The readings from Zechariah and the Psalms overlap thematically. First Zechariah (Chapters 1-8) is a section concerned with the rebuilding of of the Jewish community after the return from the Babylonian Exile. The legitimization of the Second Temple is a major theme in support of that goal. In the context of the establishment of an ideal Zion, we read that God will dwell in the midst of the people.
First Zechariah also overlaps with First John thematically. Both agree that love of God entails keeping divine commandments. One may think also of another verse:
If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
–John 14:15, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
In our scheduled portion of the Gospel of John, we read of St. John the Baptist pointing to Jesus, not himself. This is a good reading to pair with the verses from Zechariah 2. God has come to dwell among the people.
God still dwells among us. The Holy Spirit is present, of course. God also works through people. The face of Jesus someone may see today may be your face, O reader. Likewise, the face of Jesus I see today may be someone in public, as we go about our lives. God dwells among us. We will recognize that truth if we know where to look.
May the image of God in you, O reader, greet the image of God in those around you.
One of the great virtues of High Churchmanship is having a well-developed sense of sacred time. So, for example, the church calendars, with their cycles, tell us of salvation history. We focus on one part of the narrative at a time. Much of Protestantism, formed in rebellion against Medieval Roman Catholic excesses and errors, has thrown the proverbial baby out with the equally proverbial bath water, rejecting or minimizing improperly the sacred power of rituals and holy days.
Consider, O reader, the case of Christmas–not in the present tense, but through the late 1800s. Puritans outlawed the celebration of Christmas when they governed England in the 1650s. Their jure divino theology told them that since there was no biblical sanction for keeping Christmas, they ought not to do it–nor should anyone else. On the other hand, the jure divino theology of other Calvinists allowed for keeping Christmas. Jure divino was–and is–a matter of interpretation. Lutherans, Anglicans, and Moravians kept Christmas. Many Methodists on the U.S. frontier tried yet found that drunken revelry disrupted services. Despite this Methodist pro-Christmas opinion, many members of the Free Methodist denomination persisted in anti-Christmas sentiment. The holiday was too Roman Catholic, they said and existed without
the authority of God’s word.
Thus, as the December 19, 1888 issue of Free Methodist concluded,
We attach no holy significance to the day.
–Quoted in Leigh Eric Schmidt, Consumer Rites: The Buying and Selling of American Holidays (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995), page 180. (The previous quote also comes from that magazine, quoted in the same book.)
Many Baptists also rejected the religious celebration of Christmas. An 1875 issue of Baptist Teacher, a publication for Sunday School educators, contained the following editorial:
We believe in Christmas–not as a holy day but as a holiday and so we join with our juveniles with utmost heartiness of festal celebration….Stripped as it ought to be, of all pretensions of religious sanctity and simply regarded as a social and domestic institution–an occasion of housewarming, and heart-warming and innocent festivity–we welcome its coming with a hearty “All Hail.”
–Quoted in Schmidt, Consumer Rites, pages 179 and 180
Presbyterians, with their Puritan heritage, resisted celebrating Christmas for a long time. In fact, some very strict Presbyterians still refuse to keep Christmas, citing their interpretation of jure divino theology. (I have found some of their writings online.) That attitude was more commonplace in the 1800s. The Presbyterian Church in the United States, the old Southern Presbyterian Church, passed the following resolution at its 1899 General Assembly:
There is no warrant for the observance of Christmas and Easter as holy days, but rather contrary (see Galatians iv.9-11; Colossians ii.16-21), and such observance is contrary to the principles of the Reformed faith, conducive to will-worship, and not in harmony with the simplicity of the gospel in Jesus Christ.
–Page 430 of the Journal of the General Assembly, 1899 (I copied the text of the resolution verbatim from an original copy of the Journal.)
I agree with Leigh Eric Schmidt:
It is not hard to see in this radical Protestant perspective a religious source for the very secularization of the holiday that would eventually be so widely decried. With the often jostling secularism of the Christmas bazaar, Protestant rigorists simply got what they had long wished for–Christmas as one more market day, a profane time or work and trade.
–Consumer Rites, page 180
I affirm the power of rituals and church calendars. And I have no fear of keeping a Roman Catholic holy day and season. Thus I keep Advent (December 1-24) and Christmas (December 25-January 5). I hold off on wishing people
Merry Christmas
often until close to Christmas Eve, for I value the time of preparation. And I have no hostility or mere opposition to wishing anyone
Happy Holidays,
due to the concentrated holiday season in December. This is about succinctness and respect in my mind; I am not a culture warrior.
Yet I cannot help but notice with dismay the increasingly early start of the end-of-year shopping season. More retailers will open earlier on Thanksgiving Day this year. Many stores display Christmas decorations before Halloween. These are examples of worshiping at the high altar of the Almighty Dollar.
I refuse to participate in this. In fact, I have completed my Christmas shopping–such as it was–mostly at thrift stores. One problem with materialism is that it ignores a basic fact: If I acquire an item, I must put it somewhere. But what if I enjoy open space?
I encourage a different approach to the end of the year: drop out quietly (or never opt in) and keep nearly four weeks of Advent and all twelve days of Christmas. I invite you, O reader, to observe these holy seasons and to discover riches and treasures better than anything on sale on Black Friday.
Pax vobiscum!
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 25, 2013 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SQUANTO, COMPASSIONATE HUMAN BEING
THE FEAST OF JAMES OTIS SARGENT HUNTINGTON, FOUNDER OF THE ORDER OF THE HOLY CROSS
–Martin Luther; translated by William James Kirkpatrick
Yesterday I sang in my parish choir’s performance of the Christmas portion of Handel’s Messiah. We dropped “His yoke is easy and his burden is light,” culminating instead in the Hallelujah Chorus. The concert was glorious and spiritually edifying for many people.
There are still a few days of Advent left. So I encourage you, O reader, to observe them. Then, beginning sometime during the second half of December 24, begin to say
Merry Christmas!
and continue that practice through January 5, the twelfth and last day of Christmas. And I encourage you to remember that our Lord and Savior was born into a violent world, one in which men–some mentally disturbed, others just mean, and still others both mean and mentally disturbed–threatened and took the lives of innocents. Names, circumstances, empires, nation-states, and technology have changed, but the essential reality has remained constant, unfortunately.
The Hallelujah Chorus, quoting the Apocalypse of John, includes these words:
The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.
That is not true yet, obviously. But that fact does not relieve any of us of our responsibilities to respect the Image of God in others and to treat them accordingly. We must not try to evade the duty to be the face and appendages of Christ to those to whom God sends us and those whom God sends to us. We cannot save the world, but we can improve it. May we do so for the glory of God and the benefit of others.
May the peace of Christ, born as a vulnerable baby and executed as a criminal by a brutal imperial government, be with you now and always. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 17, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MARIA STEWART, EDUCATOR
THE FEAST OF EGLANTYNE JEBB, FOUNDER OF SAVE THE CHILDREN
THE FEAST OF FRANK MASON NORTH, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
Judges 13:2-24
Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26
John 7:40-52
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn an oath to David my servant:
I will establish your line for ever,
and preserve it for all generations.”
–Psalm 89:3-4, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The origin stories of Samson and Jesus had some similarity to each other. In each case, for example, an angel announced the conception of the child to the mother. Yet Samson and Jesus were quite different.
Samson, a man of action, was supposed to deliver his people from oppressors. He was, alas, not the brightest oil lamp in Israel, and character defects led to his downfall. His death was his victory, but in a violent manner.
Jesus lived amid a range of messianic expectations, including the hope that he would liberate his people from the Roman occupiers. That was not his task, however. Nevertheless, he proved sufficiently threatening to the Roman Empire for imperial officials to execute him. To call Jesus the “Savior of the world” and the “Son of God” was to subvert imperial Roman language, to put him in the place of the Emperor. And the New Testament is replete with criticisms of the Roman Empire. (My Bible study program has revealed more of them than I had imagined to exist, in fact.) Jesus also had a victory–his Resurrection–in part a triumph over violence.
The assigned reading from John 7 precedes 7:53-8:11, the story of the woman caught in adultery. This was originally from the Synoptic tradition. In fact, different ancient texts have that floating pericope in various places in the Gospels. If we skip over the inserted story, we move directly to Jesus telling Pharisees that he is the light of the world and that they know neither him nor God. That section of scripture reads consistently flowing from 7:40-52 as well as from 7:53-8:11. In 7:45-52 some Pharisees were anxious to ignore proper procedure in order to arrest Jesus, so Nicodemus spoke up on behalf of procedure. If one reads 8:12-20 in the context of 7:53-8:11, some scribes and Pharisees have just violated the law to entrap Jesus, so the light was not in them for that reason. Either way, skullduggery was in the works.
Light in the darkness is a wonderful metaphor to employ during Advent, when many of we Christians see a wreath with candles in church. May we be lights of Christ in the darkness, which cannot conquer that light of divine love. May we leave pettiness, greed, hatred, and other destructive forces behind, take up our crosses, and follow Jesus, for whose birth we prepare liturgically.
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
Hannah’s Song from 1 Samuel 2, a partial basis for the Magnificat, is fitting to read during Advent and with these lections. The birth of Isaac was a miracle, as was the birth of Samuel. And we read an allegory of Isaac and Ishmael in Galatians. The essence of the allegory is this: In grace there is freedom, not slavery–freedom to serve God.
Among the underlying principles of the Law of Moses was that everything belongs to God. Therefore we are tenants on this planet and slaves of God, a kindly (at least some of the time) master. God, in the Bible (both Testaments) does have quite a temper. God, in both Testaments, exercises both judgment and mercy. And, in the Law of Moses, there was mercy in exchange for obedience to the Law, which spoke of mutual responsibilities of people to each other. If all were slaves of God, none was better than anyone else. And nobody had the right to exploit anyone else.
There was, of course, the long list of stonable offenses (many of which I have committed), from working on the Sabbath day to showing disrespect to parents. If one were subject to such laws, who would live into or past adolescence? Obviously, executing someone does not indicate mercy toward him or her. I mention these matters to avoid even the appearance of committing prooftexting and to acknowledge the complexity of the texts. But my earlier point remains accurate.
That point–responsibility to each other–runs through the Galatians lessons also. There is a consistent biblical testimony on the topic of what we owe to each other as social beings who bear the Image of God. The well-being of the community is crucial to this theology, for none of us is, as John Donne said, an island. So, just as surely as we ought not to endanger the community, the community has no right to crush us for simply not conforming to every rule. Diversity enriches the whole and individualism and communitarianism can co-exist peacefully and respectfully. Besides, if everybody were alike, much that is essential would not get done. If that were not bad enough, the community and the world wold be incredibly dull.
May this Advent be a time to renew our commitments to God and each other to labor faithfully for the greater good in interesting and perhaps even quirky ways.
Advent receives inadequate attention. The season is certainly not commercial. Indeed, Christmas receives much commercial attention even before Halloween, for retailers need the money from Christmas-related sales to sustain stores through other times of the year. I admit to being of two minds. On one hand I do my rather limited Christmas shopping at thrift stores, so my deeds reveal my creed. Yet I know that many jobs depend on Christmas-related sales, so I want retailers to do well at the end of the year. Nevertheless, I am not very materialistic at heart; the best part of Christmas is intangible. And nobody needs any more dust catchers.
Observing Advent is a positive way of dropping out of the madness that is pre-December 25 commercialism. The four Sundays and other days (December 2-24 in 2012) preceding Christmas Day are a time of spiritual preparation, not unlike Lent, which precedes Easter. Garrison Keillor used the term “Advent Distress Disorder” (ADD) in a monologue last year. Indeed, finding positive news in the midst of apocalyptic tones of Advent readings can prove difficult. Yet the good news remains and the light shines brightest in the darkness.
So, O reader, I invite you to observe a holy Advent. Embrace the confluence of joy and distress, of darkness and light. And give Advent all the time it warrants through December 24. Christmas will arrive on schedule and last for twelve days. But that is another topic….
Pax vobiscum!
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 6, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM TEMPLE, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
THE FEAST OF TE WHITI O RONGOMAI, MAORI PROPHET
THE FEAST OF SAINT THEOPHANE VERNARD, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, MISSIONARY, AND MARTYR IN VIETNAM
And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD,
in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth;
and he shall be the one of peace.
THE RESPONSE: OPTIONS
Canticle 15 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
(The Magnificat plus the Trinitarian formula)
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Psalm 80:1-7 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 Hear, O Shepherd of Israel, leading Joseph like a flock;
shine forth, you that are enthroned upon the cherubim.
2 In the presence of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,
stir up your strength and come to help us.
3 Restore us, O God of hosts;
show us the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.
4 O LORD God of hosts,
how long will you be angered
despite the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears;
you have given them bowls of tears to drink.
6 You have made us the derision of our neighbors,
and our enemies laugh us to scorn.
7 Restore us, O God of hosts;
show us the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.
THE SECOND READING
Hebrews 10:5-10 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):
Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,
Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.
Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,’
as it is written of me in the roll of the book.
When he said above,
You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings
(those are offered according to the law), then he added,
Behold, I have come to do your will.
He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
THE GOSPEL READING
Luke 1:39-45 (46-55) (Revised English Bible):
Soon afterwards Mary set out and hurried away to a town in the uplands of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby stirred in her womb. Then Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed in a loud voice,
God’s blessing is on you above all women, and his blessing is on the fruit of your womb. Who am I, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? I tell you, when your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby in my womb leapt for joy. Happy is she who has faith that the Lord’s promise to her would be fulfilled!
And Mary said:
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour;
for he has looked with favour on his servant,
lowly as she is.
From this day forward
all generations will count me blessed,
for the Mighty God has done great things for me.
His name is holy,
his mercy sure from generation to generation
toward those who fear him.
He has shown the might of his arm,
he has routed the proud and all their schemes;
he has brought down monarchs and their thrones,
and raised on high the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has come to the help of Israel his servant,
as he promised to our forefathers;
he has not forgotten to show mercy
to Abraham and his children’s children for ever.
Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then returned home.
The Collect:
Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The world has long been violent. Such violence is evident in some of the readings for this Sunday. Read the rest of Micah 5, which refers to a possible invasion by Assyrian forces. Enemies laugh the people of God to scorn in Psalm 80. Hebrews 10 reminds us that the birth of Jesus was an early chapter in a story which went on to include the crucifixion. And the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, the setting for the glorious Magnificat, occurred in occupied Judea. The Pax Romana came at a high price for the vanquished and occupied.
Empires rise and fall, but violence persists. Nations still occupy other peoples, who engage in acts of violent resistance. And invasions occur from time to time. Grudges ancient and modern ferment in the minds of many people, whether they are occupied or the occupiers. Out of mutual fear, hostility, and misunderstanding we humans attack each other and justify injustice.
We have done this to ourselves and each other. We continue to do so, for we might not know how to act differently. We need to hear and heed the message of the Magnificat. The fruit of a scandalous conception brought about an abundance of grace, but that fruit needed good nurturing. May we, when we have opportunities to do so, nurture the bearers of grace around us. Scandals are less important (if at all) than are love and compassion. Who knows how far the impact of our nurturing will reach? What would Jesus have been without the parenting skills of Mary and Joseph? If we take our creedal statements regarding our Lord’s full humanity and divinity seriously, we must give Mary and Joseph much credit.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 3, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE TENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS
THE FEAST OF EDWARD CASWALL, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF EDWARD PERRONET, BRITISH METHODIST PREACHER
THE FEAST OF SAINT GENEVIEVE, PROPHET
THE FEAST OF GLADYS AYLWARD, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY TO CHINA
The exiles of Judah will go home. The martyrs in Heaven glorify God, who has sealed the faithful for survival during the great tribulation. Tough times will follow in the near term but those of God will emerge in one piece–not necessarily unscathed, but in one piece.
Most of us dislike suffering for obvious reasons. We refer good news to bad news, pleasure to pain, good time to different ones. And we want the deliverance to arrive sooner rather than later. Immediately would suit us fine. I know these feelings well.
Yet we must wait sometimes. This is an Advent devotion, so the theme of waiting fits well.
O come, o come, Emmanuel,
an old hymn says. There is a great sense of longing there. And, from “The Church’s One Foundation” (words by Samuel John Stone, 1839-1900, a priest of The Church of England), we read:
Mid toil and tribulation,
and tumult of her war,
she waits the consumation
of peace for evermore,
till with the vision glorious
her longing eyes are blessed,
and the great Church victorious
shall be the Church at rest.
Waiting can be very difficult, for our schedule is not that of God. Yet, if we wait faithfully long enough, we will know from experience that God is faithful.
ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS 
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