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<strong>PART</strong> N: Preference confirmed<br />
<strong>PART</strong> N:<br />
PREFERENCE CONFIRMED<br />
Though Martha wants Mary in the kitchen, Jesus encourages her to listen, instead,<br />
to his message, if that is her choice.<br />
From Tyre north to Sidon, Jesus walked<br />
then turned back southward to the lake he knew<br />
so well, in Galilee. To the south-east,<br />
its borders reaching to the shore, there lay<br />
the territory of Decapolis.<br />
Here, on a steep hillside, one day, the Lord<br />
sat down, and great crowds came to him and placed<br />
in turn, the deaf, the maimed, the blind, the dumb<br />
and other anguished sufferers at his feet:<br />
and every person healed. One was a man<br />
who was both deaf and practically dumb.<br />
The Lord took him aside, and privately,<br />
putting his fingers in his ears, he spat,<br />
and touched his tongue, and looking heavenwards, sighed,<br />
and breathed one single Aramaic word,<br />
‘Ephphatha’. ‘Open up’ is what it means.<br />
Immediately the man could hear and speak.<br />
Though everyone who witnessed all such cures<br />
was charged by Jesus not to speak about<br />
his extra-ordinary miracles,<br />
astonishment soon over-ruled his pleas.<br />
All glorified the God of Israel<br />
and made well-known the things that Jesus did.<br />
’He who sees me, sees not just me, but sees<br />
the Father who has sent me to bring light<br />
into the world. Whoever puts his trust<br />
in me will not remain a prisoner<br />
of darkness.’ Thus the message of the Lord<br />
rang out to reach the furthest listener.<br />
And then he called, ‘If you should hear my words<br />
but do not keep them, I’ll not be your judge.<br />
But who rejects my words will have a judge<br />
whom he will face on Trial Day to find<br />
that he’ll be judged from all that I have said.<br />
q
A gospel in blank verse with rhymed parables<br />
But I’m not here to judge: I’ve come to save<br />
and what I speak is not from me, it is<br />
the message from my Father I pass on.’<br />
The Parable of the Lost Silver Coin<br />
Perhaps I miscounted<br />
There should be ten<br />
There seems only nine here.<br />
Let’s count again.<br />
Could I have dropped it<br />
Inside a shoe?<br />
Surely I’d see it<br />
It’s shiny and new.<br />
Under the carpet?<br />
Down by the bed?<br />
A crack in the floorboard?<br />
Best mind how I tread.<br />
I’ve looked in the larder<br />
I’ve brushed down the stairs<br />
I’ve checked all my pockets<br />
I’ve moved all the chairs.<br />
Oh! The clouds are fast thickening<br />
Here comes the night<br />
This is ridiculous<br />
I need a light. (Ah! Better!)<br />
The box with the trinkets<br />
The box with my beads<br />
Under the pillow<br />
Heavens! None of this leads<br />
Anywhere!! Just a moment<br />
What’s this?<br />
Under a flower pot!<br />
Why! There it is!<br />
I’m so pleased to see it<br />
Would you believe?<br />
It’s worth all the other ones...<br />
The one you retrieve.<br />
w
<strong>PART</strong> N: Preference confirmed<br />
I’ll tell all my neighbours<br />
They can laugh at me – then<br />
They can come round to supper<br />
And I’ll count out all ten.<br />
On one occasion the disciple, John,<br />
told Jesus that they’d seen a man – some one<br />
not of their following – who went about<br />
and using the Lord’s name, was casting out<br />
spirits of evil, just as they’d been taught.<br />
‘He lacked the mark of real discipleship.<br />
He was no follower of yours,’ said John.<br />
‘We told him that he must not use your name.’<br />
‘Do not forbid him,’ Jesus said. ‘Why not?<br />
‘No one who works a miracle through me<br />
will ever after speak maliciously<br />
of me. Whoever’s not against us must<br />
be for us, and indeed, no one who gives<br />
a little drop of water in my name<br />
to any thirsty child will lack reward.’<br />
The Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard<br />
Early each morning<br />
Standing around<br />
Casual labourers<br />
Could always be found.<br />
Men in the market place<br />
Waiting each day<br />
For someone to hire them<br />
Someone who’d pay<br />
For tending to vines<br />
Or some other chore -<br />
Anything to keep<br />
The wolf from the door.<br />
Only just daylight<br />
In comes a man<br />
Rich in appearance<br />
Has a quick scan.<br />
Offers the going rate<br />
‘Denarius a day?’<br />
Agreed! Undisputed!<br />
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A gospel in blank verse with rhymed parables<br />
They’re off on their way<br />
To work in his vineyard.<br />
Up comes the sun.<br />
A laugh and a handshake<br />
He hires every one.<br />
Nine in the morning<br />
He’s there, back again<br />
Others are waiting<br />
More unemployed men.<br />
‘What are you doing<br />
Just hanging around?’<br />
That is his question.<br />
‘Oh! We’ve found<br />
No one who wants us.<br />
Nothing today –<br />
We’ll wait. We’re patient<br />
We’ll hope and we’ll stay.’<br />
‘But, come, I can use you<br />
My vineyard’s not small<br />
Just follow my steward<br />
He’ll take you all.’<br />
One hesitated.<br />
‘Wages tonight?’<br />
‘Oh, yes. I’ll pay you.<br />
You’ll get what is right.’<br />
At noon, three and five o’clock<br />
He took on more yet<br />
It seemed that he wanted<br />
Every man he could get.<br />
Then came the evening<br />
The day’s work was done<br />
At least, (one could argue)<br />
A day’s work for some.<br />
The steward was called<br />
‘Make the men form a queue<br />
Late comers first.<br />
I’ll pay them their due.’<br />
He gave one denarius<br />
To those who’d come late<br />
To those who’d worked early<br />
r
<strong>PART</strong> N: Preference confirmed<br />
He paid the same rate.<br />
To the men who’d worked hard<br />
In the heat of the day<br />
He gave one denarius<br />
Just the same pay<br />
As those who had worked<br />
For a short hour or two.<br />
There were complaints<br />
From more than a few.<br />
‘I’ve paid you’ the owner said,<br />
‘What we agreed.<br />
You make it sound<br />
Like some villainous deed.<br />
Where’s the wrong-doing?<br />
Wherein lies the vice?<br />
You’ve taken fair wages<br />
They’ve had a slice<br />
Of what is my own –<br />
From my own bank .<br />
Your best course of action<br />
Would p’rhaps be to thank<br />
Me for plain dealing:<br />
And be happy for the<br />
Not treated as ‘workers’<br />
But valued as men.<br />
‘Do not imagine I have come to wreck<br />
the Law, or undermine what has been taught<br />
before by prophets. This is not the case:<br />
for I have come to make their meaning clear.<br />
Take Scribes and Pharisees, whom many think<br />
have scaled the pinnacles of righteousness –<br />
I’ll tell you this: unless your piety,<br />
unless your goodness and integrity<br />
exceeds that of the Scribe and Pharisee,<br />
God’s Heavenly Kingdom will be closed to you.<br />
No details of the Law should be ignored,<br />
nor any prophet’s teaching overlooked.<br />
This is the way that you must spread the Word –<br />
the Word that I bring you – the Word of Truth –<br />
and those who catechise you otherwise<br />
will find themselves rejected at the last.<br />
t
A gospel in blank verse with rhymed parables<br />
Should you, because you bear the name of Christ<br />
be well received, the one who welcomes you<br />
will also be much blessed. It’s like a chain.<br />
They welcome me because they welcome you:<br />
in doing that, they welcome God Himself -<br />
my Heavenly Father who has sent me here.<br />
And those who serve the rest of humankind<br />
for love of me – they will not lack reward,<br />
however small their contribution is.<br />
The contrary, of course, is also true.<br />
To reject me is to reject the One<br />
from whom I’ve come – Almighty God himself.<br />
They came to Jesus in the hope that he<br />
would bless their children and their babes-in-arms.<br />
No doubt among his friends were those who helped<br />
prevent the crowds from overwhelming him:<br />
and these began, perhaps, to try to stop<br />
the practice and to hinder those who sought<br />
to thrust their children forward to be blessed.<br />
But Jesus was not slow to demonstrate<br />
how cross he was with those who barred their way.<br />
‘Let no-one stop a child from reaching me:<br />
for Heaven is theirs and anyone who wants<br />
the gift of entrance to the Kingdom must<br />
receive it like a child. For otherwise,<br />
unless he’s born again, he will be stopped.<br />
With that he swept a child into his arms.<br />
The reputation Jesus had, now meant<br />
that he was followed everywhere by crowds<br />
who either came to hear him speak, or hoped<br />
that he would heal them of their sicknesses.<br />
Sometimes he preached out in the open air:<br />
at other times he might be found indoors.<br />
On this occasion he was in a house.<br />
The Scribes and Pharisees were there in force,<br />
all seated comfortably near the front<br />
anxious to question and to criticise.<br />
The place was full to bursting, and indeed<br />
the less prestigious crammed the doorways, pleased<br />
to catch a glimpse or hear a word or two.<br />
y
<strong>PART</strong> N: Preference confirmed<br />
At this point four young men came on the scene.<br />
Between them they were carrying a friend.<br />
He was completely paralysed, and lay<br />
upon a stretcher. They were very keen –<br />
perhaps they’d carried him for many miles –<br />
that Jesus should have sight of him. Thus, not<br />
to be outdone by doors blocked by folk<br />
who would not move, they hit upon a plan,<br />
and climbing on the flat roof, tile by tile,<br />
they opened up a space just wide enough<br />
to let their sick friend through, and gingerly,<br />
to climb down after him. So! There he was,<br />
exactly as they’d wished, safe and unharmed,<br />
and lying at the feet of him they sought.<br />
When Jesus saw the certainty with which<br />
the youngsters stood, awaiting his response,<br />
he looked down at the prostrate man and said,<br />
‘Your sins are all forgiven. So! Take heart!’<br />
The Scribes and Pharisees said not a word<br />
but everyone took note: for what they heard<br />
was blasphemy. Forgiving sins was God’s<br />
prerogative. It was more evidence<br />
that they could use against this renegade.<br />
But Jesus could read minds and fathom thoughts.<br />
‘Cannot you rid your hearts of spitefulness?’<br />
he asked. ‘You men of learning, tell me this.<br />
Which do you think the easier to say?<br />
“ Your every sin has been forgiven you,”<br />
or “Stand! Pick up your stretcher now, and leave!”<br />
Well, to convince you that the Son of Man<br />
has power and authority on earth<br />
to cleanse a man of sin and to remit<br />
the penalty, watch what will happen now.’<br />
This time, in earnest, the instruction was<br />
repeated, and the paralytic stirred.<br />
‘Get up! Pick up your bed and take it home.’<br />
With every mouth agape, the man stood up<br />
shouldered the load, and made to leave at once<br />
reciting prayers of thanks as he went out.<br />
Thus, fear, amazement, and a deal of shock<br />
was on the faces of those in the room<br />
or those who saw what happened from outside.<br />
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A gospel in blank verse with rhymed parables<br />
‘Such strange things we have never ever seen,’<br />
they said, and glorified the God who gave<br />
such power to Jesus, Son of Man.<br />
They journeyed on and found a place to stay.<br />
A woman they called Martha welcomed him<br />
and those who followed him: so while he taught<br />
in comfort in her house, she went about<br />
and busily prepared a meal and served<br />
their needs –and there was much to do – indeed<br />
so much that she’d have liked some help. She asked<br />
her sister Mary for a hand, but ‘No!’<br />
she sat enraptured at the Teacher’s feet,<br />
curled up and hanging on his every word.<br />
The girl refused to budge. Martha complained.<br />
‘Look, Lord,’ she said, ‘I am in need of help<br />
but not one finger will my sister raise!<br />
She lounges with the guests. Tell her to help.’<br />
‘Oh, Martha, Martha, Martha don’t you see?<br />
Your head is full of commonplace concerns<br />
preparing food and making sure the guests<br />
all have a helping and are full. Well done!<br />
Your sister chooses to digest the food<br />
that I bring to the world. Then let her be.<br />
Her’s is the better choice. She shall not be<br />
deprived of that which is her preference.’<br />
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