Above:  Kudzu, Atlanta, Georgia

Image in the Public Domain

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For the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Trinity, Year 2

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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 God, we beseech thee, show thy mercy unto thy humble servants,

that we who put no trust in our own merits may not be dealt with

after the severity of thy judgment, but according to thy mercy;

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), 231

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Job 14:1-5

Psalms 112 and 113

Romans 10:1-21

Luke 17:20-33

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The readings from the Hebrew Bible cohere well, speaking in Job 14:1-5, reflects on the brevity of a human lifespan, even a relatively long one.  Psalms 112 and 113, taken together, encourage people to imitate God in behaving justly toward other people, such as the poor.  Our lives are brief, but they can be meaningful and positive.  We can use our time to leave the world better than we found it.  We can live according to the Golden Rule, by grace.  To do so is to respond faithfully to God.  Obey divine laws, Covenantal Nomism teaches.  By doing so, one retains one’s place in the covenant.

St. Paul the Apostle’s critique of Second Temple Judaism, contrary to popular misconception, was not that it was a legalistic, works-based righteousness religion.  No, his critique was that Second Temple Judaism lacked Jesus.  For St. Paul, Jesus was the game changer of all game changers.

The partially realized Kingdom of God has long been present on the Earth.  Certain events have made it more obvious than it was, though.  The life of Jesus on the Earth was a series of such events.  The partially realized Kingdom of God has set the stage for the fully realized Kingdom of God, still in the future.

God remains faithful.  Many people remain faithless.  The Golden Rule continues to be a teaching more people prefer to quote than to practice.  “None” continues to be the fastest-growing religious affiliation in much of the world.  Jesus keeps facing rejection.

Yet the Kingdom of God remains like kudzu, a plant commonplace where I live.  Kudzu grows where it will.  And God will win in the end.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 1, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT HENRY MORSE, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1645

THE FEAST OF SAINT BENEDICT DASWA, SOUTH AFRICAN ROMAN CATHOLIC CATECHIST AND MARTYR, 1990

THE FEAST OF CHARLES SEYMOUR ROBINSON, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMNOLOGIST

THE FEAST OF GIOVANNI PIERLUIGI DA PALESTRINA, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC COMPOSER AND MUSICIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT SIGEBERT III, KING OF AUSTRASIA

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The beginning of wisdom is fear of the LORD,

Above:  The Great Commission

Image in the Public Domain

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For the Second Sunday after Trinity, Year 2

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Lectionary from A Book of Worship for Free Churches (The General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States, 1948)

Collect from The Book of Worship (Evangelical and Reformed Church, 1947)

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O Lord, who never failest to help and govern those

whom thou dost bring up in thy steadfast fear and love;

make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—The Book of Worship (1947), 186

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Proverbs 9:1-10

Psalm 76

Romans 10:1-15

Matthew 9:35-10:1

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These four readings combine to form a call for evangelism.  As Proverbs 9:10 tells us,

And knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

—TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985)

Psalm 76:11a reads:

Make vows to the LORD your God, and keep them;

let the peoples all around him bring their tribute….

—The Revised English Bible (1989)

St. Paul the Apostle criticized Second Temple for lacking Jesus, not for being a legalistic, works-based-righteousness religion.  (Read E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, 1977, O reader.)  In that context, St. Paul dictated:

But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed?  And how can they believe in whom of whom they have not heard?  And how can they hear without someone to preach?

–Romans 10:14, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)

Finally, Matthew 9:37-38 tells us:

Then [Jesus] said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

—The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

One could add the next step, discipling:

…Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.

–Matthew 28:19-20a, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

Each of us has a set of spiritual gifts.  I, as an introvert, become nervous at the thought of knocking on someone’s door.  In fact, I prefer that people not knock on my door when I am home.  When I am home, I prefer to stay away from the outside world, at least physically.  Going around, even in a team, and knocking on doors, for the purpose of evangelism, is not my style.

My Episcopal parish in Athens, Georgia, had begun a process of discerning God’s call upon the congregation, establishing goals, and working backward from those goals to develop strategies when the COVID-19 pandemic started.  Our goals fell into three headings:  Nourish, Go, and Grow.

My spiritual gifts fall primarily under the “Nourish” heading.  Discipleship is where I come into the picture most of the time.  That is fine; all spiritual gifts are necessary, and nobody has all of them.

I pray, O reader, that at least one of my devotional posts helps you along your walk with God in Christ.  And if, by blogging, I commit evangelism (not just discipling), so much the better.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 13, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT HILARY OF POITIERS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF POITIERS, “ATHANASIUS OF THE WEST,” AND HYMN WRITER; AND HIS PROTÉGÉ, SAINT MARTIN OF TOURS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF TOURS

THE FEAST OF CHRISTIAN KEIMANN, GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF GEORGE FOX, FOUNDER OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS

THE FEAST OF MARY SLESSOR, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARY IN WEST AFRICA

THE FEAST OF SAMUEL PREISWERK, SWISS REFORMED MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

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Above:  The Anointing of David

Image in the Public Domain

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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ,  who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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1 Samuel 16:1-13 or Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

Psalm 108:1-6, 13

Romans 10:5-15

Luke 14:1-14

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Seeing other people as God sees them can be challenging.  First, we must see past our blindness, erroneous attitudes we have learned and affirmed.  We like our categories, do we not?  Second, we are not God.  We know much less than God does.  How can we look upon the heart of someone we do not know?  We cannot know the hearts of many other people.

We can and must reserve judgments not rooted in sufficient evidence.  We can do this by grace.  We can properly arrive at some conclusions.  Some people, for example, are stone-cold serial killers.  Extreme examples are easy and safe ones.  Most of life occupies the vast grayness and ambiguity that defies black-and-white simplicity.

Some of the advice in today’s readings may seem odd, counter-intuitive, or wrong.  Why should exiles not resist their captors?  If one is going to be in exile for a long time, one should hope to prosper, actually, according to Jeremiah.  When we turn to the Gospel of Luke, we enter the territory of reversal of fortune.  The first will be last and the last will be first in Luke.  That Gospel also says that blessed are the poor and woe to the rich.  In that line of thought we read a commandment to be kind to those who cannot repay one.  Do not seek to exalt oneself, we read.  When one is kind, one should be genuinely kind.  Jeremiah and Luke offer advice and commandments that contradict conventional wisdom.

Related to that seeming folly is the theme of of not judging prematurely.  The wealthy and prominent are not necessarily better than the poor and the the marginalized.  Social status and character are separate matters.  I guarantee that each person is facing struggles of which others may not know.  Each of us may know well someone who is frequently a cause of stress and frustration.  That person may be doing the best he or she can, given circumstances.  Seeing others as God sees them is a spiritual feat possible only by grace.

Perfection (as we usually understand that word) is an impossible moral and spiritual standard.  We can, however, improve morally and spiritually, by grace.  We can be more patient with and forgiving of each other, by grace.  We can reserve judgments properly and more often, by grace.  May we do so, by grace.  Perfection, in the Biblical sense, is being suited for one’s purpose.  We can also do that only by grace.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 26, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM COWPER, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT ADELARD OF CORBIE, FRANKISH ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK AND ABBOT; AND HIS PROTÉGÉ, SAINT PASCHASIUS RADBERTUS, FRANKISH ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK, ABBOT, AND THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF ROBERT HUNT, FIRST ANGLICAN CHAPLAIN IN JAMESTOWN, VIRGINIA

THE FEAST OF RUTH BYLLESBY, EPISCOPAL DEACONESS IN GEORGIA

THE FEAST OF SAINT STANISLAW KUBISTA, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1940; AND SAINT WLADYSLAW GORAL, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP AND MARTYR, 1945

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Adapted from this post:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2020/04/26/devotion-for-proper-22-year-c-humes/

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The appalling strangeness of the mercy of God,

Above:  Icon of the Crucifixion, by Andrei Rublev

Image in the Public Domain

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For the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity, 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 art always more ready to hear than we to pray,

and art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve;

pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy,

forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid,

and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask,

but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord.  Amen.

—The Book of Worship (1947), 204

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Daniel 9:8-19

Psalm 62:1-8

Romans 10:4-18

Luke 9:28-45

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Faith comes by hearing, St. Paul the Apostle tells us down the corridors of time.  However, as we read in Daniel 9, Romans 19, and Luke 9, hearing does not always lead to faith.  Not everyone who hears the words of God responds to them as the author of Psalm 62 did.

As I write occasionally in posts, when the topic arises, God sends nobody to Hell.  Hell is real.  I understand Heaven and Hell to be realities, not places with coordinates and boundaries.  Neither Heaven nor Hell is north of x or southeast of y.  God seeks to draw all people in.  As Karl Barth asked, if God were to save everybody, would that be bad?  Universal salvation would be nice, but many people reject salvation.  God sends nobody to Hell.  All people in Hell condemned themselves.

I also affirm that, assuming one goes to Heaven, one may experience some surprise at who is present and who is absent.  Theological humility is a virtue, and should not rejoice to conclude that anyone is in Hell.  I also admit to discomfort at the assertion that admission into Heaven depends on passing St. Peter’s canonical examination.  To transform doctrine into a Heavenly litmus test is to understand the acceptance of received orthodoxy as a saving work.  In my theology, Jesus is the only person who ever committed a saving work.  He did it for all of us.

as Graham Greene called it in Brighton Rock, is wonderful.  I choose to embrace it, for such love deserves and affirmative response.  That extravagant, divine love must come with the option of human rejection if human acceptance is to mean anything.  And rejection of it leads to self-condemnation.  In these cases, both salvation and damnation entail receiving what one wants.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 22, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF GENE BRITTON, EPISCOPAL PRIEST

THE FEAST OF DONALD S. ARMENTROUT, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF HADEWIJCH OF BRABERT, ROMAN CATHOLIC MYSTIC

THE FEAST OF KATHE KOLLWITZ, GERMAN LUTHERAN ARTIST AND PACIFIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT VITALIS OF GAZA, MONK, HERMIT, AND MARTYR, CIRCA 625

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Above:  Moses and the Burning Bush

Image in the Public Domain

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For the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year 1

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Lectionary from A Book of Worship for Free Churches (The General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States, 1948)

Collect from The Book of Worship (Evangelical and Reformed Church, 1947)

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O God, who in the glorious Transfiguration of thy only begotten Son,

hast confirmed the mysteries of the faith by the testimony of the fathers,

and who, in the voice that came from the bright cloud,

didst in a wonderful manner vouchsafe to make us co-heirs with the King of his glory,

and bring us to the enjoyment of the same;

through the same 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), 134

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Exodus 3:1-15

Psalm 119:49-64

Romans 10:1-17

Luke 5:1-15

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God works in more than one type of way.  Some actions are subtle.  Others, however, are spectacular and surprising.  Divine acts, however subtle or spectacular, ought to inspire us to love and serve God.

God has chosen some seemingly unlikely.  In today’s readings, for example, were a murderer and a fugitive from Egyptian justice (Moses), a persecutor of the early Church (St. Paul the Apostle), an impetuous man who often spoke before he thought (St. Simon Peter), and two hellraisers (Sts. James and John, sons of Zebedee).  They, by grace, became much more than what they had been.  Moses became a great leader and lawgiver.  St. Paul became a great apostle to Gentiles.  St. Simon Peter became a rock upon which Jesus built the Church.  Sts. James and John became great evangelists.  Three of these men became martyrs.

How much more, O reader, can you become in God?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 20, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SEBASTIAN CASTELLIO, PROPHET OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

THE FEAST OF CHRISTOPHER WORDSWORTH, HYMN WRITER AND ANGLICAN BISHOP OF LINCOLN

THE FEAST OF ELLEN GATES STARR, U.S. EPISCOPALIAN THEN ROMAN CATHOLIC SOCIAL ACTIVIST AND REFORMER

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIA JOSEFA SANCHO DE GUERRA, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE SERVANTS OF JESUS

THE FEAST OF SAMUEL RODIGAST, GERMAN LUTHERAN ACADEMIC AND HYMN WRITER

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But who is my neighbor?

Above:  Parable of the Good Samaritan

Image in the Public Domain

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For the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, Year 2, according to the U.S. Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970

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Eternal God, who hast taught us that we shall life if we love thee and our neighbor:

help us to know who is our neighbor and to serve him, that we may truly love thee;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Worship–Provisional Services (1966), 125

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Isaiah 45:14-22

Romans 10:8-17

Luke 10:25-37

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The scandalous generosity of God calls out to all people, not all of whom respond faithfully.  Many of them imagine in vain that they do.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the more frequently told stories from the Gospels.  It has become so familiar to many of us that the scandal of a good Samaritan (an outcast and a heretic) has become ho-hum for us.  We need to replace “Samaritan” with another term (such as “illegal immigrant” in my North American context in 2019) to grasp the scandal of the parable.  The substitute word will vary according to person, place, time, and other factors that determine contexts.

The questioner, seeking to justify himself, not to find wisdom and sound ethical counsel, asked,

His question was actually,

Who is not my neighbor?

That question, in other words, is,

Whom can I treat poorly with a good conscience?

Our Lord and Savior provided a timeless and frequently politically inconvenient answer, which I summarize as,

Everybody is your neighbor.  Love all your neighbors as you love yourself.

That answer should disturb politicians and voters left, right, and center everywhere and at all times, for it calls all of them to account.  Imagine, O reader, societies in which this principle is normative and in which violating it is socially unacceptable.  Those hypothetical societies sound wonderful, do they not?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 23, 2019 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT BRIDGET OF SWEDEN, FOUNDRESS OF THE ORDER OF THE MOST HIGH SAVIOR; AND HER DAUGHTER, SAINT CATHERINE OF SWEDEN, SUPERIOR OF THE ORDER OF THE MOST HIGH SAVIOR

THE FEAST OF ADELAIDE TEAGUE CASE, PROFESSOR OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

THE FEAST OF SAINTS PHILIP EVANS AND JOHN LLOYD, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND MARTYRS

THE FEAST OF THEODOR LILEY CLEMENS, ENGLISH MORAVIAN MINISTER, MISSIONARY, AND COMPOSER

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Above:  Christ and Pilate, by Nicholas Ge

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:

Nahum 1:1-8

Psalm 33:(1-12) 13-22

Matthew 27:3-31a or Mark 15:2-20a or Luke 23:2-25 or John 18:29-19:16

Romans 10:14, 16-21 or Romans 11:2b-28 (29-32) 33-36

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Judgment and mercy relate to each other in the readings for this Sunday.  Divine judgment and mercy coexist in Nahum 1, with judgment falling on the Neo-Assyrian Empire.  The two factors also coexist in Psalm 33, but with the emphasis on mercy.  Psalm 33, in the context of the readings from the Gospels and Romans 10 and 11, seems ironic, for rejection of Jesus does not fit with

Happy is the nation whose God is the LORD!

happy is the people he has chosen to be his own.

–Psalm 33:12, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

The options for the Gospel reading bring us to the verge of the crucifixion of Jesus, who was, of course, innocent of any offense (in the eyes of God), especially one that any Roman imperial official would consider worthy of crucifixion.  To kill a person that way was to make an example of him, to extinguish him, and to convince (via fear) anyone from doing what he had done or had allegedly done.  It was a form of execution usually reserved for criminals such as insurrectionists.  The fact of the crucifixion of Jesus actually reveals much about the perception of Jesus by certain people.

Jesus was a threat to the religious establishment at a place and in a time when the separation of religion and state did not exist.  He was not an insurrectionist, however.  He was a revolutionary though.  He was a revolutionary who continues to threaten human institutions and social norms by calling their morality into question.

Attempts to domesticate Jesus are nothing new.  We can, however, access the undomesticated Jesus via the Gospels.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 20, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE TWENTY-FOURTH DAY OF ADVENT

THE FEAST OF SAINT DOMINIC OF SILOS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT

THE FEAST OF ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL TAIT, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER CANISIUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM JOHN BLEW, ENGLISH PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER

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Adapted from this post:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2016/12/20/devotion-for-proper-25-year-d/

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Above:  Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther, by Rembrandt van Rijn

Image in the Public Domain

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The Collect:

Almighty and ever-living God, you are always more ready than we are to pray,

and you gladly give more than we either desire or deserve.

Pour upon us your abundant mercy.

Forgive us those things that weigh on our conscience,

and give us those good things that come only through your Son,

Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 43

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The Assigned Readings:

Esther 6:1-7:6

Psalm 55:16-23

Romans 9:30-10:4

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They attack those at peace with them,

going back on their oaths;

though their mouth is smoother than butter,

enmity is in their hearts;

their words more soothing than oil,

yet sharpened like swords.

–Psalm 55:20-21, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)

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Our journey through the Book of Esther takes us through the sixth chapter and part of the seventh.  Ahasuerus, finally growing some part of a spine, recalls that Mordecai had saved his life in Chapter 2.  The monarch asks if the loyal courtier has received a reward for such fidelity and learns that the answer is negative.  Ahasuerus plans to reward Mordecai properly as Haman, who seeks to have the monarch send Mordecai to die, enters the royal presence.  Haman never has the opportunity to say what is on his mind, for Ahasuerus asks him what should happen to the man the monarch wishes to honor.  Haman, imagining that Ahasuerus means to honor him, explains details of an impressive ceremony.  The monarch turns the tables on Haman by instructing him to make those arrangements for Mordecai.  Haman, now in a desperate situation, is about to be in a worse situation, for Ahasuerus responds favorably to Queen Esther’s request for the deliverance of the Jews.  The monarch is angry to learn that Haman has manipulated him into nearly committing genocide.  Haman cringes in terror before the king and queen consort.

I propose that, as one reads that story from the Bible, one should imagine tones of voice and facial expressions.  Doing so makes the account come to life.

I have spent much time contemplating the Law of Moses recently.  Pondering timeless principles illustrated by culturally specific laws which assume a certain level of technology and other factors no longer applicable to many of us today has increased my regard for those principles, such as the truths that we human beings are completely dependent upon God, are responsible for each other, and are responsible to each other.  Obeying divine law is properly a matter of obedience to God, not works-based righteousness.  As Jesus says in John 14:15 (The New Jerusalem Bible, 1985),

If you love me you will keep my commandments.

I suppose, then, that St. Paul the Apostle objected not to the Law of Moses itself but to the misuse of it.  He favored focusing on what God has done, not what we mere mortals have done.  St. Paul was especially fond of fixating on what Jesus has done.

Haman, a proud, spiteful, and amoral man, sought to destroy innocent others to promote himself in the royal court.  Although he was a fictional character, real-life scoundrels who have been willing to sacrifice others (innocent or not) for their own glorification have populated seats of power throughout time.  They have not practiced righteousness, much less works-based righteousness.

May we seek to glorify God, not ourselves.  May we seek to love our fellow human beings as we love ourselves.  May we choose the higher path.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 17, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT PATRICK, BISHOP OF ARMAGH

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Adapted from this post:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2016/03/17/devotion-for-tuesday-after-proper-12-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/

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Above:  Christ Pantocrator

Image in the Public Domain

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The Collect:

Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come.

With your abundant grace and might,

free us from the sin that would obstruct your mercy,

that willingly we may bear your redeeming love to all the world,

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

one God, now and forever. Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 19

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The Assigned Readings:

Zephaniah 3:8-13 (December 22)

Zephaniah 3:14-20 (December 23)

Psalm 96 (Both Days)

Romans 10:5-13 (December 22)

Romans 13:11-14 (December 23)

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He will judge the world with righteousness

and the peoples with his truth.

–Psalm 96:13, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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The language of the Kingdom of God functions on more than one level.  It describes the following, with some germane scriptural passages favoring one definition above the other two:

1. an earthly future when God’s order has replaced corrupt, violent, and exploitative human systems;
2. an earthly place where God’s order has replaced corrupt, violent, and exploitative human systems; and
3. Heaven.

There is also a sense of the Kingdom of God being partially manifest in the present; the Regnum Dei has arrived, yet there is more to come.  In a political sense, the Kingdom of God functions as a criticism of violent, corrupt, and economically exploitative human systems.  Thus, for example, any way in which the Judean monarchy or the Roman imperium differed from the Kingdom of God was a way in which it missed the mark–sinned.

One function of divine judgment in the Bible is to prompt repentance.  Judgment has a purifying function, as in Zephaniah 3:8-20, a vision of a righteous time and place.  The restored, purified remnant of Judah will live faithfully in the presence of God.  Furthermore, the passage says, justice will prevail and shame will be absent and unnecessary.

Those who have benefitted from the mercies of God ought to live accordingly, thanking God with their lives, as grace enables them to do so.  The love of God is universal, so the previous sentence applies to everyone.  To respond to perfect love with as close to that as humanly possible does not constitute symmetry, but God accepts it graciously.  The Kingdom of God, the Gospels tell us, is inside us and around us.  It has arrived partially; its fullness will come in time.  May our lives, by grace, indicate something of that part of the Kingdom of God which is present.

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, whom the Roman Empire executed, may we remember that he entered a violent world in which he was a target from the beginning of this incarnated life.  Yet:

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

–John 1:5, New Revised Standard Version (1989)

The darkness remains, but so does the light.  And God is the King, despite appearances to the contrary.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 27, 2014 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ARTHUR CAMPBELL AINGER, ENGLISH EDUCATOR, SCHOLAR, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT AEDESIUS, PRIEST AND MISSIONARY; AND SAINT FRUDENTIUS, FIRST BISHOP OF AXUM AND ABUNA OF THE ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX TEWAHEDO CHURCH

THE FEAST OF THE VICTIMS OF THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS

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Adapted from this post:

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/devotion-for-december-22-and-23-year-b-elca-daily-lectionary/

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Above:  Ruins of Ancient Corinth, Between 1898 and 1946

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-matpc-07406

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The Collect:

O Lord God, enliven and preserve your church with your perpetual mercy.

Without your help, we mortals will fail;

remove far from us everything that is harmful,

and lead us toward all that gives life and salvation,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 46

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The Assigned Readings:

Ezekiel 24:1-14 (Thursday)

Ezekiel 24:15-27 (Friday)

Psalm 119:33-40 (Both Days)

2 Corinthians 12:11-21 (Thursday)

Romans 10:15b-21 (Friday)

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Turn away the reporach which I dread,

because your judgments are good.

Behold, I long for your commandmetns;

in your righteousness preserve my life.

–Psalm 119:39-40, Book of Common Worship (1993)

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The assigned readings from Ezekiel are quite vivid and disturbing. We read an allegory of divine punishment for human sins, such as economic injustice, judicial corruption, and the exploitation of human beings, and the practice of idolatry. And the prophet, as a sign to others, is not even supposed to mourn his wife’s passing. The meaning of this second allegroy is to accept as just the divine punishment and admit complicity in evil deeds. Then transformation will follow and the next phase will ensue.

The yet-unrealized hope of transformation from a bad situation (often of one’s own creation, at least partially) occupies the readings from Romans and 2 Cornithians. God had been stretching out divine hands to

a disobedient and defiant people

–Romans 10:20, The Revised English Bible (1989)

and the Corinthian church had continued to be a troublesome congregation in the lessons, but St. Paul the Apostle persisted in hope of transformation.

May we refrain from abandoning that hope in relation to others and ourselves.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 14, 2014 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM CROFT, ANGLICAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF JONATHAN MYRICK DANIELS, EPISCOPAL SEMINARIAN AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF MATTHIAS CLAUDIUS, GERMAN LUTHERAN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT MAXIMILIAN KOLBE, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR

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Adapted from This Post:

link

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