The Sixth Sunday of Easter (A), May 21, 2017 - Acts 17:22-31 and John 14:15-21

                   François de Nomé: St. Paul Preaching to the Athenians (ca. 1620-1624), 

                                         Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

Acts 17:22-31

Oh, What a Politician!

Oh, what a politician,

Is Paul among the Greeks!

He says they are religious,

Who e'en unknown gods seek;

And then with news he hits them:

The God who made all things

Lives not in what's made by us -

Our wealth, our fame, our bling -

But we, in fact (per poets

They knew) are God's offspring!

Which means the highest value

Of which we all can sing,

Is love, like of a parent,

Defines our life and death;

Thus, Jesus be our policy

With every daily breath.

Scott L. Barton

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John 14:15-21

The link below is to a performance of Thomas Tallis' "If Ye Love Me," with John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6RgaPTo4hE

If You Love Me

"If you love me,

keep my commandments,

And I will pray the Father,

And he will give you

another Comforter."

"You're not alone,

When you keep my words,

(He says that it's forever!)

You sure have it made,

Since the Spirit's with you."

"Because I live,

You will live also

(How many times I've said that!)

Father, Son, Spirit -

Enough love all around!"

Scott L. Barton

(The poem's meter is a bit unusual: 4/5/7/5/6.  Jesus' opening words pretty much determined it.  Maybe his words determining things is how it should be all the time for us!)

”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”