You must be patient

Haiku responding to James 5:7-10

Be patient, therefore,

brothers and sisters, waiting

for the Lord to come.

As the farmer waits

the rain that waters the crop.

you must be patient.

You must be patient.

Strengthen you hearts; be ready,

for the Lord is near.

Brothers and sisters,

don't complain against your mates;

then you won't be judged.

God isn't intent

on judging you; do nothing

that leads to judgement.

Be like the prophets

who spoke in the name of God,

suffer with patience.

© Ken Rookes 2025

At your right and left

Haiku for servants

Teacher, will you grant

whatever we ask of you?

They ask, cunningly.

What is it you want?

He asked brothers James and John

when they came to him.

In your glory time,

grant us to sit at your right

hand, and at your left.

Jesus must have sighed.

You don’t know what you’re asking;

haven’t heard my words.

Can you drink my cup,

or share in my baptism?

Sure we can, Jesus!

Yes, you will follow.

Death will be my baptism,

suffering my cup.

The Gentile rulers

play at power, lording it;

Don't imitate them!

Would you become great?

You must become a servant;

be the slave of all.

The Son of Man came

not to be served, but to serve;

and to give his life.

The sighs continue.

Many still play power games;

refusing to hear.

© Ken Rookes 2021

Come

Haiku for the ready

First, John the Baptist.

Mark moves him from centre-stage,

has him arrested.

Proclaiming good news

Jesus came to Galilee:

The time is fulfilled!

The Kingdom of God

comes nearer with every word

that I speak to you.

Simon and Andrew,

fishing brothers casting nets;

Jesus calls to them.

Come and follow me,

together we will call folk

into God’s kingdom.

We’ll share divine life,

filled with love, shaped by mercy,

transfigured through hope.

Brothers James and John

mending nets on board their boat,

Jesus calls them, too.

So Simon, Andrew,

James and John, hearing the call,

leave their nets behind.

© Ken Rookes 2021

Setting the pace

Haiku for getting serious

They were on the road.

Their destination; trouble.

Big Jerusalem

He was leading them,

setting the pace; they held back,

anxious and afraid.

It will get ugly,

he told his friends. Always does

When you challenge them.

They fear my message,

hate me for daring to speak.

They will have their way.

Don’t ask for honour,

honour comes with pain and death.

There are no short-cuts.

The cup is suff’ring,

the baptism, it is death.

Will you still follow?

Will you follow me?

Will you be a slave to all?

Will you give your life?

© Ken Rookes 2020

Some haiku for the Narrative Lectionary, Second Sunday in Lent.

Forget the honour

Haiku for disciples

Teacher, will you do

for us whatever we ask?

What is it you want?

Brothers James and John

didn’t get it; asked Jesus

for seats of honour.

In glory may we

sit with you, at your right hand,

and one at your left?

You are asking much,

and you do not understand:

can you drink my cup?

And my baptism;

are you able to share it?

Yes, we are able.

You answer quickly!

In time you will share these hings

and my suffering.

The others saw red!

James and john had gone too far.

Jesus called them in.

Forget the honour,

That’s not the name of this game!

It’s about serving!

Others crave power,

you are not to be like them.;

you must be like me.

© Ken Rookes 2018

When Jesus calls

Haiku for taking a chance

With John arrested

Jesus withdraws, goes back home;

north, to Galilee.

He leaves Nazareth

and moves to Capernaum.

There he makes his home.

What the prophet said

is about to be fulfilled;

a great light has dawned.

Commencing his work,

he begins to preach. “Repent,

the kingdom comes near.”

Walking by the sea

he sees Andrew and Simon

casting out their nets.

He calls the brothers,

“Come and follow, learn from me;

we'll fish for people.”

Best offer all day!

The fishers laugh, choose the risk,

leave behind their nets.

Further down the shore

He comes across more brothers,

sons of Zebedee.

In their father's boat,

Sons of Thunder, James and John,

also get the call.

In a flash, the pair

stop, weigh their options, and leave

dad to mend the nets.

© Ken Rookes 2017

A Challenge to care

The reading set for today [Proverbs 22:8-9] links justice with generosity. Despite the huge difference between the wealthiest in Australia and most of us, even pensioners here are financially better off than 97% of people in the world but like spoilt children unprepared to share, most of us go to almost any ends to hold on to what we have. “This land is ours; we got here first!” we say with our actions as well as our words. “It’s ours; we worked hard for it,” we say about our assets to those less well off as if they have not worked hard. We back up our words with the actions of our government. It refuses to make taxes fairer for the poor and employs the navy to ensure that no one we deem underserving gets a share of what we have. It vilifies people who are unemployed even when there is not enough work for everyone. It makes it harder and more expensive for people to gain skills. This is not just and it is far from being generous either with our possessions or our attitudes.

Proverbs 22:22 says, “Do not rob the poor or crush the afflicted at the gate”, but isn’t that just what we rich nations are doing to refugees world- wide? For years we have been seeing how the USA protects its southern borders and now it is Europe that also has the problem. Unless we learn to share more and have more concern for bringing justice our future generations are going to spend their lives under siege. More and more people will want to flee here. Our lack of generosity will cost us dearly as we need to build bigger and stronger barricades, fences and walls and employ stronger navies and armies to keep poor people from seeking a share of what we have in our relatively peaceful democracies. If we were prepared to be more generous in what we pay for goods produced in some of these countries and in other ways helped to lift the standard of living of the people, it would be a start towards bringing justice for them.

...

So far, we who still sometimes claim to be a Christian country, have, contrary to Biblical teaching, successfully crushed the afflicted at our gate. Most have applauded the “offshore processing” option. It means that these people are no longer banging on our gate. They are out of sight because reporters and cameras are banned from the facilities, and so they are largely out of mind. But it is only a temporary solution. Our borders are too long to erect fences right round and the country too big to wire for alarms. We fool ourselves if we think this will work long term. As we become richer, more people are going to want to come to this country. We denigrate many who are trying to reach our shores by calling them economic migrants, but it was for such a better life that most of our ancestors came here. It is time we looked more seriously at how we can make life fairer for others.

Proverbs 22:2 reminds us that “The rich and the poor have this in common: the Lord is the maker of them all.” The writer of the Epistle we call James follows up on this centuries later, calling for us to behave justly in recognising all people as precious, not just the one’s we prefer the look of, or wish we could be more like.

We can see the rationale behind this, but it is not what we are called to do as followers of Christ. Jesus gave preferential treatment to the poorer people, the less attractive ones in society. He wasn’t impressed by wealth and fine clothes.

The celebrity and the materialistic aspirational culture by which we are surrounded makes it more difficult for us but it is never impossible. Our Government happily welcomes migrants who can bring millions of dollars with them. It is only those who have little we don’t want. Proverbs 22:9 tells us “Those who are generous will be blessed.” It is about being generous in our hearts and minds, in our attitudes and behaviour. Like Jesus we might just want to get away from it all for a while.[Mark 7:24] But we can take heart from his example and see that we do have the strength to help those who come and those who are in need of justice here and on the other side of the world.

The writer of James challenges us to action. Through the centuries the institutional Church has put great emphasis on Orthodoxy, right doctrine. Jesus by his life actions put his emphasis on Orthopraxy, right practice. James [2:14-17] stresses that faith without right action is dead.

 May we never forget how privileged we are and may we be generous in our attitudes and actions to bring justice and help others wherever we  can.
Rev Julianne Parker
(for full sermon see sermon's page)

Ready to go

Jesus often walked

the western shore of Lake Galilee

in the vicinity of Capernaum;

reflecting, praying, listening.

Perhaps he enjoyed the lapping of the waves,

the cool of the water on dusty feet,

the sounds, the beauty,

and the relative stillness

of the natural world.

He would have observed industry, too;

men with boats and nets,

and women, unnamed and forgotten,

helping to sort the fish

and effect repairs.

When Jesus made his lakeside invitation

to the brothers, Andrew and Simon,

James and John, suggesting

that soon they would be fishing for people;

was he meeting them for the first time?

Mark’s story does not say so;

but it is sometimes read that way.

More likely it was the culmination

of multiple encounters, conversations,

questions, debates, laughter and speculations;

so that when Jesus was ready to go,

so were these friends.

© Ken Rookes 2015