The reckless prophet

Haiku for troublemakers.

The reckless prophet,

a baptiser known as John;

trouble has found him.

A sordid story.

The stepdaughter dances. Lust

overcomes the king.

He offers her half

his kingdom. What do you want?

The baptiser’s head.

The king is sorry,

but with all the witnesses

he grants the request.

The wilderness man

is silenced; the forerunner’s

work brought to an end.

Inestimably

worthy: reckless defiance

and foolish courage.

Where are our prophets?

Are their foolish words still heard;

or are they silenced?

What would it take to

silence me? Much less, I fear,

than it took for John.

© Ken Rookes 2021

Baptism

 

Haiku for a calling

In the wilderness,

beyond the civil, polite,

and respectable.

Camel-hair jacket,

belt of leather, dining on

locusts, wild honey.

John the enigma,

known as baptiser, calling

people to repent.

I am nobody,

John declared. One is coming

far greater than I.

Jesus came to John

from Nazareth in the North;

Baptise me, he said.

Jesus emerges

from the Jordan to the dove

and to heaven’s voice.

Jesus is baptised

in God’s Spirit, and confirmed

in his ministry.

Baptised in water,

he will baptise his friends with

the Holy Spirit

This is the moment

and this is the man, says John.

He of whom I spoke.

© Ken Rookes 2020

The Word

 

Haiku of the Light.

In the beginning.

John carries us back in time:

God and the Big Bang.

Pushing back beyond

Miriam, Sarah and Eve

to Creation One.

An over-all plan

from the beginning of time:

hope for humankind.

He said, Let Light shine!

And life, light for all people

breaks through the darkness.

John came voicing hope,

to announce the one true light.

He was not the light.

The Light-Hope-Logos,

seed found at creation’s core,

becomes one of us.

Those who receive him,

who take his word deep within,

are made God’s children.

The law has limits.

Jesus brings grace, truth and love;

life comes from these things.

Many speak of God.

Only Jesus, called God’s Son,

truly makes God known.

© Ken Rookes 2020

The changing of the guard

Haiku

John was a prophet

who had his own disciples,

loyal, devoted.

Tradition tells us

that when Jesus took the stage

John moved to one side.

I am just a voice,

John said, One sent to prepare

the way for the Lord.

Dove-like, God’s Spirit

rests on him. He will immerse

you in his Spirit.

That one there, John said,

pointing to Jesus. That’s him,

The Lamb sent from God!

Two disciples heard,

took leave from the Baptiser,

and followed Jesus.

Jesus turned, asked them,

What is it you’re looking for?

Great question, Jesus!

What are you seeking?

What will fill your emptiness,

what will give you life?

Who do you follow?

Where do your commitments lie,

who will be your Lord?

© Ken Rookes 2020

It's a beginning

Haiku for getting wet

In Jordan’s waters

John calls folk to turn to God

and baptises them.

Leave your sin behind,

God’s kingdom is near at hand,

embrace God’s new way.

Leaving Galilee

and his quiet village life,

Jesus comes to John.

Jordan’s waters call;

Jesus comes to be baptised.

John is hesitant.

It’s a beginning,

says Jesus. Let’s do it right:

for now, baptise me.

Signs come from above,

as water pours from his brow.

A dove and a voice.

A retrospective

voice of divine approval,

from gospel writers.

In his baptism,

as in ours, the call to serve

and to live full true.

© Ken Rookes 2020

High expectations

Haiku of anticipation

High expectations

reverberate through Judah:

has the time arrived?

The baptising man;

we’ve been waiting for so long,

could he be the one?

They put it to him:

Are you the Christ-Messiah?

He answered them: No!

I wash with water

baptising to cleanse your sin;

he is so much more.

He comes bringing fire

to fill you with the Spirit;

set your hearts ablaze.

When the candidates

had all been baptised by John,

Jesus himself comes.

As he is praying

the doors of heaven open

Spirit-dove descends.

Heaven’s voice is heard,

(whisper, thunder, who can say?)

My beloved Son!

© Ken Rookes 2019

The crowds were coming

Haiku of anticipation

The crowds were coming.

They’d heard he was baptising.

Come! Begin again!

John was a preacher,

among other things. Repent!

Produce righteous fruits!

You brood of vipers!

he cried to the hypocrites

who came, pretending.

Your historical

entitlement is ending;

bear the fruits of love.

What then should we do?

they asked him. Learn how to share;

spread the love around.

Tax collectors came.

Don’t collect more than you should.

Treat people fairly.

Soldiers came, seeking.

Don’t exploit your position;

wages are enough.

People were asking:

Could he be the promised one

that God is sending?

That one is coming.

I have baptised with water;

he brings the Spirit.

© Ken Rookes 2018

When the time was ripe

Haiku of anticipation

When the time was ripe

he came. John the forerunner,

preaching, baptizing.

Across the region

his message was heard: Repent

and be forgiven!

In the wilderness

a voice was heard, crying out:

Prepare the Lord’s way!

Metaphorical

earthworks describe a coming,

wond’rous, bringing life.

Paths will be straightened,

mountains and hills made level,

valleys shall be filled.

Rough ways will be smoothed

and all humankind shall see

God’s full salvation.

Get yourselves ready!

Make the most of this new thing

that God is doing!

© Ken Rookes 2018

The sad monarch

Haiku of the powerful and the small

Sad monarch Herod

like his father before him,

achieved infamy.

Pathetic ruler

easy to manipulate,

a slave to his lusts.

John the baptiser

never could keep his mouth shut,

incurred royal wrath.

Herod’s vengeful wife,

Herodias, took offence

at his denouncements.

Cast into prison,

John was forced to bide his time.

Herod still feared him.

The stepdaughter danced

at Herod’s party. Sexy;

the men all lusted.

Whatever you want,

the king had said. Then give me

the Baptiser’s head.

The king grieves deeply,

not foreseeing this outcome,

but he has been caught.

A bloody triumph

on a platter. She, in turn,

gives it to mother.

John’s disciples hear,

and come to claim his body;

bury him with love.

© Ken Rookes 2018

John the Baptiser

An original Ouil Painting by Rev Dr Wes Campbell
Used with permission

Two disciples

Haiku for those who are called.

John the baptiser,

had a group of disciples

learning from their lord.

A man of insight,

a prophet, fearing no-one,

pointing to the light.

When Jesus turned up,

the way the story is told,

John stepped to one side.

John saw him coming.

“Look, here is the Lamb of God,”

two friends were told.

When they heard these words

they took leave of their master

to follow Jesus.

Jesus turned, saw them,

asked: “What are you looking for?”

Top question, that one.

They did not answer,

asked him, “Where are you staying?”

“Come and see,” he said.

An invitation

for all who come with questions;

and much repeated.

The Lamb of God comes

bringing life and light and hope:

Don't wait, come and see!

Epilogue.

Andrew found Simon.

“Come and meet the Messiah.”

Took him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him.

“You are Simon, son of John.

I'll call you Rocky.”

© Ken Rookes 2017

Needing to be baptised

Haiku for beginners

When he was ready

he travelled from Galilee,

south, to the Jordan.

There he came to John

with a baptism request.

John was reluctant.

You ask this of me,

I should be baptised by you;

the Baptist demurred.

Let it be so now,

Jesus answered. It's proper

and right to do this.

The river beckoned.

He sank beneath its surface,

finding his calling.

Emerging once more

from the darkness into light;

fills his lungs with life.

The white dove flies low,

with heaven's voice whispering:

this, then, is my son.

© Ken Rookes 2017

When John heard in prison

Haiku of enquiry

 

We missed you, Baptist;

your amusing desert rants

made us think again.

The authorities

were less amused; took offense,

waited for their chance.

If you'd stopped and thought

you might have backed off, instead

you're locked in prison.

So you sent your mates

to find out what's happening.

They seek out Jesus.

They ask: are you he,

the one we are expecting,

or do we still wait?

Open up your eyes,

what do you see, and hear,

as you look about?

The blind see again,

lepers are being made clean,

the lame are walking.

And as for the poor,

they're hearing the good news

with joy and with hope.

Go, tell the prophet

that God's kingdom has come near.

Tell him: be at peace.

© Ken Rookes 2016

John the Baptist song

I have found this Song by Peter Kearney to be very insightful about John the Baptist.

JOHN AND JESUS         Peter Kearney

Of John and Jesus, the rise and the fall -

John was the prophet, the greatest of all

And Jesus the saviour whom God did send

They had the same message and came to the same sudden end.

 John kept to basics in food and in dress

He made his home out in the wilderness

The down and the out were his neighbours there

He showed us a way when we didn't know where to begin.

He said: Come on everyone to the river to drown

To be tumbled and tossed, turned upside down

Change your heart, come clear your mind

And find your feet on new ground.

One day the Pharisees came from the town –

Smooth talkin' men in their fancy gowns

And John he said - "you're a brood of snakes

You know every law but not what it takes to be good!"

He spoke without fear and news of him spread

The poor, like children, came to hear what he said

He wasn't giving them stones, he gave them bread

They fed on the truth - every word that he said said it all.

John gave a warning- "destruction is due!"

The people asked him - "just what should we do?"

"If you've got two coats then one is to share

If you have power, be sure you are fair to the poor."

You know that Jesus, when he came along

He went straight to the river to be baptised by John

He took his place where John took his stand

Brought news of a Kingdom where the poor of the land could belong.

*

Herod the King liked to hear John speak

What he said made him nervous but he sure was unique

Then John criticised his plans to rewed

So they put him in prison - before very long John was dead.

And how many people since Jesus and John

Spoke out the truth and soon were gone

After naming the names of the snakes in the pile

They're gone - but just for a while.

*

"What did you go to the desert to see?

Was it a reed shaking in the breeze?" "

Oh no it was a wiry tree

Growing up strong in a place where a tree shouldn't be!"

http://www.peterkearneysongs.com.au/

Song also available on Itunes to download.

John the Wild Man

Wild Man John exhorts people to fight within their times against their temptation to believe that they can have the riches of Caesar’s kingdoms and the endless pleasures of the empire and still be God’s people.

John inveighs, calling them a brood of vipers who choose to flee from the real work of preparing the world for God. Repent! he exhorts them, urging them to follow a different drummer – him, and the One who is to come.

... God’s earth has always belonged to all people  – people who have moved across  continents and seas, moved bodies and souls, languages and religions with them. Somehow the church has allowed privatization to encroach upon our minds and our land. And somehow the church has allowed  hospitality for the stranger, the persistent biblical theme, to fall into dishonor among the people of God.

Our flight has been into fantasies that are ungodly at best, demonic at worst. The fight Wild Man John urges is for us to separate ourselves from all of this, in a warfare of repentance, of turning away.

This infested darkness, this bog of angers that has hold of our souls, is the place where the Presence will come. Born into no palace but in an animal’s stall, laid in an animals’ trough, then fleeing from war, the Child and his immigrant family have no papers as they arrive in Egypt, where they live as refugees outside the system, the father working any job he can find, the mother, too.

John’s repentance begins with an acknowledgement that God does not need us. We need God, who insists on joining us together as brothers and sisters, us and all the despised people in the world, this motley crew of religions and pieties.

Just getting to that relationship requires a terrific fight.

Everything else follows on from there."

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/biteintheapple/advent-fight-or-flight/

John and Jesus

"John dreamed of the peaceable realm and so do we. He never lived to see its full embodiment, but he planted seeds that enabled Jesus to move forward as its messenger and embodiment. John is Advent personified: he embodies the fierce urgency of the now, but not yet. He is impatient with our foolishness and sin, and wants us to be better. As Advent messenger, he knows that salvation occurs through the transformation of one person at a time. This very moment is the right time for us to let go of the past, turn away from our half-heartedness and complicity with injustice, and find a new pathway to God’s peaceable kingdom, one step and one breath at a time.

The uniqueness of John’s message is a good theme for this Sunday’s sermon. His radical vision, preparing the way for Jesus, challenges us to prepare the way for Jesus’ mission in our time. Our preparation is a matter of deeds as well as words. Walking in the way of Jesus involves a commitment to constant transformation and renewal, to changing our ways in response to God’s wondrous gifts of grace. Like John, we are challenged to announce the coming of a world not yet born, critique our own and our community’s hypocrisy, and recognize that Christ’s presence demands a radical reorientation of values so that we might recognize the realm of God already emerging in our midst."

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/livingaholyadventure/2013/12/the-adventurous-lectionary-the-second-sunday-of-advent-john-jesus-and-spiritual-friendship/

Prepare a path

Haiku of readiness

The Baptiser came;

a voice, calling, defiant.

Preparing a path.

In the wilderness;

broken stones and tangled weeds

of human despair.

Through the wilderness

one is coming to bring hope;

a way must be found.

It is drawing near,

this strange kingdom of light, life

and revolution.

Make yourselves ready,

bring forth the repentance fruits;

grace and compassion.

Through the scrub he comes

with his words of love and life;

most unexpected.

© Ken Rookes 2016

The people were filled with expectation

Our expectations are not high.

Should a prophet like John appear in our midst

to tell us how we should modify our lifestyles

so that the whole planet and all its people might benefit;

we would not listen.

We would dismiss him,

deny any truth in her message

and surround ourselves with clever people

to comfort and reassure us.

We would prefer, rather, that some Father Christmas fix-it-God

should descend from the heavens

with his big red bag of gifts for humankind

and sort everything out,

(world peace, climate change, terrorism, the poor,

domestic violence and such);

but most of us don't really expect that to happen.

In the end we find ourselves reluctantly admitting

that the prophet might have been right,

and that change

and fruitfulness

and real hope

might have something to do with the serious work

of repentance.

But, then again . . .

© Ken Rookes 2015

The word of God came to John

There must have been a number of them,

words, that is,
that drifted through the ether

to lodge themselves in the cranium of the prophet.

Repent, for one, springs quickly to mind.

It is an unfriendly word,

strident and uncompromising,

articulating its 'holier than thou' attitude

of judgement. Perhaps necessary;

all the same.

Prepare is friendlier;

along with the request

that we actually do something.

Prepare tantalises with its sense of expectation.

Something big is about to happen;

something wondrous and unprecedented.

Borrowing some more words

from the processes of creation

the prophet gets down to business.

The mountains will be razed, he tells us,

and the valleys filled!

Geologically improbable,

at least on the time scale

to which the prophet is working.

How many hundred million years would we need?

Get excited!

the prophet's hyperbole declares;

the Lord, (whoever he or she might be), is coming!

You may be present when she comes,

you may witness his arrival;

you may not,

but the hope embodied in this advent event

will be there for all humankind to see.

So get yourself ready.

Now!

© Ken Rookes 2015

Silenced

In the fears and uncertainties of first century Jewish politics

an insecure monarch lusts after the niece
who also doubles as his step-daughter.
At a birthday banquet,
the girl entices the gathered dignitaries
with a dance.
Arousing, provocative,
teasing and taunting;
she knows how to shake it.


In the old man’s fantasy foolishness
half a kingdom is offered
as the prize for his pleasant titillation.
A prophet's head,
severed from its outspoken owner'’s body
and proffered upon a platter,
is the price prescribed
by the girl’s vengeful mother.


A king's self-importance is never a small thing.
His ego expands even further
in the presence of multiple weighty witnesses;
the offending voice will be silenced.
For good.


It's been all about power, lust, politics, pride, and retribution.
Between them, over the next two millennia and beyond,
these evils will account for the larger part
of the world’s pain and sorrow.

During that time other offensive voices will be raised

and many will be silenced.
But an outrageous few will recklessly persist
so that the kingdom,
the kingdom grounded in love and truth and sacrifice
will come;
one day,
as promised.

© Ken Rookes 2015