The imagery in Luke 3:4-6 is that of an exodus–the exodus from the Babylonian Exile, to be precise. Thus the Gospel reading fits neatly with the lesson from Isaiah 43, about that exodus. How are we supposed to interpret the life and ministry of Jesus as an exodus?
The love of God, who is faithful and trustworthy, encompasses both judgment and mercy, which are inseparable from each other. Mercy for one entails judgment for another much of the time. Alternatively, the threat of judgment leads to repentance and mercy. Often we judge ourselves more harshly that God does; we need to extend mercy to ourselves and each other more readily and frequently. The fullness of the love of God in Christ empowers us to do so. That love leads us on an exodus from the exiles into which we have relegated ourselves and condemned others. The love of God in Christ delivers us from ourselves and each other, granting us victory and blessing us with shalom.
May we embrace this divine love.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 14, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF FANNIE LOU HAMER, PROPHET OF FREEDOM
THE FEAST OF ALBERT LISTER PEACE, ORGANIST IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND
THE FEAST OF HARRIET KING OSGOOD MUNGER, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF NEHEMIAH GOREH, INDIAN ANGLICAN PRIEST AND THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINTS VINCENZINA CUSMANO, SUPERIOR OF THE SISTERS SERVANTS OF THE POOR; AND HER BROTHER, SAINT GIACOMO CUSMANO, FOUNDER OF THE SISTERS SERVANTS OF THE POOR AND THE MISSIONARY SERVANTS OF THE POOR
I know that the portion of Psalm 106 I have quoted follows verse 12, but those verses seem more applicable to the readings from Judges 4 and 5 than Psalm 106:1-12. If I had quoted from the first 12 verses of Psalm 106 I would have selected verse 10, set in the context of the Exodus from Egypt:
He rescued them from their foes,
he reclaimed them from enemy hands.
–Harry Mowvley translation
The story in Judges 4 and 5 is consistent with a motif in that book:
The Israelites have fallen into pervasive sin.
YHWH permits a foreign group to oppress the Israelites.
The Israelites cry out to YHWH.
YHWH sends a leader or leaders to resist the oppressors.
The oppression ceases.
The Israelites follow God for a time.
The cycle repeats.
As a note in The Jewish Study Bible–Second Edition (2014) informs me, nowhere does the text of Judges 4 and 5 identify any of the human protagonists–Deborah the prophetess, Barak the army commander, and Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite–as the deliverer of the Israelites. Each of those individuals played a crucial role in the liberation, but God delivered the Israelites from oppression. That theme occurs elsewhere in the Book of Judges and other portions of the Bible, as in the Exodus and the end of the Babylonian Exile.
A motif in the Bible is that God works through people much of the time. These might be upstanding individuals or they might be scoundrels, at least on their bad days. Some of these instruments of God are not even believers. These realities point toward the power and sovereignty of God.
As much as I find Martin Luther to have been a morally troublesome character, his theology of relying on the faithfulness of God is beyond reproach. We who follow God are children of God, members of the household of God, so we ought to act boldly and confidently in righteousness. Such righteous confidence should banish faithless and selfish fears (distinct from well-reasoned fears, such as that of touching hot surfaces), enabling us to love our neighbors (both near and far) selflessly. We have the spiritual armor of God, of which St. Paul the Apostle or someone writing in his name imagined as being like the armor of a Roman soldier. Every piece of the armor is God’s. If it is good enough for God, it is good enough for mere mortals. After the reading from Ephesians 6 comes this advice:
Constantly ask God’s help in prayer, and pray always in the power of the Spirit.
–Ephesians 6:18, The Revised English Bible (1989)
After all, we depend on God’s power, not our own.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 21, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT MATTHEW THE EVANGELIST, APOSTLE AND MARTYR
Holy God, creator of light and giver of goodness, your voice moves over the waters.
Immerse us in your grace, and transform us by your Spirit,
that we may follow after your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 22
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The Assigned Readings:
Isaiah 41:14-20
Psalm 69:1-5, 30-36
John 1:29-34
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As for me, I am afflicted and in pain;
your help, O God, will lift me up on high.
–Psalm 69:31, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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Many Jews lived in exile in the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire at the time of Isaiah 41. Texts from that time tended to look forwward to the post-Exilic era and describe as being better than it turned out to be. The land was never as verdant as the economy was never as good as the prophesies promised. And most of that post-Exilic era was one of foreign occupation. Thus, at the time of Jesus, many Palestinian Jews had a sense of living as exiles in their homeland.
Exile is a state many people know. It might be a literal, geographical reality or a spiritual one. Nevertheless, the sense of not being at home (at least fully) is difficult. I have been a spiritual exile, for example. If I ever have to live in some places, I will become one again. I wish only the best for those dealing with exile in any form. They have my sympathy at least; others have my empathy.
Fortunately, all of us can call upon Jesus, the Lamb of God, who can empathize with us. He is kinder than many of our fellow human beings, including a host of those who claim to follow him. So I invite you, O reader, not to permit the failings of Christians to detract you from following Christ, who has borne griefs, suffered, and emerged triumphant. I have no easy answers about failed prophesies and persistent grief, so I offer none. If I did have them, they would be worthless anyway. Yet I embrace the lack of a firm answer I can grasp as I seek to follow Jesus. Maybe I will ask the difficult questions of God in the afterlife.
My conclusion, O reader, is that knowledge dies not bring anyone salvation. If it did, the Gnostics would be correct. No, what we do not know outweighs what we know and can know. Will we trust God enough to follow Jesus through the wilderness of our ignorance, doubts, and grief?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 17, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOHANN CHRISTIAN TILL, U.S. MORAVIAN ORGANIST, COMPOSER, AND PIANO BUILDER; AND HIS SON, JACOB CHRISTIAN TILL, U.S. MORAVIAN PIANO BUILDER
THE FEAST OF SAINT HUGH OF LINCOLN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF SAINT ROQUE GONZALEZ DE SANTA CRUZ, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST
THE FEAST OF SAINT ROSE-PHILIPPINE DUCHESNE, ROMAN CATHOLIC CONTEMPLATIVE
These readings teach about sacred vocation–the vocation to walk with God, to be a light in the world, and even to convert adversaries when possible. It is a vocation which one ignores at the peril of oneself and the health of one’s society. Indeed, society is just people, so enough people can change society.
And, if one feels unqualified, that is because one is not qualified for the great tasks God has assigned to one. Jeremiah was young. Gideon’s army was too small. The eleven surviving Apostles had feet of clay. St. Paul the Apostle had a difficult personality. Rahab was a prostitute. And Jacob/Israel was a trickster. I could continue, but I trust that I have made my point plainly.
Each of us has weaknesses and strengths inside self. And each of us has access to a much greater strength–God, who works through people much of the time. Furthermore, strengths can emerge from weaknesses. If that is not evidence of grace, I do not know what is.
So, O reader, what is God calling and empowering you to do?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 3, 2013 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ARTHUR CARL LICHTENBERGER, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
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)
Be assured, O House of Israel, I will judge each one of you according to his ways–declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn back from your transgressions, let them not be a stumbling block of guilt for you. Cast away all the transgressions by which you have offended, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit, that you may not die, O House of Israel. For it is not My desire that anyone shall die–declares the Lord GOD. Repent, therefore, and live!
Circumcision was a mark signifying that owed everything–including one’s existence–to God. Therefore it was supposed to remind one of the necessity and appropriateness of responding favorable to God. Such a response entailed how one treated one’s fellow human beings. That was in the Law of Moses.
The Law of Moses is fascinating. It is simultaneously compassionate (calling for loving one’s neighbor as oneself) and violent (calling for stoning for many offenses). It treats men and women as well as the rich and the poor equally sometimes yet subordinates women at others. It also declares all the blends in my wardrobe to be unlawful, prohibits touching the skin of a pig (so much for footballs and some foods!) and permits slavery. I do not know what to make of the Law of Moses sometimes.
Our Lord, quoting the Law itself, summarized it well overall, channeling Rabbi Hillel (died 10 CE) and saying to love God fully and to love one’s neighbor as oneself. As Rabbi Hillel continued,
Everything else is commentary. Go and learn it.
Certain provisions of the Law are specific to geographical, economic, historical, and cultural conditions. In such instances, I look to the spirit, not the letter, of certain laws. Yet slavery is always wrong; I stand by that statement. I do not know what to make of the Law of Moses sometimes.
So be it.
Ezekiel and Paul called people back to the spirit of the Law; love God fully and love one’s neighbor as one loves oneself. May we human beings inspire each other to do that and to do it better and more often.
And I plan to ask God about the slavery and stoning provisions one day.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 14, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT MATHILDA, QUEEN OF GERMANY
THE FEAST OF KEREOPA AND MANIHERA OF TARANAKI, ANGLICAN MARTYRS
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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1 Samuel 3:1-20 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.
At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim, so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place; the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down within the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. Then the LORD called,
Samuel! Samuel!
and he said,
Here I am!
and ran to Eli, and said,
Here I am, for you called me.
But he said,
I did not call; lie down again.
So he went and lay down. And the LORD called again,
Samuel!
And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said,
Here I am, for you called me.
But he said,
I did not call, my son; lie down again.
Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said,
Here I am, for you called me.
Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel,
Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, “Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.”
So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
And the LORD came and stood forth, calling us at other times,
Samuel! Samuel!
And Samuel said,
Speak, for your servant hears.
Then the LORD said to Samuel,
Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel, at which the two ears of every one that hears it will tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken against his house, from beginning to end. And I tell him that I am about to punish his house for ever, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering for ever.
Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. But Eli called Samuel and said,
Samuel, my son.
And he said,
Here I am.
And Eli said,
What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.
So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said,
It is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him.
And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the LORD. And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD.
Psalm 40 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 I waited patiently upon the LORD;
he stooped to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the desolate pit, out of the mire and clay;
he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing sure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God;
many shall see, and stand in awe,
and put their trust in the LORD.
4 Happy are they who trust in the LORD!
they do not resort to evil spirits or turn to false gods.
5 Great things are they that you have done, O LORD my God!
how great your wonders and your plans for us!
there is none who can be compared with you.
6 Oh, that I could make them known and tell them!
but they are more than I can count.
7 In sacrifice and offering you take no pleasure
(you have given me ears to hear you);
8 Burnt-offering and sin-offering you have not required,
and so I said, “Behold I come.
9 In the roll of the book it is written concerning me:
‘I love to do your will, O my God;
your law is deep in my heart.’”
10 I proclaimed righteousness in the great congregation;
behold, I did not restrain my lips;
and that, O LORD, you know.
Mark 1:29-39 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):
And immediately he left the synagogue, and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him of her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her; and she served them.
That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered together about the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak because they knew him.
And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him followed him, and they found him and said to him,
Every one is searching for you.
And he said to them,
Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out.
And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.
Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
So Hannah had her child. The rest of the story, as we read it in 1 Samuel, is that, after a few years, she left Samuel to live with Eli, the high priest of the Hebrews, at Shiloh. Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, but they would not succeed their father. According to 1 Samuel 2:17, they “treated the offering of the LORD with contempt.” There would be an heir, however; Samuel went on to succeed Eli as high priest.
This was the call of God on the life of Samuel; it surprised him. Even the method of the call shocked the young man.
Once, more years ago than I choose to admit here, I encountered a woman who said that God was speaking to her at that time. She might have been correct. I have never heard a disembodied voice of God, but I have encountered messages from God in several ways: via people, nature, the Bible, and “secular” literature and classical music. (I think of the line separating the sacred from the secular as being more porous than many people imagine it.)
How is God calling you? And what is God saying? May you listen, understand, and obey.
Above: A Remnant of a Mosaic from Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey
Authoritative Jesus
JANUARY 12, 2021
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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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Hebrews 2:5-13 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):
For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere,
What is man that you are mindful of him,
or the son of man, that you care for him?
You have made him a little lower than the angels,
you have crowned him with glory and honor,
putting everything in subjection under his feet.
Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
For it was fitting that he, for whom and to whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies those who are sanctified have all one origin. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying,
I will proclaim your name to my brethren,
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.
And again,
I will put my trust in him.
And again,
Here am I, and the children God has given me.
Psalm 8 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 O LORD our Governor,
how exalted is your Name in all the world!
2 Out of the mouths of infants and children,
your majesty is praised above the heavens.
3 You have set up a stronghold against your adversaries,
to quell the enemy and the avenger.
4 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars you have set in their courses,
5 What is man that you should be mindful of him?
the son of man that you should seek him out?
6 You have made him but little lower than the angels;
you adorn him with glory and honor;
7 You give him mastery over the works of your hands;
you put all things under his feet;
8 All sheep and oxen,
even the wild beasts of the field,
9 The birds of the air, the fish of the sea,
and whatsoever walks in the paths of the sea.
10 O LORD our Governor,
how exalted is your Name in all the world!
Below: Nebula NGC 1999
Mark 1:21-28 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):
And they went into Capernaum; and immediately on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,
What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth ? Have you come to destroy us? I know what you are, the Holy One of God.
But Jesus rebuked him, saying,
Be silent and come out of him!
And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. And they were all amazed, saying,
What is this? A new teaching! With authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.
And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.
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The Collect:
Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
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Some Bible stories sound odd to many of us for whom the Scientific Revolution of the 1600s remains influential. The Hellenistic world of Jesus and his Apostles was one in which one could claim that demonic possession causes epilepsy or schizophrenia or some other ailment and almost nobody would disagree. Those who wrote the Gospels did not disagree with that assessment. Yet I have a different mindset. Nevertheless, I choose not to permit this point to distract me from the major lesson in the reading from Mark.
The Gospel According to Mark portrays Jesus as a powerful and mysterious figure. He knows who he is. Unclean spirits know who he is, and so does Satan. Yet Jesus’ closest associates fail to understand him until his crucifixion and resurrection, which reveal his true nature. This is the Messianic Secret, which our Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection reveal: the Messiah has come to die and rise again. This is a different understanding of Messiah than many had at the time and many continue to harbor; Jesus was not the conquering hero; he came to die and rise again.
And, unlike other teachers of the Jewish faith, he did not use constant verbal citations to what a great scholar had said. No, he taught with authority. More importantly, Jesus acted with authority, and this gave his words more authority than they would have had otherwise.
The Incarnation affirms human nature. We are wretches, of course, but we also bear the image of God. Both are true, and we need to balance the two sides well. What are we that God is mindful of us? We are children of the living God, bearers of the divine image. God has walked among us, healed us, taught us, and looked like us. God has taken on our sins and died for us. God as risen from the dead for us.
I am not a parent, nor I desire that role. But I am a child, and I know that my parents love me actively and sacrificially. The parental metaphor, therefore, is a beautiful way of understanding God’s relationship with each of us.
Who are we that God is mindful of us? We are the apples of God’s eyes. May we, by grace, be the best apples, for the sake of each other and the glory of God.
since no one who fails to love the brother whom he can see
can love God whom he has not seen.
Indeed this is the commandment we have received from him,
that whoever loves God, must also love his brother.
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ
is a child of God,
and whoever loves the father
loves the son.
In this way we know that we love God’s children,
when we love God and keep his commandments.
This is what the love of God is:
keeping his commandments.
Neither are his commandments burdensome,
because every child of God
overcomes the world.
And this is the victory that has overcome the world–
our faith.
Psalm 72:1-2, 14-19 (New Jerusalem Bible):
God, endow the king with your own fair judgment,
the son of the king with your own saving justice,
that he may rule your people with justice,
and your poor with fair judgment.
From oppression and violence he redeems our lives,
their blood is precious in his sight.
(Long may he live; may the gold of Sheba be given him!)
Prayer will be offered for him constantly,
and blessings invoked on him all day.
May wheat abound in the land,
waving on the heights of the hills,
like Lebanon with its fruits and flowers at their best,
like the grasses of the earth.
May his name be blessed for ever,
and endure in the sight of the sun.
In him shall be blessed every race in the world,
and all nations call him blessed.
Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel,
who alone works wonders;
blessed for ever his gracious name.
May the whole world be filled with his glory!
Amen! Amen!
Luke 4:14-22 (New Jerusalem Bible):
Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone glorified him.
He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read, and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:
The spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has anointed me
to bring the good news to the afflicted.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives,
sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord.
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them,
The text is being fulfilled today even while you are listening.
And he won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips.
The Collect:
O God, by the leading of a star you manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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The reading from 1 John reminds us of a great spiritual truth: we cannot love God and hate each other. It is easy to give lip service to this statement, but acting on it can entail controversy and social transformation, which make many people very uncomfortable and sometimes violent.
The excerpt from Luke seems to have a happy ending, but reading for a few more verses reveals that Jesus’ former neighbors turned on him, becoming enraged and hustling him out of Nazareth, intending to throw him off a cliff. These were people who, very shortly before, had been in synagogue! This incident reminds me of a true story from a Methodist revival meeting in a Virginia barn in the late 1700s. Thomas Coke, one of the original bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church (1784-1939; now The United Methodist Church) was preaching. He turned to the topic of slavery, the abolition of which he supported. On the spot a woman in the congregation offered to hire someone to murder Coke. The bishop fled the barn, and the revival ended. Bishop Coke lived for years, fortunately.
I write this post in June 2010. One hundred years ago de jure segregation was the law of the land in the United States. In 1896 the Supreme Court had held in Plessy v. Ferguson that racial segregation was constitutional so long as the separate facilities were equal. Yet these facilities were not equal. So the Court reversed itself in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), with Chief Justice Earl Warren (one of my heroes, and my favorite Chief Justice) writing that separate is inherently unequal. In 2010 it is difficult to find a person in the political mainstream who will question the major civil rights milestones–Supreme Court rulings and acts of Congress–although one can locate a few now and again. Theoretical arguments about the nature of Federalism might seem respectable and concerned with Constitutional imperatives, but they cannot mask racism, insensitivity to injustice, or the errors of hyper-Libertarianism, which opposes federal actions to correct injustices, such as de jure segregation.
We have received a command to love each other actively. Thus we need to ask some hard questions and perhaps to jettison some assumptions. No political -ism is immune from error in matters of loving others, hating others, or loving others insufficiently. I propose, for example, that this command requires not to think of abortion as a casual matter or to excuse bombing civilian populations during wartime. (During World War II the Allies bombed cities in Axis nations.) I own a shirt which asks
Who Would Jesus Bomb?
I know that the first word should be “whom,” but question remains a good one. Gospel imperatives can be challenging, indeed.
ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS 
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