According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
In the Gospel of Matthew, the account of the Transfiguration of Jesus comes between two predictions of the crucifixion and resurrection. The plain textual context tells us to interpret the Transfiguration accordingly. Jesus was on a mission that would cost him dearly yet end in vindication.
The accounts of the Transfiguration also include a nod to the Shekinah (the Divine Presence), from the Hebrew Bible. This is the cloud that enveloped Moses atop Mount Sinai and filled the First Temple. This poetic image appeals to me. The awe and wonder of God remain intact. God is other yet near and accessible. The people of God are God’s adopted children (“sons,” literally, in the Greek of Pauline epistles) and heirs.
God, of course, was nearest and most accessible in the Incarnation. God in the flesh, walking, speaking, and dining with people was remarkably accessible. Yet the Incarnation defied comprehension.
The Incarnation defies my understanding. So be it.
Mystery, in antiquity, indicated something one could know only by living into it and by doing. Mystery, in antiquity, was not a matter of an something unknown one could solve, given reasoning and enough information. Mystery, in antiquity, was not the same as mystery in an Agatha Christie novel.
Despite this ancient understanding of mystery, I suspect that St. Mary of Nazareth never understood her eldest son as well as God understood her.
Understanding is not always necessary. We mere mortals can, objectively, explain and understand much. I affirm history and science, which rely on evidence. I detest anti-intellectual and anti-scientific attitudes. (I am a left-of-center Episcopalian.) Yet, regarding God–Jesus, in particular–evidence can take us only so far. After the Incarnation (which I do not attempt to explain), evidence takes me to the foot of the cross of Jesus. Then the understanding that comes from faith takes over. I understand partially. Understanding is not necessary in certain situations. Yet trusting in God is always essential.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 28, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT ALBERT THE GREAT AND HIS PUPIL, SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS; ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIANS
THE FEAST OF SAINT ANDREI RUBLEV, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX ICON WRITER
THE FEAST OF DANIEL J. SIMUNDSON, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF HENRY AUGUSTINE COLLINS, ANGLICAN THEN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOSEPH BARNBY, ANGLICAN CHURCH MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF SOMERSET CORRY LOWRY, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
Then have done with falsehood and speak the truth to each other, for we belong to one another as parts of one body.
–Ephesians 4:25, The Revised English Bible (1989)
All of us can change and need grace. Even the most wicked person can revere course. Those who commit crimes unwittingly (see Joshua 20) differ from those who do so purposefully. Mercy does not negate all consequences for actions, but mercy is present, fortunately. All of us ought to be at home in the light of God and to act accordingly, as Ephesians 5:1-20 details. Alas, not all of us are at home in that light, hence the woes following the Beatitudes in Luke 6.
I live in a topsy-turvy society glorifies the targets of Lukan woes and further afflicts–sometimes even criminalizes–the targets of Lukan Beatitudes. I live in a society in which the advice from Ephesians 5:1-20 is sorely needed. I read these verses and think,
So much for the most of the Internet and much of television, radio, and social media!
I do not pretend, however, that a golden age ever existed. No, I know better than that. We have degenerated in many ways, though, compared to previous times. We have also improved in other ways. All in all, we remain well below the high standard God has established.
How does one properly live into his or divine calling in a politically divided and dangerous time, when even objective reality is a topic for political dispute? Racist, nativisitic, and xenophobic and politically expedient conspiracy theories about Coronavirus/COVID-19 continue to thrive. Some members of the United States Congress continue to dismiss the threat this pandemic poses. How does one properly live into one’s divine calling in such a context? I do not know. Each person has a limit of how much poison one can consume before spiritual toxicity takes its toll? Is dropping out the best strategy? Perhaps not, but it does entail less unpleasantness and strife.
May we listen to and follow God’s call to us, both individually and collectively. May we function as agents of individual and collective healing, justice, and reconciliation. We do, after all, belong to one another as parts of one body.
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
Interestingly, the Transfiguration account in Matthew follows on the heels of Jesus saying,
Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.
–16:28, The New American Bible (1991)
In that scene, Jesus, looking very much like Moses (and standing with Moses and Elijah) on a mountaintop, stands in divine glory. We can read another version of the Transfiguration in Luke 9:28-36, shortly before Jesus sets his face literally and figuratively toward Jerusalem–to die.
It is appropriate that we read of the Transfiguration on the Sunday immediately preceding Lent, at the end of which are Good Friday and Holy Saturday. We are supposed to recall the supreme divine love behind the Incarnation and the Atonement, as well as to remember that God calls us to love like Jesus, who loved all the way to a cross.
That is a variety of love that carries a high price tag. The grace, although free, is certainly not cheap. It is, however, the path to life at its fullest and most abundant.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 23, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR AND ISAAC THE GREAT, PATRIARCHS OF ARMENIA
THE FEAST OF MEISTER ECKHART, ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN AND MYSTIC
THE FEAST OF SAINT METODEJ DOMINIK TRCKA, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR
THE FEAST OF SAINT VICTORIAN OF HADRUMETUM, MARTYR AT CARTHAGE, 484
If anyone had a legitimate reason to harbor resentment, Joseph son of Jacob did. Siblings had, out of jealousy of him and annoyance with him (he was an insufferable brat for a while), faked his death and sold him into slavery. Joseph had also spent years in prison for a crime he had not committed. Decades later, when he had a position in the Egyptian government, Joseph had an opportunity to take revenge. As one reads in Genesis 45, he chose to do otherwise.
One theme in the pericope from Romans 8 is liberation by God from the power of sin (yet not the struggle with sin) to serve and obey God, to pursue spiritual purposes. The reading from 1 John, with its warning against loving the world, fits well with that passage. That caution is not a call for serial Christian contrariness. No, St. Augustine of Hippo understood the passage well. He asked,
Why should I not love what God has made?
The great theologian answered his own question this way:
God does not forbid one to love these things but to love them to the point of finding one’s beatitude in them.
–Quoted in Raymond E. Brown, The Epistles of John (1982), pages 324-325
The quest for selfish gain, a theme extant in more than one of the readings for these days, is a journey toward harm of others and of oneself. That which we do to others, we do also to ourselves. There might be a delayed delivery of “what comes around, goes around,” but the proverbial cows will come home. It is better to seek the common god and to forgo vengeance, to retire grudges and to build up one’s society, community, and congregation. One can do that while loving the world, but not to the point of, in the words of St. Augustine of Hippo, finding one’s benediction in it. No, we should find one’s benediction in God alone. As we read in Psalm 27:7-9 (The Book of Common Prayer, 1979):
Be still before the LORD
and wait patiently for him.
Do not fret yourself over the one who prospers,
the one who succeeds in evil schemes.
Refrain from anger, leave rage alone;
do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil.
Here ends the lesson.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 27, 2015 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 JOSEPH GRIGG, ENGLISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
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 argued that God was omnipotent and was, in his case, abusing power. His alleged friends agreed with him that God was omnipotent yet insisted that there was no abuse of power, for Job must have deserved such grave suffering. Jesus, in John 6, spoke of his flesh as being
the living bread which has come down from heaven…for the life of the world (verse 51, The New Jerusalem Bible)
This comparison ran afoul of Jewish sensibilities. God does offend us from time to time.
Job was correct; he did not deserve such grave suffering. That reality “did not compute” with his alleged friends. I argue that Job was correct to take offense at God, given the narrative the Book of Job provides for me to read and ponder. As for sensibilities surrounding flesh and blood, the language in John 6 does seem similar to cannibalism, does it not? But I affirm Transubstantiation, so I trust that I take the body and blood of Jesus into my body each week. I have learned not to take offense.
Taking offense at God is a difficult situation. When is it excusable or appropriate? This, I suppose, is a question one needs to address on a case-by-case basis. Usually, however, I propose that it is inappropriate.
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
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 3:1-12 (Revised English Bible):
My friends, not many of you should become teachers, for you may be certain that we who teach will ourselves face severer judgement. All of us go wrong again and again; a man who never says anything wrong is perfect and is capable of controlling every part of his body. When we put a bit into a horse’s mouth to make it obey our will, we can direct the whole animal. Or think of a ship: large though it may be and driven by gales, it can be steered by a very small rudder on whatever course the helmsman chooses. So with the tongue; it is small, but its pretensions are great.
What a vast amount of timber can be set ablaze by the tiniest spark! And the tongue is a fire, representing in our body the whole wicked world. It pollutes our whole being, it sets the whole course of our existence alight, and its flames are fed by hell. Beasts and birds of every kind, creatures that crawl on the ground or swim in the sea, can be subdued and have been subdued by man; but no one can subdue the tongue. It is an evil thing, restless and charged with deadly venom. We use it to praise our Lord and Father; then we use it to praise our Lord and Father; then we use it to invoke curses on our fellow-men, though they are made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and curses. This should not be so, my friends. Does a fountain flow with both fresh and brackish water from the same outlet? My friends, can a fig tree produce olives, or a grape vine produce figs? No more can salt water produce fresh?
Psalm 12:1-7 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 Help me, LORD, for there is no godly one left;
the faithful have vanished from among us.
2 Everyone speaks falsely with his neighbor;
with a smooth tongue they speak from a double heart.
3 Oh, that the LORD would cut off all smooth tongues,
and close the lips that utter proud boasts!
4 Those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail;
our lips are our own; who is lord over us?”
5 “Because the needy are oppressed
and the poor cry out in misery,
I will rise up,” says the LORD,
“and give them the help they long for.”
6 The words of the LORD are pure words,
like silver refined from ore
and purified seven times in the fire.
7 O LORD, watch over us
and save us from this generation for ever.
Mark 9:2-13 (Revised English Bible):
Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And in their presence he was transfigured; his clothes became dazzling white, with a whiteness no bleacher on earth could equal. They saw Elijah appear and Moses with him, talking with Jesus. Then Peter spoke:
Rabbi,
he said,
it is good that we are here! Shall we make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah?
For he did not know what to say; they were so terrified. Then a cloud appeared, casting its shadow over them, and out of the cloud came a voice:
This is my beloved Son; listen to him.
And suddenly, when they looked around, only Jesus was with them; there was no longer anyone else to be seen.
On their way down the mountain, he instructed them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They seized upon those words, and discussed among themselves what this “rising from the dead” could mean. And they put a question to him:
Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?
He replied,
Elijah does come first to set everything right. How is it, then, that the scriptures say of the Son of Man that he is to endure great suffering and be treated with contempt? However, I tell you, Elijah has already come and they have done to him what they wanted, ans the scriptures say of him.
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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.
By what we write and say, whether in person or on paper or via telephone or on the Internet, has the power to affect others positively or negatively. At best, they can ennoble, edify, enrich our lives. At worst, however, they can devastate. And there is, of course, a range of possibilities in the middle.
Let us consider the very bad first. The bullying of many young people has ended in the bullied committing suicide. Infamously, David Greenglass,who was a spy, committed perjury in the early 1950s and thereby contributed to the conviction and execution of his sister, Ethel Rosenberg, who was not a spy. And, more recently, in Canada, a court cleared the name of Tammy Marquardt, who had served thirteen years of a life sentence for allegedly murdering her two-year-old son, Kenneth, in 1995. The damning testimony had been that of a now-disgraced forensic pathologist, who had claimed that Marquardt had strangled or suffocated her son. The boy actually died of an epileptic seizure. Not only did Tammy Marquardt lose thirteen years of her life; she also lost two children to adoption. Here are two links regarding the Marquardt case: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/06/07/toronto-tammy-marquardt.html and http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/06/tammy-marquardt-justice-stephen-goudges.html.
Now let us turn toward the positive. Words can also improve a person’s mood, make his or her day. A well-timed joke can have this effect, for example. Great literature can uplift our spirits, poetry can exalt our souls, and excellent dramatic performances can appeal to the more elements of human nature. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, during the Great Depression, delivered the famous “fireside chats,” which were wonderful exercises in civics.
God, in the beautiful mythology from Genesis, spoke the world into existence. Our words have the power affect that world and others who live on it. Our words matter; may we make them count for positive purposes.
Above: Mount Tabor, Traditional Site of the Transfiguration
Jesus, Consistent with the Law and the Prophets
FEBRUARY 19, 2023
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Exodus 24:12-18 (New Revised Standard Version):
The LORD said to Moses,
Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.
So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. To the elders he had said,
Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.
Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
THEN THIS PSALM
Psalm 2 (New Revised Standard Version):
Why do the the nations conspire,
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD and his anointed, saying,
Let us burst their bonds asunder,
and cast their cords from us.
He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the LORD has them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.
I will tell of the decree of the LORD:
He said to me,
You are my son;
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron,
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear,
with trembling kiss his feet,
or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way;
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Happy are all who take refuge in him.
OR THIS PSALM
Psalm 99 (New Revised Standard Version):
The LORD is king; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
The LORD is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the peoples.
Let them praise your great and awesome name.
Holy is he!
Mighty King, lover of justice,
you have established equity;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
Extol the LORD our God;
worship at his footstool.
Holy is he!
Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
Samuel also was among those who called on his name.
They cried to the LORD, and he answered them.
He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
they kept his decrees,
and the statutes that he gave them.
O LORD our God, you answered them;
you were a forgiving God to them,
but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
Extol the LORD our God,
and worship at his holy mountain;
for the LORD our God is holy.
THEN THE EPISTLE READING
2 Peter 1:16-21 (New Revised Standard Version):
We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying,
This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.
We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.
So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
THEN THE GOSPEL READING
Matthew 17:1-9 (New Revised Standard Version):
Six days after Peter had acknowledged Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus,
Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.
While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said,
This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!
When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying,
Get up and do not be afraid.
And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them,
Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead
The Collect:
O God, who before the passion of your only begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; 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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When I read about events such as the Ascension and the Transfiguration I suspect that more happened than I read in texts. I do not doubt the veracity of the accounts, but I suspect that words were inadequate to the full scope of events in question. One just had to be there to get the full effect, and I am about 2,000 years too late for that.
The Transfiguration was a revelatory experience for the accompanying apostles. They glimpsed the true nature of Jesus, which entails being consistent with the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah). [A true story: Recently Beth Long, my Rector, repeated a question a child in the parish asked. How, this young person queried, did the apostles recognize Moses and Elijah? Beth replied that she did not know. Indeed, that is an intriguing question and a plot hole, but it does not distract me from the point of having Jesus, Moses, and Elijah together briefly.] Yet Peter–”God bless him,” as we say in the U.S. South–wanted to remain in the moment and institutionalize it. This reaction, although well-intentioned, was misguided, for Jesus and the apostles needed to move along.
They were headed for Jerusalem, where the Passion Narrative would unfold. The Gospel of Luke contains another account of the Transfiguration. Just a few verses after that passage, Jesus “turned his face toward Jerusalem,” and his impending death. (Luke 9:51) This is an important turning point in the Gospel of Luke, and one should read verses before it and after it in its context. With that in mind, I propose that the Transfiguration was also a “booster shot” for Jesus, who was about the embark on a difficult, yet necessary, course.
When pondering the calendar of the Christian Church, one needs to remember that the earliest feast Christians observed was Easter. Even Christmas (the observance of which developed later) exists in the shadow of Easter. And the Transfiguration does, also.
The placement of the Transfiguration on this Sunday is appropriate because the next season in the Christian year is Lent, and the next Sunday will be the First Sunday in Lent. At the end of that 40-days season is Holy Week. So we Christians need to set our faces toward Jerusalem, too.
KRT
Written for SUNDRY THOUGHTS OF KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR on June 16, 2010
Above: The Gleaners, by Jean-Francois Millet, 1857
Active Compassion
FEBRUARY 23, 2014
FEBRUARY 19, 2017
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Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18 (New Revised Standard Version):
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.
When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the LORD your God.
You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another. And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the LORD.
You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning. You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the LORD.
You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
Psalm 119:33-40 (New Revised Standard Version):
Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes,
and I will observe it to the end.
Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.
Lead me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in it.
Turn my heart to your decrees,
and not to selfish gain.
Turn my eyes from looking at vanities;
give me life in your ways.
Confirm to your servant your promise,
which is for those who fear you.
Turn away the disgrace that I dread,
for your ordinances are good.
See, I have longed for your precepts;
in your righteousness give me life.
1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23 (New Revised Standard Version):
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written,
He catches the wise in their craftiness,
and again,
The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise,
that they are futile.
So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future– all belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
Matthew 6:24-34 (New Revised Standard Version):
Jesus said,
You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.
You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
The Collect:
O Lord, you have taught us that without love whatever we do is worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts your greatest gift, which is love, the true bond of peace and of all virtue, without which whoever lives is accounted dead before you. Grant this for the sake of your only Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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The Book of Leviticus is really quite interesting in places. High-minded, laudatory-sounding commandments rub shoulders with others that seem scary or trivial. So, Leviticus 19:3-8 contains the commandments to honor one ‘s parents (a good thing to do), reject idols (also a good thing to do), and to make peace offerings to God just so, or else be cut off from the community (scary). Then 19:19 mentions kosher clothing, and 19:20 requires the sacrificial offering of a ram for forgiveness of the sin of having sex with a slave girl whose freedom has been purchased yet who is promised to another man. I could continue with this list, but that exercise would constitute overkill, and the book is in print.
One can become lost in such details in Leviticus, but that is an error. The selected commandments for reading on this Sunday go hand-in-hand with other assigned lessons. These commandments from God require active compassion toward others. Some of the literal details do not apply to how many people live in 2010 or 2011, but the spirit of the law is timeless. And there is a time-honored religious practice of seeking new applications of the spirit of the law.
The word “perfect” from Matthew 5:48 requires some explanation. The word choice makes sense when one applies it to God, but no sense with regard to fallible human beings. Commentaries tell me that “honest” is a better choice with regard to people: “Be honest, just as God is perfect.” The parallel reading in Luke says “merciful,” which applies here, too. And these options echo nicely with Leviticus and its command to be holy, as God is holy.
Holiness is concrete, not abstract. And it entails acts of mercy and compassion toward others–those we know and do not know, as well as our friends and our enemies. The last part of that equation is quite difficult, possible only through grace. But it is possible.
ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS 
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