They should, therefore, dwell in unity and mutual respect, I suppose, but the opposite is true much of the time.
Two of the three readings contain references to disputes. (The lovers in the Song of Songs are in harmony with each other.) The question of fasting–that some people do it and others do not–arises in Luke 5. And in 1 Corinthians, that community’s notorious factionalism is at issue. Such divisiveness probably arose from well-intentioned attempts to discern and to act in accordance with the will of God and to hold to correct theology; that is my most charitable guess. However, again and again we human beings have proven ourselves capable of fouling up while trying to do the right thing. Then opinions become tribal boundaries. The result is an unholy mess.
The truth is, of course, that there is such a thing as objective reality, and that each of us is right about some details of it and wrong about others. Laying competing fundamentalisms aside and acknowledging a proper degree of ambiguity (in what Calvinist theology labels matters indifferent) is a fine strategy for working toward peace and faithful community.
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
Almighty God, by grace alone you call us and accept us in your service.
Strengthen us by your Spirit, and make us worthy of your call,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 23
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The Assigned Readings:
Jeremiah 19:1-15 (Thursday)
Jeremiah 20:7-13 (Friday)
Jeremiah 20:14-18 (Saturday)
Psalm 65:5-12 (All Days)
Revelation 18:11-20 (Thursday)
2 Peter 3:1-7 (Friday)
Luke 10:13-16 (Saturday)
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Those who dwell at the ends of the earth tremble at your marvels;
the gates of the morning and evening sing your praise.
–Psalm 65:7, Common Worship (2000)
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The prophet Jeremiah would have been thrilled for that statement to have applied to Jerusalem. Alas, some people there even sacrificed their children to pagan gods at the valley whose name became the source for the label “Gehenna,” a place of suffering in the afterlife. Jeremiah condemned such idolatrous and violent practices and pronounced divine punishment. For his trouble he faced flogging and imprisonment. Yet those who mistreated him would, he said, die as exiles in Babylon. That prediction came true.
A common expectation in New Testament times was that Jesus would return quite soon. It was an age of apocalyptic hopes that God would end the violent and exploitative rule of the Roman Empire, set the world right, and that the divine order would govern the planet. In that context a lack of repentance was especially bad, as in Luke 10:13-16. In Revelation 18 the Roman Empire had fallen (within the Johannine Apocalypse only), but the imperium survived well beyond the first century of the Common Era. Discouragement and scoffing had become evident by the 80s and 90s, the timeframe for the writing of 2 Peter. Yet the calls to repentance remained applicable.
Divine time and human time work differently, but some things remain the same. Fearful theocrats react badly to honest prophets. The realization that God has not met a human schedule leads to bad spiritual results. Violent, oppressive, and exploitative governments continue to exist. And the promise that God will destroy the evil order then replace it with a holy and just one remains a future hope. In the meantime we would do well to consider the moral lessons of Revelation 18. For example, do we benefit from any violent, oppressive, and/or exploitative system? If so, what is the “Babylon” or what are the “Babylons” to which we have attached ourselves, from which we benefit, and whose passing we would mourn?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 23, 2014 COMMON ERA
PROPER 29–CHRIST THE KING SUNDAY–THE LAST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF JOHN KENNETH PFOHL, SR., U.S. MORAVIAN BISHOP; HIS WIFE, HARRIET ELIZABETH “BESSIE” WHITTINGTON PFOHL, U.S. MORAVIAN MUSICIAN; AND THEIR SON, JAMES CHRISTIAN PFOHL, SR., U.S. MORAVIAN MUSICIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT CLEMENT I OF ROME, BISHOP
THE FEAST OF SAINT COLUMBAN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
THE FEAST OF MIGUEL AUGUSTIN PRO, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR
let those who love your salvation say always, “The Lord is great.”
–Psalm 40:17, The Book of Common Prayer (2004)
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The words of a dying church, I have heard, are
We’ve never done it that way before.
The Bible speaks again and again of God doing new things and provides examples–the main one being the Incarnation and all that flowed from it. The tension between the traditional and the innovative is an old story. One can find both gold and dross among both the old and the new. Yet how can one distinguish between the dross and the gold?
That is a difficult question, one worth wrestling with over time. My study of the past tells me that hindsight proves useful. Traditional interpretations of the Bible in the Antebellum U.S. South affirmed chattel slavery. Thus, according to that standard, abolitionists were heretics. Yet the alleged heretics were really the orthodox and the alleged orthodox were really the heretics. The new was superior to the old. Yet hindsight does not exist in the moment. That is a problem.
Here is another example: I like hymns with theologically deep words. These hymns might be old or new. Their value does not depend on their age. But “seven-eleven songs”–songs with seven words one sings eleven times–are dross. Thus I despise praise songs and choruses, heaping upon them a great amount of undying contempt for their shallowness.
Striking the proper balance between the old and the new can prove difficult. I propose a standard from Philip H. Pfatteicher, an expert on Lutheran liturgy. He wrote:
…the new is not always found in opposition to the old but arises from the old as its natural growth and development. Stability and continuity are essential elements of catholic Christianity.
—Commentary on the Lutheran Book of Worship: Lutheran Liturgy in Its Ecumenical Context (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 1990), page 10
It is good to remember that our traditions began as innovations. They became traditions only with the passage of time. And neither theology nor liturgy should function as museums. Yet neither ought the faddish displace the tried-and-true, as my studies of liturgical development have revealed. (Some 1970-1972 liturgies have not aged well.)
Furthermore, some issues are questions purely of taste, with no right or wrong involved. One ought to recall that also.
Isaiah 48:12-21 condemns the faithlessness of both Chaldea and Judah yet ends with the promise of the redemption of the latter.
If you had only listened to my commands,
verse 18a reads in The Revised English Bible (1989). The commands of God are old sometimes and new on other occasions, from our temporal perspectives. May we, by grace, identify these commands and follow them, separating the new and worthy from the new and faddish and the old and worthy from the old and erroneous. So, with the worthy old and the worthy new, may we rejoice in the Lord.
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)
Now suppose that some branches were broken off, and you are wild olive, grafted among the rest to share with the others the rich sap of the olive tree….
Sometimes a lectionary is too choppy. At such occasions extended readings are appropriate. Such is the case with the readings for January 21 and 22 on the daily lectionary from the Lutheran Service Book (2006).
The Book of Joel, from the Persian period (539-332 B.C.E.) of Jewish history, opens with frightening images. Read the first chapter, O reader of this post, for full effect. Locusts, flames, and other forces have devastated the land. And, as Chapter 2 opens, the terrifying Day of the LORD approaches. The earth trembles, the sky shakes, and stars go dark. Yet even then there is the possibility of forgiveness, assuming repentance, or turning around.
Paul spends Romans 10 and 11 dealing with the question of Jews who have rejected Jesus. In this context he likens Gentiles to branches grafted onto the tree of Judaism. Gentiles, he advises, ought not to become proud and dismissive. As much as there is divine mercy, there is also divine judgment–for Jews and Gentiles alike.
There is an often repeated misunderstanding about God as He comes across in the Hebrew Scriptures. The God of the Old Testament, we hear, is mean, violent, and vengeful. This is a gross oversimplification–read Joel 2 for evidence of that statement. I am convinced that some of the violent imagery and some of the stories containing it result from humans projecting their erroneous assumptions upon God. Yet I refuse to say that all–or even most–of such incidents flow from that practice. I seek, O reader, to avoid any stereotype–frightful or cuddly–about God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 31, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIA SKOBTSOVA, ORTHODOX MARTYR
THE FEAST OF SAINT BENJAMIN, ORTHODOX DEACON AND MARTYR
THE FEAST OF FRANCIS ASBURY, U.S. METHODIST BISHOP
Above: Gustave Dore’s Depiction of David Holding Goliath’s Head
David and Goliath
JANUARY 22, 2020
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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 17:32-51 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):
And David said to Saul,
Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with the Philistine.
And Saul said to David,
You are not able to against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.
But David said to Saul,
Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth; and if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and struck him and killed him. Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, seeing that he has defied the armies of the living God.
And David said,
The LORD delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.
And Saul said to David,
Go, and the LORD be with you!
Then Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a helmet of bronze on his head, and clothed him with a coat of mail. And David belted on his sword over his armor, and he tried in vain to go, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul,
I cannot go with these; for I am not used to them.
And David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in his shepherd’s bag or wallet; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.
And the Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. And when the Philistine looked, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, ruddy and comely in appearance. And the Philistine said to David,
Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?
And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David,
Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.
Then David said to the Philistine,
You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down, and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with the sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s and he will give you into our hand.
When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone, and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.
So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine, and killed him; there was no sword in the hand of David. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword and drew it out of his sheath, and killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
Psalm 144:1-10 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 Blessed be the LORD my rock!
who trains my hands to fight and my fingers to battle;
2 My help and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield in whom I trust,
who subdues the peoples under me.
3 O LORD, what are we that you should care for us?
mere mortals that you should think of us?
4 We are like a puff of wind;
our days like a passing shadow.
5 Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down;
touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
6 Hurl the lightning and scatter them;
shoot out your arrows and rout them.
7 Stretch out your hand from on high;
rescue me and deliver me from the great waters,
from the hand of foreign peoples,
8 Whose mouths speak deceitfully
and whose right hand is raised in falsehood.
9 O God, I will sing to you a new song;
I will play to you on a ten-stringed lyre.
10 You give victory to kings
and have rescued David your servant.
Mark 3:1-6 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):
Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. And they watched him, to see whether he would heal him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand,
Come here.
And he said to them,
Is it lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?
But they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man,
Stretch out your hand.
He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out, and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
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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.
Here we have the familiar story of David and Goliath. But read it again. Read it very carefully. We have two sources edited together. If you, O reader, look carefully, you can see some or all of the seams. (Hint: Focus on the use of “God” versus the use of “the LORD.”) Follow the bouncing ball with me. David plays the lyre to soothe Saul’s mind in 1 Samuel 16, and even becomes the king’s armor-bearer. Yet Saul does not know David in 1 Samuel 17. And then there is the case of Elhanan, one of King David’s warriors, who, according to 2 Samuel 21:19, slew Goliath. In 1 Chronicles 20:5, however, he killed Goliath’s brother. Make of all this what you will.
But may none of this detract from the story and what we learn from it. There is something inherently unlikely about a slightly built young man, armed only with some stones and a slingshot, defeating a mighty warrior nearly ten feet tall. Goliath’s height is plausible, given the variety of manifestations of genetic mutations. Some have suggested that he suffered from Marfan’s Syndrome, for example. And, as scary as this sounds and is, there are people who know how to kill others with just one well-placed blow or cut. So a devastating blow to the center of the forehead is also plausible. Most important of all in the story is that David was able to get the stone to Goliath’s weak spot, and therefore deliver his people from an immediate threat.
The unlikely optics of the confrontation made clear that David did not win because of the armor he could not wear well or the standard military armaments he did not use. No, the circumstances made plain that this victory belonged to God.
When we feel helpless we tend to forget that we have God. I write from experience. And I detect another lesson, one I have missed every previous time I have read this account from 1 Samuel 17. David’s experience as a shepherd protecting the sheep prepared him for the confrontation with Goliath. So, when we feel helpless, might we be better equipped than we think? Maybe we need to think creatively about prior experiences and how they have prepared us for our current circumstances.
Anyhow, in all our daily challenges, great and small, mundane and extraordinary, may God guide our hands and direct our thoughts so that we, trusting in grace, may act for the good–individual and collective–and the glory of God.
