Archive for the ‘Mark 7’ Category
Above: World Map (1570)
Image in the Public Domain
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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)
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Isaiah 56:1, 6-8
Psalm 67
Romans 11:13-15, 29-32
Matthew 15:21-28
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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 story of the Syro-Phoenician woman (Matthew 15:21-28 and Mark 7:24-30) is a topic of which I have written repeatedly already. I refer you, O reader, to those posts for those comments.
As Amy-Jill Levine points out correctly, Judaism has long welcomed the faith of Gentiles who follow God. Isaiah 56:1-8 is one of the texts Levine cites in making this case. And Psalm 67 speaks of the people of the world praising God.
Unfortunately, not everyone got the memo. This was evident in the New Testament. St. Simon Peter received the memo relatively late, for example.
I come not to criticize Judaism or any other religion. No, I come to set the record straight and to criticize all who are simultaneously zealous for yet uninformed of their religious traditions. I am a Christian. Many non-Christians think of Christians as being judgmental. Yet, Christianity, properly lived, is not judgmental. Nevertheless, many judgmental Christians exist, hence the stereotype.
Have you, O reader, missed any memos from God? Is your piety misdirected, despite your best intentions? Consequences matter more than intentions.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 22, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT ALBAN, FIRST BRITISH MARTYR, CIRCA 209 OR 305
THE FEAST OF DESIDERIUS ERASMUS, DUTCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, BIBLICAL AND CLASSICAL SCHOLAR, AND CONTROVERSIALIST; SAINT JOHN FISHER, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC CLASSICAL SCHOLAR, BISHOP OF ROCHESTER, CARDINAL, AND MARTYR, 1535; AND SAINT THOMAS MORE, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC CLASSICAL SCHOLAR, JURIST, THEOLOGIAN, CONTROVERSIALIST, AND MARTYR, 1535
THE FEAST OF GERHARD GIESCHEN, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF JAMES ARTHUR MACKINNON, CANADIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, 1965
THE FEAST OF SAINT NICETAS OF REMESIANA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OR REMESIANA
THE FEAST OF SAINT PAULINUS OF NOLA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF NOLA
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Adapted from this post
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Above: Tobias and the Angel, by Wenceslas Hollar
Image in the Public Domain
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READING TOBIT
PART VI
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Tobit 5:1-6:17/18 (depending on versification)
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The Book of Tobit is a novella with faulty history and geography. Regarding geography, making the journey from Nineveh to Ectabana (about 450 miles) in a mere two days thousands of years ago would have been miraculous. I realize that Azariah/Azarias means “God has helped,” but the geography in the story remains erroneous.
The dog is an odd detail, starting in Tobit 6:2 and again in 11:4.
- Dogs were unclean animals and not pets. Biblical texts mentioned them in negative terms. (Exodus 11:7; Judith 11:9; Luke 16:21; Proverbs 26:17; 2 Peter 2:22; Exodus 22:31; I Kings 14:11; 1 Kings 16:4, 21; 1 Kings 19:23-24; 1 Kings 22:38; 2 Kings 9:10, 36; Psalm 68:23-24; Jeremiah 15:3).
- “Dog” was a term of contempt for a human being. (1 Samuel 17:43; 2 Kings 8:13; Matthew 15:26; Mark 7:27)
- Sometimes “dog” referred to the wicked. (Isaiah 56:10-11; Philippians 3:2; Revelation 22:15)
- Sometimes “dog” also referred to a male temple prostitute. (Deuteronomy 23:18-19)
- Mentioning a dog in positive terms in Tobit 6:2 and 11:4 was, therefore, odd. Perhaps it was a remnant of an older folk tale. In the context of the Book of Tobit, the dog was a second angel in disguise.
The reference to the fish (Tobit 6:3) that tried to swallow Tobias’s “foot” is one aspect of the story one can explain easily. We are in the realm of euphemism. As elsewhere “feet” are really genitals. (Exodus 4:25; Ruth 3:7; Isaiah 6:2)
The fish-related cure for blindness and method of repelling demons are fascinating aspects of this folklore. What a fish!
In these two chapters we read of God indirectly setting the healing of Tobit and Sarah into motion. We also read of Raphael preparing Tobias to marry Sarah. God has a hidden hand in the Book of Tobit. God works subtly in this story. Many of us can cite examples of God’s subtle, hidden hand in our lives and in the lives of others.
The Book of Tobit is partially about wellness. In this reading, Tobit, Anna, and Sarah are not well. Tobit is blind, Anna is overwhelmed, and Sarah is at the end of her rope. By the end of the book, all of them are well.
But what is true wellness? The best answer I can find comes from Irene Nowell, O.S.B., writing in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume III (1999):
True wellness is a consequence of humility, the recognition that life and health are gifts from God.
True wellness is heavily spiritual.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 30, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE SECOND DAY OF ADVENT
THE FEAST OF SAINT ANDREW THE APOSTLE, MARTYR
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Above: Jesus and the Woman of Canaan, by Michael Angelo Immenraet
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 19:2-8 or 1 Kings 8:1-21
Psalm 56
2 Corinthians 13:5-14
Mark 7:24-37
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God exceeds our wildest imaginations. Yet God pities us, heals us, calls us become more than we are, and empowers us to accomplish that purpose. God calls us to be a people of priests. God equips us to shine the divine light into the world of the nonevangelized and the apostate, and to disciple the converted.
You, O reader, almost certainly do not read these devotions in the same manner in which I do. I know how much, contrary to my aversion to much repetition, I repeat myself. I know how often I repeat myself in these posts based on different lectionaries. I know that I have already repeated myself many times regarding the Gospel pericope for this Sunday as I repeat myself yet again–this time, regarding an ancient, supposedly orthodox hermeneutical tradition that is wrong because it violates the dogma of the perfection of Jesus.
At least since the time of St. Ephrem of Edessa (306/307-373), Jesus initially rejected the plea of the Syro-Phoenician woman heal her daughter, but the woman changed our Lord and Savior’s mind through her persistence . This tradition has informed every analysis of the pericope I have read in commentaries and heard in sermons, regardless of how liberal or conservative they were. St. Ephrem was orthodox, certainly according to the standards of his time.
That element of supposed orthodoxy is heretical. (That charge means much coming from me, one who owns a shirt that reads, “heretic.”) The thought of Jesus honestly calling he woman a “little bitch” (the closest translation in English) is one that runs afoul of sound Christology.
Jesus, who had purposefully entered Gentile territory, was testing the woman. He was making comments so she would refute them. He liked her answer, the one he wanted to hear. Then he healed her child.
Sometimes we need to say something, to express our faith audibly.
God exceeds our wildest imaginations. It welcomes and beckons those who are similar to us and those who have little in common with us. If that makes us uncomfortable, we have a spiritual problem. If we do, we need to take it to Jesus.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 24, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THOMAS À KEMPIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK, PRIEST, AND SPIRITUAL WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOHN NEWTON, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF WALTER RAUSCHENBUSCH, U.S. BAPTIST MINISTER AND THEOLOGIAN OF THE SOCIAL GOSPEL
THE FEAST OF SAINTS VINCENTIA GEROSA AND BARTHOLOMEA CAPITANIO, COFOUNDERS OF THE SISTERS OF CHARITY OF LOVERE
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2019/07/24/devotion-for-proper-17-year-b-humes/
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Above: Jethro and Moses, by James Tissot
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 18 or 1 Kings 3:16-28
Psalm 55:1-8, 16-19, 22
2 Corinthians 12:2-20
Mark 7:1-23
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The condemnation of those who have knowledge of God yet do not put their knowledge into practice is more severe. Even sin committed in ignorance is not without risk.
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Faith must be active to have any power. Faith that includes the law to honor one’s elders, for example, must lead to actions indicating honor of one’s elders. Faith that adjures people to be positive influences must express itself in ways including good advice. Faith that mandates justice must lead to that result.
People are still people, with their weaknesses, of course. We continue to be petty, cruel, selfish, et cetera. These and other negative characteristics detract us from our high callings from God. Do we really want to bicker, as the Corinthian Church did? Perhaps we do. Yet we could do much better than that, by grace.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 24, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THOMAS À KEMPIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK, PRIEST, AND SPIRITUAL WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOHN NEWTON, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF WALTER RAUSCHENBUSCH, U.S. BAPTIST MINISTER AND THEOLOGIAN OF THE SOCIAL GOSPEL
THE FEAST OF SAINTS VINCENTIA GEROSA AND BARTHOLOMEA CAPITANIO, COFOUNDERS OF THE SISTERS OF CHARITY OF LOVERE
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2019/07/24/devotion-for-proper-16-year-b-humes/
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Above: The Woman of Canaan, by Michael Angelo Immenraet
Image in the Public Domain
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For the Ninth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year 2, according to the U.S. Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970
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Grant, we beseech thee, merciful God, that thy church, being gathered together in unity by the Holy Spirit,
may manifest thy power among all peoples, to the glory of thy name:
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with thee and the same Spirit,
one God, world without end. Amen.
—The Book of Common Worship–Provisional Services (1966), 120
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Genesis 45:16-28
1 Corinthians 10:1-12
Mark 9:24-37
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The partial family reunion continued in Genesis 45. Meanwhile, off-screen, so to speak, Jacob must have had an uncomfortable conversation that must have included,
But you told me that Joseph was dead!
Do not test God, or else, we read in 1 Corinthians 10. Sometimes God tests us, though. Will we pass the test? Which destiny will we choose?
Jesus was perfect, sinless, fully divine, and fully human, I affirm. Those theological assumptions have informed my reading of Mark 7:24-37. Jesus, who had chosen t go where Gentiles were, did not insult the woman. He was not insensitive. No, he wanted her to reply as she did. She passed the test, Jesus never changed his mind during that encounter; neither did the mother change hers during that incident. She chose her destiny and that of her daughter.
The deaf man with a speech impediment had help en route to his altered destiny. The Markan has depicted him as a passive figure, but who is to say that the man did not go to Jesus?
Grace surrounds us. Will we embrace it?
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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Above: Halstead & Company, Beef & Pork Packers, Lard Refiners & Co.
Image Source = Library of Congress
Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-pga-01454
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For the Second Sunday after Pentecost, Year 1, according to the U.S. Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970
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Startle us, O God, with thy truth, and open our minds to thy Spirit,
that this day we may receive thee humbly and find hope fulfilled in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
—The Book of Common Worship–Provisional Services (1966), 124
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Isaiah 64:1-9
Ephesians 1:3-14
Mark 7:14-23
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The end of the Babylonian Exile, according to a portion of prophecy, was supposed to bring about paradise on Earth for returning exiles. It did not. Third Isaiah, after recounting some mighty acts of God in Isaiah 63, immediately asked where God was and why such mighty acts were absent. The recorded divine response (in Isaiah 65) cataloged national sins and insisted that the divine promise remained.
God, ever an active agent, dispenses both judgment and mercy. Divine judgment terrifies and divine mercy amazes. The centrality of Christ, certainly a figure of mercy, also functions as a defining agent of the terms of judgment. On one hand we have the atonement and unity in Christ. On the other hand, however, we have those who refuse to participate in that unity, with all its moral requirements, both individual and collective. As C. H. Dodd wrote, the Incarnation, good news, made more apparent what was already true, and those who rejected Christ were worse off for having done so.
The author of the Gospel of Mark (let us call him “Mark,” for the sake of convenience) included an aside to the reader or hearer of Chapter 7; he wrote that Jesus pronounced all foods clean. The dating of the Markan Gospel (either shortly before or after 70 C.E., most likely) aside, that news flash about food laws did not reach many early Jewish Christians. It also countermanded the condemnation of those who ate pork in Isaiah 64. Moral impurity was an internal matter, Jesus said.
That principle applies both individually and collectively. Human nature is what it is, for both good and ill. That simple statement does not constitute an excuse for any bad behavior and improper inaction, of course. Besides, grace is available to help us become better people, societies, families, et cetera. We are imperfect, but we need not be shamelessly sinful and degraded.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 2, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FIRST DAY OF ADVENT: THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YEAR C
THE FEAST OF CHANNING MOORE WILLIAMS, EPISCOPAL MISSIONARY BISHOP IN CHINA AND JAPAN
THE FEAST OF ALICE FREEMAN PALMER, U.S. EDUCATOR AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT BRIOC, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AND SAINT TUDWAL, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND BISHOP
THE FEAST OF SAINT OSMUND OF SALISBURY, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
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Above: The Adoration of the Golden Calf
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 32:15-34
Psalm 44:1-3
Acts 7:35-43
Mark 7:9-13
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When Moses broke the tablets containing what TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985) calls “the Pact” (32:15), he demonstrated divine anger and the nullification of the covenant due to human rebellion. Related to this particular rebellion was refusing to accept responsibility, as in Aaron’s dodge,
So I said to them, “Whoever has gold, take it off.” They gave it to me and I hurled it into the fire and out came this calf!
–Exodus 32:24, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
The golden bull-calf replaced Moses, not YHWH. That fact, however, was a minor matter. The idolatry was the main issue.
Idolatry assumes many forms. For many people wealth is the primary idol. That is relevant to the lesson from Mark 7, in which Jesus criticizes certain scribes and Pharisees for accepting financial gifts to the Temple in the knowledge that, in so doing, they are contributing to the poverty of innocent people. These religious leaders are manipulating the Law of Moses to benefit themselves while maintaining the facade of holiness. In so doing they are violating the spirit of the Law with regard to helping the poor and the vulnerable. Their fixation on the minor to the detriment of the major rings as hollow as
…and out came this calf!
In which ways are we–you, O reader, and I–guilty of committing idolatry, dodging responsibility, and condoning unjust economic practices that harm the poor?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 17, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF EDITH BOYLE MACALISTER, ENGLISH NOVELIST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT EMILY DE VIALAR, FOUNDER OF THE SISTERS OF SAINT JOSEPH OF THE APPARITION
THE FEAST OF JANE CROSS BELL SIMPSON, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN POET AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINTS TERESA AND MAFALDA OF PORTUGAL, PRINCESSES, QUEENS, AND NUNS; AND SANCHIA OF PORTUGAL, PRINCESS AND NUN
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2017/06/17/devotion-for-proper-8-ackerman/
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Above: Christ Pantocrator
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 29:1-24 or 59:1-21
Psalm 55
Matthew 15:1-20 or Mark 7:1-20
1 Timothy 4:1-6
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But you, O God, will make them descend to the sludgy Pit.
Let not men of idols and figurines live out their days.
For my part, I trust in you.
–Psalm 55:24, Mitchell J. Dahood, Psalms II (1968)
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A recurring theme in the Psalms is the sliminess of Sheol. That is the kind of detail one can learn from Biblical scholars.
Those “men of idols and figurines” missed the point. All evildoers who think vainly that God does not know their plans have missed the point. Those who perpetuate social injustice and imagine that God has not noticed have missed the point. Those who obsess over minor details of ritual purity laws while condoning the practice of denying necessary funds to people have missed the point. (This is an echo of a theme from certain Hebrew prophets.) Those who teach deceitful doctrines have missed the point.
One might miss the point for any one of a set of reasons. One might be one of the blind led by other blind people and worse, leading other blind people, to borrow and expand upon a figure of speech from the Gospels. One might be defending tradition as one understands God to have handed it down, as in 1 Timothy 4. One might not care about not missing the point. Or one might be self-serving and prone to interpreting morality through that distorted lens.
Heresies are legion, as they have been for a very long time. A few generalizations regarding them are worth pondering:
- Objective religious truth exists. For lack of a better name, let us call it God.
- The degree to which we can know doctrinal truth is restricted, due to the fact that we are mere mortals.
- The definition of orthodoxy changes over time, even within any given ecclesiastical institution. Consider, for example, O reader, the evolution of theology in Roman Catholicism. Some of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, who were orthodox in their time, became heretics ex post facto.
- Objective truth does not change.
- Many heresies began as attempts to pronounce orthodoxy in specific circumstances.
- Every person is somebody’s heretic.
- Every person is somewhat heretical.
We are left to do our best, trusting in God’s grace and commanded to love one another. Christ is our Savior and exemplar. The historical figure known as Jesus of Nazareth was the incarnate form of the Second Person of the Trinity, however that worked. To be a Christian is to follow Christ, who not only spoke of loving one’s neighbors but modeled that behavior, even unto death.
Jesus did not miss the point.
By grace, may we not miss it either.
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-7-year-d/
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©Photo. R.M.N. / R.-G. Ojda
Above: The Canaanite Woman
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
Merciful Lord God, we do not presume to come before you
trusting in our own righteousness,
but in your great and abundant mercies.
Revive our faith, we pray; heal our bodies, and mend our communities,
that we may evermore dwell in your Son,
Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 38
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The Assigned Readings:
Isaiah 56:1-8
Psalm 5
Mark 7:24-30
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But joy for all who take refuge in you,
endless songs of gladness!
You shelter them, they rejoice in you,
those who love your name.
–Psalm 5:11, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
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Those who take refuge in God include faithful foreigners.
The main two readings for today include favorable words regarding faithful foreigners. These are two of many such passages from the canon of scripture, from the entire Book of Ruth to parts of the Acts of the Apostles and the Pauline Epistles. The context of the reading from Isaiah 56 is the immediate aftermath of the Babylonian Exile. Returned exiles, in their zeal to live faithfully, ought not to shun Gentiles attracted to Judaism, according to the passage. All who follow God are acceptable to God, regardless of national origin, the lection says.
Immediately prior to Mark 7:24-30 Jesus declared all food to be ritually clean. Then he entered Gentile territory voluntarily. If only the author of the Gospel of Mark had mentioned tones of voice! Nevertheless, he did provide useful textual context. Jesus, I surmise from context, uttered that seemingly rude comment about dogs to test the Gentile woman, and she passed, much to his approval. His hope was that she rebut the original statement. He found faith in a Gentile, and he praised her for it.
Will we welcome those who follow God yet seem not to belong to the club, so to speak, or will we think of those insiders as outsiders? In other words, who are our Gentiles?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
FEBRUARY 29, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JEMIMA THOMPSON LUKE, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST HYMN WRITER; AND JAMES EDMESTON, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF BERNHARDT SEVERIN INGEMANN, DANISH LUTHERAN AUTHOR AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF EDWARD HOPPER, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN CASSIAN, DESERT FATHER
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2016/02/29/devotion-for-wednesday-after-proper-4-year-c/
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Above: Peter’s Vision of the Sheet with Animals
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
Holy God, mighty and immortal, you are beyond our knowing,
yet we see your glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
Transform us into the likeness of your Son,
who renewed our humanity so that we may share in his divinity,
Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit,one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 26
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The Assigned Readings:
Exodus 35:1-29 (Monday)
Ezekiel 1:1-2:1 (Tuesday)
Psalm 35:11-28 (Both Days)
Acts 10:9-23a (Monday)
Acts 10:23b-33 (Tuesday)
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[Jesus] said to [his Apostles], “Even you–don’t you understand? Can’t you see that nothing that goes into someone from the outside can make that person unclean, because it goes not int the heart but into the stomach and passes into the sewer?” (Thus he pronounced all foods clean.) And he went on, “It is what comes out of someone that makes that person unclean. For it is from within, from the heart, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean.
–Mark 7:18-23, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
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Ritual purity has long been a religious concern. Separating oneself from the world (not always a negative activity) has informed overly strict Sabbath rules and practices. (Executing a person for working on the Sabbath, per Exodus 35:2b, seems excessive to me. I am biased, of course, for I have violated that law, which does not apply to me.) Nevertheless, the Sabbath marked the freedom of the people, for slaves got no day off. Ezekiel, living in exile in an allegedly unclean land, the territory of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire, experienced a vision of the grandeur of God before God commissioned him a prophet. Perhaps Ezekiel had, suffering under oppression, prayed in the words of Psalm 35:23,
Awake, arise to my cause!
to my defense, my God and my Lord!
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
Those who took Judeans into exile and kept them there were unclean and not because they were Gentiles but because of their spiritual ills, on which they acted. As St. Simon Peter learned centuries later, there is no unclean food and many people he had assumed to be unclean were not really so.
The drawing of figurative lines to separate the allegedly pure from the allegedly impure succeeds in comforting the former, fostering more self-righteousness in them, and doing injustice to the latter. May nobody call unclean one whom God labels clean. May no one mark as an outsider one whom God calls beloved. This is a devotion for the last two days of the Season after the Epiphany. The next season will be Lent. Perhaps repenting of the sins I have listed above constitutes the agenda you, O reader, should follow this Lent. I know that it is one I ought to follow.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 29, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF PAUL MANZ, DEAN OF LUTHERAN CHURCH MUSIC
THE FEAST OF JOHN BUCKMAN WALTHOUR, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF ATLANTA
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Adapted from this post:
https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2015/10/29/devotion-for-monday-and-tuesday-after-the-last-sunday-after-the-epiphany-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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