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Trinity Episcopal Church Hattiesburg, Mississippi Second Sunday of Lent March 4, 2007 Go To Trinity's Home Page

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Psalm 27
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Luke 13:31-35
Collect of the Day
From the Revised Common Lectionary as Adapted for Use by the Episcopal Church
and Authorized by the 74 th General Convention of the ECUSA

Some Pharisees came and said to Jesus, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ 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! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”(Luke 13:31-35)

Our Journey Together
The Rev. Dr. Bill Stroop

     Many people who get serious about the forty day season of Lent describe it as a journey. And as with all journeys, there is a starting place, a destination, and the path taken in between. It sounds simple, doesn’t it? But Lent is not a simple trip – at least it isn’t if we take it seriously. It is a dark trip. A scary one. It begins with Ash Wednesday when we are reminded of our own mortality, and it ends with Good Friday and Holy Saturday, when we are reminded of that awful time of loneliness and despair when Jesus was dead and sealed inside a dark, cold, damp tomb.

     Maybe the journey of Lent seems simple only when we look at it from the majesty of the Great Vigil of Easter or the light of Easter morning. Looking back on a trip after it is completed makes the potholes we slammed into, the wrong turns taken, and the incompleteness of the directions we followed all seem less traumatic. In fact, we might even look back on the mishaps or tragedies we experienced on that trip with a sense of humor, or at least gratefulness that the final destination was reached despite everything that went seemingly wrong.

     But, the Lenten journey, like the journey of life itself, is, like I said last week, not that simple. In reality, the only thing we know for sure is our starting point in the here and now, and a general direction that we might wish to follow. The exact road taken and the final destination are unfolding events subject to so many things beyond our control.

     When I went to college, I knew exactly what I would be and the road to take. And as life would have it, I never made it to that destination, and traveled that road only for a very short while before taking different path. When my daughter was born I had pretty typical dreams for a first-time father. I imagined her being a fairly typical child who did pretty well in grade school, dated in high school, went to college, eventually married and had a family of her own. I did not imagine too much, and I didn’t want to push her too hard in any particular direction. But as life would have it, she was anything but typical. Instead she is a very gifted artist, but one who also has profoundly severe language and learning disabilities.

     Last week, we read about Jesus who had been baptized by John and then led into the desert by the Spirit. After spending forty days fasting, Satan showed up to taunt him. “If you’re hungry Jesus, go ahead and eat! If you will swear your allegiance to me, I will give you virtually limitless earthly power! Scripture says God will take care of you, so go ahead and jump off of this high tower – you’ll be fine!” And Jesus, understanding that God is not a magical being to be invoked like Aladdin from the lamp, just walked away. He passed up the devil’s offers and looked down his life’s journey.

     But Jesus was not blind. He was not stupid either. I am quite convinced that from the moment that he stepped into the river Jordan to be baptized by John, he knew the general direction his life would go. By taking on the social, religious, and political forces of his time, Jesus knew that he would be on a collision course with history. Perhaps he did not know the exact way that the road would turn, or all of the challenges that were ahead, but he knew enough to know that his time would be short, and that he had much to do.

     In today’s gospel we encounter Jesus after he had taken up his ministry in full. He has announced his intentions to bring good news to the poor, to release the captives, to give sight to the blind, and to let the oppressed go free. And he has gone about fulfilling these intentions by traveling through Galilee healing and teaching and preaching. And he has attracted crowds numbering in the thousands. He is someone to be noticed. Herod noted him, and according to Luke, apparently feared by him because he wanted to kill him.

     And when Jesus was warned of Herod’s intentions, Jesus boldly told that “fox” that he did not fear him. Echoing the three days that he would spend in the tomb, Jesus tells those who warned him, that he would continue to heal and teach and preach today, tomorrow and the next day, for only on the third day would his work “be finished.”

     Why would Jesus not try to save himself from trouble or potential assassination? I think it is because Jesus remained absolutely faithful to his calling. From the moment he stepped into the Jordan to the end of his life, Jesus was devoted to the divine spark within himself that drove him to constantly pursue justice, equality, fairness, and peace for all people. Although he was very smart and quite capable of reading the signs of the times and deducing knew what was likely headed his way, the fact that he was a human being meant that he could not know precisely everything that was coming at him. But his divine nature allowed him to be absolutely certain of God’s closeness to him, and he derived great strength and courage from God’s presence in his life. He was able to accept what life dealt him.

     This does not mean that Jesus resigned himself to his fate. There is a difference between resignation and acceptance. Jesus was not fatalistic. If he had been that he would not have constantly pushed himself and his disciples to bring in the Kingdom of God. Instead he accepted his vocation, and that meant that he was willing to continue to work today, tomorrow and the next to heal and care for the poor and the oppressed. He did not lose hope. He did not hide or give in to fear. He did not run away. He remained confident that God was with him and that in God’s time – God would somehow prevail. He was indeed, full of the Spirit.

     These are good lessons for us in the Episcopal Church at this time in our history. For the past four years or so, our church has been struggling mightily with many important and deeply personal concerns of Episcopalians and those in the wider Anglican Communion. There are many issues at stake ranging from defining criteria for what it means to be granted inclusion in the Anglican Communion to the relative authority given to scripture, tradition, and reason as guides to moral behavior. The actions of the Episcopal Church in 2003 that led to the Eames Commission and the Windsor Report, and the most recent Primates meeting in Tanzania all speak to the pain and anger felt by people on all sides of the issue of sexual orientation.

     There are people within the church and outside the church running up to us and issuing dire warnings about what is to come, or what the consequences might be if we pursue course A or path B. And to be sure, the stakes are high, and the consequences of our choices are bound to have serious impact for our Church and for the Anglican Communion.

     But, we need to remember, perhaps now more than ever, that we have accepted the call of our Baptismal covenant to respect the dignity of all peoples, and that means going out of our way to listen to those who do not agree with us. It means being willing to talk to people who do not share our own personal beliefs. Engaging in the many layers and levels of dialog about this and other divisive issues means that we are accepting our responsibility as Christians. If we do not engage one another, we will not understand one another. And understanding is foundational to the development of respect.

     This does not mean that we have to agree with one another on all points, or that we have to conform to one way of thinking. But it does mean that we need to stay in dialog, and continue the conversation. We cannot resign ourselves to a fatalistic outcome, and we cannot run away. We will not find our way together down this path if we do not continue to walk the journey, engaged with one another, unified in seeking God’s will for us all.

     “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! See your house is left to you.” These words apply to our church as well. Let us stay on this together, confident that in time, God will gather us all under God’s wings.

     May our prayers continue to be with the Presiding Bishop and all the other primates of the Anglican Communion as they continue in conversation with one another and with us.

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Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18

The word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” But the word of the LORD came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness. Then he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.”

Psalm 27 Dominus illuminatio

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom then shall I fear? *
the LORD is the strength of my life;
of whom then shall I be afraid?

2 When evildoers came upon me to eat up my flesh,*
it was they, my foes and my adversaries, who stumbled and fell.

3 Though an army should encamp against me, *
yet my heart shall not be afraid;

4 And though war should rise up against me, *
yet will I put my trust in him.

5 One thing have I asked of the LORD;
one thing I seek; *
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life;

6 To behold the fair beauty of the LORD *
and to seek him in his temple.

7 For in the day of trouble he shall keep me safe in his shelter; *
he shall hide me in the secrecy of his dwelling
and set me high upon a rock.

8 Even now he lifts up my head *
above my enemies round about me.

9 Therefore I will offer in his dwelling an oblation
with sounds of great gladness; *
I will sing and make music to the LORD.

10 Hearken to my voice, O LORD, when I call; *
have mercy on me and answer me.

11 You speak in my heart and say, “Seek my face.” *
Your face, LORD, will I seek.

12 Hide not your face from me, *
nor turn away your servant in displeasure.

13 You have been my helper;
cast me not away; *
do not forsake me, O God of my salvation.

14 Though my father and my mother forsake me, *
the LORD will sustain me.

15 Show me your way, O LORD; *
lead me on a level path, because of my enemies.

16 Deliver me not into the hand of my adversaries, *
for false witnesses have risen up against me,
and also those who speak malice.

17 What if I had not believed
that I should see the goodness of the LORD *
in the land of the living!

18 O tarry and await the LORD’S pleasure;
be strong, and he shall comfort your heart; *
wait patiently for the LORD.

Philippians 3:17-4:1

Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

Luke 13:31-35

Some Pharisees came and said to Jesus, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ 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! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Collect of the Day

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Copyright © 2007, William G. Stroop - All Rights Reserved.
1 March 2007

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