Resurrection people

The women went to the tomb in the early morning, to anoint the body.

The two walking to Emmaus were sad and confused about what had occurred.

With much of what we see and hear and read,

death, confusion, despair are common emotions.

The news this past week has included the attack on Brussels, coverage of the US election and some local politics thrown in, and on Thursday a young mother jumped off a cliff at Maroubra with her 2 year old son.

Then there are deaths on our roads.

Workplace deaths and injuries

Assaults

Domestic violence

And the list goes on

In this community, people are concerned about illegal drugs, streets being flooded, and public transport. There is isolation in this community – older people, and also parents looking after young children while their partner commutes long distances.

Many of us know someone living with a mental illness or chronic pain or family dysfunction.

The pain and confusion and despair of Good Friday and Easter Saturday often seem easier to relate to, than the amazement and shock of Sunday morning.

We watch the news in horror as we see the destruction and killing in Brussels, and this is just one of at least 9 terrorist attacks this month. The most recent, as I write, was in a soccer stadium in Iraq on Friday. Another 29 people died.

We may know the rules for the current system, broken as it is; but if the dead don’t stay dead, what can you count on? [Karoline Lewis, Working Preacher]

We are people of the resurrection.

Rev Dr Andrew Dutney, past president of the Uniting Church writes: (here is) one of my favourite sentences from the Basis of Union, the foundation document of the church [I belong to].: “The Church preaches Christ the risen crucified One and confesses him as Lord to the glory of God the Father.”

“The Church preaches Christ the risen crucified One and confesses him as Lord to the glory of God the Father.”

In Jesus, God was doing a new thing.

Jesus showed a new way of living, not exchanging one army with another.

Jesus didn’t fight fire with fire, he didn’t retaliate.

As people of God, how can we respond to the threat of terrorism in our world?

As people who profess the risen crucified one, how can we respond to the violence in our families and community?

As the body of Christ, how can we respond to pain and violence and fear?

It is easy to see evil in the world, and in our lives,

but where do we see resurrection?

Where do we see evil being downtrodden,

where do we see grace flourishing,

where do we see love and forgiveness

take the place of fear and retribution?

Being people of resurrection:

-      insists that the ways of love will win over the ways of hate.

-      confirms that the truth of kindness can be heard over the din of ruthless, callous, and vindictive rhetoric.

-      gives witness to the fact that there is another way of being in the world –

o   a way of being that is shaped by resurrection,

o   that embodies anything and everything that is life-giving,

o   a way of being that is so counter-cultural,

o   so demonstrative of mercy,

o   so exemplary of the truth of Easter

o   that others will listen to you, watch you, wonder about you and say, “Wait a minute. Did I just see the Lord?” [Karoline Lewis, Working Preacher]

Where do we live resurrection?

Where do we encounter resurrection?

It can be difficult to go against the crowd,
to refuse to label all Muslims as terrorists,
to stand with people who are unemployed
to call for social security to be at a liveable level.
It can be difficult to go against the crowd,
especially when that means going against our own self-interest, our own fears, our own wealth creation.

Jesus didn’t hold back love, grace or forgiveness from anyone, even at the cost of his life.

Here are some examples of resurrection life:

A person reads to an illiterate co-worker each lunchtime

A dry-cleaner does free dry-cleaning for unemployed people so they can have a clean outfit for a job interview

The people who offered to ride, and walk, with Muslim people after the Sydney siege.

People who give their time and energy to helping disadvantaged people.

In parts of NSW, Uniting Church people help young people get their licence by volunteers taking them for their 120 practice hours needed before they can go for their driving test.

Our reading ended today with this verse: “Jesus himself stood among them and said to them,

‘Peace be with you.’ “

Where do we see resurrection?

Where do we see the risen crucified One?

The empty tomb,
the word,
the breaking of bread?

Where do we see love and forgiveness and grace?

In what ways do you share the peace of Jesus?

Why the Cross

Crucifixion was used against non – Romans, it was meant to be ghastly, and also to wipe the person completely. Usually the body stayed on the cross, out in the open for wild animals and the environment to take care of the remains of the body. This was Rome’s way of getting rid of someone – getting rid of them completely.

In some countries today, people who are executed are buried in a communal plot – the family does not get to bury them, it is part of the punishment. No funeral, no place for family or friends to remember the person, it is as if they never existed, and that is what some governments try and do – and that is what Rome was trying to do in crucifying people. This was a way of reinforcing authority and rule, it was also a way of denying the existence of the person crucified.

This morning we will look at responses to Jesus and the cross. To the leaders, both religious and political, Jesus was a troublemaker. To the Romans he was a law breaker – yes, he broke the laws of Rome in what he did, and crucifixion was the punishment. The Romans weren’t singling Jesus out, this was a violent time on the history of the world, and one way for Rome to keep their authority was to keep the people in submission, and killing off anyone who looked like being a threat.

Looking at the disciples responses to Jesus and the cross – one betrayed him, another denied knowing Jesus, some ran away and kept a low profile, and then there were those who stood at the foot of the cross.

The way we respond to Jesus, and to the story of trial and crucifixion, will be heavily influenced by what we think of Jesus, and how we think about God. 

There is more than one way to think about what happened in the life and death of Jesus, and we need to try and hold these multiple ideas together. A bit like we can talk about Jesus being light, peace, God incarnate, son of God,  - multiple images, which all go to build up a picture. No matter how detailed we get, it will always be an inadequate image.

There are three classical theories of what is achieved by the death of Jesus:

§  The first is called the satisfaction theory. God needed a sacrifice to atone for the sins of humanity, and Jesus is it. Also called substitutionary atonement. When we talk of Jesus dying in our place, this is what we are talking about.

§  The second of the classical theories is Christ the victor. Here we think about the world in terms of good and evil, and the story of the crucifixion is a battle of evil and good, and Jesus wins out, thus freeing us all from the captivity of evil.

§  The third of the classical theories is called moral influence. In this theory humanity is reconciled to God not through the specific action of Jesus on the cross, but because he showed God’s love in such a dramatic way we respond in wonder and gratitude.

Each of these theories has some basis in the biblical literature, and each helps us think about God’s action in Jesus. But each is also deficient on its own – these need to be held together.

Migliore: Page 154 “through the ministry and cross of Christ, God does something decisive on behalf of oppressed humanity, liberating us from evil forces that enslave us, freeing is from our burden of guilt, and restoring moral order in a disordered world, setting us free from the illusions and self-deceptions that bring destruction on our neighbours as well as ourselves. “

In the cross, God accomplishes all this, and again I suggest that even with these three images to work with, our understanding is quiet inadequate for the wonder and glory of God’s action in Jesus.

There are some more contemporary theories as well, one is liberation theology, which comes mainly from South America, and focuses on God’s solidarity with the poor and oppressed.

There is another contemporary view I would like to include. This view suggests that part of our discomfort with the Good Friday story is because we are bound up in a violent world.

The world Jesus came into was a world, like ours, founded on violence. Violence is used to maintain the status quo in societies, children are abused, women beaten, the earth plundered and even God’s prophets are killed.

Jesus came and disturbed that world order,

P 159: “When Jesus came to disturb that order – announces God’s forgiveness of sinners, promises the future to the poor, welcomes outcasts and strangers, calls all to repentance and a new way of life characterized by love of God and others – when Jesus does this in a world built from its very foundation stone upon violence, then …. Jesus must suffer, the boundless love of God must clash with the world built on hostility and violence. “

It is not easy to make sense of the cross, as in many areas of the life of our faith, words and language is limited. The biblical record includes a number of ways of thinking about the meaning of the cross and the death of Jesus.

That is how we can  talk about Jesus dying for us, liberating us, showing us a new way to live, standing with us in our pain, standing with the poor and oppressed – all this and more is what was happening in this story.

In all this we are called to love as God loved us in Christ, to love as Jesus loved the poor, the outcast, the sinners, the demonised – and that love is no sweet romantic, sentimental love – it is a robust, love that challenges the violence of the world, that stands up to oppressors, that lives in slums, that dares to believe in a new way, a new world, a new life where justice and peace, rather than power and might, are the foundations of society.

The work of Jesus in his life and death is reconciliation, that is, bringing all things into harmony with God and with each other. The work of Jesus is not only about personal salvation, it is not only about my sin, it is also about the structural inequalities of the world in which we live, it is about people living with violence in their hearts and their lives, it is about a creation that is being degraded and abused.

This story of Christ’s passion is not one we can hide from, not one we can deny, it is one we must sit with, as the women did at the foot of the cross. It is a story that is life changing, but it asks for our life.

Are we prepared to not only hear the story, but to live the story?

Silence

quotes are from Migliore, D. Faith seeking Understanding

Two Processions Two Kingdoms

The life of Jesus seems to be constantly in the shadow of the political and religious leaders. In the first 2 chapters of this gospel, Luke notes that in the days of King Herod of Judea, [1:5] and then “Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)”    [2:1-2]

Matthew tells of the journey of Joseph, Mary and their young son Jesus into Egypt to escape the massacre of the children. A massacre that was ordered by Herod.

Today’s reading also has a political shadow.

Jesus and his followers were not the only procession that day.

Coming in the main gate of Jerusalem would be Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of the area with cavalry and soldiers in imperial uniforms. Governors at this time lived most of the year on the at Caesarea Maritimia or ‘Caesarea on the Sea’, but when there were festivals in Jerusalem,  then the Governor and  extra troops would come to Jerusalem to  ‘keep the peace’. That means crush any opposition that might happen. [See Borg and Crossan The Last Week]

Think China, or even Sydney, during the Olympics or the G8 meeting. These large events attract protesters, and it means that the powers that be will put in extra police or troops to keep the order.  The Roman Empire is sometimes called Pax Ramona, but it was peace built on oppressing anyone who disagreed, killing people who spoke out against you and people living in fear.

In the way Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem, he is mocking the entry of kings and rulers. They would enter on a war horse, triumphant from battle, or just making sure every knows who is in charge. There is reference to Zechariah, but also the apocryphal book of Maccabeus. In 167 B.C. Antiochus precipitated a full-scale revolt when, having already forbidden the practice of Judaism on pain of death, he set up in the Jewish temple an altar to Zeus and offered pig’s flesh upon it. Mattathias and his five sons led the campaign to reclaim the temple and Judean independence. In the ensuing guerilla campaign against Antiochus, many died. “On the twenty-third day of the second month, in the one hundred and seventy-first year, the Jews entered Jerusalem with praise and palm branches, and with harps and cymbals and stringed instruments, and with hymns and songs, because a great enemy had been crushed and removed from Israel.” (I Macc. 13:51)

Jesus enters on a colt, rather than a war horse. The disciples spread their cloaks on the colt for Jesus to ride.

The story of the triumphant entry to Jerusalem is a bit like the birth story. There is more than one in the gospels, they are different, and we tend to merge them. This year we read from Luke, and Luke doesn't have the crowd praising Jesus and calling him king – it is “the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen”

These aren't a crowd that are loving the procession, then days later cry ‘crucify him!’ – this is disciples praising God because of what they have seen. This group have seen Jesus healing, the raising of the widow’s son, people being forgiven and offered a new life, the feeding of the 5,000, transfiguration, exorcism, the blessing of children and Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, They have heard Jesus tell stories about sowing seed, the good Samaritan, the rich man and Lazarus, the lost parables, they have heard about hospitality, inclusion, the cost of discipleship, and Jesus has told them of his impending death. And here they are, part of this street party, praising God for the mighty acts they have witnessed.

And they don’t shout Hosanna, but they are ‘shouting a phrase that echoes back to the birth narrative in Luke: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory to the highest heaven!” The angels declared peace on earth, and goodwill to all. Now, the disciples echo that call back. And when some Pharisees tell Jesus to order the disciples to stop, Jesus declares if they were silent, the stones would shout out.’  Rev Mindi http://rev-o-lution.org/

So two processions, one full of military muscle, the other Jesus on a donkey with some others coming into Jerusalem.

Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey is subversive and mocking, but it isn't a threat to a military power like the Romans.  It could have gone unnoticed by the authorities.

But Jesus knows he is being watched. It isn't only the Roman authorities he needs to be wary of, but the religious authorities as well. The Romans knew that religion was one thing that people would fight for, so they would co-opt the local leadership on the grounds that as long as the religious leaders kept the local people obedient, they could continue in their positions, and people could continue with their worship. As long as it didn't interfere with Roman rule. 

Jesus isn't taking on the Romans at their own game, Jesus came to change the game.  To change the game from oppression and power and fear, to freedom and grace and love.

Jesus came to change the way things were done, not to overpower the Romans, or anyone else. And he knew where that might lead.

Protesters today still risk being arrested,
     for praying in Government offices for the release of children in detention,
     for preventing mining companies getting access to farms,
     for stopping the transport of waste products.
The people who protest in these ways know they risk going to prison or being fined.

Jesus knew the potential for arrest and death, the Romans were known for taking care of trouble makers swiftly and permanently.

Living as the people of God is more than praying for peace, or healing, or grace; it is living out the kingdom in spite of the scorn of those around us.
Living as the people who are Christian, named for Christ, means following in the way of love and hope and generosity, even when that is dangerous.

Here we have two processions and two kingdoms,
one kingdom is a kingdom of fear, power, oppression and death. The other kingdom of peace, freedom, healing and life.

One Kingdom reliant on state power to keep people under control
The other reliant on the Holy Spirit to enliven people.

One Kingdom where the Temple is a place of economic activity
The other where the Temple is a place of healing and wholeness.

Jesus came to bring about a new order, a new kingdom.
how do we live into that new order?
how do we live as people of peace and hope and faith, in a world of fear and greed?

Extravagant Love

Some background to the story you have just heard.

We have met this family before – Lazarus, Martha and Mary.

In John chapter 11 we read the story of the death of Lazarus, and Jesus calling for the tomb to be opened, and for Lazarus to walk out of the tomb. John 11: 44

 “  The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’ ”

After the raising of Lazarus form the dead, John notes that the religious officials planned to put Jesus to death.

Luke has another story about Mary and Martha, in Luke 10 we read of the visit of Jesus to the house of Martha. Martha who was working, while Mary was listening to Jesus. Martha asks Jesus to intervene and tell her sister Mary to help: Luke 10: 41-42

“But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’”

Is these the same sisters?

John is the only gospel with this anointing story, but each gospel has a story of a women anointing Jesus.

In Matthew’s gospel, we are in the house of Simon the Leper, which is in Bethany, 2 days before Passover, and a woman enters and pours ointment over his head. The disciples ask about the waste and the poor. 

In Mark’s gospel, we also are in the house of Simon the Leper in Bethany, 2 days before Passover, and a woman enters and pours ointment over his head. This time it is some of the people present who ask about the waste.

Luke has a similar story taking place in the house of a Pharisee, the woman is a sinner who, “Begins to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment.” No one asks about waste, the Pharisee questions Jesus allowing a sinner to touch him.  

John’s gospel also sets this story in Bethany, but this time 6 days before Passover and in the home of Lazarus. John names the woman as Mary, and as in Luke it is the feet which are anointed and dried with the woman’s hair. The question about waste and the poor is asked by Judas.

In three of the gospels, the ones where the question of waste is raised, Jesus defends the women for their actions in preparation for his burial.

So what might all this mean?

I invite you to imagine this scene.

You have been invited to a dinner party at a friend’s house. You know the meal will be beautiful as your friend is a wonderful cook. You arrive, the table is set with the best silver, a vase of fresh flowers is on the table and food smells waft through from the kitchen. Mmm, it smells wonderful and your mouth begins to water.

Your friend greets you, introduces you to the other guests, and gets you a drink.

The meal is served and you are enjoying the delicacies that have been prepared and the company of like-minded and interesting people.

Then another guest opens a bottle of expensive perfume, you have seen it in photos of celebrity weddings, it costs more than what you make in a year!

You watch, stunned, as she pours it over the feet of the guest of honour. The room fills with the amazing scent – cardamom and lavender, rose and cinnamon, citrus and spices.

You notice that everyone is now silent, shocked at what is happening in front of them.

And then it gets really bizarre!

She unwraps her hair, kneels down and starts to wipe his feet with her hair!

People around the table look at what is happening and then to each other.

You can see the surprise and discomfort in their faces.

Then someone says: what a waste!  She could have given the money to the poor, there are plenty of worthy causes that could do with that kind of money. [Based on an article by The Rev. Chana Tetzlaff http://modernmetanoia.org/2016/02/29/lent-5c-a-scandalous-gift-of-love/ ]

The response of Jesus to the accusation that the perfume could have been sold and money given to the poor, is unexpected. Jesus is usually speaking up for the poor.

Here, Jesus isn’t saying do what you want, but that you can always do something for the poor. The opportunity to serve the poor is not limited by time. The opportunity to be with Jesus was limited.

The more I have thought about this reading, and then discussing it with the Lent event study group on Thursday, this reading seems more and more bizarre.

A woman at this time was not meant to touch, or to be touched by, a male who was not a close relative.

Think of the way some Muslim women dress with their hair covered – that was quite likely the case for Mary. A woman’s hair was not to be down in mixed company.

I wonder did Mary know she was anointing Jesus for his burial the following week.

This story that John records is shocking. A woman unties her hair in front of a man who is not her husband or a relative. And she touches a man who is not her husband or a close relative.

What Mary does is sensual and sexy

It is extravagant

Is it wasteful?

Jesus had raised his friend Lazarus from the dead. It seems that this is a family that Jesus knows well. I wonder what else Mary has seen and heard.

What is it that Jesus has done for you – if you had to name one thing – a life transformed; healing; a new name; total acceptance; …..???

There are plenty of biblical passages and hymns about God’s love for all of creation, and the way that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus has opened up the way for us to be reconciled to God, and to be agents of reconciliation in the world.

If we believe that God loves us, loves us enough to go through Gethsemane and Calvary, what do we do in return?

Reflection:

What are the ways that you usually respond to the love of Jesus?

How else might you respond? 

Is this for real?

This story is all wrong. The younger son tells his father I want my share now! – which means I want what is coming to me after you die, and I'm not prepared to wait for then, so let’s just pretend you are dead.

This story is all wrong. The father does as his son asks, and sells part of the property.

This story is all wrong. The father throws a party for the younger son on his return, surely a reprimand, some suitable punishment, but a party? Killing the fatted calf was only for the most honoured of guests, not someone crawling back in shame.

This story is all wrong. We think of the younger boy returning home full of repentance, seeing the error of his ways. But the younger son didn’t recognise his sinfulness, he was cold and hungry, and he remembered that his father treated his servants better than the man he currently worked for. In his leaving and his returning he was not thinking of his father, his family or his village, but of himself.

This story is just wrong.

In some ways it is easy to hear this parable and think of people we know who fit the younger son and older son, it is possible to get misty eyed about love and duty and forgiveness and pig-headedness.

In Buechner’s classic Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy & Fairy Tale “…it is only when you hear the Gospel as a wild and marvellous joke that you really hear it at all?” 

“…it is only when you hear the Gospel as a wild and marvellous joke that you really hear it at all?” 

This parable shows the “…outlandishness of God who does impossible things with impossible people” Frederick Buechner

…..

This is one of three stories Jesus tells in response to the religious authorities.  

Luke writes: “Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." So he told them this parable:” Luke 15: 1-2

“The religious authorities complain about the company Jesus keeps (….), and he responds not only with this story but with two other parables of lost-ness, about a sheep and a coin both precious in the eyes of their owners, both lost and then found, and both celebrated with a party, with everyone invited, that is, everyone who is willing to rejoice.” UCC SAMUEL

This isn’t a story about repentance, but a story about the foolishness of the father,
the father of 2 sons,
neither deserved the love he showed them.
This is a story about celebration,
relationships and love.
This is a story of undeserved love.
The older son is peeved, not because his brother has come home, but because there is a party.

Neither son recognises that he is loved by the father, neither son loves the father. One son is self-righteous “all these years I have been working like a slave for you” and you have given me nothing.  The other is self-absorbed and irresponsible.

Sure, the father is foolish.

·         foolish to agree to the request of the younger son to give him his inheritance early;

·         foolish to wait and expect a change of heart

·         foolish not to demand a proper apology

·         foolish to call him his son after all he has done

• foolish to risk being fleeced again.  [see David Lose]

But maybe one reason we value this story so much is because each one of us wishes we had someone who loves us that much, who loves us and accepts us no matter how long we have been away or what we have done.

Jesus tells this story to religious authorities and tax collectors and sinners

Jesus tells this story to people like us – people who need to hear again and again that we are treasured and cherished by God.

Not because we have acted out of duty

Not because we have said some formulaic apology

Not because we are perfect.

But because God is invested in a relationship with each one of us.  

Yet often we wish it were different.

We wish that people who followed the rules got more,
that life was fair.

See this story is all wrong! It doesn't talk about punishment and reward, it isn't about getting what we deserve. Christianity isn't about a set of rules that will get us God’s love. We are already loved. We are loved because that is the nature of God.

A quote:

Here's the gospel: you're more sinful than you ever dared believe; you're more loved than you ever dared hope.

—Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian and author of The Reason for God

You are invited to a party

-      a  party with sinners and tax collectors

-      a party with religious and political leaders

-      a party with the irresponsible and the self-righteous.

How will you respond to the invitation?

What does it feel like to know that God loves you more than you dared hope?

Sin, suffering and bearing fruit

If something bad happens to you, it is because you deserve it if your crops fail, it is because you have displeased God; same with illness, untimely death, any sort of disaster – it is because of something you have done, it is God’s judgement upon you.

Ever heard anything like that?

Blaming the victim was common in the time of Jesus, and it still persists today.

Except, it isn’t true. When illness or disaster or suffering comes, it isn’t because we are being judged as more sinful than anyone else. It is not a form of divine punishment.

Jesus tells the people that those whose blood was mingled with the sacrifice, were not any more sinful than anyone else. The reason their blood was mingled with the sacrifice is because they were at worship, when Pilate’s soldiers came and killed them.

The same with those who were killed in an industrial accident. They were not more sinful than anyone else. The tower of Siloam is thought to be part of a building project that was being built with money taken from the Temple treasury.

There is a certain level of comfort for us in thinking that those who suffer in what appears to be random events, must be more sinful or bad than we are. Otherwise how do we know it won’t happen to us? We want some reassurance that we are good enough, special enough, important enough that such things won’t happen to us, that God is judging those people.

It is easy for us to think that some people are more sinful than we are. I am talking about sin, that which separates us from God. There isn’t a list of sins where some are worse than others. In the letter to the Romans, Paul writes:  since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God [Romans 3:23 NRSV]

 Slide:  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10208854356625120&set=a.1357499066439.2052303.1500378791&type=3&theater

  

Sin does a have role in suffering.

·      Pilate’s brutal reign was sinful - God calls leaders to be shepherds, not murder their own people, or line their own pockets.

·      Villages live with polluted water when the environment is not cared for.

·      Workers are injured or killed when profits rate higher than safety – such as in Bangladesh a few years ago, when a building collapsed. Over 1,000 people died and another 2,500 were injured. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-22476774

 We want to think that we are immune from seemingly random events; so it is easier to say that such events are judgement from God. But now, as then, cyclones, tsunamis, workplace accidents and murder are not the fault of the victim.  

We all sin, we all need to come to God, to repent, to turn our lives around. And Jesus tells another story:

..“A bloke had a fruit tree planted on his property. One day, after finding that the tree had still not produced any fruit, he ran out of patience with it. He called his gardener and said, ‘I’ve given up on this tree. It’s been here for three years and has produced nothing but leaves. Chop it down! It’s a waste of good soil.’ But the gardener replied, ‘Boss, let’s give it one more year. I’ll loosen up the soil and keep the fertiliser up to it and we’ll see if it gives us a crop next summer. If it does, great; but if there’s still nothing, we’ll take the axe to it then.’” [©2001 Nathan Nettleton www.laughingbird.net]

 The parable of the barren fig tree turns our attention away from judging others to looking at our own lives.

It certainly sounds like it has branches and leaves, it doesn’t sound like it is dead, just not bearing fruit. If it was dead there would be no reason to keep it at all.

From a song  The Tree Song: Chorus:

I’ve got roots growing down to the water,

I’ve got leaves growing up to the sunshine,

and the fruit I bear is a sign of the life in me.

http://azharclass2012.wikispaces.com/file/view/The+Tree+Song+Lyrics.PDF

“…the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control.” [Galatians 5: 22-23 GNB]

What fruit does your life show?

The parable is a reminder to us that we need to not only stay alive, but to bear fruit. I wonder how often we are even aware of our lack of fruitfulness, we appear to be going OK, nice leafy branches providing shade, strong sturdy trunk to withstand storms, yet a fig tree that doesn’t bear figs, no matter how healthy looking, is just not doing what it was planted for. The tree gets another chance, and we too get another chance, and another – not because we are particularly worthy, but because God is gracious and merciful to us.

Lent is a time for us to think about the things that tempt us away from God
the false idols,
the things that demand our time and attention and energy,
the things that slowly kill our spirit,
those things that mean we don’t bear fruit.  

The parable is left up in the air at the end, we don’t know if the tree bears fruit next year, if it gets another chance, or if the gardener finally pulls it out.

I wonder will we bear more fruit this year than last.
Will we live up to our high calling as the people of God?
At times it seems that disaster and illness tests our faith, but from this passage judgement is not about disaster or illness, but whether we bear fruit that shows our repentance, our trust in God, our living as the body of Christ in this place.

The gardener says he will loosen the soil, get rid of the weeds and feed the tree with manure. What would it take for you to bear fruit?

Slide:

·         What sort of fruit would you like your life to be producing by this time next year?

·         What help will you need to realise this dream.

Reflection time

A Poem: in this life

~ Copyright © 2007 Thom M. Shuman. Posted on Prayers4Today. http://prayersfortoday.blogspot.ca/

Jesus the mother hen

During Lent we move from the temptations in the wilderness, to the crucifixion. On the way we join Jesus in his journey towards Jerusalem.

In the passage we heard this morning, Jesus again chooses to stay on the road to Jerusalem, even though he knows his likely fate. The warning that Herod is after him – not the Herod who tried to kill him as an infant, but his son. It seems Luke wants us to know that Jesus continued to choose to heal and liberate, even though it put him on a collision course with the religious and political leaders.

I wonder if our choices and decisions reflect God’s desire for us, God’s call on our lives.

This passage has themes of power running through it. The Pharisees had power, they had power and position and status – very important in such a society. And they used their power. They used their power to stay in favour with the people who could reduce them to nothing.

Herod had power, power to rule. Power that dominated and kept people in their place, so he could stay in his.

There is another type of power displayed in this passage, and that is the power of love, the power of compassion. Jesus has been healing, teaching, including the outcast, raising the dead, …. yet this offended the rulers. It offended them because it threatened their position. By this stage Jesus must know the likely outcome of his ministry. I know some people believe Jesus knew before he was born that he came to die on the cross, but even if you do not believe that, the signs by this stage of his ministry are pretty ominous.

 Jesus doesn’t run away when the Pharisees warn him of his fate, he talks of the remaining ministry of healing and casting out demons, and of journeying to Jerusalem. Now I don’t think the reference to prophets being killed refers geographically to Jerusalem, but to the way in which God’s messengers have been threatened and silenced by the powerful, often the religious leaders. 

Jesus shows the power of compassion,
the power of love,
love that hurts and cries for the ones who reject him,
love that still wants to wrap the city and people up in love,
to keep them safe. 

Jesus, looking over Jerusalem says:
“How many times I wanted to put my arms around all your people, just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not let me!”

Slide 1: hen and chickens

Slide 2: hen and chickens

Slide 3: chickens under hen

Slide 4:  hen and some under and some not!

Slide: chickens under hen [while reading below quote]

The image of the mother hen is a powerful one. A quote:

"If you have ever loved someone you could not protect,
then you understand the depth of Jesus' lament.
All you can do is open your arms.
You cannot make anyone walk into them.
Meanwhile,
this is the most vulnerable posture in the world
--wings spread, breast exposed --
but if you mean what you say,
then this is how you stand. …
Jesus won't be king of the jungle in this or any other story.
What he will be is a mother hen,
who stands between the chicks
and those who mean to do them harm.
She has no fangs,
no claws,
no rippling muscles.
All she has is her willingness to shield her babies with her own body.” [Barbara Brown Taylor   Christian Century 2/25/86]

The image of mother hen is a different one to the image of holding onto power and prestige, this is an image of compassion and tenderness, an image of valuing another’s life, even more than your own.

In the reflecting this week, and the time on retreat with the elders yesterday, I have been thinking about the other side of this mother and hen imagery.

Jesus is like a mother hen, lamenting because the chickens will not come under her wings.  

But I am not Jesus.

I am one of the chickens,
and I confess at times I am one of those chickens who thinks she doesn’t need to be under the wing.
I am one of the chickens that causes pain and sorrow.

I wonder what it is that prevents me from accepting the security, the grace, the love that Jesus offers us.

A song came to mind, and this dates me somewhat:

I need to be still and let God love me
I need to be still and let God love me
When this old world starts to push and shove me
I need to be still and let God love me

I need to relax and let God take over
I need to relax and let God take over
[He'll] to take this load off my shoulders
I need to relax and let God take over

“I need to be still and let God love me”

Yet I am rarely still, my mind is often trying to think about more than open thing at the same time. We live in a society that values being busy, even if it is not productive busyness.

“Jesus loved the people of Jerusalem.
Sometimes they got things wrong.
Sometimes they listened to the wrong people.
Sometimes they ran around not knowing what to do.

But Jesus loved them.

‘What are you like Jerusalem?’ said Jesus.
‘I’d like to be a big warm feathery mother hen,
so that I could gather your children
under my wings and keep them safe and strong.

But you wouldn't let me do it Jerusalem.
And I can’t help you if you won’t let me.” [Spill the Beans]

“I can’t help you if you won’t let me.”

What do you need to let go off, pride, apathy, being in control….

What do you need to let go of, to let Jesus help us?

What in your life needs nurturing now?