Above: Elisha Refuses the Gifts of Naaman, by Pieter de Grebber
Image in the Public Domain
Exclusion and Inclusion
NOT OBSERVED IN 2024
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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)
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2 Kings 5:1-14
Psalm 32
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Mark 1:40-45
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Lord God, mercifully receive the prayers of your people.
Help us to see and understand the things we ought to do,
and give us grace and power to do them;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 16
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O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers
of your people who call upon you,
and grant that they may understand the things they ought to do
and also may have grace and strength to accomplish them;
through Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 27
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“Leprosy” is a misleading translation commonplace in renderings of the assigned readings from 2 Kings 5 and Mark 1. Modern diagnoses would vary, if we had more detailed language in the ancient texts. The reference is to a range of dermatological conditions, all of which made one ritually unclean and brought social implications with that status.
I may not have to tell you, O reader, that how others think of then treat one may be devastating. Ostracism can take a toll on a person, for example.
Healing and cleansing from so-called leprosy meant restoration to family and community. in Mark 1:40-45, the holiness of Jesus overpowered the cause of the man’s ritual impurity.
Ritual impurity is not sin; one may contract it by following the Law of oses. For example, burying the dead properly is an obligation in the Law of Moses. Yet that act creates corpse impurity in the living. And one may contract social impurity while going about the mundane activities of daily life. Ritual impurity, a concept ubiquitous in the ancient Mediterranean world, is alien to my North American context. Yet I cannot properly understand much of the Bible without grasping ritual impurity and purity.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 flows from 9:19-23, outside of which 9:24-27 makes no sense. We read of the commitment of St. Paul the Apostle to Christ. Grace is free yet never cheap. If you have any doubt of that, O reader, ponder what grace required of St. Paul.
I invite you, O reader, to contrast the restoration to family and community that results from the restoration to ritual purity with the alienation from family and community that may result from following Jesus. Consider St. Paul, who experienced beatings, scorn, and incarcerations for the sake of Christ. Consider St. Paul, who became a martyr for the sake of Jesus. Psalm 32 may seem unduly optimistic, but if one understands well-being to flow from God, that text is realistic. Persecutions cannot interfere with well-being in God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 12, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF SAINTS TRASILLA AND EMILIANA; THEIR SISTER-IN-LAW, SAINT SYLVIA OF ROME; AND HER SON, SAINT GREGORY I “THE GREAT,” BISHOP OF ROME
THE FEAST OF HENRY WALFORD DAVIES, ANGLICAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF JOHN H. CALDWELL, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER AND SOCIAL REFORMER
THE FEAST OF SAINT MAXIMILIAN OF TREVESTE, ROMAN CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR AND MARTYR 295
THE FEAST OF RUTILIO GRANDE, EL SALVADORAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1977
THE FEAST OF SAINT THEOPHANES THE CHRONICLER, DEFENDER OF ICONS
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Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA
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ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS 
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