Archive for the ‘1 John 1’ Tag
Above: Sunrise
Image in the Public Domain
Photographer = Steve Hillebrand, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Liminality
NOVEMBER 28, 2021
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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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Genesis 1:1-13
Psalm 89
1 John 1:1-2:2
John 1:1-5
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Changing circumstances can alter how one reads texts one has read many times already. The texts remain constant. What one brings to them does not.
I write this post during a pandemic that is becoming worse for a number of reasons. Irresponsible human behavior is the primary reason for the COVID-19 pandemic becoming more severe. I write this post during a time of intensified global liminality. Behaviors that were polite prior to the pandemic have become hazardous to one’s health and the health of others. Hugging and singing can be lethal now. The world is in a liminal state.
The Humes lectionary has us reading Genesis 1:1-2:3 alongside John 1:1-18, with both texts spread across three weeks. This is wonderful scheduling on a lectionary, for the first (second one written) creation myth in Genesis is the model for John 1:1-18. Likewise, adding 1 John to the mix deepens the parallels. 1 John 1:1-3 resembles the beginning of the Gospel of John.
I side with Jewish theology against Roman Catholic theology regarding the beginning of Genesis: this is a mythical account of God creating order from chaos, not something from nothing. The Jewish interpretation fits the text, as I have affirmed for years. This year, in particular, that interpretation resonates with current events. I wait for God to create order from chaos again.
The light still shines in the darkness. The darkness continues to fail to overpower the light. The darkness remains persistent, though. Its repeated attempts wear me down emotionally and spiritually. God is that light, so the darkness will never overpower the light, fortunately.
Psalm 89 is of two moods–grateful and distressed. After reading commentaries, I do not know if the text is a pre-Babylonian Exilic prayer reworked during that Exile or if it is of Exilic origin. Anyhow, the text, as we have it, feels like a prayer from a period of spiritual despair.
Waiting can be difficult. I also know the discomfort of having to endure distress. A prayer I have uttered many times is a variation on,
What is taking you so long, God?
Liminality is an uncomfortable status. Alas, it is our status as a species, O reader. May we trust God and behave responsibly, collectively and individually. Only God can save the world. We have the power, however, to help or charm ourselves and each other.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 23, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE TWENTY-FIFTH DAY OF ADVENT
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN OF KANTY, ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF ANTONIO CALDARA, ROMAN CATHOLIC COMPOSER AND MUSICIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT CHARBEL, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MONK
THE FEAST OF JAMES PRINCE LEE, BISHOP OF MANCHESTER
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM JOHN BLEW, ENGLISH PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2020/12/23/liminality/
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Above: Saint John the Evangelist in Meditation, by Simone Cantarini
Image in the Public Domain
The Beloved Apostle
DECEMBER 27, 2023
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The assigned readings, taken together, speak of the fidelity of God and the imperative of human fidelity to God, whose face Moses did not get to see. Yet this deity is the same one who became incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth (however those Trinitarian dynamics actually worked; I have learned to avoid trying to explain the Holy Trinity, for attempting to make sense of the Trinity leads to a host of heresies.)
St. John was a brother of St. James (one of the two St. Jameses among the Apostles) and a first cousin of Jesus; Zebedee was the father of Sts. James and John, as well as an uncle (by marriage) of Jesus. Our Lord and Savior called his first cousins Boanerges, usually translated
sons of thunder.
A now-deceased seminary professor I heard speak decades ago said, however, that the word actually meant
hell raisers.
Jesus and St. John were apparently emotionally close, not that St. John always understood his cousin. After the resurrection and ascension of Jesus St. John helped to spread the nascent Gospel, a mission that filled the rest of his long life, which ended in exile. Of the twelve Apostles Jesus called, St. John was, excluding Judas Iscariot, the only one not to die as a martyr.
According to tradition St. John wrote the Gospel of John, the three letters of John, and Revelation, a book with no “s” at the end of its title. Certainly he did not write all of the above, although how much he wrote has long been a matter of scholarly debate.
Nevertheless, the life of St. John the Evangelist is a good one to consider. If an overly ambitious hell raiser can learn the value of serving God endure suffering for the sake of righteousness, and survive opportunities for martyrdom only to die in exile, each of us can, by grace, take up his or her cross and follow Jesus, wherever he leads.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 17, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT PATRICK, APOSTLE OF IRELAND
THE FEAST OF EBENEZER ELLIOTT, “THE CORN LAW RHYMER”
THE FEAST OF ELIZA SIBBALD ALDERSON, POET AND HYMN WRITER; AND JOHN BACCHUS DYKES, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF HENRY SCOTT HOLLAND, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER AND PRIEST
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Shed upon your Church, O Lord, the brightness of your light, that we,
being illumined by the teaching of your apostle and evangelist John,
may so walk in the light of your truth, that at length we may attain to the fullness of eternal life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Exodus 33:18-23
Psalm 92 or 92:1-4, 11-14
1 John 1:1-9
John 21:19b-24
—Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 141
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https://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2018/03/17/feast-of-st-john-the-evangelist-apostle-december-27/
https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2018/03/17/the-beloved-apostle/
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Above: Madonna and Child
Image in the Public Domain
God With Us
DECEMBER 27, 2023
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The Collect:
All-powerful and unseen God, the coming of your light
into our world has brightened weary hearts with peace.
Call us out of darkness, and empower us to proclaim the birth of your Son,
Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 20
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The Assigned Readings:
Exodus 33:18-23
Psalm 148
1 John 1:1-9
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Praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
praise him in the heights above.
Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his hosts.
Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars;
praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens.
Let them praise the name of the LORD,
by his command they were created;
he established them for ever and ever
by an ordinance which shall never pass away.
–Psalm 148:1-6, Revised English Bible (1989)
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Psalm 148:1-6 uses mythological language to praise God, the Creator. (One cannot be an intellectually honest Creationist unless one thinks that the world is a flat, with water below, a dome above, and water above that, for such is the description of the world in Genesis 1:1-2:4a.) The majesty of that deity is evident also in Exodus 33:18-23, where nobody may see God’s face and live. Yet, as 1 John 1:1-9 reminds us, God (the Second Person of the Trinity, actually) took human form and became fully human.
We repeat, we really saw and heard what we are now writing to you about. We want you to be with us in this–in this fellowship with the Father, and Jesus Christ his Son. We write and tell you about it, so that our joy may be complete.
–1 John 1:3-4, J. B. Phillips, The New Testament in Modern English–Revised Edition (1972)
I have concluded that the first important statement about Jesus of Nazareth is that he lived among people, had contact with them, and ate and drank with them. He was no Gnostic phantom. Many of the Christian claims about Jesus echo statements about other supposed saviors of the world. Those alleged saviors, however, never existed. A figment of human imaginations cannot save anyone from anything. The physical reality of Christ helps provide credibility to other vital statements about him.
December 27 is the third day of Christmas, a celebration of our Lord and Savior’s physicality. As 1 John 1:1 says, people had opportunities to observe and hold in their hands “something of the Word of life”–J. B. Phillips, The New Testament in Modern English–Revised Edition (1972). God has drawn near to us. May we draw nearer to God and remain there.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 6, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM TEMPLE, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
THE FEAST OF TE WHITI O RONGOMAI, MAORI PROPHET
THE FEAST OF THEOPHANE VENARD, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, MISSIONARY, AND MARTYR IN VIETNAM
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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2014/11/06/god-with-us-4/
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Above: Christ Pantocrator, Looking Unhappy
The Imperative of Acting Compassionately
DECEMBER 7, 2023
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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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The Assigned Readings:
Isaiah 24:1-13
Psalm 102 (Morning)
Psalms 130 and 16 (Evening)
1 John 1:-2:14
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A Related Post:
A Prayer for Compassion:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/09/24/a-prayer-for-compassion/
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In this way we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
–1 John 2:3, The New Jerusalem Bible
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What is the test of holiness?
Isaiah 24 speaks of an undated, future doom people will bring upon themselves by violating the Law of Moses. 1 John places obedience and disobedience in the context of Jesus, who has fulfilled the Law. If we love Jesus, we will keep his commandments. The summary of his teachings and lived example is compassion. We must identify with others as best we can and seek their good. Any economic or legal system which bases one person’s improvement upon the detriment of another or others is inherently sinful. And such systems thrive today.
I know what Jesus would say about them.
Any religious system which teaches hatred instead of compassion as a virtue in inherently sinful. One need not restrict the list of examples to jihads, Crusades, and excuses for racism. Such religious systems thrive today.
I know what Jesus would say about them.
For that matter, I know what St. John the Baptist would say about them:
You brood of vipers!
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 10, 2011 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN ROBERTS, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR
THE FEAST OF KARL BARTH, SWISS REFORMED THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF THOMAS MERTON, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MONK
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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2012/08/05/the-imperative-of-acting-compassionately/
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ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS 
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