For once, you’re clear
and things are easy, Jesus.
Sit in the back, and far
away from everyone?

No problem.

Some years ago,
and at a wedding feast,
I found myself as far away
from blaring speakers as I could.

No problem.

But wait… You want me now
to throw a party for the poor,
the smelly wastrels and
the unemployed? Yeah, right.

No problem.

I have a choice of texts.
“Don’t work? Don’t eat!” it says
as clear as day and night.
No party for the lazy ones, say I.

No problem.

And so it goes: I choose
the text and means to understand:
yet somehow, when I’m done,
it works out fine for me.

No problem.

A poem/prayer based on Luke 14:1, 7-14, the Revised Common Lectionary Gospel reading for Year C, Proper 17.

The image is by an unknown artist. It is found in The Story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation by Charles Foster (Philadelphia, Charles Foster, ca. 1879), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59927089.