The Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time/Tenth after Pentecost (A), August 9, 2020—Matthew 14:22–33 and Genesis 37:1–28 [5–11 officially not included]

Tanner, Henry Ossawa: Disciples See Christ Walking on the Water 

(ca 1907) Des Moines Art Center

  

Matthew 14:22–33 

Just a Bit

He makes them go into the boat

And while he prays, to go ahead;

He tells them not to be afraid -

Unlike a ghost, he isn't dead;

To Peter he commands he come

To him atop the batt'ring waves;

He notes that Peter has some faith,

And some is all it takes to save;

But some was not enough for Pete,

Who thought that he could have it all.

If that's your goal, then you're all wet,

A bit of trust avoids a fall.

Scott L. Barton

Immediately [Jesus] made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

+ + +

Genesis 37:1–28 [5–11 officially not included]

Ferenczy, Károly, Joseph Sold into Slavery by his Brothers 

(1900),Hungarian National Gallery

Another "Here I Am!"

Once again you have to wonder

If a patriarch believes—

For Jacob knows the boys can't stand

This Joseph with long sleeves;

It's not as if the father is

Oblivious to the threat;

He knows how much the dreamer is

Despised by them—And yet

He still sends out his pride and joy

(Another lamb to slaughter);

He knows the opportunity

Will make their mouths all water!

I think deep down he wonders: "Is

This promise true? Or tale?"

Is this a challenge to the LORD

To see if it will fail?

Perhaps his father, Isaac, once

Had told him 'bout that ram,

Then, just like Grandpa, Joseph tells

His father, "Here I am!"

It takes all kinds to grow this faith,

The doubters and the brave,

The truth is, Yahweh works through both

To show the love that saves.

Scott L. Barton

[Please see also the poem for June 28 about the almost-sacrifice of Isaac.]

Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. This is the story of the family of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

[Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream that I dreamed. There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words. He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, “Look, I have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, “What kind of dream is this that you have had? Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before you?” So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.]

Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” He answered, “Here I am.” So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron. He came to Shechem, and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” “I am seeking my brothers,” he said; “tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” The man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’“ So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him” —that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father.

So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers agreed. When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

Bonus Poem: NEOWISE: It Seems the Preacher/Teacher (Ecclesiastes) Was Wrong

NEOWISE: 

It Seems the Preacher/Teacher (Ecclesiastes) Was Wrong

Staying up late the other night

So I can try to catch a glimpse

Of NEOWISE, the new comet,

I worry the clouds make hazy 

The northwest sky. But then I spy,

Using my new binoculars,

Something that looks like a flashlight,

Its beam pointing towards the Dipper,

64 million miles away!

Oh, what a mystery, to me,

That something just three miles across

Is visible to us at all,

To say nothing of the fact that

It was just discovered in March! 

Now, a slingshot blast, it speeds past.

This belies the old adage that

There’s nothing new under the sun,

Or—as it turns out—around it! 

The Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A), August 2, 2020—Genesis 32:22-31 and Matthew 14:13-21; Romans 5:1-9

Genesis 32:22-31 and Matthew 14:13-21  

                                 Marc Chagall, Jacob wrestling with the angel, 1931

                         Musée national Message Biblique Marc Chagall, Nice, France

                                   Vie de Jesus Mafa, Jesus Multiplies the Loaves

Hilarious Unexpectedness

It's as if, like his grandfather,
He, too, plays a game of chicken
With this Yahweh, testing whether
He can entrust all that he has
To the promise of abundance;
He sends them off, unprotected,
Wrestling all night with what he's done.
But the grabber gets a blessing,
Although it doesn't come scot-free—
Faith limps in this, our family tree.

Along comes Jesus. He's alone,
In his own way, he's wrestling, too.
The crowds can't get enough of him;
Can his disciples carry on?
But they need another lesson—
Astonishing numbers he feeds!
Hilarious unexpectedness,
Not disaster we expect,
Is news that comes again this week,
When of this God, we dare to speak.

Scott L. Barton
 

[The phrase "hilarious unexpectedness" is from Frederick Buechner, Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy and Fairy Tale [Harper One, 1977]. See also http://www.frederickbuechner.com/content/weekly-sermon-illustration-gospel-comedy.]

The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had.

Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

* * *
Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

+ + +

Romans 9:1-5

Original Testament to Grace

Oh, would more Christians viewed the "Old"

More like "Original," extolled

Just like the "New," a testament

To gospel, with the temperament

Of all the grace you find in Paul;

Although his people weren't enthralled 

By Christ, it works the other way

Around, for Christians oft betray

The faith in which our Lord was raised.

Instead of old dare be amazed

At how original and new

Is love by which our forebears grew.

—And so can you. 

Scott L. Barton

I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

The Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A), July 26, 2020—Genesis 29:15–28; Romans 8:26–39

Rembrandt: Laban Leading Rachel or Leah (1635)

Genesis 29:15–28

Holy Fools

The cheat became the cheated, 

In Laban he met his match;

To marry Laban's daughters off,

A daring plan was hatched;

When Jacob saw those lovely eyes,

He knew that he'd been had,

His eyes were opened to the truth:

"I'm not the only cad!"

I wonder if the "girls" were in on

Laban's crafty plan?

He says, "We'll give the other, too,

If you serve me [the man]

Another set of seven years." 

Thus, he whose mother pulled

The wool over his father's eyes

By women, too, was fooled!

Oh! What a pack of fools and foolers

Form this family tree!

Which goes to show the nature of

The prodigality

Behind the LORD who chose them all

As blessers and as blessed;

And holy fools today still know

By love they are possessed.

Scott L. Barton

Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah’s eyes were lovely, and Rachel was graceful and beautiful. Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her. 

Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” So Laban gathered together all the people of the place, and made a feast. But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid.) When morning came, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” Laban said, “This is not done in our country—giving the younger before the firstborn. Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” Jacob did so, and completed her week; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife.

+ + +

 

Romans 8:26–39

No Magic

How odd our sacred book admits

We often don't know how to pray,

And yet, how wonderful, in Christ,

There are no magic words to say.

No special turn of phrase is key

To what's profound, unlocked within,

No need to speak at all, in fact,

No should or ought, no promised spin.

For God's the one who now conspires

For good with those whose love is prayer,

A company, a family 

Whose glory is beyond compare.

The reason why, cannot be proved,

Explained in sermon or in poem,

Not words, but just the fact of love

Is how the One who counts is known.

Scott L. Barton

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.

What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A), July 19, 2020—Genesis 28:10–19a; Romans 8:12–25

Marc Chagall: Jacob's Ladder (one of several)

Genesis 28:10–19a

This Stairway to Heaven Really Makes Me Wonder

"How awesome is this place," he says,

Where hope and presence intersect;

It is as if God lives where, missing

What you long for, you expect

It yet to be!

       Though you can't see

What otherwise would leave you stunned;

And so the LORD to Jacob says,

"I will not leave you 'til I've done

What I have promised."

        So, I ask,

Does this mean God might someday leave?

The text implies as much!

        And yet,

Perhaps God's "present" when we cleave

To what, in hope, we cannot see,

And God's house—Bethel—is that place

And time when you and everyone

Now realize that just by grace

Is—more than moon and heaven—ours,

And stairways climb to more than stars.

Scott L. Barton

Jacob left Beer-sheba and went towards Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him and said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’ Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!’ And he was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’

So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first.

+ + +

 

Romans 8:12–25

This Much Is Clear

I worry where the world is headed,

With climate change not only dreaded,

But now a chunk the size of Delaware 

Has broken from Antarctica. Beware!

I worry that, back home, the President,

—By tweets and, what he says, the evidence,

Non-curious, and with a one-track mind—

Cares just for money, sex, his base and kind.

He has no understanding of us all;

But kings and rulers often have appalled

The people they are meant by God to serve;

We do not always get what we deserve.

And so, although in pain creation groans,

A God of love can ne'er despair condone;

Since hope in Christ's the opposite of fear,

Then we, his people, still can make it clear.

Scott L. Barton

So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. 

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

The Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A), July 12, 2020—Genesis 25:19–34; Romans 8:1–11; Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23

 Genesis 25:19–34

   (After) Rembrandt: Esau Sells His Birthright

Poor Isaac

Scarred for life by that trip up Moriah,

His father tries to make it up to him

By getting a girl for him from back home.

But like father, like son, and the wife can't conceive.

Like father, like son, and the promise is in jeopardy.

Like father like son, and young Isaac tries to pass off his wife.

Like father, like son, and old Isaac prays.

And now a new wrinkle—twins,

And the right of the first-born out the window!

A dullard and a grabber, hardly the best of friends;

Father and mother each with their own favorite.

I'll bet it wasn't what old Isaac had in mind.

I hope someday he had the last laugh.

Scott L. Barton

These are the descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, sister of Laban the Aramean. Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived. The children struggled together within her; and she said, ‘If it is to be this way, why do I live?’ So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her,

‘Two nations are in your womb,

   and two peoples born of you shall be divided;

one shall be stronger than the other,

   the elder shall serve the younger.’

When her time to give birth was at hand, there were twins in her womb. The first came out red, all his body like a hairy mantle; so they named him Esau. Afterwards his brother came out, with his hand gripping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

When the boys grew up, Esau was a skilful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents. Isaac loved Esau, because he was fond of game; but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. Esau said to Jacob, ‘Let me eat some of that red stuff, for I am famished!’ (Therefore he was called Edom.) Jacob said, ‘First sell me your birthright.’ Esau said, ‘I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?’ Jacob said, ‘Swear to me first.’ So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank, and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

+  +  +

Romans 8:1–11

"He condemned sin in the flesh"

Oh, which did God in Christ condemn?

The sins we know so well, in them—

That is, in others not like us—

Or in ourselves, which make less fuss?

Or is it not those sins themselves, 

But maybe God in Christ rebels

Against the notion that sins "count"

Against some magical amount

That at love's bar would cut you off?

("No more for you!")

                                   To that, God scoffs.

The mind that's still set on the flesh,

That is, on me, just doesn't mesh

With what the law of love can do;

Love throws the system all askew.

For neither doing nor believing

Is any match for your receiving.

Scott L. Barton

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

+ + +

Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23

Van Gogh: The Sower (1888)

The Happy Sower

We misconstrue this parable

To say where people fail

To let the word take hold, as if—

"Oh God! It won't prevail

Without more folk like us—good soil—

To make a healthy yield!"

Except—this sower's joy's so full,

The point is not the field,

But that he flings it everywhere,

And that he won't hold back;

"Huzzah!" (It's there!) "Hurray!" (And there!),

With each dip in his sack;

Think back four weeks to Genesis,

Day one, day two, day three,

God throwing out things here and there,

"That's good!" he cries with glee!

Thus by the sea our Lord assures

The crowd all gathered there—

And all of us—to know again,

That way beyond compare,

Are all the possibilities

Created by this sower,

Just take it in, and it will grow,

Because of this grace thrower.

Scott L. Barton

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!’

‘Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.’