According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
We can trust God because of what God has done. In Hebrew theology, God is like what God has done. Consider many texts of the Hebrew Bible, O reader; they recount what God has done then they encourage people to trust God.
What has God done in these readings?
God has arranged for the Babylonian Exile to end.
God has protected the people of Israel during that exile.
God has made the people of Israel a light to the nations.
God has healed the author of Psalm 40 from a serious illness.
God has made the author of Psalm 92 happy with His work.
God has enriched the lives of the Corinthian Christians whom St. Paul the Apostle began to criticize in 1 Corinthians 1:10.
God has sent the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth.
What items will you, O reader, add to the list of what God has done?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 19, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SARGENT SHRIVER AND HIS WIFE, EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER, HUMANITARIANS
THE FEAST OF SAINT ALESSANDRO VALIGNANO, ITALIAN JESUIT MISSIONARY PRIEST IN THE FAR EAST
THE FEAST OF CHARLES WINFRED DOUGLAS, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, LITURGIST, MUSICOLOGIST, LINGUIST, POET, HYMN TRANSLATOR, AND ARRANGER
THE FEAST OF HENRY TWELLS, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
The theme of fidelity to God unites these readings.
Fools and wise people die. One works hard then dies; others inherit. At least one can be faithful to God and enjoy one’s work during one’s life filled with pain. That description certainly applies to Ezekiel, Jesus, and St. Paul the Apostle. Relying on God while surrounded by faithless people, as well as away from the faithless, maddening crowd, one can resist the temptations to seek the easy way out, to be spectacular, to glorify oneself, not to depend on God, to serve evil, to make peace with injustice, et cetera.
As Harry Emerson Fosdick wrote in 1930,
Save us from weak resignation
To the evils we deplore;
Let the search for Thy salvation
Be our glory evermore.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
Serving Thee whom we adore,
Serving Thee whom we adore.
Amen.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 19, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOSEPH OF NAZARETH, HUSBAND OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
Psalm 44 is a national lament, but one might read the text and identify with it. Such is the timeless quality of the Book of Psalms.
God gets to judge. Jesus says in John 8 that he does not judge yet others do. We read of Jacob and Esau reconciling in Genesis 33. If we continue reading, however, we learn that the peace did not survive them. We read in Acts 5 that Gamaliel was slow to judge. I conclude that, had more early Christians and contemporary Jews been more like Gamaliel, the subsequent course of Jewish-Christian relations would have been better.
The wasted potential of what Jacob, Esau, and Gamaliel sought to do haunts me.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 2, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT SIGISMUND OF BURGUNDY, KING; SAINT CLOTILDA, FRANKISH QUEEN; AND SAINT CLODOALD, FRANKISH PRINCE AND ABBOT
THE FEAST OF SAINT ATHANASIUS OF ALEXANDRIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF JAMES LEWIS MILLIGAN, HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARCULF OF NANTEUIL, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
Justice, according to Psalm 109 and Isaiah 26, is for God to deliver the faithful and to smite the evildoers. I understand the sentiment well, just as I also grasp the reality that prolonged anger can easily become a spiritual toxin. In small doses and for brief periods of time it might help one make the proper decisions, but its toxicity becomes apparent quickly. One does better to pray for one’s persecutors, that they may repent, and leave the rest to God. Not all will repent, unfortunately, and those who persist in perfidy will bring their fates upon themselves.
Lo, I have it all put away,
Sealed up in My storehouses,
To be My vengeance and recompense,
At the time that their foot falters.
Yea, their day of disaster is near,
And destiny rushes upon them.
For the LORD will vindicate His people
And take revenge for His servants,
When He sees that their might is gone,
And neither bond nor free is left….
O nations, acclaim His people!
For He’ll avenge the blood of His servants,
Wreak vengeance on His foes,
And cleanse the land of His people.
–Deuteronomy 32:34-36, 43, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
In the Lukan account of the healing of the paralyzed man he glorifies God immediately, and witnesses become filled with amazement because of the miracle. It is easy to maintain faith in God during good times, but a different matter during difficult times. That is part of the reason for the existence of the Letter to the Hebrews, with its encouragement of perseverance and warning against committing apostasy, of falling away from God.
I have learned via living that faith in God is essential to getting through dark chapters in life as well as possible. I have also learned that the light of God seems to burn brightest in the darkness and that grace seems most evident during times of distress. The faithful do not walk exclusively in paths of pleasantness. Neither do they walk alone. They trusting in God, can focus on the positive and seek to build communities of shalom.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 4, 2016 COMMON ERA
PROPER 18: THE SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR C
THE FEAST OF ALL CHRISTIAN PEACEMAKERS AND PEACE ACTIVISTS
THE FEAST OF PAUL JONES, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF UTAH AND PEACE ACTIVIST; AND HIS COLLEAGUE, JOHN NEVIN SAYRE, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND PEACE ACTIVIST
That is true, of course, so idolatry is especially galling. Marriage, a literal matter in 1 Corinthians 7, is a metaphor in Jeremiah 3 and 4, where whoring becomes a metaphor for idolatry. A relationship with God is intimate, this language tells us.
One of the themes in the Gospel of Mark, no part of which we read today, is that those who think they are insiders might actually be outsiders. That theme applies to our Lord and Savior’s accusers in Luke 11; he was never in league with evil. The fact that a person who knew Jesus could not recognize that reality speaks badly of that individual. Jesus was no more in league with evil than Simon Magus could purchase the Holy Spirit, the offer to do which led to a quotable rebuke:
May your silver be lost for ever, and you with it, for you think that money could buy what God has given for nothing! You have no share, no part, in this: God can see how your heart is warped. Repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the LORD that this scheme of yours may be forgiven; it is plain to me that you are held in the bitterness of gall and the chains of sin.
–Acts 8:20b-23, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)
From that incident came the word “simony.”
Grace is free yet not cheap. We can never purchase or earn it, but we can respond favorably to it. Grace demands concrete evidence of its presence, as measured in deeds, which flow from attitudes. Do we love our neighbors as we love ourselves? I prefer that standard to any Pietistic list of legalistic requirements.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 27, 2015 COMMON ERA
PROPER 21: THE EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF SAINT LEOBA, ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN AND MISSIONARY
THE FEAST OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE CHURCH OF SOUTH INDIA, 1947
Thanks be to you, Lord Jesus Christ, most merciful redeemer,
for the countless blessings and benefits you give.
May we know you more clearly,
love you more dearly,
and follow you more nearly,
day by day praising you, with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 22
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The Assigned Readings:
Judges 2:6-15 (Thursday)
Judges 2:16-23 (Friday)
Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 (Both Days)
2 Corinthians 10:1-11 (Thursday)
Acts 13:16-25 (Friday)
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God, examine me and know my heart,
probe me and know my thoughts;
make sure I do not follow pernicious ways,
and guide me in the way that is everlasting.
–Psalm 139:23-24, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
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2 Corinthians is a cut-and-pasted document. There were four letters from St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthian Church:
The first is lost, as are many other ancient texts.
1 Corinthians is the second letter.
2 Corinthians 10:1-13:13 is the third letter.
2 Corinthians 1-9 (except for 6:14-7:1, the authorship and original placement of which are matters of dispute) is the fourth letter.
[Thanks to Calvin J. Roetzel, The Letters of Paul: Conversations in Context, 2d. Ed. (Atlanta, GA: John Knox Press, 1982), pages 52-63.]
The text which is actually 3 Corinthians is a defensive, scolding, sarcastic, and sometimes threatening letter. St. Paul argued against criticisms, such as the claim that he was more effective at a distance than when he was near and the allegation that he could not do what he claimed he could do. He had to contend with fractiousness and rumor mongering. Such problems constituted evidence of spiritual problems in the congregation.
St. Paul was not the only one who had to contend with people who disobeyed God. Of course, God has had to deal with that problem for a long time. Even those who had experienced the Exodus were prone to idolatry and rebellion. Their descendants continued that pattern, unfortunately.
We humans have insufficient attention spans much of the time. We also have selective memories. I read about God’s mighty acts of the past, but many people experienced them. How could any of them forget or ignore such wonders?
May we–you, O reader, and I–pay better attention and be more obedient.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 19, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOHANN HERMANN SCHEIN, GERMAN LUTHERAN COMPOSER
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 Ezekiel and Romans readings function best when one reads them continuously. Lectionaries are useful, but sometimes they are too choppy.
We begin with the lessons from Ezekiel. Exiles will return to their ancestral homeland; that is one meaning of the Valley of Dry Bones. Another traditional interpretation infers the resurrection of the dead before the last judgment. I see no reason that is flawed. But, as a narrative matter, the former reading of the text takes me my next point, which is that, in the homeland, God and the people will commune:
I will make a covenant of friendship with them–it shall be an everlasting covenant with them–I will establish them, and I will place My Sanctuary among them forever. My Presence shall rest over them; I will be their God and they shall be My People. And when My Sanctuary abides among them forever, the nations shall now that I the LORD do sanctify Israel.
–Ezekiel 37:26-28, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures
What Ezekiel understood as the Second Temple applies nicely to Jesus, in whom we have reconciliation with God, in whom our offenses are lifted from us and through whom we have justification. It is in Jesus that we are free from slavery to sin. Voltaire said that we human beings are free as we choose to be. If we choose to give ourselves over to someone’s authority, we lose a measure of freedom. And even coercion cannot deprive a person of inner freedom if he or she opts to retain it. Mohandas Gandhi was a free man in some prison cells, for example. Likewise, if we choose to enslave ourselves to sin and shame, we have ourselves to blame. But, if we seek liberty in Christ, we have grace and enough free will to choose to follow him to thank.
One of the most difficult forms of slavery to break is that of honor and shame. What others think of us does affect us, so we have to care about that somewhat. What other people say about influences whether we obtain certain employment (or keep it), for example. Yet the most important assessment comes from God. May the divine assessment be,
Saul: “An odd thing happened when I was chasing my father’s runaway donkeys.”
JANUARY 15, 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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1 Samuel 9:1-4, 15-19; 10:1ab (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):
There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth; and he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the sons of Israel more handsome than he; from his soldiers upward he was taller than any of the people.
Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. So Kish said to Saul his son,
Take one of the servants with you, and arise, go, and look for the donkeys.
And they passed through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find them. And they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then passed through the land of Benjamin, but did not find them.
…
Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had revealed to Samuel:
Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have seen the affliction of my people, because their cry has come to me.
When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD told him,
Here is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall rule over my people.
Then Saul approached Samuel in the gate, and said,
Tell me where is the house of the seer?
Samuel answered Saul,
I am the seer; go up before me to the high place, for today you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind.
Then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said,
Has not the LORD anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of Israel and you will save them from the hand of their enemies round about.
Psalm 21 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 The king rejoices in your strengh, O LORD;
how greatly he exults in your victory!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire;
you have not denied him the request of his lips.
3 For you meet him with blessings of prosperity,
and set a crown of fine gold upon his head.
4 He asked you for life, and you gave it to him:
length of days, for ever and ever.
5 His honor is great, because of your victory;
splendor and majesty have you bestowed upon him.
6 For you will give him everlasting felicity
and will make him glad with the joy of your presence.
7 For the king puts his trust in the LORD;
because of the loving-kindness of the Most High, he will not fall.
Mark 2:13-17 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):
He went out again beside the sea; and all the crowd gathered about him, and he taught them. And as he passed on, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and he said to him,
Follow me.
And he rose and followed him.
And as he sat at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were sitting with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many who followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples,
Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?
And when Jesus heard it, he said to them,
Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.
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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.
Saul, son of Kish, woke up one day. He probably thought that it would be just another day, not all that different from recent ones. His father sent him and a servant on a mission to find two runaway donkeys. This assignment was below Saul’s social standing, but there is no evidence that he complained about this fact. So Saul and the servant searched long, far, and unsuccessfully for the wandering animals. They were gone for a long time, probably long enough to cause Kish concern for the safety of his son and servant.
Saul did not find the donkeys; another person did that (1 Samuel 9:20). He found Samuel, instead. The surprising end of Saul’s donkey chase was his anointing as the first human King of Israel. Certainly he did not foresee that on the morning of the day he set out to seek runaway donkeys.
This was a surprising call. There is no hint of Saul’s bad end in this, our introduction to him. At this point in the narrative there is still hope that he might be a good king, one who protects his subjects.
We read of another surprising call in Mark 2. Matthew/Levi was a Roman tax collector, a literal tax thief for the occupying power. But he answered our Lord’s call to pursue a different vocation, apostleship, which ended in martyrdom.
ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS 
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