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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART LXXXII

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Psalms 146, 147, 148, 149, and 150

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Psalms 146-150 constitute the concluding doxology of the Hebrew Psalter.  Pulling these texts together, a partial list of statements about God emerges:

1. God heals, restores, and delivers individuals and communities.
2. God, the Creator, is evident in nature and history.
3. Nature itself praises God.
4. God is universal and sovereign.
5. God, who grants military victory, punishes the wicked.

These themes recur in the Hebrew Psalter, from Psalm 1 to Psalm 145.  Rather than repeat many comments from previous posts in this series, I prefer to focus on a point that has become prominent in my theology and prayers.  This is also a point about which I have written in this series.  Some repetition is inevitable in this series.

I grew up learning about sin.  It seemed abstract to me for a long time.  The sins about which I learned were mostly personal peccadilloes; collective, institutional sins received less attention.  As I aged and read more deeply, I began to focus less on personal peccadilloes (without ignoring them) and to focus more on collective, institutional sins.  My inner Reinhold Niebuhr asserted itself.  Later, I incorporated sin and repentance into my concept of “God’s best.”  I came to think of congregations, communities, et cetera enjoying God’s best for them, and to pray that God’s best for them would be their reality.  So, repentance and amendment of life are not mostly about angering or grieving God, lest punishment ensue.  No, repentance and amendment of life are mostly about responding faithfully to God in love, awe, and loyalty, and growing into full potential in God.  “God’s best” is shalom–complete well-being.

Thank you, O reader, for joining me on this journey through the Book of Psalms.  As we take leave of each other, I wish you shalom.  May you and yours grow into your full potential in God.  May God’s best for you–both individually and in community–become your reality.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 25, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FOURTH DAY OF LENT

THE FEAST OF SAINT GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS THE ELDER, SAINT NONNA, AND THEIR CHILDREN: SAINTS GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS THE YOUNGER, CAESARIUS OF NAZIANZUS, AND GORGONIA OF NAZIANZUS

THE FEAST OF BERNHARDT SEVERIN INGEMANN, DANISH LUTHERAN AUTHOR AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT FELIX VARELA, CUBAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND PATRIOT

THE FEAST OF JOHN ROBERTS, EPISCOPAL MISSIONARY TO THE SHOSHONE AND ARAPAHOE

THE FEAST OF KARL FRIEDRICH LOCHNER, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF THEODOR FLIENDER, RENEWER OF THE FEMALE DIACONATE; AND ELIZABETH FEDDE, NORWEGIAN LUTHERAN DEACONESS

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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: Supper at Emmaus, by Caravaggio

Image in the Public Domain

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Daniel 12:1c-3 or Jonah 2:2-9

Psalm 150 (LBW) or Psalm 146 (LW)

1 Corinthians 5:6-8

Luke 24:13-49

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Almighty God, give us the joy of celebrating our Lord’s resurrection. 

Give us also the joys of life in your service,

and bring us at last to the full joy of life eternal;

through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 21

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Almighty God the Father,

through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ

you have overcome death and opened the gate of everlasting life to us. 

Grant that we, who celebrate with jo the day of the Lord’s resurrection,

may be raised from the depth of sin by your life-giving Spirit;

through Jesus Christ, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 49

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Major lectionaries for Sundays and other holy days usually provide readings without specifying a morning or an evening service.  Some exceptions exist.  There are, for example, the main and the evening for services for Easter Day, as well as the Easter Vigil.

The main purpose for the evening service on Easter Day is to tell the story in Luke 24:13-49–the road to Emmaus story.  One textual curiosity is the timing of the Ascension of Jesus–immediately after the events of Luke 24:13-49 or forty days later (Acts 1:6-12).  That the same author (St. Luke) wrote both accounts adds to the confusion.

Anyway, Luke 14:13-49 tells us that God prevented the disciples on the road to Emmaus from recognizing Jesus for a while.  That explanation seems unnecessary; one may surmise reasonably that those disciples did not expect to encounter Jesus.  Therefore, they did not recognize him.  Are you, O reader, likely to recognize someone walking around when you think that person is dead?  We humans tend not to see what we do not expect to see.  We look yet we do not see.

God acts.  The evidence surrounds us, and we miss much of it.  The proof is not wearing camouflage.  No, we are paying inadequate attention.  This statement applies daily.  In science, people speak of

life as we know it.

I suspect that the universe teems with life, most of it not life as we know it.  If we were to encounter it, we would probably not recognize it.   Blessings often assume forms we do not recognize.  We encounter a plethora of blessings daily and fail to recognize many of them.

How do you, O reader, and I need to expand our definitions and expectations so we can recognize more of what God has done and is doing?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 17, 2022 COMMON ERA

EASTER DAY

THE FEAST OF DANIEL SYLVESTER TUTTLE, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

THE FEAST OF EMILY COOPER, EPISCOPAL DEACONESS

THE FEAST OF LUCY LARCOM, U.S. ACADEMIC, JOURNALIST, POET, EDITOR, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT MAX JOSEF METZGER, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1944

THE FEAST OF WILBUR KENNETH HOWARD, MODERATOR OF THE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA

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Adapted from this post

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Where does he get this wisdom from, and these miraculous powers? Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary, his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? And are not all his sisters here with us? Where then has he got all this from?

Above:  Nazareth, 1875

Image Publisher = L. Prang and Company

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-pga-14154

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For the Sunday Next Before Advent, 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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Absolve, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy people from their offenses;

that from the bonds of our sins which, by reason of our frailty,

we have brought upon us, we may be delivered by thy bountiful goodness;

through Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with

thee and the Holy Spirit, ever One God, world without end.  Amen.

—The Book of Worship (1947), 236

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Haggai 2:1-9

Psalms 149 and 150

Revelation 21:1-7

Luke 4:16-24

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The glory of God is a major topic in the Bible.  Many of the Psalms deal with that subject.  Prophecies of the Day of the Lord/Parousia in both Testaments employ poetic imagery to describe the world order once the fully-realized Kingdom of God becomes reality on the planet.  Regardless of the full reality at which human poetry can only hint and imagination can never fully grasp, such descriptions do have an immediate function.  They cast the world as it is in a negative light, exposing how far short societies, institutions, norms, and governments fall, relative to divine standards.  The apocalyptic imagination is a moral and ethical imagination.

The Gospels contain two accounts of Christ’s rejection at Nazareth.  They are plainly two very similar yet slightly different versions of the same event.  The key difference from one account to the other is when the audience turns against Jesus.  In Matthew 13:54-58, it happens when Jesus speaks wisdom.  In that account, people respond by asking,

–Matthew 13:54-56, The New English Bible (1970)

In Luke 4:16-24, however, the turn toward hostility comes later, after verses 25-27.  Those verses are about God having mercy on Gentiles, including Naaman (2 Kings 5:1-27) and the widow at Zarephath (1 Kings 17:9-24).  Given that the original audience for the Gospel of Luke was Gentile, telling the story of the rejection of Jesus in his hometown this way makes sense.

The Lukan version of the rejection at Nazareth also challenges us to confront our provincialism.  I am a Gentile, so I like reading about divine graciousness to Gentiles.  Nevertheless, to be uncomfortably honest, I must admit that the reminder of divine generosity to certain people and populations can and sometimes does offend me.  You may resemble that remark, O reader.  If you do, you are not unusual.

All of us need reminders of how far short of divine standards we fall.  We may tell ourselves how kind and loving we are.  We may even be kind and loving.  Nevertheless, all of us can be kinder and more loving.  When God shows us how far short of that divine standard we fall, do we reject the message?  Or do we confess our sin, repent, and strive, by grace, to do better?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 3, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF CAROLINE CHISHOLM, ENGLISH HUMANITARIAN AND SOCIAL REFORMER

THE FEAST OF ELIAS BOUDINOT, IV, U.S. STATESMAN, PHILANTHROPIST, AND WITNESS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIE-LÉONIE PARADIS, FOUNDRESS OF THE LITTLE SISTERS OF THE HOLY FAMILY

THE FEAST OF SAINTS MAURA AND TIMOTHY OF ANTINOE, MARTYRS, 286

THE FEAST OF SAINT TOMASSO ACERBIS, CAPUCHIN FRIAR

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Above:  Supper at Emmaus, by Caravaggio

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:

Acts 10:1-20

Psalm 150

1 Thessalonians 1

Luke 24:13-25

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Easter is a season with eight Sundays, the last one being Pentecost.  Take heart, O reader; we have much more Easter to celebrate.

One theme in this Sunday’s readings is that the Jewish-Christian God is the universal deity, not a tribal god.  Yes, Gentiles are welcome at the party of salvation, too.  That salvation is possible because of the other theme, the resurrection of Jesus.  In the context of Luke 24, this is a truth two small groups of people announced to St. Simon Peter in one day.  Furthermore, these two groups had not coordinated their stories, as criminals rehearse the false alibis.

We who live nearly two millennia after these events have a challenge first-hand witnesses lacked.  We either accept the resurrection on faith or we reject it on lack of faith.  We can neither prove nor disprove it.  I choose to accept it.

This is not as big a leap of faith for me as it is for many others.  Yes, I embrace reason and accept science.  I recognize much merit in the Enlightenment, which influences how I think.  I am a modernist, not a postmodernist.  I also know from experience that Enlightenment and scientific categories, as we usually define them, do not account for everything.  Reason is a gift from God.  I, as a practicing Episcopalian, incorporate reason into my faith.  I also understand that reason takes me far, but not all the way to the empty tomb.  Reason is a tool in my toolbox of faith; it is not an idol.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 5, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE SUNDAY OF THE PASSION:  PALM SUNDAY, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF ANDRÉ, MAGDA, AND DANIEL TROCMÉ, RIGHTEOUS GENTILES

THE FEAST OF EMILY AYCKBOWM, FOUNDRESS 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, MATHETMATICIAN, PHILANTHROPIST, AND ACTIVIST; AND HER BROTHER, WILLARD LEAROYD SPERRY, CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, ETHICIST, THEOLOGIAN, AND DEAN OF HARVARD LAW SCHOOL

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM DERHAM, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND SCIENTIST

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Adapted from this post:

https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2020/04/05/devotion-for-the-second-sunday-of-easter-year-c-humes/

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Above:  Icon of the Holy Trinity, by Andrei Rublev

Image in the Public Domain

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For Trinity Sunday, 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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Almighty and Everlasting God, who hast given to us, thy servants, grace,

by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity,

and in the power of the divine majesty to worship the Unity;

we beseech thee, that thou wouldst keep us steadfast in this faith,

and evermore defend us from all adversities;

who livest and reignest, One God, world without end.  Amen.

—The Book of Worship (1947), 182

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Ezekiel 18:30-32 or Isaiah 6:1-8

Psalms 149 and 150

Ephesians 1:3-14

John 3:1-15

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Trinity Sunday is one of those feasts for which I dread writing, due to having rewritten the same post repeatedly.

I can, however, bring the readings from Ezekiel, Ephesians, and John together and weave the threads into a pattern.  The pattern is one of divine love being consistent with divine judgment and mercy.  Judgment need not occur; human repentance is one way to avoid it.  Another way of preventing judgment is direct divine action, meant to, among other goals, invite people to repent.  One may recall scenes of Jesus associating with notorious sinners in the Gospels, for example.  Furthermore, there is the matter of the Atonement.  Yet many continue to reject grace.  They condemn themselves.

The Holy Trinity is a great mystery.  The Church does not grasp this mystery, despite Ecumenical Councils and millennia of theological development.  The Eastern and Western branches continue to disagree about the filioque clause of the Nicene Creed.  Furthermore, Christological differences separate the Eastern Orthodox from the Oriental Orthodox.

The mystery will sort itself out.  We can, however, acknowledge the mystery and listen for the Holy Spirit urging us along spiritual pathways.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 10, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF MARIE-JOSEPH LAGRANGE, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF SAINT AGRIPINNUS OF AUTUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; SAINT GERMANUS OF PARIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; AND SAINT DROCTOVEUS OF AUTUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT

THE FEAST OF FOLLIOT SANDFORD PIERPOINT, ANGLICAN EDUCATOR, POET, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN OGLIVIE, SCOTTISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1615

THE FEAST OF SAINT MACARIUS OF JERUSALEM, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

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Above:  The Healing of Ten Lepers, by James Tissot

Image in the Public Domain

THANKSGIVING DAY (U.S.A.)

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Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season,

and for the labors of those who harvest them.

Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty,

for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need,

to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 701

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Joel 2:21-27

Psalm 150

1 Timothy 2:1-7

Matthew 6:25-33

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Since antiquity and in cultures from many parts of the Earth harvest festivals have been occasions of thanksgiving.  In the United States of America, where the first national observance of Thanksgiving occurred in 1863, the November date has related to the harvest feast in Plymouth in 1621.  Prior to 1863 some U.S. states had an annual thanksgiving holiday, and there was a movement for the national holiday.  Liturgically the occasion has remained tied to harvest festivals, although the meaning of the holiday has been broader since 1863.  The Episcopal Church has observed its first Book of Common Prayer in 1789.  Nationwide Thanksgiving Day has become part of U.S. civil religion and an element of commercialism, which might actually be the primary sect of civil religion in the United States.  The Almighty Dollar attracts many devotees.

Too easily and often this holiday deteriorates into an occasion to gather with relatives while trying (often in vain) to avoid shouting matches about politics and/or religion, or to watch television, or to be in some other awkward situation.  The holiday means little to me; I find it inherently awkward.  This state of affairs is the result of my youth, when my family and I, without relatives nearby, witnessed many of our neighbors hold family reunions on the holiday.  Thanksgiving Day, therefore, reminds me of my lifelong relative isolation.

Nevertheless, I cannot argue with the existence of occasions to focus on gratitude to God.  The Bible teaches us in both Testaments that we depend entirely on God, depend on each other, are responsible to and for each other, and have no right to exploit each other.  The key word is mutuality, not individualism.  I embrace the focus on this ethos.

A spiritual practice I find helpful is to thank God throughout each day, from the time I awake to the time I go to bed.  Doing so helps one recognize how fortunate one is.  The electrical service is reliable.  The breeze is pleasant.  The sunset is beautiful.  Reading is a great pleasure.  The list is so long that one can never reach the end of it, but reaching the end of that list is not the goal anyway.  No, the goal is to be thankful and to live thankfully.

Too often we forget to be grateful.  Too often we are like the nine lepers in Luke 17:11-19 who neglected to thank Jesus for healing them.  Too seldom we are like the sole former leper who expressed gratitude to Jesus.

I refrain from reducing piety to more good manners, but good manners, expressed to God, are healthy spiritual practices.  Certainly thanking God throughout each day will improve one’s life in God.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 18, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF DAG HAMMARSKJÖLD, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

THE FEAST OF EDWARD BOUVERIE PUSEY, ANGLICAN PRIEST

THE FEAST OF HENRY LASCALLES JENNER, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND

THE FEAST OF JOHN CAMPBELL SHAIRP, SCOTTISH POET AND EDUCATOR

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Adapted from this post:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2018/09/18/devotion-for-thanksgiving-day-u-s-a-year-a-humes/

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Book One: Psalms 1-41

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 Two:  Psalms 42-72

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Book Three:  Psalms 73-89

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Book Four:  Psalms 90-106

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101

102

103

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105

106

Book Five:  Psalms 107-150

107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119:1-32

119:33-72

119:73-104

119:105-144

119:145-176

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150

Also in the Greek:  Psalm 151

151

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Hallelujah,

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POST LX 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 146-150 constitute the doxology of the Book of Psalms.  Each of these five psalms begins and ends with the same word:

literally,

Praise God.

Psalm 147 comes from after the Babylonian Exile.  The text praises God, upon whom the faithful depend entirely.  God is the One who rebuilds Jerusalem, gathers in exiles, and heals their broken hearts and binds up their wounds.  God, we read, values those who acknowledge their dependence on Him and stand in awe of Him; the strength of horses and swiftness of men do not impress Him.  One might quote Psalm 146:3-4:

Put not your trust in the great,

in mortal man who cannot save.

His breath departs;

he returns to the dust;

on that day his plans come to nothing.

—TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985)

The theme of the created order praising the Creator explains the beautiful poetry of Psalm 148.  Angels, inanimate objects, beasts, and human beings praise God.

People continue to praise God in Psalms 149 and 150.  There is no person who should not praise God, we read.  All people should extol God, we read.  I am certain that the shackled kings and the nobles bound in iron chains under a divine decree of doom (149:8-9) are not praising God, however.  These are people who should have confessed their sins and repented.  We human beings do reap what we sow.  However, when one reaps negatively, the rest of us need not goat.  No, we should grieve.

One can never thank God for every blessing of which one is aware by name because the blessings are so numerous.  Many of them are so commonplace that they become mundane, so we simply do not pay attention to a host of them.  We miss them when they are absent, however.  For example, I enjoy dependable electrical service.  I do not think about that very much until a limb falls across a power line during a storm, thereby causing the temporary loss of electrical service.  Also, I drive a reliable automobile.  I do not thank God for this fact as often as I should.

One can never thank God for every blessing of which one is aware by name, but one can thank God for blessings throughout each day.  One can also take some time each day to name a few blessings.  The count adds up to great number quickly.  The goal of these spiritual exercises is to nurture a mindset of gratitude to God, on whom all of us depend completely.

Hallelujah!

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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Above:  Goliath Laughs at David, by Ilya Repin

Image in the Public Domain

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The Collect:

O God of life, you reach out to us amid our fears

with the wounded hands of your risen Son.

By your Spirit’s breath revive our faith in your mercy,

and strengthen us to be the body of your Son,

Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns

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

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 33

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The Assigned Readings:

1 Samuel 17:1-23 (Thursday)

1 Samuel 17:19-32 (Friday)

1 Samuel 17:32-51 (Saturday)

Psalm 150 (All Days)

Acts 5:12-16 (Thursday)

Acts 5:17-26 (Friday)

Luke 24:36-40 (Saturday)

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Hallelujah!

Praise God in his holy temple;

praise him in the firmament of his power.

Praise him for his mighty acts;

praise him for his excellent greatness.

Praise him with the blast of the ram’s horn;

praise him with the lyre and harp.

Praise him with timbrel and dance;

praise him with strings and pipe.

Praise him with resounding cymbals;

praise him with loud-clanging cymbals.

Let everything that has breath

praise the LORD.

Hallelujah!

–Psalm 150, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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The reasons to praise God are myriad, beyond any human capacity to count.  One of those reasons is that God frequently works via people some of us (at best) consider unlikely agents of grace.

Consider David, O reader.  Yes, I know that 2 Samuel 21:19 has Elhanan, son of Jair from Bethlehem kill Goliath of Gath, and that 1 Chronicles 20:5 has the same Elhanan kill Lahmi, brother Goliath.  If that is not sufficiently confusing, David plays the lyre for King Saul in 1 Samuel 16 yet has not gone to work for the monarch yet in chapter 17.  These contradictions result from the combining of differing traditions in the canon of scripture.  Such contradictions are commonplace in the Old Testament, starting in the early chapters of Genesis.  One needs merely to read the texts with great attention to detail to detect them.

I use 1 Samuel 17, in which David, not Elhanan, kills Goliath, for that is the version the framers of the lectionary I am following chose.

In 1 Samuel 17 young David seemed to be the least likely person to rid Israel of the menace Goliath posed.  A crucified troublemaker from the Galilee seemed to be an unlikely candidate for an inspiring and timeless religious figure.  Apostles hiding in fear after the crucifixion of Jesus seemed to be unlikely candidates for leaders in a movement to change the world.  They faced persecution; most of them died as martyrs.  As Jesus said,

Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.  Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

–Luke 6:22-23, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

The theme of seemingly unlikely agents of grace occurs in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).  It is easy to overlook the fact that many in the original audience found the idea of a good Samaritan shocking, even beyond improbable.

The real question I address is not the identities of agents of grace but human biases regarding who is more or less likely to be one.  We mere mortals need to learn theological humility, especially regarding how we evaluate each other.  Do we even attempt to look upon each other as God perceives us?

The composite pericope from Acts 5 reminds us that functioning as an agent of grace might lead one to harm.  Sometimes people suffer for the sake of righteousness because the light exposes darkness for what it is.

…the light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness has not overcome it.

–John 1:5, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2010)

Perhaps we do not recognize agents of grace sometimes because we are caught up in the darkness and are oblivious to that fact.  Mustache-twirling villains, commonplace in simplistic morality plays, are rare in real life.  Most “bad guys” imagine themselves to be good, or at least engaged in necessary, if unpleasant work.

Another reason for failing to recognize agents of grace is functional fixedness.  We simply do not expect something, so we do not look for it.  We seek agents of grace as we know them and miss those agents of grace who do not fit our preconceptions.

How might God surprise you, O reader, with unexpected (to you) agents of grace?  And what will that grace cost you?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 18, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF MARC BOEGNER, ECUMENIST

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Adapted from this post:

https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2015/12/18/devotion-for-thursday-friday-and-saturday-before-the-second-sunday-of-easter-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/

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