Barb, poet priest

Walking on Water

Walking on Water
Pentecost 11; Matthew 14:22-36
You come to me when strength begins to fail
and waves of chaos loom above my head.
All night the gale has toyed with skill and sail;
my hope is now too shredded to be said.
At dawn you walk on water, coming near:
it seems you move above and in and through
as though at one with forces that I fear.
I long to rise and walk on water too.
I manage several steps before the sight
of depths below distracts my eyes from you.
You reach a hand to save me from my fright,
and on my craft, you settle in as crew.
I’m calm enough at last to find the shore.
The sea’s the same; I’m different from before.
	Barbara Messner 5/08/2026

You Give Them Something to Eat

You Give Them Something to Eat
Pentecost 9; Matthew 14:13-21
Jesus withdrew in a boat 
to a deserted place to grieve:
mourning the execution of a prophet
at the order of an indulgent king,
the loss of a relative, mentor, baptizer,
fearless voice from the wilderness
of a colonized country.

A crowd followed on foot from the town
so there would be no solitude.
Turning grief into compassion,
Jesus went ashore to the crowd
and healed their sick until evening.
I wonder did he struggle
with the longing to leave
to find privacy for tears.

The disciples were worn down
with fear and grief and outrage.
They wanted to feed their teacher,
let him rest and retreat in their boat.
“The hour is late, send them away;
they’ll buy food in the villages.”

Jesus said, “They need not go.
You give them something to eat.”
I heard a sermon once
during ordination training.
Several times those words were repeated:
“You give them something to eat.”
I left in helpless tears,
repeating as if accused:
“I have nothing, nothing left.”

Like Jacob alone at the ford,
having sent all he had ahead,
must we wrestle through the dark,
wounded but hanging on,
holding out for a blessing?
Or is it when we are humbled,
knowing we lack resources,
mired in loss and in tears,
is it then that a miracle happens?

There were five loaves and two fish
that Jesus blessed and broke,
making of this a sacrament,
offering people himself,
prepared to face the breaking.

Some say the loaves and fish
were given by a boy,
willing to share his own food.
Was it in the sharing
that meagre pieces multiplied,
so that all ate and were filled,
twelve baskets full left over?

Sometimes I seem to have little,
dry fragments reluctantly offered,
yet if I need to be feeding
whoever has gathered to listen,
some hunger may be assuaged,
giving meaning to blessing and breaking
and healing through hearing and sharing.
	Barbara Messner 30/07/2026

The Cost of Finding Treasure

The Cost of Finding Treasure
Pentecost 9; Matthew 13:44-58
Jesus told of treasure found outdoors,
hidden in the earth beneath the stars.
Could you change your life to make it yours?
Leave behind what modern living mars?
Do without your mobile phone and cars?
Walk on country with respect and care?
Turn away from city nights in bars?
Breathe the health of wide, untainted air?

Find the pearl most valued in your heart!
Sell the rest and buy it if you dare!
Choose what turns existence into art!
Strip away the masks and shields you bear!
Finding who you really are is worth
goods that gather dust upon a shelf.
Kingdom pearls induce reluctant birth.
Risk the pain, reveal your naked self.

Scribes of kingdom wisdom bring forth truth,
treasuring their sources old and new:
lived-in words of age, fresh words of youth,
common sense and insights of the few.
Prophets without honour when at home
walk the talk in search of listening ears.
Follow if your soul desires to roam!
Hear new words and those that bridge the years.
	Barbara Messner 19/07/2026

Weeds Amongst the Wheat

Weeds Amongst the Wheat
Pentecost 8; Matthew 13:24-30
Who is to blame for weeds amongst the wheat?
Do seeds of hate and prejudice remain,
lodged out of sight until they can compete,
released by heat and stirred to life by rain?
Their roots lie tangled with the growing grain:
to tear them up would risk uprooting crop.
At harvest time, their nature will be plain.
When weed piles burn, their random sowings stop.
This metaphor applies within each soul:
the good we want we find we cannot do
unless, discerning what can mar the whole,
we purify our soil to plant anew.
When greed and social media breed weeds,
send reapers who can judge what truly feeds.
	Barbara Messner 15/07/2026

A Parallel Parable of Sower and Seed

A Parallel Parable of Sower and Seed
Pentecost 7; Matthew 13:1-23
A farmer said he sowed his wheat
into the night. The seed ran out.
He missed the sign: perhaps he dozed,
equipment failed – both old and tired.
He kept on sowing, unaware:
part seed, part air drilled in the ground.

How could he know which part might grow?
I think he sowed that field again:
a waste of seed and time and strain,
but hopefully a harvest gained,
or did the crowded part yield less
for all his effort, fuel and cost?

Now down the ages seed was sown –
the word of God and words that sprout
where fertile minds bring forth the grain
and store the seed to sow again.
The yield has varied and maybe
the quality has varied too.

So, do we sow an ancient strain,
or seed evolved to suit the soil
and climate in such varied lands?
How can we know what’s gained or lost
as word comes down two thousand years,
source and translation shaping truth?

Now if we sow into the night,
worn out and dozing, can we know
if seed runs out and nothing’s sown?
Then, if we just repeat the past,
will such a crop grow spindly there,
invaded by encroaching weeds?
	Barbara Messner 9/07/2026

To What Will I Compare This Genertion?

To What Will I Compare This Generation?
Pentecost 6; Matthew 11:15-19, 25-30
Our markets are not graced with lilting airs,
nor is there space or time for feet to dance.
The love-lorn pop songs wail but no-one cares;
beneath the car parks, air-starved planet pants.
So, play the music that revives the soul
and sing laments for woes we need to hear.
Oh, show us humble ways that heal the whole
and calm us when we hurry on in fear.

Humility is scarcely valued here –
the arrogant, pretentious ones hold sway.
Pursuit of wealth makes mercy disappear,
while wisdom of the ages has no say.
You call the weary, let them rest in you.
Release them from their burdens and their strain.
Your easy yoke will let their strength renew.
With gentleness, you soothe their long-held pain.

This generation loves to judge and blame.
They claim intelligence but close their minds.
The Lord of heaven and earth has here no fame;
their screen-based knowledge casts a spell that blinds.
Please teach us to discern with heart and art!
Our noise-fogged ears must learn to listen well.
Our inner child lets jaded thoughts depart
and insight strikes a note clear as a bell.
Barbara Messner 29/06/2026

Welcome and Welcoming

Welcome and welcoming
Pentecost 5; Matthew 10:40-42
Best welcome gives us space and lets us be.
“Whoever welcomes you so welcomes me,”
said Jesus. From experience he knew
that welcomers of Christians might be few.

So many now mis-read him, mistrust us –
not helped by slogan verses on a bus!
The checkout operators often say
with bright and practised interest: “How’s your day?”

“I wrote a sermon, and I offered prayer
for someone who was dying in Aged Care.”
It’s odd, but conversation after that
grows awkward and soon falls completely flat.

Mind you, to welcome prophets give us pause:
we know that what they say has fire and claws,
and profit motive claims a greater power
than all the warnings of a world gone sour.

And no-one gladly welcomes righteous ones –
too often the self-righteous carry guns.
We welcome strangers hoping to fill space
on lists of those who might maintain our place.

So welcoming and welcome need some work,
and feeling right at home is not a perk
that Jesus offered freely to his band
to keep them well contented and at hand.

Perhaps our welcoming might turn at first
to “little ones” who live with fear and thirst.
Perhaps we’d find ourselves most welcome there
with cups of water shared in mutual care.
	Barbara Messner 25 June 2020

This is an old one, but I’m fond of it, rhyming couplets and all!

Repercussions of Sarah Driving Out Hagar

Repercussions of Sarah Driving Out Hagar
Pentecost 4; Genesis 21:8-21
Do all the world’s wars
come down to this:
those who believe they are entitled 
to more for their children
because of supposed superiority
of lineage, race, religion or nation,
but whose actions are far from superior:
enslaving, dis-respecting, mis-treating others,
causing cultural loss, exile, wounds and death.

Eventually the descendants of those
forced out into an inimical wasteland,
traumatized by suffering and losses,
become expert in the weapons of war
and retaliate in accumulated grief and anger.
And so it goes on, over and over.

Can any lasting peace be found?
Only by surrendering entitlement,
laying down abusive powers,
repenting of damage done,
restoring respect and resources,
listening to the history of pain,
and accepting that we are all equal,
all beloved children of God.
	Barbara Messner 18/06/2026

For Nothing Will Be Impossible with God

For Nothing Will Be Impossible with God.
Pentecost 3; Genesis 18:1-15
Those three visitors came in the heat of the day
and old Abraham knew them: one Lord who was three.
“Rest and eat now,” he offered, “then pass on your way.”
So they ate and then promised a blessing to be.

“Where is Sara your wife? She will bear you a son.”
She was past menopause with her longings grown cold,
so she laughed though it hurt. How could age be undone
to let pleasure and birth in due season unfold?

Sara scoffed to herself but those visitors heard.
“Though you laugh at this wonder that we have foretold,
know the Lord who creates with the Spirit and Word
can bring life through your loving although you are old.”

What of us who are old in a church in decline?
Will God ask us to foster the seeds of new birth?
Will we doubt in our doorways, resisting God’s sign,
or dare offer what’s left of our nurturing worth?

After Sara gave birth with great risk and much pain,
the old patriarch thought God required sacrifice.
If our labour is hard, will what’s born be God’s gain,
or will old ways make youth pay the ultimate price?

In our time-honoured worship, the old words prevail
and the poets of now search in vain for a chance,
while our rules and traditions let fresh insights fail.
Will the Three draw us into their life-giving dance?

For the Spirit is willing and blows where it will,
Jesus teaches that mercy transcends ancient laws,
the Creator brings life out of tombs that we fill,
and no walls cause their outflowing loving to pause.
	Barbara Messner 10/06/2026