Above:  Massacre of the Innocents, by Pieter Brueghel the Younger

Image in the Public Domain

The Unfortunate Cheapness of Human Life

DECEMBER 28, 2023

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Jeremiah 31:15-17

Psalm 124

Revelation 2:13-18

Matthew 2:13-18

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Christmas is supposed to be a happy season, right?  Yet darkness exists within it.  Consider, O reader, the sequence of three great feasts:  St. Stephen (December 26), St. John the Evangelist (December 27), and the Holy Innocents (December 28).

The kingdom of the Earth has yet to become the Kingdom of God in its fullness.  Thus we read of exiles in Jeremiah 31.  Then we read the plausible story of the Holy Innocents in Matthew 2.  Herod the Great, we know from both Biblical and extra-Biblical sources, was a disturbed and violent man who had members of his family killed.  One need not stretch credibility to imagine him ordering the murder of strangers, even young children.  Reading the story from Matthew 2 then turning to Psalm 124 creates a sense of jarring irony; one is correct to wonder why God did not spare the Holy Innocents also.

On another note, the account of the Holy Innocents provides evidence for the Magi arriving when Jesus was about two years old.  According to the Western calendar, as it has come down to us, Herod the Great died in 4 B.C.E., placing the birth of Jesus circa 6 B.C.E.  I prefer to use the term “Before the Common Era” for the simple reason that speaking and writing of the birth of Jesus as having occurred “Before Christ”–six years, perhaps–strikes me as being ridiculous.

Back to our main point, while admitting the existence of morally ambiguous and difficult scenarios with only bad choices, and in which doing our best cannot help but lead to unfortunate results….

Human life is frequently cheap.  From abortions to wars, from gangland violence to accidental shootings and crimes of passion, from genocidal governments to merely misguided policies, human life is frequently cheap.  The innocent and the vulnerable suffer.  People who are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time suffer.  May God have mercy on us all, for each of us is partially responsible, for merely being part of the social, economic, and political systems that facilitate such suffering.

The kingdom of the Earth has yet to become the Kingdom of God in its fullness.  Only God can make that happen.  We mere mortals can and must, however, leave the world better than we found it.  We can and must do this, by grace.

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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We remember today, O God, the slaughter of the holy innocents of Bethlehem by King Herod.

Receive, we pray, into the arms of your mercy all innocent victims;

and by your great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and

establish your rule of justice, love, and peace;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with

you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Jeremiah 31:15-17

Psalm 124

Revelation 21:1-7

Matthew 2:13-18

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 143

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https://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2018/03/17/feast-of-the-holy-innocents-december-28/

https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2018/03/17/the-unfortunate-cheapness-of-human-life/

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Above:  Second Coming Icon

A Fresh Start

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

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The Collect:

Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come.

By your merciful protection awaken us to the threatening dangers of our sins,

and enlighten our walk in the way of your salvation,

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

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 18

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The Assigned Readings:

Isaiah 54:1-10

Psalm 124

Matthew 24:23-35

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A Related Post:

The Remnant:

http://taylorfamilypoems.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/the-remnant/

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Blessed be the LORD,

who has not given us over to be a prey for their teeth.

We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler;

the snare is broken, and we have escaped.

–Psalm 124:6-7, Book of Common Worship (1993)

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This is just like the days of Noah to me:

Just as I swore that the waters of Noah would never again go over the earth,

so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you and will not rebuke you.

For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed,

but my steadfast love will not depart from you,

and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,

says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

–Isaiah 54:9-10, The New Revised Standard Version

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Isaiah 54:1-10 speaks of the return of exiles who have never known their ancestral homeland to that homeland.  God will act, the text says, and all will be better than it has ever been.  Sin might have led to the exile, but the faithful descendants of those sinners will have a fresh start.

A fresh start will follow what God will do, as described in the reading from Matthew 24.  The text does not cover that fresh start, but said fresh start will occur nevertheless.

It is common for lectionaries to assign apocalyptic readings for Advent.  May we who follow these lectionaries grasp the liturgical setting–preparation for the First Coming of Jesus at Christmas.  Therefore some readings about the Second Coming  are appropriate at the end of the calendar year, especially over two thousand years after the First Coming.  And may we remember that a fresh start for humankind followed that event, which we will (if we do it properly) celebrate December 25-January 5 in Western Christianity.  (The Eastern Orthodox have their own calendar.)  May we keep the impending fresh start in mind when we ponder the Second Coming.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 10, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (U.S.A.), 1983

THE FEAST OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA, 1925

THE FEAST OF SAINT EPHREM OF EDESSA, ROMAN CATHOLIC DEACON AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT LANDERICUS OF PARIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/07/06/a-fresh-start/

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Above:  Noah’s Thank Offering, by Joseph Anton Koch

The Unworthiness of the World

NOVEMBER 29, 2022

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The Collect:

Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come.

By your merciful protection awaken us to the threatening dangers of our sins,

and enlighten our walk in the way of your salvation,

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

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 18

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The Assigned Readings:

Genesis 9:1-17

Psalm 124

Hebrews 11:32-40

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If the Lord had not been on our side,

now may Israel say:

If the Lord had not been on our side

when our enemies rose up against us,

then they would have swallowed us up alive:

when their fury was raised against us.

Then the flood would have swept us away:

and the torrent would have covered us.

Then the raging waters

would have gone right over our heads.

–Psalm 124:1-4, A New Zealand Prayer Book (1989)

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Daily Lectionary from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006) skips over Genesis 8:20-22 (over J, the Yahwist, and from P, the Priestly Source) to 9:1-17 (back to P), which covers much of the same ground–plus a rainbow.  In that composite narrative many people had died because of their sinfulness.  In Hebrews 11:32-40, however, we read of people who have died because of their righteousness, people

of whom the world was not worthy.

–Verse 38a, The New Revised Standard Version

These saints, the lesson tells us,

…were commended for their faith [yet] did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better, so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.

–Verses 39-40, The New Revised Standard Version

Both readings contain the element of the unworthiness of the world.  Although the world might be unworthy God vows never to flood it again.  The world might be unworthy yet God does not give up on it, hence the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity as Jesus of Nazareth and all that followed it–especially the death and resurrection of Jesus and their spiritual implications for us.  God has not given up on the world yet; unwritten chapters in the story of grace on this planet remain for people to see unfold.

Yes, we are unworthy; I take that as a given.  But does that reality constitute a topic upon which we should dwell?  No.  God knows what we are yet has identified with us by means of the Incarnation.  Our worthiness is in God alone.  May we respond lovingly to God, who loves us.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 10, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (U.S.A.), 1983

THE FEAST OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA, 1925

THE FEAST OF SAINT EPHREM OF EDESSA, ROMAN CATHOLIC DEACON AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT LANDERICUS OF PARIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/07/06/the-unworthiness-of-the-world/

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Above:  The Subsiding of the Waters of the Deluge, by Thomas Cole

Erasing Sin

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

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The Collect:

Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come.

By your merciful protection awaken us to the threatening dangers of our sins,

and enlighten our walk in the way of your salvation,

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

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 18

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The Assigned Readings:

Genesis 8:1-19

Psalm 124

Romans 6:1-11

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A Related Post:

The Remnant:

http://taylorfamilypoems.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/the-remnant/

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Our help is in the name of the Lord,

who has made heaven and earth.

–Psalm 124:7, The Book of Common Prayer (2004)

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With this post I commence new devotions for Advent 2013 and Church Year 2013-2014.

The story of Noah’s Ark and the Great Flood fascinates me.  For starters, it is a composite story with several literary traditions woven together.  The seams are obvious to anyone who knows what to look for, where to look for it, and who uses a fine-toothed comb.  So the story is not history.  That part does not disturb me, for I am comfortable with mythology in the highest sense of that word:  something which is true without being literally true.

The depiction of God in the composite account does disturb me, however.  God–here and elsewhere in the Hebrew Scriptures–seems quite eager to destroy entire populations.  The English word for that is “genocide.”

The theology of the composite story of the Great Flood and Noah’s Ark is that God wanted to erase sin from the face of the earth–clean the slate–and start over.  So we have a story of creative destruction:  a remnant survives and rebuilds.  After our Genesis reading ends, however, YHWH vows never to do such a thing again (Genesis 8:20-22).  God’s change of mind comes from the Yahwist (J), while the preceding nineteen verses are a combination of the Yahwist and the Priestly Source (P), mostly P.

In Romans 6 we read of a new, better way out of sin–the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  The Apostle Paul uses those not only as literal truths but as metaphors for our lives:

For whoever has died is freed from sin.  But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

–Verses 7-8, The New Revised Standard Version

This is the same Jesus for whose First Coming we prepare liturgically during Advent.  So, as we rush from party to party and from store to store, may we never forget the “Christ” in “Christmas.”  And may we never neglect the season of Advent.  No, may it prove to be a spiritually edifying time for us.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 9, 2013 COMMON ERA

PROPER 5–THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF SAINT COLUMBA OF IONA, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY AND ABBOT

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This is post #300 of this blog.–KRT

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/07/06/erasing-sin/

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