Genesis 15:1-12,17-18, Philippians 3:17-4:1, Luke 13:31-35,
Psalm 27
All of Luke’s gospel is seen and heard through the lens of
it’s beginning, Mary’s song, the Magnificat, “he has scattered the proud in
their conceit, cast down the mighty from their thrones, and lifted up the
lowly.” And then Luke points us to God’s fulfillment of all things. Everything
in between and along the way reminds us that God is coming to rule in peace and
justice. So it isn’t much of a surprise that in Luke’s gospel, Jesus’ ministry
attracts opposition. In this piece of Luke we have today, the Pharisees warn
Jesus of Herod’s opposition, and Jesus replies, “go and tell that fox for me, I
am about the work upending the powerful, and including those unclean and those
on the margins.” No wonder Jesus attracted opposition.
Jesus laments those who do not hear, those who do not
follow, those who will not be gathered and protected as a hen protects her
brood. I think Jesus sounds a bit petulant, irritated, ill-tempered because what
for him seems obvious, is not so to the others. Because the way things are, the
status quo, benefits the mighty on their thrones, but not those with whom Jesus
lives and breathes and has his being. Jesus attracts the opposition because he
understands his work to fill the hungry with good things. And for all of that, Herod, that fox, wants to
kill him.
So Luke’s gospel, from Mary’s song all the way to the
passion shows us what Jesus’ journey to the cross looks like, and what our
journey with Jesus looks like. It shows us that not just Lent but our whole
lives matter because it both witnesses to and is empowered by the love of a God
who will not give up on God’s people. Ever. And it’s amazing to think that in
the small and large things we do out of love, the God who created the heavens
and earth from nothing and raised Jesus’ from death is still at work in us and
through us for the sake of the world.
All that said, I can hear Obi Wan Kenobi say to Luke
Skywalker as begin their journey together, “Luke, it is your destiny.” Jesus’
destiny is the cross in Jerusalem, as well as the resurrection to come. Jesus
sets his face to Jerusalem as he leaves the devil in the wilderness, and the
journey Jesus takes is a long and winding road. Given the opposition Jesus
experiences the whole of the journey, Jesus shows some mighty determination and
perseverance on this way, because there’s no way you can utter the words of Mary’s
song, there’s no way you can preach a sermon like Jesus did in Nazareth, remember
that one, Jesus said the scripture was fulfilled in their hearing and they
wanted to throw him over the cliff, and expect acceptance or a world-viewed
happy ending.
The trouble for us is that our human nature often causes us
to give up or give in to difficulty, or pain, or sorrow. The trouble is that we
humans fail. And we let the difficulties and the challenges of what lies ahead
to redirect our intentions. Of course, this is not to suggest that we could
ever do what Jesus did. Only Jesus could and can go to the cross. To be clear,
the ability of Jesus to shoulder what was to come his way is not ours to bear.
And it never will be. But, Jesus’ determination on the way shows us, maybe even
makes it possible for us to continue on our way with similar determination and
perseverance.
God is at work with Jesus, and God is at work with you and
through you. So what gets in the way of our good intentions? What knocks us off
the path, what is it that diverts our attention away from mercy and justice and
the way of love? Often the wills and ways of the world knock us down, throw us
off the path. Often it is of our own doing, we sabotage ourselves. We set
ourselves up for failure when we expect perfection of ourselves.
But it’s also the great violence of human beings. It ‘s hard
to keep loving when over and over, again and again, we hear news of people
being killed while they are at worship. And it’s the great violence of our
natural world, fanned by our own human failure to change the way we treat this
fragile earth our island home, we witness and experience wind, snow, floods.
But the good news is that in the midst of pain and
suffering, Jesus walks with us. God doesn’t take away the pain and suffering,
but God comes in flesh and blood, to show us what love looks like. And in this
passage, Jesus’ use of the mother hen image is a wonderful reminder of God’s
love for all of us. It expands our imaginations. It is a mother’s love that is
revealed here and indeed it brings us back to Mary’s song.
But it is also a love that might seem unjustified. Isn’t it
true that sometimes we hear ourselves think, and some even say out loud, those
people don’t deserve God’s love, that person is a monster, surely he will never
be saved. Those people are the people in this story. Jesus was reaching out to those
who were known to “kill the prophets and stone those sent to you.” We may say
they were unworthy of Jesus' love, that they didn’t deserve it. And the truth
be known, they didn’t deserve it, none of us deserve it. But that is the truth
of God's kingdom, it is not about what we deserve, or what we don’t deserve.
None of those people deserve to die while at worship. None
of those people deserve to have their home destroyed by tornado or snow
hurricanes. It’s not about what we deserve or don’t deserve. None of us deserve
God's amazing and abundant love. And yet, Jesus.
This journey of Lent calls us to intentionally walk this way
of love. And that matters. As you live and breath in all the places you go,
work, school, be the one who loves, be the one brings mercy.
Sometimes the strength within you is not a big firey flame
for all to see, it is just a tiny spark that whispers ever so softly; you got
this, keep going, keep loving. Amen.
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