How well can we understand the judgment and mercy of God? Christianity dwells on divine mercy yet the New Testament contains plenty of judgment. Need I remind anyone of Revelation? Furthermore, anger and fantasies of violence recur throughout the Psalms. We read of the Day of the LORD in Malachi. In that passage we read, according to TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985), that the faithful will
trample the wicked to a pulp.
Who do we say God is? Who do we say Jesus is? We cannot escape all spiritual veils, for we know in part and carry cultural blinders. Yet we can, by grace, recognize Jesus sufficiently to follow him to Jerusalem, so to speak.
God will tend to judgment and mercy.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 22, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF SAINT DEOGRATIAS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF CARTHAGE
THE FEAST OF EMMANUEL MOURNIER, PERSONALIST PHILOSOPHER
THE FEAST OF JAMES DE KOVEN, EPISCOPAL PRIEST
THE FEAST OF THOMAS HUGHES, BRITISH SOCIAL REFORMER AND MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM EDWARD HICKSON, ENGLISH MUSIC EDUCATOR AND SOCIAL REFORMER
One should serve God, of course. Not trying to do so is mainly unacceptable. Yet trying to do so does not guarantee succeeding in doing so; one can be sincerely wrong. The history of religion is replete with those who have committed evils while laboring under the impression they were serving God. So is the present state of religion.
We are morally responsible for and to each other. Saying and writing that sentence is easy. Understanding how it properly translates into attitudes and actions in various contexts can prove very challenging, though.
Praying is a good start, of course. Yet we must distinguish between a dialogue and an internal monologue if we are to know the difference between God and what we want to hear.
God’s choice of human instruments may surprise us, as may the number of “others” who are among the faithful. We humans tend to prefer neat, orderly categories, such as “insiders” and “outsiders.” But what if we, who think ourselves as insiders, are really outsiders? I tell people sometimes that the lists of people who are in Heaven and who are not there would astound and scandalize us if we could see them.
Grace is astounding, is it not? It is free yet not cheap. Likewise, judgment and mercy exist in context of each other; they are in balance God knows what that balance is. So be it.
May we, by grace, succeed is serving God, in glorifying and enjoying God in the moment and forever.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 22, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF SAINT DEOGRATIAS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF CARTHAGE
THE FEAST OF EMMANUEL MOURNIER, PERSONALIST PHILOSOPHER
THE FEAST OF JAMES DE KOVEN, EPISCOPAL PRIEST
THE FEAST OF THOMAS HUGHES, BRITISH SOCIAL REFORMER AND MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM EDWARD HICKSON, ENGLISH MUSIC EDUCATOR AND SOCIAL REFORMER
Two of the three readings today include much doom. Psalm 120 is overwhelmingly gloomy, as is the pericope from 2 Kings. The reign of King Zedekiah (born Mattaniah) as the vassal King of Judah (reigned 597-586 B.C.E.) marked the bitter end of that kingdom. Mattaniah (literally “gift of YHWH”) did not even get to keep his name, for his political master was Nebuchadnezzar II (reigned 605-562 B.C.E.) of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire. So Mattaniah became Zedekiah (literally “YHWH is righteousness”). The regnal name indicated the semblance of respect for Jewish traditions while simultaneously reminding the monarch that he was a vassal.
St. Paul the Apostle understood the death and resurrection of Jesus to have been literal events. The Apostle also used them as spiritual metaphors, such as dying to sin and rising to new life in Christ. Jesus will reign, we read, but only until he has conquered all enemies, the last of which is death, which he is in the process of conquering. At the end Jesus will become subject to God the Father (YHWH).
Trinitarian theology developed over centuries, and St. Paul wrote near the beginning of that process. His epistles do not stand up well to strict scrutiny according to the conclusions of the Council of Nicaea (325). Neither do writings of other Ante-Nicene Church Fathers. I refuse to judge them according to an ex post facto standard.
As for St. Paul’s christology, I refer to William F. Orr and James Arthur Walther, authors of The Anchor Bible volume on 1 Corinthians (1976):
Paul has not developed a trinitarian doctrine, but his christology is nonetheless a remarkable achievement. overwhelming as is the work of salvation in the resurrection, it must be seen within the context of the purpose of the creator God. Paul meticulously maintains his Jewish monotheistic tradition: therefore the son himself is finally subjected, a statement that must be read, not from the perspective of a subordinationalist christology, but from Paul’s position, which is determined to set forth God as the all in all.
–Page 334
There were four kings. Zedekiah was subject to Nebuchadnezzar II. Sorting out the question of the subjection of Jesus to YHWH entails cutting through filters such as subsequent Trinitarian theology. St. Paul was correct in asserting the supremacy of God, for, in the original scheme of things, YHWH was supposed to be the only King of Israel anyway.
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”
Everlasting God, you give strength to the weak and power to the faint.
Make us agents of your healing and wholeness,
that your good may be made known to the ends your creation,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 24
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The Assigned Readings:
2 Chronicles 26:1-21 (Monday)
2 Kings 7:3-10 (Tuesday)
Psalm 6 (Both Days)
Acts 3:1-10 (Monday)
1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1 (Tuesday)
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O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger,
or discipline me in your wrath.
Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing;
O LORD, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.
–Psalm 6:1-2, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
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My comments for the post I wrote prior to this one apply here also, I refer you, O reader, to them and pursue a different line of thought arising from assigned readings.
We ought to glorify God. We cannot do this while committing idolatry, acting to harm another human being (physically or spiritually) other than in self-defense or the defense of another person, or being oblivious to God, who has done much over time and continues to act. Likewise, when we act out of respect for others, we honor the image of God in them.
If you love me, keep my commandments,
Jesus said. He ordered people to love one another and honor God. He also provided an example to emulate. That example points out how dangerous loving one’s neighbors can be. Yet if we are truly to be Christians, we will follow him.
Often we humans designate some of our neighbors as people to look down upon, shun, discriminate against, murder, destroy culturally, et cetera. This is wrong, for all people bear the image of God and therefore possess inherent dignity. We might not get along with many of them, but we ought never to question their humanity or equality with us. The Golden Rule stands.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 2, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE THIRD DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF SAINT BRIOC, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AND SAINT TUDWAL, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND BISHOP
THE FEAST OF CHANNING MOORE WILLIAMS, EPISCOPAL BISHOP IN CHINA AND JAPAN
THE FEAST OF JOHN BROWN, ABOLITIONIST
THE FEAST OF SAINT OSMUND OF SALISBURY, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
The Law of Moses is a complex code. In one breath it speaks of responsibilities people have to each other in community, such as not to exploit each other. Yet the same law code classes women and servants with inanimate property in the Ten Commandments, has a negative view of female biology, and contains many offenses which end with death by stoning. I join with my fellow Christians since the earliest years of Christianity in applying parts of the Law of Moses literally while not keeping other sections thereof. There are, of course, the letter and the spirit of the law, with much of the letter consisting of culturally-specific principles. So one might identify contemporary applications in lieu of examples from the Bible. Yet I refuse to execute or condone the execution of a child who disrespects his or her parents severely, for example.
Thus I pick and choose amid the provisions of the Law of Moses, as I should. I focus on mutual responsibilities, for all of us are responsible to and for each other. This is a timeless truth, the keeping of which builds up communities, nations, societies, and the human species. We ought never to exploit or seek to exploit one another. To exclude another person wrongly or seek to do so is sinful. To fail to recognize the Image of God in another is to sin.
That can be advice difficult to follow. And the following counsel is really hard for me:
Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and completely lacking in nothing.
–James 2:2-4, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition
I do not welcome
various trials (RSV-SCE)
as
friends (James 2:2, J. B. Phillips, The New Testament in Modern English, Revised Edition, 1972).
Rather, I prefer the absence of
various trials (James 2:2, RSV-SCE).
Yet I recognize that
various trials
in my past have resulted in more mature faith. I examine myself spiritually and recognize benefits I have gained from adversity. Yet I do not wish to repeat the experiences. I interpret the good results of
various trials
as evidence of abundant divine grace and rejoice in that.
May we, by divine grace, extend such grace to others as we have opportunity to do so.
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)
Job, in the speech which encompasses Chapters 9 and 10, feels powerless before God, whom he understands as being omnipotent. The speaker demands to know why God has done what God has done and is doing what God is doing relative to himself (Job):
I say to God, “Do not condemn me;
Let me know what you are charging me with….”
–Job 10:2, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures
This is, in the context of the narrative, understandable and justifiable. The Book of Job does open with God permitting Job’s sufferings. The text offers no easy answers to the question of the causes of the suffering of the innocent.
John 4:46-5:18 offers us happier material. Jesus heals a royal official’s son long-distance then a poor man paralyzed for thirty-eight years up close and in person. Unfortunately for our Lord, he performs the second miracle on the Sabbath and speaks of himself as equal to God, prompting some opponents (labeled invectively as “the Jews”) to plot to kill him. I said that the material was happier, not entirely joyful.
The paralyzed man and the observers probably understood his disability to have resulted from somebody’s sin. The Book of Job, of course, repudiated that point of view.
It occurs to me that Job’s alleged friends and our Lord’s accusers had something in common: Both sets of people were defending their God concept, one which could not stand up to observed reality. J. B. Phillips wrote a classic book, Your God is Too Small (1961), which I most recently too long ago. In this slim volume he pointed out that inadequate God concepts and attachments to them cause dissatisfaction with God and blind us to what God is. Our Lord’s critics in the Gospel of John were blind to what God is and found Jesus unsatisfactory. And, in the Book of Job, as we will discover as we keep reading, all of the mortals who speak have inadequate God concepts. Yet Job’s is the least inadequate.
Until the next segment of our journey….
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 26, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS REMACLUS OF MAASTRICHT, THEODORE OF MAASTRICHT, LAMBERT OF MAASTRICHT, HUBERT OF MAASTRICHT AND LIEGE, AND FLORIBERT OF LIEGE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS; LANDRADA OF MUNSTERBILSEN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBESS; AND OTGER OF UTRECHT, PLECHELM OF GUELDERLAND, AND WIRO, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES
THE FEAST OF CHRISTINA ROSSETTI, POET
THE FEAST OF SAINT PASCHASIUS RADBERTUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
THE FEAST OF ROBERT HUNT, FIRST ANGLICAN CHAPLAIN AT JAMESTOWN, VIRGINIA
Enron, of course, has ceased to exist, but here is where I found the image: link
Trust in God; All Else is Transitory
FEBRUARY 14, 2022
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Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2010), of The Episcopal Church, contains an adapted two-years weekday lectionary for the Epiphany and Ordinary Time seasons from the Anglican Church of Canada. I invite you to follow it with me.
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James 1:1-11 (Revised English Bible):
From James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Greetings to the twelve tribes dispersed throughout the world.
My friends, whenever you have to face all sorts of trials, count yourselves supremely happy in the knowledge that such testing of your faith makes for strength to endure. Let endurance perfect its work in you that you may become perfected, sound throughout, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God and it will be given him, for God is a generous giver who neither grudges nor reproaches anyone. But he who asks must ask in faith, with never a doubt in his mind; for the doubter is like a wave of the sea tossed hither and thither by the wind. A man like that should not think he will receive anything from the Lord. He is always in two minds and unstable in all he does.
The church member in humble circumstances does well to take pride in being exalted; the wealthy member must find his pride in being brought low, for the rich man will disappear like a wild flower; once the sun is up with its scorching heat, it parches the plant, its flower withers, and what was lovely to look at is lost for ever. So shall the rich man fade away as he goes about his business.
Psalm 119:65-72 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
65 O LORD, you have dealt graciously with your servant,
according to your word.
66 Teach me discernment and knowledge,
for I have believed in your commandments.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I keep your word.
68 You are good and you bring forth good;
instruct me in your statutes.
69 The proud have smeared me with lies,
but I will keep your commandments with my whole heart.
70 Their heart is gross and fat,
but my delight is in your law.
71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
that I might learn your statutes.
72 The law of your mouth is dearer to me
than thousands in gold and silver.
Mark 8:11-13 (Revised English Bible):
Then the Pharisees came out and began to argue with him. To test him they asked for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said,
Why does generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you: no sign shall be given to this generation.
With that he left them, re-embarked, and made for the other shore.
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The Collect:
O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
One of the recurring themes in the Bible is the imperative of trusting in God first and foremost. This does not preclude making good decisions; indeed, it leads to doing this. Hebrew prophets counseled leaders to trust in God, not international alliances with double-dealing empires, and not to become overly confident in military strength. Such things, they said, were idols. And, like all other idols, they come and they go.
Jesus, in Mark 8, complained about yet another demand for a dramatic sign. We humans like signs and wonders, for they are easy to identify. Yet Elijah, in 1 Kings 19:12, found God in “a faint murmuring sound,” not an earthquake, a strong wind, or a fire. That was not very dramatic, was it? We ought to trust God because God is God, not because of signs and wonders.
In James 1 we read about becoming “perfected.” The original Greek word maturity. And completeness refers to a blemishless state, as in that present in a sacrificial animal. So, in context, endurance produces spiritual maturity, suitability in service to God, and a continuing state of spiritual growth. Other factors, such as wealth and prestige (or lack thereof) are transient, so we ought not become attached to them and define ourselves according to them.
Maybe Douglas Adams said it best on page 1 of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1979):
Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.
Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.
The planet has–or rather had–a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn’t the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.
And so the problem remained; lots of people were mean, and most of them were miserable, even the ones with digital watches.
Many were increasingly of the opinion that they’d all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. And some said that even the trees had been a bad move, and that no one should ever have left the oceans.
And then, one Thursday, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change, a girl sitting on her own in a small cafe in Rickmansworth suddenly realized what it was that had been going wrong all this time, and she finally knew how how the world could be made a good and happy place. This time it was right, it would work, and no one would have to get nailed to anything.
Sadly, however, before she could get to a phone to tell anyone about it, a terrible, stupid catastrophe occurred, and the idea was lost for ever.
This is not her story.
Our identity, my theology tells me, ought to have its root in God alone. Each human being bears the image of God, who loves, who woos, and who has sacrificed for everyone. This is God, whom we can trust. Money, when it is physical, is pieces of paper and metal, used properly for paying our bills, purchasing our necessities, and helping others–but not functioning as a barrier between us and God.
Above: Noah’s Ark, According to Edward Hicks (1780-1849)
Ready or Not…
FEBRUARY 14, 2023
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Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2010), of The Episcopal Church, contains an adapted two-years weekday lectionary for the Epiphany and Ordinary Time seasons from the Anglican Church of Canada. I invite you to follow it with me.
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Genesis 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10 (Revised English Bible):
When the LORD saw how great was the wickedness of human beings of earth, and how their every thought and inclination was always wicked, he bitterly regretted that he had made mankind on earth. He said,
I shall wipe off the face of the earth this human race which I have created–yes, man and beast, creeping things and birds. I regret that I have ever made them.
Noah, however, won the LORD’s favour.
…
The LORD said to Noah,
Go into the ark, you and all your household; for you alone in this generation have I found to be righteous. Take with you seven pairs, a male and female, of all beasts that are ritually clean, and one pair, a male and female, of all beasts that are not clean; also seven pairs, males and females, of every bird–to ensure that life continues on earth. For in seven days’ time I am going to send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I shall wipe off the the face of the earth every creature I have made.
Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him.
…
At the end of seven days the water of the flood came over the earth.
Psalm 29 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 Ascribe to the LORD, you gods,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
3 The voice of the LORD is upon the waters;
the God of glory thunders;
the LORD is mighty upon the waters.
4 The voice of the LORD is a powerful voice;
the voice of the LORD is a voice of splendor.
5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedar trees;
the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon;
6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
and Mount Hermon like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the LORD splits the flames of fire;
the voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
8 The voice of the LORD makes the oak trees writhe
and strips the forest bare.
9 And in the temple of the LORD
all are crying, “Glory!”
10 The LORD sits enthroned above the flood;
the LORD sits enthroned as King for evermore.
11 The LORD shall give strength to his people;
the LORD shall give his people the blessing of peace.
Mark 8:14-21 (Revised English Bible):
Now they had forgotten to take bread with them, and had only one loaf in the boat. He began to warn them:
Beware,
he said,
be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.
So they began to talk among themselves about having no bread. Knowing this, Jesus said to them,
Why are you talking about having no bread? Have you no inkling yet? Do you still not understand? Are your minds closed? You have eyes: can you not see? You have ears: can you not hear? Have you forgotten? When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?
They said,
Twelve.
He asked,
And how many when I broke the seven loaves among the four thousand?
They answered,
Seven.
He said to them,
Do you still not understand?
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The Collect:
O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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“Do you still not understand?”–Jesus in Mark 8:21
I know the feeling. Sometimes, when standing inside a classroom, having chosen to avoid unduly advanced vocabulary words, I find that students still do not understand. I spoke slowly and enunciated, so I could not have run my words together. And I spoke up, so volume could not have been an issue. I sent the message, but some students did not receive it.
God asks the same question repeatedly in the pages of the Hebrew Bible. Many of our forebears, it seems, either did not listen or chose to pretend that they did not understand. Today’s reading from Genesis comes from the J account of the Noah’s Ark story. (The cover art for this post reflects P’s version of God’s instructions–two of every kind. My North American church culture has fixated on P and ignored J in this matter. C’est la vie.) In this retelling of an older story, God is frustrated with how creation has turned out. So God decides to preserve a remnant, destroy the rest, and start over. God prepares to recreate (create again) the Animal Kingdom. Noah understands what he must do, and he acts accordingly. I would say that the rest is history, but this is not history.
“Recreate” is an interesting verb in English. Depending on whether the first vowel sound is long or short, the meaning is different. Yet both forms derive from the same Latin word, which means “to bring forth again.” Recreation, as in games, can refresh us. And recreation, as in creating again, restores. Both, however, involve bringing forth again. And sometimes recreation (long e vowel sound) can be recreation (short e vowel sound). That is a grace.
The Apostles are in need of recreation (both kinds) in Mark 8:14-21. Jesus has just fed about 4000 people with a few fishes and a little bread then berated some Pharisees. These Pharisees have demanded a sign, as you might recall from yesterday’s reading. Then Jesus, alone with the members of his inner circle speaks in a metaphor, that of leaven, which, in Jewish culture, denoted evil. So Jesus said to avoid falling into the evil of the Pharisees and the corruption of the Herodians. Yet, as the Markan Gospel tells the story, the Apostles are clueless; they think Jesus refers to literal bread. So Jesus, who is already frustrated with Pharisees, adds his Apostles to the list.
Even worse, they still fail to understand after he explains what he means–without a metaphor. The Apostles need not worry when they are with Jesus. Consider how far some fishes and loaves of bread went; there is more where that came from. And why don’t they understand this yet?
We mortals can, if we cooperate with God, display the transforming love of God to anyone who pays attention and who is within our sphere of influence. First, however, we have to pay attention to whatever God is saying to us. God is sovereign, and the divine will is destined to come to fruition. We humans have enough power and free will to ruin Plan A (and B and C…), for example, but God will triumph, with or without us. Ready or not, here God comes. May we be ready.
ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS 
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