You Have Heard It Said - a performance poem
Epiphany 6 (Third Before Lent)
Matthew 5.21 -37
[This poem aims to make one point from the Gospel reading: although Jesus uses there well known phrases, he asks his hearers to recognize that holiness of life requires more than the commonplace understandings of those phrases. This poem uses the structure of the sayings in the Gospel to examine
well-known proverbial sayings with the same intent. The Jesus Way requires of us
more than commonplace thoughts and responses. The piece doesn't claim to be great poetry, and you are welcome to amend it as you see fit. It is simply an attempt to reframe the challenge of Jesus using contemporary commonplace sayings.]
You have heard it was said
Charity begins at home
Your care
confined by what you know.
But I say to you
love is not bound,
it stretches your will,
enlarging your soul,
confounding constraint
and making you bleed.
For if you care alone for those near,
what have you learnt
but to subsist?
You have heard it was said
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks
Your learning of life dulled by your age.
But I say to you
the tree grows until its dying day,
living is learning,
experience and the new
knocking on each other,
making discipleship true.
For if you know only yesterday’s answer,
where will you meet
the risen Christ anew?
You have heard it was said
A friend in need is a friend indeed
Your action spurred by trouble or demand.
But I say to you
an ally anticipates,
knows before the alarm
the urge to empathy,
the need to act
and intervene for the good.
For if you wait for the call — hesitant, reserved --
can the name ‘friend’
be a true title to you?
You have heard it was said
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
Your imagination held tight by what is.
But I say to you
a better way there may be
sight isn’t vision,
what’s comfortable can be a sham,
how things are
excludes too much.
For if you let what is, be all
where do you see
the Kingdom’s changing call?
You have heard it was said
A little of what you fancy does you good
Your cravings directing what you feel whole.
But I say to you
your fancy is often a fraud,
indulgent, self-satisfying,
pretending to control
a reason that’s false,
to fool your own self.
For if you measure your pleasure
by only what appeals
whose will is done?
You have heard it was said
Blood is thicker than water
Ties of birth determine who’s kin.
But I say to you
kin is belonging
that’s given by God,
ties that bind
are as wide as
sovereign grace.
For if you make your clan sole affinity
where then is God’s plan
for inclusion that heals?
You have heard it was said
Paddle your own canoe
All that matters is the self that is you.
But I say to you
the self so insistent
was made in the encounter of others,
their touch and their care,
made you —you,
created your space to occupy.
For if you seek just what satisfies you
where will you be in
making others other?
You have heard it was said
Children should be seen and not heard
For they have yet to earn a place in the world.
But I say to you
now is the time
to live and respect,
not tomorrow and not yet,
joy is for now
it’s not an adult’s sole inheritance.
For if you deny the children voices
how may you know
the things that you’ve lost?
You have heard it was said
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
For I am the arbiter of what appeals.
But I say to you
the patterns of life so vast
is in more than you can see,
empathy, knowing and delight,
so much bigger, grander,
than one take of what’s in sight.
For if you see only what suits you now,
where’s the space into which
your soul may grow?
You have heard it was said
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
A golden rule that encompasses all.
But I say to you
that is the meaning of prophets and Law,
and not a stroke, not a comma,
of them shall be undone,
but the grace that I bring
gives more ...
For if your righteousness gives what you would get
does it not make a bargain
of what can only be free?
Here is the notion,
Here is the action
In the realm where grace is all:
Not commonplace, not easy,
Not ‘as was said.’
Nor what’s agreeable,
Just the enigma of a God
With an earthly frame
Calling us on --
Not to abolish but to fulfil
And to seek in all things
The Divine will.
well-known proverbial sayings with the same intent. The Jesus Way requires of us
more than commonplace thoughts and responses. The piece doesn't claim to be great poetry, and you are welcome to amend it as you see fit. It is simply an attempt to reframe the challenge of Jesus using contemporary commonplace sayings.]
You have heard it was said
Charity begins at home
Your care
confined by what you know.
But I say to you
love is not bound,
it stretches your will,
enlarging your soul,
confounding constraint
and making you bleed.
For if you care alone for those near,
what have you learnt
but to subsist?
You have heard it was said
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks
Your learning of life dulled by your age.
But I say to you
the tree grows until its dying day,
living is learning,
experience and the new
knocking on each other,
making discipleship true.
For if you know only yesterday’s answer,
where will you meet
the risen Christ anew?
You have heard it was said
A friend in need is a friend indeed
Your action spurred by trouble or demand.
But I say to you
an ally anticipates,
knows before the alarm
the urge to empathy,
the need to act
and intervene for the good.
For if you wait for the call — hesitant, reserved --
can the name ‘friend’
be a true title to you?
You have heard it was said
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
Your imagination held tight by what is.
But I say to you
a better way there may be
sight isn’t vision,
what’s comfortable can be a sham,
how things are
excludes too much.
For if you let what is, be all
where do you see
the Kingdom’s changing call?
You have heard it was said
A little of what you fancy does you good
Your cravings directing what you feel whole.
But I say to you
your fancy is often a fraud,
indulgent, self-satisfying,
pretending to control
a reason that’s false,
to fool your own self.
For if you measure your pleasure
by only what appeals
whose will is done?
You have heard it was said
Blood is thicker than water
Ties of birth determine who’s kin.
But I say to you
kin is belonging
that’s given by God,
ties that bind
are as wide as
sovereign grace.
For if you make your clan sole affinity
where then is God’s plan
for inclusion that heals?
You have heard it was said
Paddle your own canoe
All that matters is the self that is you.
But I say to you
the self so insistent
was made in the encounter of others,
their touch and their care,
made you —you,
created your space to occupy.
For if you seek just what satisfies you
where will you be in
making others other?
You have heard it was said
Children should be seen and not heard
For they have yet to earn a place in the world.
But I say to you
now is the time
to live and respect,
not tomorrow and not yet,
joy is for now
it’s not an adult’s sole inheritance.
For if you deny the children voices
how may you know
the things that you’ve lost?
You have heard it was said
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
For I am the arbiter of what appeals.
But I say to you
the patterns of life so vast
is in more than you can see,
empathy, knowing and delight,
so much bigger, grander,
than one take of what’s in sight.
For if you see only what suits you now,
where’s the space into which
your soul may grow?
You have heard it was said
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
A golden rule that encompasses all.
But I say to you
that is the meaning of prophets and Law,
and not a stroke, not a comma,
of them shall be undone,
but the grace that I bring
gives more ...
For if your righteousness gives what you would get
does it not make a bargain
of what can only be free?
Here is the notion,
Here is the action
In the realm where grace is all:
Not commonplace, not easy,
Not ‘as was said.’
Nor what’s agreeable,
Just the enigma of a God
With an earthly frame
Calling us on --
Not to abolish but to fulfil
And to seek in all things
The Divine will.