A shrewd God

SECOND FROM LAST FRIDAY OF THE KINGDOM

15 November 2013

Readings:

2 Samuel 22:25-33

Matthew 7:7-14

Key Verses:

2 Sam. 22:26-27: “With the merciful you will show yourself merciful.  With the perfect… you will show yourself perfect.  With the pure you will show yourself pure.  With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd.”

Matt. 7:8: Jesus said, “Everyone who asks receives.  He who seeks finds.  To him who knocks it will be opened.”

Reflection

In the 1989 Canadian film Jésus de Montréal, Friar Leclerc (Gilles Pelletier) enlists a group of actors headed by Daniel (Lothaire Bluteau) to modernize his summer Passion Play.  The result is a fascinating audience-interactive portrayal of current biblical scholarship’s discoveries and conjectures about the historical Jesus, and the world in which he lived.  Obviously this does not sit well with the Catholic priest, nor with his superiors.  Exasperated, he lectures Daniel:

“Are you out of your mind?  Christ, the natural son of a Roman soldier?  The Virgin Mary, an unwed mother?  Are you crazy?”

Daniel attempts to defend his production: “In the Bible…” but Leclerc cuts him off:

“It can be made to say anything!  I know… from experience.”

The Bible is a complicated series of texts, written down over a millennium, some of whose stories go back to undatable oral tradition; whose books weren’t all intended to be sewn together into one continuous narrative.  For most of history, only scholars and priests—both Jewish and Christian—had access to the text.  They often guarded it from the general public, I think, less out of a selfish sense of superiority, or a desire to perpetuate ignorance, but more because of its complexity, because, in the wrong hands, “it can be made to say anything”.

Nowadays, first with the printing press and then the internet, just about anyone (including myself) can be a biblical commentator.  People read and see what they want in it—and we all know what sorts of things people can come up with.  Who agrees or disagrees with whom, then, dictates the next denominational split—leaving the faithful with a “we’re right, you’re wrong” kind of attitude.

And yet, “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace” (1 Cor. 14:33, KJV).  We can see this in today’s first reading from the Second Book of Samuel.  God meets us right where we are, as we are: mercy with mercy; perfection with perfection; purity with purity; and—get this—crookedness with shrewdness.  Yes, even to those whose intentions are less than honest, God will still show himself, shrewdly using their dishonesty, their crookedness and corruption against them, to bring them down, to humble them—and we know what Jesus said about those who humble themselves (Matt. 23:12).

God stops at nothing to reach us, to exalt us into his goodness and peace.  There are probably endless ways to read and understand the hundreds of voices in Scripture, but through all of these, God still has some tricks up his sleeve (so to speak) to show us—all of us.  And in like manner, God works through our countless confusions of culture, race, tradition, social views, politics, and religious denomination, giving all of us one calling: keep asking, keep searching, keep knocking.  The promise is likewise the same: we will receive, we will find, the door will be opened—right where we are.

Prayer of the Day

Almighty God,

your word is a lamp for our feet,

and a light upon our path.

Grant that by patient study of the Scriptures,

we may follow more closely

the way that you set before us;

through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God now and forever.

Amen.

—Collect for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost in A New Zealand Prayer Book, pp. 634-5.

Hymn: “O you who hear all prayer”

(Words: John Burton, Jr. 1824; adapted by Joseph A. Soltero, 2013

Tune: ‘Naphtali’, H.T. Leslie)

O you who hear all prayer;

Attend our humble cry,

And let your servants share

Your blessing from on high.

We plead the promise of your Word:

Grant us your Holy Spirit, Lord.

If earthly parents hear

Their children when they cry;

If they, with love sincere

Their children’s needs supply,

Much more will you your love display,

And answer when your children pray.

O send your Spirit down

On all the nations, Lord,

With great success to crown

The preaching of your Word.

That all may feel the heav’nly flame,

And all unite to praise your Name.

O may that sacred fire,

Descending from above,

Our quickened hearts inspire

With fervent zeal and love,

Enlighten our beclouded eyes,

And teach our earth-bound souls to rise.

Then shall your kingdom come

Among our fallen race,

And earth at last become

The temple of your grace,

Whence pure devotion shall ascend,

And songs of praise, till time shall end.

Filling Scripture full

SECOND FROM LAST WEDNESDAY OF THE KINGDOM

13 November 2013

Readings:

1 Timothy 4:7b-16

Matthew 5:17-20

Key Verses:

1 Tim. 4:13: “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.” (New International Version)

Matt. 5:17: “Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets.  I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill.” (World English Bible)

Reflection

The first Christians had a very complex relationship with Scripture, which in their day meant “Hebrew Scripture” or the “Old Testament”.  Those Jews, like the apostles, who came to faith in Christ retained their devotion to Scripture, studying it now through their experience of Christ, searching in it for more insight into the meaning of Jesus’ life.  However, those Greeks and Romans who converted to the new Christian movement had little to no knowledge of Hebrew Scripture, and probably even less interest in it.  For them, Jesus’ message was so radical, so new, and so universal, that there could be no more link with the past, especially the past of a singular people.

We can trace the development of this complex relationship back to Jesus’ own time.  Mark, the earliest Gospel, reports from the very first chapter that the synagogue-goers in Capernaum were “astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as having authority, and not as the scribes”, and they even call it a “new teaching” (Mark 1:22, 27).  What they heard Jesus say was definitely not what they got from the religious authorities, and Jesus knew this.  But he also knew that his “new teaching” could be taken in ways he didn’t intend.  In today’s Gospel reading, then, Jesus prefaces his discourse on Scripture—the “Sermon on the Mount”—with a kind of disclaimer, as if to say: “What you’re about to hear me say may sound controversial and even heretical, but… ‘Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets.’”  

But it was controversial, it did lead to heresy, and it did destroy, not just in the Gospels, but also through history.  Jesus’ earthly life was destroyed over this.  Christianity severed its connection to Judaism.  The Church itself took about four centuries to agree on a “canon of Scripture”.  Along the way, some Christians would have completely jettisoned Hebrew Scripture because Christ “fulfilled” it.  Although the Church came to rule against this viewpoint, it’s still notable today when we talk of the “New” Testament as a ‘fulfillment’ of the “Old”.  “Let the old document yield to the new rite” says an ancient Latin hymn.  I don’t think this is what Jesus intended either.

It’s clear from the Gospels that Jesus had a profound love and respect for the Law and the Prophets.  He “didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill” them.  I’m starting to think of “fulfill”, not as “to complete”, but as “to fill full [of meaning]”.  Jesus didn’t just read or quote Scripture; he lived and breathed its words in such a fresh and extraordinary way that left onlookers amazed and speechless.  Every day of his life, Jesus approached Scripture, not as a rote obligation, but as a daily dialogue, one in which challenging the letter of the law ironically resulted in a stronger and deeper connection to the spirit behind it.  In all things, Jesus embodied Scripture so much that his followers could no longer tell where the Word ended and Jesus began.

Today’s words from the First Letter to Timothy might as well have been spoken by Jesus: “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching” (New International Version).  For his most important lesson to us is that we can follow him, follow his life, his example, and this is the way.  May we live, breathe, and embody the spirit of Scripture in such a way that we no longer know where we end and Christ begins.

Prayer of the Day

O Lord, heavenly Father,

in whom is the fullness of light and wisdom:

Enlighten our minds by your Holy Spirit

and give us grace to receive your Word

with reverence and humility,

without which no one can understand your truth;

for the sake of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.

Amen.

—adapted from a Collect for “Bible Sunday” in The Book of Prayers, by Leon and Elfreida McCauley, 1954.

Hymn: “Book of books, our people’s strength”

(Words: Percy Dearmer, 1925; adapted by Joseph A. Soltero, 2013

Tune: ‘Liebster Jesu’, by Johann R. Ahle, 1664)

Book of books, our people’s strength,

Statesman’s, teacher’s, hero’s treasure,

Bringing freedom, spreading truth,

Shedding light that none can measure;

Wisdom comes to those who know you.

All the best we have, we owe you.

Thanks to those who toiled in thought,

Many scrolls diverse completing:

Poets, prophets, scholars, saints,

Each a word from God repeating,

Till they came, who told the story

Of the Word, and showed his glory.

Praise to God, who has inspired

Those whose wisdom still directs us;

For the holy Word made flesh,

For the Spirit which protects us.

Light of knowledge, ever burning,

Shed on us your endless learning.

Bible Sunday

SECOND FROM LAST SUNDAY OF THE KINGDOM

10 November 2013

Readings:

2 Timothy 3:12-4:5

John 5:30-40

Key Verses (using the World English Bible):

2 Tim. 3:16-17a: “Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete…”

John 5:39-40: “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me.  Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life.”

Reflection

In 1915, the American Bible Study inaugurated “Bible Sunday”, or a Sunday dedicated to reflection on Scripture and its significance in a Christian’s life.  This practice has spread worldwide now to many churches like to the Church of England, which reserves the “Last Sunday after Trinity” (or the Sunday before All Saints’) for this theme.  In the United States, however, “Bible Sunday” has usually been the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day (the fourth Thursday of November).  In my scheme of the Kingdom Season, I’ve moved it up one week, leaving the Next from Last Sunday for “The Final Judgment” (the original end of the Christian year), and the Last Sunday for “Christ the King” (the Common Lectionary’s end to the Christian year).

Scripture plays such an essential role in God’s Kingdom.  Jesus returns from his forty-day fast in the wilderness declaring that “God’s Kingdom is at hand!” (Mark 1:15), and, according to Luke, immediately thereafter announces in his hometown synagogue that “Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21).  The Gospels themselves are littered with Scripture (that is, Hebrew Scripture) sometimes almost like proof-texts, to back up a claim, remark, or even as “ammunition”, as when Satan tempts Jesus in the desert.  One of the risen Christ’s final acts on earth was that he “opened the Scriptures” to two unnamed disciples at Emmaus (Luke 24:27, 32).  Later, Jesus’ apostles—especially Paul—lean heavily on Scripture to continue their witness to their Messiah, to try and make sense of his death, and to discern God’s will for the emerging gathering of believers.

Whatever we may or may not believe about Scripture, I think most of us would agree that it represents one of the closest ways we can reach a knowledge of, and union with, God.  But I also think that approaching Scripture as did the prophets and apostles can be very judgmental, holier-than-thou, and even dangerous.  Just think of how many people have flung around scripture throughout history to support homophobia, misogyny, slavery, witch hunts, racism—always with the same attitude: “The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it.”  Or, “you do what you want, but I know I’m right with God because the Bible tells me so!”  And often this attitude has resulted in violence and prejudice.  Shakespeare once wrote that “the devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.”  And the centuries have proven him right.

But what does Jesus tell us today about the Scriptures?  “You think that in them you have eternal life… yet you refuse to come to me, that you may have life.”  Oh yes, Jesus says, it is possible to come to the Bible and not to him.  Whenever we place the Bible upon the idolatrous pedestal of divine infallibility, we miss out on life, both present and eternal, for that is Christ’s alone to grant. The Bible’s job is to bring us to God, not the other way around.  Scripture certainly is “God-breathed”, but it is not God.

Scripture is sacred to me because whenever I read or study it, I enter into the historical conversation between humankind and God.  Our search for God, our hopes, dreams, and fears haven’t changed much in nearly four millennia, though each generation expresses these differently.  But equally different are the ways in which God has sought his creation, from his “strong arm” in Exodus, glorious manifestations to the prophets, the “still, small voice”, to death on a cross.  By tradition, the canon of Scripture is closed, but “God is still speaking”, as the United Church of Christ puts it.  How does God speak to you, both through and outside of Scripture?

Prayer of the Day

O Lord God, heavenly Father,

rule and guide us by your Holy Spirit,

so that we may hear your holy Word

and receive it with our whole heart.

Sanctify us through your Word,

and teach us to place all our trust and hope

in Jesus Christ your Son,

so that, as we follow him, 

your grace may lead us through all evil

and bring us to everlasting life;

through the same Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.

Amen.

—adapted from the Collect for “Bible Sunday” in The Book of Prayers, by Leon and Elfreida McCauley, 1954.

Hymn: “God’s eternal Word is spoken”

(Words: based on a hymn by Theodor V. Oldenburg, “Dybe, stille, stærke, milde”, 1840; adapted, with 3^rd verse by Joseph A. Soltero, 2013

Tune: ‘Herre, jeg har handlet ilde” by Ludwig M. Lindeman, 1871)

God’s eternal Word is spoken,

Piercing mists around, above;

Of eternal might the token,

Emblem of eternal love;

Out of darkness, world enthralling,

Into light to us is calling.

Word of God, O Word eternal,

May we hear your living voice,

Learn the power of love supernal,

Learn obedience and rejoice.

God’s commands forever heeding,

Follow where God’s love is leading.

Holy Word, still speaking, living

Mirror of our Maker’s face,

Through your Spirit, ever giving

Fruitful gifts, through faith, of grace:

Lead us through your sacred story

To behold your heav’nly glory.

No excuses

FRIDAY AFTER KINGDOM 2

8 November 2013

Readings:

Deuteronomy 26:16-19

Luke 9:57-62

Key Verses (using the World English Bible):

Deut. 26:17, 18: “You have declared today that [the Lord] is your God… [The Lord] has declared today that you are a people for his own possession.”

Luke 9:60, 62: Jesus said, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead… No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for God’s Kingdom.”

Reflection

Today we’re confronted with one of Jesus’ most difficult, and perhaps most incomprehensible, sayings.  Out on the road, Jesus asks a man to follow him; the man seemingly agrees, but only on the condition that Jesus first allow him to bury his father.  Jesus replies: “Leave the dead to bury their own dead, but you go and announce God’s Kingdom.”

Elsewhere Jesus is quite adamant that he did not come “to destroy the law or the prophets… but to fulfill.” (Matt. 5:17), and indeed later on he cites, with approval, the Fourth Commandment to honor father and mother (Matt. 15:4).  But his response today to this unnamed individual appears to destroy, if not the Law, then at least the man’s family ties.

My NIV Study Bible attempts to shed some context behind this exchange, an exchange which is remarkable in its brevity, directness, and lack of backstory or descriptors.

“If his father had already died, the man would have been occupied with the burial then.  But evidently he wanted to wait until after his father’s death, which might have been years away.  Jesus told him that the spiritually dead could bury the physically dead, and that the spiritually alive should be busy proclaiming the kingdom of God.” (The NIV Study Bible, pp. 1556-1557)

This admittedly sounds obvious.  A first-century Jewish son wouldn’t randomly be out and about if his father had just died.  It seems, then, like the man was simply making an excuse.  He may have wanted to follow Jesus—he did, in fact, call him ‘Lord’—but just not yet.

I’m reminded of St. Augustine’s famous prayer as a teenager, which I’m sure most young adults would understand: “Lord, grant me chastity and continence… but not yet!”  St. Augustine had come to embrace Jesus as ‘Lord’, but he felt powerless also to embrace what he perceived were the consequences of fully becoming a Christian.  Therefore he wished to postpone his baptism, for, back then, it was believed that sins committed after baptism incurred more punishment than sins committed before.

If the man, like St. Augustine, also wished to postpone following Jesus, then I think there’s still a lesson to be learned, for Jesus tells him, “go and announce God’s Kingdom.”  Recall that God’s Kingdom is Jesus’ central message in the Gospels, and Jesus still finds the man worthy to proclaim the message.  He need not follow Jesus on the road to still follow him in his heart—and that should be a source of great hope for us.  We’ll never be able to walk with Jesus in the same way this man had the chance to, but in our hearts we know there’s nowhere we can go where Jesus can’t be found and followed.  There’s no one we need to say good-bye to first because the moment we begin to believe, our hands are already at the plow, ready to plant the seeds of God’s reign of love.  We may often be spiritually dead, but we know that the One who has destroyed death is always ready to revive the spirit of the contrite and humble (Isa. 57:15).

No excuses.  No looking back.

Prayer of the Day

Sovereign God, ruler of all hearts,

you call us to obey you

and favor us with true freedom.

Keep us faithful to the ways of your Son,

that, leaving behind all that hinders us,

we may fix our eyes on him

and steadfastly follow in the paths of your kingdom.

Grant this through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

—Collect of the 13^th Sunday in Ordinary Time in the Book of Common Worship of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Hymn: “O Jesus, I have promised”

(Words: John Ernest Bode, 1816-1874; adapted by Joseph A. Soltero, 2013

Tune: ‘Nyland’, Finnish folk melody, adapted by David Evans, 1974-1948)

O Jesus, I have promised

To serve you to the end.

O be forever near me,

My Master and my friend.

I shall not fear the battle

If you are by my side,

Nor wander from the pathway,

If you will be my guide.

O let me hear you speaking

In accents clear and still

Above the storms of passions,

The murmurs of self-will.

O speak to reassure me,

To hasten or control.

O speak, and make me listen,

O guardian of my soul.

O Jesus, you have promised

To all who follow you

That, where you are in glory,

Your servant shall be too.

And, Jesus, I have promised

To serve you to the end.

O give me grace to follow,

My Master and my friend.

Cloud cover

WEDNESDAY AFTER KINGDOM 2

6 November 2013

Readings:

Exodus 19:3-9

Luke 12:35-40

Key Verses (using the World English Bible):

Ex. 19:9: The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.”

Luke 12:37a, 40b: “Blessed are those servants, whom the [L]ord will find watching when he comes… for the Son of Man is coming in an hour that you don’t expect him.”

Reflection

Cloud imagery is very prevalent in the appearances of God and the manifestations of his power.  The Lord guides Israel out of Egypt with a pillar of cloud by day, and promises to come to Moses in a thick cloud, as in today’s reading.  Indeed, in the next chapter, God gives Moses the Ten Commandments from a cloud atop Mt. Sinai, one of the many references in Exodus to the glory of God within a cloud.  And in the New Testament, we find that Jesus too was “transfigured” in a cloud (Mark 9:7), will return with clouds (Rev. 1:7), and Christians alive when this occurs will be taken up in the clouds to meet him (1 Thes. 4:17).

As I write this, it’s a partly cloudy day here in New York City.  Sometimes the clouds break and let the sun shine through, but it looks like the clouds will hide the sun and two-day old moon for the better part of the day.  This makes for quite a gloomy day, especially in the beginning of November, when daylight is decreasing, and Daylight Savings has just ended.  Ignoring the gloom, though, I think this double action of clouds—breaking and hiding—represent two fundamental and radical ways through which God seeks us and shows himself to us.

And I think Jesus understood this too.  In today’s second reading, Jesus admonishes his followers to watch for him like servants waiting for their master to come home from a wedding banquet.  The house is well lit; the master is out in the open, presumably with his entourage as he’s an important man returning from a formal party; the door is opened.  Nothing done here is hidden.  Everything is easy to see, like the sun breaking through on a clear day; like God emerging from the cloud and speaking to Moses as a friend, face to face,  (Ex. 33:11).

But the Lord can also come like a thief in the night, after everyone’s inside, the lights are out, and the doors are closed.  Oh yes, it’s disturbing to think of God as a thief, plotting to steal in secret, in the darkness of night, moonlight hidden by clouds.  But God stole Israel out of Egypt overnight (Ex. 12:42), and led them away in cloud cover.  Overnight, too, God stole his Son out of the grave and later took him up to heaven, again, under cloud cover (Acts 1:9).  When God steals, it’s to take back what’s his own, not out of envy or selfishness, but to set free, to grant eternal life.

Christians confess that Jesus, being God the Son, offers humanity unveiled and unclouded access to the fullness of God.  Amen!—but I’d argue that it doesn’t always feel that way.  God often eludes me like the sun in today’s partly cloudy day.  But I have to remember that even saints of old didn’t always ‘get it’ either.  Countless others with me and before me have struggled with the experience of God.  And when I think about it this way, I guess I really am surrounded by that “great cloud of witnesses”, those through whom God has worked his purpose, even if they didn’t always understand it.  Maybe they are the cloud God wraps himself up in now, not to hide himself but to show forth even more his glory.  If this is so, then the Lord truly is glorious in his saints, as the Book of Common Prayer puts it.  They confirm that God’s glory is present both in sunshine and in cloud cover.

Prayer of the Day

Merciful God, gracious and benevolent,

through your Son,

you invite all the world to a meal or mercy.

Grant that we may eagerly follow his call,

and bring us with all your saints

into your life of justice and joy;

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

—Collect from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Proper 31, Year C, p. 52.

Hymn: “Let saints on earth in concert sing”

(Words: Charles Wesley, 1707-1788; adapted by Joseph A. Soltero, 2013

Tune: ‘Dundee’, melody from The CL Psalmes of David, 1615; harmony by Thomas Ravenscroft, 17^th century)

Let saints on earth in concert sing

With those whose work is done,

For all the servants of our King

In heav’n and earth are one.

One family we dwell with him,

One Church above, beneath,

Though now divided by the stream,

That narrow stream of death.

One army of the living God,

To whose command we bow.

Part of the host have crossed the flood,

And part are crossing now.

E’en now by faith we join our hands

With those that went before,

And greet the ever living bands

On Jordan’s timeless shore.

O Jesus, be our constant Guide.

Then, when you give your word,

Bid Jordan’s narrow stream divide,

And lead us safely, Lord.

A chosen race

SECOND SUNDAY OF THE KINGDOM

3 November 2013

Readings:

1 Peter 2:4-10

Luke 6:20-26

Key Verses (using the World English Bible):

1 Pet. 2:9: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

Luke 6:22: Jesus said, “Blessed are you when men shall hate you, and when they shall exclude and mock you, and throw out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake.”

Reflection

Today we read Luke’s variant of what are called the “Beatitudes”, a series of blessings Jesus bestows on the faithful for certain actions.  Matthew’s version, which is read on All Saints’, may have been written down first, but scholars believe Luke’s may be closer to Jesus’ actual words.  Matthew’s blessings appear to come from a more spiritual angle (“the poor in spirit… those who hunger and thirst after righteousness” in Matt. 5:3, 6); whereas Luke seems to reflect the people’s current living conditions (“you who are poor… who hunger now… who weep now”), something which might’ve better appealed to Jesus’ audience.

However, both sets of blessings agree on the earthly hostility and rejection, which threatened Jesus’ early followers, and indeed all of first-century Judea.  Though not as splintered as modern-day Christianity, Jews of the time were divided in their reaction to Roman conquest.  The Sadducees and Pharisees owed their elite positions (and wealth) to the Romans, whom some befriended in a desperate attempt to preserve what little was left of Israel.  The Zealots saw this as hypocrisy (as do the Gospels), and decided that they would purge their land by force.  The Essenes retreated from this mess into extreme isolation.  And in the midst of all this were the every-day Jews, just living their lives, trying to get by, enduring the hardships of poverty.  These are the people Jesus engages in his ministry.

After Jesus’ death, hostility against his followers only increased.  The Romans, as I’ve said before, disliked the breaking of tradition, even traditions they didn’t agree with.  Jewish antagonism toward fellow Jews who followed Jesus likely stemmed less from hatred, and more from not wanting to stir up trouble in an already troubled world.  In any case, the first Christians found solace in the claim that their rejection was actually an indication of their holiness, of their being set aside as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.”

I have to wince a little at this claim because how many atrocities have been committed by people who believe they’re superior to others?  Islamic fundamentalist groups are still a source of worldwide terrorism.  White supremacists and Neo-Nazis still attract followers—and the Holocaust occurred not even a century ago!  Even the early 20^th-century practice of eugenics reflects this claim to superiority.  But at the same time, one of the Bible’s major themes is “the chosen people”, stretching from God’s choosing of Abraham, on to choosing the people of Israel, which is what Peter’s First Letter references and now adapts to believers in Christ.

There’s nothing wrong with viewing yourself as “special”, or “set aside”; originally this is what “holy” means.  What you do with that is what matters more.  And here I note how the reading from the First Letter of Peter ends:

“[You] in time past were no people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”

We are set aside for mercy, to show to others the mercy that God has shown us.  That’s what truly makes a people ‘holy’.  Doing this, I believe, safeguards us from falling into the trap of superiority.  For how can you feel superior when you show someone something you’ve been given in mercy, freely and unconditionally?  That’s the only way to combat and heal hostility, rejection, and division without, in turn, becoming guilty of the same.  And to fight this extraordinary fight, you have to feel like God is on your side—and he is.

Prayer of the Day

Almighty, eternal God,

it is your will to sanctify

all your chosen and beloved people

in your only Son, Jesus Christ.

Give us, by your Holy Spirit,

the grace to follow your holy witnesses

in faith, hope, and love,

so that we, too, may join the community of the blessèd;

through the same Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.

Amen.

—adapted from the Collect for All Saints’ Day in The Danish Hymnal, p. 1283-1284.

Hymn: “For your dear saints, O Lord”

(Words: Richard Mant, 1776-1848; adapted by Joseph A. Soltero, 2013

Tune: ‘St. George’, by Henry John Gauntlett, 1805-1876)

For your dear saints, O Lord,

Who strove in you to live,

Who followed you, obeyed, adored,

Our grateful hymn receive.

They all in life and death,

With you, their Lord, in view,

Learned from your Holy Spirit’s breath

To suffer and to do.

Your earthly members fit

To join your saints above

In one communion ever knit,

One fellowship of love.

Jesus, your Name, we bless,

And humbly pray we, too,

May follow them in holiness,

Who lived and died for you.

All Saints' Day

ALL SAINTS’ DAY

1 November 2013

Readings:

Revelation 7:9-17

Matthew 5:1-12

Key Verses (using the World English Bible):

Rev. 7:13, 14, 15: “These who are arrayed in white robes, who are they?… These are those who came out of the great tribulation… Therefore they are before the throne of God.”

Matt. 5:8: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Reflection

The concept of saints and sainthood has been a major source of disagreement within Christianity.  Some denominations, like Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, and, to a lesser extent, Lutheranism follow an extensive “calendar of saints”, wherein most calendar days are set aside as feast days to honor one or more saints.  Other Christian branches have no such observances.  Some people invoke saints directly in prayer; others feel very uncomfortable with such a practice.

Just what exactly is a saint?  There’s a popular misconception that the church, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, “makes” saints, which is understandable, given recent petitions to “make” Pope John Paul II a saint.  As I understand it, the official teaching is that the church simply acknowledges individuals already made holy, or sainted, by God after their death.  This evolved from the custom of the early church, which declared that martyrs for the faith entered heaven directly as saints (cf. Matt. 5:10).  Today, church officials confirm sainthood a number of ways, for example, by investigating a healing that occurred when someone prayed in the name of the candidate for sainthood.  In some cases, absence of bodily decomposition after death is presented as evidence, for God will not “allow [his] holy one to see corruption” (Ps. 16:10).

Sainthood, however, can also be a tricky idea because it implies that there is such a thing as “better Christians”, or even “better people”.  This contradicts what we’ve been talking about this week, namely the Reformation teaching that we are all on equal standing before God because we’re all imperfect.  So here’s the simplest and most profound answer I’ve ever gotten to “What is saint?”: “They are people who just ‘got it’.”  What exactly did they ‘get’?  The love of God?  The meaning of life?  Their purpose in the world?  I would say it’s all of these and more.

We’ve all encountered people who, despite their shortcomings, exude such warmth and kindness, such humility and selflessness, such faith, that is—in the truest sense of the word—extraordinary, maybe even otherworldly.  They are somehow in tune with themselves, their surroundings, and with a reality that transcends the day-to-day.  These are they whom we look and cling to for inspiration, for solace, for guidance, not too different, perhaps, from those who pray in the name of a saint.

On this All Saints’ Day, I encourage you to look for these people everywhere you can.  Spend time with those who are alive; spend time in your heart with those who have died.  Look for saints among the living and the dead, for God’s “great cloud of witnesses” surrounds both earth and heaven.  Find out what saint is celebrated on your birthday, read about how this individual lived, struggled, and prayed, and then join that saint in the mutual and unbroken prayer and praise to God that knows no end.

Prayer of the Day

Almighty God,

you have knit together your elect

in one communion and fellowship

in the mystical body of your Son, Christ our Lord.

Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints

in all virtuous and godly living,

that we may come to those ineffable joys

that you have prepared for those who truly love you;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns,

one God, in glory everlasting.

Amen.

—Collect for All Saints’ Day, the Book of Common Prayer, p. 245.

Hymn: “Who are these like stars appearing”

(Words: “Wer sind die vor Gottes Throne” by Theobald Heinrich Schenck, 1656-1727; translation by Frances Elizabeth Cox, 1812-1897; adapted by Joseph A. Soltero, 2013

Tune: ‘Zeuch mich, zeuch mich’, from Geistreiches Gesang-buch, 1698; harmony by William Henry Monk, 1823-1889)

Who are these like stars appearing,
These before God’s throne who stand?
Each a golden crown is wearing;
Who are all this glorious band?
Alleluia! Hark, they sing,
Praising loud their heav’nly King.

Who are these of dazzling brightness,
These in God’s own truth arrayed,
Clad in robes of purest whiteness,
Robes whose luster ne’er shall fade,
Ne’er be touched by time’s rude hand?
Whence come all this glorious band?

These are they who have contended
For their Savior’s honor long,
Wrestling on till life was ended,
Following not the sinful throng;
These who well the fight sustained,
Triumph through the Lamb have gained.

These are they whose hearts were riven,
Sore with woe and anguish tried,
Who in prayer have often striven
With the God they glorified;
Now, their painful conflict o’er,
God has bid them weep no more.

These, like priests, have watched and waited,
Off’ring up to Christ their will;

Soul and body consecrated,
Day and night to serve Him still.
Now in God’s most holy place
Blest they stand before His face.