Archive for the ‘Romans 16’ Tag
Above: Mosaic of Jesus, from Hagia Sophia
Image in the Public Domain
The Face of God
DECEMBER 24, 2023
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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)
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2 Samuel 7:(1-7), 8-11, 16
Psalm 89:1-4, 14-18 (LBW) or Psalm 98 (LW)
Romans 16:25-27
Luke 1:26-38
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Stir up your power, O Lord, and come.
Take away the hindrance of our sins
and make us ready for the celebration of your birth,
that we may receive you in joy and serve you always,
for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 14
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Stir up your power, O Lord, and come among us with great might,
and because we are sorely hindered by our sins,
let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 14
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Second Isaiah, writing after the demise of the monarchy of Judah, reinterpreted the divine promise regarding the Davidic Dynasty in 2 Samuel 7:(1-7), 8-11, 16 to refer to the Jewish people instead. St. Luke seemed not to have preferred that interpretation. C’est la vie.
Without getting lost in the weeds of how Jews interpret certain passages of scripture versus how Christians interpret the same passages, I note the historical problem of 2 Samuel 7 and Psalm 89 as a fact. One may reasonably state that many descendants of King David lived during the time of Jesus. I descend from Scottish royalty, but I am one of many people who do so. I assert, therefore, that being a descendant of King David was unremarkable in first-century C.E. Palestine.
Yet Jesus was remarkable. And he has become the defining figure of the faith of much of the world, including me. Indeed, as I read and ponder the assigned readings, I settle upon Romans 16:25-27 as a wonderfully succinct passage, as well as the keynote for this passage. As much as I push back against shoehorning Jesus into every other nook and cranny of the Hebrew Bible and reducing the Hebrew Bible to a prequel to the New Testament, I also affirm that Jesus (the incarnated form of the Second Person of the Trinity, however that works) is the face of God for me.
So, on this Fourth Sunday of Advent, I wish you, O reader, a holy remainder of Advent and twelve days of merry Christmas.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 3, 2023 COMMON ERA
THE TENTH DAY OF LENT
THE FEAST OF SAINT KATHARINE DREXEL, FOUNDER OF THE SISTERS OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
THE FEAST OF SAINTS ANTONIO FRANCESCO MARZORATI, JOHANNES LAURENTIUS WEISS, AND MICHELE PRO FASOLI, FRANCISCAN MISSIONARY PRIESTS AND MARTYRS IN ETHIOPIA, 1716
THE FEAST OF SAINT GERVINUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF HENRY ELIAS FRIES, U.S. MORAVIAN INDUSTRIALIST; AND HIS WIFE, ROSA ELVIRA FRIES, U.S. MORAVIAN MUSICIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT TERESA EUSTOCHIO VERZERI, FOUNDER OF THE INSTITUTE OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS
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Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA
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Above: Magnificat
Image in the Public Domain
Happy Advent and Merry Christmas
DECEMBER 24, 2023
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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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Jeremiah 31:7-14
Luke 1:46-56
Romans 16:25-27
Luke 1:26-38
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Advent begins with foreboding and ends in joy.
The presence of texts related to exile (Jeremiah 31:7-14, for example) in Advent is notable. The recollection of salvation history during Advent takes the church down the paths of exile and and exodus in glorious pericopes. The image of Yahweh as a shepherd in Jeremiah 31fits easily with imagery of Jesus as the Good Shepherd.
I have little to write about these assigned readings this week. I could put on my academic hat, of course, but I prefer to wear the proverbial hat of a devotional writer at these times. So I invite you, O reader, to read and internalize the poetry and the prose, and to let it inform who you become in God.
Happy Advent, and in a few days–for twelve days–Merry Christmas.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 8, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF CLARA LUPER, WITNESS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
THE FEAST OF GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC POET AND JESUIT PRIEST
THE FEAST OF HENRY DOWNTON, ANGLICAN PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF ROLAND ALLEN, ANGLICAN PRIEST, MISSIONARY, AND MISSIONS STRATEGIST
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2019/06/08/happy-advent-and-merry-christmas/
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Above: Paul Writing His Epistles, by Valentin de Boulogne
Image in the Public Domain
Sexism and Disruptions
FEBRUARY 7, 2022
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The Collect:
Most Holy God, the earth is filled with your glory,
and before you angels and saints stand in awe.
Enlarge our vision to see your power at work in the world,
and by your grace make us heralds of your Son,
Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 24
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The Assigned Readings:
Judges 5:1-11
Psalm 115
1 Corinthians 14:26-40
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Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
but to your Name give glory;
because of your love and because of your faithfulness.
–Psalm 115:1, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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The pericope from 1 Corinthians 14 contains a troubling passage which might be a later addition to it. In the context of cautions against seeking glory for oneself and thereby causing disruption in the church we read that women (actually, wives, in Greek) should be silent and subordinate in church. The meaning is probably that a wife who disagrees with or contradicts her husband in church will cause discord in the congregation, maybe by embarrassing him. Furthermore, some women in the Corinthian congregation were questioning speakers during worship. On the other hand, St. Paul the Apostle worked well with other women (such as St. Prisca/Priscilla, wife of St. Aquila), who taught, and many of the troublemakers in the Corinthian congregation were men. (For details regarding St. Prisca/Priscilla, read Acts 18:1-28; Romans 16:3; 1 Corinthians 16:19; and 2 Timothy 4:19.) One might also refer to Pauline assertions of equality in Christ, as in Galatians 3:27-29. And, with respect to the pericope from Judges 5, Deborah was a chieftain of the Israelites.
One of the contexts in which to interpret a passage of scripture is the entirety of the Bible. Another is the immediate environs (textual, historical, and geographical) of the passage. Nevertheless, sexist attitudes consistent with patriarchy permeate the Bible. I refuse to validation. Each of us learns from culture. This curriculum is of mixed quality. May we recognize the bad, reject it, and refuse to call it holy.
Meanwhile, may we refrain from causing disruptions in church.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 9, 2015 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT DENIS, BISHOP OF PARIS, AND HIS COMPANIONS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS
THE FEAST OF SAINT LUIS BERTRAN, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY PRIEST
THE FEAST OF ROBERT GROSSETESTE, SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF WILHELM WEXELS, NORWEGIAN LUTHERAN MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR; HIS NIECE, MARIE WEXELSEN, NORWEGIAN LUTHERAN NOVELIST AND HYMN WRITER; LUDWIG LINDEMAN, NORWEGIAN LUTHERAN ORGANIST AND MUSICOLOGIST; AND MAGNUS LANDSTAD, NORWEGIAN LUTHERAN MINISTER, FOLKLORIST, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMNAL EDITOR
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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2015/10/09/sexism-and-disruptions/
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Above: St. Mary’s Orphanage, Washington, D.C., Circa 1909
Image Source = Library of Congress
Compassion, Justice, and Crime
JANUARY 28, 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:
Zechariah 6:1-7:14
Psalm 62 (Morning)
Psalms 73 and 8 (Evening)
Romans 16:17-27
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Thus said the LORD of Hosts: Execute true justice and deal loyally and compassionately with one another. Do not defraud the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the poor; and do not plot evil against one another.–But they refused to pay heed….
–Zechariah 7:9-11a, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures
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I urge you, brothers, be on your guard against the people who are out to stir up disagreements and bring up difficulties against the teaching which you learnt. Avoid them.
–Romans 16:17, The New Jerusalem Bible
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Who were the people whom Paul advised Roman Christians to avoid? It seems that they were Judaizers–who argued that Gentiles needed to convert to Judaism and conform to Jewish customs as conditions of becoming Christians–or to Gnostics–who considered self-knowledge to be salvation and being one’s true self as discipleship–or both. As various Pauline epistles attest, Paul criticized both in strong terms. Self-knowledge is good, of course, but it does not equal salvation. And I suppose that being oneself, assuming that one is a good and compassionate person, is also a virtue. Certainly, one ought to be the person whom God created one to be. That is a component of discipleship, but the Christian definition of discipleship is following Jesus. And, if one needs to become and Jewish and to keep Jewish customs in order to be Christian, many incidents in the canonical Gospels where Jesus clashes with religious authorities make no sense.
There are good rules and bad ones. Good rules include those Zechariah extolled: Executing true justice; dealing loyally and compassionately with one another; dealing honestly with the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the poor; and seeking the best for one another. Against such things there are no divine laws. I know of no divine law against compassion, generosity, and hospitality. Yet throughout time human laws against them have existed. They continue to exist. Once, in the United States, aiding a fugitive slave’s quest for freedom constituted a federal crime. Fortunately, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 passed into history. Today showing compassion to certain people might constitute aiding and abetting criminals, technically speaking. A criminal is simply one whom the state has labeled as such, for a crime is whatever the state defines as such. An escaped slave used to be a criminal–a thief, technically speaking.
My bottom line is this: May we execute true justice. May we deal loyally and compassionately with one another. May we not defraud the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the poor. May we not plot evil against one another. May we not impose needless burdens on one another. And, if living according to these rules constitutes a crime, may we remember that Jesus, our Lord and Savior, died as a criminal, according to the Roman Empire. Definitions of crime differ according to time and place, but certain moral absolutes exist. That standard is the most important one of all.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 11, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT DIONYSIUS OF CORINTH, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
THE FEAST OF SAINT ANTHONY NEYROT, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR
THE FEAST OF GEORGE AUGUSTUS SELWYN, ANGLICAN PRIMATE OF NEW ZEALAND
THE FEAST OF SAINT STANISLAUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF KRAKOW
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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2012/10/06/compassion-justice-and-crime/
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Above: The Annunciation, by El Greco
Nothing is Impossible with God
DECEMBER 24, 2023
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THE FIRST READING
2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 (New Revised Standard Version):
Now when the king [David] was settled in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan,
See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.
Nathan said to the king,
Go, do all that you have in mind; for the LORD is with you.
But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan:
Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.
THE TWO OPTIONS FOR THE RESPONSE
Canticle 15 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
(The Magnificat plus the Trinitarian formula)
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 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.
Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 Your love, O LORD, for ever will I sing;
from age to age my mouth will proclaim your faithfulness.
2 For I am persuaded that your love is established for ever;
you have set your faithfulness firmly in the heavens.
3 “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn an oath to David my servant;
4 ‘I will establish your line for ever,
and preserve your throne for all generations.’”
19 You spoke once in a vision and said to your faithful people:
“I have set the crown upon a warrior
and have exalted one chosen out of the people.
20 I have found David my servant;
with my holy oil have I anointed him.
21 My hand will hold him fast
and my arm will make him strong.
22 No enemy shall deceive him,
nor any wicked man bring him down.
23 I will crush his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and love shall be with him,
and he shall be victorious through my Name.
25 I shall make his dominion extend
from the Great Sea to the River.
26 He will say to you, ‘You are my Father,
my God, and the rock of my salvation.’
THE SECOND READING
Romans 16:25-27 (New Revised Standard Version):
Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith– to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.
THE GOSPEL READING
Luke 1:26-38 (New Revised Standard Version):
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said,
Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.
But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her,
Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.
Mary said to the angel,
How can this be, since I am a virgin?
The angel said to her,
The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.
Then Mary said,
Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.
Then the angel departed from her.
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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What is really going on here?
That was the question a spiritual mentor of mine in the early-middle 1990s asked himself when he approached any passage from the Bible. Let us apply it to the readings for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year B.
Nothing is impossible with God.
We read this in the Gospel lesson. How does an obscure young woman become the mother not only of the Messiah, but of God incarnate? And how does a shepherd, the runt of his family, become a great king and the founder of a dynasty? God makes such things happen. Let us appreciate the mystery, not quarrel about divine tactics.
Nothing is impossible with God.
When we examine our own lives and those of the people closest to us, do we believe that nothing is impossible with God? Have we become so jaded that we have lost hope that God can and will act wondrously and beyond our expectations? I hope not.
To what spectacular wonders is God preparing to give birth in you and in others? Time will tell. By faith and grace, may we look forward to the blessed events.
KRT
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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/nothing-is-impossible-with-god/
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ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS 
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