Above:  John the Baptist in Prison, by Josef Anton Hafner

Image in the Public Domain

Good Liturgy and the Covenant Written on Our Hearts

JANUARY 2, 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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Exodus 25:1-40

Psalm 73

Matthew 11:1 (2-11) 12-15 (16-19) 20-24 (25-30) or Luke 7:18-35

Hebrews 8:1-13

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But for me it is good to be near God;

I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,

to tell of all your works.

–Psalm 73:28, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

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Hebrews 8 speaks of an internalized covenant, the law written on human hearts.  This is an echo of Jeremiah 31:31-34.  It is a covenant not written on the hearts of certain Pharisees and scribes in Luke 7.  When one reads the entirety of Luke 7 one realizes that the Pharisees and scribes in question were guilty of obsessing over minor details while twisting the law to accept financial donations that impoverished innocent third parties.  Thus these particular religious people were guilty of violating the principle of the Law of Moses that prohibits economic exploitation.  One also learns that a Gentile woman had the covenant written on her heart.  Likewise, those who criticized St. John the Baptist for his asceticism and Jesus for eating and drinking were seeking excuses to condemn others.  They did not have the covenant written on their hearts.

There is no fault in maintaining sacred spaces and beautiful rituals.  We mere mortals need sacred spaces that differ from other spaces and rituals that inspire our souls.  Good liturgy should make us better people.  It if does not, the fault is with us.  May it inspire us to recognize and serve God in each other.  May good liturgy, in conjunction with the covenant written on our hearts, help us find ways to act as effectively on divine principles, for the maximum benefit to others and the greatest possible glory to God.  May we refrain from carping language that tears others down and seek ways to build them up, for we are stronger together in the body of faith.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SUNDAR SINGH, INDIAN CHRISTIAN EVANGELIST

THE FEAST OF DAVID PENDLETON OAKERHATER, EPISCOPAL DEACON

THE FEAST OF SAINT FIACRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC HERMIT

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2016/09/01/good-liturgy-and-the-covenant-written-on-our-hearts/

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Above:  Magnificat

Image in the Public Domain

Why the Birth of Jesus Occurred

DECEMBER 21, 22, and 23, 2020

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The Collect:

Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come.

With your abundant grace and might,

free us from the sin that would obstruct your mercy,

that willingly we may bear your redeeming love to all the world,

for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever. Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 19

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The Assigned Readings:

1 Samuel 1:1-18 (Monday)

1 Samuel 1:19-28 (Tuesday)

1 Samuel 2:1-10 (Wednesday)

Luke 1:46b-55 (All Days)

Hebrews 9:1-14 (Monday)

Hebrews 8:1-13 (Tuesday)

Mark 11:1-11 (Wednesday)

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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 be 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.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 119

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Stories of and set in the context of angelic annunciations of conception and birth are, of course, appropriate for the days leading up to December 25.  In the previous post I dealt with the story of Samson.  These three days we have Hannah (mother of Samuel) and St. Mary of Nazareth (Mother of God).  To read Hannah’s song (1 Samuel 2:1-10) now is appropriate, for it was the model for the Magnificat.

This is a time to celebrate new life.  I mean that on more than one level.  There is, of course, the birth of Jesus.  Then there is the new spiritual life–both communal and individual–available via Christ.  As we celebrate this joyous time of year–one fraught with grief for many people also–may we, considering the assigned readings from Mark and Hebrews, consider why a birth occurred.  The pericope from Mark tells of the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  The readings from the Letter to the Hebrews, after much Greek philosophical language, culminate thusly:

For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!

–Hebrews 9:13-14, New Revised Standard Version (1989)

To the passage above I add that we must move along to the Resurrection, or else we will have Dead Jesus.  I serve the living Messiah, not Dead Jesus.  Christ’s Resurrection conquered evil plans, as the Classic Theory of the Atonement states correctly.

We find foreshadowing of the crucifixion in the words of Simeon to St. Mary:

…and a sword will pierce your soul too.

–Luke 2:35b, New Revised Standard Version (1989)

In a similar vein, one can sing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” to the tune “Easter Hymn,” to which many people sing “Jesus Christ is Risen Today.”  (The Methodist Hymnal/The Book of Hymns (1966) provides this option.)  Advent and Christmas lead to the crucifixion and the Resurrection.

That is why the birth of Jesus occurred.  Merry Christmas!

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 27, 2014 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ARTHUR CAMPBELL AINGER, ENGLISH EDUCATOR, SCHOLAR, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT AEDESIUS, PRIEST AND MISSIONARY; AND SAINT FRUDENTIUS, FIRST BISHOP OF AXUM AND ABUNA OF THE ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX TEWAHEDO CHURCH

THE FEAST OF THE VICTIMS OF THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/why-the-birth-of-jesus-occurred/

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Above:  Jonathan Myrick Daniels Memorial , August 9, 2013

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Active, World-Changing Faith

FEBRUARY 16 and 17, 2023

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The Collect:

O God, in the transfiguration of your Son you confirmed the

mysteries of the faith by the witness of Moses and Elijah,

and in the voice from the bright cloud declaring Jesus your beloved Son,

you foreshadowed our adoption as your children.

Make us heirs with Christ of your glory, and bring us to enjoy its fullness,

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 25

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The Assigned Readings:

Exodus 6:2-9 (Thursday)

Exodus 19:9b-25 (Friday)

Psalm 2 (Both Days)

Hebrews 8:1-7 (Thursday)

Hebrews 11:23-28 (Friday)

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The kings of the earth rise up,

and the rulers take counsel together,

against the Lord and against his anointed:

“Let us break their bonds asunder

and cast away their cords from us.”

He who dwells in heaven shall laugh them to scorn;

the Lord shall have them in derision.

–Psalm 2:2-4, Common Worship (2000)

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But when Moses repeated those words to the Israelites, they would not listen to him, because of their cruel slavery, they had reached the depths of despair.

–Exodus 6:9, The Revised English Bible (1989)

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Active faith by which we follow God has changed the world for the better.  In the United States of America, for example, it fueled the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.  Such active faith overturned Apartheid in the Republic of South Africa.  This continues to compel people to work for social justice all over the planet.

Yet passiveness born of resignation stymies progress.  Giving up on improving conditions in this world and seeking a better lot only in the afterlife does nothing to work for a just society on this plane of reality.  The Hebrew prophets condemned social injustice.  Our Lord and Savior did likewise.  Indeed, seeking to improve this reality is part and parcel of loving one’s neighbor and pursuing the great Jewish ethic of healing the world.

So may each of us never make peace with oppression.  May all of us take to heart and act on the following prayer:

O God, your Son came among us to serve and not to be served, and to give his life for the life of the world.  Lead us by his love to serve all those to whom the world offers no comfort and little help.  Through us give hope to the hopeless, love to the unloved, peace to the troubled, and rest to the weary, 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 60

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 22, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF FREDERICK PRATT GREEN, BRITISH METHODIST MINISTER, POET, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF BARTHOLOMEW ZOUBERBUHLER, ANGLICAN PRIEST

THE FEAST OF PAUL TILLICH, LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/active-world-changing-faith/

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Above:  Coral Reef Biodiversity

Image Source = Richard Ling

The Universal Covenant of Christ

JANUARY 20, 2023

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Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), of The Episcopal Church, contains an adapted two-years weekday lectionary for the Epiphany and Ordinary Time seasons from the Anglican Church of Canada.  I invite you to follow it with me.

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Hebrews 8:6-13 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):

But, as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry which is much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.  For it that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second.

For he finds no fault with them when he says:

The days will come, says the Lord,

when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel

and with the house of Judah;

not like the covenant that I made with their fathers

on the day when I took them by the hand

to lead them out of the land of Egypt;

for they did not continue in my covenant,

and so I paid no heed to them, says the Lord.

This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel

after those days, says the Lord:

I will put my laws into their minds,

and write them on their hearts,

and I will be their God,

and they shall be my people.

And they shall not teach every one of his fellow

or every one of his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’

and all shall know me,

from the least of them to the greatest.

For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,

and I will remember their sins no more.

In speaking of a new covenant he treats the first as obsolete.  And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Psalm 85:7-13 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

7 Show us your mercy, O LORD,

and grant us  your salvation.

8 I will listen to what the LORD God is saying,

for he is speaking peace to his faithful people

and to those who turn their hearts to him.

9 Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him,

that his glory may dwell in our land.

10 Mercy and truth have met together,

righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

11 Truth shall spring up from the earth,

and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

12 The LORD will indeed grant prosperity,

and our land will yield its increase.

13 Righteousness shall go before him,

and peace shall be a pathway for his feet.

Mark 3:13-19 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):

And he went up on the mountain, and called to him those whom he desired; and they came to him.  And he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons:  Simon whom he surnamed Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, whom he surnamed Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder; Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

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The Collect:

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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The author of the Letter to the Hebrews writes of a new covenant, one which God has instigated for people without regard for human distinctions.  We mere mortals are skilled at labeling ourselves and each other and transforming these into the basis for conflict:  clean vs. unclean, Jew vs. Gentile, White vs. Black, native-born vs. foreign-born, liberal vs. conservative, heterosexual vs. homosexual, male vs. female, Protestant vs. Roman Catholic, et cetera.  We are a tribal bunch, are we not?  Yet our notions of what is proper or clean do not bind God.

This theme runs through the canonical Gospels.  Jesus was on the outs with the religious establishment of his own religion, and he found faith among prostitutes, Roman collaborators, tax collectors (working for Rome), Gentiles attracted to Judaism (yet kept marginal by the orthodox), and notorious sinners.  Shame and honor are social constructs; one has or lacks them according to consensus.  By this standard, Jesus died shamefully.  Yet the instrument of his execution has become a symbol of triumph and a popular symbol for jewelry.

Let us consider the motley crew we call the Twelve Apostles.

• Simon Peter was impetuous. He went on to deny Jesus three times before finding his sea legs and becoming the leader of the group.
• Thomas was a healthy skeptic, and thus a good foil to Simon Peter’s tendency to blurt out unfortunate yet well-meant statements.
• James and John, sons of Zebedee, were cousins of Jesus.  The standard translation of boanerges is “sons of thunder,” but I recall a now-deceased seminary professor saying that “hellraiser” is a better rendering of the word.
• Matthew had been a tax collector for the Roman Empire.  The tax farming system was set up such that he and other tax collectors gathered more funds than the Empire required.  They passed along the Empire’s taxes and kept the rest for themselves.  They were literal tax thieves, not to mention collaborators.
• Simon the Cananaean had been a violent revolutionary trying to expel the occupying Romans.
• Judas Iscariot became disappointed in Jesus, whom he betrayed.
• Unfortunately, we know little about some of the Apostles.  This is one area in which I would have asked the authors of the canonical Gospels for more information.
• Ten of the Twelve Apostles died as martyrs.

The canonical Gospels (especially Mark) are clear that the Apostles misunderstood Jesus for years.  Others knew who and what Jesus was and what that meant (at least partially).  Yet the Apostles stand out in the Gospels as not being the brightest crayons in the box.

There is hope in this for you and me.  Jesus did not call he qualified; he qualified the called.  Our Lord and Savior recognized the potential in these men.  And it worked out well in 11 of 12 cases.  It did not work out well immediately, but I have my faith today in large part because of the Apostles and their actions.

The universal covenant of Christ defies human labels.  Jesus had both a former Roman tax collector and a former insurrectionist against Roman imperial rule within his inner circle.  Both Matthew and Simon found their unity in Jesus.

The universal covenant of Christ is written on human hearts and minds.  It is internalized, based on love of God.  This is a healthy spiritual relationship built on terror, but on trust, awe, and respect.  In this context social constructs, such as shame and honor, mean nothing.  Most of the Apostles died shamefully, according to human standards.  Yet their martyrdoms were not shameful, for these men died for the love of God and their fellow human beings.

In the early 1950s, during the McCarthy Era witchhunts, Doris Plenn wrote the following words:

When tyrants tremble, sick with fear,

And hear their death-knell ringing,

When friends rejoice both far and near,

How can I keep from singing?

In prison cell and dungeon vile,

Our thoughts to them go winging;

When friends by shame are undefiled,

How can I keep from singing?

I suspect that we humans like labels, such as “clean” and “unclean” because they help us order our world in ways convenient for us.  We tell ourselves that are “clean,” of course, and those different people are “unclean.”  We heap shame upon the heads of others when they have done nothing wrong and we excuse ourselves when we sin.  But God does not see as we do; God looks on the heart.  And, as Jesus said, certain prostitutes will enter Heaven before some of us, who think ourselves respectable, will.  So, what is certain?  The judgment, mercy, and wisdom of God, which exceed human understanding, are constant.  And, if that makes you uncomfortable, that might be a healthy spiritual sign, depending on what you do with that discomfort.  Will you examine yourself spiritually and be open to God, or will you resist?

KRT

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/the-universal-covenant-of-christ/

Above:  Jesus, Too Crowded

(This is a screen capture from the 2000 video of Jesus Christ Superstar, with Glenn Carter as Jesus.  The film is the property of Universal Pictures.)

Why Do We Seek Jesus (Assuming That We Do)?

JANUARY 19, 2023

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Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), of The Episcopal Church, contains an adapted two-years weekday lectionary for the Epiphany and Ordinary Time seasons from the Anglican Church of Canada.  I invite you to follow it with me.

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Hebrews 7:23-8:7 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):

The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues for ever.  Consequently he is able for all time to save those who draw near God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens.  He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; for he did this once for all when he offered up himself.  Indeed, the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been make perfect for ever.

Now the point in what we are saying is this:  we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent, which is set up not by man but by the Lord.  For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary necessary for this priest also to have something to offer.  Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law.  They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary; for when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying,

See that you make everything according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.

But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry which is much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is enacted on better promises.  For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second.

Psalm 40:8-12, 17-19 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):

8 Burnt-offering and sin-offering you have not required,

and I said, “Behold, I come.

9 In the roll of the book it is written concerning me:

‘I love to do your will, O my God;

your law is deep within my heart.'”

10 I proclaimed righteousness in the great congregation;

behold, I did not restrain my lips;

and that, O LORD, you know.

11 Your righteousness have I not hidden in my heart;

I have spoken of your faithfulness and your deliverance;

I have not concealed your love and faithfulness from the great congregation.

12 You are the LORD;

do not withhold your compassion from me;

let your love and your faithfulness keep me safe for ever,

17 Let all who seek you rejoice in you and be glad;

let those who love your salvation continually say,

“Great is the LORD!”

18 Though I am poor and afflicted,

The LORD will have regard for me.

19 You are my helper and my deliverer;

do not tarry, O my God.

Mark 3:7-12 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed; also from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from about Tyre and Sidon a great multitude haring all that he did, came to him.  And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they should crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him.  And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out,

You are the Son of God.

And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

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The Collect:

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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(Another Screen Capture)

We all have needs.  Many of us take these to God, as our religious traditions and aspects thereof, including our sacred texts, tell us to do.  There is nothing wrong with this.  Do we stop there, however?  Is prayer little or nothing more than presenting God with a “honey do” list?

We–you and I–and have been following the Gospel According to Mark.  (The Canadian Anglican lectionary I am following for these devotions entails doing this for almost all of the Epiphany Season.)  Jesus has worked astounding miracles and begun to attract much attention to himself.  The desperately poor and sick of his region have flocked to him, and the stress has gotten to him.  The man needed some time away, too.  Even Jesus needed to be alone.   He needed to be where people did not seek anything from him.

Jesus is more than our perfect, celestial high priest, a role of which the author of the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us eloquently.  Jesus is also our passover lamb, our Messiah, a great sage, and our Lord and Savior.  He is our role model.  And I propose that we ought to seek him for these reasons.  We should seek to please him, as best we can.  As the old quote says, “I don’t know how to please you, Lord, but I think the fact that I try to please you, pleases you.”

Speaking of Jesus as role model…..

If Jesus needed quiet time, we do, too.  If Jesus needed to escape the demands of others, even for a little while, so do we.  I write from a society replete with computers, pagers, email, cellular phones, blackberries, and many other electronic devices.  I have chosen to forgo these, except for computers, email, and cellular phones, which have become necessities in my life.  The rest, however, are purely optional, and I opt out.  One can be too accessible too much of the time, and sometimes I want to isolate myself from the rest of the world for a few hours at a time.  So I do.  That time is wonderful.

God speaks to us frequently, but how often to we listen?  We cannot pay God adequate attention if other stimuli distract us.  And we must be quiet in order to listen.   We cannot seek Jesus properly if we do not study his life and teachings.  All of these efforts require us to devote ourselves to reading and contemplating, among other tasks.  These, in turn, are possible only if we turn off the electric and electronic distractions at certain times.  And then we might hear God speaking, and we will know why we seek God?

Why do I seek God within the context of Christianity?  I do this because of the person who was Jesus on this planet.  One can never uncover the full reality of the historical Jesus, in the sense that one can understand who other people were.  The Gospels are not biographies, in the sense that we moderns think of biography.  They tell us how others understood him, and they omit many details.  Yet I can and do know that the historical Jesus was a remarkable and brave figure whom the Roman Empire executed as an insurrectionist.  He was a rebel, of sorts, but that is a high compliment.  The execution of Jesus was an act of state-sponsored terrorism, judicial murder, and scapegoating, but the death of Jesus was an act of love.  It signified, among other things, that God does not desire scapegoating.  And, by faith, I believe that Jesus was far more than this.  By faith I understand that the divine power to resurrect Jesus is unconquerable.  Christ is the victor. Although the Roman Empire executed Jesus, who was love incarnate, it could not kill love.

These are just some of the reasons I seek Jesus.

KRT

Glenn Carter as Jesus

(Another Screen Capture)

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/why-do-we-seek-jesus-assuming-that-we-do/