The Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (C), August 11, 2019 - Isaiah 1:1, 10-20 and Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 and Luke 12:32-40

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

When Ritual Sacrifice Equals Fervent Patriotism

Oh, how astounding that the LORD —

Although with firm conviction

That doing justly, everyone

Is full of dereliction —

Yet, offers still to argue out

Just how they’ve failed their duty,

Thus stating their relationship

Remains a thing of beauty.

Isaiah makes it clear the LORD,

Not he, is the accuser;

‘Though stating forcefully the case,

The prophet’s no abuser.

In love, now let the church proclaim

Our patriotic fervor’s

No substitute for doing good,

Nor national preserver.

Scott L. Barton

  

The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more; bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation— I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them. When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. Come now, let us argue it out, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

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Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Jules Breton: The Song of the Lark (1884)

Art Institute of Chicago

Second Person Plural

Oh, what audacity is faith,

Believing what you do not see,

Some land, some city, up ahead,

No more adrift, at odds, at sea.

And though you wonder how on earth

You'll generate the world you need,

You still, by faith, will act, because

The love of God now supersedes

The country that you left behind:

The promise is for all, not one,

You're part of something bigger now,

Where faith means that you’ve just begun.

Scott L. Barton

(2016)

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. 

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.” 

All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

+  +  +

Luke 12:32-40

Gird Up Your Loins

"Gird up your loins!" as students we'd say,

Which meant, be prepared, or else, in dismay,

You'd find that a paper, or else a big test,

Would cause you to trip, since you were not dressed

To run your next race - or preach a good word;

Then, girding up loins also meant to be spurred

To walk into the pulpit and be not afraid!

"Gird" also means "belt," and thus fasten your blade,

To do battle with powers who’d make us believe

Our treasures we make, and not simply receive;

And finally, "loins" means it's not about "me,"

But those who come after, who through me might see

That believing means trusting the master to give

What I hardly expect!  But receiving, I live

For the sake of the One who has taught me how grace

Is the treasure of this oft afraid human race.

Scott L. Barton

(2013)

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“Let your loins be girded and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

“But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”

[Note: I have substituted the KJV and RSV's more literal "Let your loins be girded" for the NRSV's "Be dressed for action" in vs. 35.]

The Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (C), August 4, 2019 - Colossians 3:1-11 and Luke 12:13-31 and Hosea 11:1-11

Colossians 3:1-11 

Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro

What Is the Chance Some Chants Are By Chance?

“Abusive language from your mouth”

Is something Paul declared uncouth;

What’s strange is that he doesn’t mean

That time you strike your thumb, and scream

An oath that turns the air all blue

Until the pain might be subdued;

But rather, even way back then,

The “other,” oft beyond their ken,

Would be abused - just like today!

But those renewed by Christ still say

That everyone’s a child of God,

No matter how from you they’re odd,

And even now there’s no excuse

For building cultures of abuse.

Scott Barton

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life.

But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

+  +  +

Luke 12:13-21

Rembrandt: Parable of the Rich Fool

The "Gospel" of Prosperity

The gospel of prosperity

Is sold with such sincerity

And has such popularity

Some fail to see disparity

Between the Lord's plain clarity

And self-serving barbarity!

I hope someday posterity

Will love with regularity

And look back with hilarity

At how "they" missed faith's verity.

Scott l. Barton

(2016)

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

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Hosea 11:1-11

Karl Hultström: First Steps (1942), Stockholm

The Real "Old Testament God"

I read a review of the Requiem - Verdi's -

Which spoke of the fear of "Old Testament God;"

I think that ubiquitous term is a pity,

"Advanced" as we are, who "that God" could not laud;

A dose of Hosea would do us a favor,

To hear God described as One yearning for love,

Who lifted the children, with tenderness, kissing,

But then, like a parent, got back-handed shoved;

It makes you just ache, which then turns into anger,

But being the lover, God knows how to wait;

And when there is trouble, the child returning,

And needing the things that this God can create,

Then finds this "Old Testament God" such a blessing,

Who roars like a lion protecting the young,

Whose wrath is directed towards all that would keep God

From being the One to whom praises are sung.

Scott L. Barton

(2013)

When Israel was a child, I loved him,

and out of Egypt I called my son.

The more I called them,

the more they went from me;

they kept sacrificing to the Baals,

and offering incense to idols.

Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,

I took them up in my arms;

but they did not know that I healed them.

I led them with cords of human kindness,

with bands of love.

I was to them like those

who lift infants to their cheeks.

I bent down to them and fed them.

They shall return to the land of Egypt,

and Assyria shall be their king,

because they have refused to return to me.

The sword rages in their cities,

it consumes their oracle-priests,

and devours because of their schemes.

My people are bent on turning away from me.

To the Most High they call,

but he does not raise them up at all.

How can I give you up, Ephraim?

How can I hand you over, O Israel?

How can I make you like Admah?

How can I treat you like Zeboiim?

My heart recoils within me;

my compassion grows warm and tender.

I will not execute my fierce anger;

I will not again destroy Ephraim;

for I am God and no mortal,

the Holy One in your midst,

and I will not come in wrath.

They shall go after the LORD,

who roars like a lion;

when he roars,

his children shall come

trembling from the west.

They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt,

and like doves from the land of Assyria;

and I will return them to their homes, says the LORD.

The Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (C), July 28, 2019 - Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19) and Hosea 1:2-10 and Luke 11:1-13

John Stewart Curry: Baptism in Kansas (1928)

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

Raised With Him

Do not let anyone condemn

You for your faith, says Paul,

Nor make you feel inadequate

By those who are appalled

That you don’t claim that you believe

Each Bible prohibition,

When you would rather follow Christ,

Now raised so he’s your mission.

Scott L. Barton

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.

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Hosea 1:2-10

 

Hosea and Gomer: codyfmiller.com

Recipe

Hosea gets the bright idea

To utter judgment on Judea;

But God's the real drama queen,

Prescribing what I'd not be keen

To do! Hosea follows through;

And though, when we (by rights) construe

The children born were other men's,

Hosea proved that love depends

Not on the unjust ills we've known,

But faithful acts in flesh and bone.

Scott L. Barton

(2016)

When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.” So he went and took Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.And the Lord said to him, “Name him Jezreel; for in a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.” She conceived again and bore a daughter. Then the Lord said to him, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have pity on the house of Israel or forgive them. But I will have pity on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God; I will not save them by bow, or by sword, or by war, or by horses, or by horsemen.”

When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. Then the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people and I am not your God.” Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.”

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Luke 11:1-13

JESUS MAFA: The Insistent Friend (1973)

Ask and Ask

Let's say you need three loaves of bread

Because you did not plan ahead,

And company arrived at night,

Which gave you such an awful fright

Because your job's to be the host!

Oh, dear! What now? It seems the most

That you can do is go next door

And once again that friend implore

For what you need!  You've asked before,

But still, you dare, since your rapport

Suggests that when you would persist,

Your friend next door cannot resist!

It seems that he's a family man,

But you've revealed his bigger plan

That all be fed by human love

Which starts, of course, from God above.

If you would in the Spirit bask,

Then for your neighbor dare to ask -

Christ shows God's not for you alone,

So ask, and ask, that love be grown!

Scott L. Barton

(2013)

[Jesus] was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.” And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

The Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (C), July 21, 2019 - Amos 8:1-12 and Luke 10:38-42

Amos 8:1-12

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jC0ATnrhTkU

Our Current Blasphemy

Oh, Lord, how I worry the days have arrived

When a famine has come on the land,

The famine of hearing the words of the LORD,

When the words of their “gospel,” so bland,

They starve the good people who come for good news

That could gird them to be Jesus’ friends;

Instead, what they get, “Make America Great!”

Is a church who in you just pretends.

Scott L. Barton

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Abel Meeropol cited this photograph 

of the lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, 

August 7, 1930, as inspiring his poem, "Strange Fruit."

Strange, Summer Fruit

The summer fruit of which the prophet speaks

Reminds me of a powerful critique

By Billie Holiday, about strange fruit,

With blood on the leaves and blood at the root.

And though it's been now close to eighty years,

The bitter crop of which she sang appears

On Facebook feeds and in this summer's news,

Such that, today, the nation sings the blues.

Scott L. Barton

(2016)

This is what the Lord GOD showed me—a basket of summer fruit. He said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the LORD said to me,

“The end has come upon my people Israel;

I will never again pass them by. 

The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,” says the Lord GOD; “the dead bodies shall be many,

cast out in every place. Be silent!”

Hear this, you that trample on the needy,

and bring to ruin the poor of the land, 

saying, “When will the new moon be over

so that we may sell grain;

and the sabbath,

so that we may offer wheat for sale?

We will make the ephah small and the shekel great,

and practice deceit with false balances, 

buying the poor for silver

and the needy for a pair of sandals,

and selling the sweepings of the wheat.” 

The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob:

Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. 

Shall not the land tremble on this account,

and everyone mourn who lives in it,

and all of it rise like the Nile,

and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt? 

On that day, says the Lord GOD,

I will make the sun go down at noon,

and darken the earth in broad daylight. 

I will turn your feasts into mourning,

and all your songs into lamentation;

I will bring sackcloth on all loins,

and baldness on every head;

I will make it like the mourning for an only son,

and the end of it like a bitter day.

The time is surely coming, says the Lord GOD,

when I will send a famine on the land;

not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water,

but of hearing the words of the LORD.

They shall wander from sea to sea,

and from north to east;

they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord,

but they shall not find it.

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Luke 10:38-42

Real Freedom

Oh Martha, oh Martha, you're running around,

Distracted, and worried and tense;

And Mary's no help, and the Lord does not care,

He simply wants grace to dispense.

Yes, that is the thing we find so hard to hear,

There's more to do than there are hours!

We cannot keep up; we resent those who don't;

And wish that we had much more power.

But what Jesus means, when to Martha he speaks,

Is, if his disciple you'd be,

You'll trust him 100 per cent with your life;

Receiving: That's when you are free.

Scott L. Barton

(2013)

Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

The Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (C), July 14, 2019 - Psalm 82:1-8 and Amos 7:(1-6) 7-17 and Luke 10:25-37

https://slate.com/technology/2019/03/graffititracker-san-diego-vandalism-technology-past-crimes.html

Psalm 82

The Writing (That Could Be) on the Wall

“Rescue the weak and the needy

And deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

Write all these words like graffiti

On the church so the hearts of the land might be quickened.

Scott L. Barton

God has taken his place in the divine council; 

in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:

“How long will you judge unjustly 

and show partiality to the wicked? Selah

Give justice to the weak and the orphan; 

maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.

Rescue the weak and the needy; 

deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

They have neither knowledge nor understanding, 

they walk around in darkness; 

all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

I say, “You are gods, 

children of the Most High, all of you;

nevertheless, you shall die like mortals, 

and fall like any prince.”

Rise up, O God, judge the earth; 

for all the nations belong to you!

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Amos 7, but also 8-9

Who's the Crazy One?

If you ask me, this shepherd

was inviting his audience to skin him alive -

especially given his X-rated

vision of Amaziah's wife's fate.

But maybe the one who's plumb crazy

is the One who saves the people

from locusts and fire, while pointing 

to the very center, the ruling class,

who are supposed to watch out for everyone.

There are consequences for all

when the needy are trampled on,

and the poor are brought to ruin.

So "Wake up," calls Amos, still.

But read to the end to remember:

The LORD is crazy about his people,

And will not them pass by.

Scott L. Barton

(2016)

This is what the Lord God showed me: he was forming locusts at the time the latter growth began to sprout (it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings). When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said, “O Lord God, forgive, I beg you! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!” The Lord relented concerning this; “It shall not be,” said the Lord. This is what the Lord God showed me: the Lord God was calling for a shower of fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. Then I said, “O Lord God, cease, I beg you! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!” The Lord relented concerning this; “This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by; the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.’” And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.” Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees,and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ “Now therefore hear the word of the Lord. You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.” Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be parceled out by line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’”

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Luke 10:25-37

A New and Different View of Self

How easily we turn this text

Into the force of law;

We ought to love the robbed, we think,

But where, in that's, the awe?

Let Jesus get into your head

When what you want's prescription:

Imagine you're the one who's robbed -

Would you throw a conniption

When helped by a Samaritan

You never thought would care?

Oh, no!  You'd love the one who just

Your soul and life repaired!

You'd have a new and different view

Of self - for you were saved

By one who rightly couldn't care

If you were in the grave!

I wonder why the Maker of

The earth and heav'n should care

About poor slobs like you and me

Who haven't got a prayer

Until our unexpected God,

And neighbor, don't pass by,

And grace, like oil and wine anointing,

Selflessly apply.

Scott L. Barton

(2013)

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” 

The Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (C), July 7, 2019 - Galatians 6:(1-6) 7-16 and 2 Kings 5:1-14 and Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Annie Vallotton: Good News Bible, 1976

Galatians 6:(1-6) 7-16

More Than Theory

It’s clear Paul offers no prescription

For living well, like this description

Of bearing one another’s burdens,

While taking up one’s own load, certain.

But populations can’t be thriving

When members, each with each is striving

To be one who outdoes the other,

Or who another’s joy would smother.

Instead, Paul says, if Christ you’re sowing,

His love will back to you be flowing,

So, let us not in love grow weary,

For love from God is more than theory.

Scott L. Barton

My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbor’s work, will become a cause for pride. For all must carry their own loads. Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher. Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.

See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand! It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that try to compel you to be circumcised—only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh. May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything! As for those who will follow this rule—peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. 

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2 Kings 5:1-14 

Unless You Change and Become Like Children

The unsung girl, unnamed, enslaved,

Ensured that Naaman would be saved

From what oppressed him day and night,

Despite his military might.

She spoke, which then set into motion

What made in Israel a commotion

With first, the king, then Naaman, too,

Who thought Elisha had no clue

About a high and mighty cure - 

Except, the Jordan made him pure,

With skin just like a little boy's!

Which goes to show, it took no poise,

God's healing power to portray,

Since mighty love is child's play.

Scott L. Barton

(2016)

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2 Kings 5:1-14 and Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Our Salvation's Story

We'd love to see the glory of God's work performed outright;

Thus Naamann scoffed at what Elisha offered for his plight;

But flashy deeds and fancy baths are hardly Yahweh's style,

Instead, a God whom you might trust makes grace a thing worthwhile;

And likewise, when the seventy were jazzed at their success

At demon-casting-out, since, first, the Twelve had just been blessed,

They learned (and so might we) that flashy deeds are not God's glory,

But, rather, knowing that we're loved is our salvation's story.

Scott L. Barton

(2013)

Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. And the king of Aram said, “Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.” He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.” But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.”

So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the  entrance of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.

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After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’ “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the  demons submit to us!” He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”