Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), October 18, 2015 - Mark 10:35-45 and Job 38:1-7

Preference Requested for James and John

in Martin Luther:

Biblia, die Ganze Heilige Schrift Alten und Neuen Testaments, / 

verteutschet durch Doctor Martin Luther ...

Perception Turned Right on Its Head

They thought, perhaps, that they might sit,
One on the left, one on the right,
Which would the best positions be
To serve him, in that long, good night.
But he reminded them he lived
To serve - as well, when he was dead,
Which made them scratch their heads, while their
Perception turned right on its head!

It wasn't his to grant, which meant
He couldn't even start to say
Just what some life beyond could be,
That he to them, then could portray.
It's like our cat, who looks to me
And must think that he knows it all;
He doesn't have a clue about
The things by which I am enthralled.

Thus Job, when daring to complain,
Out from the whirlwind heard the voice
Of one who understood it all,
And in the end made Job rejoice;
The point's to know that you are loved,
It didn't matter one bit how,
Or what might happen up ahead;
Just shout for joy, for love, right now.

Scott L. Barton

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

* * *

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
“Who is this that darkens counsel
by words without knowledge?
Gird up your loins like a man,
I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone
when the morning stars sang together
and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?

Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), October 11, 2015 - Mark 10:17-31 Poem #2

A Picture I Can't See
(A poem inspired by a conversation with the Rev. Sarah Buteux (see especially, http://firstchurches.org/category/worship/sermons/), as we were discussing what seemed to us the surprising reinforcement by some in Roseburg, Oregon, of the need to carry concealed weapons.)

I do not think they understand
Propensities the good guys have
To carry evil in our hearts
So sometimes, even we can't save.
If good guys carried guns, they say,
The bad guys couldn't kill as much;
But don't we think we all are good?
And sometimes, can't we all be touched
By what could crawl up from the depths
And do us in - and others, too?
No one is good, but God alone,
Said Jesus then, to me, to you.

Or put it this way: if the good
Alone be armed, then that leaves One;
The One who is all good in love
Who'd be the One to hold the gun!
Is that what God is all about?
Would this God kill for you or me?
Pull out his gun from cloak, concealed...

This is a picture I can't see.

Instead of taking life into
God's hands, God goes and lays down laws
Whose purpose is to help us through,
When we, from what is right, withdraw;
A country's laws, as well, seek to
Prevent the harm some might commit
(Including us, none "Good!") that thus
Society and lives not split.

Meanwhile, God goes and lays down life,
A giving that we can't control,
So we might follow in his way,
And value each and every soul.

Scott L. Barton


As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone...."

Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), October 11, 2015 - Mark 10:17-31

Heinrich Hofman: Christ and the Rich Young Ruler (1889)
Riverside Church, New York, NY

Present Tense, or Eternal Now

The man ran up, and then knelt down
before the Lord could next leave town;
He asked with some anxiety,
while demonstrating piety,
just what he had to do to get
the big brass ring, through legal writ.
How would the LORD grant such a thing
to this child, so aspiring?
To which the son, who knew the ways
His father worked, then next amazed
the man, who walked away in grief
since offered grace gave no relief.

Why grace, you ask, since such a thing
proposed by Jesus seemed to sting?
Just this: That we might realize
eternal life is not some prize
which Jesus by and by suggests
should be his followers' big quest.
The more you have, more you perceive
you have to do, and not receive.
Not camel nor the rich go through,
but love is what threads through to you;
Thus, be not tense, or worry how,
but trust, and live eternally, now.

Scott L. Barton

Please also see poem #2 (above) for a poem on the line, "No one is good but God alone," which is about concealed weapons in the wake of the Roseburg shootings.


As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), October 4, 2015 - Mark 10:2-16

Vie de Jesus Mafa

I Never Liked to Preach This Text

I never liked to preach this text,
What with divorcees in the fold,
Perhaps cast out by their home church,
Who marriage two would not extol;
They came for grace, not for a word
Of judgment on what had to be;
What's past, is past, we said; and who
Were we to judge such returnees?

There was a time when our church, too,
Frowned on divorce as that day's sin,
Espec'ally for the clergy, who
Were barred from pastoring church, therein.
What changed? The word of God? Or what
Our Lord said plainly to those men?
(I use that word deliberately,
Since they were wondering for their ken.)

Can we divorce, like Moses said,
- they asked to set him up - or not?
To which he noted such a rule
Protected women from their lot;
Then his disciples wanted more
In terms of what was wrong and right;
I now believe his twinkled eye
Caused them their wagging tongues to bite.

For though he says adultery
Comes when divorced man marries wife,
He said it's true the other way,
Which must have caused a lot of strife.
What woman could divorce a man?
That such a thing could never be
Thus prompted them to turn away
From rules so they might better see -

The children! - so they'd reassess
the nature of their need for law;
Except ye be as one of these,
You'll lose capacity for awe!
Try not to say who can or can't
Find love anew (or in some form
back then unknown), so you'll be blessed,
And each day's joy will be your norm.

Scott L. Barton

Speaking of preaching this text, the Rev. Sarah Buteux preached an absolutely wonderful one, "Outside the Box," at First Churches, Northampton, on October 4 in which she addressed marriage, the Pope, Kim Davis, and the thing we all need, and need to hear, the gospel. You can find it here: http://firstchurches.org/outside-the-box-a-sermon-by-rev-sarah-buteux/


Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), September 27, 2014 - Mark 9:38-50

Tasty

He says that I should be at peace,
and look to my own salt;
That is, my flavor should increase,
and be less apt to fault
the faith of others doing good,
as if their recipe
is somehow poison, and not food
that helps some child to see
that she is loved by God no less
than any I might feed;
Remember, that it's God who blesses -
Let none this love impede.

Scott L. Barton

John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

“For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), September 20, 2015 - Mark 9:30-37

Thomas Sully: Suffer the Little Children, 1850
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
(After seeing this post, a friend, Tricia Dykers Koenig,
wrote to say that her great great great great uncle was this artist,
who also painted the portrait of Andrew Jackson that's on the $20 bill!)

What Is the Mark of Greatness When You Die?

What is the mark of greatness when you die?
Is how you've lived the way to death deny?
When Jesus broached predictions of his death,
Then his disciples almost held their breaths,
While wond'ring, if they, too, should be done in,
What might be said of them by kith and kin?
So Jesus took upon his lap a child,
And said, "Just live with trust like this."
And smiled.

Scott L. Barton

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), September 13, 2015 - Mark 8:27-38

Marc Chagall: White Crucifixion (1938),
Art Institute of Chicago

I Am Not Sure I Want to Hear

I am not sure I want to hear
This word about a cross so dear
To Jesus' very heart and soul
He says that it should be my goal.
He says, behind him I should get,
Which means to follow him; and yet
I have too much to do, to give
My life, as if it's true he lives.

How can it be, when life's so brief,
And filled with heartache, pain and grief,
The Lord would still invite me where
He goes? I wish he'd not compare
His life to how I'd rather keep
All things, including those who sleep.
And yet, if I can lose my grip,
Perhaps his life might me equip.

Who do I say this Jesus is?
Can I by love show I am his?

Scott L. Barton


Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”