John Singer Sargent: Tyrolese Crucifix 1914
Metropolitan Museum, New York
Jeremiah 23:1–6
Not On Our Own
I guess it’s not so unique
That a shepherd will scatter
Those entrusted to his care.
Sometimes the sheep, unable
To know the things best for them,
Will find themselves in despair.
That’s the time when they might hear
A faithful prophet proclaim:
Awaken from the nightmare!
One comes not for self, who’s called
“The LORD is our righteousness,”
To change our hearts—everywhere.
Scott L. Barton
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the LORD. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the LORD.
The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The LORD is our righteousness.”
+ + +
Psalm 46
(with a closing reference to Romans 8:28)
God is our refuge
and God is our strength,
And people these days
o'er the breadth and the length
Of the Philippines know
—more than most—what this means;
For relief do they cry,
when relief is unseen;
Oh! What destruction
as far as the eye
And the news can perceive,
so with tears we all cry;
But though earth and sea change,
—and the mountains all shake,
Our God is the one
who will never forsake;
It's a long ways away
—to the end of the earth!—
But the one who breaks bows,
Breaks despair, so rebirth
Will occur! So now know,
in our comfort,
though faith may be thin,
That God with us conspires
for our kith and our kin.
Scott L. Barton
(Written after Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, but applicable in other circumstances, such as recent Caribbean-Florida hurricanes.)
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the
mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its
tumult. Selah
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy
habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help
it when the morning dawns.
The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his
voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what desolations he has
brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and
shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I
am exalted in the earth.”
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
+ + +
Luke 23:33–43
Hymn: As the Church’s Year Is Done
(Tune: VESPER HYMN (Now on Land and Sea Descending)
Alternative tunes: Hymns with 8.7.8.7 D meter, such as GENEVA (Sovereign Lord of All Creation; Swiftly Pass the Clouds of Glory)(especially nice because of the mid-way change from minor to major); BEACH SPRING (God Whose Giving Knows No Ending), EBENEZER (Come, O Spirit; Once to Every One and Nation), HYFRYDOL (unless you plan to sing Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus to this tune soon), HYMN TO JOY (Joyful Joyful, We Adore Thee), IN BABILONE (There's a Wideness in God's Mercy), NETTLETON (Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing), or WEISSE FLAGGEN (When the Morning Stars Together).
As the Church's Year Is Done
1. Save the Sundays after Christmas,
Christ the King's* the only one
With his name or title noted,
As the church's year is done—
Though it doesn't change him any,
Doesn't sudd'nly make him king;
Not by churchwide nomenclature
Do his praises now we sing.
2. This day is the culmination
Of the message we have heard,
Starting with the proclamation
Christ would come in flesh, from Word.
Yes, he came, revealed, was baptized,
Then the twelve to him he called,
Suffered, with his death approaching,
Demonstrated giving all.
3. After death, a resurrection,
Each week here we celebrate!
Shouts of joy, what acclamation,
Love o’ercame death’s heavy weight!
Then disciples, still unsure of
How the future would unfold,
Prodded by the Spirit outward,
Learned that grace for all be told.
4. Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Is the basis of our claim
Through our ordinary time, the
Life of Christ is still our aim.
If we choose, if we can own him
As the one who in us reigns,
That's the day in which we crown him,
Ruler, who our lives sustains.
(*or Reign of Christ's)
Scott L. Barton
When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
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