I covered 150 psalms in 82 posts.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

81

82

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119

120

121

122

123

124

125

126

127

128

129

130

131

132

133

134

135

136

137

138

139

140

141

142

143

144

145

146

147

148

149

150

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Advertisement

READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART V

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Psalm 5

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Psalm 4, assumed to be an evening prayer, precedes Psalm 5, a prayer at the morning sacrifice.  The placement of Psalm 5 is, therefore, logical.

Psalm 5, which resembles a temple liturgy, asserts the piety and innocence of the psalmist.  The psalmist has enemies–wicked people–who are also Jews.  Nominal membership in a religious community does not make one devout, regardless of the name and theology of that religious community.  The psalmist regards God as an attentive monarch who protects the loyal subjects from their foes.  Those foes condemn themselves by their actions.

I am no stranger to congregational politics.  The smaller and more internecine the congregation is, the more venomous the political backstabbing is.  Temporal perspective tells me that alleged villains sometimes have legitimate grievances and that alleged victims sometimes bring their fates upon themselves.  Partial knowledge, colored by the heat of the moment, clouds perception.  Nevertheless, I, as an erstwhile United Methodist “preacher’s kid,” recall complicated truths.  My father did cause most of the moves, which were unnecessary.  Nevertheless, I recall that certain members of these churches had been complicit in moving a string of previous pastors.  Congregations frequently harbor pathological and predatory personalities in the pews or chairs.

The congregation I joined in 2021 divided bitterly in 2012.  The Episcopal Bishop of Georgia removed the rector, who had founded a rival, schismatic congregation in town.  This rector, a tyrannical and spiritually predatory priest, had previously prompted a petition for his removal.  The schismatic congregation eventually ousted him when he had driven away too many members of that church and endangered its feasibility.

Condemn them, O God;

let them fall by their own devices….

–Psalm 5:11a, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985, 1999)

If we act in a certain way, we will all fall by our own devices.  Our chickens will come home to roost.  We will reap what we have sown.  We may sow in ignorance or delusion.  In which mental state will we reap?

May we, by grace, sow according to God’s design.  An easy path in life is not a guarantee.  Neither is prosperity.  But being on God’s side is better than not being on God’s side.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 11, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF EL MOZOTE, EL SALVADOR, DECEMBER 11-12, 1981

THE FEAST OF HOWARD CHANDLER ROBBINS, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, HYMN TRANSLATOR, AND HYMN TUNE COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF SAINT KAZIMIERZ TOMAS SYKULSKI, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1942

THE FEAST OF LARS OLSEN SKREFSRUD, HANS PETER BOERRSEN, AND PAUL OLAF BODDING, LUTHERAN MISSIONARIES IN INDIA

THE FEAST OF LUKE OF PRAGUE AND JOHN AUGUSTA, MORAVIAN BISHOPS AND HYMN WRITERS

THE FEAST OF SEVERIN OTT, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART IV

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Psalm 4

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Psalm 4 is direct; its major theme is confidence in hesed, the faithfulness of God.  In typical Jewish theological fashion, God is like what God has done.  The psalmist recalls that God has vindicated him.  Therefore, the psalmist expresses confidence that God will do so again.

The people, likewise, should cease to offer insincere sacrifices.  They ought to offer righteous sacrifices and trust in God.  A subtext comes from the prophetic literature, which condemns those who act impiously–often exploitatively–and use sacred rituals as talismans.  This mocks God, who objects strenuously.  There is no fault in sacred rituals per se; God ordains them in the Law of Moses.  Yet their efficacy comes bound up with keeping the moral mandates in the Law of Moses.

For the sake of truth in advertising, I divulge that I am a ritualistic Episcopalian.  Proper liturgy sets the table, so to speak, for worship.  Most of what passes for liturgy in many Protestant congregations leaves me cold, uninspired, and unimpressed.  It is stale white-bread worship at best and an undignified noise fest at worst.  Most Protestant worship services feel like so-so social gatherings to me.  So, I gravitate to Prayer Books, smells, and bells.  I stand in contrast to my Pietistic and puritanical Low Church Protestant forebears.  Proper ritual is not an “external.”  No, it is essential.

Dr. Charles Smith was a Canadian pathologist.  He was also the favorite expert of many a crown prosecutor who suspected that a baby’s death was not due to natural causes.  Dr. Smith’s expert testimony in court guaranteed a conviction.  The threat of his testimony in court prompted innocent parents to plead guilty to a reduced charge.  The problem with Smith’s testimony was that he lied under oath.  This fact came to light as pathologist after pathologist contradicted his findings.  Smith lost his professional license and gained a disgraced reputation.  He, unrepentant and confronted with the truth, cited his Evangelical Christian faith and his desire to save young lives as defenses.  Meanwhile, prosecutors reviewed cases and judges started freeing parents and clearing their names.  Yet the prosecutors and judges could not reverse the damage Smith had inflicted on the parents.

Words are insufficient; works must not belie them.  We mere mortals are like what we do and have done.  Protestations of our piety ring hollow when evidence contradicts them.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 11, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF EL MOZOTE, EL SALVADOR, DECEMBER 11-12, 1981

THE FEAST OF HOWARD CHANDLER ROBBINS, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, HYMN TRANSLATOR, AND HYMN TUNE COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF SAINT KAZIMIERZ TOMAS SYKULSKI, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1942

THE FEAST OF LARS OLSEN SKREFSRUD, HANS PETER BOERRSEN, AND PAUL OLAF BODDING, LUTHERAN MISSIONARIES IN INDIA

THE FEAST OF LUKE OF PRAGUE AND JOHN AUGUSTA, MORAVIAN BISHOPS AND HYMN WRITERS

THE FEAST OF SEVERIN OTT, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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:  Figs

Image in the Public Domain

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Deuteronomy 11:18-21, 26-28

Psalm 31:1-5 (6-18), 19-24 (LBW) or Psalm 4 (LW)

Romans 3:21-25a, 27-28

Matthew 7:(15-20) 21-29

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Lord God of all nations,

you have revealed your will to your people

and promised your help to us all. 

Help us to hear and to do what you command,

that the darkness may be overcome by the power of your light;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 24

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

O God,

whose never-failing providence sets in order all things

both in heaven and on earth,

put away from us, we entreat you, all hurtful things;

and give us those things that are profitable for us;

through Jesus Christ, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 62

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Jewish Covenantal Nomism, present in Deuteronomy 11 and in the background of Romans 3, establishes the tone for this post.  Salvation for Jews comes by grace; they are the Chosen People.  Keeping the moral mandates of the Law of Moses habitually is essential to retaining that salvation.

Love, therefore, the LORD your God, and always keep His charge.  His laws, His rules, and His commandments.

–Deuteronomy 11:1, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985,1999)

Perfection in these matters is impossible, of course.  Therefore, repentance is crucial daily.  In broader Biblical context, God knows that we mere mortals are “but dust.”  Do we?

Grace is free, not cheap.  Nobody can earn or purchase it, but grace does require much of its recipients.  Thin, too, O reader, how much it cost Jesus.

Both options for the Psalm this Sunday contain the combination of trust in God and pleading with God.  I know this feeling.  Maybe you do, too, O reader.

St. Paul the Apostle’s critique of Judaism was simply that it was not Christianity.  As E. P. Sanders wrote:

In short, this is what Paul finds wrong in Judaism:  it is not Christianity.

—Paul and Palestinian Judaism:  A Comparison of Patterns of Religion (1977), 552

For St. Paul, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus changed everything.

I, as a Christian, agree.  However, I also affirm the continuation of the Jewish covenant.  I trust that God is faithful to all Jews and Gentiles who fulfill their ends of the covenant and mourns those who drop out.  Many of those who have dropped out may not know that they have done so.

The good fruit of God, boiled down to its essence and one word, is love.  Recall the First Letter of John, O reader:  Be in Christ.  Walk in the way Jesus walked.

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.

–1 John 5:2-3a, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002), 203

And how could we forget 1 John 4:7-8?

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God.  He who does not love does not know God; God is love.

—Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

This point brings me back to Psalm 31.  In verse 6 or 7 (depending on versification), either God or the Psalmist hates or detests idolators.  Translations disagree on who hates or detests the idolators.  In context, the voice of Psalm 31 is that of a devout Jews falsely accused of idolatry; he protests against this charge and defends his piety and innocence.  Human beings are capable of hating and detesting, of course.  I reject the argument that God hates or detests anyone, though.

Salvation comes via grace.  Damnation comes via works, however.  God sends nobody to Hell.  As C. S. Lewis wrote, the doors to Hell are locked from the inside.

The Right Reverend Robert C. Wright, the Episcopal Bishop of Atlanta, says to love like Jesus.  Consider, O reader, that Christ’s love is self-sacrificial and unconditional.  It beckons people to love in the same way.  This divine love, flowing through mere mortals, can turn upside-down societies, systems, and institutions right side up.

However, anger, grudges, and hatred are alluring idols.  Much of social media feeds off a steady diet of outrage.  To be fair, some outrage is morally justifiable.  If, for example, human trafficking does not outrage you, O reader, I do not want to know you.  But too much outrage is spiritually and socially toxic.  To borrow a line from Network (1976):

I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!

That kind of rage is a key ingredient in a recipe for a dysfunctional society.

We human beings all belong to God and each other.  We are responsible to and for each other.  May we think and act accordingly, by grace and for the common good.  God commands it.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 1, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF SAINTS PHILIP AND JAMES, APOSTLES AND MARTYRS

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Adapted from this post

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  St. Stephen, by Luis de Morales

Image in the Public Domain

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Assigned Readings:

Acts 7:48-60

Psalm 4

2 Peter 1:13-21

Mark 12:1-12

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Many of those who persecuted St. Paul the Apostle and who were complicit in the executions of Jesus and St. Stephen imagined themselves to be acting out of righteousness.  St. Paul, as Saul of Tarsus, had zealously martyred Christians and been present for the stoning of St. Stephen.

To read the assigned lessons and imagine that they have nothing to do with us, who have not martyred or persecuted anyone, would be convenient, would it not?  Yet we are guilty of, at a minimum, of consenting to the inhumane treatment of others–perhaps prisoners, immigrants, employees in deathtrap factories, et cetera.  We think we own the planet, but we are merely tenants.  Many of those who peacefully oppose injustice risk martyrdom or incarceration.

The minimal extent to which we are complicit is the degree to which we are invested in socio-economic-political structures that rely on and perpetuate violence and exploitation.  Yet we imagine ourselves to be righteous.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 27, 2019 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF CORNELIUS HILL, ONEIDA CHIEF AND EPISCOPAL PRIEST

THE FEAST OF HUGH THOMSON KERR, SR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND LITURGIST; AND HIS SON, HUGH THOMSON KERR, JR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, SCHOLAR, AND THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF JAMES MOFFATT, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, SCHOLAR, AND BIBLE TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN THE GEORGIAN, ABBOT; AND SAINTS EUTHYMIUS OF ATHOS AND GEORGE OF THE BLACK MOUNTAIN, ABBOTS AND TRANSLATORS

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Adapted from this post:

https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2019/06/27/devotion-for-the-third-sunday-of-easter-year-b-humes/

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This ch brings together two or three texts describing God’s victory over evil and sorrow.

Above:  Icon of the Resurrection

Image in the Public Domain

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

FOR EASTER SUNDAY, ACCORDING TO A LECTIONARY FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP IN THE BOOK OF WORSHIP FOR CHURCH AND HOME (1965)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

O God, who for our redemption gave you only begotten Son to the death of the cross,

and by his glorious resurrection has delivered us from the power of our enemy:

Grant us so to die daily to sin that we may evermore live with him in the joy of the resurrection,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

–Modernized from The Book of Worship for Church and Home (1965), page 114

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Isaiah 25:1, 7-9

Psalm 4

Acts 13:26-33

Mark 16:1-7

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The note on Isaiah 25:1-12 in The Jewish Study Bible–Second Edition (2014) bears the title “The end of evil.”  The note continues,

–Page 814

This brings to my mind the Classic Theory (Christus Victor) of the Atonement, known also as the Conquest of Satan.  According to Christian tradition the resurrection of Jesus was the greatest joke God played on Satan, hence the Eastern Orthodox custom of telling jokes on Easter Sunday.

The resurrection of Jesus carries a multitude of meanings.  One of these is that the way to conquer evil is with love.  To resort to evil to fight evil is to join the ranks of evildoers.  Yet to love–sacrificially, even–is to expose evil for what it is and to refuse to cave into it.  Although evil might seem to win, God has the last laugh.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 18, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF ADVENT

THE FEAST OF MARC BOEGNER, ECUMENIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT GIULIA VALLE, ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN

THE FEAST OF SAINT ISAAC HECKER, FOUNDER OF THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Book One: Psalms 1-41

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

Book Two:  Psalms 42-72

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

Book Three:  Psalms 73-89

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

81

82

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

Book Four:  Psalms 90-106

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

100

101

102

103

104

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

120

121

122

123

124

125

126

127

128

129

130

131

132

133

134

135

136

137

138

139

140

141

142

143

144

145

146

147

148

149

150

Also in the Greek:  Psalm 151

151

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  Oasis, the Sahara, Between 1910 and 1915

Image Publisher = Bain News Service

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-ggbain-10739

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

POST I OF LX

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Perhaps no word in the English language is more loaded than “God,” distinct from “god.”  My understanding of “God,” O reader, is certainly not exactly what yours is.  I know an Episcopal priest who has a good way of dealing with people who tell him they do not believe in God.  Father asks that person to describe God, in whom he or she does believe.  Inevitably Father does not believe in that God either.  He is, however, definitely a theist and a Christian.

So much for the word “God.”  What about the word “believe”?

To believe in, in full theological meaning, is to trust in.  As I have explained in person to the one person who has asked me to my face whether I believe in God, my answer depends on the meaning of the question.  If one is asking if I affirm the existence of God, my answer is “Yes, always.”  If, however, one wants to know if I trust in God, the answer is “Yes, most of the time.”  I would be less than honest if I were to indicate otherwise.

So, since trust in God is the real issue, how do we understand God, in whom we are supposed to trust?  Am I supposed to trust that God is the sort of figure who will, in the words of Psalm 3, strike my enemies across the face and break the teeth of the wicked?  Should I even desire that result?  If I do, that fact reflects negatively upon me.  Yes, I affirm that judgment and mercy coexist in the character of God, and that, when oppressors insist upon continuing to oppress and refrain from repenting, the deliverance of the victims is inherently bad news for their oppressors.  Yet I understand that my spiritual character ought to direct me to pray for the repentance, not the destruction, of oppressors.  Therefore I affirm that the recognition that, in the words of Psalm 5, evil cannot exist within God, is inconsistent with the portrayal of God as one who responds affirmatively to prayers for revenge.

Part of the difficulty of pondering the balance of divine judgment and mercy is not minimizing one of the two.  God is God; we are not.  Even the most powerful potentate (per Psalm 2) is insignificant compared to God.  God is neither a warm fuzzy nor a bastard.  We should avoid both extremes scrupulously.

Psalm 1 is, as the late Father Mitchell J. Dahood points out in his analysis of the text, the summary of the Book of Psalms.  The wicked might prosper and be powerful and influential in the meantime, but they will eventually perish; they will reap what they sow and be victims of themselves.  On the other hand, those who avoid the council and counsel (both words are accurate translations from the Hebrew text) of the wicked and refuse to join the company of the scoffers of God are still in the desert, albeit adjacent to sources of water.  They still depend upon God for everything and recognize that reality.  Life might not be easy or prosperous for them, but they have and will have eternal life–life in God, life of enjoying and glorifying God forever.  That is enough.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 28, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF FLORA MACDONALD, CANADIAN STATESWOMAN AND HUMANITARIAN

THE FEAST OF NANCY BYRD TURNER, POET, EDITOR, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF THE PIONEERING FEMALE EPISCOPAL PRIESTS, 1974 AND 1975

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  Palestinian Jewish Zealots in Life of Brian (1979)

A Screen Capture I Took via PowerDVD

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Collect:

Holy and righteous God, you are the author of life,

and you adopt us to be your children.

Fill us with your words of life,

that we may live as witnesses of the resurrection 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

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Assigned Readings:

Acts 3:1-10

Psalm 4

Luke 22:24-30

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Know that the LORD does wonders for the faithful;

when I call upon the LORD, he will hear me.

–Psalm 4:3, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

One of the greatest scenes in cinema comes from Life of Brian (1979).  Jewish rebels have gathered to ask one vital question:

What have the Romans ever done for us?

Some of the rebels name benefits of Roman rule, prompting Reg, the leader, to say:

All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?

Imperialism brings many benefits to the conquered and the occupied, but it does so at a high cost to those populations.  The operative question, then, is:

What does Roman occupation cost us?

If the accurate answer is freedom, the cost is too high.  If exploitation and tyranny are the costs for tangible benefits, one is correct to recognize which side gains more from the arrangement.

One purpose of the Kingdom of God in the Bible is to criticize earthly kingdoms and empires built on violence and exploitation.  The critique works well, especially with regard to the various Egyptian Empires, the Kingdom of Israel (united), the Kingdom of Israel (northern), the Kingdom of Judah (southern), the Assyrian Empire, the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire, the Seleucid Empire, and the Roman Empire.  In the Kingdom of God the greatest person is the servant of all, not the one who rules, oppresses, and exploits.  Those who help people who can never repay them are especially great in the Kingdom of God.

I prefer the Kingdom of God, which, according to my understanding, has become partially realized, with the promise of complete realization in the future.  Until then we who follow God can participate in the Kingdom of God as we have it.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 18, 2014 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF MARC BOEGNER, ECUMENIST

THE FEAST OF DOROTHY SAYERS, NOVELIST

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Adapted from this post:

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2014/12/18/devotion-for-saturday-before-the-third-sunday-of-easter-year-b-elca-daily-lectionary/

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Above:  The Persian Empire

Image in the Public Domain

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Collect:

Holy and righteous God, you are the author of life,

and you adopt us to be your children.

Fill us with your words of life,

that we may live as witnesses of the resurrection 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

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Assigned Readings:

Daniel 9:1-19 (Thursday)

Daniel 10:2-19 (Friday)

Psalm 4 (Both Days)

1 John 2:18-25 (Thursday)

1 John 2:26-28 (Friday)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Answer me when I call, defender of my cause;

you set me free when I am hard-pressed;

have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

–Psalm 4:1, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The congregation in 1 John had suffered from schism.  Gnostics or proto-Gnostics, who denied that Jesus was God incarnate, had departed from the church (and apparently deprived it of many large potential contributions).  The author of 1 John labeled these schismatics antichrists, meaning that they were not merely mistaken, but were evil and in league with Satan.

In Daniel 10 we read of a vision of an angel.  According to that chapter, an angel speaks to Daniel, who has interceded on behalf of his people.  This angel has been struggling with the guardian angel of the Persian Empire, who has delayed him for three weeks.  Fortunately, though, St. Michael the Archangel, having  come to the friendly angel’s aid, has made the visit to Daniel possible.

These readings, taken together, indicate a worldview substantially different from mine, for I am largely a product of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment.  I understand scientific materialism, laws of nature, and the basics of rationalist philosophy.  I am, in fact, no mystic.  I am, actually, a Modernist, in the sense of being the opposite of a Postmodernist.  Thus I struggle with these pericopes.

I do, however, glean some meaning from them.  There is a higher reality, I affirm.  My understanding of it does not include national guardian angels, but I acknowledge that God exists and cares about us and justice.  Thus prayers for justice are worthwhile and can lead to changes for the better.  However, I also detect a negative aspect in these readings.  True, sometimes people who oppose one are evil, but to apply that label wrongly places them outside the range of repentance and persuasion.  One might think of the allegedly evil as legitimate targets of hatred and destruction.  But what does engaging in that kind of invective and activity make one?  I encourage opposing evil (actual or imagined) in such as way that one does not become evil in actuality.  Trusting in God is a fine start.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 18, 2014 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF MARC BOEGNER, ECUMENIST

THE FEAST OF DOROTHY SAYERS, NOVELIST

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Adapted from this post:

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2014/12/18/devotion-for-thursday-and-friday-before-the-third-sunday-of-easter-year-b-elca-daily-lectionary/

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++