And it was when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’s hand when he was coming down from the mountain. And Moses had not known that the skin of his face was transformed when He was speaking with him. And Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses; and, here, the skin of his face was transformed, and they were afraid of going over to him. And Moses called to them. And Aaron and all the chiefs in the congregation came back to him, and he spoke to them. And after that all the children of Israel went over. And he commanded them everything that YHWH had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. And Moses finished speaking with them, and he put a veil on his face. And when Moses would come in front of YHWH to speak with Him, he would turn away the veil until he would go out; and he would go out and speak to the children of Israel what had been commanded. And the children of Israel would see Moses’ face, that the skin of Moses’ face was transformed, and Moses would put back the veil on his face until he would come to speak with Him.
Psalm 99 (New Revised Standard Version):
The LORD is king; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
The LORD is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the peoples.
Let them praise your great and awesome name.
Holy is he!
Mighty King, lover of justice,
you have established equity;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
Extol the LORD our God;
worship at his footstool.
Holy is he!
Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
Samuel also was among those who called on his name.
They cried to the LORD, and he answered them.
He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
they kept his decrees,
and the statutes that he gave them.
O LORD our God, you answered them;
you were a forgiving God to them,
but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
Extol the LORD our God,
and worship at his holy mountain;
for the LORD our God is holy.
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:6 (An American Translation):
So since I have such a hope, I speak with great frankness, not like Moses, who used to wear a veil over his face, to keep the Israelites from gazing at the fading of the splendor from it. Their minds were dulled. For to this day, the same veil remains unlifted, when the read the old agreement, for only through union with Christ is it removed. Why, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil hangs over their minds, but
whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
Now the Lord here means the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, reflecting the splendor of the Lord in our unveiled faces, aer being changed into likeness of him, from one degree of splendor to another, for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
So since by the mercy of God I am engaged in this service, I never lose heart. I disown disgraceful, underhanded ways. I refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s message. It is by the open statement of truth that I would commend myself to every human conscience in the sight of God. If the meaning of my preaching of the good news is veiled at all, it is so only in the case of those who are on the way to destruction. In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep the light of the good news of the glorious Christ, the likeness of God, from dawning upon them. For it is not myself but Christ Jesus that I am proclaiming as Lord; I am only a slave of yours for Jesus’ sake. For the God who said,
Let light shine out of darkness,
has shone in my heart, to give me the light of the knowledge of God’s glory, that is on the face of Christ.
Luke 9:28-42a (New Revised Standard Version):
About eight days after Peter had acknowledged Jesus as the Christ of God, Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus,
Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah
–not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said,
This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!
When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.
On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. Just then a man from the crowd shouted,
Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child. Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.
Jesus answered,
You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.
While he was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. And all were astounded at the greatness of God.
The Collect:
O God, who before the passion of your only begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
I like this Sunday, for its readings match up nicely. Exodus and 2 Corinthians refer to Moses wearing a veil after communing with God, a counterpart to the never veiled Jesus during the Transfiguration. This is a prime example of why lectionaries are useful.
The presentation of Yahweh in the Torah is awe-inspiring. One ought not look too closely, for to do so would be dangerous. And Moses had an incredibly shiny face from communing with God. (All Charlton Heston got was streaked hair!) But, for most people, there was a certain distance, and Moses found a veil necessary in public.
The Transfiguration revealed our Lord’s true nature. But notice that there was no veil in the area. Part of the meaning of the Incarnation is God’s approachability, indeed God’s approaching. There is always a mystery there, but it is one which seeks us out.
I suspect that there is much poetry–perhaps more than literal truth–in the Exodus and Luke accounts. This does not trouble me, for poetry and metaphor are frequently better at conveying deep truth than are any straight-forward reports. As we moderns read the Bible, may we not abandon religious imagination, often the most memorable and profound aspect of certain texts. In religious imagination we encounter God in beauty, something mere facts cannot convey. How will our encounters with God in such beauty change us and be obvious to others?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 14, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT FULBERT OF CHARTRES, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF EDWARD THOMAS DEMBY, EPISCOPAL SUFFRAGAN BISHOP OF ARKANSAS, AND HENRY BEARD DELANY, EPISCOPAL SUFFRAGAN BISHOP OF NORTH CAROLINA
THE FEAST OF GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL, COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF SAINT WANDREGISILUS OF NORMANDY, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT, AND SAINT LAMBERT OF LYONS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND BISHOP
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 27:4-7 (New Revised Standard Version):
When a sieve is shaken, the refuse appears;
so do a person’s faults when he speaks.
The kiln tests the potter’s vessels;
so the test of a person is in his conversation.
Its fruit discloses the cultivation of a tree;
so a person’s speech discloses the cultivation of his mind.
Do not praise anyone before he speaks,
for this is the way people are tested.
FIRST READING: OPTION #2
Isaiah 55:10-13 (New Revised Standard Version):
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the LORD for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
RESPONSE
Psalm 92:1-4, 11-14 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 It is a good thing to give thanks to the LORD,
and to sing praises to your Name, O Most High;
2 To tell of your loving-kindness early in the morning
and of your faithfulness in the night season;
3 On the psaltery, and on the lyre
and to the melody of the harp.
4 For you have made me glad by your acts, O LORD;
and I shout for joy because of the works of your hands.
11 The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
and shall spread abroad like a cedar of Lebanon.
12 Those who are planted in the house of the LORD
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
13 They shall still bear fruit in old age;
they shall be green and succulent;
14 That they may show how upright the LORD is,
my Rock, in whom there is no fault.
SECOND READING
1 Corinthians 15:50-58 (New Revised Standard Version):
What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:
Death, has been swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
GOSPEL READING
Luke 6:39-49 (The Jerusalem Bible):
He [Jesus] also told a parable to them,
Can one blind man guide another? Surely both will fall into a pit? The disciple is not superior to this teacher; the fully trained disciple will always be like his teacher. Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,’ when you cannot see the plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take out the splinter that is in your brother’s eye.
There is no sound tree that produces rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree that produces sound fruit. For every tree can be told by its own fruit; people do not pick figs from thorns, nor gather grapes from brambles. A good man draws what is good from the store of goodness in his heart; a bad man draws what is bad from the store of badness. For a man’s words from what fills his heart.
Why do you call me, “Lord, Lord,” and not do what I say?
Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and acts on them–I will show you what he is like. He is like the man who when he built his house dug, and dug deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man who built his house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!
The Collect:
Most loving Father, whose will it is for us to give thanks for all things, to fear nothing but the loss of you, and to cast all our care on you who care for us: Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which you have manifested to us in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
My grandfather Taylor, whom I do not remember (He died when I was three years old) said that it was better to be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt. That quote came to mind as I made connections among the readings. Both “Luke” and Jesus ben Sira apply the metaphor of a tree and its fruits to one’s spiritual life. And the latter writes of one’s conversations as evidence of
the cultivation of his mind
and as a test. I thought of our Lord’s later comment that what goes into a person’s mouth does not defile him or her; what comes out of his or her mouth does that. (Read Matthew 15:10 forward.) To defile was literally
to make one common,
a meaning the late J. B. Phillips made clear in his translations of the New Testament. Ritual purity set one apart from the great unwashed mass of people; it was about negative identity:
I am not like them.
I want to be careful here. Christianity, in its pure form, is not overly individualistic; it is more concerned with the community and the individual in that context. Yet Christianity, in its pure form, does encourage a vital interior life. If that is not what it ought to be, one’s behavior (including conversation) will reveal this face. The spiritual fig will not fall far from the tree.
The tongue, James 3:1-2 tells us, is powerful. The text contains the metaphor of a large forest fire in reference to the negative effects of improper speech, likened also to poison. Imagine, therefore, O reader, modern metaphors for proper speech and conversation: a fire extinguisher, flame retardant, an antidote, et cetera.
Such as one thinks, so one is. The content of one’s character can change, for many people have changed. The theological term for that is repentance. The victory is possible via God, in particular through Jesus. Thus hope for such victory is not in vain; rather, it is well-placed.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 14, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT FULBERT OF CHARTRES, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF EDWARD THOMAS DEMBY, EPISCOPAL SUFFRAGAN BISHOP OF ARKANSAS, AND HENRY BEARD DELANY, EPISCOPAL SUFFRAGAN BISHOP OF NORTH CAROLINA
THE FEAST OF GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL, COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF SAINT WANDREGISILUS OF NORMANDY, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT, AND SAINT LAMBERT OF LYONS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND BISHOP
Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out,
Send everyone away from me.
So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. Joseph said to his brothers,
I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?
But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.
Then Joseph said to his brothers,
Come closer to me.
And they came closer. He said,
I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, “Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. I will provide for you there– since there are five more years of famine to come– so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.” And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt, and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.
Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.
Psalm 37:1-12 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 Do not fret yourself because of evildoers;
do not be jealous of those who do no wrong.
2 For they shall soon whither like the grass,
and like the green grass they fade away.
3 Put your trust in the LORD and do good,
dwell in the land and feed on its riches.
4 Take delight in the LORD,
and he shall give you your heart’s desire.
5 Commit your way to the LORD and put your trust in him,
and he will bring it to pass.
6 He will make your righteousness as clear as the light
and your just dealing as the noonday.
7 Be still and wait for the LORD
and wait patiently for him.
8 Do not fret yourselves over the one who prospers,
the one who succeeds in evil schemes.
9 Refrain from anger, leave rage alone;
do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil.
10 For evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait upon the LORD shall possess the land.
11 In a little while the wicked shall be no more;
you shall search out their place, but they will not be there.
12 But the lowly shall possess the land;
they will delight in abundance of peace.
41 But the deliverance of the righteous comes from the LORD;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
42 The LORD will help them and rescue them;
he will rescue them from the wicked and deliver them,
because they seek refuge in him.
1 Corinthians 15:35-49 (The Jerusalem Bible):
Someone may ask,
How are dead people raised, and what sort of body do they have when they come back?
These are stupid questions. Whatever you sow in the ground has to die before it is given new life and the thing that you sow is not what is going to come; you sow a bare grain, say of wheat or something like that, and then God gives it the sort of body that he has chosen: each sort of seed gets its own sort of body.
Everything that is flesh is not the same flesh: there is human flesh, animals’ flesh, the flesh of birds and the flesh of fish. Then there are heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the heavenly bodies have a beauty of their own and the earthly bodies a different one. The sun has its brightness, the moon a different brightness, and the stars a different brightness, and the stars differ from each other in brightness. It is the same with the resurrection of the dead: the thing that is sown is perishable but what is raised is imperishable; the thing that is sown is contemptible but what is raised is glorious; the thing that is sown is weak but what is raised is powerful; when it is sown it embodies the soul, when it is raised it embodies the spirit.
If the soul has its own embodiment, so dies the spirit have its own embodiment. The first man, Adam, as scripture says, became a living soul; but the last Adam has become a life-giving spirit. That is, first the one with the soul, not the spirit, and after that, the one with the spirit. The first man, being from the earth, is earthly by nature; the second man is from heaven. As this earthly man was, so are we on earth; and as the heavenly man is, so are we in heaven. And we, who have been modelled on the earthly man, will be modelled on the heavenly man.
Luke 6:27-38 (The Jerusalem Bible):
[Jesus continued,]
But I say this to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly. To the man who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek too; to the man who takes your cloak from you, do not refuse your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your property back from the man who robs you. Treat others as you would like them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks can you expect? For even sinners do that much. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount. Instead, love your enemies and do good, and lend without any hope of return. You will have a great reward, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.
The Collect:
O Lord, you have taught us that without love whatever we do is worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts your greatest gift, which is love, the true bond of peace and of all virtue, without which whoever lives is accounted dead before you. Grant this for the sake of your only Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Joseph forgave his brothers who sold him into slavery. God, he said, used that dastardly deed to help many others years after the fact. Nevertheless, forgiving those who had sold him into slavery seems like a spiritual feat under my circumstance. It is possible only by grace. Being better than others might expect–doing more than one must–being as merciful as possible by grace–is the unifying core of this Sunday’s readings. Dong this consists of nothing less than applying to others the same love one has received from God. Thus grace is supposed to beget more grace.
We have a model–Jesus–to follow. We have his ethical teachings and his life. And he have his resurrection. People murdered him. He forgave them. He even interceded for them. Peter denied Jesus, who forgave him. Jesus is the “man of heaven” whose image each of us can bear. Bearing our Lord’s image, forgiving our enemies, refraining from baseless judgments–these are possible by grace and free will, the latter of which exists because of grace. So these are possible ultimately by grace. These can be very difficult tasks, and I have not mastered them. But I have learned them better than before. And I look forward to becoming more proficient at them. Moral perfectionism is quite unrealistic, for flawed beings can never achieve that goal. But we can do better. And God–in Christ–offers to help us do so.
I have known this help many times. During one particular season of my life I detected much sudden grace. It was an extremely difficult time, so the grace was that much more obvious. My spiritual life improved greatly without much effort on my part. I found that my internal reality had changed for the better overnight. I did not object; I cooperated instead. And my willingness to extend mercy to my enemies came in time–not immediately, to be sure; it is still coming. God, I perceive, meets us where we are and carries us as far as we need to go. Our task is to cooperate.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 14, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT FULBERT OF CHARTRES, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF EDWARD THOMAS DEMBY, EPISCOPAL SUFFRAGAN BISHOP OF ARKANSAS, AND HENRY BEARD DELANY, EPISCOPAL SUFFRAGAN BISHOP OF NORTH CAROLINA
THE FEAST OF GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL, COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF SAINT WANDREGISILUS OF NORMANDY, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT, AND SAINT LAMBERT OF LYONS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND BISHOP
A curse on anyone who trusts in mortals and leans for support on human kind,
while his heart is far from the LORD!
He will be like a juniper in the steppeland;
when good comes he is unaware of it.
He will live among the rocks in the wilderness, in a salt, uninhabited land.
Blessed is anyone who trusts in the LORD, and rests his confidence on him.
He will be like a tree planted by the waterside,
that sends out its roots along a stream.
When the heat comes it has nothing to fear;
its foliage stays green.
Without care in a year of drought,
it does not fail to bear fruit.
The heart is deceitful above any other thing, desperately sick;
who can fathom it?
I, the LORD, search the mind and test the heart,
requiting each one for his conduct and as his deeds deserve.
Like a partridge sitting on a clutch of eggs which it has not laid,
so is he who amasses wealth unjustly.
Before his days are half done it will leave him, and he will be a fool at the last.
Psalm 1 (Revised English Bible):
Happy is the one who does not take the counsel of the wicked for a guide,
or follow the path that sinners tread, or take his seat in the company of scoffers.
His delight is in the law of the LORD; it is his meditation day and night.
He is like a tree planted beside water channels;
it yields its fruit in season and its foliage never fades.
So he too prospers in all he does.
The wicked are not like this; rather they are like chaff driven by the wind.
When judgment comes, therefore, they will not stand firm,
nor will sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
The LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked is doomed.
1 Corinthians 15:12-20 (The Jerusalem Bible):
Now if Christ raised from the dead is what has been preached, how can some of you be saying that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, Christ himself cannot have been raised, and if Christ has not been raised then our preaching is useless and your believing it is useless; indeed, we are shown up as witnesses who have committed perjury before God, because we swore in evidence before God that he had raised Christ to life. For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, you are still in your sins. And what is more serious, all who have died in Christ have perished. If our hope in Christ has been for this life only, we are the most unfortunate of all people.
But Christ has in fact been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep.
Luke 6:17-26 (The Jerusalem Bible):
He [Jesus] then came down with them and stopped at a piece of level ground where there was a large gathering of his disciples with a great crowd of people from all parts of Judaea and from Jerusalem and from the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon who had come to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. People tormented by unclean spirits were also cured, and everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him because power came out of him that cured them all.
Then fixing his eyes on his disciples he [Jesus] said:
How happy are you who are poor; yours is the kingdom of God.
Happy are you who are hungry now; you shall be satisfied.
Happy are you who weep now; you shall laugh.
Happy are you when people hate you, drive you out, abuse you, denounce your name as criminal, on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice when that day comes and dance for joy, for then your reward will be great in heaven. This was the way their ancestors treated the prophets.
But alas for you who are rich; you are having your consolation now.
Alas for you who have your fill now; you shall go hungry.
Alas for you who laugh now; you shall mourn and weep.
Alas for you when the world speaks well of you! This was the way their ancestors treated the false prophets.
The Collect:
O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
When one is reviled and persecuted for the sake of righteousness, what does one have? God. When one is poor, hungry, and sorrowful, what does one have? God. In particular, in reference to 1 Corinthians 15:12-20, one has the Resurrected Christ, without whom we Christians
are of all people most to be pitied. (19b, New Revised Standard Version)
Self-reliance will not suffice, for the wealthy, full, and laughing ones, plus those held in esteem all receive woes in our Lord’s Sermon on the Plain.
That is a profoundly counter-cultural message. Woe to the respected, wealthy, full, and laughing? Let me count the seconds before a Republican pundit or politician cries “class warfare!” (I am flying my liberal flag.) But reliance on God is the key, and such reliance contradicts conventions about self-made men and women. All that we have comes from God. All tat we can be is due to God. Our stewardship of those resources is a great spiritual matter.
Trusting in God can be difficult; I know. It is still hard for me much of the time. On the other hand, it has become easier. But it is all that I have, really. Everything else is transitory, but God is everlasting. Everything else is a collection of means to various ends, hopefully positive ones. Yet God is the greatest end. In that mystery called God I find my destiny, whatever that will entail. May you, O reader, find your destiny there also, whatever that will entail.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 13, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT HERMENEGILD, VISIGOTHIC PRINCE AND ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR
THE FEAST OF SAINT HUGH OF ROUEN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP, ABBOT, AND MONK
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARTIN I, BISHOP OF ROME
THE FEAST OF MIKAEL AGRICOLA, FINNISH LUTHERAN BISHOP OF TALLINN
In the year that King Uzziah died, I beheld my Lord seated on a high and lofty throne; and the skirts of His robe filled the Temple. Seraphs stood in attendance on Him. Each of them had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his legs, and with two he would fly.
And one would call to the other,
Holy, holy, holy!
The LORD of Hosts!
His presence fills all the earth!
The doorposts would shake at the sound of the one who called, and the House kept filling with smoke. I cried,
Woe is me; I am lost!
For I am a man of unclean lips
And I live among a people
Of unclean lips;
Yet my own eyes have beheld
The King LORD of Hosts.
Then one of the seraphs flew over to me with a live coal, which he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. He touched it to my lips and declared,
Now that this has touched your lips,
Your guilt shall depart
And your sin be purged away.
Then I heard the voice of my Lord saying,
Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?
And I said,
Here am I; send me.
And He said,
Go, say to that people:
“Hear, indeed, but do not understand;
See, indeed, but do not grasp.”
Dull that people’s mind,
Stop its ears,
And seal its eyes–
Lest, seeing with its eyes
And hearing with its ears,
It also grasp with its mind,
And repent and save itself.
I asked,
How long, my Lord?
And He replied:
Till towns lie waste without inhabitants
And houses without people,
And the ground lies waste and desolate–
For the LORD will banish the population–
And deserted sites are many
In the midst of the land.
But while a tenth part yet remains in it, it shall repent. It shall be ravaged like the terebinth and the oak, of which stumps are left even when they are felled; its stump shall be a holy seed.
Psalm 138 (Revised English Bible):
I shall give praise to you, LORD, with my whole heart;
in the presence of the gods I shall sing psalms to you.
I shall bow down towards your holy temple;
for your love and faithfulness I shall praise your name,
for you have exalted your promise above the heavens.
When I called, you answered me
and made me bold and strong.
Let all the kings of the earth praise you, LORD,
when they hear the words you have spoken;
let them sing of the LORD’s ways,
for great is the glory of the LORD.
The LORD is exalted, yet he cares for the lowly
and from afar he takes note of the proud.
Though I am compassed about by trouble,
you preserve my life,
putting forth your power against the rage of my enemies,
and with your right hand you save me.
The LORD will accomplish his purpose for me.
Your love endures for ever, LORD;
do not abandon what you have made.
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (The Jerusalem Bible):
Brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, the gospel that you received and in which you are firmly established; because the gospel will save you only if you keep believing exactly what I preached to you–believing anything else will not lead to anything.
Well then, in the first place, I taught you what I had been taught myself, namely that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; and that he was raised to life on the third day, in accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared first to Cephas and secondly to the Twelve. Next he appeared to more than five thousand of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died; then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles; and last of all he appeared to me too; it was as though I was born when no one expected it.
I am the least of the apostles; in fact, since I persecuted the Church of God, I hardly deserve the name apostle; but by God’s grace that is what I am, and the grace that he gave me has not been fruitless. On the contrary, I, or rather the grace of God that is with me, have worked harder than any of the others; but what matters is that I preach what they preach, and this is what you all believed.
Luke 5:1-11 (The Jerusalem Bible):
Now he was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats–it was Simon’s–and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
When he had finished speaking he said to Simon,
Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.
Simon replied,
Master, we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.
And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.
When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying,
Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.
For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners; But Jesus said to Simon,
Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.
Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.
The Collect:
Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
\My most basic prayer for anyone–including myself–is that God’s best for that person will be that person’s reality. This petition speaks of an awareness that God has a set of purposes for each person and that one’s set is not another’s. There are certain broad generalizations which apply across the board, of course. Glorifying and enjoying God forever is one of them. Loving one’s neighbors is another. But circumstances and grace dictate the specifics.
We human beings have demonstrated the unfortunate tendency to work toward keeping people different from us and therefore allegedly inferior to us “in their place.” Thus Antebellum slaves in the Southern U.S. were supposed, by law in several states, to be illiterate. And, after emancipation, powerful white people did not always provide schools for African Americans. The schools which did exist were woefully inferior in many places. Thus a large proportion of the population lacked equality of opportunity. The society suffered, for keeping another “in his place” requires someone to make sure he stays there. That monitor is therefore not far removed from his victim. Thus perpetrators victimize themselves.
But what is God’s designated place for each of us? Isaiah became a prophet. Simon Peter, James, and John became great Apostles. And so did Paul. Human sinfulness was no obstacle to grace. What is God’s designated place for you? If you, O reader, are fortunate, you are there already. If not, may you get there. Getting there requires human assistance, so may you help others arrive at God’s destination and may others help you in your sacred vocation(s).
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 13, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT HERMENEGILD, VISIGOTHIC PRINCE AND ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR
THE FEAST OF SAINT HUGH OF ROUEN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP, ABBOT, AND MONK
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARTIN I, BISHOP OF ROME
THE FEAST OF MIKAEL AGRICOLA, FINNISH LUTHERAN BISHOP OF TALLINN
The words of Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. The word of the LORD came to him in the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign, and throughout the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of King Zedekiah son of Josiah son of Judah, when Jerusalem went into exile in the fifth month.
The word of the LORD came to me:
Before I created you in the womb, I selected you;
Before you were born, I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet concerning the nations.
I replied:
Ah, Lord GOD!
I don’t know how to speak,
For I am still a boy.
And the LORD said to me:
Do not say, “I am still a boy,”
But go wherever I send you
And speak whatever I command you.
Have no fear of them,
For I am with you to deliver them
–declares the LORD.
The LORD put out His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me:
Herewith I put My words into your mouth.
See, I appoint you this day
Over nations and kingdoms:
To uproot and to pull down,
To destroy and to overthrow,
To build and to plant.
Psalm 71:1-6 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 In you, O LORD, have I taken refuge;
let me never be ashamed.
2 In your righteousness, deliver me and set me free;
incline your ear to me and save me.
3 Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe;
you are my crag and my stronghold.
4 Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the clutches of the evildoer and the oppressor.
5 For you are my hope, O Lord GOD,
my confidence since I was young.
6 I have been sustained by you ever since I was born;
from my mother’s womb you have been my strength;
my praise shall be always of you.
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (New American Bible):
If I speak in human and angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present, I know partially; then I shall know fully as I am known. So faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Luke 4:21-30 (The Jerusalem Bible):
And he [Jesus] won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips.
They said,
This is Joseph’s son, surely?
But he replied,
No doubt you will quote the saying, “Physician, heal yourself” and tell me, “We have heard all that happened in Capernaum, do the same here in your own countryside.”
And he went on,
I tell you solemnly, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country.
There were many widows in Israel, I can assure you, in Elijah’s day, when heaven remained shut for three years and six months and a great famine raged throughout the land, but Elijah was not sent to any one of those; he was sent to a widow at Zarephath, a Sidonian town. And in the prophet Elisha’s time there were many lepers in Israel, but none of these was cured, except the Syrian, Naaman.
When they heard this everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They sprang to their feet and hustled him out of town; and they took him up to the brow of the hill their town was built on, intending to throw him down the cliff, but he slipped through the crowd and walked away.
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.
The love in 1 Corinthians 13 is agape. There are four types of love in the New Testament, with agape being the highest form. For a description of agape I turn to Volume X (1953), page 167 of The Interpreter’s Bible:
Agape is another kind of love which roots in the undeserved goodness men have received in Christ.
Agape is a type of love which extends to one’s enemies, looks past mutual interests, and is not merely sentimental. It is the love which God has for us. Thus agape is crucial, greater even than faith and hope, which are also commendable and of God.
This was the love which qualified Jeremiah and kept him company on his difficult vocation, one fraught with rejection. And this was the love which Jesus, also rejected, embodied in a unique way. This was the love those who tried to kill him at Nazareth lacked.
Agape is hard for many people to practice, for we are flawed. This statement applies to me. But I like agape; I seek to come nearer to living it. One poetic expression of the essence of agape is the George Herbert poem I have quoted in this post. My choir at St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church, Athens, Georgia, has sung the Ralph Vaughan Williams setting of it. The text speaks to me of what I have received and continue to receive from God. I can do better, by grace, and I am. And I have much room for improvement.
Agape is also intolerable for many people. They seek to destroy it. The reason for this, I suppose, is that it reminds them of their shortcomings. And, instead of admitting those failings, some people react defensively and fearfully. Thus violent people have, throughout history and into the present day, persecuted pacifists, from Quakers to Anabaptists to Mohandas Gandhi to Martin Luther King, Jr. New England Puritans hanged Quakers in colonial times. Anabaptists in Europe and elsewhere have attracted a host of foes. There was, for example, state-sanctioned persecution of Amish and Mennonite conscientious objectors in the United States during World War I. And Gandhi and King became victims of assassins. Before King’s death many of his self-identified conservative coreligionists condemned his stances on civil rights and the Vietnam War. (I have notecards full of citations, quotes, and summaries from back issues of The Presbyterian Journal, which midwifed the Presbyterian Church in America in the early 1970s. The Journal, publishing immediately after King’s death, continued to condemn him.)
Our human intolerance for agape has caused quite a body count to accumulate. May God forgive us.
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
When the seventh month arrived–the Israelites being [settled] in their towns–the entire people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the scroll of the Teaching of Moses with which the LORD had charged Israel. On the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the high priest brought the Teaching before the congregation, men and women and all who could listen with understanding. He read from it, facing the square before the Water Gate, from the first light until midday, to the men and the women and those who could understand; the ears of all the people were given to the scroll of the Teaching.
Ezra the scribe stood upon a wooden tower made for the purpose, and beside hm stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah at his right, and at his left Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, Meshullam. Ezra opened the scroll in the sight of all the people; the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people; as he opened it, all the people stood up. Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” with hands upraised. Then they bowed their hands and prostrated themselves before the LORD with their faces to the ground. Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites explained the Teaching to the people, while the people stood in their places. They read from the scroll of the Teaching of God, translating it and giving the sense; so they understood the reading.
Nehemiah the Tirshatha, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites, who were explaining to the people said to all the people,
This day is holy to the LORD your God: you must not mourn or weep,
for all the people were weeping as they listened to the words of the Teaching. He further said to them,
Go, eat choice foods and drink sweet drinks and send portions to whoever has nothing prepared, for the day is holy to our Lord. Do not be sad, for your rejoicing in the LORD is the source of your strength.
The Levites were quieting the people, saying,
Hush, for the day is holy; do not be sad.
Then all the people went to eat and drink and send portions and make great merriment, for they understood the things they were told.
Psalm 19 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the firmament shows his handiwork.
2 One day tells its tale to another,
and one night imparts knowledge to another.
3 Although they have no words or language,
and their voices are not heard,
4 Their sound has gone out into all lands,
and their message to the ends of the world.
5 In the deep has he set a pavilion for the sun;
it comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber;
it rejoices like a champion to run its course.
6 It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens
and runs about to the end of it again;
nothing is hidden from its burning heat.
7 The law of the LORD is perfect and revives the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure and gives wisdom to the innocent.
8 The statutes of the LORD are just and rejoice the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is clear and gives light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean and endures forever;
the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold,
sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb.
11 By them also is your servant enlightened,
and in keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can tell how often he offends?
cleanse me from my secret faults.
13 Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins;
let them not get dominion over me;
then shall I be whole and sound,
and innocent of a great offense.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my strength and my redeemer.
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a (New Revised Standard Version):
Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–Jews or Greeks, slaves or free–and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say,
Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,
that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say,
Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,
that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand,
I have no need of you,
nor again the head to the feet,
I have no need of you.
On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But strive for the greater gifts.
Luke 4:14-21 (New Jerusalem Bible):
Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone glorified him.
He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read, and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:
The spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has anointed me
to bring the good news to the afflicted.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives,
sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord.
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them,
The text is being fulfilled today even while you are listening.
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.
When I saw the citation for the Nehemiah reading (8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10) in the Revised Common Lectionary, I wondered why it omitted verses 4 and 7. Then I read the text. Verses 4 and 7 tell us the names of the people on the platform. Nehemiah 8:1-10 had been one of the dreaded readings in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer lectionary before The Episcopal Church adopted the Revised Common Lectionary. The reason for dread was simple: the names! Lectors I heard tackle it usually substituted something like
and some other people
for the names and moved along. And they did not miss any theological point. The framers of the Revised Common Lectionary did a good deed. For the purposes of this post, all the names are there because I found a post where I had typed the entire reading. So I just copied and pasted from my previous work.
The Law of Moses, when applied properly, was about liberating people, not imposing needless burdens on them, unless one considers being stoned for a variety of offenses, including touching a pigskin, committing blasphemy (however people defined that), cursing one’s parents, and engaging in premarital sexual relations necessary burdens. (I have a mixed view of the Law of Moses.) Applications of the Law to which Jesus objected including stoning people to death for adultery. The incidents reported most often in the canonical Gospels, however, pertain to practices which favored the wealthy–those with enough money and leisure time to do certain things just do–and penalized the majority, the poor, who, because of their finances, could not do so. Liberation of several sorts was on our Lord’s mind. Next week’s Gospel lesson will will finish the incident at Nazareth, telling of our Lord’s rejection there. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Psalm 19:7-8, from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer translation, tells us that
The law of the LORD is perfect and revives the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure and gives wisdom to the innocent.
The statutes of the LORD are just and rejoice the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is clear and gives light to the eyes.
The people of Christ are the body of Christ, Paul tells us. Each person is therefore a different part of that body. All are necessary because of, not in spite of, their differences. Since the parts of Christ’s body need each other, suffering and rejoicing are collective. And we cannot build up the body by stoning parts of it. The Law of God–the Law of Liberation–revives the soul and is just. It sets the captives free. That is part of our work as Christians: to love people, to seek what is best for them. May we recognize what that entails in our circumstances, by grace.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 9, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF DIETRICH BONHOEFFER, MARTYR AND GERMAN LUTHERAN 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
Isaiah 43:1-7 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):
But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
peoples in exchange for your life.
Fear not, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;
I will say to the north, Give up,
and o the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth,
every one who is called by my name,
whom I have created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.
Psalm 29 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 Ascribe to the LORD, you gods,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
3 The voice of the LORD is upon the waters;
the God of glory thunders;
the LORD is mighty upon the waters.
4 The voice of the LORD is a powerful voice;
the voice of the LORD is a voice of splendor.
5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedar trees;
the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon;
6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
and Mount Hermon like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the LORD splits the flames of fire;
the voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
8 The voice of the LORD makes the oak trees writhe
and strips the forest bare.
9 And in the temple of the LORD
all are crying, “Glory!”
10 The LORD sits enthroned above the flood;
the LORD sits enthroned as King for evermore.
11 The LORD shall give strength to his people;
the LORD shall give his people the blessing of peace.
Acts 8:14-17 (Revised English Bible):
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent off Peter and John, who went down there and prayed for the converts, asking that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Until then the Spirit had not come upon any of them, they had been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus, that and nothing more. So Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):
As the people were in expectation, all men questioned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he were the Christ. John answered them all,
I baptize you with water; but he who is mightier than I is coming; the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.
…
Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form, as a dove, and a voice came from heaven,
You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.
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.
Water can be threatening. People have drowned in it. Sometimes water has flooded, causing great devastation. Yet water is essential to life; those who dwell in the desert know this well. An insufficient supply of drinkable water causes death, but too much water can have the same effect. Yet just enough is healthy.
And water played a vital role in the history of the Jews. The passage through the Sea of Reeds during the Exodus from Egypt marked the birth of the Hebrew nation. Episcopal baptismal rituals refer to the Exodus, for in water we have a potent symbol of life, physical and spiritual.
…and the flame will not consume you,
we read in the context of promised divine protection in Isaiah 43:2b. Fire is also an image for the Holy Spirit, said (in lovely poetic language) to have descended upon Jesus
in bodily form like a dove
(Luke 3:22a). Fire is also either helpful or harmful, depending on the context. But the proverbial fire of the Holy Spirit is positive. As a High Churchy Episcopalian I understand the Holy Spirit differently than do Pentecostals and Charismatics, so I will try to express my concept clearly. The Holy Spirit, one third of the Trinity (however that works) is how God works on Earth in the here and now. It is how God speaks to us today. And God speaks to many people in different ways.
However God speaks to each of us, may all of us receive the Holy Spirit. And, if or when one manner of receiving it differs from another, so be it.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 15, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT ZACHARY, BISHOP OF ROME
THE FEAST OF EDMUND MUSKIE, UNITED STATES SENATOR AND SECRETARY OF STATE
THE FEAST OF SAINT LOUISE DE MARILLAC, COFOUNDER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF CHARITY
And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD,
in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth;
and he shall be the one of peace.
THE RESPONSE: OPTIONS
Canticle 15 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
(The Magnificat plus the Trinitarian formula)
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Psalm 80:1-7 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 Hear, O Shepherd of Israel, leading Joseph like a flock;
shine forth, you that are enthroned upon the cherubim.
2 In the presence of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,
stir up your strength and come to help us.
3 Restore us, O God of hosts;
show us the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.
4 O LORD God of hosts,
how long will you be angered
despite the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears;
you have given them bowls of tears to drink.
6 You have made us the derision of our neighbors,
and our enemies laugh us to scorn.
7 Restore us, O God of hosts;
show us the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.
THE SECOND READING
Hebrews 10:5-10 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):
Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,
Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.
Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,’
as it is written of me in the roll of the book.
When he said above,
You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings
(those are offered according to the law), then he added,
Behold, I have come to do your will.
He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
THE GOSPEL READING
Luke 1:39-45 (46-55) (Revised English Bible):
Soon afterwards Mary set out and hurried away to a town in the uplands of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby stirred in her womb. Then Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed in a loud voice,
God’s blessing is on you above all women, and his blessing is on the fruit of your womb. Who am I, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? I tell you, when your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby in my womb leapt for joy. Happy is she who has faith that the Lord’s promise to her would be fulfilled!
And Mary said:
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour;
for he has looked with favour on his servant,
lowly as she is.
From this day forward
all generations will count me blessed,
for the Mighty God has done great things for me.
His name is holy,
his mercy sure from generation to generation
toward those who fear him.
He has shown the might of his arm,
he has routed the proud and all their schemes;
he has brought down monarchs and their thrones,
and raised on high the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has come to the help of Israel his servant,
as he promised to our forefathers;
he has not forgotten to show mercy
to Abraham and his children’s children for ever.
Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then returned home.
The Collect:
Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The world has long been violent. Such violence is evident in some of the readings for this Sunday. Read the rest of Micah 5, which refers to a possible invasion by Assyrian forces. Enemies laugh the people of God to scorn in Psalm 80. Hebrews 10 reminds us that the birth of Jesus was an early chapter in a story which went on to include the crucifixion. And the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, the setting for the glorious Magnificat, occurred in occupied Judea. The Pax Romana came at a high price for the vanquished and occupied.
Empires rise and fall, but violence persists. Nations still occupy other peoples, who engage in acts of violent resistance. And invasions occur from time to time. Grudges ancient and modern ferment in the minds of many people, whether they are occupied or the occupiers. Out of mutual fear, hostility, and misunderstanding we humans attack each other and justify injustice.
We have done this to ourselves and each other. We continue to do so, for we might not know how to act differently. We need to hear and heed the message of the Magnificat. The fruit of a scandalous conception brought about an abundance of grace, but that fruit needed good nurturing. May we, when we have opportunities to do so, nurture the bearers of grace around us. Scandals are less important (if at all) than are love and compassion. Who knows how far the impact of our nurturing will reach? What would Jesus have been without the parenting skills of Mary and Joseph? If we take our creedal statements regarding our Lord’s full humanity and divinity seriously, we must give Mary and Joseph much credit.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 3, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE TENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS
THE FEAST OF EDWARD CASWALL, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF EDWARD PERRONET, BRITISH METHODIST PREACHER
THE FEAST OF SAINT GENEVIEVE, PROPHET
THE FEAST OF GLADYS AYLWARD, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY TO CHINA
ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS 
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