Genesis 15: 1-12, 17–18; Psalm 27; Philippians
3: 17 – 4: 1; Luke 13: 31-35
This
is a homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at St.
John’s Church, in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday, February 21, 2016.
“IN
THE MIDST OF DESPAIR, LOSS & HOPELESSNESS”
(Homily texts:
Genesis 15: 1–12, 17–18 & Luke 13: 31-35)
At
first glance, our Old Testament reading from Genesis, chapter fifteen, and our
Gospel reading, from Luke, chapter thirteen, don’t have much in common with one
another.
But
if we look a bit more closely, we can see two common threads: What ties these
two passages together is the sense of despair, loss and hopelessness that both
Abram and Jesus experience. They are also tied together by the faithfulness we
see in Abram and in Jesus.
Let’s
explore these threads more in depth.
As
we do so, let’s remind ourselves of the circumstances of each figure:
Abram
had been promised by God that He would “Make of him a great nation.” (Genesis
12: 2). Now, in the passage before us this morning, God comes again and assures
Abram that He is with Him, saying, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield.” But
Abram, apparently remembering God’s promise made earlier (in chapter twelve)
says, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the
heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus.” Then Abram continues by saying, “You
have given me no offspring, and a slave born in my house is to be my heir.”
Notice
the sense of despair. Notice the sense of loss, and of hopelessness. God’s
promise seems very far away, for – by the time of this conversation, Abram was
quite old, and so was Abram’s wife, Sarai. Both were beyond normal
child-bearing age. (By the time that Abram and Sarai’s child, Isaac, was born,
Abram was one hundred years old, and Sarai was age ninety.)
Now,
let’s turn our attention to our Gospel reading for this morning, where we see
Jesus on His way to Jerusalem (see Luke 13:
22). Seeing the city, Jesus utters a lament of hopelessness, loss and despair,
saying, “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!”
In
the midst of despair, hopelessness and loss, God is often most present.
Now
let’s notice the thread of faithfulness:
Our
Genesis account makes this clear, for God takes Abram outside and asks him to
look at the stars. God says, “So shall your descendents be (in number). God
then enters into a covenant with Abram, promising him that the land that had
been promised would, indeed, be his and his ancestors to inherit.
Genesis
tells us that Abram believed the Lord, and that his faith was accounted to him
“as righteousness.”
In
the midst of despair, loss and hopelessness, Abram is a model of faith and of
faithfulness: In due time, he and Sarai do have a child, Isaac. In time,
Isaac’s son, Jacob, has sons who will become the heads of the tribes of ancient
Israel. God’s promises unfolded over time.
Jesus’
faithfulness is not so easy to see in our Lukan text this morning. We would do
well to unpack this just a little: Some
Pharisees come and warn Jesus to get away from Jerusalem, saying that King
Herod was trying to kill him. Jesus’ response shows His faithfulness. He says,
“Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing
cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish by work….”
The
threat posed by Herod, and by Herod’s accomplices in the ruling elite of Jesus’
day, the Chief Priests and the Roman
governor, Pontius Pilate, was one that anyone with even a casual knowledge of
how things worked could see: If anyone dared to challenge power structures and
the relationships between these three, all of them were willing to work
together to get rid of the challenge and the challenger. It had happened again
and again as uprisings took place in the Holy Land. So the trajectory of Jesus’
journey and its eventual end was a foregone conclusion. We might characterize
the relationship between Herod, the Chief Priests and Pilate this way: “The
enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Jesus
surely knew full well what awaited Him as he made His way into the city to the
acclamation of the crowds, who said, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of
the Lord.” Jesus confronts the situation in Jerusalem head-on, overturning the
tables of the moneychangers in the Temple. Such an acts gets the attention of
the Chief Priests, and then Herod and Pontius Pilate.
Yet,
Jesus is faithful. He pursues His road, all the way to Calvary. As His life
ebbs away, He says, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
God’s
presence seems absent. God’s eyes and God’s care seem to have vanished.
The
sense of God’s abandonment of Jesus and of God’s people seems complete as
Jesus’ body is taken down from the cross and is buried on Good Friday evening.
God’s abandonment seems complete until Easter Sunday morning, when God’s
victory over sin, over death, and over evil is complete. Jesus rises from the
tomb, and God’s plan and God’s presence are made clear.
As
we walk the way of life with Christ, there are times when we will find
ourselves in the “Valley of the shadow of death,” as Psalm 23 says. We may cry
out with the Psalmist, “Out of the depths I cry to you.” (Psalm 130) We affirm
the truth of Psalm 27: 12 – 13, “Hide not your face from me, nor turn away your
servant in displeasure. You have been my helper; cast me not away, do not
forsake me, O God of my salvation.”
Our
walk through Lent may bring us to remembrances of times when things were rough,
times when there was deep loss, much despair, and a lack of hope. If we recall
those difficult times, can we then also look for God’s presence in those times,
to see how He was active in the midst of trouble?
When
things are going well, it’s easy to miss or overlook God’s presence, for we
might focus on the good things and the good times that have come our way. But
in hard times and in times of loss, we may well see God, active and present. We
may not see His presence immediately. In difficult times and circumstances, we
are called to have a full measure of faith that, in God’s time, God’s power and
abiding presence will be known. The words of Dame Julian of Norwich (1342 – c.
1417) remind us of God’s power. Assured of God’s power, she said, “I can make all things well; I will make all
things well; I shall make all things well; and thou canst see for thyself that
all manner of things shall be well.”
AMEN.
