READING ECCLESIASTICUS/SIRACH

PART XVII

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Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 24:1-34

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The contents of Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 24:1-34 should sound familiar to scholars and serious students of Hebrew wisdom literature.  There is nothing new here, except phrasing.  Divine wisdom, personified as feminine, is the first creation of God.  Wisdom was present and active in the creation of the world.  This sounds like Proverbs 8:22 so far.  Divine wisdom also exists in the Law of Moses, as in Baruch 3:37-4:1.  Ben Sira could not have imagined the application of this language about divine wisdom to Jesus (John 1 and 1 Corinthians 1:30, minus the Arianism) and the Blessed Mother of God (the “Seat of Wisdom”).

Other parallels exist.  Some of the language echoes praises of the Egyptian goddess Isis.  There are also allusions to Exodus 13:21-22; 14:19-20; and other verses in Proverbs 8 and Baruch 3, among other cultural references.

We read that divine wisdom sought (24:7) and found (24:10-12) a dwelling place among people.  We read language reminiscent of the tent in the wilderness (Exodus 25:8-9).  The author of 1 Enoch took a different position, though:

Wisdom could not find a place in which she could dwell;

but a place was found (for her) in the heavens.

Then Wisdom went out to dwell with the children of the people,

but she found no dwelling place.

(So) Wisdom returned to her place

and she settled permanently among the angels.

Then Iniquity went out of her rooms,

and found whom she did not expect.

And she dwelt with them,

like rain in a desert,

like dew on a thirsty land.

–1 Enoch 42:1-3, translated by E. Isaac

Wisdom is also like six types of trees, we read (24:13-17).  She is like a majestic cedar of Lebanon, a cypress, a palm tree, a rosebush, an olive tree, and a plane tree.  Wisdom, in other words, is like perfumes and spices used to make anointing oil and temple incense; she has priestly attributes.

Wisdom–like Jesus, later, relative to 175 B.C.E.–invites her disciples to approach her and eat their full of her fruit (24:19).

References and allusions to the Hebrew Bible abound.  I choose not to list most or all of them in this post.  I may have even detected one which two commentaries I consulted did not mention.  In Ezekiel 2:3, the scroll of divine judgment tasted sweet as honey.  And we read in Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 24:20 that the teaching of divine wisdom is sweeter than honey.

The Christological parallels to divine wisdom interest me more than likening that wisdom to six rivers.  So, I return to Christological parallels.  We read in 24:21 that those who consume the fruit of wisdom will hunger for more wisdom and that those who drink wisdom will thirst for more wisdom.  This is a partial parallel of sorts to a subsequent work, the Gospel of John.  Jesus is the bread from Heaven in John 6:22f.  Yet he, the bread of life, forever quenches the hunger and thirst of all who eat and drink of Jesus (6:35).  And everyone who drinks the living water will never thirst again (John 4:3-14).  Just as the Logos of God (John 1) is greater than yet similar to the wisdom of God, the bread of life and the water of life are greater than yet similar to the fruit and water of wisdom.

We are deep in the territory of metaphors, of course.  Metaphors which differ superficially may point in the same, pious direction.  Seek God and divine wisdom, we read; feast on it.

The human race has nothing to boast about to God, but you, God has made members of Christ Jesus and by God’s doing he has become our wisdom, and our virtue, and our holiness, and freedom.

–1 Corinthians 1:29-30, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 4, 2023 COMMON ERA

LABOR DAY (U.S.A.)

THE FEAST OF PAUL JONES, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF UTAH, AND PEACE ACTIVIST; AND HIS COLLEAGUE, JOHN NEVIN SAYRE, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND PEACE ACTIVIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT BIRINUS OF DORCHESTER, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF DORCHESTER, AND “APOSTLE OF WESSEX”

THE FEAST OF E. F. SCHUMACHER,GERMAN-BRITISH ECONOMIST AND SOCIAL CRITIC

THE FEAST OF SAINT GORAZD OF PRAGUE, ORTHODOX BISHOP OF MORAVIA AND SILESIA, METROPOLITAN OF THE CZECH LANDS AND SLOVAKIA, HIERARCH OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA, AND MARTYR, 1942

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM MCKANE, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

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READING ECCLESIASTICUS/SIRACH

PART XV

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Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 20:1-22:26

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“Sin” is a word with more than one definition in the Bible.  In the Johannine school of the New Testament, to sin is not to follow Jesus.  According to the Johannine definition, sin is a theological failure, not a moral one.  Yet, in most of the Bible, sin is a moral failure; it is missing the mark.  This is the definition of sin in Ecclesiasticus/Sirach.

Sin–as a category–may seem abstract.  A sin is not abstract; one can ponder it in a tangible context.  Poetic, symbolic language provides images for sin, though.  In Genesis 4:7, YHWH addresses Cain, about to murder Abel.  YHWH asks Cain:

Why are you angry and downcast?  If you are well-disposed, ought you not to lift up your head?  But if you are ill-disposed, is not sin at the door like a crouching beast hungering for you, which you must master?”

—The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

The poetic image of sin as a hungry, crouching beast waiting to ambush one fits with subsequent Eastern Orthodox theology of sin as an outside, invading force–what people do, not what they are.  Recall, O reader, that Original Sin and Total Depravity are doctrines alien to Judaism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

Sin is also a hostile, outside force which attacks, invades, and infiltrates in Romans 6 and 7.  (See Romans 7:17 in particular.)  Similar language for sin as an outside, hostile force exists in Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 21, also:

Have you sinned, my son?  Do so no more,

but pray about your former sins.

Flee from sin as from a snake;

for if you approach sin, it will bite you.

Its teeth are lion’s teeth,

and destroy the souls of men.

–21:1-2, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

1 Peter 5:8 likens Satan to a prowling, roaring lion in search of someone to devour.

Ecclesiaticus/Sirach understands sin to be lawlessness (21:3):

All lawlessness is like a two-edged sword;

there is no healing for its wound.

—Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

This symbolic speech is reminiscent of Proverbs 5:4, which describes a loose woman as being as sharp as a two-edged sword.  And, of course, the word of God–that which God says–cuts like a two-edged sword in Hebrews 4:12.  The two-edged sword is a vivid metaphor.

When we sin against others, we may inflict lasting damage upon them.  The legacies of childhood bullies may persist well into adulthood, for example.  And one may learn from the examples of friends and relatives of murder victims and perceive partially how deep those emotional and spiritual wounds go.  So, I do not minimize the harm people can inflict upon each other.

I refuse to flee from the word “sin.”  I do seek, however, to apply it accurately.  I have a theory that sinning requires one to be in one’s right mind.  This is not a hypothetical scenario for me; I grieve my girlfriend,  who chose her time, place, and manner of death.  I grasp that mental illness clouded her mind at the time.  And I attest that the grief I carry for her feels like the wounds from a two-edged sword (not that anyone has stabbed me with a two-edged sword).  These wounds may never heal.

The way of sinners is smooth, we read in 21:10.  This may be a sly reference to Roman roads.  Or it may refer to a generic path–in this case, to an early death.  Recall, O reader, that Ben Sira did not believe in an afterlife.

The wise and the foolish belong to spiritual and moral categories.  The wise live in reverence of God and control their thoughts.  The keep the divine Law of Moses, according to Ben Sira.  They behave cautiously and respectfully.  And, although a wise man increases in knowledge like a flood, the mind of a fool is vacant, like an empty jar (21:14).  Furthermore, a wise man’s mouth is in his mind yet the the mind of a fool is in his mouth (21:26).

That last sentence has aged well, especially in the age of social media.

The Church has long called Sirach “Ecclesiasticus,” or “Church Book,” due to its value for moral instruction.  Most of the contents of the portion of the book for this post prove the wisdom of that point.

The language about an undisciplined son (22:3) balances the language regarding an imprudent daughter (22:5) and a shameful wife (22:4).  So, the misogyny factor is low in 22:3-5.

However, the meditation on the value of friendship is timeless.  And the condemnation of the indolent is vivid:

The indolent may be compared to a filthy stone,

and everyone hisses at his disgrace.

The indolent may be compared to the filth of dunghills;

anyone that picks it up will shake it off his hand.

–22:1-2, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

Ben Sira knew how to turn phrases effectively.  And he addressed the wealthy sons of the elites of Jerusalem, circa 175 B.C.E.  Some of them may have been lazy.  Complaints about the idle rich are as old as antiquity.

Also, context is crucial.  One could ignore the context and mistake 22:1-2 for a condemnation of the lazy poor.  (In fact, the poor have long been some of the hardest working people within economic systems rigged against them.)  But, when one considers whom Ben Sira addressed, 22:1-2 takes on its intended meaning.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 31, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT NICODEMUS, DISCIPLE OF JESUS

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READING ECCLESIASTICUS/SIRACH

PART I

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What to call this book seems like an ideal point to address first.  Traditional names of the book are  the Book of Sirach, the Book of Ecclesiasticus, and the Wisdom of Ben Sira.  “Ecclesiasticus,” or “Church Book,” derives from Liber Ecclesiasticus, a name due to the frequency with which Holy Mother Church has quoted Sirach.  The name of the book depends upon the translation one reads.  The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011) calls the book “The Wisdom of Ben Sira.”  The Revised English Bible (1989) calls this book “Ecclesiasticus or the Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach.”  The Saint Athanasius Academy Septuagint, in The Orthodox Study Bible (2008), names this book “The Wisdom of Sirach.”  For the sake of clarity, I prefer “Ecclesiasticus/Sirach.”

The author’s name is Yeshua Ben Eleazar Ben Sira (50:27).  That Hebrew name, translated into Greek, is Jesus son of Eleazar son of Sira.  “Sirach,” as a title for this book, derives from the Greek form of “Sira.”

We read an English translation of a Greek translation (after 117 B.C.E.) of a Hebrew text dated circa 175 B.C.E.  The translator, in his prologue, identifies himself as the grandson of the author.  That prologue describes the author–Yeshua Ben Eleazar Ben Sira–as a devout Jewish sage and a resident of Jerusalem.  We read that the grandfather followed the Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets.  We also read that the grandson translated the book into Greek in Egypt after the reign of King Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Physcon (r. 170-163; 145-117 B.C.E.).

Persecution frames Ecclesiasticus/Sirach.  An eagle-eyed student of history may recall that, circa 175 B.C.E., the Seleucid Empire was persecuting devout Jews in the Jewish homeland.  One may also remember that Ptolemaic monarchs persecuted Jews, although not constantly.  And, if one puts the pieces together, one understands that militant devotees of Hellenism persecuted those who refused to conform, whether in Egypt or in Palestine.

The Wisdom of Solomon (perhaps from as late as 50 C.E.) combined Judaism and Greek philosophy in an attempt (a) to persuade errant Jews to return to the fold, and (b) reach out to Gentiles.  In contrast, Ecclesiasticus/Sirach (hostile to Greek philosophy) focused narrowly on Jews and did not syncretize.  Both books, despite their differences, belong to the genre of sacred literature which proclaims fidelity to God in the midst of oppression.  Two notable examples of this genre in the New Testament are Hebrews and Revelation.

Imagine, O reader, that you were a young man studying at the academy of Yeshua Ben Eleazar Ben Sira in Jerusalem.  The contents of this book would have been familiar to you.

We, in 2023, can, in a way, attend that academy.  Some of the attitudes will properly offend our egalitarian sensibilities.  The grandfather’s teachings reflect a fondness for patriarchy and misogyny (7:23-29; 22:3; 25:13-26; 26:12).   Yet this book, like the Song of Songs, delights in feminine beauty (26:17-18).  And not one woman features in 44:1-50:24, a hall of fame of faithful people.  One may identify faithful, named women in the Hebrew Bible, but Ecclesiasticus/Sirach does not.

I, standing within my Christian tradition, feel free to critique it.  Respect for one’s tradition need not devolve into blind traditionalism.  Traditions are living and flexible, not rigid and dead.

Another point of critique of Ecclesiasticus/Sirach is the book’s theology of the afterlife.  Ecclesiasticus/Sirach does not indicate a belief in the afterlife.  The book, therefore, is proto-Saddusaic.

The author of the Epistle of James (probably composed in the 80s or 90s C.E.) knew Ecclesiasticus/Sirach.  I encourage you, O reader, to compare Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 2:1-6; 5:9-14 to James 1:12-15; 3:1-12.

Jeremy Corley, writing in The New Collegeville Bible Commentary:  Old Testament (2015), outlines Ecclesiasticus/Sirach accordingly:

1. Understanding Wisdom (1:1-4:10),
2. Using Wisdom Personally (4:11-6:17),
3. Applying Wisdom Socially (6:18-14:19),
4. Wisdom in Speech and Thought (14:20-23:27),
5. Wisdom in Domestic Life (24:1-32:13),
6. Using Wisdom to Make Good Decisions (32:14-38:23),
7. Demonstrating the Results of Wisdom (38:24-42:14),
8. Wisdom in Creation and History (42:15-50:24), and
9. Postscripts and Appendices (50:25-51:30).

James L. Crenshaw, writing in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 5 (1997), differs slightly.  Crenshaw divides Ecclesiasticus/Sirach into only eight sections.  His schema differs from that of Corley after the fourth section:

1. Part V (24:1-33:33:19),
2. Part VI (33:20-39:11),
3. Part VII (39:12-43:33), and
4. Part VIII (44:1-51:30).

As Dianne Bergant wrote in her introduction to Ecclesiasticus/Sirach in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible (2003), the structure of this book is difficult to determine.

Despite the different attitudes of Ecclesiasticus/Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon regarding Greek philosophy in the context of Hellenism, both books address an overarching issue germane in 2023.  How can the people of God remain faithful to God and their tradition in a hostile society?  Particulars vary according to circumstances.  People live in circumstances, not abstractions.  Yet timeless principles persist.  The greatest challenge to believers may be to pursue a strategy by which our actions in the name of following God do not belie our intention.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 4, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JOHN BROWNLIE, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND TRANSLATOR OF HYMNS

THE FEAST OF SAINT FRÉDÉRIC JANSSOONE, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND FRIAR

THE FEAST OF LAMBERT BEAUDUIN, BELGIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND PIONEER OF LITURGICAL RENEWAL

THE FEAST OF SARAH PLATT DOREMUS, FOUNDER OF THE WOMEN’S UNION MISSIONARY SOCIETY

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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:  The First Paragraph of the Shema

Image in the Public Domain

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Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Psalm 119:1-16 (LBW) or Psalm 119:121-128 (LW)

Hebrews 7:23-28

Mark 12:28-34 (35-37)

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Lord, when the day of wrath comes

we have no hope except in your grace.

Make us so to watch for the last days

that the consumation of our hope may be

the joy of the marriage feast of your Son,

Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 29

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O Lord, we pray that the visitation of your grace

may so cleanse our thoughts and minds

that your Son Jesus, when he shall come,

may find us a fit dwelling place;

through Jesus Christ, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 89

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Jesus knew the tradition of Rabbi Hillel, as he proved in Mark 12:29-31.  Christ stood within his Jewish tradition and within the school of Hillel, in particular.  So, the Christian tradition of pitting Jesus against Judaism has always been erroneous.

After Rabbi Hillel quoted the same verses Jesus eventually quoted also, Hillel said:

The rest is commentary.  God and learn it.

That ethos permeates Psalm 119, in which the Torah refers to divine instruction, with the Law incorporated into it.  Traditional Christian disregard for the Law of Moses–a subsequent theological development–contradicts Psalm 119 and Deuteronomy 6:1-9.

Deuteronomy 6:1-9 drips with hindsight, irony, and melancholy. The author, reflecting centuries after the time in the wilderness, understood what had transpired in time and in Jewish folk religion, as opposed to Jewish priestly religion.  This author, consistent with Deuteronomistic theology, affirmed that collective and national disaster was the inevitable result of this pattern.

As Christianity emerged from its Jewish roots, Christian theology developed along divergent paths.  Part of the church, consistent with Judaism, never developed the theology of Original Sin and the Fall of Man, with the ensuing corruption of human nature.  Augustinian theology, which postdates the Epistle to the Hebrews by centuries, could not have informed that document.  The author of Hebrews–perhaps St. Apollos, although Origen wrote that only God knew the author’s identity–affirmed that Christ is the timeless, sinless high priest who covers sins and intercedes for sinners.

So, regardless of one’s opinion of Augustinian theology and the role of the Law of Moses, one can frolic in the good news that God is not chomping on the bit to throw lightning bolts at anyone.  Christ intercedes for us.  Do we even notice, though?

I, without minimizing or denying the importance of works in moral terms, choose not to walk the Pelagian path.  Salvation is a process of grace, and God is in charge of the process.  I also affirm Single Predestination, so some people sit on the chosen list.  How one responds to grace remains an individual decision, with individual responsibility.  Yet grace surrounds even this situation.  The longer I live, the less inclined I am to think of any people as belonging in Hell.  Matters of salvation and damnation are in the purview of God.  I am not God.  Neither are you, O reader.

We–like the author of Deuteronomy 6:1-9, possess hindsight.  We–like the author of Deuteronomy 6:1-9–also live in something called the present.  Therefore, we can have only so much hindsight.  And even the most perceptive human hindsight is…human.  God knows far more than we do.

Yet we can live according to love and mere decency.  This is a certain way to embody divine love, honor God and human dignity, and get into trouble with some conventionally pious people and sometimes with legal authorities.

Nevertheless, this is one standard Jesus upheld in Mark 12:28-34.  The Golden Rule should never be controversial, but it frequently is.

Our works matter morally.  May we, by grace, make them count for as much good as possible.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 11, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE THIRTY-THIRD DAY OF EASTER

THE FEAST OF HENRY KNOX SHERRILL, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

THE FEAST OF BARBARA ANDREWS, FIRST FEMALE MINISTER IN THE AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH, 1970

THE FEAST OF SAINT GJON KODA, ALBANIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1947

THE FEAST OF JOHN JAMES MOMENT, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT MATTEO RICCI, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY

THE FEAST OF SAINT MATTHÊÔ LÊ VAN GAM, VIETNAMESE ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR, 1847

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Adapted from this post

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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:  Icon of Amos

Image in the Public Domain

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Amos 5:6-7, 10-15

Psalm 90:12-17 (LBW) or Psalm 119:73-80 (LW)

Hebrews 3:1-6

Mark 10:17-27 (28-30)

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Almighty God, source of every blessing,

your generous goodness comes to us anew every day. 

By the work of your Spirit,

lead us to acknowledge your goodness,

give thanks for your benefits,

and serve you in willing obedience; 

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 28

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Enlighten our minds, we pray, O God,

by the Spirit who proceeds from you, 

that, as your Son has promised,

we may be led into all truth;

through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,

who lives and reigns and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 85

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The prophet Amos channeled the Law of Moses when he condemned economic injustice.  The cheating of people and the exploitation of the poor and vulnerable stirred up the prophet’s righteous anger.  The original context was the northern Kingdom of Israel about half a century prior to its demise in 722 B.C.E.  Sadly, Amos 5:6-15 has never ceased to apply somewhere, at least in spirit.

If Amos were alive today, many people–including many conventionally pious folk–would dismiss him as a “Social Justice Warrior” and as “woke.”  So be it.  Cynics and defenders of social injustice are always present, as is the divine judgment upon them.

The selections from the Book of Psalms attest to dedication to living so as to obey and honor God.  This attitude is a good start–a better start than disregard for those purposes.  Yet a good start does not always result in a good conclusion.  As the lection from Mark 10 indicates, wealth can stand in the way by blinding one to total dependence on God.  Wealth is, by itself, morally and spiritually neutral.  And a review of Christ’s spiritual counsel in the reveals that he tailored advice to fit its recipients, in their circumstances.  Regarding wealth, as we read elsewhere in the New Testament, the love of money is the root of all evil–the delusion that we can and must rely on ourselves, not God.

The most succinct summary of the Epistle to the Hebrews I have heard is:

There is x, then there is Jesus.

In Hebrews 3:1-6, for example, we read that Jesus is greater than Moses.  God is the builder of the household of God, Moses was a faithful member of that household, Christ is faithful as a son over his household, and the people of God are the household of God.  There is a caveat, though:

…And we are his household, as long as we maintain his boldness and the boast of hope.

–Hebrews 3:6, The Revised New Jerusalem Bible

In other words, we are the household of God as long as we do not drop out of it.  Apostasy is a theme in the Epistle to the Hebrews, set against the backdrop of persecution.

What distracts us from God?  What are our idols?  For some, wealth is an idol.  Yet money and property are not idols for all wealthy people.  Fear of persecution is another popular idol.  Insensitivity to human suffering is yet another frequent idol.  The list is long.

May God reveal our idols to us.  Then may we repent and follow God, to the benefit of others and ourselves, as well as to the glory of God, regardless of the cost to us.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 28, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE TWENTIETH DAY OF EASTER

THE FEAST OF JAROSLAV VAJDA, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER, HYMN TRANSLATOR, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOZEF CEBULA, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1941

THE FEAST OF SAINT LOUIS DE MONTFORT, FOUNDER OF THE COMPANY OF MARY (THE MONTFORT MISSIONARIES) AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF WISDOM; AND SAINT MARIE-LOUISE TRICHET, CO-FOUNDER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF WISDOM

THE FEAST OF SAINT PAMPHILIUS OF SULMONA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP AND ALMSGIVER

THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER CHANEL, PROTOMARTYR OF OCEANIA, 1841

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Adapted from this post

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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:  Cross Out Slums, by the U.S. Office of War Information, 1943-1945

Image in the Public Domain

National Archives and Record Administration ID 513549

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Isaiah 50:4-10

Psalm 116:1-8

James 2:1-5, 8-10, 14-18

Mark 8:27-35

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O God, you declare your almighty power

chiefly in showing mercy and pity. 

Grant us the fullness of your grace,

that, pursuing what you have promised,

we may share your heavenly glory;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 27

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O God, without whose blessing we are not able to please you,

mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit

may in all things direct and govern our hearts;

through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 80

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Deuteronomistic theology–ubiquitous in the Hebrew Bible–teaches that the Babylonian Exile was justified punishment for centuries collective and habitual disregard of the Law of Moses.  This is the position of Second Isaiah shortly prior to the promised vindication of the exiles by God.  Divine judgment and mercy remain in balance.

Many exiles did not expect the Babylonian Exile to end; they had become accustomed to the status quo and fallen into despair.  This was psychologically predictable.

Likewise, St. Simon Peter, immediately following his confession of faith in Jesus, did not expect the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.  And how many Christians have expected to suffer and perhaps to die for their faith?  Yet many have taken up their crosses and followed Jesus to humiliation and/or martyrdom.  St. (John) Mark, supposedly the author of the Gospel of Mark, died by dragging through the streets of Alexandria, Egypt.

The messages in the lection from James 2 may shock some people, too.  The category of the “deserving poor” is old, even in traditionally Christian cultures.  The opposite category, of course, is the “underserving poor.”  So, allegedly, we may help the “deserving poor” and ignore the “undeserving poor” with a clear moral conscience, right?  Wrong!  The categories of the “deserving poor” and the “undeserving poor,” taken together, constitute a morally invalid and false dichotomy.  God takes mistreating the poor seriously.  All of the poor are the “deserving poor.”

Whoever acts without mercy will be judged without mercy, but mercy triumphs over judgment.

–James 2:13, The Revised New Jerusalem Bible

James 2:13 is consistent with the Sermon on the Mount:

Judge not, that you may not be judged; For by whatever verdict you pass judgment you shall be judged, and in whatever measure you measure it will be meted out to you.

–Matthew 7:1-2, David Bentley Hart, The New Testament:  A Translation (2017)

Clarence Jordan‘s Cotton Patch Version of the Gospel of Matthew puts a Southern Low Church Protestant spin on these verses:

Don’t preach just to keep from getting preached to.  For the same sermon you preach will be applied to you, and the stuff you dish out will be dished up to you.

Jordan’s rendering of James 2:13 also gets to the point:

For there is merciless judgment on a merciless man, and mercy is much more preferred than judgment.

Divine judgment and mercy remain in balance.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 20, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE TWELFTH DAY OF EASTER

THE FEAST OF JOHANNES BUGENHAGEN, GERMAN LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN, MINISTER, LITURGIST, AND “PASTOR OF THE REFORMATION”

THE FEAST OF SAINTS AMATOR OF AUXERRE AND SAINTS GERMANUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS; SAINT MAMERTINUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AND SAINT MARCIAN OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

THE FEAST OF SAINT CHIARA BOSATTA, CO-FOUNDER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF SAINT MARY OF PROVIDENCE

THE FEAST OF CHRISTIAN X, KING OF DENMARK AND ICELAND; AND HIS BROTHER, HAAKON VII, KING OF NORWAY

THE FEAST OF MARION MACDONALD KELLARAN, EPISCOPAL SEMINARY PROFESSOR AND LAY READER

THE FEAST OF ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

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Adapted from this post

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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:  Mine de plomb et lavis sur papier (Exterior of Arm and Washing on Paper), by Auguste Rodin

Image in the Public Domain

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Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8

Psalm 15 (LBW) or Psalm 119:129-136 (LW)

Ephesians 6:10-20

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

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O God, we thank you for your Son,

who chose the path of suffering for the sake of the world. 

Humble us by his example,

point us to the path of obedience,

and give us strength to follow his commands;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 27

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Lord of all power and might, Author and Giver of all good things,

graft in our hearts the love of your name,

increase in us true religion,

nourish us with all goodness,

and bring forth in us the fruit of good works;

through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 78

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You shall not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, but keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I enjoin upon you.

–Deuteronomy 4:2, The New Jerusalem Bible 1985)

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The author of the Gospel of Mark was mistaken; not all Jews practiced ritual handwashing prior to eating.  In fact, this handwashing, absent from the Law of Moses, was a habit of Pharisees, a minority sect of Judaism at the time of Christ.  So, when Pharisees observed disciples of Jesus not engaging in ritual handwashing prior to eating, they saw disciples behaving as most Jews did.

Mark 7:1-23 (including verses the ILCW Lectionary omits) contrasts being persnickety over such a practice–not in the Law of Moses–with violation of weightier matters, such as honoring one’s parents, a provision of the Law of Moses.  In this context, the charge of hypocrisy against critics of Christ’s disciples still rings down the corridors of time.

Holiness is about being separate and set apart.  Defilement is about being common.  This is a point which J. B. Phillips‘s New Testament in Modern English (1972) makes clear:

Why do your disciples refuse to follow the ancient tradition, and eat their bread with ‘common’ hands?

–Mark 7:5

Other than the point that the “ancient tradition” was not ancient, we have a profound lesson, one with which the ancient traditions of Judaism agreed:  the crucial role of the moral code in the Law of Moses.  Violations of this moral code arise from within people.  The spiritual creepy-crawlies defile people–make them common.

Torah, in the broad definition–as in Psalm 119–is the teaching of God.  This divine instruction includes the Law, still binding in Judaism.  And, in Christianity, the fulfillment of the Law by Jesus has not nullified any moral obligations to God and people.

I write this post not to lambaste dead people and feel morally superior.  I could add many Christians to the Pharisees in Mark 7 as I critique people who have fixated on minor matters and neglected greater issues.  I know of a small, conservative denomination founded officially on theological orthodoxy against the heresy that for men to wear neckties to church was acceptable, according to the Bible.  The “authority of scripture” as the definition of matters including neckties was the standard of theological orthodoxy for those who committed schism in this case.  I also think of a small, conservative Reformed denomination that finally decided in 1982 that not all dancing–ballet, in this case–was sinful.  And I know of a small, conservative Lutheran denomination that continues to condemn all dancing as being sinful.

I write this post not only to lambaste legalistic fun-damn-mentalists and Evangelicals and to feel morally superior.  They deserve a degree of lambasting.  Yes, fishing with dynamite may be fun and momentarily satisfying, but I take the next step.  I ask where I fixate on minor matters at the expense of weightier issues.  I deserve a degree of lambasting, too, for fixating on minor matters at the expense of weightier issues.  No person, congregation, denomination, society, culture, or religious tradition is immune from such an error in choosing where to fixate.

May we, by grace, see the error of our ways, repent, and follow in the correct path.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 14, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE SIXTH DAY OF EASTER

THE FEAST OF EDWARD THOMAS DEMBY AND HENRY BEARD DELANY, EPISCOPAL SUFFRAGAN BISHIPS FOR COLORED WORK

THE FEAST OF SAINTS ANTHONY, JOHN, AND EUSTATHIUS OF VILNIUS, MARTYRS IN LITHUANIA, 1347

THE FEAST OF GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL, COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF SAINT LUCIEN BOTOVASOA, MALAGASY ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR, 1947

THE FEAST OF SAINT WANDREGISILUS OF NORMANDY, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AND SAINT LAMBERT OF LYONS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND BISHOP

THE FEAST OF SAINT ZENAIDA OF TARSUS AND HER SISTER, SAINT PHILONELLA OF TARSUS; AND SAINT HERMIONE OF EPHESUS; UNMERCENARY PHYSICIANS

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Adapted from this post

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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:  King Jeroboam II of Israel

Image in the Public Domain

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Amos 7:1-15

Psalm 85:8-13 (LBW) or Psalm 126 (LW)

Ephesians 1:3-14

Mark 6:7-14

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Almighty God, we thank you for planting in us the seed of your word. 

By your Holy Spirit help us to receive it with joy,

live according to it,

and grow in faith and hope and love;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

or

Lord God, use our lives to touch the world with your love. 

Stir us, by your Spirit, to be neighbors to those in need,

serving them with willing hearts;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 25

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O almighty and most merciful God,

of your bountiful goodness keep us, we pray,

from all things that may hurt us that we,

being ready in both body and soul,

may cheerfully accomplish whatever things you want done;

through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 69

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The (northern) Kingdom of Israel was doing relatively well.  King Jeroboam II (reigned 788-747 B.C.E.) sat on the throne in Samaria.  The borders were secure and the army was strong.  The economy was thriving.  The economy, in the aggregate, was thriving.  Yet the Neo-Assyrian Empire was a developing foreign threat.  Also, corruption, artificial scarcity, and rampant poverty constituted domestic threats.

Briefly, into this context stepped Amos of Tekoa, a sheep herder and a tender of sycamore trees from the (southern) Kingdom of Judah.  He preached a message of doom and gloom.  The message of the fall of the dynasty then the kingdom constituted treason in Jeroboam II’s Israel.  Yet Amos was correct.  King Jeroboam II died in 747 B.C.E.  His dynasty fell later that year.  And the (norhtern) Kingdom of Israel, reduced to vassalage in the ensuing years, fell to the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 722 B.C.E.

The rejection of God’s message does not nullify it.

The assigned psalms exist in temporal and spiritual tension.  God has delivered the people.  God, please deliver them again.  Lord, please save us from our oppressors.

Not yet.

Given the history of oppressions of the Jewish people, these psalms have a sad, timeless quality.  Yes, they stem from a historical situation, but one could have prayed Psalms 85 and 1 26 just as plaintively after the Fall of Samaria as after the Fall of Jerusalem as during the difficult early decades following the end of the Babylonian Exile, during the Seleucid persecution, and during many periods since then.  Collective arrogance and the disregard of moral obligations of the Law of Moses were as much perils as hostile foreign governments.

We ought to read Mark 6:7-13 in the context of 6:1-6.  As I read them together on the page, the contrast between verses 5-6 and 13 is obvious.  One motif in the Gospels is that rejection of the message of God/Jesus stymied the performance of works of power, and that acceptance of the message facilitated the performance of such works of power.

Just as Jesus was the source of his disciples’ authority and power, he is the source of Christians’ “filial adoption” (verse 5) and his blood is the source of our “fee for liberation, the forgiveness of trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (verse 7), to quote David Bentley Hart’s translation of the New Testament.  That is especially impressive for one whom many in religious authority had rejected and whom Pontius Pilate had ordered crucified.  May we also recall that most of the Twelve died as martyrs and that the Gospels teach that each Christian should take up a cross and follow Jesus.

The rejection of God’s message does not nullify it.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 9, 2023 COMMON ERA

EASTER DAY

THE FEAST OF DIETRICH BONHOEFFER, GERMAN LUTHERAN MARTYR, 1945

THE FEAST OF JOHANN CRUGER, GERMAN LUTHERAN ORGANIST, COMPOSER, AND HYMNAL EDITOR

THE FEAST OF JOHN SAMUEL BEWLEY MONSELL, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND POET; AND RICHARD MANT, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF DOWN, CONNOR, AND DROMORE

THE FEAST OF LYDIA EMILIE GRUCHY, FIRST FEMALE MINISTER IN THE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA

THE FEAST OF MIKAEL AGRICOLA, FINNISH LUTHERAN LITURGIST, BISHOP OF TURKU, AND “FATHER OF FINNISH LITERARY LANGUAGE”

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM LAW, ANGLICAN PRIEST, MYSTIC, AND SPIRITUAL WRITER

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Adapted from this post

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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:  Jesus and His Disciples

Image in the Public Domain

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Genesis 3:9-15

Psalm 61:2-5, 8 (LBW) or Psalm 28 (LW)

2 Corinthians 4:13-18

Mark 3:20-35

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O God, the strength of those who hope in you: 

Be present and hear our prayers;

and, because in the weakness of our mortal nature

we can do nothing good without you,

give us the help of your grace,

so that in keeping your commandments

we may please you in will and deed,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 24

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O God, from whom all good proceeds,

grant to us, your humble servants,

that by your holy inspiration we may think the things that are right

and by your merciful guiding accomplish them;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 64

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In the great mythology of Genesis 3, the knowledge of good and evil is not intellectualized and academic.  No, this is lived knowledge.  One can have this knowledge of good and evil only by performing good and evil.  The consequences for humans include the inevitable estrangement from God, who had required only obedience.  This estrangement from God is the opposite of what we read in the selected psalms and in the epistle lection.  In Christian terms, the point of the Incarnation and the Atonement is to reverse that estrangement.  Thus, as one can read in the Epistle to the Ephesians, Christ breaks down the walls of estrangement have from each other.  Nevertheless, O reader, as you may observe, even Christians rebuild these walls of estrangement and separation.  How ironic is that tendency?

The lection from Mark 3 brings us to the topic of the unpardonable sin.  The textual context is invaluable in understanding the unpardonable sin–blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.  The context of the inability to discern between good and evil–in this case, manifested in attributing the deeds of Jesus to an alliance with Satan–indicates estrangement from God.  This estrangement is of human origin.  Those who, for any reason, persist in this estrangement from God cut themselves off from God, who reaches out to them.  Many of them may not know of their estrangement from God.

In textual context of the Gospel of Mark, we can read 3:1-6, in which Jesus scandalously healed a man with a withered hand in a synagogue on the sabbath.  That story tells us that some conventionally pious people–other Jews–sought to accuse Jesus of violating the Sabbath for healing that unfortunate man on that day.  In Mark 3:1-6, all the educators are Jewish, so we read of an intra-Jewish dispute.  Verse 5 tells us that Jesus felt anger toward those accusers and grieved their hardness of heart.  Verse 6 informs us that plotting for the death of Jesus ensued immediately.  So, Mark 3:20-35 plays out in the context of a conspiracy to kill Jesus–in the name of God, of course.

Religion–regardless of its label–is what adherents make of it.  If one seeks justification for killing people, one can find it.  One may have to distort that religion to locate that mandate or permission slip, but seeking usually culminates in finding.  And if one is prone to being merciful and compassionate, one can find justification for that in religion, too.  As David Bentley Hart astutely and correctly observes, there is no such thing as generic religion.

In Mark 3, the religion is Second Temple Judaism.  The existence of capital offenses in the Law of Moses is a fact.  Yet so are cultural considerations of antiquity relative to the first century of the Common Era.  Lest we Christians rush to judgment against Judaism, the Law of Moses, or those conspiring Pharisees and Herodians, may we not neglect the logs in our proverbial eyes and the violent sins of our tradition.  We have the blood of victims of crusades, inquisitions, pogroms, and wars of religion on our collective hands.  David Bentley Hart contextualizes this violent past by (a) explaining that the drivers of it were usually political, and (b) that the religious moral vision exposes the sinfulness of such violence.  That is a nuance–one worth considering while never minimizing the devastation of such violence.

Lambasting long-dead Pharisees and Herodians is easy.  Condemning long-dead Christians for killing in the name of Jesus (himself executed horribly) requires minimal moral effort, too.  But think, O reader:  Is there someone whose death you would cheer?  Have you ever applauded anyone’s execution, murder, or any other mode of death?  If so, are you any different from those whom you deplore for plotting or committing violence, especially in the name of God?  If so, you may be estranged from God.  This estrangement need not persist, though.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 3, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE THIRTY-FIFTH DAY OF LENT

MONDAY IN HOLY WEEK

THE FEAST OF LUTHER D. REED, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND LITURGIST

THE FEAST OF SAINTS BURGENDOFARA AND SADALBERGA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBESSES, AND THEIR RELATIVES

THE FEAST OF MARC SAGNIER, FOUNDER OF THE SILION MOVEMENT

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARY OF EGYPT, HERMIT AND PENITENT

THE FEAST OF REGINALD HEBER, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF CALCUTTA, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SIDNEY LOVETT, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND CHAPLAIN OF YALE UNIVERSITY

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Adapted from this post

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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 and the Apostles

Image in the Public Domain

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Deuteronomy 5:12-15

Psalm 81:1-10 (LBW) or Psalm 142 (LW)

2 Corinthians 4:5-12

Mark 2:23-28

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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

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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

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The Sabbath is a divine gift.  The Deuteronomistic version of the Ten Commandments explains that the Sabbath is a mark of freedom; a free person, not a slave, gets a day off from work each week.  This explanation differs from that in the version of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20.  In Exodus 20:11, the Redactor explains the rationale for the Sabbath as emulating God.

The Sabbath is a divine gift.  God liberates us.  God frees us to be out best possible selves, communities, congregations, et cetera.  In turn, obedience is hardly an onerous requirement.  Even during persecution, we are free to cry out to God for deliverance.  And we, as those who follow God, can follow it.  St. Paul the Apostle is identifying our suffering with that of Jesus.  If we suffer with our Lord and Savior–if we take up our cross and follow him–God will not abandon us either.  Our triumph may come in the afterlife, but it will come.

The Sabbath is a divine gift.  Yet many people, out of misguided piety, transform it into a burden.  With that comment I turn my attention to the reading from Mark 2.  People have to eat on the Sabbath, do they not?  Yes, plucking grain on the Sabbath is work, but the Law of Moses does not forbid all work on the Sabbath.  For example, circumcision must occur on the eighth day of a boy’s life, according to the Law of Moses.  If that day falls on the Sabbath, so be it.  Also, the Jewish tradition understands that keeping some commandments may require violating others, due to circumstances.  Prioritizing and ranking commandments is, therefore, necessary.

Yet some people did not receive that memorandum, so to speak.

Lambasting long-dead Pharisees is easy.  Examining ourselves spiritually may be challenging, though.  Do we have our precious categories, which we maintain strictly and piously, to the detriment of others?  Does our piety ever harm anyone or delay someone’s restoration to physical, emotional, or spiritual wholeness?  Does our piety ever cause or prolong the suffering of others?  If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” we practice misguided piety.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 28, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE THIRTIETH DAY OF LENT

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 CHEVENIX TRENCH, ANGLICAN ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN

THE FEAST OF SAINT TUTILO, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK AND COMPOSER

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Adapted from this post

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