Bonus Poem - On the Sale at Auction of One of the 11 Remaining Copies of the Bay Psalm Book, by the Old South Church, Boston, for $14.2 million, on November 26, 2013

The Puritans could not conceive
The price just paid for holy leaves
That one of them, while standing, held
To sing of grace, which had compelled
A song! In English metre they,
In Colony there by the Bay
Encouraged faith in God who gave,
By singing Psalms, from birth to grave;
God was their help in ages past,
And now, one book has just amassed
A record sum, which has been paid
For ministries to grow, and aid
The telling, by the Old South Church,
The truth that wheresoe'er you search,
The God to whom they sang cannot
Be pinned down, nor can grace be bought;
And if the Old South's forebears could
Return, I trust that each one would
Agree that there's no price which buys
The Shepherd, who all needs supplies.

Scott L. Barton

Bonus Poem on a Beloved Pastor's Leaving

I wrote this for Sarah Buteux, the pastor of the church I've been attending who is being called by God to a new ministry, a new way of being and doing church, something both exciting and a bit scary. If you've ever had a pastor you love leave for another ministry, or if you, yourself, have left and had deeply mixed feelings about leaving behind the people you loved, this poem could be for you, too.

I always have known how courageous you are;
When preaching and leading, you shine like the star
Which stopped o'er the house where the baby was born,
Attracting from east and west, wise and forlorn,
The people who glimpsed such unfath'mable love!
Thus, pointing the way that the heavens above,
Incarnate become in this day and this age,
You show us that faith is not just on a page,
But speaks to the hearts of the people of God;
(And hearing the truth, it might then make us odd!)
It's funny how Jesus, who taught, fed and healed,
Just couldn't stay put; and in leaving, revealed,
That people all over the map need to hear
The news that, by God! - and in God! - they are dear!
So also, I say, if some days you're perplexed,
You're never forsaken no matter what's next;
I'll always give thanks you're a woman so brave,
Who makes the world smile when she shows how Christ saves.

Scott L. Barton

The Second Sunday of Advent, December 8, 2013 - Matthew 3:1-12

He's not very Christmassy,
This John the B.,
To people presuming that
They're guaranteed
To have the good life because
Priv'leged they are;
But when the one born, who was
Brought gifts of myrrh,
Reveals a new twist on what
John thought would come,
The world can now know that all
Judging succumbs
To he who now chooses to
Make from the grain
The bread of his life so we'll
All know love's reign.

Scott L. Barton

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’” Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Bonus Poem - Thanksgiving, 2013

I write to you from near the place
Where Wampanoags once shared
Their bounty with those Pilgrim folk,
Who must have once despaired
From all that this new world had giv'n;
Their pain and loss so deep
That faith in God who loved them must
Have been so hard to keep.

The words their pastor Robinson
Had spoken 'cross the pond,
Still rang within their broken hearts
And called them to respond
With trust that yet more light would break
Forth from God's holy word;
Who knew a Massachusetts tribe
Would be how grace occurred?

Now, thanks to them, we gather yet
To thank the Lord above
For fam'ly near and far, and friends
Who show to us the love
We need, and need to give;
And so these words I send
To you - in hopes this day will help
You grace, to all, extend.

Scott L. Barton

The First Sunday of Advent, December 1, 2013 - Matthew 24:36-44

Oh, woe to the preacher who parses this text
To figure just how and when Jesus comes next;
For those of the "left behind" ilk are the folk
Who build their theology on such a joke
As worrying whether they all might be saved!
But Jesus calls "worry" a trip to the grave!
For back in verse three, when his friends sought to know
The timetable for the world's powers' overthrow
He gave this long discourse so they might all see
The one thing in life that's God's sure guarantee
Is that THIS day's your chance to see Christ in your deeds,
Leaving end times to God, so for love you'll be freed.

Scott L. Barton

“But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of
heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah
were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days
before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in
marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing
until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the
coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be
taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together;
one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you
do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if
the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief
was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his
house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of
Man is coming at an unexpected hour."

Bonus Poem on the 50th anniversary of J.F.K.'s assassination

Everyone who is old enough
remembers where they were
fifty years ago today, a
Friday, as I recall:
A rumor as we walked upstairs
from biology to
Mrs. Kelly's English class -
last period - the p. a.
announcement - the President's shot -
and Mrs. Kelly cried.
Oh, what brave words could she say then?
"I think that we should pray."
- Of course, no work would then be done -
So we just prayed - and hoped -
and then it came, the final news -
in the hall, no one spoke -
lockers slammed - and Jim Wohlgemuth,
a little redhead, cried,
"Shit!" - and his prayer to God was one
that had no good answer.

Scott L. Barton

Reign of Christ, November 24, 2013 - 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


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