Archive for the ‘Psalm 131’ Category
I covered 150 psalms in 82 posts.
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Posted February 25, 2023 by neatnik2009 in Psalm 1, Psalm 10, Psalm 100, Psalm 101, Psalm 102, Psalm 103, Psalm 104, Psalm 105, Psalm 106, Psalm 107, Psalm 108, Psalm 109, Psalm 11, Psalm 110, Psalm 111, Psalm 112, Psalm 113, Psalm 114, Psalm 115, Psalm 116, Psalm 117, Psalm 118, Psalm 119, Psalm 12, Psalm 120, Psalm 121, Psalm 122, Psalm 123, Psalm 124, Psalm 125, Psalm 126, Psalm 127, Psalm 128, Psalm 129, Psalm 13, Psalm 130, Psalm 131, Psalm 132, Psalm 133, Psalm 134, Psalm 135, Psalm 136, Psalm 137, Psalm 138, Psalm 139, Psalm 14, Psalm 140, Psalm 141, Psalm 142, Psalm 143, Psalm 144, Psalm 145, Psalm 146, Psalm 147, Psalm 148, Psalm 149, Psalm 15, Psalm 150, Psalm 16, Psalm 17, Psalm 18, Psalm 19, Psalm 2, Psalm 20, Psalm 21, Psalm 22, Psalm 23, Psalm 24, Psalm 25, Psalm 26, Psalm 27, Psalm 28, Psalm 29, Psalm 3, Psalm 30, Psalm 31, Psalm 32, Psalm 33, Psalm 34, Psalm 35, Psalm 36, Psalm 37, Psalm 38, Psalm 39, Psalm 4, Psalm 40, Psalm 41, Psalm 42, Psalm 43, Psalm 44, Psalm 45, Psalm 46, Psalm 47, Psalm 48, Psalm 49, Psalm 5, Psalm 50, Psalm 51, Psalm 52, Psalm 53, Psalm 54, Psalm 55, Psalm 56, Psalm 57, Psalm 58, Psalm 59, Psalm 6, Psalm 60, Psalm 61, Psalm 62, Psalm 63, Psalm 64, Psalm 65, Psalm 66, Psalm 67, Psalm 68, Psalm 69, Psalm 7, Psalm 70, Psalm 71, Psalm 72, Psalm 73, Psalm 74, Psalm 75, Psalm 76, Psalm 77, Psalm 78, Psalm 79, Psalm 8, Psalm 80, Psalm 81, Psalm 82, Psalm 83, Psalm 84, Psalm 85, Psalm 86, Psalm 87, Psalm 88, Psalm 89, Psalm 9, Psalm 90, Psalm 91, Psalm 92, Psalm 93, Psalm 94, Psalm 95, Psalm 96, Psalm 97, Psalm 98, Psalm 99
Above: The Harrowing of Hell, by Fra Angelico
Image in the Public Domain
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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS
PART LXXV
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Psalms 130 and 131
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Were You, O Yah, to watch for wrongs,
Master, who could endure?
For forgiveness is Yours,
so that you may be feared.
–Psalm 130:3-4, Robert Alter
As I keep writing at this and other weblogs, “fear of God” is an unfortunate expression. TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures captures the meaning:
Yours is the power to forgive
so that you may be held in awe.
We all have learned childhood lessons we may question or renounce later in life. The more I mature in faith, the more I question childhood assumptions regarding theology. I have not, for a long time, regarded entrance to Heaven as depending upon passing a divine canonical examination. If it did, theological orthodoxy would constitute a saving work, and salvation would not be by grace. The most recent development in my thinking regarding Hell is approaching the concept as something nearer to Purgatory–a temporary reality and state of being. The Harrowing of Hell (1 Peter 4:6) influences me, as it has for years. The reasoning is: If Jesus did this once, he can do it again.
A more recent influence is Eastern Orthodox scholar David Bentley Hart, the author of Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies (2009), the translator of a “ruthlessly literal” translation of the New Testament (2017), the author of That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation (2019), and the author of Tradition and Apocalypse: An Essay on the Future of Christian Belief (2022). My copy That All Shall Be Saved contains marginalia in which I critique arguments and pieces thereof. One of Hart’s arguments proceeds from creation ex nihilo, a proposition I reject in favor of the Jewish doctrine of the creation of order from chaos (Genesis 1). So, that particular argument does not hold water with me. If x, then y. If x is a faulty proposition, that particular argument collapses upon itself. Nevertheless, Hart provides much food for thought, makes many cogent points, and offers a fine lesson in the history of theology, especially from the first five centuries of Christianity.
Hellfire-and-damnation preachers and teachers depict God as one who chomps at the bit to condemn people for their sins. Fear–not awe, but fear–is a powerful force for controlling behavior and changing it. Yet fear is not the approach in Psalm 130. No, hesed–steadfast love–is the approach in Psalm 130. And the focus in Psalm 130 is simultaneously individual and collective.
So is the focus in Psalm 131. In Psalm 131, God is like a mother and the psalmist is like an infant. That is a beautiful and potent image.
Divine judgment and mercy exist in balance. A good parent loves a child. Love includes discipline when necessary. Yet discipline is not abuse. God, as some of the faithful describe the deity, is an abusive and tyrannical figure. Any “orthodoxy” which requires thinking of God in those terms is a heresy. On the other end of the spectrum, any theology which gives short shrift to the judgment side of divine judgment and mercy is heretical, too. I do not pretend to know what the balance of divine judgment and mercy is, but my theology favors mercy more often than judgment.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
FEBRUARY 18, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS COLMAN OF LINDISFARNE, AGILBERT, AND WILFRID, BISHOPS
THE FEAST OF SAINTS BARBASYMAS, SADOTH OF SELEUCIA, AND THEIR COMPANIONS, MARTYRS, 342
THE FEAST OF EDWARD SHIPPEN BARNES, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN ORGANIST, COMPOSER, AND WRITER
THE FEAST OF BLESSED GUIDO DI PIETRO, A.K.A. FRA ANGELICO, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK AND ARTIST
THE FEAST OF JAMES DRUMMOND BURNS, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF JOHANNES DANIEL FALK, GERMAN POET, HYMN WRITER, AND SOCIAL WORKER
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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS
PART LXXI
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Psalms 120 and 123
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Psalms 120 and 123 are similar to each other.
Psalms 120-134 are songs of ascents. As you, O reader, read these texts, imagine a caravan of devout Jews making a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. Then you will be in the correct frame of mind for getting the most out of the texts.
Psalms 120 and 123 concern the perils of the negative attitudes and words of others. These perils may be individual or collective. That words matter is a point I have made many times at this weblog and already in this series. So, I hereby repeat the headline (“WORDS MATTER”) and decline to unpack it again in this post.
Psalm 120 does require some explanation, though.
Woe to me, for I have sojourned in Meshach,
dwelled among the tents of Kedar.
–Psalm 120:5, Robert Alter
Poetry does not have to be literal. Meshach and Kedar are far-flung places far away from each other. Meshach (Genesis 10:2; Ezekiel 32:26; 38:2-3; 39:1-3) is in northwestern Asia Minor (now Turkey), between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Kedar (Genesis 25:13) is on the Arabian Peninsula. They symbolize barbaric, warlike peoples on the edge of the known world. Robert Alter explains the poetic imagery this way:
…it may be plausible to understand them as metaphors for living among people who behave like strangers, even if those people were within a stone’s throw of Jerusalem (as someone today might say, “I felt as though I were in Siberia or Timbuktu.”
—The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary, Vol. 3, The Writings (2019), 292
The germane note in The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014) concludes:
The psalmist feels as if he lives, metaphorically, among these far-away, militant people (v.6); he is alienated from his own society.
–1412
Imagine, O reader, a caravan of devout Jews from a village making their pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem, for one of the major festivals. Then ask yourself why they would sing that psalm.
Psalm 123 begins as an individual prayer (“To You I lift up my eyes”) and concludes as a collective lament. Notice the words “our” and “us,” in verses 2-4, O reader.
Grant us grace, LORD, grant us grace,
for we are sorely sated with scorn.
Surely has our being been sated
with the contempt of the smug,
the scorn of the haughty.
–Verses 3-4, Robert Alter
Psalm 123, unlike other psalms, which complain about slander and libel, reflects frustration with arrogant scorn and contempt. “We” take that complaint to God.
What was happening close to home, for members of a pious caravan to sing Psalm 123 en route to the Temple in Jerusalem?
One need not stretch one’s imagination to grasp additional meanings of these texts for Jews of the Diaspora.
A psalm carries different meanings at different times and in various places. A text composed in one period with one meaning or set of meanings in mind may, therefore, remain germane elsewhere and long after composition. A psalm is a living text.
So, I propose a new context for relating to Psalms 120 and 123. The global Western cultures are becoming increasingly secular, with a growing strain of antitheism. Do not misunderstand me, O reader; I favor the separation of church and state, mainly to prevent the church from become an arm of the state, thereby losing its prophetic, moral edge. Yet the increasingly secular societies, combined with the rise of fashionable atheism and antitheism, heap scorn upon piety and the pious. The devout may, against their will, find themselves alienated from their own society and even from religious establishments which endorse bigotry and Christian or Jewish nationalism. Taking this sense of alienation and spiritual fatigue to God makes sense.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
FEBRUARY 14, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT ABRAHAM OF CARRHAE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF CHRISTOPH CARL LUDWIG VON PFEIL, GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINTS CYRIL AND METHODIUS, APOSTLES TO THE SLAVS
THE FEAST OF FRANCIS HAROLD ROWLEY, NORTHERN BAPTIST MINISTER, HUMANITARIAN, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOHANN MICHAEL ALTENBURG, GERMAN LUTHERAN PASTOR, COMPOSER, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF VICTOR OLOF PETERSEN, SWEDISH-AMERICAN LUTHERAN HYMN TRANSLATOR
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Above: Stamps of Saint Teresa of Calcutta
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 7:11-24 or Acts 24:1, 10-23, 27
Psalm 131
Revelation 3:7-13
John 8:12-30
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We Gentiles need to be very careful to push back against any Anti-Semitic interpretations of our assigned readings from Revelation 3, John 8, and Acts 24. We may need someone to remind us that the struggle within the Gospel of John was intra-Jewish. So was the conflict between the Jewish Christian community that produced it and the Jews around them. We may need a reminder that St. Paul the Apostle was Jewish, too.
The church at Philadelphia was Gentile. It was also small, poor, and at odds with many local Jews. Conflict produced invective.
Being small may or may not be beautiful. What is beautiful is being faithful. And Christ promises to honor that faithfulness.
–Ernest Lee Stoffel, The Dragon Bound: The Revelation Speaks to Our Time (1981), 34
If we stop thinking about importance in human terms, we will do well spiritually. Large does not equal important, in the eyes of God. Neither does wealthy. Neither does successful. Neither does being free. Neither does being popular.
St. Teresa of Calcutta said that God calls us to be faithful, not successful. Many people have worshiped at the altar of success, long a popular idol. The heresy of Prosperity Theology has appealed to many people for a very long time. Yet the prophet Jeremiah, by human standards, was a failure. So was Jesus.
Does anyone reading this post want to argue that Jeremiah and Jesus were failures? Not I.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 20, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT FABIAN, BISHOP OF ROME, AND MARTYR, 250
THE FEAST OF SAINTS EUTHYMIUS THE GREAT AND THEOCRISTUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOTS
THE FEAST OF GREVILLE PHILLIMORE, ENGLISH POET, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF HARRIET AUBER, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF RICHARD ROLLE, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC SPIRITUAL WRITER
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2021/01/20/devotion-for-proper-15-year-d-humes/
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Above: The Pharisee and the Publican
Image in the Public Domain
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For the Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year 1
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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 God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth;
enter not into judgment with thy servants, we beseech thee, but be pleased of thy great kindness to grant,
that we who are now righteously afflicted and bowed down by the sense of our sins,
may be refreshed and lifted up with the joy of thy salvation. Amen.
—The Book of Worship (1947), 152
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Malachi 3:1-6
Psalms 130 and 131
Philippians 3:7-15
Luke 18:1-17
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Divine judgment and mercy exist in balance. I do not pretend to know what that balance is, for I know I am not God. Standards of behavior exist, however. They include not practicing sorcery, committing adultery, swearing falsely, cheating workers of wages, and subverting the cause of the widow, the orphan, and the stranger. I wonder how many people ignore the mandate of economic justice and of protecting strangers, encoded into the Law of Moses, present in the books of the Hebrew prophets, and extant in Christian moral teaching, and consider themselves sufficiently moral.
Lists, such as the one in Malachi 3:5, are not comprehensive. They are not supposed to be. They do, however, prompt us to consider what, in our context, we would add to any given list, consistent with the lists from the Bible. These lists, never intended to be comprehensive, contain timeless principles and some timeless examples, too.
Such lists condemn almost all of us, do they not? As the author of Psalm 130 asked, if God were to count sins, who could stand? Yet we know that divine judgment is real, as is mercy.
Recognition of total dependence on God is a principle in Judaism and Christianity, from the Law of Moses to the writings of St. Paul the Apostle. Yes, we bear the image of God. Yes, we are slightly lower than “the gods”–members of the divine court–usually translated into English as “the angels.” No, we are not pond scum. Yet we are also powerless to commit any righteousness other than what Lutheran theology categorizes as civic righteousness. Civil righteousness is objectively good, but it cannot save us.
For many people, the main idol to surrender to God is ego. People will go far to protect ego. They will frequently disregard objective reality and continue to believe disproven statements to protect ego. They will commit violence to protect ego sometimes. Some people even slander and/or libel others to protect ego.
Yet, as St. Paul the Apostle, who knew about his ego, understood, ego was rubbish before Christ.
How much better would the world be if more people cared about glorifying God, not themselves?
I do not pretend to have reached a great spiritual height and surrendered my ego. No, I continue to struggle with it. I do know something, however. I know from observation that giving power, from the church level to the national and global levels, to a person with either an inferiority complex or a raging ego is folly at best and doom at worst. One with an inferiority complex will seek to build up oneself, not the church, country, world, et cetera. An egomaniac will behave in the same way, with the same results. People with balanced egos are the ones to work for the common good.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 26, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARGARET CLITHEROW, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR, 1586
THE FEAST OF FLANNERY O’CONNOR, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC WRITER
THE FEAST OF GEORGE RUNDLE PRYNNE, ANGLICAN PRIEST, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JAMES RENDEL HARRIS, ANGLO-AMERICAN CONGREGATIONALIST THEN QUAKER BIBLICAL SCHOLAR AND ORIENTALIST; ROBERT LUCCOCK BENSLY, ENGLISH BIBLICAL TRANSLATOR AND ORIENTALIST; AGNES SMITH LEWIS AND MARGARET DUNLOP SMITH GIBSON, ENGLISH BIBLICAL SCHOLARS AND LINGUISTS; SAMUEL SAVAGE LEWIS, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND LIBRARIAN OF CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE; AND JAMES YOUNG, SCOTTISH UNITED PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND LITERARY TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF SAINT LUDGER, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF MUNSTER
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Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor
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The psalter of the Septuagint contains 151 psalms.
I have written based on all of them, in numerical order. I have retained the Hebrew numbering system, not that of the Septuagint.
Although I have no theological reticence to venture into textual territory that, according the United Methodism of my youth, is apocryphal, I do have limits. They reside in the realm of Orthodoxy, with its range of scriptural canons. Beyond that one finds the Pseudipigrapha. Psalm 151 concludes the Book of Psalms in The Orthodox Study Bible (2008); so be it.
The Hebrew psalter concludes with Psalm 150. In other psalters, however, the count is higher. In certain editions of the Septuagint, for example, Psalm 151 is an appendix to the Book of Psalms. In other editions of the Septuagint, however, Psalm 151 is an integrated part of the psalter. There is also the matter of the Syraic psalter, which goes as high as Psalm 155. I have no immediate plans to ponder Psalms 152-155, however. Neither do I plan to read and write about Psalms 156-160 any time soon, if ever.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 23, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS MARTIN DE PORRES AND JUAN MACIAS, HUMANITARIANS AND DOMINICAN LAY BROTHERS; SAINT ROSE OF LIMA, HUMANITARIAN AND DOMINICAN SISTER; AND SAINT TURIBIUS OF MOGROVEJO, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF LIMA
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM JOHN COPELAND, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
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Book One: Psalms 1-41
Book Two: Psalms 42-72
Book Three: Psalms 73-89
Book Four: Psalms 90-106
Book Five: Psalms 107-150
Also in the Greek: Psalm 151
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Posted August 23, 2017 by neatnik2009 in Psalm 1, Psalm 10, Psalm 100, Psalm 101, Psalm 102, Psalm 103, Psalm 104, Psalm 105, Psalm 106, Psalm 107, Psalm 108, Psalm 109, Psalm 11, Psalm 110, Psalm 111, Psalm 112, Psalm 113, Psalm 114, Psalm 115, Psalm 116, Psalm 117, Psalm 118, Psalm 119, Psalm 12, Psalm 120, Psalm 121, Psalm 122, Psalm 123, Psalm 124, Psalm 125, Psalm 126, Psalm 127, Psalm 128, Psalm 129, Psalm 13, Psalm 130, Psalm 131, Psalm 132, Psalm 133, Psalm 134, Psalm 135, Psalm 136, Psalm 137, Psalm 138, Psalm 139, Psalm 14, Psalm 140, Psalm 141, Psalm 142, Psalm 143, Psalm 144, Psalm 145, Psalm 146, Psalm 147, Psalm 148, Psalm 149, Psalm 15, Psalm 150, Psalm 151, Psalm 16, Psalm 17, Psalm 18, Psalm 19, Psalm 2, Psalm 20, Psalm 21, Psalm 22, Psalm 23, Psalm 24, Psalm 25, Psalm 26, Psalm 27, Psalm 28, Psalm 29, Psalm 3, Psalm 30, Psalm 31, Psalm 32, Psalm 33, Psalm 34, Psalm 35, Psalm 36, Psalm 37, Psalm 38, Psalm 39, Psalm 4, Psalm 40, Psalm 41, Psalm 42, Psalm 43, Psalm 44, Psalm 45, Psalm 46, Psalm 47, Psalm 48, Psalm 49, Psalm 5, Psalm 50, Psalm 51, Psalm 52, Psalm 53, Psalm 54, Psalm 55, Psalm 56, Psalm 57, Psalm 58, Psalm 59, Psalm 6, Psalm 60, Psalm 61, Psalm 62, Psalm 63, Psalm 64, Psalm 65, Psalm 66, Psalm 67, Psalm 68, Psalm 69, Psalm 7, Psalm 70, Psalm 71, Psalm 72, Psalm 73, Psalm 74, Psalm 75, Psalm 76, Psalm 77, Psalm 78, Psalm 79, Psalm 8, Psalm 80, Psalm 81, Psalm 82, Psalm 83, Psalm 84, Psalm 85, Psalm 86, Psalm 87, Psalm 88, Psalm 89, Psalm 9, Psalm 90, Psalm 91, Psalm 92, Psalm 93, Psalm 94, Psalm 95, Psalm 96, Psalm 97, Psalm 98, Psalm 99
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POST LIV OF LX
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The Book of Common Prayer (1979) includes a plan for reading the Book of Psalms in morning and evening installments for 30 days. I am therefore blogging through the Psalms in 60 posts.
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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 everlasting 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 226
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Psalms 120-134 are Songs of Ascents, which pilgrims to Jerusalem used en route to festivals at the Temple.
Psalm 126 contains some interesting wrinkles. In some translations the possibly postexilic text begins in the past tense (“When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion”); it starts in the present tense (“When the LORD restores the fortunes of Zion”) in others. Verse 4 is likewise either in the present tense (“Restore our fortunes, O LORD”) or the past tense (“Yahweh restored our fortunes”). Comparing English-language translations reveals a variety of combinations of the present and past tenses in verses 1 and 4, thereby leading to a range of possible interpretations. If, for example, one reads verse 1 in the past tense and verse 4 in the present tense, one might wonder why God needs to restore the fortunes of Zion again. Yet, if one accepts the translation (present tense in verses 1 and 4) in TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985), that interpretation does not apply.
As a Presbyterian minister in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, told me,
Translating Hebrew is a bear.
Regardless of how one interprets Psalm 126, Psalms 126-131, taken together, emphasize the reality that we, both collectively and individually, depend entirely upon God, of whom hesed (faithfulness/mercy/kindness/steadfast love) is a characteristic of the Almighty.
O Israel, what for the LORD
now and forever.
–Psalm 131:3, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
That is sage advice for societies and individuals.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 22, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JACK LAYTON, CANADIAN ACTIVIST AND FEDERAL LEADER OF THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY
THE FEAST OF JOHN DRYDEN, ENGLISH PURITAN THEN ANGLICAN THEN ROMAN CATHOLIC POET, PLAYWRIGHT, AND TRANSLATOR
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Above: St. James Episcopal Church, Cedartown, Georgia, May 1, 2011
Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
(https://picasaweb.google.com/114749828757741527421/StJamesCedartown#5601822056386501938)
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Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2010), of The Episcopal Church, contains an adapted two-years weekday lectionary for the Epiphany and Ordinary Time seasons from the Anglican Church of Canada. I invite you to follow it with me.
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Philippians 2:1-3:1a (Revised English Bible):
If then our common life in Christ yields anything to stir the heart, any consolation of love, any participation in the Spirit, any warmth of affection or compassion, fill up my cup of happiness by thinking and feeling alike, with the same love for one another and a common attitude of mind. Leave no room for selfish ambition and vanity, but humbly reckon others better than yourselves. Look to each other’s interests and not merely to your own.
Take to heart among yourselves what you find in Christ Jesus:
He was in the form of God; yet he laid no claim to equality with God, but made himself nothing, assuming the form of a slave. Bearing the human likeness, sharing the human lot, he humbled himself, and was obedient, even to the point of death, death on a cross! Therefore God raised him to the heights and bestowed on him the name above all names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow–in heaven, on earth, and in the depths–and on every tongue acclaim, “Jesus Christ is Lord,” the glory of God the Father.
So you too, my friends, must be obedient, as always; even more, now that I am absent, than when I was with you. You must work out your own salvation in fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you, inspiring both the will and the deed, for his own chosen purpose.
Do everything without grumbling or argument. Show yourselves innocent and above reproach, faultless children of God in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in a dark world and proffer the word of life. Then you will be my pride on the day of Christ, proof that I did run my race in vain or labour in vain. But if my lifeblood is to be poured out to complete the sacrifice and offering up of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. You too must rejoice and share your joy with me.
I hope, in the Lord Jesus, to send Timothy to you soon; it will cheer me up to have news of you. I have no one else here like him, who has a genuine concern for your affairs; they are all bent on their own interests, not on those of Christ Jesus. But Timothy’s record is known to you: You know that he has been at my side in the service of the gospel like a son working under his father. So he is the one I mean to send as soon as I see how things go with me; and I am confident, in the Lord, that I shall be coming myself before long.
I have decided I must also send our brother Epaphroditus, my fellow-worker and comrade, whom you commissioned to attend to my needs. He has been missing you all, and was upset because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was dangerously ill, but God was merciful to him; and not only to him but to me, to spare me one sorrow on top of another. For this reason I am all the more eager to send him and give you the happiness of seeing him again; that will relieve my anxiety as well. Welcome him then in the fellowship of the Lord with wholehearted delight. You should honour people like him; in Christ’s cause he came near to death, risking his life to render me the service you could not give. And now, my friends, I wish you joy in the Lord.
Psalm 131 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 O LORD, I am not proud;
I have no haughty looks.
2 I do not occupy myself with great matters,
or with things that are too hard for me.
3 But I still my soul and make it quiet,
like a child upon its mother’s breast;
my soul is quieted within me.
4 O Israel, wait upon the LORD,
from this time forth for evermore.
Psalm 22:22-28 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
22 Praise the LORD, you that fear him;
stand in awe of him, O offspring of Israel;
all you of Jacob’s line, give glory.
23 For he does not despise nor abhor the poor in their poverty;
neither does he hide his face from them;
but when they cry to him he hears them.
24 My praise is of him in the great assembly;
I will perform my vows in the presence of those who worship him.
25 The poor shall eat and be satisfied,
and those who seek the LORD shall praise him:
“May your heart love for ever!”
26 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations shall bow before him.
27 For kingship belongs to the LORD;
he rules over the nations.
28 To him alone who sleep in the earth bow down in worship;
all who go down to the dust fall before him.
Psalm 62:6-14 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
6 For God alone my soul in silence waits;
truly, my hope is in him.
7 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my stronghold, so that I shall not be shaken.
8 In God is my safety and my honor;
God is my strong rock and my refuge.
9 Put your trust in him always, O people,
pour out your hearts before him, for God is our refuge.
10 Those of high degree are but a fleeting breath,
even those of low estate cannot be trusted.
11 On the scales they are lighter than a breath,
all of them together.
12 Put no trust in extortion;
in robbery take no empty pride;
though wealth increases, set not your heart upon it.
13 God has spoken once, twice have I heard it,
that power belongs to God.
14 Steadfast love is yours, O Lord,
for you repay everyone according to his deeds.
Luke 14:12-33 (Revised English Bible):
Then he [Jesus] said to his host,
When you are having guests for lunch or supper, do not invite your friends, your brothers or other relations, or your rich neighbours; they will only ask you back again and so you will be repaid. But when you give a party, ask the poor, the cripples, the lame, and the blind. That is the way to find happiness, because they have no means of repaying you. You will be repaid on the day when the righteous rise from the dead.
Hearing this one of the company said to Jesus,
Happy are those who sit at the feast in the kingdom of God!
Jesus answered,
A man was giving a big dinner party and had sent out many invitations. At dinner-time he sent his servant to tell his guests, “Come please, everything is now ready.” One after another they all sent excuses. The first said, “I have bought a piece of land, and I must go and inspect it; please accept my apologies.” The second said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am on my way to try them out; please accept my apologies.” The next said, “I cannot come; I have just got married.” When the servant came back he reported this to his master. The master of the house was furious and said to him, “Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.” When the servant informed him that his orders had been carried out and there was still room, his master replied, “Go out on the highways and compel them to come in; I want my house full. I tell you, not one of those who were invited shall taste my banquet.”
Once when great crowds were accompanying Jesus, he turned to them and said:
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, even his own life, he cannot be a disciple of mine. No one who does not carry his cross and come with me can be a disciple of mine. Would any of you think of building a tower without first sitting down and calculating the cost, to see whether he could afford to finish it? Otherwise, if he has laid its foundation and then is unable to complete it, everyone who sees it will laugh at him. ”There goes the man,” they will say, “who started to build and could not finish.” Or what king will march to battle against another king, without first sitting down to consider whether with ten thousand men he can face an enemy coming to meet him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, long before the enemy approaches, he sends envoys and asks for terms. So also, if you are not prepared to leave all your possessions behind, you cannot be my disciples.
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The Collect:
Almighty and merciful God, it is only by your gift that your faithful people offer you true and laudable service: Grant that we may run without stumbling to obtain your heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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Some Related Posts:
Week of Proper 26: Monday, Year 1:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/week-of-proper-26-monday-year-1/
Week of Proper 26: Tuesday, Year 1:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/17/week-of-proper-26-tuesday-year-1/
Week of Proper 26: Wednesday, Year 1:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/week-of-proper-26-wednesday-year-1/
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1. At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow,
every tongue confess him King of glory now;
’tis the Father’s pleasure we should call him Lord,
who from the beginning was the mighty Word.
2. Humbled for a season, to receive a name
from the lips of sinners unto whom he came,
faithfully he bore it, spotless to the last,
brought it back victorious when from death he passed.
3. Bore it up triumphant with its human light,
through the ranks of creatures to the central height,
to the throne of Godhead, to the Father’s breast;
filled it with the glory of that perfect rest.
4. In your hearts enthrone him; there let him subdue
all that is not holy, all that is not true.
Crown him as your captain in temptation’s hour;
let his will enfold you in its light and power.
–Caroline M. Noel, 1870
Philippians 2:5-11 forms the basis of the great 1870 hymn, “At the Name of Jesus.” I do not recall ever singing it prior to attending an Episcopal church. The 1965 Methodist Hymnal and the 1989 United Methodist Hymnal contain the hymn, so it was at least a hypothetical option in the rural United Methodist congregations I attended as a youth. More importantly, however, this hymn was not in the Cokesbury Worship Hymnal, so I guess that “At the Name of Jesus” did not pass muster for that reason. Some of the churches I had to attend when young had quite limited knowledge of hymns, restricted mostly to the Cokesbury Worship Hymnal. At least I am in a better place now.
The words of the glorious hymn speak of the humility of Jesus. This theme echoes in Philippians 2, of course. And, if one reads the composite lesson from Luke 14, one finds Jesus teaching about humility. True humility is knowing who one is and being comfortable with that. Love, like humility, does insist on its own way; it is considerate of others and leads to self-sacrifice.
Take up your cross and follow me,
Jesus says. These words fit nicely with Paul’s description of Jesus in Philippians 2. (I adore how lectionaries work very well much of the time!)
I notice also the concern for the Philippians in the epistle. Epaphroditus, when quite ill, was more concerned about the Philippians’ fears for him than about the fact he was seriously ill. And Paul sought news from that church, saying that the updates would delight him. Based on these readings, I propose that the first sacrifices we ought to make to God are apathy and anger toward one another, so that we will have only concern for each other. That would be a wonderful way to live and become a walking billboard for Jesus.
In your hearts enthrone him; let him there subdue
all that is not holy, all that is not true.
Crown him as your captain in temptation’s hour;
let his will enfold you in its light and power.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 9, 2011 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MARTIN CHEMNITZ, GERMAN LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF BARTON STONE, COFOUNDER OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH (DISCIPLES OF CHRIST)
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Adapted from this post:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/week-of-proper-26-monday-tuesday-and-wednesday-year-2/
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Above: The Reconciliation Statue in the Nave of old Coventry Cathedral, Coventry, England, United Kingdom
Image Source = Rebecca Kennison
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:UK_Coventry_Statue-of-Reconcilliation.jpg)
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Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2010), of The Episcopal Church, contains an adapted two-years weekday lectionary for the Epiphany and Ordinary Time seasons from the Anglican Church of Canada. I invite you to follow it with me.
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Romans 12:1-17a (Revised English Bible):
Therefore, my friends, I implore you by God’s mercy to offer your very selves to him: a living sacrifice dedicated and fit for his acceptance, the worship offered by mind and heart. Conform no longer to the pattern of the present world, but be transformed by the renewal of your minds. Then you will be able to discern the will of God, and to know what is good, acceptable, and perfect.
By authority of the grace God has given me I say to everyone among you: do not think too highly of yourself , but form a sober estimate on the measure of faith that God has dealt to each of you. For just as in a single human body there are many limbs and organs, all with different functions, so we who are united with Christ, though many, form one body, and belong to one another as its limbs and organs.
Let us use the different gifts allotted to each of us by God’s grace: the gift of inspired utterance, for example, let us use in proportion to our faith; the gift of administration to administer, the gift of teaching to teach, the gift of counselling to counsel. If you give to charity, give without grudging; if you are a leader, lead with enthusiasm; if you help others in distress, do it cheerfully.
Love in all sincerity , loathing evil and holding fast to the good. Let love of the Christian community show itself in mutual affection. Esteem others more highly than yourself.
With unflagging zeal, aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. Let hope keep you joyful; in trouble stand firm; persist in prayer; contribute to the needs of God’s people, and practise hospitality. Call down blessings on your persecutors–blessings not curses. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in agreement with one another. Do not be proud, but be ready to mix with humble people. Do not keep thinking how wise you are.
Never pay back evil for evil.
Psalm 131 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 O LORD, I am not proud;
I have no haughty looks.
2 I do not occupy myself with great matters,
or with things that are too hard for me.
3 But I still my soul and make it quiet,
like a child upon its mother’s breast;
my soul is quieted within me.
4 O Israel, wait upon the LORD,
from this time forth for evermore.
Luke 14:15-24 (Revised English Bible):
(Still at the great dinner party at which Jesus was teaching…)
Hearing this one of the company said to Jesus,
Happy are those who sit at the feast in the kingdom of God!
Jesus answered,
A man was giving a big dinner party and had sent out many invitations. At dinner-time he sent his servant to tell his guests, “Come please, everything is now ready.” One after another they all sent excuses. The first said, “I have bought a piece of land, and I must go and inspect it; please accept my apologies.” The second said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am on my way to try them out; please accept my apologies.” The next said, “I cannot come; I have just got married.” When the servant came back he reported this to his master. The master of the house was furious and said to him, “Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.” When the servant informed him that his orders had been carried out and there was still room, his master replied, “Go out on the highways and compel them to come in; I want my house full. I tell you, not one of those who were invited shall taste my banquet.”
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The Collect:
Almighty and merciful God, it is only by your gift that your faithful people offer you true and laudable service: Grant that we may run without stumbling to obtain your heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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Some Related Posts:
Romans 12:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/02/26/proper-16-year-a/
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/proper-17-year-a/
Matthew 22 (Parallel to Luke 14):
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/week-of-proper-15-thursday-year-1/
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/02/proper-23-year-a/
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The passage that draws my attention is that from Romans. The lectionary specifies Romans 12:1-16, but I have extended it by a half-verse, for how could I exclude 17a? ”Never pay back evil for evil,” it reads. Try preaching that and count the seconds until someone accuses you of being soft on defense, terrorists, et cetera. But, as Paul wrote, we ought not to be conformed to the pattern of this world any longer. So what is still wrong with us, that we find excuses not to practice the Golden Rule and seek the best for each other, that we justify economic and other forms of injustice, and seek ways to legitimate discrimination? Why do we not recognize and draw out the gifts each has to enrich and ennoble the whole?
The answer is quite simple, and in more than one part:
- The current pattern of the world benefits many of us.
- We do not want to surrender our ill-gotten gains.
- We have accepted the prejudices of those around us.
- We are quite sinful.
- We are very weak.
One piece of Pauline advice stands out in my mind.
Call down blessings on your persecutors–blessings, not curses. (12:14)
I had a persecutor (some would say a prosecutor) on my back once. It was an unjust charge–one dropped, fortunately. Yet that persecutor (prosecutor, some would say) put me through four months of emotional hell on earth first. Did I call down blessings, not curses, on him. What do you think? Do I call down curses on him now? No. Do I call down blessings on him now? No.
The gospel points out many of my shortcomings, and I struggle with them. This struggle does indicate something positive, though, for I might not recognize my sin. If I struggle with it, at least I acknowledge its existence. It is not a perfect or ideal state, but it is better than embracing it. On the other hand, I should not have a struggle, for the sin should not exist in the first place. But this is where I am now. It is a better place than where I have been, and, by grace, an even better spiritual state awaits me.
So, O reader, here is my challenge for you: Read the advice in Romans 12:1-17a and seek your own shortcomings. Then take them to Jesus and seek his help in winning the struggle with them. We need not be perfect; indeed, our Lord knows that we will stumble often. We do need, however, to go to him, and to keep going back.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 17, 2011 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT PASCHAL BAYLON, FRANCISCAN
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM CROSWELL DOANE, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF ALBANY
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM HOBART HARE, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF SOUTH DAKOTA
THE FEAST OF WIREMU TE TAURI, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY
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Adapted from this post:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/17/week-of-proper-26-tuesday-year-1/
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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