The Reverend George Washington Barrett (d. 1956), a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, as well as one of my great-grandfathers, preached in the early years of the twentieth century that Jesus grew up in a Christian home. That analysis would have shocked the author of the Gospel of Matthew, who understood Jesus to have been a thoroughly Jewish figure whose life story echoed the history of Israel. In that Gospel, with its prominent contrast between Heaven and Earth, the young Jesus’s identification of God as his (heavenly) Father while St. Joseph, the man who raised the Messiah, was alive, brought up issues of types of fatherhood.
By faith and grace we are sons of God–members of the divine household. For the purpose of inclusion, a cause near and dear to my generally liberal heart, certain contemporary translations render the Greek word for “sons” as “children.” In so doing they lose the connection between the Son of God (4:4) as well as the “Spirit of his Son” (4:6) and each of us as a son of God by God’s actions (4:7), a case St. Paul the Apostle made in a culture in which only sons inherited. The gendered, seemingly exclusive language is actually inclusive, and the modernized, inclusive, neutered language sacrifices literary and theological subleties. I know a New Testament scholar who favors translating “sons” as “sons and daughters” rather than “children” for modern readers. He concedes that doing so sacrifices some meaning while stating that all modern translations sacrifice some meaning. I favor a translation that sacrifices as little meaning as possible and abhors superficial inclusiveness that makes us feel good and accomplishes little else.
We are, anyway, heirs of God, by faith and grace. We, the “sons of God,” are not exclusively male or Jewish; we come from many categories, but all of us are in God. This is wonderful news! The love of God, although unconditional, imposes the duty of faithful response on its recipients, not all of whom obey.
We can ever repay God, but at least we can be grateful. The metaphor of God as Father is a wonderful one. Yes, maternal images for God exist in the Bible, but the paternal ones are on my mind as I write this post, based partially on texts that use the word “father.” When human fathers disown their children, abuse them, et cetera, the metaphor of God as Father emphasizes the contrast between God and such sub par human fathers. One might think of St. Joseph, certainly a fine father (He did raise Jesus), but even he had human failings. As fine a father (as in the man who raises a child) St. Joseph was, we are supposed to understand, God is better. God is perfect. God adopts us. God cares deeply about us.
Do we care deeply about God?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 17, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT PATRICK, APOSTLE OF IRELAND
THE FEAST OF EBENEZER ELLIOTT, “THE CORN LAW RHYMER”
THE FEAST OF ELIZA SIBBALD ALDERSON, POET AND HYMN WRITER; AND JOHN BACCHUS DYKES, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF HENRY SCOTT HOLLAND, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER AND PRIEST
The assigned readings for this Sunday, taken together, speak of the importance of knowing God. Those who love God keep divine commandments, or at least attempt to do so. One can succeed by grace, fortunately. The faithful who receive the crown of martyrdom are still more fortunate than those who trust in idols.
Discerning divine commandments does seem difficult sometimes. As I read 1 John 3:14b-24, I find some guidance regarding that topic:
Do not hate.
Love each other so much as to be willing to die for each other.
Help each other in financial and material ways.
Do not mistake lip service for sincerity.
Those instructions are concrete, not abstract. And, by acting accordingly, we demonstrate the presence of the Holy Spirit within ourselves.
I notice the emphasis on compassion, not checklists. Legalism is a powerful temptation. Indeed, many who fall into that trap do so out of the sincere desire to honor God. Yet they wind up fixating on minor details and forgetting compassion frequently instead of remembering the big picture: compassion, such as that of the variety that Jesus modeled all the way to the cross.
Living compassionately is far more rigorous a standard than is keeping a moral checklist.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 30, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF JAMES MONTGOMERY, HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOHN ROSS MACDUFF AND GEORGE MATHESON, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTERS AND AUTHORS
–William Allen Knight (1863-1957), “Come, My Heart, Canst Thou Not Hear It” (1915), quoted in The Pilgrim Hymnal (1931/1935), Hymn #77
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Part of the mystery of the Incarnation is its counterintuitive nature: a vulnerable baby was God incarnate. This truth demonstrates the reality that God operates differently than we frequently define as feasible and effective. Then again, Jesus was, by dominant human expectations, a failure. I would never claim that Jesus was a failure, of course.
If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat;
and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink;
for you will heap coals of fire on their heads,
and the LORD will reward you.
–Proverbs 25:22, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
Speaking of counterintuitive ways of God, shall we ponder the advice of St. Paul the Apostle in Romans 12:14-21?
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” No, if your enemies are hungry, feed them, if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
—The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
That old sweet song of angels will not attune to heaven our life if we ignore this sage advice–if we fail to overcome evil with good. How we treat others indicates more about what kind of people we are than about what kind of people they are. If we react against intolerance with intolerance, we are intolerant. We also add fuel to the proverbial fire. Is not a fire extinguisher better?
As the Master said,
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.
–Matthew 5:43-48, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
Perfection, in this case, indicates suitability for one’s purpose, which is, in the language of the Westminster Shorter Catechism,
to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
–Quoted in The United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, The Book of Confessions (1967)
As the annual celebration of the birth of Christ approaches again, may we who follow him with our words also follow him with our deeds: may we strive for shalom on a day-to-day basis. Only God can save the world, but we can leave it better than we found it.
Hebrews 8 speaks of an internalized covenant, the law written on human hearts. This is an echo of Jeremiah 31:31-34. It is a covenant not written on the hearts of certain Pharisees and scribes in Luke 7. When one reads the entirety of Luke 7 one realizes that the Pharisees and scribes in question were guilty of obsessing over minor details while twisting the law to accept financial donations that impoverished innocent third parties. Thus these particular religious people were guilty of violating the principle of the Law of Moses that prohibits economic exploitation. One also learns that a Gentile woman had the covenant written on her heart. Likewise, those who criticized St. John the Baptist for his asceticism and Jesus for eating and drinking were seeking excuses to condemn others. They did not have the covenant written on their hearts.
There is no fault in maintaining sacred spaces and beautiful rituals. We mere mortals need sacred spaces that differ from other spaces and rituals that inspire our souls. Good liturgy should make us better people. It if does not, the fault is with us. May it inspire us to recognize and serve God in each other. May good liturgy, in conjunction with the covenant written on our hearts, help us find ways to act as effectively on divine principles, for the maximum benefit to others and the greatest possible glory to God. May we refrain from carping language that tears others down and seek ways to build them up, for we are stronger together in the body of faith.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 1, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SUNDAR SINGH, INDIAN CHRISTIAN EVANGELIST
THE FEAST OF DAVID PENDLETON OAKERHATER, EPISCOPAL DEACON
to take on our human nature and to illumine the world with your light.
By your grace adopt us as your children and enlighten us with your Spirit,
through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 20
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The Assigned Readings:
Proverbs 1:-17
Psalm 147:12-20
James 3:13-18
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Great is our God and mighty in power;
his wisdom is beyond all telling.
The Lord lifts up the poor,
but casts down the wicked to the ground.
–Psalm 147:5-6, The Book of Common Prayer (2004)
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The two main pericopes for this day contrast divine wisdom and human contrast divine wisdom and human folly and maliciousness. Divine wisdom builds up communities and societies. It is
first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full to mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.
–James 3:17, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
The alleged wisdom of the world, however, is actually folly and maliciousness. It builds up those who practice it, but at the expense of others. And it harms those who practice it, for whatever we do to others, we do to ourselves. “No man is an island,” as John Donne wrote.
I have noticed for years the dismaying practice of engaging in Social Darwinism that would make Herbert Spencer blush and dressing it up as godly. This has been especially egregious in U.S. politics. Often being mean-spirited is better for one’s poll numbers than being compassionate and gentle. Sadly, the condemnations of human folly and maliciousness in Proverbs 1 and James 3 remain relevant, for speaking favorably of programs of social uplift can lead to unjustified allegations from mean-spirited people, many of whom claim allegiance to Jesus.
This is a devotion for the second day of the year. May the new year be a time for increased levels of compassion and gentleness, of love for one’s neighbors (we are all neighbors, according to Jesus), and respect for the inherent dignity of our fellow human beings during all stages of life. Being compassionate and gentle builds up communities and societies. It is good for individuals, none of whom are proverbial islands. It is strength, not weakness, and virtue, not something to mock.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
AUGUST 24, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT BARTHOLOMEW, APOSTLE AND MARTYR
All-powerful and unseen God, the coming of your light
into our world has brightened weary hearts with peace.
Call us out of darkness, and empower us to proclaim the birth of 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 20
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The Assigned Readings:
Proverbs 1:1-7
Psalm 148
James 3:13-18
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Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the world;
Young men and women,
old and young together;
let them praise the name of the Lord.
–Psalm 148:11-12, Common Worship (2000)
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The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and discipline.
–Proverbs 1:7, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
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Peace is the seed-bed of righteousness, and the peacemakers will reap its harvest.
–James 3:18, Revised English Bible (1989)
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The main two readings for today summarize nicely material I have been covering during the last few posts in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America daily lectionary for Year B. Therefore this post seems like an appropriate place to take stock and pull threads together, for the lectionary will look toward the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6) starting with the readings for January 3. Since December 26 we have covered the following material:
Violent authority figures and suffering innocents,
Peril for young Jesus,
Peril for other faithful people,
The divine commandment to live compassionately,
Mutual responsibility in societies,
The divine commandment to lead disciplined lives, and
Economic exploitation.
To that list James adds putting away jealousy, rivalry, and their evil offspring, some of which the list enumerates.
As I have written many times, fear brings out the worst in people often. We humans tend to justify violence toward and exploitation of others in the name of taking care of ourselves and those near us and similar to us. For the same reason we also tend to justify denying others basic civil rights and liberties. When we do so we hurt ourselves, for we rely on others as much as we bear responsibility for them. Each of us in our brothers’ and sisters’ keeper. That which we do others we do to ourselves, but often we do not recognize that reality.
May the new year be a time to focus on compassionate living, which requires one to get outside of oneself and think about the best interests of others.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 9, 2014 COMMON ERA
PROPER 27: THE TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF MARTIN CHEMNITZ, GERMAN LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF BARTON STONE, COFOUNDER OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH (DISCIPLES OF CHRIST)
One of my fellow parishioners observed that a local radio station ceased to play Christmas music early in the afternoon one Christmas Day a few years ago. David remarked sarcastically that Christmas must have ended at that time. I know that he was sarcastic because he observes all twelve days of Christmas–through January 5.
The twelve days of Christmas, when one observes them with the assigned biblical readings for the holy days, take one on a tour through joy and abject grief, through love and hatred, through tenderness and violence. The Feasts of St. Stephen (December 26) and the Holy Innocents (December 28) function as counterparts to the joy of December 25. The whole picture tells us that God became incarnate in the form of a helpless infant born into a violent world in which people threatened his life. Young Jesus survived, of course, but others died because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness is menacing indeed. Yet, as we read in John 1:5 (The New Jerusalem Bible),
…and the light shines in darkness,
and darkness could not overpower it.
That is an excellent reason to celebrate. Merry Christmas!
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)
I collect hymnals and service books. Exploring them and finding treasures is a wonderful hobby, one which brings joy to me. And sharing those gems sheds that joy abroad. That is the rationale for my GATHERED PRAYERS weblog, which links into this one. Some hymns, however, are not prayers, so I seek and fine other venues for sharing them.
William Allen Knight (1863-1957) was a U.S. Congregationalist minister and author. Yesterday, for example, I found some books he wrote available at archive.org:
Knight also wrote the following Christmas hymn in 1915:
Come, my heart, canst thou not hear it,
Mid the tumult of thy days?
Catch the old sweet song of angels,
Join thy voice to swell their praise!
Hast thou never shared the blessing,
Never known kind Heaven’s gift?
Bethlehem thy Saviour cradled!
Heart of mine, a song uplift.
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First to hear were watching shepherds,
Sore afraid that winter’s night;
Soon their Bethlehem’s low manger
Changed the song to wondrous sight!
Ever since, all they who hear it
Find a Saviour where they dwell;
Sing it, heart! Who knows what toilers
Thou the Christward way shalt tell!
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Long ago the angels vanished–
But their song is sounding still!
Millions now with hope are singing,
“Peace on earth, to men good will.”
Sing, my heart! Tho’ peace may tarry,
Sing good will mid human strife!
Till that old sweet song of angels
Shall attune to heav’n our life.
I keep hearing about a war on Christmas. Yet I note that many, if not most, of those who speak and write at length on that subject seem oblivious to the liturgical calendar and many well-documented facts. “Xmas” is not a way to remove “Christ” from Christmas. No, “X” is an abbreviation derived from the Greek alphabet. I have, for example, squeezed “Xian” into a tiny gap when taking notes and meaning “Christian.” And I do not hear many of these self-appointed defenders of Christmas against the great secular hordes speak of Advent or twelve days of Christmas often. Thus many self-appointed defenders of tradition violate the tradition they claim to affirm. I love the irony.
Talk is cheap and frequently annoying. But keeping holy seasons quietly and sincerely is where, as an old saying goes, the rubber meets the road. We can start by dropping out of the rat race or never entering it. And we can live daily in the awareness that time is sacred–something of which the older, more formalistic Christian denominations tend to engender better than the iconoclastic schools of Protestantism.
The angels’ song is sounding still. Thanks be to God! But do we hear it over the din of pointless arguments and of hustle and bustle?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 23, 2013 COMMON ERA
THE TWENTY-THIRD DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN OF KANTY, ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT CHARBEL, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MONK
THE FEAST OF GERALD R. FORD, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
One of the great virtues of High Churchmanship is having a well-developed sense of sacred time. So, for example, the church calendars, with their cycles, tell us of salvation history. We focus on one part of the narrative at a time. Much of Protestantism, formed in rebellion against Medieval Roman Catholic excesses and errors, has thrown the proverbial baby out with the equally proverbial bath water, rejecting or minimizing improperly the sacred power of rituals and holy days.
Consider, O reader, the case of Christmas–not in the present tense, but through the late 1800s. Puritans outlawed the celebration of Christmas when they governed England in the 1650s. Their jure divino theology told them that since there was no biblical sanction for keeping Christmas, they ought not to do it–nor should anyone else. On the other hand, the jure divino theology of other Calvinists allowed for keeping Christmas. Jure divino was–and is–a matter of interpretation. Lutherans, Anglicans, and Moravians kept Christmas. Many Methodists on the U.S. frontier tried yet found that drunken revelry disrupted services. Despite this Methodist pro-Christmas opinion, many members of the Free Methodist denomination persisted in anti-Christmas sentiment. The holiday was too Roman Catholic, they said and existed without
the authority of God’s word.
Thus, as the December 19, 1888 issue of Free Methodist concluded,
We attach no holy significance to the day.
–Quoted in Leigh Eric Schmidt, Consumer Rites: The Buying and Selling of American Holidays (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995), page 180. (The previous quote also comes from that magazine, quoted in the same book.)
Many Baptists also rejected the religious celebration of Christmas. An 1875 issue of Baptist Teacher, a publication for Sunday School educators, contained the following editorial:
We believe in Christmas–not as a holy day but as a holiday and so we join with our juveniles with utmost heartiness of festal celebration….Stripped as it ought to be, of all pretensions of religious sanctity and simply regarded as a social and domestic institution–an occasion of housewarming, and heart-warming and innocent festivity–we welcome its coming with a hearty “All Hail.”
–Quoted in Schmidt, Consumer Rites, pages 179 and 180
Presbyterians, with their Puritan heritage, resisted celebrating Christmas for a long time. In fact, some very strict Presbyterians still refuse to keep Christmas, citing their interpretation of jure divino theology. (I have found some of their writings online.) That attitude was more commonplace in the 1800s. The Presbyterian Church in the United States, the old Southern Presbyterian Church, passed the following resolution at its 1899 General Assembly:
There is no warrant for the observance of Christmas and Easter as holy days, but rather contrary (see Galatians iv.9-11; Colossians ii.16-21), and such observance is contrary to the principles of the Reformed faith, conducive to will-worship, and not in harmony with the simplicity of the gospel in Jesus Christ.
–Page 430 of the Journal of the General Assembly, 1899 (I copied the text of the resolution verbatim from an original copy of the Journal.)
I agree with Leigh Eric Schmidt:
It is not hard to see in this radical Protestant perspective a religious source for the very secularization of the holiday that would eventually be so widely decried. With the often jostling secularism of the Christmas bazaar, Protestant rigorists simply got what they had long wished for–Christmas as one more market day, a profane time or work and trade.
–Consumer Rites, page 180
I affirm the power of rituals and church calendars. And I have no fear of keeping a Roman Catholic holy day and season. Thus I keep Advent (December 1-24) and Christmas (December 25-January 5). I hold off on wishing people
Merry Christmas
often until close to Christmas Eve, for I value the time of preparation. And I have no hostility or mere opposition to wishing anyone
Happy Holidays,
due to the concentrated holiday season in December. This is about succinctness and respect in my mind; I am not a culture warrior.
Yet I cannot help but notice with dismay the increasingly early start of the end-of-year shopping season. More retailers will open earlier on Thanksgiving Day this year. Many stores display Christmas decorations before Halloween. These are examples of worshiping at the high altar of the Almighty Dollar.
I refuse to participate in this. In fact, I have completed my Christmas shopping–such as it was–mostly at thrift stores. One problem with materialism is that it ignores a basic fact: If I acquire an item, I must put it somewhere. But what if I enjoy open space?
I encourage a different approach to the end of the year: drop out quietly (or never opt in) and keep nearly four weeks of Advent and all twelve days of Christmas. I invite you, O reader, to observe these holy seasons and to discover riches and treasures better than anything on sale on Black Friday.
Pax vobiscum!
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 25, 2013 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SQUANTO, COMPASSIONATE HUMAN BEING
THE FEAST OF JAMES OTIS SARGENT HUNTINGTON, FOUNDER OF THE ORDER OF THE HOLY CROSS
–Martin Luther; translated by William James Kirkpatrick
Yesterday I sang in my parish choir’s performance of the Christmas portion of Handel’s Messiah. We dropped “His yoke is easy and his burden is light,” culminating instead in the Hallelujah Chorus. The concert was glorious and spiritually edifying for many people.
There are still a few days of Advent left. So I encourage you, O reader, to observe them. Then, beginning sometime during the second half of December 24, begin to say
Merry Christmas!
and continue that practice through January 5, the twelfth and last day of Christmas. And I encourage you to remember that our Lord and Savior was born into a violent world, one in which men–some mentally disturbed, others just mean, and still others both mean and mentally disturbed–threatened and took the lives of innocents. Names, circumstances, empires, nation-states, and technology have changed, but the essential reality has remained constant, unfortunately.
The Hallelujah Chorus, quoting the Apocalypse of John, includes these words:
The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.
That is not true yet, obviously. But that fact does not relieve any of us of our responsibilities to respect the Image of God in others and to treat them accordingly. We must not try to evade the duty to be the face and appendages of Christ to those to whom God sends us and those whom God sends to us. We cannot save the world, but we can improve it. May we do so for the glory of God and the benefit of others.
May the peace of Christ, born as a vulnerable baby and executed as a criminal by a brutal imperial government, be with you now and always. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 17, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MARIA STEWART, EDUCATOR
THE FEAST OF EGLANTYNE JEBB, FOUNDER OF SAVE THE CHILDREN
THE FEAST OF FRANK MASON NORTH, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER
ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS 
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