The Third Sunday of Easter (C), May 5, 2019 - Psalm 30 and Acts 9:1-6 (7-20) and John 21:1-19

Pietro da Cortona: Ananias Restoring the Sight of St. Paul (1631)

Psalm 30 in Iambic Decameter

(using as much of the NRSV as possible)

(The poem could be sung to a 10.10.10.10 tune such as TOULON)

I will extol you, Lord, you’ve drawn me up,

Allowing no rejoicing from my foes;

O LORD my God, to you for help I cried,

And you’re the one from whom my healing flows;

O LORD, you brought my soul up from Sheol,

And from the Pit you have my life reclaimed!

Sing praises to the Lord, O faithful ones,

And give your thanks before God’s holy name;

God’s anger only for a moment lasts,

With favor your whole life will God adorn;

Tho’ weeping yet may linger through the night,

You’ll be surprised when joy comes with the morn.

I once said my prosperity is strong,

And like a sturdy mount, I am secure;

But then, you hid your face! I was dismayed!

I pleaded with the Lord to be assured:

“What profit is there in my death?” I cried;

“If I am in the Pit, can dust give praise?

Will it tell of your constant faithfulness?

O hear, O Lord, help with your gracious ways!”

Now you have turned my mourning into dance,

And clothed me not in sackcloth but in joy,

My soul will not be silent, but will praise,

O Lord my God, I’ll give you thanks for aye.*

Scott L. Barton

(*aye: That pesky word heard at the end of the hymn, “Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty,” meaning “ever” and pronounced as a long “a.”)

I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up,

and did not let my foes rejoice over me.

O LORD my God, I cried to you for help,

and you have healed me.

O LORD, you brought up my soul from Sheol,

restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,

and give thanks to his holy name.

For his anger is but for a moment;

his favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may linger for the night,

but joy comes with the morning.

As for me, I said in my prosperity,

“I shall never be moved.”

By your favor, O LORD,

you had established me as a strong mountain;

you hid your face;

I was dismayed.

To you, O LORD, I cried,

and to the LORD I made supplication:

“What profit is there in my death,

if I go down to the Pit?

Will the dust praise you?

Will it tell of your faithfulness?

Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me!

O LORD, be my helper!”

You have turned my mourning into dancing;

you have taken off my sackcloth

and clothed me with joy,

so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.

O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

+ + +

Acts 9:1-6 (7-20)

Miraculous Responses

The fishy thing is, Ananias went,

When reason told him that it made no sense - 

Except the Lord had called, and told him, “Go.”

Would you? Would you say, "Here I am," and so

Become just like those many others who

Those same words said, though didn't have a clue

Of what it meant? Except, we know - that phrase,

Each time it's said - to us who read - conveys

A risky proposition up ahead,

One where, without God's help, you end up dead.

But Ananias, standing in a line

Of faithful, almost to the start of time,

Responded, and so risked a trip to Saul,

And thus began a church - which fished for all.

Scott L. Barton

(2016)

(Note: The words, "Here am I" or "Here I am" by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, Mary (Jesus's mother) and Ananias all portend some risky business that the LORD has in store for those who answer.)

Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying,and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

+ + +

John 21:1-19

Omega 3 Antidote to Scarcity

I wonder why John gives the number

Of fish by which they were encumbered

While net hauling, a hundred yards from

The One ashore, who asked that they come

And have some breakfast! I think it's odd,

This detail of halibut or cod;

Why's it there? What's John want us to see -

That they dragged a hundred fifty-three?

Perhaps he's gotten so specific

Because his hero's so terrific

At pointing out the ways unending

That his disciples might be tending

His sheep - plus lambs and sheep be feeding!

At that, he says, we'll be succeeding

When trusting all his grace, exceeding

Whatever 'tis we might be needing.

He passes out the bread and fish, then;

They're holy, too, like bread and wine when

Ever in community we take them

And into loves unnumbered, make them.

Scott L. Barton

(2013)

(Thanks to the Rev. W. Kenneth Williams, when he was pastor at Rochester, NY's First Baptist Church, for this title)

After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off. When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

The Second Sunday of Easter, April 28, 2019 - John 20:19-31 and Acts 5:27-32

Caravaggio: The Incredulity of St. Thomas (1603)

John 20:19-31

Jesus said “Peace be with you.”

He did not say that when we die we’ll be “at peace.”

Can we from somber calling hours that phrase erase?

A friend of mine, whose father died, was told those words;

“He’s now at peace,” if you just think, is quite absurd!

The phrase pretends that one can come to terms with death,

Not rage - the one who’s died, plus those who loved them best;

Imagining they ease that pain, some do not realize,

What’s needed then is that they simply sympathize!

No platitudes! No pap! No arrogantly you;

The one who died, of “peace,” no longer has a clue!

But if the resurrection here described be true,

It means that e’en in death, the Lord makes all things new.

This story’s weird: He walks through doors; is not the same;

And yet, he speaks in love to those who know his name;

It’s love that does not end that is the gospel here;

So love extend, through hugs, and tears, through gifts and ears.

Scott L. Barton

Doubt Flouter

Oh, why do you think that he said to them, “Peace,”

When they huddled together for fear the police

Would find them, and charge them with breaking the Law?

Well, they worried their running would stick in his craw!

And now he was back, he would give them what for!

But he knew they were scared to death; thus through the door,

This Jesus, whom not by cruel death could be changed,

Walked right in, since betrayal could not stop the range

God's grace would extend – which is what we all doubt!

So don’t limit this text, thinking Thomas it flouts;

It’s you, and it’s me who need Jesus’ kind word,

Which is why he then told them their spirits to gird,

And follow his lead towards the whole human race,

And doubt not that e’en you can bear witness to grace.

Scott Barton

(2013)

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

+ + +

Acts 5:27-32

Still, Still, Still

"You're determined to bring this man's blood upon us!"

Said the priest to disciples who would not be shushed,

Since the Spirit of God would not let them be still

About Jesus, now raised, whom e'en death would not kill;

Thus the gift of the Spirit, they had to obey,

Was forgiveness for all! They could not turn away

From the truth, which is love, and the measure of God,

Who still calls us to tell, who still pushes, still prods.

Scott L. Barton

(2016)

When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

The Resurrection of the Lord (C), April 21, 2019 - John 20:1-18 and Luke 24:1-12

John 20:1-18

Hi Qi: Do Not Hold On To Me

Resurrection Problem

It seems that John has a problem with names here:
"The one whom Jesus loved" is never named,
but is simply called, "the other disciple" - four times!
Why not, "John" (or whatever his name was)?
Then the two angels call Mary, "Woman."
Why not, "Mary"?
And Jesus does the same!
And she calls him "Sir."

Finally he names her, "Mary;"
but Mary only calls him, "Rabbouni."
Why not "Jesus"?
He calls the disciples, "my brothers,"
Again, no names.
She calls Jesus, "Lord,"
and later refers to him as "the Lord."
Again, why not "Jesus"?

John cannot seem to tell it direct;
Maybe you shouldn't tell it straight, either.
"Tell all the truth but tell it slant," said the poet.
(I could call her Emily, but that might be too familiar.)
Is that what he's doing, telling it slant?
Maybe so we won't get too familiar with it?
Don't pretend you understand. 
Proclaim, but don't explain. Yes, proclaim:
"He is risen!" "He is risen, indeed!"

Scott L. Barton
(2019)

The Bottom Line

When Mary ran to tell the news he was not there,
And others' racing speeds by John were then compared,
One wonders why this hurry is so big a deal,
Unless the rush to know, makes Easter less genteel!
They ran! They looked! And then went home, no doubt, upset
At one more insult, one more cause for deep regret.

But Mary stayed, perhaps she'd run, as well, and stopped
Outside the tomb, where running tears at gravesite dropped.
Remember how she'd cried with joy at Jesus' feet,
Because her life had changed from bitterness to sweet?
But now, her world and all she loved turned upside down,
She weeps in vain attempt to make her sorrows drown.

But then she looks. One wonders why. And suddenly, instead
Of empty tomb, sit angels where'd lain foot and head!
And then that gardener! And all ask why she weeps!
Good grief! Where have you been? Have you all been asleep?
Is what I'd ask; but Mary cooly wants to know
The whereabouts of his remains, who made her glow.

And at her spoken name, she turns, and says his, too;
And this, perhaps, is key to knowing him anew;
For not in running after, not in looking for
Him in the Gospels, or in fervent prayer galore;
But he will call your name, and you will finally see
That he still means it when he says to "Follow me."

Scott L. Barton
(2018)

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

+ + +

Luke 24:1-12

He Qi: Empty Tomb (2001)

Different News Feed

Just women were the first evangelists
For what had happened on that day;
After their fear, they ran to tell the news,
And weren't believed; So now we say,
"Well, color me surprised! What's new? Like, duh!"

When Luke says Peter checked it out
And found it so, and yet he just went home,
We sometimes criticize his doubts;
But don't forget that he went home, amazed!
Which is a quality we need.

Try going home amazed this Easter day,
Since love, all fear and death exceeds!
In these, our public narcissistic times,
When pomp and bombast, anger feeds,
Be brave in love and don't hold back -

For Christ is ris'n; and risen indeed!

Scott L. Barton
(2016)

Numbers

The chances of finding that Higgs boson
Were way less than one in a trillion,
Which is a big number, as I learned recently
At Boston's Museum of Natural Science;
I mean, a tube of a trillion of the nano-beads they were displaying,
Next to other tubes of a thousand, a million, and even a billion,
Would  have gone through the stories-high roof;
So what are the chances of someone rising from the dead?
About as small as the Big Bang itself?
I really can't wrap my mind around it.
What - or who? - can convince us of such against-all-odds love?
Look at the numbers in this text:
"On the first day of the week,"
"Suddenly two men in dazzling clothes,"
"On the third day rise again,"
"They told this to the eleven and all the rest!"
The news of such love multiplies;
The chances are minute,
But resurrection goes out to the whole world,
It will not be stopped, it'll go through the roof;
And I, like Peter, am amazed
At what has happened -
And what, by God, still can.

Scott L. Barton
(2013)

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again." Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

Palm Sunday (Passion Sunday) (C), April 14, 2019 - Luke 19:28-40

Here’s a hymn the congregation can sing, based on the old chestnut of a choir anthem, “The Palms,” by Jean-Baptiste Faure. The language has been updated in a couple of places. Your organist/pianist can use the anthem as the accompaniment, but be sure it’s the one in A-flat rather than C, which would likely be too high. Click on the image above to print it @ 8.5x11, which you can then copy on both sides and cut down the middle for a half-page insert.

Ex nihilo

It's not experience he needs;

No lack of expertise impedes

The course he takes,

Which shows he aches

To love the world in word and deed.

Take Mary as example one;

The woman who would bear the son -

A girl unknown,

A virgin womb 

Who magnified what God had done.

And those disciples whom he chose!

Inexpertly they spoke - or dozed;

Though novices,

They still were his;

Their emptiness showed where grace grows.

The donkey that he asked to ride

No rider ever was astride;

He rode the thing,

They called him King ;

His call decides what's bona fide. 

And soon a tomb as yet unused

Will bear the body crushed and bruised,

So he might rise

And show all eyes

Ex nihilo Love is infused.

Scott L. Barton

(2016)

+ + +

No Ending, Period

The little donkey demonstrated

How Jesus lived; but that sure grated

The nerves of certain Pharisees who

Were worried people might live up to

The loud acclaim they gave the rider

Whose way's our sole (and soul's) provider -

Provided that we're brave for shouting

God's mighty deeds, despite our doubting,

And show by dying in ways myriad,

That love will have no ending, period.

Scott L. Barton

(2013)

+ + +

The Very Stones

One of my first funerals, in my first pastorate,

Was for a young man barely out of high school;

One blistering July day, he died

Working in the hay mow of the neighbor farmer.

Survived by his parents and five siblings,

An older brother had died years earlier,

Hit by a car while on his bicycle near home.

The church was packed, of course,

And somehow, we muddled through.

Then we went to the cemetery:

Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust,

Trusting your love and mercy,

In the sure and certain hope

Of the resurrection to eternal life.

When we were all done, the father,

Standing just an arm's length away,

Reached into his pocket,

Pulled out a pebble,

And handed it to me.

I still cry when I think about it,

Thirty-six years later.

For the previous Palm Sunday,

At the end of the sermon on this text,

I had handed out pebbles

To everyone in the congregation,

Scrounged from the manse's driveway,

And then, pretty much forgot about it,

At least until that day in July,

When a grieving father taught me

That you never know when, or how, or by whom,

The Word of God will be proclaimed.

Scott L. Barton

(2013)

After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

The Fifth Sunday in Lent (C), April 7, 2019 -Philippians 3:4b-14 and Isaiah 43:16-21 and John 12:1-8

Bassano, Jacopo: Christ in the House of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus (~1577)

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Philippians 3:4b-14

Key to a Successful Life

I count it all as loss for Christ, he says,

Then calls it skubala, or rubbish, trash;

We have a stronger word than that, today,

“Bullshit,” it’s called (if I may be so brash).

All we have gained and saved and held so close,

They’re, all of them, a trivial amount;

It’s not too often that we face this truth

About the things of life that really count.

A cyclone hits, tornado, or a flood,

And homes and memorabilia all are lost;

And people ought to fall and not get up,

To contemplate what’s gone, and all its cost.

Instead, they’re thankful they got out alive!

“We have each other - what could matter more?”

How will you do? What’s up ahead? - “Who knows?”

At such a time they cannot love ignore.

Paul realized that all he’d gained was dross

Compared to knowing Christ, which set him free,

And so he promised he must live to love;

The goal, to love as Christ, became his key.

Scott L. Barton

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

+  +  +

Isaiah 43:16-21

Then and Now

With Israel in captivity,

It must have been quite hard to see

How Yahweh, who had split the sea,

Could once again a savior be.

The poet said, "Forget all that,

The LORD, who for you, went to bat,

Because, in love, had you begat,

Will now, for you, go to the mat!

"And though, the metaphor be new,

Now, desert rivers will break through;

So you should never misconstrue,

All tried and true, my love for you."

Isaiah thus reminds us how,

Words change, yet still can be endowed

With what is true, if we'd allow

Our God to speak, if then, then now.

Scott L. Barton

(2016)

Thus says the Lord,

who makes a way in the sea,

a path in the mighty waters,

who brings out chariot and horse,

army and warrior;

they lie down, they cannot rise,

they are extinguished,

quenched like a wick:

Do not remember the former things,

or consider the things of old.

I am about to do a new thing;

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

and rivers in the desert.

The wild animals will honor me,

the jackals and the ostriches;

for I give water in the wilderness,

rivers in the desert,

to give drink to my chosen people,

the people whom I formed for myself

so that they might declare my praise.

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John 12:1-8

Extravagant 

 

These last three weeks,

We seem to be on the theme of extravagance -

Extravagant care for that lazy fig tree,

Extravagant welcome for that lazy brother,

Extravagant defense for that lazy...

Wait! (You say.)

Hold on here!

You don't mean that Mary....

Well, didn't Martha seem to think so?

And once again, she's serving;

I wonder what she's thinking of her sister this time?

And Judas certainly wants to give a good impression,

That he knows the value of a buck,

Talking as if Mary hadn't really earned

That perfume she'd bought.

Maybe Judas was even sweet on Mary!

But he found her unstealable,

Since she was only sweet on the One

Who points the way

To extravagant death,

Which points the way

To extravagant love.

Scott L. Barton

(2013)

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

The Fourth Sunday in Lent (C), March 31, 2019 - Joshua 5:9-12 and 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 and Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

He Qi: Prodigal Son

in "The Art of He Qi”

Joshua 5:9-12 (vss. 1-8 added at the end to show more of the context)

  

Meal on the Plains of Jericho

It doesn’t say just what was the disgrace

Of Egypt that the LORD then rolled away;

But it’s implied the social status of

Ancestral slaves would be no more conveyed -

Life now was new, for what was past, was past!

It meant the parents’ tragedies were gone,

And would no more define just who they were -

Which well we know’s more eas’ly said than done.

And thus, the sons and grandsons of those slaves

Were circumcised so all would surely know

They were the LORD’s! They’d hold their heads up high;

In confidence, the LORD who saves, they’d show.

It meant the manna was no more, because

The people now could stand on their two feet;

The passover they kept that day declared

No other god can with the LORD compete.

Scott L. Barton

(When all the kings of the Amorites beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted, and there was no longer any spirit in them, because of the Israelites.

At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites a second time.” So Joshua made flint knives, and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath-haaraloth. This is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the warriors, had died during the journey through the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt. Although all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people born on the journey through the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. For the Israelites traveled forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the warriors who came out of Egypt, perished, not having listened to the voice of the Lord. To them the Lord swore that he would not let them see the land that he had sworn to their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. So it was their children, whom he raised up in their place, that Joshua circumcised; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way. When the circumcising of all the nation was done, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed.)

The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” And so that place is called Gilgal to this day.

While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

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2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Meeting with the Pastor Nominating Committee

Jeff Curtis asked me in the interview

Which verse of scripture meant the most to me;

I said the one where everything is new,

And where, in Christ, we're from the past set free. 

What made this verse pop then into my head - 

One I believed, but never called it “best?”

Perhaps in worship, I had often said

Those words, which now, in being asked, expressed.

The “old” means when you think you have it planned,

A place for everything, all in its place;

Out of the blue, then, on the other hand,

God's newness will be right before your face. 

Paul calls us to be reconciled to God,

That is, be acclimated to the news

Which, in our daily life, we find quite odd:

You cannot stop the love which God pursues.

Scott L. Barton

(2016)

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

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Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Prodigal Son, Prodigal Dad

Prodigal son, prodigal dad,

I call him that because he's glad!

To say it as might Dr. Seuss,

Son 1 thought 2 had cooked his goose!

And then begrudged the fatted calf

Was cooked instead! It makes me laugh

To know that Jesus with a smile

Knew God, the Dad, the extra mile

Goes, falling on the neck to kiss

Each son or daughter whom he's missed.

Scott L. Barton

(2013)

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable:

“There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate. “Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends.But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”