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:  Christ with the Children, by Carl Heinrich Bloch

Image in the Public Domain

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

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

Jeremiah 11:18-20

Psalm 54:1-4, 6-7a (LBW) or Psalm 119:25-32 (LW)

James 3:16-4:6

Mark 9:30-37

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

Lord God, you call us to work in your vineyard

and leave no one standing idle. 

Set us to our tasks in the work of your kingdom,

and help us to order our lives by your wisdom;

through your Son, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 28

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

Keep, we pray you, O Lord, your Church with your perpetual mercy;

and because without you we cannot but fall,

keep us ever by your help from all things hurtful

and lead us to all things profitable for our salvation;

for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 81-82

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

Jealousy, disharmony, and resentment come to us in this week’s readings.

1. The lessons from the Hebrew Bible flow from the context of persecution for faithfulness.  In Jeremiah 11:18-20 and Psalm 54, the context is mortal threat.
2. James 3:16-4:6 tells us that peace is a fruit of righteousness–right relationship with God, self, others, and all of creation.  As my father taught me, troubled people cause trouble.  So, peace is not more commonplace than it is, unfortunately.
3. Oblivious disciples, jockeying for position relative to Jesus, received a profoundly counter-cultural lesson in a society that did not value children as people:  Those who welcome a child in the name of Jesus welcome Jesus and God.
4. Those same disciples also learned that they lacked a monopoly on exorcisms, whatever the causation of “possession,” in Hellenistic terms, may be in modern medical and psychiatric diagnoses.  (I, having been in a long-term relationship with a woman who had schizophrenia and manic depression, understand, that in antiquity, she would have been “possessed.”  I also accept that possession is real in many cases.  The Roman Catholic Church, before authorizing an exorcism, wisely checks medical and psychiatric diagnoses first.)  Anyone not opposed to Jesus was on his side.

“Righteousness” is a common word.  But how do we use it?  Given that I have already defined it in this post, I choose not to define it again in this paragraph.  And, to repeat myself for the zillionth time, righteousness and justice are interchangeable in the Bible.  Why not?  That makes sense.  As the Epistle of James–especially–keeps reminding us, how we treat others is a matter of great concern to God.  Therefore, we need to shape up morally, in community.  We–both collectively and individually–ought never to trample the rights of people, especially in the name of God and morality.  Yes, morally gray areas exist in real life.  Life becomes complicated much of the time.  But we can do our best, with the help of God, in these circumstances.  If making the least bad decision is the best possible outcome, so be it.  If an unambiguously good result is possible, wonderful.

The actions to which the ethos of shaping up morally in community lead us will vary according to circumstances.  We mere mortals live in circumstances, not abstractions.  Yet, to focus on one timeless principle, I ask you, O reader:  In whom do you struggle to recognize the image of God?  In which type of person do you not see the image of God, at least not easily?  And how is God calling you to think of such people and to behave toward them differently?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 21, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF EASTER

THE FEAST OF SAINT ROMAN ADAME ROSALES, MEXICAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1927

THE FEAST OF SAINT CONRAD OF PARZHAM, CAPUCHIN FRIAR

THE FEAST OF DAVID BRAINERD, AMERICAN CONGREGATIONALIST THEN PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARY AND MINISTER

THE FEAST OF GEORGE B. CAIRD, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST THEN UNITED REFORMED MINISTER, BIBLICAL SCHOLAR, AND HYMN WRITER AND TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF GEORGIA HARKNESS, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, ETHICIST, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT SIMEON BARSABAE, BISHOP; AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS, 341

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

Adapted from this post

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

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

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

READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART XLI

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

Psalms 54 and 55

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

Psalms 54 and 55 are individual petitions.

The tacked-on superscription of Psalm 54 links the psalm to 1 Samuel 23, in which David, on the run from King Saul, took refuge in the territory of the Ziphites.  1 Samuel 23 tells us that some Ziphites told Saul where David was hiding (verses 19 and 20).  The superscription contradicts Psalm 54:

For strangers have risen up against me,

and ruthless men seek my life.

they are unmindful of God.

–Verse 5, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985, 1999)

Saul and David knew each other well.

The author of Psalm 54, beset by foes, trusts in God to issue a favorable judgment, as in a legal proceeding.  The psalmist affirms that God is more powerful than the enemies and will act from hesed–steadfast love.  Yet the psalmist is vengeful; he prays that God will exterminate the enemies, literally.

The translation by Father Mitchell J. Dahood, S.J., places that verse in the past tense:

He made the evil recoil on my defamers,

in his fidelity he annihilated them completely.

Revenge fantasies abound in the Book of Psalms.  Psalm 54 is not the first text in this series to contain them.  Neither is it the last.  My comments about the folly of revenge are on the record in this series of posts, so I move along.

Psalm 55 is a challenging text. m Not only does it contain difficult vocabulary, but it also seems to be the product of splicing two poems together.  The psalm opens in the midst of a threat by armed enemies.  The psalm addresses God then a treacherous former friend then God again.  The text concludes with a prayer that God bring “those murderous, treacherous men” down to Sheol, followed by an expression of trust in God.

The text in verses 19-22 (Jewish versification) is difficult, especially in the first half of verse 20.  A comparison of translations of verses 19 and 20 demonstrates this point.  TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures reads:

He redeems me unharmed

from the battle against me;

it is as though many are on my side.

God who has reigned from the first,

who will have no successor,

hears and humbles those who have no fear of God.

Robert Alter’s translation reads:

He has ransomed my life unharmed from my battle,

for many were against me–

Ishmael and Jalam and the dweller in the east,

who never will change and do not fear God.

Mitchell J. Dahood’s translation reads:

And the Ransomer heard my voice,

making payment for my life.

He drew near to me

when full many were against me.

El heard me and answered,

the Primeval One sent his reply

because in him there is no variation.

But they did not fear God.

What is happening in verse 20a?  Based on the three translations I have quoted, we have either “Ishmael and Jalam and the dwellers in the east,” “God who has reigned from the first,/who will have no successor,” or “El heard me and sent me his reply/because in him there is no variation.”  A literal translation of the Masoretic Text is gibberish:

God hears and answers them and is seated as of old.

Robert Alter’s translation follows one scholarly approach to verse 20a:  listing some enemies by name.  Alter’s commentary is the only I have read that refers to this approach in verse 20a.

The concluding petition of Psalm 55 suits the text:

And You, O God, bring them down

to the pit of destruction.

Men of bloodshed and deceit

will not finish half their days.

But I shall trust in you.

–Verse 24, Robert Alter

In contrast, these enemies were attempting to kill the psalmist.  Yet I detect revenge again.  Yet I cannot dispute that those who live by the sword will also die by it.

One commentary I consult argues that these passages in Psalms 54 and 55 are not prayers for revenge.  J. Clinton McCann, Jr., writing in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 4 (1996), insists that they are petitions for justice instead.  So, where is the line that separates justice from revenge?  It may be difficult to identify sometimes.  May we, by grace, favor justice and eschew revenge.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 15, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER AND MARTYR, 1968

THE FEAST OF BERTHA PAULSSEN, GERMAN-AMERICAN SEMINARY PROFESSOR, PSYCHOLOGIST, AND SOCIOLOGIST

THE FEAST OF GUSTAVE WEIGEL, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND ECUMENIST

THE FEAST OF JOHN COSIN, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF DURHAM

THE FEAST OF JOHN MARINUS VERSTEEG, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT NIKOLAUS GROSS, GERMAN ROMAN CATHOLIC OPPONENT OF NAZISM, AND MARTYR, 1945

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

READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33

Above:  Icon of David

Image in the Public Domain

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

PART XXXII

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

2 Samuel 5:17-25

1 Chronicles 14:1-17

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

Save me, O God, by your Name;

in your might, defend my cause.

Hear my prayer, O God;

give ear to the words of my mouth.

–Psalm 54:1-2, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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

Saul became the King of Israel with a charge to defeat the Philistine threat.  He failed for nearly twenty years.  Some time after David became the undisputed King of Israel, he defeated Philistine forces and liberated Israel from that threat, for a while.  (2 Samuel 5:17 is vague regarding the passage of time.)  God was fighting for Israel and advising David, the texts emphasized.

These passages contain references to previous passages.  The Israelite capture of idols as war booty indicates the opposite of the Philistine capture of the Ark of the Covenant (1 Samuel 4).  Exodus 14:25 and Judges 5:20 also mention God taking a side and intervening.

Interestingly, “Baal” functions as a name of God in 2 Samuel 5:20.  This is not entirely surprising.  I know of other religious connections between the Israelites and their neighbors.  For example, some of the Psalms indicate Egyptian or Canaanite influences; the texts use extant hymns as models.  Also, “El” and “Elohim” are Jewish names of God.  A student of ancient comparative religion may know that El was the chief Canannite deity and the presiding officer of the divine council, the Elohim.  The use of “Baal” for YHWH in 2 Samuel 5:20 prompts me to wonder about Ishbaal, son of Saul.  I wonder of the “man of Baal” was the “man of YHWH,” literally.  “Baal” means “Lord” or “Master.”  Perhaps the most famous Baal is Baal Peor, the Canaanite storm god and one the Baals.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 30, 2020 COMMON ERA

PROPER 17:  THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF SAINT JEANNE JUGAN, FOUNDRESS OF THE LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR

THE FEAST OF JOHN LEARY, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC SOCIAL ACTIVIST AND ADVOCATE FOR THE POOR AND THE MARGINALIZED

THE FEAST OF KARL OTTO EBERHARDT, GERMAN MORAVIAN ORGANIST, MUSIC, EDUCATOR, AND COMPOSER

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

Those compulsively protected from risk do not grow strong in faith.

Above:  Christ Walking on the Sea, by Amédée Varint

Image in the Public Domain

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

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

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

Exodus 17:1-7 or 1 Kings 2:13, 10-12; 3:3-14

Psalm 54

2 Corinthians 11:18-33

Mark 6:45-56

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

—Origenes Adamantius, a.k.a. Origen (185-254)

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

The way of proper faith is not Easy Street.  No, the path leads through peaks and valleys on its way to union with God.  The way of proper faith includes storms, too, but one need not endure them alone.  The presence of God may seem more obvious during times of difficulty, actually.

I attest, O reader, that times spiritual darkness and turbulence, regardless of what triggered them, are opportunities for spiritual growth.  Perhaps you, O reader, know this from experience, too.

One detail from the Gospel reading caught my attention this time, the umpteenth time I have read the story.  I focused on Jesus, walking on the water of the stormy Sea of Galilee, intending to pass by the boat carrying the Apostles.  This was no casual detail.  No, it was an allusion to the presence of YHWH passing before Moses in Exodus 33:19-22.  Furthermore, in Mark 6:50, the words of Jesus,

It is I,

echo the great

I AM,

from Exodus 3:13f.

When we encounter the presence of God in a way out of the ordinary for us, how do we respond?  Do we fall into sin?  Do we remain somewhat oblivious, as the Apostles did for a while?  Do we laugh (Genesis 17:17 and 18:12) because divine promises seem absurd?  Or do we respond faithfully?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 24, 2019 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THOMAS À KEMPIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK, PRIEST, AND SPIRITUAL WRITER

THE FEAST OF JOHN NEWTON, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF WALTER RAUSCHENBUSCH, U.S. BAPTIST MINISTER AND THEOLOGIAN OF THE SOCIAL GOSPEL

THE FEAST OF SAINTS VINCENTIA GEROSA AND BARTHOLOMEA CAPITANIO, COFOUNDERS OF THE SISTERS OF CHARITY OF LOVERE

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

Adapted from this post:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2019/07/24/devotion-for-proper-15-year-b-humes/

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

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

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

The benighted man thinks,

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

POST XX 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

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

“God does not care.”

–Psalm 53:2a, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985)

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

In Psalm 53, nearly identical to Psalm 14, the standard English-language translation of the opening is that the fool thinks that there is no God.  The wording varies slightly, but it is usually quite similar.  The translation in TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures cuts to the chase.  The word “benighted,” according to the germane note in The Jewish Study Bible–Second Edition (2014), is quite strong, for Amnon, who raped his half-sister Tamar in 2 Samuel 13:13, was a benighted man.  A benighted man denies the ability of God to punish sins and hear prayers, so he lives as if God does not care.  He will learn that God does indeed care deeply.

The authors of Psalms 54 and 55 understood that God cared; they asked God to vindicate them.  Interestingly, the author of Psalm 54, oppressed by strangers, anticipated divine vindication yet did not thank Him in advance.  (Did I detect a transactional aspect to that relationship?)  The author of the longer Psalm 55, betrayed by a friend, asked God to bring

those murderous, treacherous men

down to the slimy, slippery, muddy, and filthy pit of Sheol then noted that he trusted in God.

“You have heard that they were told, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’  But what I tell you is this:  Love your enemies and pray for your persecutors; only so you can be children of your heavenly Father, who causes the sun to rise on the good and bad alike, and sends the rain on the innocent and the wicked.  If you love only those who love you, what reward can you expect?  Even the tax-collectors do as much as that.  If you greet only your brothers, what is there extraordinary about that?  Even the heathen do as much.  There must be no limit to your goodness, as your heavenly Father’s goodness knows no bounds.”

–Matthew 5:43-48, The Revised English Bible (1989)

By that standard and by the power of God, whom we ought to glorify anyway, may we be extraordinary.  Regardless of how much we fall short of that high standard, may we continue to strive for it.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 10, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM WALSHAM HOW, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF WAKEFIELD AND HYMN WRITER; AND HIS SISTER, FRANCES JANE DOUGLAS(S), HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT LAURENCE OF ROME, ROMAN CATHOLIC DEACON AND MARTYR

THE FEAST OF SHERMAN BOOTH, ABOLITIONIST

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

Above:  The Testament and Death of Moses, by Luca Signorelli

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:

Deuteronomy 31:(1-22) 23-29 or Micah 7:1-7 or Daniel (11:40-45) 12:1-13

Psalm 54

Matthew 10:17-22a; 24:9-14 or Mark 13:9-13

1 Corinthians 9:1-15

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

Human nature is corrupt, we read in Deuteronomy 31 and Micah 7.  We do not require these or any other texts to grasp that truth, do we?  All we need to do is to understand ourselves and follow current events and study the past if we are to be aware of our flawed nature.  As St. Paul the Apostle reminds us down the corridors of time, our only proper basis is in God–Christ Jesus, to be precise.  God will ultimately destroy the corrupt human order, founded on violence and exploitation, and replace it with a just social, economic, and political order.  Certainly we are incapable of accomplishing that goal.

As much as we might seek divine destruction of our enemies, we must be careful not to fall into the trap of living as vengeful people.  As we read in 2 John 5b-6, love is supposed to be our rule of life.  Even during times of persecution love is properly the rule of life.  This is a lofty spiritual goal–one which requires us to resist our nature and to rely on divine grace.  How can we be God’s salt and light in the world if we do otherwise?  We are free in Christ Jesus to glorify God wherever we are, and no matter under what circumstances we live.  May we, in all circumstances, to quote my bishop, love like Jesus, by grace.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 17, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE TWENTY-FIRST DAY OF ADVENT

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, ABOLITIONIST AND FEMINIST; AND MARIA STEWART, ABOLITIONIST, FEMINIST, AND EDUCATOR

THE FEAST OF EGLANTYNE JEBB AND DOROTHY BUXTON, FOUNDERS OF SAVE THE CHILDREN

THE FEAST OF FRANK MASON NORTH, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER

THE FEAST OF MARY CORNELIA BISHOP GATES, U.S. DUTCH REFORMED HYMN WRITER

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

Adapted from this post:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2016/12/17/devotion-for-proper-11-year-d/

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

Above:  Icon of Christ the Merciful

Image in the Public Domain

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

The Collect:

O God, our teacher and guide,

you draw us to yourself and welcome us as beloved children.

Help us to lay aside all envy and selfish ambition,

that we may walk in your ways of wisdom and understanding

as servants of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 48

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

The Assigned Readings:

Judges 6:1-10 (Thursday)

1 Kings 22:22-40 (Friday)

2 Kings 17:5-18 (Saturday)

Psalm 54 (All Days)

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (Thursday)

Romans 11:25-32 (Friday)

Matthew 23:29-39 (Saturday)

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

Save me, O God, by your Name;

in your might, defend my cause.

Hear my prayer, O God;

give ear to the words of my mouth.

For the arrogant have risen up against me,

and the ruthless have sought my life,

those who have no regard for God.

Behold, God is my helper;

it is the Lord who sustains my life.

Render evil to those who spy on me;

in your faithfulness, destroy them.

I will offer you a freewill sacrifice

and praise your Name, O LORD, for it is good.

For you have rescued me from every trouble,

and my eye has seen the ruin of my foes.

–Psalm 54, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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

The prayer for divine destruction of enemies–hardly unique to Psalm 54–does violate the commandment to love one’s enemies as oneself, does it not?

Enemies exist.  In the pericopes for these three days alone we read of Midianites, monarchs, Assyrians, Arameans, and corrupt officials from the Temple at Jerusalem.  Furthermore, we, if we are to become properly informed, must know that many early Christians regarded Jews who rejected Jesus as enemies.  Christianity began as a Jewish sect, one which remained on the Jewish margins.  Frustrations over this reality became manifest in, among other texts, the Gospel of John, with its repeated references to “the Jews” in negative contexts.  Nevertheless, St. Paul the Apostle, who preached to Gentiles, was always Jewish.

Sometimes enemies are others.  On many occasions, however, one can find the enemy looking back at oneself in a mirror.  A recurring theological motif in the Hebrew Bible is that the exiles of Hebrew people resulted from rampant societal sinfulness; the collective was responsible.  That runs afoul of Western notions of individualism, but one finds it in the pages of the Bible.  There are at least two varieties of responsibility and sin–individual and collective.  We are responsible to God, for ourselves, and to and for each other.  Thus reward and punishment in the Hebrew Bible are both individual and collective.  Sometimes, the texts tell us, we bring destruction on ourselves.

But how does that translate into language regarding God?  May we take care not to depict God as a cosmic tyrant while investing that God is also merciful.  Yes, actions have consequences for ourselves and those around us.  Yes, God has sent many prophets, a large number of whom have endured the consequences of rejection.  Yes, both judgment and mercy exist in God.  I do not presume to know where the former ends and the latter begins; such matters are too great for me, a mere mortal.

No, I reject false certainty and easy answers.  No variety of fundamentalism is welcome here.  No, I embrace what St. Paul the Apostle called

the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God,

complete with

his judgments

and

inscrutable ways.–Romans 11:33, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

I favor “the mystery of God,” as in 1 Corinthians 2:1, as well as a relationship with God, which depends on divine faithfulness, not on human wisdom.

Kenneth J. Foreman, writing in Volume 21 (1961) of The Layman’s Bible Commentary, noted in reference to 1 Corinthians 2:1-5:

One point to note is that Paul does not present Christianity as a set of dogmas or as a manual of advice.  It is a story, something that happened, something God has done.–Page 75

Orthodoxy can be healthy, so long as it is neither stale nor unloving.  Pietism, with its legalism, is quite unfortunate.  Pietism, a reaction against stale orthodoxy, is at least as objectionable as that which it opposes.

Some thoughts of Dr. Carl J. Sodergren (1870-1949), a theologian of the former Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church (1860-1962), from 1937 apply well in the context of these pericopes and many circumstances:

Orthodoxy is good.  It means adherence to the truth, and no sane man would willingly surrender that.  But orthodoxy without love is dangerous.  It provides fertile soil for bigotry, hatred, spiritual pride, self-conceit, and a score of other evils which hide the Holy One from the eyes of the world.  It turns men into merciless heresy hunters, the most contemptible vermin on earth.  It aligns us with the scribes and Pharisees, the priests and high priests of the time of Jesus.  Nobody ever questioned their orthodoxy, but because it was loveless, it blinded them to His divinity and made it easier to spike Him to a cross.  We are not worried about the trumpet calls to orthodoxy which for some reason have begun to blare may drown out in our hearts the still small voice which prays for unity and love among all Christ’s disciples.

–Quoted in G. Everett Arden, Augustana Heritage:  A History of the Augustana Lutheran Church (Rock Island, IL:  Augustana Press, 1963), pp. 287-288

May love of God and for each other be evident in our lives and social structures and institutions.  Wherever it is evident, may it increase.  May we obey the divine commandment to take care of each other, not to exploit anyone or to discriminate against any person.  The Golden Rule is difficult to live, but we have God’s grace available to us; may we avail ourselves of it.  We also have an example–Jesus–to follow.  May his love be evident (then more so) in us, especially those of us who claim to follow him or to attempt to do so.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 30, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JOHANN OLAF WALLIN, ARCHBISHOP OF UPPSALA AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF ARTHUR JAMES MOORE, UNITED METHODIST BISHOP IN GEORGIA

THE FEAST OF HEINRICH LONAS, GERMAN MORAVIAN ORGANIST, COMPOSER, AND LITURGIST

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

Adapted from this post:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/devotion-for-thursday-friday-and-saturday-before-proper-20-year-b-elca-daily-lectionary/

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

Above:  The Crucifixion, by Michelangelo

Image in the Public Domain

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

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 236

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

The Assigned Readings:

Jeremiah 37:1-21 (November 18)

Jeremiah 38:1-28 (November 19)

Psalm 51 (Morning–November 18)

Psalm 54 (Morning–November 19)

Psalms 85 and 47 (Evening–November 18)

Psalms 28 and 99 (Evening–November 19)

Matthew 27:33-56 (November 18)

Matthew 27:57-66 (November 19)

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

Some Related Posts:

Matthew 27:

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/sunday-of-the-passion-palm-sunday-year-a/

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/fortieth-day-of-lent-holy-saturday/

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

Zedekiah (reigned 597-586 BCE) was not the legitimate King of Judah.  That office fell properly upon his nephew, Jehoiachin (reigned 597 BCE), per 2 Kings 24:17.  Zedekiah, as the Chaldean-appointed regent, had a title but little power.  He could not even protect Jeremiah fully.  But Zedekiah, to his credit, did consult the prophet.  Nevertheless, the time to save Judah from destruction had passed; the kingdom’s fate was sealed, as was that of Zedekiah, who disregarded much of Jeremiah’s advice.

Our Lord’s fate seemed to be sealed.  He was dead–made a great and terrible, very public example of by the forces of the Roman Empire.  The charge, as in the case of Jeremiah, was false–treason.

Frequently good people (Jesus being the best person) became caught up in the perfidious schemes of others.  But God is with the persecuted righteous people, even when they die, have to go into exile, or must suffer another cruel fate–without resurrection in all but one case.  The fact that good people find themselves in these difficult situations reflects badly on those who can prevent or could have prevented such situations.  Oppressors cannot oppress by themselves.  No, they have the passive aid of those who look the other way, who say or do nothing when they can confront.  It is safer (for some) to be or remain passive.  But such passivity hurts many more people.

May we confess our sins of omission, trusting God to complete the list with those we have forgotten and those we have never recognized.  Then may we change our ways–repent–and perform a greater number of good deeds, thereby preventing even more injustice and reducing the amount thereof already extant.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 4, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT FRANCIS CARACCIOLO, COFOUNDER OF THE MINOR CLERKS REGULAR

THE FEAST OF JOHN XXIII, BISHOP OF ROME

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

Adapted from this post:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2013/06/04/devotion-for-november-18-and-19-lcms-daily-lectionary/

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