we are able.  May we trust in God and help each other as we seek to leave the world or some portion of it better than we found it.  May the glory of God shine through our words and deeds.  And may we not be oblivious to that we ought to understand.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 21, 2019 COMMON ERA

PROPER 11:  THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF ALBERT JOHN LUTHULI, WITNESS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS IN SOUTH AFRICA

THE FEAST OF AMALIE WILHEMINE SIEVEKING, FOUNDRESS OF THE WOMAN’S ASSOCIATION FOR THE CARE OF THE POOR AND INVALIDS

THE FEAST OF J. B. PHILLIPS, ANGLICAN PRIEST, THEOLOGIAN, AND BIBLE TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT WASTRADA; HER SON, SAINT GREGORY OF UTRECHT, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF UTRECHT; AND HIS NEPHEW, SAINT ALBERIC OF UTRECHT, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF UTRECHT

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Adapted from this post:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2019/07/21/devotion-for-proper-9-year-b-humes/

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Above:  Landscape with the Parable of the Sower, by Pieter Bruegel 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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Job 42:1-17 or Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Psalm 48

James 5:12-20

Mark 4:1-20

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At the end of the Season After the Epiphany or the beginning of the Season After Pentecost (depending on the year), we finish hopping and skipping through three books–Job, Deuteronomy, and James.  If we pay attention, we notice that Job granted his daughters the right to inherit from his estate–a revolutionary move at that time and place.

Overall, when we add Psalm 48 and Mark 4:1-20 to the mix, we detect a thread of the goodness of God present in all the readings.  Related to divine goodness is the mandate to respond positively to grace in various ways, as circumstances dictate.  The principle is universal, but the applications are circumstantial.

Consider, O reader the parable in our reading from Mark 4.  The customary name is the Parable of the Sower, but the Parable of the Four Soils is a better title.  The question is not about the effectiveness of the sower but about the four soils.  Are we distracted soil?  Are we soil that does not retain faith in the face of tribulation or persecution?  Are we soil into which no roots sink?  Or are we good soil?  Do we respond positively to grace, which is free yet not cheap, or do we not?

Job 42:11 tells that all Job’s “friends of former times” visited him and “showed him every sympathy.”  (Job is a literary character, of course, so I do not mistake him for a historical figure.)  I imagine Zophar, Bildad, Eliphaz, and even Elihu, who went away as quickly as he arrived, having realized their errors, dining with Job in shalom.  That is indeed a scene of grace.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 19, 2019 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JAMES ARTHUR MACKINNON, CANADIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

THE FEAST OF ALFRED RAMSEY, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF CHARITIE LEES SMITH BANCROFT DE CHENEZ, HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM PIERSON MERRILL, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, SOCIAL REFORMER, AND HYMN WRITER

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Adapted from this post:

https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2019/06/19/devotion-for-the-ninth-sunday-after-the-epiphany-year-b-humes/

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Above:  Parable of the Sower

Image in the Public Domain

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For the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year 2, according to the U.S. Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970

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Almighty God, who hast created man in thine own image:

grant us grace fearlessly to contend against evil, and to make no peace with oppression;

and, that we may reverently use our freedom,

help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice among men and nations, to the glory of thy holy name;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Worship–Provisional Services (1966), 120

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Jeremiah 18:1-11

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Mark 4:1-20

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What do we want to be as individuals, communities, organizations, governments, societies, countries, and a species?  Do we want to be loving or hateful?  Do we want to be cruel or kind?  Do we want to be compassionate or heartless?  We will reap what we sow.

To ask the question differently, what kind of soil (as in the Parable of the Sower/the Four Soils in Mark 4) do we want to be?  If we are the wrong kind of soil, we can, by grace, become the proper variety of soil.  We humans do have some agency; our choices help to shape our future and the future of those nearby and far away, for generations to come.

May we choose well.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 16, 2019 COMMON ERA

TRINITY SUNDAY, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF GEORGE BERKELEY, IRISH ANGLICAN BISHOP AND PHILOSOPHER; AND JOSEPH BUTLER, ANGLICAN BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF JOHN FRANCIS REGIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST

THE FEAST OF NORMAN MACLEOD, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER; AND HIS COUSIN, JOHN MACLEOD, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, LITURGIST, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF RUFUS JONES, U.S. QUAKER THEOLOGIAN AND COFOUNDER OF THE AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE

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Above:   The Prophet Balaam and the Angel, by John Linnell

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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Numbers 22:22-35; 23:7-12

Psalm 56:10-13

Acts 8:9-13, 18–25

Mark 4:21-23

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In God the LORD, whose word I praise,

in God I trust and will not be afraid,

for what can mortals do to me?

I am bound by the vow I made to you, O God;

I will present to you thank-offerings;

For you have rescued my soul from death and my feet from stumbling,

that I may walk before God in the light of the living.

–Psalm 56:10-13, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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Grace is free yet certainly not cheap.  Also, most, if not all people might have their price, but God has none.  We find this theme in Numbers 22 and 23, in which Balaam, despite having his price, obeys God.  We also find this theme in Acts 8, in which Simon Magus offers to purchase the Holy Spirit, succeeding in giving us the word “simony.”

The attitude in Psalm 56:10-13 is preferable:  Be loyal to God.  And, as we read in Mark 4, what we put in determines what we get out.  Grace is free yet not cheap; it requires much of us.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 2, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT SIGISMUND OF BURGUNDY, KING; SAINT CLOTILDA, FRANKISH QUEEN; AND SAINT CLODOALD, FRANKISH PRINCE AND ABBOT

THE FEAST OF SAINT ATHANASIUS OF ALEXANDRIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF JAMES LEWIS MILLIGAN, HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARCULF OF NANTEUIL, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT

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Adapted from this post:

https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2017/05/02/devotion-for-the-third-sunday-after-the-epiphany-ackerman/

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Above:  The Parable of the Sower

Image in the Public Domain

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The Collect:

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ,  who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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The Assigned Readings:

Isaiah 6:(8) 9-13 or Ezekiel 17:22-24 or Daniel 4:1-37

Psalm 7

Matthew 14:10-17 (18-33) 34-35 or Mark 4:1-25 or Luke 8:4-25; 13:18-21

Ephesians 4:17-24 (26-32; 5:1-2) 3-7 or 2 Peter 2:1-22

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Your mind must be renewed by a spiritual revolution so that you can put on the new self that has been created in God’s way, in the goodness and holiness of the truth.

–Ephesians 4:23-24, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

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Much of the content of the assigned readings, with their options, functions as commentary on that summary statement.  To borrow a line from Rabbi Hillel, we ought to go and learn it.

The commission of (First) Isaiah might seem odd.  Does the text indicate that God is commanding Isaiah to preach to the population but not to help them avoid the wrath of God?  Or, as many rabbis have argued for a long time, should one read imperative verbs as future tense verbs and the troublesome passage therefore as a prediction?  I prefer the second interpretation.  Does not God prefer repentance among sinners?  The pairing of this reading with the Parable of the Sower and its interpretation seems to reinforce this point.  I recall some bad sermons on this parable, which is not about the sower.  The sower did a bad job, I remember hearing certain homilists say.  To fixate on the sower and his methodology is to miss the point.  The name of the story should be the Parable of the Four Soils, a title I have read in commentaries.  One should ask oneself,

What kind of soil am I?

Am I the rocky soil of King Zedekiah (in Ezekiel 17:11-21) or the fertile soil of the betrayed man in Psalm 7?  A mustard seed might give rise to a large plant that shelters many varieties of wildlife, and therefore be like the Davidic dynastic tree in Ezekiel 17:22-24 and Nebuchadnezzar II in Daniel 4, but even a mustard seed needs good soil in which to begin the process of sprouting into that plant.

One might be bad soil for any one of a number of reasons.  One might not care.  One might be oblivious.  One might be hostile.  One might be distracted and too busy.  Nevertheless, one is bad soil at one’s own peril.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 16, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE TWENTIETH DAY OF ADVENT

THE FEAST OF GUSTAF AULEN, SWEDISH LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT FILIP SIPHONG ONPHITHAKT, ROMAN CATHOLIC CATECHIST AND MARTYR IN THAILAND

THE FEAST OF MAUDE DOMINICA PETRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MODERNIST THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF RALPH ADAMS CRAM AND RICHARD UPJOHN, ARCHITECTS; AND JOHN LAFARGE, SR., PAINTER AND STAINED GLASS MAKER

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Adapted from this post:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2016/12/16/devotion-for-proper-6-year-d/

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