The Second Sunday of Easter (A), April 19, 2020—John 20:19–31 and 1 Peter 1:3–9

 Caravaggio: The Incredulity of St. Thomas (c. 1602)

 John 20:19-31

Your door’s too light to shut out God.

Young man—

Young woman—

Old man—

Old woman—

Middle-aged man—

Middle-aged woman—

Your door’s too light to shut out God.

You may think

You’re safe from trouble

And nothing can get in,

You may think

The door is barred

For fear of what has been,

You may think

That what you’ve done could

Never be forgiven,

Or most of all,

That love is gone,

Along with joyful living;

But when for all

That you’ve been through

You then expect the least,

The Lord of love

Will walk right in

And say just one word: Peace.

Scott L. Barton

(The beginning is a take-off on James Weldon Johnson’s “The Prodigal Son” from “God’s Trombones.”)

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” 

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

+  +  +

 

1 Peter 1:3–9

Quasimodogeniti Sunday*

As in the style of newborn babes

We do not know what's yet to come;

Believers, by the world's strong powers

May, like our Lord, be yet undone;

And yet, there's more that's up God's sleeve,

An unformed hope by which we live,

It cannot be imagined; yet,

We trust the one who gives and gives.

Such trust is what will save our souls,

In gladness, now, our God extol!

Scott L. Barton

*Name given to this day because of the traditional introit's text (in Latin) from 1 Peter 2:2: Like newborn infants (Quasi modo géniti infántes) long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation.” This poem was also inspired by an interview with Bishop Thomas of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Al-Quosia, Upper Egypt, at http://www.presbyterianmission.org/story/carrying-cross-without-fear/

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Video on the Resurrection of the Lord (A), April 12, 2020–Matthew 28:1-10

Please page down for the text of both the poem and the Matthew reading, and a bit farther for my new hymn for these online/stay-at-home times. Thanks for joining me at Lectionary Poems!

Resurrection of the Lord (A), April 12, 2020—Matthew 28:1–10

He Qi: He Is Not Here

in The Art of He Qi; also available at heqiart.com

Resurrection Key

A choral work, in major key, 

The Bach Magnificat in D,

Once made me laugh out loud to hear

Repeated music, that appeared

Within the Gloria Patri when

The music came around again—

As it was in the beginning!

Clever Bach, had, in our singing,

Taken us to where we'd started,

Scoring notes already charted.

This technique which Bach employed

Elicits, it turns out, much joy.

So, Matthew, cleverness displayed

With Jesus' "Do not be afraid;

Tell [them] to go to Galilee;

[For it is] there they will see me."

Why Galilee? It's at the start!

And there it is you'll find the heart

Of who the risen Jesus is—

In all the things he did then, viz., 

Forgiving, healing and inviting—

It makes this risen Lord exciting

Since you can see him there, today—

And Resurrection, thus convey.

Go back, the story read anew,

May then his life repeat in you. 

Scott L. Barton

(The idea that "Galilee" means going back to the beginning of Matthew's gospel comes from Tom Long in a Christian Century article, April 4, 2006. James Burton, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra's Tanglewood Festival Chorus and B.S.O. Choral Director, reminded me of the name of the particular piece of music I sang years ago.)

This poem and all others for the year, with complete scriptural and title indices, are available in Lectionary Poems, Year A: Surprising Grace for Pulpit and Pew, at Wipfandstock.com and amazon; or from me, signed and inscribed, for only $10 plus $4 shipping and MA sales tax. Write me at scott.l.barton@gmail.com.

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Bonus Poem: A Hymn for Online/at home Worship

This hymn is to be sung to Eternal Father, Strong to Save (The Navy Hymn). I borrowed a few words from William Whiting's words to that hymn, but other than that it's mine, and now yours to use freely.

Eternal Lord, Who Calmed the Waves

 MELITA 8.8.8.8.8.8

Scott L. Barton, 2020              John Bacchus Dykes, 1861

Eternal Lord, who calmed the waves,

We look to you this day to save;

Across the world, we live in fear

And yearn for when we might be clear

Of danger none with eyes can see,

That now has brought us to our knees.

To Lazarus, “Come out!” you called,

To those who cried, you’d not withhold 

A word to banish evil’s power—

So thus we cry to you this hour

To heal a world so ill at ease

From what has brought us to our knees.

O Lord, who lives to break down walls,

By meeting not, we’re all appalled,

And yearn for when, no longer bound,

Our friends and neighbors we’ll surround

With handshakes, hugs, again at ease,

When you will strengthen feeble knees.

O Trinity of love and power, 

All healers guard in danger’s hour;

Protect them as they treat and care

For all your people, here and there,

Thus praises e’er will rise to thee

From all who pray on bended knee.

Video on Palm Sunday (Passion Sunday) (A), April 5, 2020–Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 and Matthew 21:1-11

Palm Sunday (Passion Sunday) (A), April 5, 2020—Psalm 118:1–2, 19–29 and Matthew 21:1–11

       Palmesel, 15th c, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cloisters Collection 1955

Our Parentage

O Church! Do not forget our parentage,

Our roots in Israel of old;

Our parents cried "Hosanna" to the LORD,

A plea to save—and now! So bold

Were they, they cried it yet again that day

When Jesus rode his donkey in,

While from the city's other side, the king—

Who did not save—with pomp and din

Of horse and armor tried to claim the power

That oft has captured human hearts;

But in this fam’ly tree we’ve seen a love

Passed down which still is off the charts.

Scott L. Barton

Psalm 118:1–2, 19–29

(Here's one way you could set these verses as a response between leader and congregation.)

L: O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; 

his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, 

P: "His steadfast love endures forever.”

Open to me the gates of righteousness, 

that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD.

L: This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it.

P: I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.

L: The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

P: This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.

L: This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

P: Save us, we beseech you, O LORD! O LORD, we beseech you, give us success!

L: Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD. 

P: We bless you from the house of the LORD.

The LORD is God, and he has given us light. 

L: Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar.

P: You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you.

ALL: O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

+ + +

Matthew 21:1–11

The Donkey in the Room

We like to keep our politics

Apart from Sunday church;

And woe to preachers who would dare

The worship to besmirch

With commentary on the powers

That tend to rule the day;

And yes, it can be overdone—

And peoples' trust betray;

But Jesus, on parade that day,

Lampooned the power and might

Of all, like Caesar, who in great

Display would take delight;

He's making fun of those who lord

It over people's hearts;

This Jesus, not just meek and mild,

Is brave, and heav'nly smart.

Scott L. Barton

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, 'The Lord needs them.' And he will send them immediately." This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, 

"Tell the daughter of Zion, 

Look, your king is coming to you, 

humble, and mounted on a donkey, 

and on a colt, the foal of a donkey." 

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, 

"Hosanna to the Son of David! 

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! 

Hosanna in the highest heaven!" 

When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, "Who is this?" The crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee."

Video on the Fifth Sunday in Lent (A), March 29, 2020–Ezekiel 37:1-14 and John 11:1-45

The Fifth Sunday in Lent (A), March 29, 2020—Ezekiel 37:1–14 and John 11:1–45

Rembrandt: The Raising of Lazarus (1642)      

Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet

God Enamored

"O mortal, can these dead bones live?"

"O Lord, my God, you know;"

I wonder which came first—the trust

Ezekiel, despite woe,

Embodied?  Or—the vision, which

Appeared, and made him brave

Enough he might proclaim the news

That Yahweh yet would save?

And which comes first, belief in Christ,

So, dying, one still lives?

Or—when you've seen the hopeless, change—

Know God enamored gives?

Perhaps it doesn't matter how

From death you might come out,

Just listen to Love's call, who still

By grace, all dying flouts.

Scott L. Barton

(The phrase "God enamored gives" is from a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, "Come, My Beloved, Hear from Me.")

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.” 

So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. 

Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.

+++

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 

Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” 

When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” 

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

Video on the Fourth Sunday in Lent (A), March 22, 2020–John 9:1-41

Video on The Fourth Sunday in Lent (A), March 22, 2020–1 Samuel 16:1-13

The Fourth Sunday in Lent (A), March 22, 2020—1 Samuel 16:1–13 and John 9:1–41

Please page down for a bonus poem in the face of COVID-19, When Life Stops, and then a bit further for news about my book of these lectionary poems.

1 Samuel 16:1–13

Samuel Anoints David

Wall painting from the Dura Europus Synogogue

Iraq, 3rd C. 

The Name of the Program

How curious we have the names

Of three who did not fit the claim

That one of Jesse's sons would be 

The king, by Yahweh “designeed.”

Thus Samuel has to turn away

Eliab, who, though he displayed

The stature of some handsome king,

Had not the heart from which grace springs.

Nor Abinadab, nor Shammah

Elicited some grand "Aha!"

From Samuel, nor the other four

Would be where Yahweh's spirit poured.

But by this boy did Yahweh name

His program, which we still proclaim:

You never know, despite your plans,

Where love for you, and all, might land. 

Scott L. Barton

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.” Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

+  +  +

John 9:1–41

Rembrandt: Jesus Heals the Blind Man

pen and brush drawing, ca. 1655–60, 

Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen

Sight

John says the man was blind from birth,

Which means they thought he had a dearth

Of goodness, or, perhaps his parents

Were the ones who had been errant—

For otherwise, who can explain

Conditions we find inhumane?

But Jesus isn't into reasons,

Or int'rested in open season

On those calamity befalls;

Instead, his actions always call

Attention to the acts of God

We find so hard to see, and odd.

If anything, let him remind

Us if we miss God's love, we're blind.

Scott L. Barton

As [Jesus] walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.

The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?" Some were saying, "It is he." Others were saying, "No, but it is someone like him." He kept saying, "I am the man." But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight." They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know."

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?" And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened." He said, "He is a prophet." The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" His parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself." His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him." So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, "Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner." He answered, "I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?" Then they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." The man answered, "Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." They answered him, "You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?" And they drove him out.

Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered, "And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him." Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he." He said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped him.

Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind." Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, "Surely we are not blind, are we?" Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, 'We see,' your sin remains.

A Poem in the Face of COVID-19

When Life Stops

My wife and I noticed it Tuesday,

Returning from Florida,

With the airport half empty.

A rolling tide, Broadway was shut down,

Then college sports and the NBA,

Then colleges. And orchestra performances.

The Philadelphia Orchestra played to an empty house.

My own Boston performances, canceled.

A friend I was to meet, his conference in town, canceled.

My grandchildren’s schools, closed.

My children are working from home or online.

And finally, churches closed.

We get notices from vendors

Stating what steps they are taking

To prevent community spread.

My weekly meeting with a student,

Usually at a coffee shop,

Will be done by walking outside.

At first, we thought what mattered

Is that we, ourselves, were healthy

And would surely survive any exposure.

But it seems we are all learning

That this isn’t about just me but all of us—

The whole world, actually.

I have flashbacks to another crisis,

The utter shock of September 11,

When we all remember where we were.

No planes in the skies afterwards,

Travel restricted, utter grief,

How could it be? We cried and hugged.

No hugging of neighbors now, let alone strangers.

Keep your social distance.

Sunday, I can tune in to any number of church services,

But online, no singing, no peace passing.

We are all at a standstill,

We are all the untouchables.

Fear not. I am with you, says Isaiah.

Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, says Joshua.

Do not worry about your life, says Jesus.

Let your gentleness be known to everyone, says Paul.

I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, says the Psalmist; and again,

Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Scott L. Barton

Lectionary Poems, Year A: Surprising Grace for Pulpit and Pew

Remember that you can get these poems, plus all the poems for Year A, complete with a scripture index (including texts sometimes referred to in a poem which isn't in the lectionary) and title index, in my book published by Wipf and Stock, Lectionary Poems, Year A: Surprising Grace for Pulpit and Pew. Order at 

https://www.amazon.com/Lectionary-Poems-Year-Surprising-Pulpit/dp/1725253062/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=lectionary+poems&qid=1582234114&sr=8-1

or https://wipfandstock.com/lectionary-poems-year-a.html

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The Third Sunday in Lent, March 15, 2020—Exodus 17:1–7 and John 4:5–42; Romans 5:1–11

Christ and the Woman of Samaria 

Probably by a student, and retouched by Rembrandt

Metropolitan Museum of Art 

Exodus 17:1–7 and John 4:5–42

Three Drinking Limericks

"Is the LORD now among us, or not?"
Cried the thirsty and quarreling tribe;
Thus when Moses told God,
The response, "Use the rod!"
Meant by striking the rock, they imbibed.

"Woman, give me some water to drink,"
Jesus, to the Samaritan said,
But if drink he received,
We can't tell, or perceive—
What we learn is, she drank in, instead.

Thus we hear that refreshment is giv'n,

When for water or love we might thirst,
When we think it's our job
To prove how we love God,
We're supplied with good news quite reversed.

Scott L. Barton

(The limerick form probably comes from County Limerick in Ireland; and thus is the form here, near St. Patrick's Day.)

From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said, "Give us water to drink." Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?" But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?" So Moses cried out to the Lord, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me." The Lord said to Moses, "Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink." Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?"

+ + +

So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?" Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." 

Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come back." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!" The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us." Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking to you."

Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you want?" or, "Why are you speaking with her?" Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, "Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?" They left the city and were on their way to him. 

Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, "Rabbi, eat something." But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." So the disciples said to one another, "Surely no one has brought him something to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, 'Four months more, then comes the harvest'? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor." 

Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I have ever done." So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world."

+  +  +

Romans 5:1–11

The Way Forward

Since we are justified by faith,

We now have peace, through Christ, with God;

Can you believe that someone died

So you might know, though being odd,

You're even loved more than you thought?

I do not "get" we're saved from wrath;

But if some gratitude I learn,

Then that will do—and be my path.

Scott L. Barton

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.