Isaiah 5:1–7
A Communion with the Earth: Gardening and Gratitude
Consummate Gardener
I think I know how Yahweh felt,
This pain Isaiah knew to tell;
For I have oft been blessed to dwell
Where stinking vines made gardening hell.
I know the feeling that you'd like
To cut it all down in some pique,
To slash and burn, to cut and strike,
Since weeds nor vines grow never meek.
But then you take another breath,
And cultivate with love and care,
For weeds, nor vines, nor garden's death
Can make your essence, you forswear.
The Lord would still a garden tend
Where fruits of love and kindness grow,
And cultivates for that sole end,
Since, "It was good" is all God knows.
Scott L. Barton
Let me sing for my beloved
my love-song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
he expected it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
and people of Judah,
judge between me
and my vineyard.
What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?
And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down.
I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.
For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
he expected justice, but saw bloodshed;
righteousness, but heard a cry!
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Hebrews 11:29—12:2
Marc Chagall: Rahab et les Espions de Jericho
from The Bible, 1956
The Cloud Surrounding
By faith the walls of Jericho
Fell down; while Rahab, mercy showed;
With just a handful, Gideon routed
The Midianites, who Yahweh flouted;
By faith, Barak, like lightning, struck
The Canaanites, while by him stuck
The prophet Deb’rah, under palm,
Replacing fear with needed calm;
When Samson sought to mischief make
He slew the lion so he might take
Revenge on rival Philistines—
The LORD will use most any means
To serve his ends, like Jephthah, called
’gainst Ammonites (yet pride appalled);
The youngster David ruled the day,
While Samuel bravely showed the way.
Consider allegorically
The tribes, who categorically
Describe what still is opposition
To what we claim’s the definition
Of God—Pure Generosity!—
Though actions or verbosity
By many now would do it in,
And set us all ’gainst kith and kin.
Therefore, remember all who chose
The enemies of love t’oppose,
And though, not perfect, they defied
Those who in love would not abide.
A cloud of witnesses surrounds
Us still, and still, their faith abounds;
By faith each passed through some Red Sea,
And so, if them, then why not me?
Scott L. Barton
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.
And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
+ + +
Luke 12:49–56
Interpreting the Present Time
Don't rock the boat, they always say,
These things always take time;
End slavery? Let women vote?
Or blacks? Oh, that's a crime
To jump the gun, get people hurt,
Pit brother against brother;
How odd that Jesus knew these things,
But rather than another
Delaying word, he longs for fire!
His grace means not peacekeeping,
But rather, making peace for all!
For God is never sleeping
Whene'er one's siblings get short shrift
But you think things are cool—
You'll want to wake up, then, and not
Have Jesus call you fool!
Scott L. Barton
“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?"
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