Archive for the ‘Ephesians 6’ Tag
Above: Cyrus II
Image in the Public Domain
To Glorify and Enjoy God
FEBRUARY 14, 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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2 Chronicles 36:11-23 or Joshua 24:1-7, 13-25
Psalm 83:1-5, 13-18
Ephesians 6:11-24
Luke 7:1-17
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One should serve God, of course. Not trying to do so is mainly unacceptable. Yet trying to do so does not guarantee succeeding in doing so; one can be sincerely wrong. The history of religion is replete with those who have committed evils while laboring under the impression they were serving God. So is the present state of religion.
We are morally responsible for and to each other. Saying and writing that sentence is easy. Understanding how it properly translates into attitudes and actions in various contexts can prove very challenging, though.
Praying is a good start, of course. Yet we must distinguish between a dialogue and an internal monologue if we are to know the difference between God and what we want to hear.
God’s choice of human instruments may surprise us, as may the number of “others” who are among the faithful. We humans tend to prefer neat, orderly categories, such as “insiders” and “outsiders.” But what if we, who think ourselves as insiders, are really outsiders? I tell people sometimes that the lists of people who are in Heaven and who are not there would astound and scandalize us if we could see them.
Grace is astounding, is it not? It is free yet not cheap. Likewise, judgment and mercy exist in context of each other; they are in balance God knows what that balance is. So be it.
May we, by grace, succeed is serving God, in glorifying and enjoying God in the moment and forever.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 22, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF SAINT DEOGRATIAS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF CARTHAGE
THE FEAST OF EMMANUEL MOURNIER, PERSONALIST PHILOSOPHER
THE FEAST OF JAMES DE KOVEN, EPISCOPAL PRIEST
THE FEAST OF THOMAS HUGHES, BRITISH SOCIAL REFORMER AND MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM EDWARD HICKSON, ENGLISH MUSIC EDUCATOR AND SOCIAL REFORMER
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https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2020/03/22/devotion-for-proper-7-year-c-humes/
https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2020/03/22/to-glorify-and-enjoy-god-ii/
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Above: King Josiah
Image in the Public Domain
Parts of One Body III
NOT OBSERVED DURING THE SEASON AFTER THE EPIPHANY IN 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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2 Chronicles 34 or Joshua 23 (portions)
Psalm 82
Ephesians 5:21-33
Luke 6:27-42
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The faithfulness of God calls for faithfulness to God. We humans, living in communities, have a moral obligation to obey the lofty principles in the Law of Moses, as in Leviticus 18:
- We are responsible to each other.
- We are responsible for each other.
- We depend entirely on God.
- We depend on each other.
- We have no right to exploit each other.
To act on these principles is to behave in a way consistent with righteousness/justice (the same word in the Bible).
We have some difficult readings this week. “Do I have to love my enemies?” “But I enjoy judging people without (much, if any) evidence!” These are responses with which all of us can identify. Hopefully, we have progressed in our spiritual pilgrimages in Christ. Ephesians 5 and 6 contain some really chair-squirming material regarding husbands, wives, masters, and slaves. I do not excuse that which I consider inexcusable. I reject all forms of slavery at all times and in all places. I also affirm gender equality. Furthermore, I contextualize those passages within the epistle.
Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.
–Ephesians 5:21, The Revised English Bible (1989)
That verse exists within the context of Ephesians 4:25:
Then have done with falsehood and speak the truth to each other, for we belong to one another as parts of one body.
Regardless of one’s cultural context, if one treats others according to that context, one will do well. Likewise, a society with norms that encourage that principle has much to commend it.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 21, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, CARL PHILIPP EMANUEL BACH, AND JOHANN CHRISTIAN BACH, COMPOSERS
THE FEAST OF JOHN S. STAMM, BISHOP OF THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH THEN THE EVANGELICAL UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH
THE FEAST OF SAINT NICHOLAS OF FLÜE AND HIS GRANDSON, SAINT CONRAD SCHEUBER, SWISS HERMITS
THE FEAST OF SAINT SERAPION OF THMUIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF UMPHREY LEE, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER AND MINISTER OF SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2020/03/21/parts-of-one-body-iii/
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2020/03/21/devotion-for-proper-6-year-c-humes/
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Above: Deborah
Image in the Public Domain
Relying on God’s Power
JANUARY 10 and 11, 2022
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The Collect:
Almighty God, you anointed Jesus at his baptism with the Holy Spirit
and revealed him as your beloved Son.
Keep all who are born of water and the Spirit faithful in your service,
that we may rejoice to be called children of God,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns
with the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 22
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The Assigned Readings:
Judges 4:1-16 (Monday)
Judges 5:12-21 (Tuesday)
Psalm 106:1-12 (Both Days)
Ephesians 6:10-17 (Monday)
1 John 5:13-21 (Tuesday)
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Though God delivered them many times
they, for their part, went on planning rebellion
and so sank deeper into sin.
Yet he looked kindly on their distress
whenever he heard them cry.
To help them he recalled his covenant with them,
so deep was his devotion that he took pity on them.
He saw to it that they received compassion
even from those who had taken them captive.
Save us, LORD, our God,
gather us in from among the nations
so that we may acknowledge you as the Holy One.
and take pride in praising you.
–Psalm 106:43-47, The Psalms Introduced and Newly Translated for Today’s Readers (1989), by Harry Mowvley
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I know that the portion of Psalm 106 I have quoted follows verse 12, but those verses seem more applicable to the readings from Judges 4 and 5 than Psalm 106:1-12. If I had quoted from the first 12 verses of Psalm 106 I would have selected verse 10, set in the context of the Exodus from Egypt:
He rescued them from their foes,
he reclaimed them from enemy hands.
–Harry Mowvley translation
The story in Judges 4 and 5 is consistent with a motif in that book:
- The Israelites have fallen into pervasive sin.
- YHWH permits a foreign group to oppress the Israelites.
- The Israelites cry out to YHWH.
- YHWH sends a leader or leaders to resist the oppressors.
- The oppression ceases.
- The Israelites follow God for a time.
- The cycle repeats.
As a note in The Jewish Study Bible–Second Edition (2014) informs me, nowhere does the text of Judges 4 and 5 identify any of the human protagonists–Deborah the prophetess, Barak the army commander, and Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite–as the deliverer of the Israelites. Each of those individuals played a crucial role in the liberation, but God delivered the Israelites from oppression. That theme occurs elsewhere in the Book of Judges and other portions of the Bible, as in the Exodus and the end of the Babylonian Exile.
A motif in the Bible is that God works through people much of the time. These might be upstanding individuals or they might be scoundrels, at least on their bad days. Some of these instruments of God are not even believers. These realities point toward the power and sovereignty of God.
As much as I find Martin Luther to have been a morally troublesome character, his theology of relying on the faithfulness of God is beyond reproach. We who follow God are children of God, members of the household of God, so we ought to act boldly and confidently in righteousness. Such righteous confidence should banish faithless and selfish fears (distinct from well-reasoned fears, such as that of touching hot surfaces), enabling us to love our neighbors (both near and far) selflessly. We have the spiritual armor of God, of which St. Paul the Apostle or someone writing in his name imagined as being like the armor of a Roman soldier. Every piece of the armor is God’s. If it is good enough for God, it is good enough for mere mortals. After the reading from Ephesians 6 comes this advice:
Constantly ask God’s help in prayer, and pray always in the power of the Spirit.
–Ephesians 6:18, The Revised English Bible (1989)
After all, we depend on God’s power, not our own.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 21, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT MATTHEW THE EVANGELIST, APOSTLE AND MARTYR
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2015/09/21/relying-on-gods-power/
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Above: Thermal Hot Spring
Image in the Public Domain
A Spring of Living Water
DECEMBER 18 and 19, 2023
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The Collect:
Stir up the wills of your faithful people, Lord God,
and open our ears to the words of your prophets,
that, anointed by your Spirit, we may testify to your light;
through 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 19
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The Assigned Readings:
1 Kings 18:1-18 (Monday)
2 Kings 2:9-22 (Tuesday)
Psalm 125 (Both Days)
Ephesians 6:10-17 (Monday)
Acts 3:17-4:4 (Tuesday)
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The scepter of the wicked shall not hold sway over the land allotted to the just,
so that the just shall not put their hands to evil.
–Psalm 125:3, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
–The Nicene Creed, in The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 359
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The assigned readings for these two days, taken together, speak of prophets, water, and the reality of evil.
As St. Paul the Apostle reminds us, evil exists. I harbor strong doubts regarding personalized evil (as in the Satan, the theology of which changes greatly within the pages of the Bible), but I am certain that evil exists. King Ahab, whom the prophet Elijah accused correctly of troubling Israel, acted in evil ways toward others.
The theme of water also holds the readings together. Water is essential for life. The substance is especially precious in a barren wilderness. Water occurs in the lection from 1 Kings in the context of a drought, which the text describes as divine punishment for idolatry. The lesson from 2 Kings provides a mythological origin story for a freshwater spring crucial to agriculture. The metaphor of a spring from the heart of Jesus occurs in the Gospel of John, where God (Yahweh) and Jesus are the sources of the Holy Spirit. Yes, I know of disagreements regarding the proper interpretation and translation of John 7:38, but I defer to the overall context of the Johannine Gospel, in which the living water flows from God (Yahweh) or Jesus, not from the heart of any believer.
Jesus, who stands in chronological and spiritual lineage with the Hebrew prophets, invites each of us to take up his or her cross, follow him, and drink of the living water which flows from his heart. That water surpasses the value of all substitutes. May we drink deeply then act accordingly.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 26, 2014 COMMON ERA
PROPER 25: THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
THE FEAST OF SAINT ALFRED THE GREAT, KING OF THE WEST SAXONS
THE FEAST OF SAINT CEDD, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF LONDON
THE FEAST OF DMITRY BORTNIANSKY, COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF PHILLIP NICOLAI, JOHANN HEERMANN, AND PAUL GERHARDT, HYMN WRITERS
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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/a-spring-of-living-water/
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ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS 
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