Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Psalm 27
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Luke 13:31-35
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts
be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
Woe. Plain and simple woe, the noun.
Not the verb “whoa” you would say to a horse after a hard ride. Anguish,
affliction, despair, misery, wretchedness; you know, woe. The horror and
desolation of living in a world where there is poverty, crime, hunger, and North Korea has
the bomb. The word woe has an ability to sum it all up pretty well.
About 25 years ago a man named
Bobby McFerrin recorded a song called “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Then again, that
was before North Korea
got the bomb. I seem like a pretty cheery guy this morning, don’t I? Thank God
it gets better. In fact that is our hope, our one hope, thanking God it does
get better.
The Psalm I used for our Call to
Worship, the 27th Psalm, gives us the image of a great king facing
the greatest dangers of his civilization. Ordained and installed as the head of
the nation of Israel by the
power and glory of the Lord, he still has many enemies. Evildoers have come
upon him to eat up his flesh. Armies have encamped against him. He laments that
his father and mother forsake him, but in the midst of this lament he knows it
is the Lord who will sustain him:
For on the day of trouble the LORD
shall shelter me in safety;
the LORD shall
hide me in the secrecy of the holy place
and set me high
upon a rock.
Even now the LORD lifts up my head
above my enemies
round about me.
Therefore I will offer in the holy
place an oblation
with sounds of great gladness;
I will sing and
make music to the LORD.[1]
This is a Psalm of David, King David, the man who knows
God’s own heart. One of the greatest kings of Israel ,
the father of Solomon, a leader in peace and in war; his name is mentioned over
eight hundred times in the Old Testament and sixty more in the new. It’s easy
to say he is one of the more important people in scripture and his life has
more than it’s fair share of trouble.
There is woe, there is great danger.
Herod and his ilk have been waiting at the door for thousands of years; and by
the light of Christ that shines, the darkness is pierced. Jesus lives and
works, praying for Jerusalem
and for us in the midst of the things that cause us to lose sight of the
church’s vocation.
In this, we can rest assured that
in the grand scheme of life, nothing happens outside of the love and protection
of the Lord God Almighty. Where before this in scripture is the story of Jesus
and the devil in the wilderness, this is the story of another temptation, Jesus
is invited to run for his life. Jesus cuts through the worldly political twists
and turns, knowing that his time will not come today or tomorrow. Jesus is in
control even when it appears to the world that he is not.
In the grand scheme, while we must
let God be God who will act in God’s own time and in God’s own way; we must not
allow ourselves to let this be our call to inaction. We must begin by being
willing to be collected as chicks gathered by their mother, and then we must
allow ourselves to be nurtured and grow into the people God calls us to be. As
chicks will follow their mother hen, we must follow Christ seeking and finding
the vocation of the church to share the good news with the world, using words
when necessary.
When we read that Jesus calls Herod
“that fox,” we can tell he means business. Let’s begin with the fact that the
biblical witness on foxes is hardly favorable. The fox Jesus is sly, cunning,
and voraciously destructive. Yet Jesus isn’t worried. Jesus knows what time it
is and his planner is up to date with his schedule from now until Passover and
beyond.
Jesus is warned that Herod wants to
kill him. Jesus gives a warning in return. Jesus tells Herod and the Pharisees
and the world that he will not be hindered. His work will not be impeded by
Herod or by anybody else. He will cast out demons. He will cure the ill. Then
on the third day, he will finish his work.
Finish, this is the same word Jesus
will use upon the cross as he commends his spirit into his Father’s hands.
Today he says, “On that day I finish.” On that Good Friday Jesus will say “It
is finished.”
Jesus knows his fate, and he knows
that today it has nothing to do with Herod Antipas. He knows it so well that he
knows that his fate will be met down the road in Jerusalem .
Jesus warns the Pharisees that he
will not be rushed. As Jesus warns Herod and all with ears to hear that he is
not finished, as he warns Jerusalem
that he is coming; Jesus laments. He doesn’t lament his fate, no; he laments
the city where his fate will be sealed. He laments the city where his fate will
be unsealed.
In the City of David ,
in the City of Solomon ’s Temple ,
in the City of God , in the City of Peace Jesus laments how
often he has wanted, longed to gather the people. As a hen gathers her brood,
Jesus longs to gather the children of Jerusalem .
As he longs to gather the children of Jerusalem ,
Jesus longs to gather the children of God in this day and time.
David shares holy lament with us in
his Psalms. Jesus shares a holy lament for the city that will take his life.
The most important thing in these laments aren’t the complaints levied against
God and man. The most important thing is the hope that even in a world gone mad
there is hope that God is in control.
The Lord tells Abram that though he
is advanced in age and without an heir, his progeny will be more abundant than
the stars in the sky. Abram is blessed “To your descendants I give this land,
from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates .”
Jesus says he will continue his work on earth. He declares “blessed is the one
who comes in the name of the Lord.”
So here’s the deal, the most
difficult deal: There is woe, there is reason to lament, and God is in control.
Psalm 23 says it best, though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death
(now there’s woe), I fear no evil because you, the Lord our God, you are with
me. This is our hope.
During this the second week of Lent
we continue to walk that path to the cross with our Lord and Savior Jesus the
Christ. As Luke’s gospel reminds us, on this path he is casting out demons and
performing cures today and tomorrow. On the third day his work will be
finished. Jesus knows his woes, but he doesn’t let them stand in the way of
today. Today and tomorrow and forever he will do as the Father commanded.
This is holy lament, acknowledging
the pain, yet knowing God is in control in its midst. There is the old story
about Dietrich Bonhoeffer at the hanging of two fellow prisoners in their concentration
camp. The guard asks Bonhoeffer “Where is your God now?” The guard wants to
hear Bonhoeffer’s lament, Bonhoeffer’s hopelessness, Bonhoeffer’s woe. His
reply is that God is hanging right beside the two. Yes, there is lament, and
Bonhoeffer, he who will be martyred as the Nazi retreat, Bonhoeffer leans
toward hope. Just like Jesus. These are heady roll models, but God will hear our
laments and our praise. Together they are holy lamentation.
There is woe in this world, and thank
God it gets better. That is our hope, our one hope, in the grand scheme of
life, nothing happens outside of the love and protection of the Lord God
Almighty. Thank God it does get better.
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