Tuesday • 12/6/2022 •
This morning’s Scriptures are: Psalm 26; Psalm 28; Isaiah 5:13–17,24–25; 1 Thessalonians 5:12–28; Luke 21:29–38
This morning’s Canticles are: following the OT reading, Canticle 13 (“A Song of Praise,” BCP, p. 90); following the Epistle reading, Canticle 18 (“A Song to the Lamb,” Revelation 4:11; 5:9–10, 13, BCP, p. 93)
Welcome to Daily Office Devotions, where every Monday through Friday we draw insights from that day’s Scripture readings, as given in the Book of Common Prayer. I’m Reggie Kidd, and I’m grateful to be with you this Tuesday of the second week of Advent, as we begin a new year (Year 1) of the Daily Office Lectionary.
Isaiah and God’s Word. “My people go into exile without knowledge…” —Isaiah 5:13. What stands out in today’s verses in Isaiah is the way the prophet traces Israel’s sin to its root: “…for they have rejected the instruction of the Lord of hosts, and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 5:24).
I offer this one takeaway: it is worth reading the Bible deeply and consistently—even the hard parts, even the cringeworthy parts, even the parts that are subject to various interpretations. The Bible imparts “knowledge” … and … “the instruction of the Lord of hosts,” because it is “the word of the Holy One of Israel.”
Truth is under assault in our culture. Online news services offer “clickbait,” designed to do nothing other than to keep us clicking. A 24-hour news cycle sustains itself by constantly stirring the pot: did somebody “steal” an election? is global warming real? is racism systemic or personal? Answers aren’t important. Viewership is. Keeping us agitated is. Media that never “sign off” demand our round-the-clock and undivided attention, and pummel us into being hopelessly skeptical or baselessly fanatical.
The Word of God centers us in the one true story (“What was lost, is now found”), provides us the one true roadmap for life (“Your Word is a lamp to my feet”), and offers the one grid for sifting the surfeit of swirling supposed data (“In your light, we see light”)—see Luke 15:24; Psalm 119:105; Psalm 36:9.
Paul and God’s People. “Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them” — 1 Thessalonians 5:13b–14. Paul’s closing words in this letter to recent converts who are confused about the “how” and “when” of Jesus’s return amount to this: Take care of each other.
Most of these people are brand new converts from a pagan background: “…you turned from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven…” (1 Thessalonians 1:9). They are only now beginning their journey to understand the Bible—which, at the time, consisted merely of what we now call the Old Testament. There was no New Testament. Besides, in the culture of the first century Roman world, it is questionable how many would have even been able to read.
That’s one of the reasons Paul insists that they come together so his letter can be read to them. It’s also one of the reasons Paul tells them (in the plural—i.e., when they are together) to listen carefully to words of prophets who rise up in the church, not “despising” their words, but also testing them (testing them together, it needs to be emphasized). We learn from each other as we learn from God’s word—and that means we need to read and listen to God’s word with one another. If biblical illiteracy seems rampant today—and it is—the situation is not that much different than in the world Paul confronted. And Paul’s solution is as powerful today as it was then. Come together; and read, listen, ponder, and discern.
The Thessalonians’ individual destinies are wrapped up in one another’s destiny—and that destiny is to be a rejoicing, praying, and thanksgiving (Greek: eucharistein) people (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18). That’s why Paul tells them to respect, esteem, and love their spiritual leaders (1 Thessalonians 5:13–14a), and to extend the peace of Christ by ministering to each person according to their spiritual needs (whether it means being straightforward with shirkers or long-suffering with “snowflakes” or tending to the infirm—1 Thessalonians 5:14b).
Luke and God’s Kingdom. Jesus’s focus in his Final Discourse in Luke is on the way the upcoming destruction of Jerusalem will round out the events that establish God’s kingdom and initiate the season of testimony to its King: “Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place” (Luke 21:32). Downrange, however, there is still the fact that the Son of Man will return to usher in the eternal state, when heaven and earth are made new, and the heavenly Jerusalem descends. Downrange, we all will “stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).
It’s helpful, I think, that we regard the first century event as a foreshadowing of the still future event. Jesus was coming into his rule as Ascended Lord, with the accompanying destruction of the earthly temple. Jesus’s disciples needed to cultivate a certain perspective in order to prepare for that “coming.” Jesus’s “Parousia,” his still future return in glorious triumph, will bring the Heavenly Jerusalem to a new earth and new heaven. A certain mindset is exactly what we ourselves need so that we may be ready for “Parousia”:
First, the recognition that King Jesus will indeed finally prevail. No matter how bleak things look, and no matter how long it takes, nonetheless God’s rule and reign “will come upon all who live on the face of the earth” (Luke 21:35). All the pressing matters that face any generation of believers (e.g., partisanship, pandemics, persecutions) only come into perspective when seen in the light of this one amazing mystery: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again!
Second, the same watchful diligence that was incumbent upon the disciples of Jesus’s day: “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap” (Luke 21:34).
Be blessed this day,
Reggie Kidd+