O Jerusalem, Jerusalem

Homily for The Second Sunday of Lent, Year C

February 24, 2013 All Saints Anglican Church Springfield, MO

Father Micah Joel Chisholm

At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’” ~Luke 13:31-35

When conflicting and competing desires collide trouble frequently follows. This past week our daughter Miriam has been actively expressing her independence – especially when it comes to bed time. Stephanie and I, as her parents, have determined the time she needs to be in bed in order to get the rest she needs and we go through the routine of feeding her and changing her and saying her prayers so that she is ready to sleep for the night. Our desire is that she goes to sleep and stays asleep until morning. Miriam has a quite different desire: stay up and play as late as possible and wake up to play some more as often as she can. As a result of these conflicting desires night time can be pretty rough in our household.

The story about Miriam is cute, but it illustrates a reality that is common to each of us and is really no cute matter at all. As human beings we have the capacity to desire – this in and of itself is not a bad thing, in fact it can be quite good. Trouble sets in when we desire things that we shouldn’t or that are in conflict with what others, either people or God, desire from us. Then the battle is on.

At its heart, our gospel lesson this morning is about desire. It may not seem obvious at first, but in the midst of the story that Luke is telling is a head on collision between three conflicting and competing desires. The gospel lesson this morning has three main characters: Jesus, King Herod and the city of Jerusalem. Each of them represents a particular mode of operating. Now, there is something significant in Luke’s record that is lost in our English translations and without going too much into a language lesson I need to draw our attention to it in order for the full weight of the passage to impact us. In the English translation that was read we heard the following statements:

Some Pharisees came and said “Get away from here for Herod wants to kill you”

Jesus said “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…how often I would have gathered your children”

And finally, referring to Jerusalem’s response Jesus said “you would not.”

What is significant is that in each of those statements Luke repeats the exact same word in the original language, while our English Bibles translate it three different ways. The word that Luke uses carries with it a sense of loving desire and delight. With that in mind, let me re-read those verses with the word translated the same in each case:

“Some Pharisees came and said to Jesus, ‘Get away from here, for Herod desires and delights in killing you.’”

And Jesus said to them “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…how often I desired and delighted to gather your children”

And Jerusalem responded by “not desiring or delighting in it”

It is now that we can see that what Luke is illustrating is what happens when conflicting desires meet. So let’s look at the essence of each characters desire.

Herod stands as a representative of those whose desire is for worldly power and prestige and wealth. Herod aligned himself with the power structures of the world, namely the Roman Empire, in order to elevate himself, even at the cost of trampling on his kinsmen and those who were powerless to defend themselves. In grasping for his own personal gain, Herod allowed himself to be controlled for his desire and was threatened by anyone who he thought might challenge his power and authority. Jesus was quite popular among the people and Herod saw him as a threat needing to be neutralized. Herod’s desire for power and personal advancement gave birth to a new desire: kill Jesus, and anyone else, who might get in the way. Herod represents for us what we might call the obvious temptation to let wrong desires lead us down destructive paths. We must be careful though to not think that the downfall of Herod is the only thing to be aware of. Yes, sin happens in dark alleys and sinister plans, but it also happens every time we walk away from God’s desires for us, even if we think we are walking in a way that is good and upright on the surface. This leads to our next character study.

Next we have Jerusalem, which stands as the symbol of the nation of Israel, the people of God, chosen and beloved with a special part to play in God’s plan of salvation. The deep desire of a faithful Israelite was to fulfill the Law and thus be righteous before God. On the surface this sounds good – the problem occurs when the means become the end and the Law becomes a heavy burden that man is enslaved to. This is precisely what had happened within the people of Israel at the time of Jesus. Israel had become so preoccupied with things that were not of God – sometimes outright sin and idolatry, sometimes misguided pursuit of good things – that she was no longer able to perceive when God was moving in her midst. Israel was supposed to enjoy a special, privileged relationship with God yet had unwittingly begun desiring things that looked good on the outside but were actually a barrier between Israel and God. Jerusalem stands as a reminder that we can easily slip into a mode of thinking and believing that becomes burdensome and oppressive and are actually damaging to our relationship with God. Jerusalem also serves as a warning to not allow ourselves to claim some sort of superiority or privilege because “we’re the special ones.” Israel was God’s special possession, yet she failed to fulfill her purpose because of her blindness.

Finally, we have Jesus and his deep desire. Jesus employs some of the most tender language in the New Testament when he says “How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.” Jesus is displaying the heart of God for a lost and wayward people. The picture is of a hen protectively, lovingly placing her wings around her young. The young are safe from harm beneath the wings, nestled close to the heart of their mother. The mother is susceptible to harm – her wings may be the only barrier between her chicks and the teeth of a fox, but it is a risk she is willing to take for love of her young. Jesus’ deep desire is that the people of Israel would come “under his wings” so to speak and find in him their protection, their provision and their purpose – rather than in the political systems of the world or in legalistic observance of the Law. Both options ultimately bring harm – Jesus’ desire is to bring life – and he will stop at nothing to achieve his desire – something he alludes to when he says “I must go on my way…for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.” Jesus is communicating that he is willing to die for those he loves. Luke concludes the passage by writing that Jesus said “I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Ironically that is exactly what the people will shout as they welcome Jesus to Jerusalem days later, only to reject him and hand him over to death later. Seeing Jesus rightly requires coming under his Lordship, under his reign. His desire is that people come to him for he is the source of life, he is the way of entering into the kingdom. In John’s gospel we find Jesus saying “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” But responding to his desire challenges the desires that we have that are contrary to his Lordship. This is the conflict that Luke records, and it is a conflict we still experience in our daily lives.

For all that has changed in the past two thousand years we still find ourselves caught in a struggle between conflicting desires. On the one hand, we still have the same temptation that Herod gave in to. We are told that the way to get ahead in life is to possess power, to seek personal gain, regardless of the cost and who may be harmed in the process. If we wrongly desire power, prestige, money and possessions we become enslaved to them. We center our lives around them and eliminate anything that threatens our personal gain. In the process we may be tempted to lie, to cheat and to cut corners to feed our desire. As a result we often to great damage to ourselves and to those around us.

On the other hand, we also have the same temptation as Jerusalem and the people of Israel – we can get really busy doing all the right things. We can pray more than others, give more, fast more, read our Bibles more and convert more people to the faith. We can have all of the right answers and possess the moral high ground and think pretty highly of ourselves, especially if we compare ourselves to those who don’t believe quite rightly, don’t live quite rightly and quite frankly just aren’t as good as us. We can become enslaved to the things that are supposed to bring us closer to God instead of falling more and more deeply in love with God himself. Jesus weeps when people follow either of these desires because he knows the harm that will come to them. Jesus still stands before us and says to each one of us “How often I would have gathered you as a hen gathers her young under her wings and you would not.” Jesus’ deep desire is that we would come under his protection, his provision and his guidance. The wings represent life and safety from the harm that comes from all that opposes life. Jesus desperately desires to be the place where we find life because he knows that he is the only source of true life. Jesus was willing to endure injury and even death in order to spread his wings over us yet so often we refuse to come beneath them. We may say “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” yet so often we refuse to actually come under the lordship of Christ. Our desires come in conflict with his desire for us. This is the great struggle that we are engaged in.

We are now two weeks into our Lenten journey. Last week we began by recalling the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness and we are reminded that we are assaulted by temptations, big and small, every day. Jesus’ victory over temptation led to his ultimate victory over sin and death and as a result we are able to share in that victory. We no longer have to be enslaved to sin. This week builds on the previous one as we are called to examine the desires of our hearts. Are we seeking fulfillment in life in the wrong places or in the wrong ways? Are there good things that we are desiring or using wrongly? Are we merely paying lip service to the Lordship of Christ or are we daily allowing ourselves to come under the protection of his wings?

Christ desires you and me. He has paid a high price. When our fleshly desires conflict with his, who will win? Amen.