According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
God (YHWH, Elohim, or whichever other name one prefers to use; a Christian term is God the Father) is one. God is sovereign. God is just. These characteristics come from the assigned readings from the Hebrew Bible, before I turn to Romans 8 and John 3.
The readings from Romans 8 and John 3 add Jesus and the Holy Spirit to the mix. Thus, we have all the ingredients for the formula of the Trinity. The word “Trinity” never appears in the New Testament. The ingredients of it do, however. The current, orthodox form of that doctrine is the result of successive councils and rebuttals against heresies during the first few centuries of Christianity.
I have read enough books and portions of books to know that every Trinitarian heresy began as a well-meaning attempt to explain the Trinity. So, I choose not to play that game. No, I embrace the mystery and focus on its meanings. One meaning is that, although God is one, God is complex, not simple.
In Christian terms, spiritual birth via the Holy Spirit is essential. This may be quiet or dramatic. Itay include an event one can mark as the time of spiritual renewal or it may sneak up on someone. I belong the company of people who have, within their active memory, always known God via Jesus. The dates I can mark on a timeline are mostly sacramental. They include one baptism, one confirmation, and three reaffirmations, with each of the last four occurring in the presence of a bishop in Apostolic Succession.
Lutheran minister and liturgist Philip H. Pfatteicher tells us that Trinity Sunday is:
not the feast of a doctrine but…the celebration of the richness of the being of God and the occasion of a thankful review of the now-completed mystery of salvation, which is the work of the Father thorugh the Holy Spirit.
—Commentary on the Lutheran Book of Worship: Lutheran Liturgy in Its Ecumenical Context (1990), 301
So, on Trinity Sunday, as well as all other days, may we thank God for the
now-completed mystery of salvation.
And, with the author of Psalm 96, may we ascribe glory and might to God. May our words, thoughts, and actions glorify God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 27, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE TWENTY-NINTH DAY OF LENT
THE FEAST OF CHARLES HENRY BRENT, EPISCOPAL MISSIONARY BISHOP OF THE PHILIPPINES, BISHOP OF WESTERN NEW YORK, AND ECUMENIST
THE FEAST OF SAINTS NICHOLAS OWEN, THOMAS GARNET, MARK BARKWORTH, EDWARD OLDCORNE, AND RALPH ASHLEY, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS, 1601-1608
THE FEAST OF PETER LUTKIN, EPISCOPAL COMPOSER, LITURGIST, AND MUSIC EDUCATOR
THE FEAST OF ROBERT HALL BAYNES, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF MADAGASCAR
THE FEAST OF SAINT RUPERT OF SALZBURG, APOSTLE OF BAVARIA AND AUSTRIA
THE FEAST OF STANLEY ROTHER, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, MISSIONARY, AND MARTYR IN GUATEMALA, 1981
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
I know an Episcopal priest who handles well one’s claim not to believe in God. He asks those who claim not to believe in God to describe the deity in whom they do not believe. Invariably, that person describes a total bastard deity in whom the priest does not believe either.
Biblically and creedally, belief in God is trust in God. Of course, the most popular understanding of “believe in God” may be to affirm the existence of God. Therefore, for the sake of clarity, my answer to whether I believe in God begins with,
What do you mean?
Once I hear the answer to that question, I continue with my reply. For the record, I always affirm the existence of God and usually trust in God.
The portrayal of God in Genesis 22:1-18 is that of a total bastard deity in whom I do not believe, regardless of how one defines belief in God. That portrayal of God is of a vicious, monstrous deity.
No, I do not believe in that God. I do, however, believe–trust–in God, who is love from whom nothing can separate us. I do believe–trust–in God, who is on our side in the midst of troubles and persecution. I do believe–trust–in God, whose kingdom breaks into our troubled world. I do believe–trust–in God, who comforts–not afflicts–the faithful.
The Lord’s Prayer contains a petition for God to
save us from the time of trial.
Divine testing of the faithful is a Biblical concept. The Wisdom of Solomon 3:5-6 tells us of the righteous deceased:
Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,
because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;
like gold in the furnace he tried them,
and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.
—Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition
Trusting is one matter; abuse is another. I believe–trust–in God, who tests, not abuses.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 15, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE NINETEENTH DAY OF LENT
THE FEAST OF SAINT ZACHARY OF ROME, BISHOP OF ROME
THE FEAST OF SAINTS JAN ADALBERT BALICKI AND LADISLAUS FINDYSZ, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS IN POLAND
THE FEAST OF JEAN BAPTISTE CALKIN, ANGLICAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF OZORA STEARNS DAVIS, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF VETHAPPPAN SOLOMON, APOSTLE TO THE SOLOMON ISLANDS
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
The story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand, present in all four canonical Gospels, is a topic about which I have written many times during the years I have been composing lectionary-based posts. I refer you, O reader, to those posts for more about that event.
Second Isaiah applied the Davidic Covenant to the people of Judah, delivered from the Babylonian Exile. He wrote that the Jewish people had royal status, not a human king. This transformation of the Davidic Covenant accounted for the fall of the Davidic Dynasty in 587/586 B.C.E. Historically, that dynasty never returned to power. Second Isaiah, having democratized the Davidic Covenant, did not include an idealized future king–the Messiah–in his theology. This vision of the future contrasted with Second Zechariah, who wrote of such a Davidic monarch in Zechariah 9:9-12.
God provided for that royal nation. The authors of Psalms 104 and 136 also understood God as being active in nature and history. The theme of God feeding people carried over into the Feeding of the Five Thousand.
For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nothing already in existence and nothing still to come, nor any power in the heights nor the depths, nor any created thing whatever, will be able to come between us and the love of God, known to us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
–Romans 8:38-39, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
This is excellent news! Do you, O reader, trust that this is true?
Psalm 23 tells us that divine kindness and faithful love either pursue or accompany (depending on the translation) us, even in the presence of our enemies. God is on our side. Are we on God’s side?
The people of God are a royal nation. May we think and act accordingly, loving God fully and our neighbors (all people) as ourselves.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 20, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOSEPH AUGUSTUS SEISS, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER, LITURGIST, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF ALFRED RAMSEY, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF BERNARD ADAM GRUBE, GERMAN-AMERICAN MINISTER, MISSIONARY, COMPOSER, AND MUSICIAN
THE FEAST OF CHARLES COFFIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF HANS ADOLF BRORSON, DANISH LUTHERAN BISHOP, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM JOHN SPARROW-SIMPSON, ANGLICAN PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND PATRISTICS SCHOLAR
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
The reading from 1 Kings 3 marinates in hindsight and the wasted potential of King Solomon, who had come to power like Michael Corleone, settling disputes with murder. One may reasonably speculate that King Solomon had already cast his die before 1 Kings 3. Nevertheless, hope springs eternal, to quote a cliché.
We read a portion of Psalm 119, in which the author extols God’s commandments in the context of human oppression.
Single Predestination (Romans 8:28-30) is to Heaven. Those not so predestined have the witness of the Holy Spirit available to them.
We read that, at the end of the age, the angels will separate the wicked from the righteous. This is good news for the righteous and bad news for the wicked. Divine judgment and mercy exist in balance.
I paid little attention to predestination when I was a Methodist. My theology has shifted, however, into Anglican-Lutheranism, which includes Single Predestination. After growing up ignoring passages such as Romans 8:28-30, I have embraced them.
The good news of Single Predestination, paired with the witness of the Holy Spirit, is grace. Those predestined receive one form of grace. Those not predestined receive another form of grace. Their free will to accept or reject the witness of the Holy Spirit exists because of grace. Everything boils down to grace.
We human beings do not have to earn everything. We cannot earn grace. If we accept it, we also accept its demands on our lives. Grace is free, not cheap.
Good news and bad news come together. We mere mortals make our bad news and some of our good news. God brings us good news. Are we receptive to it?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYL0R
JUNE 18, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM BINGHAM TAPPAN, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER. POET, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF ADOLPHUS NELSON, SWEDISH-AMERICAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF BERNARD MIZEKI, ANGLICAN CATECHIST AND CONVERT IN SOUTHERN RHODESIA, 1896
THE FEAST OF JOHANN FRANCK, HEINRICH HELD, AND SIMON DACH, GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITERS
THE FEAST OF RICHARD MASSIE, HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF VERNARD ELLER, U.S. CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN MINISTER AND THEOLOGIAN
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
Second Isaiah’s insistence upon strict monotheism is consistent with Psalmists’ trust in God, especially during difficult times. St. Paul the Apostle’s encouraging words tell us that the Holy Spirit comes to our aid in our weakness and intercedes for us.
I have been writing lectionary-based posts for more than a decade. In that time, I have covered the Parable of the Weeds (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43) a few times.
All these posts are available at this weblog.
To turn to the topic at hand, trust in God is a theme in the Parable of the Weeds. We may trust God to remove the darnel. If we are fortunate, we are not poisonous weeds. If we are unfortunate, we are darnel, and God will remove us in time.
All the readings speak of trust in God during perilous times. Romans 8:26-27 exists in the context of what precedes it immediately: suffering and hardship as birth pangs of a renewed creation. Isaiah 44:6-8 exists in the context of the waning months of the Babylonian Exile. Psalm 86 speaks of
a brutal gang hounding me to death
–verse 14, The Jerusalem Bible (1966).
Matthew 13 refers to poisonous weeds that initially resemble wheat in the Parable of the Weeds. Who is wheat and who is darnel may not always be possible or easy to tell. (I do know, however, that I habitually fail doctrinal purity tests. Many people classify me as darnel. So be it.) Given the outward similarity of wheat and darnel, whom should one trust? And, as we read in Psalm 11i:61,
…the nets of the wicked ensnare me.
—The Revised New Jerusalem Bible (2019)
Fortunately, we are not alone. The Holy Spirit comes to our aid in our weakness and intercedes for us. Do we trust that this is true? Do we trust in God?
I can answer only for myself. My answer to this question is,
Yes, usually.
What is your answer, O reader?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 17, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAMUEL BARNETT, ANGLICAN CANON OF WESTMINSTER, AND SOCIAL REFORMER; AND HIS WIFE, HENRIETTA BARNETT, SOCIAL REFORMER
THE FEAST OF EDITH BOYLE MACALISTER, ENGLISH NOVELIST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT EMILY DE VIALAR, FOUNDER OF THE SISTERS OF SAINT JOSEPH OF THE APPARITION
THE FEAST OF JANE CROSS BELL SIMPSON, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN POET AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF MARK HOPKINS, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, EDUCATOR, AND PHYSICIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINTS TERESA AND MAFALDA OF PORTUGAL, PRINCESSES, QUEENS, AND NUNS; AND SAINT SANCHIA OF PORTUGAL, PRINCESS AND NUN
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
When reading the assigned lessons in preparation for drafting a post, I often notice that one lesson is an outlier. Today I choose to focus on the outlier. The theme of God sowing, complete with the Matthean version of the Parable of the Sower/the Four Soils, is a topic about which I have written and posted more than once. You, O reader, may access my analysis of that parable by following the germane tags attached to this post. I also refer you to this post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA.
Romans 8:18-25 flows from what precedes it immediately: Christians are heirs–sons, literally–of God, through Jesus, the Son of God. The gendered language is a reflection of St. Paul the Apostle’s cultural setting, in which sons, not daughters, inherited. As “sons of God,” we Christians bear witness with the Holy Spirit that we are members of the household of God.
Literally, Christians are “sons of God” or have received the “spirit of sonship” in verses 14, 15, and 23. We are “children of God” in verses 16, 17, and 21, though. (I checked the Greek texts.) These distinctions are obvious in translations that do not neuter the Greek text. I check genders (male, female, and neuter) via the Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002). My historical training tells me that before I can interpret a document in context, I must know what the document says.
Romans 8:18-30, from which we extract 8:18-25, tells of the renewal of all things. In the midst of suffering, the future glory of the human race in God still awaits. The renewal of creation itself awaits. The sufferings are birth pangs. Meanwhile, Christians must wait with patience and expectation.
For obvious reasons, I leave comments about birth pangs to women who have given birth.
St. Paul the Apostle understood suffering for Christ. St. Paul the Apostle mustered optimism in dark times, by grace. This has always astounded me. I, having endured suffering less severe than that of St. Paul the Apostle, have found depression and pessimism instead.
I write this post during dark times for the world. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage around the world. Authoritarian forces endanger representative governments around the world. Polarization has increased to the point that opposite camps have their own facts. (Objective reality be damned!) I have found more causes for depression and pessimism than for optimism.
Yet St. Paul the Apostle, speaking to us down the corridors of time, tells us that these are birth pangs of a better world. I hope that is correct. I pray that these are not birth pangs of a dystopia.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 18, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JACQUES ELLUL, FRENCH REFORMED THEOLOGIAN AND SOCIOLOGIST
THE FEAST OF SAINT CELESTINE V, BISHOP OF ROME
THE FEAST OF SAINT DUNSTAN OF CANTERBURY, ABBOT OF GLASTONBURY AND ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
THE FEAST OF GEORG GOTTFRIED MULLER, GERMAN-AMERICAN MORAVIAN MINISTER AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF SAINT IVO OF KERMARTIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ATTORNEY, PRIEST, AND ADVOCATE FOR THE POOR
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
The Episcopal, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic traditions provide for the Vigil of Pentecost, a service I have never had the opportunity to attend. Page 227 of The Book of Common Prayer (1979) contains a rubric regarding the vigil. The Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), Lutheran Worship (1982), and Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006) offer collects and readings for the Vigil of Easter. The Lutheran Service Book (2006), which offers no collects in the pew edition, includes readings for this vigil.
The Vigil of Pentecost was popular during the Middle Ages. It was one of the favored occasions for baptism. Continental Protestant reformers rejected this vigil in the 1500s; they restored the liturgical primacy of Sunday.
Yet here we are, with Lutherans approving the celebration of the Vigil of Pentecost. Liturgical renewal, blessed by thy name!
The theme of unity carries over from the readings for the preceding Sunday. The faith community gathers in expectation of the fulfillment of divine promises, including the “promise of Easter,” to quote the collect from the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978).
God is the central actor, despite the anthropocentric tendencies of much of human theology. That God is central should cause much thanksgiving and place human egos in proper context.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 26, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM COWPER, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT ADELARD OF CORBIE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK AND ABBOT; AND HIS PROTÉGÉ, SAINT PASCAHSIUS RADBERTUS, FRANKISH ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK, ABBOT, AND THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF ROBERT HUNT, FIRST ANGLICAN CHAPLAIN AT JAMESTOWN, VIRGINIA
THE FEAST OF RUGH BYLLESBY, EPISCOPAL DEACONESS IN GEORGIA
THE FEAST OF SAINT STANISLAW KUBITSA, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1940; AND SAINT WLADYSLAW GORAL, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP AND MARTYR, 1945
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM STRINGFELLOW, EPISCOPAL ATTORNEY, THEOLOGIAN, AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
Life and death are themes in three of the four readings.
We read a portion of Psalm 116, by someone grateful to have recovered from a serious illness.
We read Romans 8:11-19, in which the relationship of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus enables our adoption as “sons” (literally, in verse 14) of God. (Verses 16 and 17, in the Greek text, do use the neuter “children,” however.) Through the Son of God, each Christian is a son of God, therefore, an heir. That metaphor from the Hellenistic culture, in which sons, not daughters, inherited, may require explanation in 2022.
We read a portion of John 11, in restores his beloved friend, St. Lazarus of Bethany, to life. The Fourth Gospel presents this event as the proverbial last straw that led to the crucifixion of Christ.
Ezekiel 37:1-14 is the odd reading out. It is about the restoration of Judah, defeated and scattered, after the end of the Babylonian Exile. Ezekiel 37:1-14 is not about the resurrection of the dead; the language is visionary and poetic.
In a poetic way, however, the four readings fit together well. Individuals, communities, societies, congregations, institutions, et cetera, need metaphorical resurrection. They need restoration to a better state in God. I know this about myself.
The current version of myself is one of many who have existed. The current version is not as happy and well-adjusted as the one who existed before Bonny, ma chèrie, died violently. I need a resurrection and a restoration.
Perhaps you, O reader, relate to that analysis. Maybe you resemble that remark. Fortunately, hope for all of us exists in God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 28, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JAMES SOLOMON RUSSELL, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, EDUCATOR, AND ADVOCATE FOR RACIAL EQUALITY
THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH RUNDLE CHARLES, ANGLICAN WRITER, HYMN TRANSLATOR, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT GUNTRAM OF BURGUNDY, KING
THE FEAST OF KATHARINE LEE BATES, U.S. EDUCATOR, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF RICHARD CHEVNIX TRENCH, ANGLICAN ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN
THE FEAST OF SAINT TUTILO, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK AND COMPOSER
According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
The selection of verses for the First Reading is odd. These three verses, out of context, sound pious. In textual context, however, one reads that the people in Hosea 6:1-2 were insincere, and that God knew it. One realizes that the people in Hosea 6:1-2 were self-serving.
Sts. James and John, via their mother, St. Mary Salome, a maternal aunt of Jesus, were self-serving, too. They sought positions of honor, not service and sacrifice. Jesus modeled the opposite of being self-serving. St. James and John eventually followed his example, though.
The authors of Psalms 43 and 138 offered honest faith, fortunately. So did St. Paul the Apostle, who had a better life (by conventional standards) as Saul of Tarsus, persecutor of early Christianity. As St. Paul, he suffered beatings, incarceration, and finally, martyrdom.
I do not pretend to have a completely selfless faith. I know I am not a spiritual giant. Yet I try to grow spiritually in Christ daily. I aspire to be the best possible version of myself in Christ daily, with mixed results. The effort is essential; God can work with it.
Isaiah 63:1-9 is related to Isaiah 34. Read Isaiah 34 before 63:1-9, O reader, for better understanding.
The readings from the Old Testament speak of God delivering Israelites from their enemies. Isaiah 63:1-9 highlights the Moabites.
Jesus healed common and marginalized people in Matthew 9:27-38. He restored them to their families and communities. Those healings also signified the presence of the partially realized Kingdom of God.
The God of Romans 8:24-39 is not the God of Hellfire-and-damnation preaching. No, the God of Romans 8:24-39 is not seeking to drop people into the pit of Hell. Actually, the God of Romans 8:24-39 is faithful to the faithful. Moral perfectionism is an impossible standard anyway. In Christ, we read, Christians have an older brother. And the Holy Spirit prays for Christians, making
God’s holy people…always in accordance with the mind of God.
–Romans 8:27b, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
Furthermore, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, who also prays for us.
The epistle reading ends with a glorious and familiar passage:
For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nothing already in existence and nothing still to come, nor any power, nor the heights nor the depths, nor any created thing whatever, will be able to come between us and the love of God, known to us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
–Romans 8:38-39, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
Grace is staggering, is it not?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 30, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF LESSLIE NEWBIGIN, ENGLISH REFORMED MISSIONARY AND THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT BATHILDAS, QUEEN OF FRANCE
THE FEAST OF FREDERICK OAKELEY, ANGLICAN THEN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST
THE FEAST OF SAINTS GENESIUS I OF CLERMONT AND PRAEJECTUS OF CLERMONT, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS; AND SAINT AMARIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
THE FEAST OF SAINT JACQUES BUNOL, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1945
BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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