February 28, 2010
Let's Make a Deal
- Luke 13:31-35
- Dr. Teri Thomas
When we look at what is in this book (the Bible), when we read the words it contains, we all hear different things. We hear something different than the person next to us and we probably hear something different than the last time we read those same words. Some of us hear promises, some hear rules. Some hear judgment while others hear acceptance. In today’s readings from Genesis and from Luke, I hope you can hear relationship.
Relationship is the spiritual practice. As people of faith, we believe that the reason people are relational is that we are created in the image of a relational God. God seeks to be in relationship with people just as people try to be in relationship with each other.
During Lent we talk a great deal about spiritual practices. We get an idea that it is a thing we have to do. We get all caught up in practicing the thing. What if we were to think of spiritual practices less as exercises and more as relationships? Instead of trying to be more godly, what if we simply try to be more authentic in our relations with God and with others?
In this morning’s reading from Genesis, we see God deepening a relationship with Abram. Abram left his homeland to go to a new land because God had promised that if he would do that, God would give him the land and fill it with many descendants. Remember, Abram was old and his wife Sara was old and barren. But they took the chance and trusted God. But now, some time later, they have wandered the whole Mideast and Abram has reached his limit.
He calls upon God. When are you going to keep this promise God? We are not getting any younger here and we still have no children. There is honesty and truthfulness in this relationship.
In response to Abram God makes a formal covenant. That is what he is doing with the animals.
In those days covenants were sometimes sealed by the custom of cutting animals in half and then walking between the halves. They walked between the pieces, declaring that they would be cut in half like these animals if they failed to keep up their end of the covenant. Thus the practice was called “cutting a covenant.”
We usually define covenant as “an agreement between two or more persons.” That sounds pretty equal, doesn’t it? But we see here that Biblical covenants, where God is one of the parties, are totally lopsided.
Who is the initiator? God.
Who sets the terms? God.
Who makes the promises? God.
Who decides how the covenant will be sealed? God.
Who acts out the covenant agreement? God.
From then on, Abram is asked to continue in that relationship with God, and to establish and maintain relationships with people and with the earth. He travels, he settles. He has family, encounters strangers. Sometimes he is good at the relationship thing; sometimes not. God never deserts him.
It is a story of a God who reaches out, unilaterally.
It is a story of a God who makes and keeps covenant.
It is a story of people who respond,
or at least attempt to respond, faithfully.
It is a story of a relationship of promise and challenge.
Our Gospel lesson from Luke this morning goes even further in relationships. Jesus is in Jerusalem and he identifies Jerusalem as a place where prophets are killed.The message from the Pharisees is that Herod is going to kill Jesus. Jesus laments. How often would I have gathered you together like a hen gathers her chicks, but you were not willing.
Can you hear a father saying to his son You could have avoided so much grief and pain if only you had listened,but you were not willing.
Or a mother reaching out to hug her teenage children as they squirm away in embarrassment.
Jesus speaks to them like we speak to rebellious children. We cry over them, tears of the frustration of not being able to protect them, words of fear for their future, we want to shake them and yell- stop, you are killing yourself. We want to reach out and pull them close and wrap our arms around them and protect them from the world and from themselves.
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!
This verse is striking in its images. First, we have the violent horror of prophets being killed
and even stoned, a horrific and bloody practice to be sure. Jesus follows this image directly
with the tender and compassionate description of a hen gathering her chicks under her wings,
which speaks of warmth, protection, and love.
Together they form a heart-rending lament for how we respond to relationships and how God responds to us.God’s response to stubborn and misguided people is not retribution, or punishment but rather lamentation and persistence. God is not done with Jerusalem and its people.
It is the people of Jerusalem who will see God’s own willingness to suffer and die for them face-to-face. It is an extraordinary statement on the grace of God, and also a compelling proclamation
that no one stands exempt from God’s tender compassion and persistent love.
Thousands of years later, we are still reaching out and responding to the call to be in relationship. The season of Lent reminds us that God has reached out to us. And we turn to one another in response, looking for those in need, caring for those at hand, loving those closest to us. Sometimes we do this well, sometimes not.
This week, look around for those in need of relationship. Examine your life for your own relationship needs. Then respond to God and to others, out of your own heart.
What is the relationship of promise and challenge in your life?
What will you do in response to God’s call to a deeper purpose?
What will you do in response to God’s tender promise of love that will never end?
The call to relationship is always before us.
The promise of relationship is made by God.
And God never gives up.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Resources:
http://melissabanesevier.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/promise-and-response-the-spiritual-practice-of-relationship/
Julie Atkins, Resisting God’s Grace, Lectionary Homiletics Vol. XXI, Number 2.