Showing posts with label hypocrite. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hypocrite. Show all posts

Friday, March 25, 2022

Traitor's Kiss


Forbid that Sunday's worship service
is not simply something I 'do' before I can
'get on with the rest of my day/week'
Forbid that worship is but a once-a-week-ritual,
rather than a daily out-pouring of loving gratitude.





Forbid it, Lord that my life is well-honed hypocrisy
That I betray Thee with a kiss where humble love should be
Pray, in the garden of my thought I do not raise a sword
Seduced by a more luring lot than ‘all for Thee, my Lord

Forbid that I should fail to bear faith’s cross devotedly
And fall into the cunning snare that Satan set for me
That, though with words I honor Thee my heart is far adrift
Unmoved by scenes of Calvary and love’s redeeming gift

Forbid, that in life’s dreadful end judgement exposes it;
How I was never a true friend but just a hypocrite
Forbid, that I should never seek Thee Lord, with all my love
But with a traitor's kiss upon Thy cheek, my hatred prove

Forbid, that when it is too late to undo what is done
At last, I repent of my hate when hell its prey has won
Forbid, I slight the armour that equips, no substitute
And pray I may remember the tree is known by its fruit

© Janet Martin

Luke 6:43-45
“For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
 44For every tree is known by its own fruit.
 For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.
 45A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good;
 and an evil man out of the evil [i]treasure of his heart brings forth evil.
 For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Saturday, August 31, 2019

Some Serious Not-Just-For Sunday Thoughts

From reading the story of the Good Samaritan,

From the reading of this passage Matthew 15
and most recently, from a request for permission to use a poem about Hypocrisy
 
my thoughts have turned to the topic of Hypocrisy and modern-day Pharisees.
...and this passage from first Cor. 11: 27-29
 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner 
will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

I Sam.16:7 NIV
 The LORD does not look at the things people look at. 
People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

There is only one language for the follower of Christ; Love!



Lest we offer vain oblation
For the benefit of eyes
Lest we sacrifice salvation
On an altar of disguise
Lest we break the heart of Jesus
By our stone-cold apathy
Pray the Lord, as He so pleases
To teach us humility

Lest we decorate deception
With the noise of piety
While the poor suffer rejection
From modern-day Pharisee
Lest our stubborn heart refuses
To acknowledge our sin
Pray the Lord as He so chooses
Our deathless soul to win

Lest Perception is a demon
Soothing guilt with silk-smooth lies
Licking wounds of pride with poison
Till the Taker of it dies
Lest we always look around us
Pointing out failure and flaw
Pray the Lord, He would remind us
Man is saved by grace, not law

Lest we never bow in sorrow
while repentance rends the veil
As we witness Calv’ry’s  horror
Where love did and does not fail
Lest we never come to Jesus
But break holy bread in vain
Pray the Lord, as He so loves us
That we will be born again

© Janet Martin

Monday, January 7, 2013

Of Hunger and Hauntings





(I first saw this picture last winter and it has haunted me...)

Lord, give us a heart for the hungry...


A vulture watches a starving child [1993]

“The prize-winning image: A vulture watches a starving child in southern Sudan, March 1, 1993.
Carter’s winning photo shows a heart-breaking scene of a starving child collapsed on the ground, struggling to get to a food center during a famine in the Sudan in 1993. In the background, a vulture stalks the emaciated child.
Carter was part of a group of four fearless photojournalists known as the “Bang Bang Club” who traveled throughout South Africa capturing the atrocities committed during apartheid.
Haunted by the horrific images from Sudan, Carter committed suicide in 1994 soon after receiving the award.”


'Don’t slink away now
With your head slightly bowed
While the taste of my blood
Smears your indulgent lips
Don’t splatter vain words
With your greed-polished swords
And cry ‘Lord, have mercy’
As my suffering drips
To your gaze in red pools
While a circus of fools
Sadly wags their heads
In feigned piety
As hunger and hurt
Lie with me in the dirt
Pitiful comrades
To my misery'

© Janet Martin