Above:   An Olive Tree

Image in the Public Domain

Good and Bad Fruit

FEBRUARY 20, 2022

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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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1 Samuel 28:7-8, 11-25

Psalm 6

2 Peter 2:1-3, 17-22

Matthew 7:13-17

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Psalm 6, with its references to death, fits well with the reading from 1 Samuel 28, in which King Saul, in violation of Jewish law, consults a necromancer.  She is actually a somewhat sympathetic character, for she cares about the monarch’s well-being.  Meanwhile, one gets the impression that Saul has neglected his duties.  I do not agree, however, that committing genocide is a king’s duty.

With great power comes great responsibility, as an old saying tells us.  This is true in both secular and sacred settings.  In 2 Peter 2, for example, we read condemnations of certain early Christian leaders who, out of embarrassment, sought to reconcile Christianity with pagan permissiveness.  As we read in Matthew 7, good trees bear good fruit and bad trees bear bad fruit.

And committing genocide is definitely bad fruit.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 3, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIE-LEONIE PARADIS, FOUNDER OF THE LITTLE SISTERS OF THE HOLY FAMILY

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM WHITING, HYMN WRITER

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2017/05/03/good-and-bad-fruit-2/

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