Sunday, February 21, 2016

Jerusalem, Jerusalem...

Jerusalem, Jerusalem


The Rev. Kathi Johnson
C Lent 2 – 21 February 2016
Text: Luke 13:31-35
Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas

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It was just over two years ago that Steve and I were in the Holy Land, beginning our trip by staying in the city of Jesus’ birth – Bethlehem – then moving to Nazareth, where Jesus grew up. We ended our trip by staying in a Lutheran guest house located in the labyrinth of streets of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Unlike the other two places we’d stayed, our bus couldn’t drive us anywhere even close to that guest house. The streets of the Old City are much too small and narrow for the big tour busses, so we were dropped off alongside one of the busy city streets just outside the huge walls around the Old City. And then, we walked.

It felt like a holy walk, and as we approached the Jaffa Gate, I was filled with emotion and curiosity, but I must admit to some trepidation, too. I wasn’t exactly fearful for my safety, yet my trepidation was based on Jerusalem’s violent past. For much of its history, and into its present, this beautiful city has been a place of bloodshed – bloodshed that has come as a result of the hatred and division that are so evident there.

Of course, the hatred and division found in Jerusalem are indicative of the hatred and division throughout the world, including the United States. But in Jerusalem, the hatred and division are palpable – and we were there in a time of relative peace. When in Jerusalem, one walks the streets feeling as though a lid is just barely being kept on a pot that’s about to boil over.

The divisions were different during Jesus’ day, of course, but it is humanity’s hatred, division, and general closemindedness that Jesus is lamenting in today’s gospel lesson: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” Jesus says.

The gospel writer Luke places this lament right after a series of teachings all about repentance. So Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem becomes another in this series of calls to repentance. Jesus is filled with emotion as he approaches the Holy City, and so he laments humanity’s unwillingness to let God’s work be done through him. Throughout his life, and here again in today’s story, people are determined to keep Jesus from his work of offering hope and healing to those who are most in need.

Jesus, of course, is filled with emotion as he approaches Jerusalem because he knows he’s not just visiting there on a vacation. He knows that the fate which awaits him is similar to some of the prophets – he knows he is going there to die.

But he also knows that his death is not the end of the story. To the Pharisees who approach him at the first, Jesus says: “…on the third day, I finish my work.” This is not Jesus telling them to mark that third day on their calendars. This is Jesus saying that on the third day after his death, when he is raised to life again, that is when his life’s work will be complete. He knows that many will think that when he’s hanging on that cross, he’s done for, but Jesus knows that his resurrection will defeat the power of death.

It is through Jesus’ death and resurrection that he gathers us, like “a hen gathers her brood under her wings.” That gathering is God’s will – not the scattering that comes when hatred and division are allowed to reign in our lives. Whenever we allow hatred and division to enter in, we’re just like those little chicks that run away from their mama’s wings.

During our Lenten Wednesday services this year, we’re going through the different parts of the baptismal covenant. These are the promises made on our behalf if we are baptized as infants or children. We looked together at the first part last week: “…to live among God’s faithful people.” I asked the congregation to write down several words or phrases about what that means to them. What does it mean to “live among God’s faithful people”?

When I asked them to share some of their responses, the words emerged around three main ideas: love, support, and protection. In other words, for the people gathered on Wednesday, they felt that living among God’s faithful people offers them love, support, and protection. I then asked them who this is a reflection of…?

It’s a reflection of our lives with Jesus Christ. Jesus offers us his love, his support, and his protection – like a hen that gathers her brood under her wings. We, as the Body of Christ, embody that to others – offering love, support, and safety to others, in the name of Jesus. That is a large part of our witness to Jesus, and believe me when I say to you that how we embody those things to others makes a huge difference in how people view us, but also how they view Jesus.

So many people have not experienced the Body of Christ as a place of love, support, or protection – quite the opposite – and so they have written off not just church or its members, but Jesus, too. (And who can blame them?) Imagine, then, the opportunity we all have to embody the love of Jesus Christ to them – in our humility, our acts of service, our love for one another, our healing of divisions, and our letting go of old hatred.

Let us pray:

Thy holy wings, O Savior, spread gently over me,
and let me rest securely through good and ill in thee.
Oh, be my strength and portion, my rock and hiding place,
and let my ev'ry moment be lived within thy grace.

Amen.

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