Archive for the ‘Titus 3’ Tag
Above: Annunciation to the Shepherds, by Rembrandt van Rijn
Image in the Public Domain
Divine Audacity
DECEMBER 24-25, 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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First Service (Christmas Eve)
Isaiah 9:2-7
Psalm 96
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-20
Second Service (Christmas Dawn)
Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm 97 (LBW) or Psalm 2 (LW)
Hebrews 1:1-9
John 1:1-14
Third Service (Christmas Day)
Isaiah 62:10-12
Psalm 98
Titus 3:4-7
Luke 2:1-20
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Almighty God, you made this holy night shine with the brightness of the true Light.
Grant that here on earth we may walk in the light of Jesus’ presence
and in the last day wake to the brightness of his glory;
through your only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 14
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Almighty God, you have made yourself known in your Son, Jesus, redeemer of the world.
We pray that his birth as a human child will set us free from the old slavery of our sin;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 14
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O God, as you make us glad by the yearly festival of the birth of your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ,
grant that we, who joyfully receive him as our Redeemer,
may with sure confidence behold him when he comes to be our judge;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.
—Lutheran Worship (1982), 16
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The Christian observance of Christmas began in the West, in the 300s. At Rome, by 336, December 25 had become the beginning of the church year. Pope St. Gregory I “the Great” (d. 604) wrote of three Christmas Masses–at St. Mary Major, at midnight; at St. Anastasia’s Church, at dawn; and at St. Peter’s, during the day.
Luke 2:1-20 is not historical. I, as a student of history, cannot refute the evidence for this conclusion. However, I embrace the prose poetry of Luke 2:1-20, for it speaks of a great truth: Jesus, not the Emperor Augustus, was the Son of God and the savior of the world, regardless of what the Roman government and coinage claimed.
I have the sources and background to parce all the assigned readings. Yet I choose not to do so in this post. Instead, O reader, I invite you to frolic in divine audacity, evident in the incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity as a baby (however that worked). I invite you, O reader, to frolic in divine audacity, which continues to influence lives and societies for the better. I also invite you, O reader, to frolic in the mystery of divine love, to feel comfortable leaving the mystery mysterious, and to respond favorably to God daily, in gratitude.
Merry Christmas!
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 9, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY: THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, YEAR C
THE FEAST OF JULIA CHESTER EMERY, UPHOLDER OF MISSIONS
THE FEAST OF EMILY GREENE BALCH, U.S. QUAKER SOCIOLOGIST, ECONOMIST, AND PEACE ACTIVIST
THE FEAST OF GENE M. TUCKER, UNITED METHODIST MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR
THE FEAST OF JOHANN JOZEF IGNAZ VON DÖLLINGER, DISSDENT AND EXCOMMUNICATED GERMAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, THEOLOGIAN, AND HISTORIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT PHILIP II OF MOSCOW, METROPOLITAN OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA, AND MARTYR, 1569
THE FEAST OF THOMAS CURTIS CLARK, U.S. DISCIPLES OF CHRIST EVANGELIST, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
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Link to the corresponding post at BLOGA THEOLOGICA
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Above: Nativity and Annunciation to the Shepherds
Image in the Public Domain
Reasons for Hope
DECEMBER 25, 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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Proper 2
Isaiah 62:6-12
Psalm 97
Titus 3:4-7
Luke 2:[1-7] 8-20
Proper 3
Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm 98
Hebrews 1:1-12
John 1:1-14
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The Reverend Will Humes, consistent with the Roman Catholic tradition of the three masses of Christmas, provides Propers 1, 2, and 3 in his proposed lectionary. Proper 1 is for Christmas Eve. Propers 2 and 3 are for Christmas Day.
St. Gregory I “the Great,” Bishop of Rome (d. 604), provided the oldest surviving documentation of the three masses of Christmas. The midnight mass was at the Church of St. Mary Major. The second mass, at dawn, was at St. Anastasia’s Church. The third mass of the day was at the Church of St. Peter.
Proper 2
The context of Isaiah 62 was the end of the Babylonian Exile. The nations had witnessed the vindication of Israel in 61:10-62:2. The best days of the returning exiles lay ahead. The problem was that, according to all historical sources, those predictions of paradise on Earth did not come true. Returning exiles lived in a poor, backwater satrapy of the Persian Empire. Many people pushed those vaunted hopes into the future.
God is in charge. This is good news for the righteous and bad news for those He consumes. Justification by grace, which results from divine mercy, makes the justified heirs to eternal life, which is knowing God via Jesus (John 17:3). Part of living faithfully, of responding favorably to God in response to divine mercy, is striving to live more patiently as one acknowledges God’s promises. There is always hope, even though some of it has yet to arrive.
Regardless of the year you are reading this post, O reader, I guarantee that global news looks nothing like God’s full-blown reign on Earth. This is a matter of human sinfulness and of divine scheduling. Mustering patience can be difficult, I know, but we need not rely on our strength, which is insufficient anyhow. Fortunately, God seems to smile upon even the effort to muster patience; at least the attempt is a sign of good faith.
Proper 3
The readings from Hebrews 1 and John 1 present the heavenly Jesus, who dwelt among people and met with both acceptance and rejection. All the people of the Earth should rejoice because of the Incarnation, but most do not. This is unfortunate. It is also a matter for divine judgment and mercy; I will not presume to know more about the balance of those two factors than the very little I perceive.
The reading from Isaiah 52 is a prophecy of the restoration of Jerusalem. The Presence of God will dwell with the people, as it did after the Exodus and before the crossing into Canaan, we read. The full victory of God remains for the future, but the Incarnation constitutes a unique divine intervention into human events. The Incarnation points toward intervention and tells us, among other things, that we who follow Christ have excellent reasons to hope for the future.
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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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2018/03/17/reasons-for-hope/
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Above: Interior, Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, Palestine, Between 1934 and 1939
Image Source = Library of Congress
Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-matpc-04039
The Incarnated Light
DECEMBER 25, 2022
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The Collects:
All-powerful and unseen God, the coming of your light
into our world has brightened weary hearts with peace.
Call us out of darkness, and empower us to proclaim the birth of your Son,
Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
and
Almighty God, you gave your only Son to take on our human nature
and to illumine the world with your light.
By your grace adopt us as your children and enlighten us with your Spirit,
through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 20
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The Assigned Readings:
Set One:
Isaiah 62:6-12
Psalm 97
Titus 3:4-7
Luke 2:[1-7] 8-20
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Set Two:
Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm 98
Hebrews 1:1-4 [5-12]
John 1:1-14
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Some Related Posts:
O Blessed Mother:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/o-blessed-mother/
A Christmas Prayer:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/a-christmas-prayer/
Blessing of a Nativity Scene:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/blessing-of-a-nativity-scene/
A Christmas Prayer: God of History:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/a-christmas-prayer-god-of-history/
A Christmas Prayer: Immanuel:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/a-christmas-prayer-immanuel/
Christmas Blessings:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/christmas-blessings/
A Christmas Prayer of Thanksgiving:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/a-christmas-prayer-of-thanksgiving/
The Hail Mary:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/25/the-hail-mary/
O Little Town of Bethlehem:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/12/09/o-little-town-of-bethlehem/
Joy to the World:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/12/15/joy-to-the-world/
Christmas Prayers of Praise and Adoration:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/12/20/christmas-prayers-of-praise-and-adoration/
Christmas Prayers of Dedication:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/12/20/christmas-prayers-of-dedication/
A Prayer of Thanksgiving for Christmas:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/12/22/a-prayer-of-thanksgiving-for-christmas/
How Can I Fitly Greet Thee:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/how-can-i-fitly-greet-thee/
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Light has dawned for the righteous:
and joy for the upright in heart.
–Psalm 97:11, A New Zealand Prayer Book (1989)
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You have made known your victory:
you have displayed your saving power to all nations.
–Psalm 98:3, A New Zealand Prayer Book (1989)
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The readings for Christmas Day, the first day of Christmas, focus on the arrival of salvation. In some ways this announcement constitutes old news, especially when reading the lessons from Isaiah. And, as another text tells us:
In many and various ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom he also created the ages. He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has obtained is more excellent than theirs.
–Hebrews 1:1-4, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition
Salvation was–and remains–old news. And the one new means of it is about 2,000 years old in human terms now. Through Jesus we have access to
…the cleansing power of a new birth and the renewal of the Holy Spirit….The result is that we are acquitted by his [Christ’s] grace, and can look forward in hope to inheriting life eternal.
–Titus 3:5b and 7, J. B. Phillips, The New Testament in Modern English, Revised Edition (1972)
The Incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity in the form of Jesus of Nazareth, proclaimed to shepherds, is potentially good news for people of various socio-economic backgrounds and cultural origins. Grace is good news, is it not? Yet grace, although free, is costly, not cheap. It demands much of us. And there is potentially bad news from a certain point of view. To follow Jesus–to be a disciple–might cost one more than one wants to pay. It has cost many people their lives.
On this Christmas Day and on all other days may we accept the challenge to take up a cross and follow Jesus, the Word made flesh and the Light who shines in the darkness without the darkness overcoming it.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 10, 2013 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOHANN SCHEFFLER, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF GEORG NEUMARK, GERMAN LUTHERAN POET AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOHN HINES, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/the-incarnated-light/
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Above: Historic American Sheet Music, “I’m goin’ to fight my way right back to Carolina”
Music B-633, Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library
Image Source = Duke University via the Library of Congress
Discomfort and Holiness
FEBRUARY 3, 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 14:1-21
Psalm 103 (Morning)
Psalms 117 and 139 (Evening)
Titus 2:7-3:15
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A Related Post:
A Franciscan Blessing:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/a-franciscan-blessing/
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My discomfort with Zechariah and Titus continues. (See link.) As for the former, God’s reign of holiness arrives only after rapes, battles, and plagues. And, in Titus, instructions for slaves to obey their masters coexist with a beautiful summary of God’s saving love. When one thinks that Christ might return soon, reforming one’s society and emancipating slaves seems unimportant, I suppose. But that was nearly 2,000 years ago. History has rendered its verdict, has it not?
To be holy is to be “called out.” In the name of being holy many people have committed and/or condoned violence. In the name of being holy many people have looked down upon their neighbors. In the name of being holy many people have obsessed over minor details–such as ritually pure pots, long skirts, and short hair–while ignoring social injustice, such as racism and economic exploitation.
The kindness and love of God our Saviour for humanity (Titus 3:4, The New Jerusalem Bible)
requires us to move, by grace, toward thinking of our fellow human beings in those terms. Thus the length of a skirt or one’s hair ought to matter less than whether the courts are corrupt or economic exploitation is a current problem. I think of Philip Yancey’s comments about the Bible college he attended in the 1960s. Civil rights were not on the agenda, but his hair had to be short and women’s skirts had to be long. And, judging from pictures of Jesus, the Lord’s haircut would have kept him out of the college.
Holiness ought to be a high standard, not a petty one.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 12, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ALFRED LEE, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
THE FEAST OF ALAN PATON, NOVELIST AND WITNESS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS IN SOUTH AFRICA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JULIUS I, BISHOP OF ROME
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM OF OCKHAM, PHILOSOPHER
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM SLOANE COFFIN, SOCIAL ACTIVIST
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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2012/10/06/discomfort-and-holiness/
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Above: The Traditional Site of the Birth of Jesus, at the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, Israel
Love Descended
DECEMBER 25, 2023
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The Collect:
O God, you make us glad by the yearly festival of the birth of your only Son Jesus Christ: Grant that we, who joyfully receive him as our Redeemer, may with sure confidence behold him when he comes to be our Judge; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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The Revised Common Lectionary lists three sets of readings for Christmas Day.
Set One:
Isaiah 9:2-7
Psalm 96
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)
Set Two:
Isaiah 62:6-12
Psalm 97
Titus 3:4-7
Luke 2:(1-7), 8-20
Set Three:
Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm 98
Hebrews 1:1-4, (5-12)
John 1:1-14
I choose to list the scriptural citations for Christmas Day and proceed to my thoughts.
Part One:
December 25 is the first day of Christmas; January 5 is the last. There are twelve days of Christmas. So I encourage everyone to think in terms of this sacred time, not commercial time. I live in North America, where many retailers put out their Christmas displays before Halloween. History tells me that many Evangelicals over time have either ignored Christmas (as too Roman Catholic) or preferred it as a secular, commercial celebration of the family, or complained about excessive commercialization. (They have correct in this matter only in the last example. For more details, follow this link.
So I hope you, O reader, will keep a sacred Christmas season without falling into crankiness about crass commercialism. Life is too short to be habitually irritated. Let us enjoy God instead.
I refer you also to this post.
Part Two:
We bore the image of God yet disregarded God, gave God inadequate attention, mistreated each other, institutionalized injustice, and misunderstood divine demands.
So God spoke through the Prophets.
Yet we persisted in our misguided ways.
So Love descended, became one of us (yet much more), and demonstrated righteousness.
We murdered Love.
Yet God raised Love from the dead.
We persist in our misguided ways.
And God is still speaking.
Are we listening?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 4, 2010 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF JOHN XXIII, BISHOP OF ROME
http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2011/11/26/love-descended/
ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS 
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