Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time/Sixth after Pentecost (A)—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 mean that 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.’

 

 

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time/Fifth after Pentecost (A)—Genesis 24:34–38, 42-49, 58–67; Matthew 11:16–19, 25-30

 

William Hilton the Younger (1786–1839):     

Rebecca and Abraham’s Servant at the Well

Tate Gallery, London

Genesis 24:34–38, 42–49, 58–67

Toto, We're Not in Kansas Anymore

These days, we might call it racist,

Sending for a bride for your son

Back home amongst your own people;

So what's wrong with Canaanite girls?

I sit in a local restaurant,

Amazed at combinations there,

Black and white, and Asian and white,

And the new grandparents who aren't

(I surmise) entirely happy

With their white daughter's non-white spouse;

It's a new world, to some's chagrin;

But I think: This is wonderful.

Abraham needed son Isaac

Not to forsake this new Yahweh;

But much more than race was at stake—

Much more than he could imagine.

God cares not a whit about tribe,

But only what it takes to see

What someday all will know: Just love

Is what defines our family tree.

Scott L. Barton

So he said, ‘I am Abraham’s servant. The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become wealthy; he has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys. And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and he has given him all that he has. My master made me swear, saying, “You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live; but you shall go to my father’s house, to my kindred, and get a wife for my son.”

 ‘I came today to the spring, and said, “O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now you will only make successful the way I am going! I am standing here by the spring of water; let the young woman who comes out to draw, to whom I shall say, ‘Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,’ and who will say to me, ‘Drink, and I will draw for your camels also’—let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.”

 ‘Before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her water-jar on her shoulder; and she went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her, “Please let me drink.” She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder, and said, “Drink, and I will also water your camels.” So I drank, and she also watered the camels. Then I asked her, “Whose daughter are you?” She said, “The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.” So I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her arms. Then I bowed my head and worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to obtain the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son. Now then, if you will deal loyally and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so that I may turn either to the right hand or to the left.’ And they called Rebekah, and said to her, ‘Will you go with this man?’ She said, ‘I will.’ So they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse along with Abraham’s servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,

‘May you, our sister, become

   thousands of myriads;

may your offspring gain possession

   of the gates of their foes.’

Then Rebekah and her maids rose up, mounted the camels, and followed the man; thus the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.

Now Isaac had come from Beer-lahai-roi, and was settled in the Negeb. Isaac went out in the evening to walk in the field; and looking up, he saw camels coming. And Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she slipped quickly from the camel, and said to the servant, ‘Who is the man over there, walking in the field to meet us?’ The servant said, ‘It is my master.’ So she took her veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

+  +  +

Matthew 11:16–19, 25–30

The News beyond Comparing

It isn't hard to picture

The children in this scripture

Because we know how childish

It is, and sometimes stylish,

To rant and rave whenever

It seems some new endeavor

Will rock the boat we're sailing,

And set us all awailing. 

Thus John provoked despising,

And Jesus, moralizing;

But Jesus knew that infants,

Without the world's enrichments,

Know only their receiving,

Which boils down to believing

That one thing never changes:

The love which he arranges.

Scott L. Barton

“But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time/Fourth after Pentecost (A)—Genesis 22:1–14; Matthew 10:40–42

 

 

Marc Chagall: Sacrifice of Isaac

 Musée national Marc Chagall, Nice

Genesis 22:1–14

"Here I Am"

Three times he says those faithful words,

Which says, what is its own reward

Is something so courageous, bold

(And hardly what we're often told),

That anyone who dares to set

Foot in a church should plan to get

Assaulted by the task at hand!

This, "Here I am," or "Here I stand,"

As Luther said more recently,

Means trust beyond what we can see,

Not knowing how or when or where

Your actions will God's grace declare.

Scott L. Barton

After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt-offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.’ So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt-offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. Then Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.’ Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac said to his father Abraham, ‘Father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ He said, ‘The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?’ Abraham said, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son.’ So the two of them walked on together.

When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.’ And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt-offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place ‘The Lord will provide’; as it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’

+  +  +

Matthew 10:40–42  

Remembering Jesus on a Hot One

So this Sunday, you could turn off the sanctuary's A.C. 

Or, you northerners who don't have it, keep the windows closed.

Put a sign on each one: "Windows need to stay closed today."

 

Hope that it's a hot one. 

 

Let the people start to grumble, at least to themselves.

And then after this text is read, ask everyone to think

Of someone they consider to be a true disciple of Jesus,

Living or dead, famous or just a neighbor they know.

 

Then lots of elders and/or deacons come forward

Carrying trays filled with cups of cold water (not lukewarm!)

And as if they're passing out the Sacrament,

They pass the tray to the people on the ends of the pews,

Saying, "I give you this cold water in the name of ________."

The trays get passed down the row, with each person saying,

"I give you this cold water in the name of _________."

And lots of disciples of Jesus will be named aloud.

And lots of Christ's little ones will have their thirsts quenched.

It'll be cool. They'll remember it. 

 

Maybe they'll remember Jesus, too.

Scott L. Barton

“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time/Third after Pentecost (A)—Genesis 21:8–21 and Matthew 10:24–39; Romans 6:1b–11

 

Rembrandt: Abraham Casting out Hagar and Ishmael (1637), 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Genesis 21:8–21 and Matthew 10:24–39

Expressions of Faith

The fat was in the fire

When Isaac and Ishmael played;

The pot just boiled over

With Sarah, for Isaac afraid;

The mother lost it then—

The father saw no way to win;

He couldn't stand the heat,

So Abraham had to give in;

I wonder if he knew

He'd cast his burden on the LORD

When casting Hagar out

To sink or swim of her accord?

The death sentence he gave,

He pushed to the back of his mind;

This tale thus goes to show

The love of this Yahweh is blind;

For all concerned were saved,

And saw the LORD does not slumber;

Or put another way—

The hairs of your head are all numbered.

Scott L. Barton

(The first line, from Frederick Buechner's writing about Hagar in Peculiar Treasures [Harper & Row, 1979] and the subsequent Beyond Words, inspired the poem.)

The child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.” The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you. As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. 

When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, “Do not let me look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink. 

God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

+ + +

“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! 

“So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. 

“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. 

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 

For I have come to set a man against his father, 

and a daughter against her mother, 

and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 

and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. 

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it."

+  +  + 

 

DC Comics

Romans 6:1b–11

Wonder

I have to hope that no one wonders 

If too much sin of theirs can sunder

Them from the possibilities of grace

When feeling like a real basket case!

For grace is nothing theoretical,

Nor would it ever tilt heretical

To say that all who want to know it

Can have the life Christ spent to show it. 

His resurrection's no reward

For upright living you might hoard;

Dear wonder man and woman, it cuts through

For you. Right now. Out of the blue. 

Scott L. Barton

What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

 

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time/Second after Pentecost (A)—Genesis 18:1–15, 21:1–7

Marc Chagall: Sarah and the Angels

1960 lithograph; Art Gallery, Chrudim, Czech Republic

Oh, Abraham!

Oh, Abraham! You run to greet

Three strangers who come down the street;

You bow to them, and then entreat

Them come inside that they might eat.

What moves you, that you so reveal

Extravagance, as next you kneel

To wash their feet, and bid them rest,

As if by gracious acts you're blessed?

And then another blessing from

The visitors, while Sarah, mum,

By door, to laughter still succumbs,

Since it's as if the kingdom's come.

Oh, joy! 'Though how they'll fare's unknown,

The promise still is ne'er outgrown;

And gospel even yet ensues

To those who hospitality pursue.

Scott L. Barton

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “Oh yes, you did laugh.”

The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” And she said, “Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”