Above:  Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, by Gustave Dore

Job and John, Part XXI:  Wrestling with Texts

SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2019

SUNDAY, MARCH 3, 2019

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019

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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:

Job 33:19-34:9 (March 2)

Job 34:10-33 (March 3)

Job 36:1-21 (March 4)

Psalm 103 (Morning–March 2)

Psalm 5 (Morning–March 3)

Psalm 43 (Morning–March 4)

Psalms 117 and 139 (Evening–March 2)

Psalms 84 and 29 (Evening–March 3)

Psalms 102 and 133 (Evening–March 4)

John 11:1-16 (March 2)

John 11:17-37 (March 3)

John 11:38-57 (March 4)

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I have difficulty with the Book of Job for several reasons.  One is my conviction that the titular character, according to the book itself, was innocent.  So his complaints were justified.  Yet Elihu–otherwise a redundant idiot–and God both accuse Job of impugning divine justice.  (See Job 36:5 forward and 40:7 forward.)  The Book of Job provides no satisfactory answer to the causes of suffering of the innocent.  That is my second reason for difficulty with the text.  And, being a good Episcopalian, I embrace the ambiguity and refuse to surrender my doubts.  Jesus took away my sins, not my mind.  Dismissing Elihu is impossible for me because of the reasons I have explained.  I would like to dismiss him; take my word for that, O reader.  So I wrestle with the texts; sometimes that is the most faithful response.

Meanwhile, in John 11, Jesus raises his friend Lazarus from the dead.  This sets in motion a plot among Pharisees to scapegoat him for fear of what the Romans will do to the nation otherwise.  Authorities did scapegoat Jesus.  And, a generation later, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem during a revolt.  There is no ambiguity about those facts.  The scapegoating of Jesus did not solve any problem.  It killed an innocent man, but he did not remain dead for long.  And the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem stands as evidence of what the Roman forces did to the Temple in 70 CE.

The desire to eliminate Jesus was a fear reaction, not a reasoned response.  Does God frighten me?  Sometimes, yes.  Do certain depictions of God in the Bible scare and discomfort me?  Yes!  But I recognize my need to approach God with theological humility.  Perhaps my God concept is too small.  It almost certainly is.  Dismissing or rationalizing away that which brings this reality to my attention will not alter the facts.  So I wrestle with the texts faithfully.

Until the next segment of our journey….

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 27, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF GEORGE WASHINGTON DOANE, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF NEW JERSEY

THE FEAST OF SAINTS ANTONY AND THEODOSIUS OF KIEV, FOUNDERS OF RUSSIAN ORTHODOX MONASTICISM; SAINT BARLAAM OF KIEV, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX ABBOT; AND SAINT STEPHEN OF KIEV, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX ABBOT AND BISHOP

THE FEAST OF THE EARLY ABBOTS OF CLUNY

THE FEAST OF JOSEPH WARRILOW, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2012/11/06/job-and-john-part-xxi-wrestling-with-texts/

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Above:  Saint John in the Wilderness, by Thomas Cole

Job and John, Part II:  Integrity

FEBRUARY 5, 2024

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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:

Job 2:1-3:10

Psalm 42 (Morning)

Psalms 102 and 133 (Evening)

John 1:19-34

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Job could have cursed God, with some justification.  The Book of Job does tell us that God sanctioned Job’s sufferings.  Yet Job cursed the day of his birth.  And John the Baptist could have identified himself as the Chosen One of God.  Many people would not have known the difference between such a claim and the truth.  Yet each figure acted according to an internalized sense of integrity.

How we behave when few others would know truth from fiction or nobody is watching indicates much about our integrity.  This principle extends far beyond individualistic issues; it applies to questions such as how our actions affect the environment.  (Environmental stewardship is a biblical mandate.)  And the problems of others are also ours, as ours are theirs.  We human beings are social creatures, thus what one person does affects others.  Simply striving to treat others as people who bear the image of God (which they are) can lead one to violate social conventions and cause trouble for one.  As a student of civil rights history, I know that segregation was the social order in the South.  Thus resisting it could be risky, to state the case mildly.

The highest state of morality is following internalized morality instead of the consensus.  May you, O reader, demonstrate integrity and morality of the highest order.

Until the next segment of our journey….

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 13, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT HERMENEGILD, VISIGOTHIC PRINCE AND ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR

THE FEAST OF SAINT HUGH OF ROUEN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP, ABBOT, AND MONK

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARTIN I, BISHOP OF ROME

THE FEAST OF MIKAEL AGRICOLA, FINNISH LUTHERAN BISHOP OF TALLINN

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/job-and-john-part-ii-integrity/

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Above:  The Prophet Ezekiel

Whether They Listen Or Not

 JANUARY 8, 2024

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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:

Ezekiel 2:1-3:11

Psalm 42 (Morning)

Psalms 102 and 133 (Evening)

Romans 1:18-32

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One of the surest ways to misread a text–especially one from the Bible–is to read anachronistic assumptions into it.  The modern psychiatric category of homosexual orientation is modern, so it could not have been an issue for Paul.  So, what was “unnatural” sexual  behavior?  One aspect could have been the impossibility of conceiving a child.  If we accept this explanation, what about the sexual lives of older couples?  And, if we read the text from Romans as referring to homosexual acts yet not orientation, then those acts are unnatural for the people involved.

I chose to address that aspect of Romans 1 first because I wanted to get it out of the way and move my focus to the main idea which links the Romans and Ezekiel lessons.  God commanded the prophet to speak divine pronouncements regardless of  whether people listened or not, “for they are rebellious” (Ezekiel 2:7).  And, in Romans, those who have rejected God behave in ways (mostly non-sexual; read the list) destructive of themselves and others.  Their rebellious deeds flowed from their rejection of God; those deeds did not separate them from God.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God.  Sometimes divine love becomes tough love, but is love nevertheless.  My prayer for you, O reader, and for myself is that we–you and I–will not try the love of God very often.  May we reciprocate instead.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 14, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT MATHILDA, QUEEN OF GERMANY

THE FEAST OF KEREOPA AND MANIHERA OF TARANAKI, ANGLICAN MARTYRS

THE FEAST OF PAVEL CHESNOKOV, COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF PETER GRAVES, ACTOR

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2012/08/14/whether-they-listen-or-not/

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Above: The Magnificat in Latin

Magnificat

DECEMBER 22, 2023

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FIRST READING:  1 Samuel 1:19-28 (Revised English Bible):

(From the story of Hannah and Elkanah, parents of the prophet Samuel)

Next morning they were up early, after prostrating themselves before the LORD, returned to their home at Ramah.  Elkanah had intercourse with his wife, Hannah, and the LORD remembered her; she conceived, and in due time bore a son, whom she named Samuel,

because,

she said,

I asked the LORD for him.

Elkanah with his whole household went up to make the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to keep his vow.  Hannah did not go; she said to her husband,

After the child is weaned I shall go up with him to present him before the LORD; then he is to stay there always.

Her husband Elkanah said to her,

Do what you think best; stay at home until you have weaned him.  Only, may the LORD indeed see your vow fulfilled.

So the woman stayed behind and nursed her son until she had weaned him.

When she had weaned him, she took him up with her.  She took also a bull three years old, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him, child as he was, into the house of the LORD at Shiloh.  When the bull had been slaughtered, Hannah brought the boy to Eli and said,

Sir, as sure as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD.  It was they boy that I prayed for and the LORD has granted what I asked.  Now I make him over to the LORD; for his whole life is lent to the LORD.

And they prostrated themselves there before the LORD.

RESPONSE, OPTION #1:  Canticle 9, from The Book of Common Prayer, page 86:

(Isaiah 12:2-6)

Surely, it is God who saves me;

I will trust in him and not be afraid.

For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense,

and he will be my Savior.

Therefore you shall draw water with rejoicing

from the springs of salvation.

On that day you shall say,

Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name;

Make his deeds known among the peoples;

see that they remember that his Name is exalted.

Sing the praises of the Lord, for he has done great things,

and this is known in all the world.

Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy,

for the great one in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel.

Glory 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.

RESPONSE, OPTION #2:  Psalm 133 (Revised English Bible):

How good and pleasant it is

to live together as brothers in unity!

It is like fragrant oil poured on the head

and falling over the beard,

Aaron’s beard, when the oil runs down

over the collar of his vestments.

It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling

on the mountains of Zion.

There the LORD bestows his blessing,

life for evermore.

RESPONSE, OPTION #3:  Psalm 122 (Revised English Bible):

I rejoiced when they said to me,

Let us go to the house of the LORD.

Now we are standing

withing your gates, Jerusalem:

Jerusalem, a city built

compactly and solidly.

There the tribes went up, the tribes of the LORD,

to give thanks to the name of the LORD,

the duty laid on Israel.

For there the thrones of justice were set,

the thrones of the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

May those who love you prosper;

peace be within your ramparts

and prosperity in your palaces.

For the sake of these my brothers and my friends,

I shall say,

Peace be within you.

For the sake of the house of the LORD our God

I shall pray for your well-being.

GOSPEL: Luke 1:46-56 (Revised English Bible):

And Mary said:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour;

for he has looked with favour on his servant,

lowly as she is.

From this day forward

all generations will count me blessed,

for the Mighty God has done great things for me.

His name is holy,

his mercy sure from generation to generation

toward those who fear him.

He has shown the might of his arm,

he has routed the proud and all their schemes;

he has brought down monarchs and their thrones,

and raised on high the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and sent the rich away empty.

He has come to the help of Israel his servant,

as he promised to our forefathers;

he has not forgotten to show mercy

to Abraham and his children’s children for ever.

Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then returned home.

The Collect:

Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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While typing these readings and copying and pasting the collect I have been listening to Charles Gound’s glorious St. Cecilia Mass (1855).  To read and type the text of the Magnificat while listening to the “Sanctus” from that great choral work is quite an experience, and one I recommend for anyone.  Now I am in the “Benedictus,” and think that listening to Gounod’s St. Cecilia Mass while writing devotional blog entries is the best possible way to have spent this evening.

Intertwined threads run through readings for this day.  God grants a child, a mother consecrates said offspring to the service of God, and this child grows up to serve God until the end.  Samuel became a great prophet, anointing David as King of Israel.  And we all know how Jesus turned out, do we not?

Grace is wonderful, and we are correct to thank God for it in our prayers.  We need to thank God for it with our lives, too.  Samuel was the most precious person in Hannah’s life, and she gave him to God.  I hear that parenthood is never easy, but imagine being the Mother of God.  Mary gave her best, too.  God wants the best we have to offer, not our leftovers.  So let us offer the best we have, whether tangible or intangible.

Now I am still in Heaven on Earth, for the beautiful final movement, “Domine Salvum,” is playing.  I savor this moment and thank God for the musical talents of Charles Gounod, the conductor, orchestra members, choir members, and soloists.

KRT

Written on June 3, 2010

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/magnificat/