Particular choices of a particular God
Proper 18B (Trinity 18)
James 2.1-10, 14-17; Mark 7.24-end
The voice is stern,
“That’s no way to behave.”
Embarrassed and tearful
the boy wrings his hands.
“I didn’t mean to hurt him,
I didn’t know it would bleed.”
The teacher’s anger is hot,
disappointed and vexed
she hears his stumbling contrition
and worries over what she should do next.
How will he be changed?
What will make for the good?
What will teach him
how to behave?
The voice is like steel,
“That’s no way to behave.”
“Don’t they know it’s sacred
to those that we lost?
Memorial in stone
to the horrors of war.”
The old man trembles, indignant, fraught.
Youngsters climb, and adults smoke,
indifferent to names etched below where they sit
mouthing the f-word and spitting their gum.
War is nothing, enjoy the sun.
Why no remembrance, no hallowed thought?
What will teach them
how to behave?
The voice is embarrassed, almost shy,
“No way to behave, I know,
hard to admit it , even to myself,
I feel guilty and foolish, needing to turn away,
’cause somewhere deep inside me
dismay grips my very guts,
limbless bodies, and distorted human shapes
curdle my thoughts.
Where others see the noble, inspiring and brave,
I can hardly bear to look.”
Paralympic triumph makes him flinch.
What will cure his jaundice and teach him
how to behave?
The voice is assertive, commanding, but not unkind
“That’s no way to behave,” replies the athlete.
“I’m no threat or loss to you.
Your distain, your pity, your loathing
is your problem, not mine.
I am what I am,
I’ve no need to convince you,
neither for sympathy, or to inspire.
I do what I do, because I can,
because I’m me – not defined by what is not.
See me for me – different, that’s all.
That’s not too much to ask of you, who likes to be you,
in how you behave.”
The voice is all tears, she sobs:
“That’s no way to behave.”
“Twenty-six years of effort
and a love that was real.
Now he’s fallen for a blonde
only half of his years.”
Her spirit is crushed,
children gone, now husband too.
Alone and despairing
the fruit of her labour gone rotten.
“Oh, how could he do it?
How could it be such a shock?
What would have shown him
how to behave?
The voice is condemning
“That’s no way to behave.”
“Did you see what she did?
“Bowed before him,
engaged him as if she was a man, a friend.
Sluttish behaviour
outrageous and vile.”
“She’s one of them, what do you expect?
No better than a dog
sex in the street, you know what they’re like?”
“Crude, unclean
someone kick her out,
she and her like just don’t know
how to behave.
The voice is commanding, “Yes,
That’s no way to behave.”
The facts are quite clear
it’s the children of Abraham
that God chose to save.
No way round it,
nothing can amend it.
God chose Israel, his people the Jews.
That’s the be all and end all.
She knows it, he knows it, we know it too.
God’s only election is that of the Jew.
This is beyond our control,
God’s determination of
how to behave.
The voice is his, clear, direct,
“That’s no way to behave.”
“Let the children be fed first,
the food that’s their due
should not go to the dogs.”
What he says is not different from all those around,
a man affronted by a woman so rude,
proud of his heritage,
certain of God’s choice.
He only states the obvious, giving it voice,
true and irrefutable,
God’s purpose willed in
how to behave.
The voice is her’s, still demanding,
“That’s no way to behave.
Even the dogs under the table
get a chance at the crumbs!”
She does not argue,
God’s determination remains just as true,
she only says that such a blessing
must be a blessing to others too.
God in his mercy chooses only some, so we know.
Rejoice in such mercy
accept the particular call,
for in caring for some, God’s love
is humanely real –
God’s touch specific in
how to behave.
Don’t be partial,
that’s no way to behave,
but be particular –
THIS one to love, to nurture, to save.
Love is specific, not general,
expensive, exclusive and direct.
It chooses THIS person.
It hallows THIS plight.
Not feeling, not principle,
but intention and care
focussed and singular
a scandalous determination
profound and deep, known in realities of
how to behave.
We voice it so glibly,
“That’s no way to behave.”
unthinking and harsh
in our estimates grave.
Think again, Jesus.
He hears her cry.
Hear what you’re deaf to,
voice what you cannot speak.
Be certain God is particular,
he chooses his own,
not for privilege, not to exclude,
only to be real in a world like our own
that a cross-shadow should direct us
how to behave.
“That’s no way to behave.”
Embarrassed and tearful
the boy wrings his hands.
“I didn’t mean to hurt him,
I didn’t know it would bleed.”
The teacher’s anger is hot,
disappointed and vexed
she hears his stumbling contrition
and worries over what she should do next.
How will he be changed?
What will make for the good?
What will teach him
how to behave?
The voice is like steel,
“That’s no way to behave.”
“Don’t they know it’s sacred
to those that we lost?
Memorial in stone
to the horrors of war.”
The old man trembles, indignant, fraught.
Youngsters climb, and adults smoke,
indifferent to names etched below where they sit
mouthing the f-word and spitting their gum.
War is nothing, enjoy the sun.
Why no remembrance, no hallowed thought?
What will teach them
how to behave?
The voice is embarrassed, almost shy,
“No way to behave, I know,
hard to admit it , even to myself,
I feel guilty and foolish, needing to turn away,
’cause somewhere deep inside me
dismay grips my very guts,
limbless bodies, and distorted human shapes
curdle my thoughts.
Where others see the noble, inspiring and brave,
I can hardly bear to look.”
Paralympic triumph makes him flinch.
What will cure his jaundice and teach him
how to behave?
The voice is assertive, commanding, but not unkind
“That’s no way to behave,” replies the athlete.
“I’m no threat or loss to you.
Your distain, your pity, your loathing
is your problem, not mine.
I am what I am,
I’ve no need to convince you,
neither for sympathy, or to inspire.
I do what I do, because I can,
because I’m me – not defined by what is not.
See me for me – different, that’s all.
That’s not too much to ask of you, who likes to be you,
in how you behave.”
The voice is all tears, she sobs:
“That’s no way to behave.”
“Twenty-six years of effort
and a love that was real.
Now he’s fallen for a blonde
only half of his years.”
Her spirit is crushed,
children gone, now husband too.
Alone and despairing
the fruit of her labour gone rotten.
“Oh, how could he do it?
How could it be such a shock?
What would have shown him
how to behave?
The voice is condemning
“That’s no way to behave.”
“Did you see what she did?
“Bowed before him,
engaged him as if she was a man, a friend.
Sluttish behaviour
outrageous and vile.”
“She’s one of them, what do you expect?
No better than a dog
sex in the street, you know what they’re like?”
“Crude, unclean
someone kick her out,
she and her like just don’t know
how to behave.
The voice is commanding, “Yes,
That’s no way to behave.”
The facts are quite clear
it’s the children of Abraham
that God chose to save.
No way round it,
nothing can amend it.
God chose Israel, his people the Jews.
That’s the be all and end all.
She knows it, he knows it, we know it too.
God’s only election is that of the Jew.
This is beyond our control,
God’s determination of
how to behave.
The voice is his, clear, direct,
“That’s no way to behave.”
“Let the children be fed first,
the food that’s their due
should not go to the dogs.”
What he says is not different from all those around,
a man affronted by a woman so rude,
proud of his heritage,
certain of God’s choice.
He only states the obvious, giving it voice,
true and irrefutable,
God’s purpose willed in
how to behave.
The voice is her’s, still demanding,
“That’s no way to behave.
Even the dogs under the table
get a chance at the crumbs!”
She does not argue,
God’s determination remains just as true,
she only says that such a blessing
must be a blessing to others too.
God in his mercy chooses only some, so we know.
Rejoice in such mercy
accept the particular call,
for in caring for some, God’s love
is humanely real –
God’s touch specific in
how to behave.
Don’t be partial,
that’s no way to behave,
but be particular –
THIS one to love, to nurture, to save.
Love is specific, not general,
expensive, exclusive and direct.
It chooses THIS person.
It hallows THIS plight.
Not feeling, not principle,
but intention and care
focussed and singular
a scandalous determination
profound and deep, known in realities of
how to behave.
We voice it so glibly,
“That’s no way to behave.”
unthinking and harsh
in our estimates grave.
Think again, Jesus.
He hears her cry.
Hear what you’re deaf to,
voice what you cannot speak.
Be certain God is particular,
he chooses his own,
not for privilege, not to exclude,
only to be real in a world like our own
that a cross-shadow should direct us
how to behave.