Prayer and Love [Psalm 79 & 1 Timothy 2:1-7 - Proper 20C]
The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Psalm 79 & 1 Timothy 2:1-7 Prayer and Love The Bible is a strangely complex book. And occasionally the lectionary makes sure that we do not forget that fact. Today is one of those days. The contrast between the abrasive emotion of today’s psalm and the gentle inclusivity we heard in the letter to Timothy, for example, is significant; there is an emotional range displayed there. It is kind of like the range of emotions in our nation the day after a presidential election, when half of the country, those for the whom the election did not go as they had hoped, is crying out with the psalmist, “Pour out your wrath upon the heathen” and the other half is like my grandma, posting facebook memes reminding those in anguish that the Bible does tell us to say our prayers for “kings and all who are in high positions.” The Bible has range. What is perhaps most interesting about these divergent scriptural expressions,...