Proclaiming the words of God can prove to be a risky undertaking.
The prophet Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch knew this truth well. They worked in a particular political context. Not only was there no separation of religion and government, but the monarch, Jehoiakim (reigned 608-598 B.C.E.), was a vassal. Neco, the Pharaoh of Egypt, had chosen him to rule as King of Judah in lieu of Jehoahaz (reigned 609 B.C.E.), another son of the great Josiah (reigned 640-609 B.C.E.). In time Jehoiakim became a vassal of Nebuchadnezzar II (reigned 605-562 B.C.E.) of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire, against whom he rebelled. Nebuchadnezzar II was not amused. (You, O reader, can read more at 2 Kings 23:28-24:7 and 2 Chronicles 36:1-8). The purpose of the contents of the first scroll in Jeremiah 36 was to create an opportunity for repentance–the act of turning around or changing the mind. King Jehoiakim and his courtiers did not repent. No, he burned the scroll. YHWH was not amused. Jeremiah and Baruch found themselves in legal trouble, but YHWH hid them. And Jeremiah dictated a second scroll to Baruch.
St. Paul the Apostle and his traveling companions also knew well the political and legal hazards of proclaiming the words of God. In fact, the Apostle became a martyr because of that proclamation. He also knew the risks of hurting the feelings of people who were precious to him. As St. Paul knew, one is not responsible for the thin skins of other people.
Jesus and St. Paul understood the value of building up others and faithful community. Sometimes acting on this principle requires moving along to another place, to engage in the work of building up others there.
I have belonged to a series of congregations, mostly during my time in the household of my father, a United Methodist minister. I moved on psychologically, burying many memories, when I relocated physically. Nevertheless, I recall that certain members of those rural congregations in southern Georgia, U.S.A., used their positions, whether formal or informal, to build up themselves to the detriment of faith community. They forgot, if they ever knew, that the congregation belonged to God, not to them. Those churches would have been healthier faith communities if those people had acted differently and others had not enabled such destructive behavior. I have seen such behavior less frequently in Episcopal congregations I have attended, not than one denomination is more prone to this pathology than another.
What is God calling you, O reader, to do in the context of faith community? Building it up is a general description, what are the details in your context? And, if proclaiming the words of God faithfully puts you at risk, are you willing to proceed anyway? Whatever your circumstances are or will become, may the love of God and the imperative of building up others, society, and faith community compel you. And may you succeed, by grace.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 3, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE EVE OF THE FEAST OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI: PROPER FOR THE GOODNESS OF CREATION
THE FEAST OF THEODOR FLIEDNER, PIONEER OF THE DEACONESS MOVEMENT IN THE LUTHERAN CHURCH
THE FEAST OF GEORGE KENNEDY ALLEN BELL, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF CHICHESTER
THE FEAST OF JOHN RALEIGH MOTT, ECUMENICAL PIONEER
Pray, my lord, if the LORD really is with us, why has all this happened to us? What has become of all those wonderful deeds of his, of which we have heard from our forefathers, when they told us how the LORD brought us up from Egypt?
—The Revised English Bible
He received his answer and won a victory by God’s power, the subsequent narrative tells us. This saving, delivering deity was the same God of Jacob and of Sts. Mary and Joseph of Nazareth. This deity is the God of the baby Jesus also.
I do not pretend to have arrived at a complete comprehension of the nature of God, for some matters exist beyond the range of human capacity to grasp. Yet I do feel confident in making the following statement: God is full of surprises. So we mere mortals ought to stay on the alert for them, remembering to think outside the box of our expectations, a box into which God has never fit. This is easy to say and difficult to do, I know, but the effort is worthwhile.
The Bible is full of unexpected turns. Gideon’s army needed to be smaller, not larger. God became incarnate as a helpless infant, not a conquering hero. The selling of Joseph son of Jacob into slavery set up the deliverance of two nations. The hungry will filled and the full will be sent away empty, the Gospel of Luke says. Outcasts became heroes in parables of Christ. Saul of Tarsus, a persecutor of nascent Christianity, became one of its greatest evangelists. The list could go on, but I trust that I have made my point sufficiently.
So, following God, however God works in our lives, may we walk in the light, for the glory of God and the benefit of others.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 7, 2013 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE SAINTS AND MARTYRS OF THE PACIFIC
THE FEAST OF ELIE NAUD, HUGUENOT WITNESS TO THE FAITH
THE FEAST OF JANE LAURIE BORTHWICK, TRANSLATOR OF HYMNS
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)
Thus said the LORD of Hosts: Execute true justice and deal loyally and compassionately with one another. Do not defraud the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the poor; and do not plot evil against one another.–But they refused to pay heed….
I urge you, brothers, be on your guard against the people who are out to stir up disagreements and bring up difficulties against the teaching which you learnt. Avoid them.
Who were the people whom Paul advised Roman Christians to avoid? It seems that they were Judaizers–who argued that Gentiles needed to convert to Judaism and conform to Jewish customs as conditions of becoming Christians–or to Gnostics–who considered self-knowledge to be salvation and being one’s true self as discipleship–or both. As various Pauline epistles attest, Paul criticized both in strong terms. Self-knowledge is good, of course, but it does not equal salvation. And I suppose that being oneself, assuming that one is a good and compassionate person, is also a virtue. Certainly, one ought to be the person whom God created one to be. That is a component of discipleship, but the Christian definition of discipleship is following Jesus. And, if one needs to become and Jewish and to keep Jewish customs in order to be Christian, many incidents in the canonical Gospels where Jesus clashes with religious authorities make no sense.
There are good rules and bad ones. Good rules include those Zechariah extolled: Executing true justice; dealing loyally and compassionately with one another; dealing honestly with the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the poor; and seeking the best for one another. Against such things there are no divine laws. I know of no divine law against compassion, generosity, and hospitality. Yet throughout time human laws against them have existed. They continue to exist. Once, in the United States, aiding a fugitive slave’s quest for freedom constituted a federal crime. Fortunately, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 passed into history. Today showing compassion to certain people might constitute aiding and abetting criminals, technically speaking. A criminal is simply one whom the state has labeled as such, for a crime is whatever the state defines as such. An escaped slave used to be a criminal–a thief, technically speaking.
My bottom line is this: May we execute true justice. May we deal loyally and compassionately with one another. May we not defraud the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the poor. May we not plot evil against one another. May we not impose needless burdens on one another. And, if living according to these rules constitutes a crime, may we remember that Jesus, our Lord and Savior, died as a criminal, according to the Roman Empire. Definitions of crime differ according to time and place, but certain moral absolutes exist. That standard is the most important one of all.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 11, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT DIONYSIUS OF CORINTH, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF SAINT ANTHONY NEYROT, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR
THE FEAST OF GEORGE AUGUSTUS SELWYN, ANGLICAN PRIMATE OF NEW ZEALAND
THE FEAST OF SAINT STANISLAUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF KRAKOW
Above: A Greek Lamb Led to the Slaughter, 500s BCE
Image in the Public Domain
Being Mindful of Others
JANUARY 28, 2018
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Deuteronomy 18:15-22 (New Revised Standard Version):
[Moses speaking]
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. This is what you requested of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said:
If you hear the voice of the LORD my God any more, or ever again see this great fire, I will die.
Then the LORD replied to me:
They are right in what they have said. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I have commanded. Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak–that prophet shall die.
You may say to yourself,
How can we recognize a word that the LORD has not spoken?
If a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD but the thing does not take place or prove true, it is a word that the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; do not be frightened by it.
Psalm 111 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 Hallelujah!
I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart,
in the assembly of the upright, in the congregation.
2 Great are the deeds of the LORD!
they are studied by all who delight in them.
3 His work is full of majesty and splendor,
and his righteousness endures for ever.
4 He makes his marvelous works to be remembered;
the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.
5 He gives food to those who fear him;
he is ever mindful of his covenant.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works
in giving them the lands of the nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithfulness and justice;
all his commandments are sure.
8 They stand fast for ever and ever,
because they are done in truth and equity.
9 He sent redemption to his people;
he commanded his covenant for ever;
holy and awesome is his Name.
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
those who act accordingly have a good understanding;
his praise endures for ever.
1 Corinthians 8:1-13 (New Revised Standard Version):
Now concerning food sacrificed to idols we know that
all of us possess knowledge.
Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him.
Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that
no idol in the world really exists,
and that
there is no God but one.
Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth–as in fact there are many gods and many lords–yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
Food will not bring us close to God.
We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.
Mark 1:21-28 (New Revised Standard Version):
Then Jesus, Simon Peter, Andrew, and James and John, sons of Zebedee, went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, Jesus entered the synagogue and taught. They were astonished at his teaching, for he taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then 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 who 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. They were all amazed, and they kept on talking to one another,
What is this? A new teaching–with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.
At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
The Collect:
Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
There is a difference between restraining one’s self or one’s children from certain activities (at some or all times) for the spiritual benefit of others and kowtowing to the unreasonable expectations of spiritually uptight people.
I recall that, in the early 1980s, when I measured my lifespan in single digits, my father served the Vidette United Methodist Church, Vidette, Georgia (http://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2009/09/22/vidette-united-methodist-church-vidette-georgia/). The parsonage was next to the church building, with just a dead-end road running between the two. For at least part of the time we were there (June 1980-June 1982), I was not supposed to play in the front yard on Sunday afternoons, lest anyone “get the wrong idea,” which I suppose, is that I was not keeping the Sabbath appropriately, i.e., dolefully.
I refuse to live in such a way that I run no risk of offending spiritually uptight people, some of whom take offense easily. Nevertheless, I do try to live a good life, one of gratitude to God. So I decide to do X but not Y, according to that standard, and to leave the taking of offense (or absence thereof) by the spiritually uptight to them. If I were to try not to offend them, I would do little or nothing, and even that might bother them. Even Jesus offended, and he was perfect. How “offensive” then, will I be?
I am not a pietist, obviously.
Nevertheless, as Paul observed, Christian liberty is not a license to do everything which is lawful for one. Sometimes discretion and concern for others dictates that one decide not to do something. This something is not wrong in and of itself, but does the other person know that? Paul was dealing with the eating of meat sacrificed to false and imaginary deities, a circumstance which no longer applies in many cultures in contemporary times. It has no bearing on me in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, in 2011. In fact, I cannot think of anything I do in public that would have a negative spiritual effect on anyone. And my private life is mostly mundane, if one assumes that scandals are interesting. (My life is far from scandalous.)
All this falls into the Lutheran category of “civil righteousness.” Yes, it is laudatory that I did not rob a liquor store last week and that I did perform many good works, but…
Our churches teach that a person’s will has some freedom to choose civil righteousness and to do things subject to reason. It has no power, without the Holy Spirit, to work the righteousness of God, that is, spiritual righteousness.
—Augsburg Confession of Faith, Article XVIII, as quoted in Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions–A Reader’s Edition of the Book of Concord, Paul Timothy McCain, General Editor, Second Edition, Concordia Publishing House, 2006, page 40
I am mindful of the command not to lead the spiritually weak astray, which informs my decisions. To the extent I have succeeded in following the spirit of Paul’s advice in my cultural context, I have done so by grace.
Grace is the work of God. It precedes us and enables us to respond favorably to God. By grace we have free will, so the misuse and abuse of free will is not what God has intended for us. May we encourage and support each other in our Christian pilgrimages of faith, not throwing up road blocks consciously or unconsciously. And may we not have hallucinations of road blocks, either. Thus may we follow Jesus, our Lord and the ultimate authoritative prophet, successfully–by grace, of course.
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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2 Samuel 6:12-19 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):
And it was told King David,
The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.
So David sent and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing; and when those who bore the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was belted with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn.
As the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart. And they brought in the ark of the LORD and set it in its place, inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts, and distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people departed, each to his house.
Psalm 24:7-10 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
7 Lift up your heads, O Gates;
lift them high, O everlasting doors;
and the King of glory shall come in.
8 “Who is this King of glory?”
“The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle.”
9 Lift up your heads, O gates;
lift them high, O everlasting doors;
and the King of glory shall come in.
10 “Who is he, this King of glory?”
“The LORD of hosts,
he is the King of glory.”
Mark 3:31-35 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):
And his mother and his brethren came; and standing outside they sent to him and called him.
Your mother and your brethren are outside, asking for you.
And he replied,
Who are my mother and my brethren?
And looking around on those who sat about him, he said,
Here are my mother and my brethren. Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.
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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.
Sometimes Michal gets a bad rap. She had loved David, but how much did David love her? Michal, a daughter of Saul, had married David then protected her husband from her father in 1 Samuel. But politics, namely David’s rebellion, intervened, and Saul married her off to one Paltiel, who apparently adored her. Nevertheless, in 2 Samuel 3, David demanded Michal back–this time as one of several wives–and Ish-bosheth, her brother, consented to the demand, much to Paltiel’s grief and disappointment.
In 2 Samuel 6 David is established as King of Israel, with Jerusalem as his capital city. He is celebrating the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. He is doing this while wearing an ephod–basically an apron–and nothing else–while dancing then performing priestly functions. David was sometimes so devoted to lofty ideas that he forgot royal dignity, but Michal, a born princess, could not forget royal dignity. By the way, an argument between Michal and David rounds out the chapter. The two are married in name only from this point forward.
David seemed not to care how foolish he looked; dishonor did not matter to him in this context. Sometimes, however, there is much to say for decorum, or at least wearing something beneath one’s ephod.
I side with Michal.
Meanwhile, in Mark, Mary and some of our Lord’s “brethren” (probably children of Joseph and Mary–why not?) are concerned that Jesus might, in the words of Cotton Patch Gospel, might be talking to the man upstairs while living in a one-story house. If anyone should have known better, it was Mary. At least her heart was in the right place.
I side with Jesus, without condemning Mary and her children.
Nevertheless, there is a transcendent message here. Sometimes, in our obedience to God, we will act in ways which concern others. Some of the Hebrew prophets were truly marginal characters–eating scrolls, walking around naked, et cetera. They were either holy or in need of psychiatric care. And, in modern terms, that was the concern Mary and her children had regarding Jesus. But he was quite well.
Mary and her children misunderstood Jesus. Often the people we misunderstand the most are those who are closest to us. Notice, however, that Jesus did not reject them. Rather, he expanded the definition of family to make it spiritual, not just emotional and genetic.
So my brothers and sisters are those who do the will of God, as Jesus knew and understood God. It is a large family, one in which squabbles take place. These are, however, family squabbles. That said, family squabbles can be quite destructive, so may there be fewer of them. Instead, may there be more understanding and attempts at reconciliation, so that the family will be more functional.
And may the peace making begin with you, O reader, and with me. (Conventions of the English language do dictate that I place “you” before “me.”)
