God's Undiminishing Love

2 Lent, Year C, rcl

March 4, 2007

Today’s Gospel lesson from Luke places us in the midst of the Jesus’ travels. He has begun doing his work and knows what lies ahead for him. As the Pharisees try to warn him of what may happen to him, he does not run away, rather he tells them that he is ready, and nothing will stop him. (Sort of a bring it on attitude – the I’m not scared, so give me what you’ve got.) He has much to do and is not afraid to do what he was sent to do. And, as he is doing his work in the world, he finds himself saddened by Jerusalem’s turning away from God. We hear his lament loud and clear today.

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”

Jerusalem, the holy city, the city of David, the city of God, the city of the temple and worship, the place where may people journey toward. In this lament, Jesus is telling us that Jerusalem is going in the wrong direction, that they are not following God’s call to them, that they are being tempted and led in the wrong direction. Jerusalem, Jerusalem…we can hear the grief in Jesus’ voice – sadness at seeing a loved one go astray. Jesus laments that he is powerless to stop them even though he has tried. It is a sad image, and a beautiful image.

In this moment, we can see Jesus’ deep affection for the Holy City and its people. How he would love to save them and protect them just as a hen protects her chicks.

Barbara Brown Taylor, an Episcopal priest, tells about a window in a small chapel at the place where Jesus wept over Jerusalem. This high, arched window is centered above the altar. The window looks out over the city. The iron grillwork divides the view into sections, so that on a sunny day, you wonder if it is a stained glass window. What is different than other stained glass windows we have all seen, is that the subject is alive! It is not an artist’s rendering of the holy city, but the city itself, living and moving, going about its business.

Below that live window is a mosaic of a white hen with a golden halo and seven baby chicks. The hen has her wings spread to shelter the chicks, and she has a fierce look for anyone who would harm them. The inscription says in Latin, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem…How often I have desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”

Haven’t we all felt this way? I mean, don’t we all have times in our lives where we look at our beloved, like one would look out the beautiful window – and then when we realize that they are hurting themselves, we plead with them to stop? There is nothing more horrible than watching someone that you love go astray, self-destruct and hurt themselves. It happens so often – to people all around us – in our community and in our families. It happens all over the world.

Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem is instructive. It tells us that no matter what we might do, God’s love is undiminished. Jesus is longing to give Jerusalem the same protective care that a hen gives to her chicks. His arms are spread, waiting for us to come and enter into God’s love, and it is up to us to make the move toward God, toward this relationship with the divine. God gives us the freedom to choose between good and evil – and with the freedom comes accountability and responsibility.

We have to help ourselves and one another get out of our patterns. About 13 years ago, one of my best friends growing up, was arrested and put in jail for drug use among other things. For about a year, his life had been spiraling out of control. He had been taking crystal meth, staying up all night, partying and hanging out with people who were spiraling downwards with him. One night right before his arrest, he called me so drugged out, that he was saying really hurtful things to me and saying hurtful things about people that I loved. When I hung up the phone, tears were streaming from my eyes. After the initial shock was over, I swore to myself that I would just write him off, that I would never talk to him again.

About a week later, his dad called and left me a message, telling me that he had been arrested and leaving me with his address. I sat down that night and began to write him a letter. It began as a rant about what an awful person he was, about halfway through, it turned into a letter of love from a friend to another friend. I gave him an ultimatum, turn yourself around, or I will never speak to you again. I told him that I loved him too much to see him hurt himself or others, and I could not stand by him any more – even though we had faired much over our many years of friendship. With his addictions and low-self worth, I figured I would never hear from him again. Instead, about a month later, he called, one of his weekly 5 minute calls from prison. The first words from his mouth were, “I am sorry, please forgive me.” That five minute phone call was a blur of emotion, but what I do remember is that we said to one another that we would help each other through this. He now has a wonderful job, a fabulous wife and three adorable children and we are tight friends who see each other through everything.

In this story, I was not the hen, trying to protect the brood, but rather one of the fellow chicks, helping another chick out. God is our hen, wanting to protect us, being there for us when we are ready to come under that protection and love. We, however are the brood, we are the chicks, the community that has to help each other get there. If you ever see young chicks, they will follow one another around in a little line. When one goes astray, usually one of the other chicks will help that one find its way back. We have to help one another find our way toward God.

No matter what we might do, God is there as the hen and is counting on us to help one another find the way. God’s purpose is always to redeem us, to bring us back to the fold, regardless of how far astray we have gone. No matter what we do in our life, God’s love is undiminished. Even though Jerusalem has killed prophets, even though they have gone astray, God does not give up on them. God will not coerce us to come back to God’s ways, but rather will plead and call us back. What we do is left to us which means that one of the things that we are all called to do as people of God is to love and help ourselves and one another on our journey toward God. We have to proclaim God’s love in and for God, our community and one another. God calls us to love and care for one another just as God loves and cares for us.

God’s judgment is tempered with grace, mercy and hope of redemption. God patiently invites us and then waits to see where our journey will take us – when we get lost, God calls us back again and again out of God’s undying love for us. This Lenten season, how are going listening to God’s call for you? How are you journeying toward God and God’s undiminishing love for you?