The theme of God in creation runs through Psalms 24, 29, and 33. These three texts, taken together, portray God as the sovereign and mighty master of creation and history. The God of Psalm 24 is the leader of heavenly armies. The God of Psalm 29 bears more similarity to Baal Peor, the Canaanite storm and fertility god, than to the God of the still, small silence in 1 Kings 19:11b-12. The God of Psalm 33 is the one who delivers kings and warriors, for large armies, great strength, and horses are false hopes.
Such a deity is worthy of praise. Such a deity reveals self in creation. The righteous–those in right relationship with God, others, self, and all creation–can “read creation,” to quote Walter Brueggemann. Therefore, they lead hope-filled lives of trust in God. Creation itself reveals God’s covenant with the people.
I like the Reformed teaching that God has two books–the Bible and nature. Reading both books correctly requires a particular perspective and can be challenging. Concerted effort is no guarantor of success. And, as I know acutely from my historical training, NO TEXT INTERPRETS ITSELF; AT LEAST ONE HUMAN BRAIN IS NECESSARY. I, as an Episcopalian, channel scripture through tradition and reason.
In Psalms 24, 29, and 33, the human context for individual righteousness is faith community. My global Western culture gives short shrift to the community and revels in individualism. My culture maintains an imbalance of the individual and the collective. Thus, many people labor under the misconception that they can be “spiritual, not religious,” and take a solo spiritual journey. They miss the essential role of faith community, with both support and accountability.
May we, in faith community, follow God, pursue righteousness, and revere and protect nature. God speaks to us through it, too. Which messages are we missing because we are not paying attention?
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
One may use the word “mystery” in at least two ways. One may think of a situation in which gathering more information will eliminate confusion and enable arriving at a firm answer. The Holy Trinity is a mystery, but not in that way. Even if we mere mortals had all the information about the nature of God, we could not understand it. We can barely grasp what we do know, and what we know raises more questions than it resolves. So be it. The second meaning of “mystery” is an ancient definition: One can know something only by living into it. One can know God by faith, for example.
The Feast of the Holy Trinity is the only Christian feast of a doctrine. It is more than that, though. Lutheran minister and liturgist Philip H. Pfatteicher recommends thinking of Trinity Sunday as:
…the celebration of the richness of the being of God and the occasion of a thankful review of the now completed mystery of salvation, which is the work of the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit.
—Commentary on theLutheran Book of Worship: Lutheran Liturgy in Its Ecumenical Context (1990), 301
A doctrine–especially the Holy Trinity–can seem abstract. Some people (including moi) like abstractions. However, abstractions leave others cold and spiritually unmoved. Salvation is not abstract, however; it is tangible. And how it works is a mystery in at least the second meaning of the word.
Happy Trinity Sunday!
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 27, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF GEORGE WASHINGTON DOANE, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF NEW JERSEY; AND HIS SON, WILLIAM CROSWELL DOANE, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF ALBANY; HYMN WRITERS
THE FEAST OF SAINTS ANTONY AND THEODOSIUS OF KIEV, FOUNDERS OF RUSSIAN ORTHODOX MONASTICISM; SAINT BARLAAM OF KIEV, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX ABBOT; AND SAINT STEPHEN OF KIEV, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX ABBOT AND BISHOP
THE FEAST OF CHRISTINA ROSSETTI, POET AND RELIGIOUS WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINTS REMACLUS OF MAASTRICHT, THEODORE OF MAASTRICHT, LAMBERT OF MAASTRICHT, HUBERT OF MAASTRICHT AND LIEGE, AND FLORIBERT OF LIEGE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS; SAINT LANDRADA OF MUNSTERBILSEN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBESS; AND SAINTS OTGER OF UTRECHT, PLECHELM OF GUELDERLAND, AND WIRO, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES
THE FEAST OF SAINT ZITA OF TUSCANY, WORKER OF CHARITY
“Son of Man” is an apocalyptic title. The self-application of it by Jesus in Matthew 9:6 indicates the presence of the partially realized Kingdom of God. To be more precise, this application indicates the heightened presence of the partially realized Kingdom of God in the life and ministry of Jesus. If one accepts Realized Eschatology, one affirms, as C. H. Dodd argued, that the Kingdom of God does not come, but is. If one accepts Realized Eschatology, one affirms that certain events make the presence of the Kingdom of God more oblivious, from a human perspective.
Heaven is breaking out on the Earth. That is a recurring theme in the Bible, from Jacob’s Ladder (Ramp, actually) to apocalyptic literature. That theme exists also in 1 Kings 19 and Psalm 29. Yet one may ask about religious persecution, as in the case of St. Paul the Apostle. Persecution, also a theme in apocalyptic literature, is not inconsistent with Heaven breaking out on the Earth.
Heaven is breaking out on the Earth, despite appearances to the contrary. Can I see it each day? Can you see it, O reader? News can be depressing. I try to avoid it as much as possible. More Hell than Heaven seems to be breaking out on the Earth. Yet some faith–even a little–proves helpful. A key theme of apocalyptic literature encourages: Keep the faith; God will win in the end.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 25, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE CONVERSION OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE
I have written many devotions for Trinity Sunday over more than a decade. Not repeating myself has become impossible,
Here it goes, then.
Many people think of the doctrine of the Trinity as theological prose. They are mistaken; it is theological poetry. I do not presume to claim to understand the mechanics of the Trinity. No human brain can grasp those details. And, if one consults a history of Christian theology, one will read that Trinitarian heresies originated with attempts to explain it.
Love God and enjoy the theological poetry, O reader.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 12, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT BENEDICT BISCOP, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT OF WEARMOUTH
THE FEAST OF SAINT AELRED OF HEXHAM, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT OF RIEVAULX
THE FEAST OF SAINT ANTHONY MARY PUCCI, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST
THE FEAST OF HENRY ALFORD, ANGLICAN PRIEST, BIBLICAL SCHOLAR, LITERARY TRANSLATOR, HYMN WRITER, HYMN TRANSLATOR, AND BIBLE TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARGUERITE BOURGEOYS, FOUNDRESS OF THE SISTERS OF NOTRE DAME
Isaiah 12:1-6 flows from Chapter 11. The two chapters are the final section of a poem about the ideal king in a peaceful future. As elsewhere in the Bible, divine judgment and mercy remain in balance.
Psalm 29 praises God. It is also an adaptation of a hymn to Baal Peor, the Canaanite storm god. Rewriting pagan stories and texts for Jewish theological purposes was a fairly common practice. Doing so was one way of asserting the sovereignty of God and affirming faith in the one true deity. Rewriting pagan texts also constituted an argument against the original texts’ validity. In this case, rewriting a hymn in praise of Baal Peor was rebutting the legitimacy of his cultus.
Acts 8:26-39 and John 1:29-34 point to Jesus, as they should.
The ideal future remains an unfulfilled prophecy. Nevertheless, I, as a Christian, affirm that the Incarnation was a game changer. I hold that the reality of God’s presence became obvious in a way it was not previously obvious.
The presence of God is evident in many ways in our deeply flawed societies. There are no gods; there is God. God is sovereign, despite all appearances to the contrary.
May we–you, O reader, and I–keep the faith and work to make the world resemble more closely the fully realized Kingdom of God. Only God can save the world and usher in the fully realized Kingdom of God, of course. Yet we–you, O reader, and I–have a divine mandate to leave the world better than we found it.
Except when the voice of God is a soft, murmuring sound.
There is much going on in 1 Kings 19. For example:
Let us not forget the hundred unnamed prophets hiding from King Ahab and Queen Jezebel in two caves in 18:4.
If Elijah had died in Chapter 19, the prophetic tradition would have continued.
God provided for Elijah in the wilderness, as God had done for Moses and the former Hebrew slaves in Exodus.
Elijah sheltering in the rock calls back to Moses sheltering in the rock (Exodus 33:13-33) when God passed by.
The depiction of God in 1 Kings 19:1-18 is opposite of that of Baal Peor, a storm god.
God told Elijah in so many words, “Stop whining! Get back to work!” Then God gave Elijah three tasks to complete.
Elijah completed only one of those tasks. Elisha completed the other two tasks in 2 Kings 8:7-15 and 9:1-15, after the assumption of Elijah into Heaven.
Elijah selecting his successor (Elisha) echoes Moses choosing his successor (Joshua son of Nun) in Numbers 27:15-23.
Germane texts offer a mixed critique of Elijah. As with King David, his record in scripture is more ambiguous than his standard historical reputation. Such overblown reputations result from the excesses of nostalgia.
Yet such ambiguity should comfort us. If there was hope for Elijah, for example, there is also hope for us. Heroic figures were human beings with great flaws and great virtues. These heroes did much for God. So can we mortals.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 27, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JAMES A. WALSH AND THOMAS PRICE, COFOUNDERS OF THE MARYKNOLL FATHERS AND BROTHERS; AND MARY JOSEPHINE ROGERS, FOUNDRESS OF THE MARYKNOLL SISTERS OF SAINT DOMINIC
THE FEAST OF DMITRY BORTNIANSKY, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF HARRY WEBB FARRINGTON, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
The imagery in Luke 3:4-6 is that of an exodus–the exodus from the Babylonian Exile, to be precise. Thus the Gospel reading fits neatly with the lesson from Isaiah 43, about that exodus. How are we supposed to interpret the life and ministry of Jesus as an exodus?
The love of God, who is faithful and trustworthy, encompasses both judgment and mercy, which are inseparable from each other. Mercy for one entails judgment for another much of the time. Alternatively, the threat of judgment leads to repentance and mercy. Often we judge ourselves more harshly that God does; we need to extend mercy to ourselves and each other more readily and frequently. The fullness of the love of God in Christ empowers us to do so. That love leads us on an exodus from the exiles into which we have relegated ourselves and condemned others. The love of God in Christ delivers us from ourselves and each other, granting us victory and blessing us with shalom.
May we embrace this divine love.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 14, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF FANNIE LOU HAMER, PROPHET OF FREEDOM
THE FEAST OF ALBERT LISTER PEACE, ORGANIST IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND
THE FEAST OF HARRIET KING OSGOOD MUNGER, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF NEHEMIAH GOREH, INDIAN ANGLICAN PRIEST AND THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINTS VINCENZINA CUSMANO, SUPERIOR OF THE SISTERS SERVANTS OF THE POOR; AND HER BROTHER, SAINT GIACOMO CUSMANO, FOUNDER OF THE SISTERS SERVANTS OF THE POOR AND THE MISSIONARY SERVANTS OF THE POOR
I aspire never to diminish the glorious mystery of God, or to attempt to do so. The doctrine of the Trinity, which the Church developed over centuries via debates, interpretation, and ecumenical councils, is the best explanation for which I can hope. However, the Trinity still makes no logical sense. For example, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are co-eternal. Yet the Son proceeds from the Father. And, depending on one’s theology, vis-à-vis the filoque clause, the Spirit proceeds either from the Father or from the Father and the Son. Huh?
No, the Trinity is illogical. So be it. I frolic in the illogical, glorious mystery of God, who adopts us as sons (literally, in the Greek text), and therefore as heirs. I frolic in the mystery of the Holy Spirit, in whom is new new life. I frolic in the mystery and worship the unity.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 29, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL APOSTLES AND MARTYRS
Water is an element in all four readings for today. There is, of course, the water of baptism–the baptism of Jesus and of the unnamed people in Acts 19. Yahweh, “upon the mighty waters,” is like yet unlike Baal Peor, the Canaanite storm god, in Psalm 29. (Yet, of course, the presentation of God is quite different in 1 Kings 19:9-18, set after the killing of the priests of Baal Peor in Chapter 18.) Finally, water is especially precious in the desert, as in Jeremiah 31.
God is tangibly present in each reading. God is present in nature in Psalm 29, leading exiles out of exile through nature in Jeremiah 31, present via the Holy Spirit in Acts 19, and present in the flesh of Jesus in Mark 1. God remains tangibly present with us in many ways, which we notice, if we pay attention.
One usually hears the theme of the Epiphany as being the Gospel of Jesus Christ going out to the gentiles. That is part of the theme. The other part of the theme is gentiles going to God–Jesus, as in the case of the Magi. Today, in Mark 1 and Acts 19, however, we have the first part of the theme of the Epiphany. The unnamed faithful, we read in Acts 19, had their hearts and minds in the right place; they merely needed to learn what they must do.
Acts 19:1-7 is an excellent missionary text for that reason. The unnamed faithful, prior to their baptisms, fit the description of those who belong in the category of Baptism of Desire, in Roman Catholic theology. As good as the Baptism of Desire is, baptism via water and spirit is superior.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 11, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT BARNABAS, COWORKER OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE
BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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