February 28, 2010
The Second Sunday in Lent (Year C)
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18; Psalm 27; Philippians 3:17-4:1;
Luke 13:31-35
Just as Peter was always blustering his way through life, speaking before thinking, saying whatever was on his mind, so Abraham or Abram, as he is called in this passage we heard today, was always arguing with God, or so it seems. And the remarkable thing is that God seemed always to take it, to go along with Abram, listening, encouraging, patiently answering his questions, clarifying his uncertainties, sort of patting him on the head with a “There, there, old friend, we’re in this together!” In today’s reading God has appeared in a vision to Abram in which he assured Abram that he would have descendants as countless as the stars and that they will have land “from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates.” Abram believed the impossible, and so “the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.” And a covenant was made between them, one of several times that God made a covenant with his people of the Old Testament.
There is a great lesson to be learned there because we are all in this together, and nothing is impossible in God’s time! Earlier this week I looked at the gospel for today and in the light of the meeting that was scheduled for yesterday, I couldn’t help myself but say, “Good Shepherd, Good Shepherd!” And I was tempted to continue my paraphrase but to do so would have been to fall headlong into the arms of the Tempter who had his sermon time last Sunday in the wilderness with Jesus. No, it is not the time not the place to dwell on the past. Look at what Jesus’ response was to the Pharisees – I think it matters not whether they were genuinely concerned about him or whether they were just trying to move him on. When they told him to get away because Herod was out to get him, he rejected their advice and said in effect, I have to do what I have to do. Luke writes as if Jesus is well aware of the fact that to go to Jerusalem is to go to his death. And in spite of that, Jesus exhibits an extraordinary love not just for Jerusalem but for all humanity when he speaks of desiring to “gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.” This is a love that is beyond human understanding. It is the same kind of love that Abram experienced. It is a love that only God is capable of, a love that lays down its life for its friends.
And our response to that love? What is the response expected of us? It is, first and foremost, obviously to love God back, to reciprocate God’s love. That is the first commandment but without the second, to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is there truly, on our part, any honesty, sincerity, or credibility to the first? We cannot, we may not love only God and not our neighbor for one very significant reason. We believe in a God who interacts with us – that same God who walked and talked with Abram. That’s the same God to whom Jesus cried in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” That is the God who walked to the cross with Jesus. That’s the same God who walks and talks with us when we are in pain or sorrow or even when, quite to the contrary, we are rejoicing and just enjoying life. Yes, the Good Times! I will digress for a moment because we do so often forget that God is there in the good times as well as the bad! Have you ever noticed how our intercessions are always full of requests for help, healing, strength, courage, patience, for others as well as for ourselves – we are not selfish. But look at how many prayers of Thanksgiving there are – some weeks there are none and yet I’m sure most of us have something to give thanks for. I wonder if it wouldn’t help, if instead of “Thanksgiving Prayers,” we thought of “Givingthanks Prayers.” Just a thought!
Today’s gospel ends with the familiar phrase from our Eucharistic prayer, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” This was the cry of the people as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the Sunday before his Crucifixion. It was traditionally a shout of welcoming to the pilgrim coming for the festivals. Why did Jesus quote it at this time so far from the city? Was he predicting the future? Did he see himself arriving on that eventful day when the people would be shouting “hosannas” and throwing palm branches before him? Was he perhaps considering the irony of that day that is to be followed by his rejection and death? He had so loved these people, casting out their demons and performing cures on them and theirs, and yet they did not see that he was the Messiah that they had so longed for.
And here we are today repeating that history, even as we remember it. We continue to sin – it’s Lent so we talk about sin even though I know we don’t like to. We continue to sin; we continue to be angry with our neighbor; we continue to be unforgiving; we continue to be as sly as Herod; we continue to run the red light; we continue to push to the head of the line. All this is, of course, figuratively speaking but it is a way of saying we have not loved God as God has loved us because we have not loved one another with the love that in Jesus God showed us that we should, no, that we must love one another.
We are none of us perfect and none of us ever will be, but we can try. That is all God ever asks of us, that we should try, that we should follow his example. God made a covenant with Abram; God made several covenants with the people of the Old Testament; God made a covenant with us when he sent his only son to live among us. As Paul in his letter to the Phillipians said, “Our citizenship is in heaven.” And it is there that we owe allegiance, to the One who loves us beyond all understanding. God walked and talked with Abram. God has walked and talked with us. God does today walk and talk with us. God will continue to walk and talk with us – we call it Prayer! It is Love!
Let us pray: Almighty God, you teach us in your word that love is the fulfilling of the law: grant that we may love you with all our heart and our neighbors as ourselves; through Jesus Christ our Lord. (NZ BCP, 634)
Amen.
Sonia F. G. Stevenson, M. Div.
Church of the Good Shepherd