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
Image Source = Father Lawrence G. Lovasik, S.V.D., New Catholic Picture Bible: Popular Stories from the Old and New Testaments (New York: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1955, 1960)
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:
Genesis 16:1-14
Psalm 86
Luke 18:15-17
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Turn to me and have mercy upon me;
give your strength to your servant
and save the child of your handmaid.
–Psalm 86:16, Common Worship (2000)
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Abram had received a promise from God that he would become the father of nations. There was just one problem: he had no children. Abram and Sarai took matters into their own hands, thereby creating a mess and causing injury immediately to Hagar and later compounding it and extending it to Ishmael. The boy, whose existence was due to faithlessness, became a pawn.
Children were people without social standing in our Lord and Savior’s cultural context. Sometimes parents even sold them into slavery to pay off debts. One function of the Kingdom of God in the Gospels was to point out the ways in which the dominant society fell short of the divine mark. Hence the Beatitudes (and, in the Gospel of Luke, the corresponding Woes) were counter-cultural. Blessed are poor? Woe to the rich? Blessed are the peacemakers? In the Kingdom of God, yes! The description of the way things ought to be condemned the way they were.
That description continues to condemn societies. For example, the exploitation of children–from child labor to sexual slavery to conscription as soldiers–constitutes current events. Some patterns never change, although the places, dates, and certain other minor details regarding them do. I live just outside the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. Atlanta is a hub of human trafficking, unfortunately.
In the Gospel of Luke the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (18:9-14) and the conversation between Jesus and the rich ruler attached to his wealth (18:18-30) bookend the pericope about receiving the Kingdom of God as a little child does. The cumulative message, therefore, is that social standing counts for nothing in the eyes of God and that wealth is irrelevant in the same context. No, pride must go away and we must approach God humbly, aware of our powerlessness and limitations.
The exhortation in Luke 18:15-17 also points to inherent human dignity and links well with the plights of Hagar and Ishmael. May we never use people as pawns, for that is unfair to them. It also violates the commandments to care for one another and to be responsible to each other–orders which undergird much of the Law of Moses and are consistent with our Lord and Savior’s ethical teachings and lived example.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 20, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF RICHARD WATSON GILDER, U.S. POET, JOURNALIST, AND SOCIAL REFORMER
THE FEAST OF HENRY FRANCIS LYTE, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF LEO TOLSTOY, NOVELIST
THE FEAST OF SAINT MECHTILD OF MAGDEBURG, ROMAN CATHOLIC MYSTIC
The laws of God which are written on hearts and minds are laws of grace, love, and responsibility for and to each other. They are laws of love for and responsibility to God. The essence of them is to love God fully and others as ourselves. The rest is commentary–mostly culturally-specific commentary–examples (bound by time, space and circumstances) of universal principles. Therefore to become so fixated on examples as to ignore or minimize the universal principles is to miss the point and fall into legalism.
This internalized covenant is for all people, not that everyone embraces it or will do so. It is for Hebrews and Gentiles alike. It is for those like us and those quite different from us. It is as much as for Hebrews as it was for a confused Ethiopian eunuch who needed a good catechist. Fortunately, God sent him one.
The reading from Exodus speaks of the Passover meal instructions and of the importance of blood in deliverance–the latter being a theme in other readings for these days. In the case of the Passover, the blood protected the Hebrews not from their own sins, but those of Egyptians. This is a point which one might overlook out of imagined familiarity with the text. Anyhow, the metaphor of the Passover as applied to Jesus (perhaps most explicitly applied to Jesus in the Gospel of John, where he dies on Passover itself–is the sacrificial lamb) carries meaning beyond just saving us from ourselves–from our sins.
A traditional American hymn speaks of
What wondrous love
that
caused the Lord of bliss
to
lay aside his crown for my soul.
May we–you, O reader, and I–respond favorably to that grace with heart and mind engaged fully, giving neither short shrift. May we understand correctly and act accordingly, helping others to whom God sends us and others whom God sends to us, to do likewise. For we are all responsible to and for each other.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 5, 2013 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA, ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN
THE FEAST OF GREGORIO AGLIPAY, PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENT BISHOP
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)
But suppose that God, although the time he wanted to reveal his retribution and demonstrate his power, has with great patience gone on putting up with those who are the instruments of his retribution and designed to be destroyed; so that he may make known the glorious riches ready for the people who are the instruments of his faithful love and were long ago prepared for that glory. We are that people, called by him not only out of the Jews but with the gentiles too.
This land you shall divide for yourselves among the tribes of Israel. You shall allot it as a heritage for yourselves and the strangers who reside among you, you have begotten children among you. You shall treat them as Israelite citizens; they shall receive allotments along with you among the tribes of Israel. You shall give the stranger an allotment within the tribe where he resides–declares the Lord GOD.
What a difference a day makes! In the previous day’s entry in this series I wrote of the exclusion of Gentiles from parts of the rebuilt Temple. Some foreigners had joined the Jews and lived among them, living according to the covenant and embracing monotheism. Yet they were to be excluded from parts of the Temple complex. Nevertheless, in Ezekiel 47:21-23, those same foreigners were to receive the same rights of citizenship as Jews and to have the same land rights. I sense a double standard.
Paul wrote that the faithful people of God included Jews and Gentiles. In Christ, he wrote elsewhere, the barriers of hostility between the two groups cease to exist. Recently, over lunch, a friend and I discussed Paul’s inclusive view of Christian identity (transnational and transethnic) and how, for many people in the non-Western world, the sense of Christianity is quite different. For many of them Christianity and Western civilization are linked closely. This hinders the spread of Christianity where anti-Western sentiments are widespread. That is most unfortunate.
Christ is universal. May we who claim his name act according to that truth.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 30, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN CLIMACUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK
THE FEAST OF SAINT INNOCENT OF ALASKA, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX MONK
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOAN OF TOULOUSSE, AND SAINT SIMON STOCK, CARMELITE FRIAR
THE FEAST OF KARL RAHNER, ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN
Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your judgments are like the great deep;
you save humans and animals alike, O LORD.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
O continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
and your salvation to the upright of heart!
1 Corinthians 12:1-11 (Revised English Bible):
About gifts of the Spirit, my friends, I want there to be no misunderstanding.
You know how, in the days when you were still pagan, you used to be carried away by some impulse or other to those dumb heathen gods. For this reason I must impress upon you that no one who says
A curse of Jesus!
can be speaking under the influence of the Spirit of God; and no one can say
Jesus is Lord!
except under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
There are varieties of gifts, but he same Spirit. There are varieties of service, but the same Lord. There are varieties of activity, but in all of them and in everyone the same God is active. In each of us the Spirit is seen to be at work for some useful purpose. One, through the Spirit, has the gift of wise speech, while another, by the power of the same Spirit, can put the deepest knowledge into words. Another, by the same Spirit, is granted faith; another, by the one Spirit, gifts of healing, and another miraculous powers; another has the gift of prophecy, and other the ability to distinguish true spirits from false; yet another has the gift of tongues of various kinds, and another the ability to interpret them. But all these gifts are the activity of one and the same Spirit, distributing them to each individual at will.
John 2:1-11 (Revised English Bible):
Two days later there was a wedding at Cana-in-Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also among the guests. The wine gave out, so Jesus’s mother said to him,
They have no wine left.
He answered,
That is no concern of mine. My hour has yet to come.
His mother said to the servants,
Do whatever he tells you.
There were six stone water-jars standing near, of the kind used for Jewish rites of purification; each held from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants,
Fill the jars with water,
and they filled them to the brim.
Now draw some off,
he ordered,
and take it to the master of the feast,
and they did so. The master tasted the water now turned into wine, not knowing its source, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He hailed the bridegroom and said,
Everyone else serves the best wine first, and the poorer only when the guests have drunk freely; but you have kept the best wine til now.
So Jesus performed at Cana-in-Galilee the first of the signs which revealed his glory and led his disciples to believe in him.
The Collect:
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Once I read a story which might be apocryphal. There was, in the days prior to the time of Prohibition in the United States, a certain woman who traveled along the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) lecture circuit and spoke of the evils of alcohol. God, she said, wanted people to abstain from it all times. She completed her remarks and asked if anyone had any questions. One young man raised his hand. The speaker called on him. He asked,
If what you say is true, how do you explain Jesus turning water into wine?
She replied,
I would like him better if he had not done that.
The readings for this Sunday speak of ways in which God acts. In Isaiah God will act in a spectacular fashion to restore exiles. As one who has read certain other parts of the Hebrew Scriptures knows, some people objected to the rebuilding of Jerusalem, its walls, and the Temple. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 contains an explanation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. All of them are manifestations of God yet the variety of them offends certain conformists. And Jesus turning water into wine in John 2:1-11, his first miracle in that Gospel, caused discomfort for many advocates of temperance. Once, years ago, I watched a documentary about Jesus movies. The program mentioned a silent film from the United States. Scenes from the wedding feast at Cana were there, but with an explanation about the use of wine in biblical times.
When God acts we might become uncomfortable. That is our problem, not any indication of a fault with God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 30, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN CLIMACUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK
THE FEAST OF SAINT INNOCENT OF ALASKA, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX BISHOP
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOAN OF TOULOUSE, CARMELITE NUN, AND SAINT SIMON STOCK, CARMELITE FRIAR
THE FEAST OF KARL RAHNER, ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN
