According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
Culturally-specific examples make timeless principles applicable, in context. Outside of that context, the culturally-specific examples may seem confusing and may not apply. Yet the timeless principles remain. When reading any Biblical text, the question of context(s) is always relevant. Knowing the difference between a timeless principle and a culturally-specific example thereof is essential.
Consider the reading from Matthew 5, for example, O reader.
“Raca,” or “fool,” was an extremely strong insult. We have counterparts in our contemporary cultures; these counterparts are unsuitable for quoting in a family-friendly weblog. How we think and speak of others matters.
Divorce and remarriage, in well-to-do families, consolidated landholding, thereby taking advantage of deeply indebted families. Such practices endangered societal and familial cohesion. Some divorces are necessary, especially in cases of domestic violence and emotional abuse. The innocent parties deserve happiness afterward, do they not? I support them receiving that happiness. Yet modern practices that endanger societal and familial cohesion exist.
The Gospel of Matthew makes clear that Jesus affirmed the Law of Moses. He favored Torah piety. Jesus also opposed those who taught the Torah badly. Deuteronomy 30 and Psalm 119 taught Torah piety, too. St. Paul the Apostle admitted that the Law of Moses was good. His objection after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, was that Judaism was not Christianity, not that it was legalistic. For St. Paul, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus changed everything.
We have now received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit of God himself, so that we can understand something of God’s generosity towards us.
–1 Corinthians 2:12, J. B. Phillips, The New Testament in Modern English, Revised Edition (1972)
In your context, O reader, what does God’s generosity require you to do? Returning to Matthew 5 (among other Biblical texts), God orders that we–collectively and individually–treat others properly. How we think of them influences how we behave toward them, inevitably.
May we–you, O reader, and I–as well as our communities, cultures, societies, et cetera–in the words of Deuteronomy 30:19, choose life. May we choose proper piety. May we acknowledge and accept our complete dependence on God. May we practice mutuality. May we love one another selflessly.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 25, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE CONVERSION OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE
The Law of Moses teaches, among other lessons, that we are responsible to and for each other. Experiences and the past teach us that one person can improve the situation of many people or cause unfortunate events to befall them. As we read in Ephesians 4:25,
we belong to one another as parts of one body.
—The Revised English Bible (1989)
May we, belonging to one another as parts of one body, put on the new nature created in God’s likeness. May we, therefore, build each other up every day–even commit good works on the Sabbath. May we rejoice in each other’s blessings and support each other during times of adversity and suffering. May those in positions of authority and power build up their countries and the world for the long-term common good, not selfishly build up themselves and boost their egos at high costs to many others. May those who violate this principle fall from power, and may people who will honor this principle replace them. May all of us love ourselves as people who bear the image of God then extend that love to all other human beings. Such radical, certainly politically and socially subversive love and respect is consistent with Jewish and Christian moral teaching.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 20, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SEBASTIAN CASTELLIO, PROPHET OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
THE FEAST OF CHRISTOPHER WORDSWORTH, HYMN WRITER AND ANGLICAN BISHOP OF LINCOLN
THE FEAST OF ELLEN GATES STARR, U.S. EPISCOPALIAN THEN ROMAN CATHOLIC SOCIAL ACTIVIST AND REFORMER
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIA JOSEFA SANCHO DE GUERRA, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE SERVANTS OF JESUS
THE FEAST OF SAMUEL RODIGAST, GERMAN LUTHERAN ACADEMIC AND HYMN WRITER
Words matter, for they have power. Today we read this in Ecclesiastes 5 and Matthew 5. We have a moral obligation to refrain from all abusive language (such as Raqa, in the context of the culture of Matthew 5) and evasive language purposefully devoid of meaning (such as clever oaths in Matthew 5).
Actions matter also. As much as God desires that the wicked repent, we mere mortals ought to seek reconciliation in disputes. Accomplishing this is not always possible, for reconciliation requires more than one conciliatory party. In such a case the desire to reconcile is laudable, at least.
The prayer from Psalm 7:9 that the wicked would cease to do harm and the reign of righteousness would begin is a timeless one. I pray it often, for that would be a welcome change of reality. Such a radical restructuring of the world requires an act of God, whose law Christ fulfills.
These admonitions can prove difficult to keep in one’s life. We cannot succeed by our own strength of will. Yes, our good intentions are laudable; God can work with them. Yet we require grace to succeed in this noble endeavor.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 21, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, CARL PHILIPP EMANUEL BACH, AND JOHANN CHRISTIAN BACH, COMPOSERS
THE FEAST OF SAINT NICHOLAS OF FLÜE AND HIS GRANDSON, SAINT CONRAD SCHEUBER, SWISS HERMITS
THE FEAST OF SAINT SERAPION OF THMUIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM EDWARD HICKSON, ENGLISH MUSIC EDUCATOR AND SOCIAL REFORMER
Do not be afraid of their words and do not be dismayed by them, though they are a rebellious breed; but speak My words to them, whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.
–Ezekiel 2:6b-7, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
The imagery of eating a scroll indicates accepting a prophetic call from God. Often the vocation of the prophet entails being unpopular, for speaking uncomfortable truths leads to that result. Also, speaking such truths might place the life and liberty of the prophet at risk.
For some time the passage from Ezekiel has haunted me, so to speak. The imagery of the bitter scroll tasting as sweet as honey, indicating Ezekiel’s glad acceptance of his commission, has come to mind often. This imagery, echoed in Revelation 10, has reminded me of the mix of the bitter and sweet lives in while following God. It has challenged me to accept bitterness as sweetness in the service of God. I have not lived fully into that challenge yet.
The passage in Luke 13 reminds us of the difference between hearing and listening. We might hear, but we might not listen. Listening is much harder work, after all. And, assuming that we do listen to the prophetic words of God via Ezekiel, Jesus, or anyone else, we might not like them. How we respond or react to them is spiritually telling.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 3, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIE-LEONIE PARADIS, FOUNDER OF THE LITTLE SISTERS OF THE HOLY FAMILY
God cares for the poor and the oppressed, Elihu, Psalm 12, and Matthew 7 tell us. Yet how do we explain the divine wager in Job 1 and 2, as well as the suffering of other innocent people? It is a difficult theological question, one for which I, along with the Book of Job, refuse to offer any easy answers. I not that, according to God in Job 42:7, Job had, unlike Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, spoken truthfully about God. I remind you, O reader, that Job had spoken critically of God, who agreed with Job in Chapter 42 yet not in Chapters 38-41. Such contradictions are par for course in a text with layers of authorship.
Elihu, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar should have followed timeless advice which the author of 2 Peter 1 summarized thusly:
…you should make every effort to add virtue to your faith, knowledge to virtue, self-control to knowledge, fortitude to self-control, piety to fortitude, brotherly affection to piety, and love to brotherly affection.
–1:5b-7, The Revised English Bible (1989)
They would have avoided being not only inhospitable but overreaching in statements in defense of God, as they understood God. Elihu said:
But this is what all sensible folk will say,
and any wise man among my hearers,
“There is not wisdom in Job’s speech,
his words lack sense.
Put him unsparingly to the proof
since his retorts are the same as those that the wicked make.
For to him he adds rebellion,
calling justice into question in our midst
and heaping abuse on God.”
–Job 34:34-37, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
They would have refrained from heaping abuse on Job and would have been good friends had they acted according to the timeless advice the author of 2 Peter 1:5b-7 understood well.
May we–you, O reader, and I–act according to 2 Peter 1:5b-7 daily, by grace.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 10, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT SALVIUS OF ALBI, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF MORDECAI JOHNSON, EDUCATOR
THE FEAST OF SAINT NEMESIAN OF SIGUM AND HIS COMPANIONS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS AND MARTYRS
The theme of idolatry unites the main two pericopes. It occupies the core of the reading from Jeremiah 17, where idolatry will lead to destruction. The lesson from Luke 11 concludes a narrative in which some critics have accused Jesus of being in league with Satan, prompting our Lord and Savior to respond with his “house divided” discourse. Christ’s critics in that account could not recognize God incarnate in their presence.
An idol is anything–a thought, a practice, an object–which prevents one from recognizing God where God is present. One person’s idol might be another person’s icon–through which one sees God. The difference between an idol and an icon is how one uses it. Among my favorite words is bibliolatry, which means treating the Bible as an idol. That is an unfortunate reality for many who seek God. Their desire for something concrete leads them astray as they seek the invisible God.
May we, as we seek God, avoid all idols, by grace.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 14, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ALL CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES
THE FEAST OF SAMUEL ISAAC JOSEPH SCHERESCHEWSKY, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF SHANGHAI
THE FEAST OF THOMAS HANSEN KINGO, DANISH LUTHERAN BISHOP, HYMN WRITER, AND “POET OF EASTERTIDE”
God seemed quite mysterious–even dangerous–in Exodus 19. Anyone who touched Mt. Sinai would die, for the mountain was holy, and that made the geographical feature more hazardous than usual. There was also a hazard in the peoples’ pledge to obey God’s commandments, due to the penalties for violating them.
God was also a threat in the mind of Job, who, in 19:23-27, looked forward to his Redeemer/Vindicator, a kinsman who would, in the words of a note on page 1529 of The Jewish Study Bible (2004),
vindicate him, will take revenge on God for what God has done to Job.
That is a desire many people have felt. That interpretation is also far removed from a traditional Christian understanding of the text, not that there is anything wrong with that difference.
We find the friendly and scary faces of God in the New Testament readings. Hebrews 2:1-4 reminds us of penalties for sins. Yet 1 Timothy 3:14-16 brings us the mystery and the graces of God in the context of Jesus. That example is far removed from Exodus 19:7-25, where divine holiness was fatal to people. What could be closer to people–even in contact with them–and holy without being fatal to them than Jesus?
Mountains and the divine go together in the Bible. Moses received the Law on one. Jesus preached from mountains. His Transfiguration occurred on one. He “ascended” (whatever that means in literal, as opposed to theological terms) from a mountain. The symbolism also works in our lives, as in our “mountaintop experiences.”
As we depart the Season after the Epiphany for Lent, may we seek and find, by grace, a closer walk with God, whose holiness gives us life and is not fatal to us. May we internalize the lessons God wants us to internalize. And, when we are angry with God, may we have enough faith to, in the style of Job, argue faithfully. Communication cannot occur in the absence of messages.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 4, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE FIFTH DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF JOSEPH MOHR, AUSTRIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT BARBARA, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN OF DAMASCUS, HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN CALABRIA, FOUNDER OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE POOR SERVANTS AND THE POOR WOMEN SERVANTS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE
Liturgical time matters, for it sacramentalizes days, hours, and minutes, adding up to seasons on the church calendar. Among the frequently overlooked seasons is the Season after Epiphany, the first part of Ordinary Time. The Feast of the Epiphany always falls on January 6 in my tradition. And Ash Wednesday always falls forty days (excluding Sundays) before Easter Sunday. The Season after Epiphany falls between The Feast of the Epiphany and Ash Wednesday. In 2013 the season will span January 7-February 12.
This season ought to be a holy time, one in which to be especially mindful of the imperative to take the good news of Jesus of Nazareth to others by a variety of means, including words when necessary. Words are meaningless when our actions belie them, after all. Among the themes of this season is that the Gospel is for all people, not just those we define as insiders. No, the message is also for our “Gentiles,” those whom we define as outsiders. So, with that thought in mind, I encourage you, O reader, to exclude nobody. Do not define yourself as an insider to the detriment of others. If you follow this advice, you will have a proper Epiphany spirit.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 9, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MARTIN CHEMNITZ, GERMAN LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF BARTON STONE, COFOUNDER OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH (DISCIPLES OF CHRIST)
Bildad the Shuhite, alleged friend #2, insults Job for expressing himself and goes on to repeat arguments Eliphaz the Temanite had made. Understandably, Job does not find this helpful. In contrast, the woman at the well becomes a gateway for Jesus to reach out to many of her fellow villagers. I know which person I wish to emulate.
Too often we human beings feel as if we must say something to a person in distress. Frequently this takes the form of a platitude such as
I know how you feel
when, in fact, the speaker has no idea how the other person feels. But at least the speaker in such a case means well. That, nevertheless, does not excuse the unhelpful words. I have tried to be present and helpful for a suffering person. I have tried to be properly cautious in choosing my words, with affects in mind. Sometimes these words have fallen flat and even just being present has proved to be no help, so far as I have been able to tell. But at least I have not blamed her or told her that I knew how she felt. Overall, I think, I have succeeded in performing a good work. As I type these words, the next chapter in that story is unfolding. Maybe what I did to help my friend will help others as well. Even if it does not, at least it proved useful to her.
Until the next segment of our journey….
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 15, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR B
THE FEASTS OF SAINT OLGA OF KIEV, REGENT OF KIEVAN RUSSIA; ADALBERT OF MAGDEBURG, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; ADALBERT OF PRAGUE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP AND MARTYR; AND BENEDICT AND GAUDENTIUS OF POMERANIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS
THE FEAST OF SAINT DAMIEN DE VEUSTER, A.K.A. DAMIEN OF MOLOKAI, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST
THE FEAST OF SAINT EGBERT OF LINDISFARNE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK AND SAINT ADALBERT OF EGMONT, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY
THE FEAST OF SAINT MELLITUS, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS 
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