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Lent 2C RCL February 21, 2016

Posted on February 21, 2016 by Beth Crane

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Psalm 27
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Luke 13:31-35

Our opening reading from the Book of Genesis is full of insight for us on our journey through Lent. It shows one of the great heroes of the faith, Abraham, in a state of fear. Our lesson opens with God telling Abraham not to be afraid. Here is the great example of faith, Abraham, who has journeyed from Ur of the Chaldeans to a new land, and now he is wondering whether he has made a huge mistake.

As we can see, God is with him, encouraging him. And Abraham asks God the real question that is bothering him. Abraham asks God, “Are you going to give me children as you promised? Am I going to have a future, or has all my journeying been for nothing?” God tries to reassure Abraham, telling him that he is going to have children. But that does not seem to make the point strongly enough

So God takes Abraham out into the night. “Look up into the heavens and count the stars. That is how numerous your descendants will be.”

When we go out at night and look up at the sky, the vastness of it speaks of God’s immense power and glory. It is impossible to count the stars. There are far too many of them.

Somehow, the immensity of God’s creation speaks to the heart and mind of Abraham, as it also speaks to us. If God can create all this and if God is telling me that I am going to have this many descendants, I have to believe it,” Abraham says to himself.

But then he needs a sign. We could say that he needs a liturgical sign. So God instructs Abraham to make a sacrifice. And Abraham does that. A deep sleep falls on him, and when he wakes up, the fire of God comes and burns the sacrifice. This is the sign of the convenient between God and Abraham.

Abraham and Sara had left a prosperous life in Ur of the Chaldeans, had packed up their possessions and their animals, and all they had, and had gone to a new land. God called them to do this, and they responded to that call.

But now Abraham comes to a point where he is doubting or questioning what he has done. Has God really called me to do this? Will God help me to take the next steps? Will God keep his promise to give us children, even though we are old? Is God really going to help me establish my home in this new and unknown land?

Even this great holy example of the faithful person, Abraham, had times of fear and doubt. That can be very reassuring to us. Sometimes we need to ask God to reassure us. Especially when we have made major decisions, even if we have felt that God is calling us to these choices, sometimes we need support and reassurance from God and trusted friends in the faith. Even Abraham needed this reassurance from God.

Questions and doubts are not the opposite of faith. They are part of our human journey of faith.

In our gospel for today, the Pharisees are trying to help Jesus. They warn our Lord that Herod wants to kill him. Jesus responds with some blunt comments. He is healing people and doing his ministry and on the third day he will finish his work. On the third day he will rise and lead us into new life. He has to keep moving because Jerusalem, even though it is the site of the temple, is dangerous. That is where those in power, such as Herod, exercise total control over everything. That is where the prophets are killed. That is where those who want to keep complete control over everything that happens exterminate everyone who threatens their power.

And then Jesus says something that is so much from his heart that it brings tears to our eyes: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills 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 wanted so much to share his ministry of love and healing with this most holy city, and it was impossible because the earthly rulers shut him out. All they wanted to do was to kill him. They are so blind and so caught up in their own power that they could not be open to Jesus in any way.

That is something that can happen to us humans. We can actually shut God out from our lives. Jesus is expressing the sorrow of God when people attain so much power that they can prevent an entire city from having access to God.

Jesus tells the Pharisees that they will not see him until what we call Palm Sunday, the day when he will enter Jerusalem and be honored, the beginning of the week when he will die.

In his Letter to his beloved Philippians, Paul is calling them and us to keep following our Lord. By that time in the Roman Empire, moral values were beginning to slip.  As Paul says, “ Our citizenship is in heaven.” The values that Jesus calls us to, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, are not the values of this world.

What are these readings telling us today? First, even Abraham became scared and anxious. When we feel that way, we need to follow Abraham’s example. We need to talk to God about it and ask for help. We can also ask for human help from friends in the faith.

Our other two readings are also reminding us to ask God for help. Jesus would have loved to gather the people together and teach them and help them, But the religious and secular leaders prevented that.

On our Lenten journey and every day, may we ask our Lord for help. May we listen to his guidance. May we follow him in faith. And, when we are scared, may we let him gather us under his wings and protect us. Amen.

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Lent 2C RCL 2/24/13

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Beth Crane

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Psalm 27
Philippians 3:7-4:1
Luke 13:31-35

Our first reading today, from the Book of Genesis, shows us Abram, later to become Abraham, in an encounter with God. But here we see Abram in an unusual light. Abraham is the major Biblical example of a person of faith. Yet, as Herbert O’Driscoll puts it, “Here we see Abram, the seemingly towering founding figure of a future people, nervous and insecure! We hear the voice of God making effort to reassure Abram. “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great. The words could be said to a fearful child and not be out of place. Interestingly, they do not have the slightest effect in calming Abram’s fears. Yet this is the person who has come down in history as the wonderful example of a person who trusts God!”

God continues to try to reassure Abram, but Abram remains full of doubt. So God asks Abram to make an offering and God gives Abram a dramatic sign and makes a covenant with him.

This lesson can speak deeply to our hearts. Even Abram, the great icon of faith, had times of wavering, times when he needed reassurance. Doubt is not the opposite of faith. We all have times of doubt, times of questioning. God has given us minds with which to think. When we have times of questioning, this does not mean that we have lost our faith. It means that we are continuing our journey of faith.

In our gospel for today, an unusual thing happens. The Pharisees get a bad press in the gospels, but today, they warn Jesus that Herod wants to kill him. In contrast to Abram, Jesus is not wavering. He is courageous, resolute. He tells the Pharisees to go and tell that fox that Jesus is doing his ministry. He is making people whole.  In using the word “fox,” Jesus shows that he is not naïve, that he sees exactly the kind of person Herod is. He is as crafty as a fox. He is wily. He will do anything he needs to do in order to preserve his power.

Jesus says that he will finish his work on the third day. This is a reference to the resurrection. He says, in a sad and ironic tone, that it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside Jerusalem. The holy city is a dangerous place for truth-tellers. The powers that be will mow them down.

And then he says those words, which are so moving and poignant: “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 offers his tender, nurturing love to Jerusalem, but that love will not be accepted. Instead. He will be killed. But first, he will be hailed and welcomed with the words, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” God gave us the gift of free will, and sometimes we humans use that gift to reject the love of God.

Our epistle today is from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. Philippi was a city in Macedonia on one of the main east-west roads in the Roman Empire. The Church in Philippi was the first Christian Community which Paul founded in Europe. This community was subject to all the influences of the Roman Empire, and scholars tell us that the Empire was beginning to sink into decadence.

We don’t know exactly what was going on in Philippi, but we all know what a preoccupation with what Paul would call “earthly things” can do to people. Paul calls the people to imitate him. This is not an arrogant gesture. In those days, you would choose a moral teacher and you would imitate the life and practice of that teacher. If course, we know that Paul is really calling us to imitate Christ. Paul tells us that our citizenship is in heaven. Our Savior Jesus Christ is at this moment transforming us as we grow closer and closer to him.

In my daily AA meditation book, entitled, “Twenty-four hours a Day, ” the message for April 20 reminds me of our epistle for today. It reads, “There are two paths, one up and one down. We have been given free will to choose either path. We are captains of our souls to this extent only.  We can choose either the good or the bad. Once we have chosen the wrong path, we go down and down, eventually to death. But if we choose the right path, we go up and up until we come to the resurrection day. On the wrong path, we have no power for good because we do not choose to ask for it. But on the right path we are on the side of good and we have all the power of God’s spirit behind us.”

The prayer that goes with the meditation says, “I pray that I may be in the stream of goodness. I pray that I may be on the right side,  on the side of all good in the universe.”

Like the Philippians, we have a choice. Every day we have many choices. Will we follow where our Lord is leading? Here we are, a week and a half into Lent. Maybe we are like Abram. Maybe we need to ask God for some help, some reassurance.

Some commentators think that the Pharisees told Jesus that Herod was out to get him in order to scare Jesus and make him turn away from his ministry. If so, it didn’t work.  Jesus walked courageously toward Jerusalem and his death. Think how much he loved the people of Jerusalem. Think how much he loved everyone. Think how much he loves you and me. He even loved Herod. But Herod’s mind and heart were so focussed on protecting his power that he couldn’t let God into his life. Herod is a perfect example of what Paul is calling us to avoid.

Jesus knows exactly whom he is dealing with. He knows what people will do when they are preserving their power at all costs. Yet he goes ahead. That is the model of courage we are called to follow. That is the model of love we are called to follow.  This could be quite daunting if we had to walk alone, on our frail human level.

But we are not walking alone. That is the whole point. And we have made our choice. And we are making our daily and hourly choices to follow Jesus, to be citizens of his realm.

“Our citizenship is in heaven.” What a thought. Not that we are other-worldly. No, we are quite down-to-earth, as Jesus was, and we have chosen to follow Him, because he is gathering the whole world together in loving and healing arms and making everyone and everything whole.

May we be in the stream of goodness.  May we be on the side of all good in the universe.            Amen.

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