“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Thus begins the Gettysburg Address, delivered this day, November 19, 1863, by President Abraham Lincoln on the battlefield where 50,000 soldiers died. This ten-sentence speech ends with the words: “We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

William J. Federer. American Minute

     The spiritual life does not remove us from the world
but leads us deeper into it.
--- Henri J. M. Nouwen


Solitude is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it.
--- Thomas Merton

... from here, there and everywhere

1     He who remains stiffnecked after much rebuke
will be suddenly and incurably broken.

2     When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice;
but when the wicked are in power, the people groan.

Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish Bible-OE
: An English version of the Tanakh (OT) and
B'rit Hadashah (NT) (1st ed.). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish
New Testament Publications.

                When He is come

     And when He is come, He will convict the world of sin.… --- John 16:8. (R.V.).

     Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin; we know the experience of being disturbed because of having done wrong things; but conviction of sin by the Holy Ghost blots out every relationship on earth and leaves one relationship only—“Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned.” When a man is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every power of his conscience that God dare not forgive him; if God did forgive him, the man would have a stronger sense of justice than God. God does forgive, but it cost the rending of His heart in the death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the Divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. When we have been convicted of sin we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary, and nothing less; the love of God is spelt on the Cross and nowhere else. The only ground on which God can forgive me is through the Cross of my Lord. There, His conscience is satisfied.

     Forgiveness means not merely that I am saved from hell and made right for heaven (no man would accept forgiveness on such a level); forgiveness means that I am forgiven into a recreated relationship, into identification with God in Christ. The miracle of Redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One, by putting into me a new disposition, the disposition of Jesus Christ.

Chambers, O. (1993). My Utmost for His Highest

  Not darkness but twilight
in which even the best
of minds must make its way
now. And slowly the questions
occur, vague but formidable
for all that. We pass our hands
over their surface like blind
men, feeling for the mechanism
that will swing them aside. They
yield, but only to re-form
as new problems; and one
does not even do that
but towers immovable
before us.
          Is there no way
other than thought of answering
its challenge? There is an anticipation
of it to the point of
dying. There have been times
when, after long on my knees
in a cold chancel, a stone has rolled
from my mind, and I have looked
in and seen the old questions lie
folded and in a place
by themselves, like the piled
graveclothes of love's risen body.

R.S. Thomas, London: Macmillan, 1978. Frequencies

     Amazon writes, "Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born in Breslau in 1906. The son of a famous German psychiatrist, he studied in Berlin and New York City. He left the safety of America to return to Germany and continue his public repudiation of the Naz*s, which led to his arrest in 1943. Linked to the group of conspirators whose attempted assassination of Hitlerr failed, he was hanged in April 1945."

     ... just before the war ended ... all that time waiting, only to be hung when freedom stood at his door. I want to devote this space to the little book, God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas .

     It has given me hope and strength as I pray for hurting friends. I think it will encourage you too.

     For the foundation of the whole of our Law and the pivot around which it turns, consists in the effacement of these opinions from the minds and of these monuments from existence.

     The rabbis of the Talmud confirm for Maimonides that the rejection of idolatry is one of the fundamentals of Judaism:

     For they say: “Herefrom you may learn that every one who professes idolatry, disbelieves in the Torah in its entirety; whereas he who disbelieves in idolatry, professes the Torah in its entirety.” Understand this.

     In stressing the importance of the struggle against idolatry, Maimonides provides his reader with an insight into many aspects of biblical law. A lack of appreciation for the attraction that idolatry held for the biblical Jew could result in the assumption that God legislated laws which have no useful human purpose. It is understandable that a community which was no longer attracted to Sabean idolatry would have great difficulty comprehending the purpose of much biblical law. Maimonides’ description of Sabeanism is an attempt to recreate the forgotten historical context of biblical legislation. In the Eight Chapters, where the reader presumably does not yet possess this knowledge, mishpatim alone were seen as being connected with a concept of human nature. In the Guide, however, Maimonides shows how many ḥukkim are connected not to man’s permanent character, but to one that is historically conditioned. Mishpatim reflect the constant in human nature; ḥukkim reflect it under the influence of Sabean idolatry. Nothing in biblical law necessarily reflects the non-rational intrusion of the divine will in human history.

     Maimonides was aware that even though many of his readers would recognize that idolatry was a major threat to biblical Jews, they would nonetheless object to his explanations of the commandments because of their religious sensibilities. Before an explanation of the historical conditions which influenced divine legislation could be accepted, one would have to overcome the spiritual “sickness” which compels insistence on the insulation of Jewish particularity from universal intelligibility. In chapter thirty-one of the Guide Maimonides describes the approach to the law which, in chapter twenty-six, he rejects as a spiritual disease:

     There is a group of human beings who consider it a grievous thing that causes should be given for any Law; what would please them most is that the intellect would not find a meaning for the commandments and prohibitions. What compels them to feel thus is a sickness that they find in their souls, a sickness to which they are unable to give utterance and of which they cannot furnish a satisfactory account. For they think that if those Laws were useful in this existence and had been given to us for this or that reason, it would be as if they derived from the reflection and the understanding of some intelligent being. If, however, there is a thing for which the intellect could not find any meaning at all and that does not lead to something useful, it indubitably derives from God; for the reflection of man would not lead to such a thing. It is as if, according to these people of weak intellects, man were more perfect than his Maker; for man speaks and acts in a manner that leads to some intended end, whereas a deity does not act thus, but commands us to do things that are not useful to us and forbids us to do things that are not harmful to us.

     These individuals do not actually consider humans more rational than God; rather, their approach is characterized by a refusal to understand God’s reasons for commandments in terms of what men consider to be useful. For these individuals, God must be completely other than man, both in His essence and in that which He prescribes for man to obey. God’s revelation of the law must express His utter transcendence and unintelligibility. Israel’s uniqueness in history is exhibited by its capacity to live by what God considers necessary, not by what man considers useful and valuable. The more remote God and the law are from human intelligibility, the more inflamed does the passion become for God. Maimonides considers this a profound sickness of the soul.

     Maimonides counters this approach to God and Jewish particularity in the domain of law with the same text he uses to negate this approach to particularity in the domain of knowledge:

     And it says: “Who on hearing of all these laws [ḥukkim] will say, Surely, that great nation is a wise and discerning people.” Thus it states explicitly that even all the laws [ḥukkim] will show to all the nations that they have been given with “wisdom and discernment.” Now if there is a thing for which no reason is known and that does not either procure something useful or ward off something harmful, why should one say of one who believes in it or practices it that he is “wise and discerning” and of great worth? And why should the religious communities think it a wonder?

Hartman, D. (2009). Maimonides: Torah and Philosophic Quest (See all Torah Books) .

     Who was the greatest English preacher of them all? Some claim that distinction for 17th-century British Puritan Richard Baxter. And yet for ten of his best years, Baxter’s voice was stilled, his sermons silenced, and his pulpit empty.

     Baxter’s life spanned the 17th century. He was born in 1615 and lived during the churning days of England’s Civil War, the beheading of King Charles I, and the Commonwealth under Cromwell. The Puritans, at the heart of these events, found the political tide turning against them in 1660. Charles II restored the monarchy and shortly afterward Baxter (45 years old at the time) and 2,000 other Puritan preachers were ejected from their pulpits. Baxter was arrested, spent several spells in prison, lost most of his possessions, and suffered repeatedly from various illnesses including a constant cough, frequent nosebleeds, migraine headaches, digestive ailments, kidney stones, gallstones, and an ongoing battle with tuberculosis.

     For ten years Baxter was away from his pulpit, unable to legally proclaim the Word of God. But he was a man of prayer, and from his sufferings came some of the most powerful books ever written, including the Saints’ Everlasting Rest, The Reformed Pastor—and 138 others!

     Finally his “exile” ended. We read in his diary about November 19, 1672: “The 19th of November was the first day, after ten years’ silence, that I preached in a tolerated public assembly, though not yet tolerated in any consecrated church, but only, against law, in my own house.”

     If only tape recorders had been invented—to have heard Baxter’s powerful voice after ten years of pent-up prayer, meditation, study, and passion! “Study hard,” Baxter once wrote, “for the well of spiritual knowledge is deep, and our brains are shallow.”

     Baxter studied hard and labored tirelessly until he passed to the saints’ everlasting rest in 1691 at age 76.

     Everything in the Scriptures is God’s Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live. The Scriptures train God’s servants to do all kinds of good deeds. … I command you to preach God’s message.
--- 2 Timothy 3:16-4:2a.

Morgan, R. J. On This Day 365 Amazing And Inspiring Stories About Saints, Martyrs And Heroes

     Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side.Stop doubting and believe.” --- John 20:27.

     What has been the church’s treatment of doubt? (Classic Sermons on Faith and Doubt (Kregel Classic Sermons Series) ) It has been very simple. “Burn the heretic!”

     We have got past that physically; have we got past it morally? What does the modern church say to [the] skeptical? Not “Burn them!” but “Brand them!” Perhaps that is the treatment we are inclined to give to those who cannot see the truths of Christianity as we see them.

     Contrast Christ’s treatment of doubt. [Consider] his partiality for outsiders—for the scattered heretics up and down the country, of the care with which he dealt with them and of the respect in which he held their intellectual difficulties. Christ never failed to distinguish between doubt and unbelief. Doubt is can’t believe, unbelief is won’t believe. Doubt is looking for light, unbelief is content with darkness. Loving darkness rather than light—that is what Christ attacked. But for the intellectual questioning of Thomas, Philip, Nicodemus, and the many others who came to him to have their problems solved, he was respectful and generous and tolerant.

     And how did he meet their doubts? “Teach them.” Thomas came to him and denied his very resurrection and stood before him waiting for scathing words for his unbelief. They never came! Christ gave him facts—facts! No one can go around facts. Christ said, “Look at my hands and my feet” (Luke 24:39). The great god of science is a fact. Its cry is, “Give me facts. Base anything you like on facts, and we will believe it.” The spirit of Christ was the scientific spirit. He founded his religion on facts, and he asked all people to found their religion on facts.

     Take people to the facts. Theologies are human versions of divine truths and hence the varieties and inconsistencies of them. Allow people to select whichever version of this truth they like afterward, but ask them to begin with no version but go back to the facts and base their Christian lives on these.

     That is the great lesson of Christ’s treatment of doubt. It is not “Brand them!” but teach them. Faith is never opposed to reason in the New Testament; it is opposed to sight. You will find that a principle worth thinking over.
--- Henry Drummond

Wallis, D. (2001). Take Heart: Daily Devotions with the Church's Great Preachers

PROPER 28, SATURDAY
YEAR 1

Psalms (Morning) Psalm 107:33–43, 108:1–6 (7–13)
Psalms (Evening) Psalm 33
Old Testament Isaiah 65:17–25
New Testament Revelation 22:14–21
Gospel Matthew 18:21–35

Index of Readings

PSALMS (MORNING)
Psalm 107:33–43, 108:1–6 (7–13)

33 He turns rivers into a desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
34 a fruitful land into a salty waste,
because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.
35 He turns a desert into pools of water,
a parched land into springs of water.
36 And there he lets the hungry live,
and they establish a town to live in;
37 they sow fields, and plant vineyards,
and get a fruitful yield.
38 By his blessing they multiply greatly,
and he does not let their cattle decrease.

39 When they are diminished and brought low
through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,
40 he pours contempt on princes
and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
41 but he raises up the needy out of distress,
and makes their families like flocks.
42 The upright see it and are glad;
and all wickedness stops its mouth.
43 Let those who are wise give heed to these things,
and consider the steadfast love of the LORD.

1 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and make melody.
Awake, my soul!
2 Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn.
3 I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples,
and I will sing praises to you among the nations.
4 For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens,
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
and let your glory be over all the earth.
6 Give victory with your right hand, and answer me,
so that those whom you love may be rescued.

[  7 God has promised in his sanctuary:
“With exultation I will divide up Shechem,
and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim is my helmet;
Judah is my scepter.
9 Moab is my washbasin;
on Edom I hurl my shoe;
over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

10 Who will bring me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
11 Have you not rejected us, O God?
You do not go out, O God, with our armies.
12 O grant us help against the foe,
for human help is worthless.
13 With God we shall do valiantly;
it is he who will tread down our foes.  ]

PSALMS (EVENING)
Psalm 33

1 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous.
Praise befits the upright.
2 Praise the LORD with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

4 For the word of the LORD is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.

6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle;
he put the deeps in storehouses.

8 Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

10 The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12 Happy is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.

13 The LORD looks down from heaven;
he sees all humankind.
14 From where he sits enthroned he watches
all the inhabitants of the earth—
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all,
and observes all their deeds.
16 A king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17 The war horse is a vain hope for victory,
and by its great might it cannot save.

18 Truly the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19 to deliver their soul from death,
and to keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waits for the LORD;
he is our help and shield.
21 Our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
22 Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.

OLD TESTAMENT
Isaiah 65:17–25

17 For I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating;
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy,
and its people as a delight.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and delight in my people;
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it,
or the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
an infant that lives but a few days,
or an old person who does not live out a lifetime;
for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,
and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.
21 They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain,
or bear children for calamity;
for they shall be offspring blessed by the LORD—
and their descendants as well.
24 Before they call I will answer,
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
the lion shall eat straw like the ox;
but the serpent—its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
says the LORD.

NEW TESTAMENT
Revelation 22:14–21

14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. 16 “It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.”
And let everyone who hears say, “Come.”
And let everyone who is thirsty come.
Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book; 19 if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
20 The one who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

GOSPEL
Matthew 18:21–35

21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; 25 and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 26 So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. 31 When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

The Episcopal Church. Book of Common Prayer Lectionary