Trinity Sunday (B)—Isaiah 6:1–8; John 3:1–17

Rembrandt: The King Uzziah Stricken with Leprosy (1635)

Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

Isaiah 6:1–8

The Odd and Overwhelming Otherness of God

 

The odd and overwhelming

     otherness of God

—In which Isaiah stands as if

     he's some divining rod

Who's found the source of life

    and all creatIon's power—

Is followed by so deep a self-

     awareness, he just cowers

In his inadequacy:

     Woe! Lost! And unclean!

And he is doomed, for all

     the majesty that he has seen;

But God has means, it seems,

     the doomed one to reclaim,

The coal in tongs atones,

     and guilt departed is proclaimed.

But lest we think the prophet

     basks in holy bliss,

All-glowing with what must have seemed,

     with such an act, God's kiss,

The one who's touched, looks up,

     and from his bended knee,

And knowing what he's called to do,

     says, "Here I am; send me!"

Such odd, persistent grace

     comes when and where it will;

To you, to me, and everyone,

     So love its name fulfills.

 

Scott L. Barton

 

(The phrase "the odd, overwhelming otherness of God," and other ideas in the poem come from Walter Brueggemann's Isaiah 1-39 in the Westminster Bible Companion series, pp. 57-60.)

 

 

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: 

 

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; 

the whole earth is full of his glory.” 

 

The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.

And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” 

 

Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”

 

+ + +

 

Henry Ossawa Tanner: Nicodemus Visiting Jesus (1899)

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia

 

 

John 3:1–17 (see also John 7:45–53 and John 19:38–42)

 

Winded

 

Nicodemus knew

That Jesus was on to something

With all that talk

About being born from above,

Even though he hadn't a clue

Of the wind's comings and goings.

Thus he went to that meeting

Where the blowhards

Wanted to do Jesus in,

And tried to talk some sense into them.

I wonder where he got such courage,

Going again by night,

The weight of the world on his back,

Or at least a hundred pounds,

To bury his rabbi,

Winded by the law of love?

 

Scott L. Barton

 

 

John 3:1–17 (see also Numbers 21:9) 

 

Divine

 

It's not just at a football game

Where you will see the sign

That God so loved the world, God gave

God's son; for now "divine"

Means whatsoe'er is given from

The bottom of the heart;

And when that comes, like wind, unplanned,

You'll find your life can start

Again! You're born as if anew,

Since you've looked up to see

The love which from all poison now

Has set the whole world free.

 

Scott L. Barton

 

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

 

"Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

 

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

 

"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."

Day of Pentecost (B)— Acts 2:1-21; Romans 8:22-27

Acts 2:1-21

 

4th Century B.C.E. Thracian urn on display

Iskra Historical Museum, Kazanlak, Bulgaria

 

A Brief History of Bulgaria

                  or

Ode On A Thracian Urn

 

The Thracians with their works of gold,

And then Bulgarians of old,

The Byzantines of Empire East,

Then Bulgars once again increased,

Then people under Turkish "yoke"

(A word old hatred still evokes)

Revival that was long delayed,

Turks overthrown with Russian aid,

A culture trying to transpose

Until the Communists imposed

A system that would steal the hearts

Of each one's worth and diff'ring arts.

 

Oh, can a country grow in pride

When hist'ry o'er the years decries

First one group, then again, another,

Believing only blood makes brothers?

Oh, can God's Spirit work its power,

Not by religion, but by showers

Of truth and hope and understanding?

And can we all, our love expanding,

Perceive with empathy each child

Of God, who on the world still smiles?

Oh, let us put our racial pride

And fear, and wrongs, and guilt aside

And work like heav'n to make a world

Where flags of love are e'er unfurled.

 

Scott L. Barton

 

In St. Mark's cathedral, Korčula, Croatia

 

Grace in Croatia

 

I understood nothing,

In St. Mark's Cathedral,

Korčula, Croatia.

Some two hundred had come,

Despite buckets of rain,

Five in the afternoon.

I'd call their hymns praise songs,

Repeated, known by heart,

Yet beautifully faithful.

Their songs of mystery—

And love—and sacrifice—

And, I think, gratitude,

Almost moved me to tears,

Everything understood,

Though no words known to me.

How could this be, given

My inability

To say anything back

About that which filled them,

Other than, there I knew

Intimations of the Spirit

Poured out upon all flesh?

 

Scott L. Barton

 

 

Pentecost, Pope Francis, and the Lightness of Being

 

It used to be that when the Pope

Would speak, he didn't speak to me;

He's always been the voice of judgment,

And too high authority;

Plus, as a pastor, I had seen

The damage done unto his flock,

When people to our doors appeared,

Cast from their church right down the block;

But this Pope speaks a different line,

The Spirit has him in its grasp;

The lightness of his being shows

A man (like God?) in on the laugh

Of Christ, who doesn't spare the truth,

Yet always sees the world with grace.

All understand! And at his faith

And hope and love I am amazed.

 

Scott L. Barton

 Image from St. Mark's & Putnoe Churches: www.thisischurch.com

 

Oh, What Would They Do?

 

A sound like the rush of a violent wind

Filled the whole house with all of them there;

These tongues, or this ruach, this fire, appeared,

Like an answer to all of their prayers;

Oh, what would they do, with their Lord up and gone,

Out of sight, vanished, gone, disappeared?

Thus, fire from heaven, like Sinai encore,

All their doubts of the kingdom then cleared:

The news of salvation is not some obscure

Or exclusive thing meant for a few;

All manner of folk, of all nations on earth

Now are given the love that makes new.

 

Scott L. Barton

 

How Odd

 

How odd/ of God/ to choose/ the Jews

I used to like to say;

It was a favorite axiom

I might say some Lord's Day

To help the congregation see

These texts are not obsessed

With moral goodness all around,

But rather, how God blessed

A motley crew of liars, cheats,

And folk like you and me!

Which is, of course, good news today,

For, though we don't agree

On points of doctrine, song or style,

The Spirit gladly speaks

So people hear within their hearts

(Despite our own techniques)

That blessings far and wide abound;

Such things still come from God!

So go proclaim the love you have,

Not like a drunk—but odd!

 

Scott L.  Barton

 

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. 

 

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.” 

 

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ 

 

+ + +

 

Romans 8:22-27

 Spirit Help

 

The headlines that I see each day

Confirm I don't know what to pray,

For would the Lord reverse the course

Of how things are, and love enforce?

With sighs too deep for words I long

For when none need to sing the song

Of self; and pray the love of Christ 

Will somehow reign, somehow, suffice.

 

Scott L. Barton

 

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.

 

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.

Seventh Sunday of Easter (B)—Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 (with a flashback to John 15:16 from last week)

Election 

These days, if you're elected to the council or the session

It's hardly thought to signify apostolic succession;

And yet, although now church slates rarely come to be contested,

Matthias' choice to fill the slot back then has long attested

To how the hand of God is still at work in churchly calling:

Remember who chose whom, when you to office they're installing! 

Scott L. Barton

In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, “Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus— for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry....

“So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until  the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.” So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed and said, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

Ascension of the Lord (B)—Luke 24:44–53 and Acts 1:1–11

 

                                   John Singleton Copley: The Ascension (1775)

                                               Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

 

Rejoicing in His Absence

 

Remember Cold Mountain, North Carolina, from the book or movie?

Inman travels towards it, coming home from the Civil War,

as we anticipate his return to his true love, Ada.

It was also the backdrop for a sunset I once saw near Hendersonville.   

 

Just before the sun dropped, nearly three dozen people arrived.

Couples with children. Couples without children. Middle-aged people.

And people in their eighties who had dressed up for the occasion.

We all stood or sat on rocks in the gathering twilight, taking in the show,

the blues and purples and pinks, 

talking, and anticipating the grand finale.

 

Suddenly the sun came out from behind a long cloud, fiery orange,

It lit up everyone’s faces as we looked back at the purple mountains’ majesty.

A mother told her daughter, “It’s almost gone.”

Two lovers broke off their amorous attentions.

And several kids repeated, “It’s going!"

"There’s not much left!"  "There it goes!”

 

And then – it was gone.

And there was an instant of silence.

And then – applause!

Three dozen people on Jump-Off Rock gave their hearty review of the sun

at the curtain call of that day's performance,  along with those in supporting roles

—the clouds, Cold Mountain and all its neighbors, the Pisgah Forest,

the purples, blues, reds, pinks and oranges—

 

And, to my way of thinking, to the Director of the whole show.

 

Unlike sunset watchers, the early disciples didn't know when the return would be.

And yet, they rejoiced.

They gazed.

They worshiped.

Maybe they even applauded, if people did that        back then.

And then they returned.

 

And they waited for the gift that would make them witnesses to all the world,

And proclaim good news when the news is bad,

trust light when it’s dark,

and—even, although it’s increasingly harder, 

when convinced that we have it all, 

or deserve it all now—we, too, even now wait:

 

For a savior to be in our midst,

for the kingdom to come,

for our troubles to be healed by someone, 

because God knows we can’t seem to solve them    all ourselves,

including all the troubles of the world which mirror our own:

 

For racism to be healed;

for ethnic and religious warfare to be healed;

for ageism and sexism and homophobia to be healed;

for the dead we have loved to be raised.

 

All  the evidence suggests that that savior packed up and left a long time ago.

And yet, on this day we celebrate his absence!

On this day we take a leap, because from that point on,

he was going to have to be present in a new way,

if he was to be present at all.

 

Maybe the absence of God is underrated.

Like silence, if we can get someplace without the noise and clamor,

we appreciate more the sounds that matter that we suddenly hear.

Like the absence of someone who cares about you,

it becomes clearer than ever how important 

that person was to you in the first place.

 

And so it is that in his absence, the Spirit of God will still catch you,

and somehow, by some power completely outside yourself,

you will, like those first disciples, no longer look up to the sky,

but at those around you, and you will minister to each other

and to the world the way he ministered to them,

showing them forgiveness,

and challenging them to go beyond what they thought was possible 

in terms of who could be called 

a child of God,

precious in God’s sight.

 

And what a beautiful sight that will be!

 

Scott L. Barton

 

Then [Jesus] said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

 

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

 

+ + +

 

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

 

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Sixth Sunday of Easter (B)—Acts 10:44–48; John 15:9–17

These poems for Year B are all in my book published by Wipf and Stock, Lectionary Poems, Year B: More Surprising Grace for Pulpit and Pew. It will give you not just all the poems for the year, including five new hymn texts, but also an index of all 128 biblical references, plus a title index. Just $12 now (check or Venmo)(and cheaper than Amazon) and includes  mailing for a signed/inscribed copy for yourself or a giftee. Buying multiple quantities reduces the cost even more! Let me know what I can send you: Write to me at  scott.l.barton["at" symbol]gmail.com. 

 

And now, for our regularly scheduled program:

Acts 10:44–48

Corneille Michel I  (c. 1601 – 1664): Baptism of a Centurion

 

What Will Be Is Odd

 

When those of us today who feel not blessed to have the gift

Consider how, back then, it gave the circumcised a lift

To hear in tongues the Gentiles speaking and extolling God,

We should not be surprised to hear that what will be—is odd!

Imagination's eyesight cannot see beyond its nose;

(Who would have thought the Jews would be the ones whom this God chose?)

So never doubt the future brings what we can ne'er conceive;

A God who loves means there is always more that's up God's sleeve.

 

Scott L. Barton

 

While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.

 

+ +

 

John 15:9-17

 

Corrective

 

Perhaps the text appearing here in Eastertide

Forms a corrective to the solemnness oft tied

To Jesus' final discourse at this final meal—

Imagining he's sad, we think, so we should feel.

But I detect no sadness as he names his friends

To be the people who would love as he intends:

Not with reluctance, grimly, or with gritted teeth,

But here's the thing—it's joy to you that he's bequeathed!

He's chosen you! Oh, my; yes, you, to love like him!

The cup he offers you is filled right to the brim!

When taking on the love we see in Christ, we meet

O'erflowing, unadulterated joy. Complete!

 

Scott L. Barton

 

“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

 

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. ”