Sermon 3-11-01
Oh, Jerusalem - Luke 13:31-35
(view lectionary notes for this text)
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it! "Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' " This lament of Jesus is a rare insight into his emotions, displayed only occasionally in the gospels. We see his anger when he overturns the tables in the temple, and his grief when he weeps over Lazarus. Here, we see his disappointment, his longing for his children. What are we to make of Jesus' sudden burst of anguish? What is he mourning? Several elements of Jesus' lament can be more closely examined, revealing the many layers of his concerns, and the several meanings for the church today.
Jesus casts himself in the role of a prophet in his cry over the city. This important role has been a theme throughout his ministry. In his first recorded public ministry recorded in Luke, just after his temptation, Jesus preaches in his hometown of Nazareth. The people reject him, and Jesus responds saying, "truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown." Jesus' role as prophet binds him to a pattern of rejection for truth telling. The prophet in scripture is not one who is a fortune teller. The prophet does not seek to predict the future in some mysterious use of magic or crystal balls. A prophet was a person who pointed out truth that no one wanted to see. A prophet exposed the reality of a situation, and forced other to examine the consequences of the exposed truth.
Jesus functioned as a prophet in this way. His ministry's focus was not on telling the future. Jesus did not say when the world would come to an end, but instead he pointed to the signs of the times. He pointed out the truth and tried to show it to those around him. Jesus sought to spread the message that the kingdom of God was at hand. This was the painful truth that people did not want to see. If people admitted that the kingdom of God was at hand, it would mean a change in life. If you see that God is right in the midst of you, how can you go on living in the same way? Jesus prophesied about God's dwelling with the people, here on earth.
This truth that Jesus exposed is still a reality for us today. The good news of the gospel is that God is here, and the message is still as pertinent today as it was in Jesus' day. Jesus realized that many would reject his message, because accepting it meant change. If God and God's kingdom are here, at hand on earth, what would you need to change in your life? Jesus and John the Baptist called for repentance as the response to the good news. Today we understand repentance to mean a sort of confession of wrong-doings, an asking for forgiveness. But the Greek word that we translate as repentance has deeper meanings. The word means "to have a change of mind." Jesus and John, as prophets, called not just for a list of sins committed, and a promise not to sin again. They called for a complete change, from the inside out. A change of mind is a change of the very thought processes that govern our word view. A change of mind means a complete reordering of our reality so that recognition that God is living with us in the world right now is at the core of everything we do. God is dwelling among us. What are we to do? This is the question that Jesus asks of us.
Sadly, for Jesus, his contemporaries responded to this question by rejecting his message, and rejecting him. His anguish over Jerusalem shows how deeply he wanted to share God's presence with people, and how upsetting it was that people would refuse to see God's presence. Yet, such was the risk that the prophet took - a prophet boldly proclaimed a truth that would mean uncomfortable change. Change that is painful because of its thoroughness, and difficult because of its completeness. Prophets knew that the message they carried would likely be rejected as too hard to hear, and that they would be rejected as too much to bear, too different from the rest of society. Jesus knew his role as prophet, and though it troubled him, he accepted it, even when the Pharisees who so often opposed him warned him to flee.
We, as individuals and as the whole Church are called to speak in prophetic voices like Jesus did. If we believe in God, God's presence on earth, we have a responsibility to speak out the truth. The Church has struggled throughout its history to be a prophetic voice in a society that does not want to hear what God has to say. In the past, when society judged people on the basis of the color of skin, leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. turned to the church to find support and hone leaders who would stand against society in favor of their understanding of the inclusive gospel of Jesus. When the culture's view of women limited them to the home, silencing their voices in the workplace and in the church, certain denominations, like the African Methodist Episcopal Church, paved the way by allowing women to exhort, to preach, and eventually to be ordained and serve as bishops and in other authoritative roles. The Church was speaking in a prophetic voice. The voice of the Church reminded the rest of the world of a standard of justice, and held society accountable to meeting those standards. The Church was a step ahead of the rest in these cases, boldly adventuring on untrod grounds, certain that God was calling for us to see the truth.
Today, the Church all to often falls behind society instead of leading the rest of culture. Has the Church lost its prophetic edge? Are we afraid to speak the truth? Last week I mentioned a verse from Romans that I think applies to today's gospel lesson as well. Paul said, "be not conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." This verse reminds us that the message that we have might not be the same as the message of the world. Sharing the message involved risk-taking. Yet, with the rejection, as Jesus experienced, is the joy of the message - God is here. Jesus stood up to share this message no matter what the cost to himself turned out to be. Are we willing to do the same? An adapted poem, originally by S. Rickly Christian describes the kind of prophecy that the world needs right now.
The world needs men and women who cannot be bought; whose word is their bond; who put character above wealth; who possess opinions and a will; who are larger than their vocations; who do not hesitate to take chances. . The world needs men and women who will not lose their individuality in a crowd; who will be as honest in small things as in great things; who will make no compromise with wrong; whose ambitions are not confined to their own selfish desires. The world needs men and women who will not say they do it because everybody else does it; who are true to their friends through good report and evil report, in adversity as well as in prosperity; who do not believe that shrewdness, cunning, and hard-headedness are the best qualities for winning; who are not ashamed or afraid to stand for the truth when it is unpopular. The world needs young men and women who say no with emphasis, though all the rest of the world says yes, and yes with boldness, though all the rest of the world says no.
As servants of God, we should be ready to step and fill these roles. Are you ready?
Jesus faced rejection from the very people upon whom he was trying to shower love. Of course, he was overcome with sadness. Not much later in his ministry, he would be rejected to greater degrees, by more people, even by some of his closest disciples, in denial and betrayal. The anguish Jesus expresses in this narrative is only a foreshadowing of the anguish he later expresses in the garden, when his suffering and death are looming on the horizon. But here at this juncture, and there at the garden, Jesus does not give up or give in. He says, "tell that fox Herod" that there is still work to be done. There is still truth to be told. There are still people to heal and lives to change. There are still people who need to see the reality of God's presence in their lives. I still have work to do, and I will not cease until the appointed time.
In Jesus' lament over Jerusalem, he finishes with words of hope. He says, "behold, you shall not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘blessed in the one who comes in the name of the lord.'" Jesus, despite rejection, suffering, disappointments and frustrations, still binds himself to the people, still looks forward to the time when he can be among the people again, still sees the reality of his message and sees ahead to the joy that will come when his message is received in its fulness. In our Old Testament Lesson, we hear of the covenant between God and Abraham. God says, see, I will make you descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. At first, Abraham expresses his doubts, but we know in retrospect what Abraham did not fully yet realize - God will keep the promise - the covenant will be fulfilled. Likewise, Jesus knows that God will keeps the promise to the people - despite rejection, God will choose to dwell among them. Despite the hardships, Jesus' ministry will be worth all the pain in the end, because Jesus' prophetic voice is revealed in his willingness to pay any price to spread the message.
We, like Jesus, are called to be prophetic voice in the world. Do you believe that God keeps the promises made to us? Do you believe that at the end of the road of Lent comes the joy of life out of death? Do you believe that Jesus shared a new order of living that embraced all people, even those rejected as unclean or unworthy? Do you believe that God bestows grace upon us all? Do you believe that God dwells here among us? If you believe, then you have a responsibility to speak these truths with boldness. Yes, there may be pain and persecution, but God also promises joy, the joy of Easter. Let us lift our voices, and cry out, O Jerusalem, hear the good news: God is dwelling among us!
Let us pray: God, you call us to be prophets in a world that rejects your presence among us. Help us to remember that what the world needs are people who share the message anyway. Remind us that at the end of our difficult road, you promise the joy of Easter. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.