Thirteenth Day of Advent

An Oasis in Libya

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023

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Isaiah 48:17-19 (Revised English Bible):

Thus says the LORD your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

I am the LORD your God:

I teach you in the way of your own well-being

and lead you in the way you should go.

If only you had listened to my commands,

your prosperity would have rolled like a river,

your success like the waves of the sea;

your children would have been like the sand in number,

your descendants countless as its grains;

their name would never be erased or blotted from my sight.

Psalm 1 (Revised English Bible):

Happy is the one

who does not take the counsel of the wicked for a guide,

or follow the path that sinners tread,

or take his seat in the company of scoffers.

His delight is in the law of the LORD;

it is his meditation day and night.

He is like a tree planted beside water channels;

it yields its fruit in season

and its foliage never fades.

So he too prospers in all he does.

The wicked are not like this;

rather they are like chaff driven by the wind.

When judgment comes, therefore, they will not stand firm,

nor will sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

The LORD watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked is doomed.

Matthew 11:16-19 (Revised English Bible):

[Jesus said,]

How can I describe this generation?  They are like children sitting in the market-place and calling to each other,

“We piped for you and you would not dance.

We lamented, and you would not mourn.”

For John came, neither eating nor drinking, and people say, “He is possessed”; the Son of Man came, eating and drinking, and they say, “Look at him!  A glutton and a drinker, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!”  Yet God’s wisdom is proved right by its results.

The Collect:

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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First, a joke:  An Episcopal congregation welcomed its first female priest.  Yet two men in the church were weary of having a woman as their pastor.  They invited her to go fishing with them.  The priest agreed.  When the three of them were in a boat in a lake, the priest realized that she had left her fishing gear on the ground.  So she excused herself and walked across the water to collect what she needed to begin fishing.  One man turned to the other and said,

See, she can’t even swim.

As a sign I own says,

FOR EVERY ACTION THERE IS AN EQUAL AND OPPOSITE CRITICISM.

Yet, as this day’s readings remind us, results matter.  We should know this, for this conclusion is intuitive.  During this life many of those who lie, cheat, and steal shamelessly and habitually succeed for a long time, perhaps until they die.  Meanwhile, numerous honest and devout people struggle to make ends meet and to provide adequately for their families and themselves.  Banditry of certain varieties is legal on Wall Street, so a relative prosper because of their immorality while they place others at a disadvantage.  This is an old story.

Yet there is justice with God.  We know trees by their fruit, and we reap what we sow.  If we sow justice, we reap the common good.  If we sow love, we reap a good society.  Yet if we sow fear, we reap hatred.  And if we sow injustice, we reap social discord and economic inequality.  In the end God, who by grace labels all who follow him “acceptable,” does not excuse injustice.

The purpose of the Gospel is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.  Thanks be to God!

KRT

Written on May 31, 2010

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2011/11/12/results/

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