As Koheleth and Jesus tell us, the way of the world is that righteous people suffer, both the righteous and the wicked prosper, and God is in control. The combination of those three statements might seem incongruous. Throughout the Book of Psalms righteous people cry out to God for deliverance from oppression. Often they are understandably angry, but Christ tells us to pray for our persecutors and to love our enemies. Interestingly, nowhere does the Hebrew Bible command anyone to love one’s enemies, and, as we have read previously in this series of posts, God prospers that the wicked change their ways and find mercy. Yet many of the wicked refuse to repent, so the divine deliverance of the oppressed becomes bad news for oppressors.
The call to radical love thunders off the pages of the Sermon on the Mount. We are to trust in God, not ourselves, and be so loving as to seem foolish to many. Such love breaks the cycle of anger, resentment, revenge, and violence. We, as inheritors, by grace, and adopted members of the household of God, are free to do that, if we dare.
May we dare accordingly. Then we, by grace, will be suited for our purpose, or, as Matthew 5:48 puts it, perfect.
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
The ways in which God works frequently surprise many people. Declaring the Hebrews, who rebelled against God repeatedly, to be the Chosen People was one example. Working through St. Simon Peter, an impetuous man, and St. Cornelius the Centurion, a Roman soldier, were two more examples. The Incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity as Jesus of Nazareth was unique. And what about hiding wonders
from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children?
–Luke 10:21b, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
God chooses to work in ways, many of which surprise or scandalize many mere mortals. Certain heroic figures in the Hebrew Bible were also scoundrels. Oblivious Apostles in the Gospels became great leaders of nascent Christianity. The circumstances of our Lord and Savior’s conception and birth led to decades of whispering behind his back and to his face. Some Gentiles were closer to God than certain prominent Jews. Standard labels might not apply when God is acting. If we have spiritual and/or emotional difficulty with that reality, we need to confess that sin to God, to apologize, and to repent, by grace.
Simply put, if one is St. Simon Peter in an analogy, who is the St. Cornelius whose invitation will lead to an epiphany. And is one willing to have an epiphany?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 28, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS SIMON AND JUDE, APOSTLES AND MARTYRS
The church at Philippi contained some serious divisions, the precise nature of which have not survived in the historical record. (Authors of epistles did not explain certain details for the benefit of readers thousands of years later, understandably.) Apparently, not all of the people–leaders, especially–involved in this divisiveness were of sincere and good will. Even those who were of sincere and good will acted in such a way as to harm the congregation’s witness to Christ. (I am trying to write out of generosity of spirit.) In the text from Philippians the exhortation to seek the interests of Christ set the tone.
Seeking the interests of Christ–more broadly, of God–is a topic of which we read in Proverbs and Isaiah. Their witness–along with that of other portions of the Bible–is to trust in God and to behave properly toward our fellow human beings. Those two relate to each other. Indeed, one cannot love God, whom one cannot see, if one does not love people, whom one can see. I am convinced that much inexcusable treatment of our fellow human beings flows from our insecurities regarding our own future. We want to pile up and/or safeguard resources and/or security for ourselves, so we justify in our own minds the evil we commit toward others. We steal from them. We condone theft from them. We deny people opportunities. We discriminate against them. We condone violence against against them. We commit violence against them. We do this while pursuing what we misconstrue as our self-interests.
In reality, however, our self-interests are those of our fellow human beings. All of us are bound up in the reality of community, with mutual responsibilities. So we harm ourselves when we injure others, who are our neighbors.
Trusting that God will provide our necessities opens the door to behaving generously and kindly toward others. If lacking that trust leads to the opposite result, the previous statement makes sense, does it not? Such trust can prove difficult, of course. Yet I have learned that God does provide–often via unexpected methods.
May we trust God and care for each other, always seeking the interests of Christ.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 20, 2013 COMMON ERA
PROPER 24–THE TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
THE FEAST OF MARY A. LATHBURY, U.S. METHODIST HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT BERTILLA BOSCARDIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN AND NURSE
THE FEAST OF JOHN HARRIS BURT, EPISCOPAL PRIEST
THE FEAST OF TARORE OF WAHOARA, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY
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)
The story of the woman accused of adultery and her near-stoning is one of those pieces of the oral tradition which fits better in some ways in the Synoptic Gospels, where it is not. Scholars recognize this fact. Yet I propose that its placement here in John is appropriate theologically. I cannot attest to the veracity of the chronology. For that matter, chronology is a matter on which the canonical Gospels disagree. That fact, however, seems not to have troubled those early Church leaders who approved of the New Testament canon. And it does not trouble me. The Gospels are more theological than historical anyway. And doubts regarding the chronology are irrelevant to my purpose today, for I take the text on its own terms.
As I reread parts of John 7 and 8, I noticed something striking: Jesus saves the woman’s life at a time when people are plotting to kill him. That is why the placement of this incident at this juncture in the Johannine Gospel works so well. As to the woman’s story, I ask one two questions:
Where was the man?
And why did not her accusers care about that detail?
By law he should have faced the same penalty as she would have. And, given the circumstances, so should have her accusers. They let the man get away so that they could entrap Jesus. They did nothing to prevent the act of adultery? Thus they were complicit in the offense. Perhaps Jesus reminded them of this via whatever he wrote on the ground. And, by the way, the accusers were creepy peeping toms.
I note another fascinating feature of the Johannine material. There is a contrast between Jesus, the source of living water (7:38) and the light of the world (8:12) on one hand and such bloodlust on the other hand. His enemies plotted not only to kill him but others–the woman in this account and Lazarus shortly later in the Gospel. Indeed they lived in darkness–and, to sound like the Gospel of Thomas–they were that darkness.
The thread linking the readings from the Gospel of John and the Book of Job is alienation. Job was alienated from his friends, his family members, his life, and his God. Jesus was alienated (not by his choice) from many leaders of his own tradition. Reconciliation is a mutual state; if only one party is willing but the other is not, there is no reconciliation. Thus one party can create alienation. And few activities create this reality more than plotting to deprive someone of his life. May we be willing to reconcile–to restore wholeness with the other, to restore wholeness where dissonance has arisen. Dissonance might remain, but may we not be the source of it.
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
Above: Logo of Lehman Brothers, a Firm Defunct Since 2008
Bad Prioritiesand Good Priorities
FEBRUARY 24, 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 5:1-6 (Revised English Bible):
Now a word to you who are rich. Weep and wail over the miserable fate overtaking you: your riches have rotted away; your fine clothes are moth-eaten; your silver and gold have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and consume your flesh like fire. You have piled up wealth in an age that is near to its close. The wages you never paid to the men who mowed your fields are crying aloud against you, and the outcry of the reapers has reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts. You have lived on the land in wanton luxury, gorging yourselves–and that on the day appointed for your slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who offers no resistance.
Psalm 49:12-19 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
12 Such is the way of those who foolishly trust in themselves,
and the end of those who delight in their own words.
13 Like a flock of sheep they are destined to die;
Death is their shepherd;
they go down straightaway to the grave.
14 Their form shall waste away,
and the land of the dead shall be their home.
15 But God will ransom my life;
he will snatch me from the grasp of death.
16 Do not be envious when some become rich,
or when the grandeur of their house increases;
17 For they will carry nothing away at their death,
nor will their grandeur follow them.
18 Though they thought highly of themselves while they lived,
and were praised for their success,
19 They shall join the company of their forebears,
who will never see the light again.
Mark 9:42-50 (Revised English Bible):
[Jesus continued,]
If anyone causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around his neck. If your hand causes your downfall, cut if off; it is better for you to enter into life maimed than to keep both hands and go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. If your foot causes your downfall, cut if off; it is better to enter into life crippled than to keep both your feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes your downfall, tear it out; it is better to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than to keep both eyes and be thrown into hell, where the devouring worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.
Everyone will be salted with fire.
Salt is good; but if the salt loses its saltness, how will you season it?
You must have salt within yourselves, and be at peace with one another.
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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.
What I wrote for the Year 1 counterpart of this post works well. Besides, how many ways can I repackage the same thoughts? So, without further ado, I offer those original thoughts.
KRT
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Self-reliance is a lie and an illusion. It is one of the most cherished lies and illusions of my North American culture, where “self-made men” are ideals. The truth, however, is that there is no such thing as a “self-made man” (or woman); everybody relies on God. And we humans rely on each other. What affects one affects another, immediately or in time. If we get greedy and reckless, this affects a great many people, hence the old Lehman Brothers logo at the top of this post.
So much for Gordon Gecko and Horatio Alger. These signify bad priorities.
The reading from Mark is a continuation of the discourse of Jesus in which he states he who wants to the greatest must be the servant of all, and in which he says that anyone who receives a child (a vulnerable and powerless member of society) receives not only Jesus himself but YHWH God. Then our Lord and Savior engages in hyperbole. No part of the body causes one to sin, and he is not advocating self-mutilation. Sin arises from inside ourselves, and the point of the hyperbole is to say to flee from sin. As Ben Sira reminds us in the first reading, God’s patience does have limits.
And then there are lines about salt. First we have, “Everyone will be salted with fire.” This is a reference to salt used on a ritual sacrificial item or animal. As William Barclay observes in his commentary on the Gospel of Mark, the salt made the sacrifice acceptable to God. And fire signifies that which purifies life. Hence being salted with fire is obeying God and undergoing discipline and the risk (at least the risk) of persecution.
“Salt is good; but if the salt loses its saltness, how will you season it?”
Salt, in proper quantities, improves the taste of food. It also preserves food. Salt was valuable in the ancient world. Sometimes it was a form of currency, so an underperforming employee was “not worth his salt.” We Christians, then, are supposed to give to our world a positive flavor and to preserve and promote goodness. Are you worth your salt? I cannot answer that question for you, no more than you can answer that question for me.
“You must have salt within yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
Salt, in this case, is a metaphor the the purifying Spirit of Christ. This is not purity of the ritual kind, as the Pharisees practiced. No, this is the inner variety of purity. Jesus said that nothing that enters a person defiles (or “makes common”) a person, but that what comes out a person does that. Ritual purity was about making oneself a member of the spiritual elite, unlike the “impure” rabble. But Jesus advocated a different understanding of purity: love, forgiveness, altruism, et cetera. There is no divine law against such things. These are good priorities.
The fire will come to you and to me. Will it consist of flames destroying treasures laid up on earth, or will it be the disciplining fire likened to salt?
ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS 
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