This blog provides a meditation on the Episcopal daily readings along with a headline from world news:

SCOTTISH ELECTIONS TODAY 

1 John 2:18-29

18 Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour. 19They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But by going out they made it plain that none of them belongs to us. 20But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge. 21I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and you know that no lie comes from the truth. 22Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25And this is what he has promised us, eternal life.

26 I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you. 27As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him.

28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who does right has been born of him.

There’s a curious mixture of profound insight and gobbledegook in this passage,  a sort of hysteria in thinking that the “last hour” has come just because some believers have split from the community. Heresy is always a problem, but not that size if problem. It seems that those who left may have denied that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah. “Antichrist” has been made into a figure of supernatural terror but it just means one who denied that Jesus is the Messiah. “Anointing by the Holy One” must mean the gift of the Holy Spirit but this gift does not automatically ensure correct doctrine- that requires the hard work of the inspired community. Verse 29 is a better standard of discrimination than many, although of course there will be sincere believers who at times fail to do right. In sum, although this passage seems muddled to me, I can see that it’s dealing with the issue of schisms and wrong teaching in the Christian community. The author’s call to true teaching is a challenge to anyone inclined towards permissiveness in this matter.

Luke 3:1-14

3In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

“Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.

5 Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and the crooked shall be made straight,

and the rough ways made smooth;

6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” ’

7 John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 9Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’

10 And the crowds asked him, ‘What then should we do?’ 11In reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’ 12Even tax-collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ 13He said to them, ‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.’ 14Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.’

House in Glasgow

This begins with one of the great bits of Bible rhetoric, Luke’s list of rulers who are relegated to a back seat by the Word of God preached by the prophet John in the desert.

On this day of elections in Scotland, we hear all round us the words of rulers, including Church rulers, but it’s harder to hear the voices of the desert prophets who speak God’s Word. Perhaps we should attend most to the voices which tell us that poverty has increased in Scotland over the past 30 years, and that there are places in our cities where the average life expectancy is lower than in some “undeveloped” nations. Few politicians want anything to do with this large number of our fellow citizens as their existence denies the cherished myths of politicians and people alike: that our system of governance works for all citizens. It’s not easy to deliver justice for all sections of a population but if we simply deny the existence of appalling deprivation, we support it.

God’s Word is “whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none.” That’s a just tax system. Nations are expected to bear fruits worthy of repentance, that is, of a complete change of priorities.