If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Above:  Icon of St. John the Baptist

Image in the Public Domain

God With Us

DECEMBER 19, 2021

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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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Zechariah 2:10-13 (Protestant and Anglican)/Zechariah 2:14-17 (Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox)

Psalm 122

1 John 5:1-11

John 1:19-28

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The readings from Zechariah and the Psalms overlap thematically.  First Zechariah (Chapters 1-8) is a section concerned with the rebuilding of of the Jewish community after the return from the Babylonian Exile.  The legitimization of the Second Temple is a major theme in support of that goal.  In the context of the establishment of an ideal Zion, we read that God will dwell in the midst of the people.

First Zechariah also overlaps with First John thematically.  Both agree that love of God entails keeping divine commandments.  One may think also of another verse:

–John 14:15, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)

In our scheduled portion of the Gospel of John, we read of St. John the Baptist pointing to Jesus, not himself.  This is a good reading to pair with the verses from Zechariah 2.  God has come to dwell among the people.

God still dwells among us.  The Holy Spirit is present, of course.  God also works through people.  The face of Jesus someone may see today may be your face, O reader.  Likewise, the face of Jesus I see today may be someone in public, as we go about our lives.  God dwells among us.  We will recognize that truth if we know where to look.

May the image of God in you, O reader, greet the image of God in those around you.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 26, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE SECOND DAY OF CHRISTMAS

THE FEAST OF SAINT STEPHEN, DEACON AND MARTYR

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2020/12/26/god-with-us-part-vi/

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Above:  Peter’s Vision of the Sheet with Animals, by Henry Davenport Northrop

Scrupulousness

JANUARY 25, 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 1:1-21/1:1-2:4

Psalm 86 (Morning)

Psalms 6 and 19 (Evening)

Romans 14:1-23

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Do not wreck God’s work for the sake of food.

–Romans 14:20a, The New Jerusalem Bible

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TECHNICAL NOTE:

Zechariah 1:-21 in Protestant Bibles equals Zechariah 1:1-2:4 in Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox ones.

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Was it lawful to eat meat once offered to imaginary deities or to consume food impure by the standards of the Law of Moses?  Paul understood the answer to that question to be yes, although he chose to abstain from certain culinary options for the sake of others.  It was difficult to find meat not sacrificed to idols, so one might have become a vegetarian to avoid even the appearance of something considered improper.  On the other hand, since those gods did not exist, why let good food go to waste?

Scrupulousness is good, but it can go too far.  A lack of scrupulousness, in Zechariah, had prompted God’s anger.  Yet there would be mercy for the punished Hebrews.  Once again judgment and mercy came in proximity to each other.  Paul’s personal deprivation aside, I feel no need to deny myself proper pleasures which others might interpret wrongly.  The truth is that anything I do might offend someone of a certain rigidity of attitudes.  I refuse to permit such rigidity dictate my lifestyle choices.  Yet neither will I confront them about their choices.  Their business is theirs, as mine is my own.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 9, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF DIETRICH BONHOEFFER, MARTYR AND GERMAN LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/scrupulousness/

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