When Threats Come
Dr. Jim Wilson, February 28, 2010 Have you enjoyed watching the Olympics? According to the ratings, most of us have. I certainly have. As I have watched, I thought how often such athletic competition mimics life itself. We have seen great joy in the exploits of Apolo Ohno, the US Men’s Hockey Team and their upset of Canada, and the near perfect performance by South Korean figure skater, Kim Yu-Na. We have seen disappointment in the struggles of skiers Lindsey Vonn and Bodie Miller. There has been tragedy in the death of the luger from the country of Georgia. And of course, there has been controversy in some questionable decisions by the judges and the Canadian Women’s Hockey Team’s “celebration” after winning the gold medal. As for what has been the most memorable moment, there is no question in my mind. It is the decision of Canadian figure skater JoAnnie Rochette to compete despite the sudden and unexpected death of her mother just days before the competition was to begin. Can you imagine the agony of making such a decision? Years of preparation coming down to the long-awaited moment, now threatened. Years of practice, sacrifices by family, the drive to be the best, everything she has worked for, now threatened. Should she compete? Would she be able to compete? Or should she just give up? Most people would understand. The emotional pain was just too much. JoAnnie Rochette chose to go ahead and compete. She won the bronze medal. I would suggest she won much more. As I watched her skate Thursday evening, I was reminded of the words of the late Randy Walker, head football coach at Northwestern. One of Coach Walker’s mantras was, “The measure of greatness for a player or team is how they respond to adversity.” JoAnnie Rochette responded to adversity, she met the threats and emerged as a champion. Yes, athletic competition can and often does mimic life. I tell this story as a prelude to a contrasting story. While a Mayo a couple of weeks ago, I was waiting as Char was undergoing a scan. Four women who appeared to be in their fifties were seated behind me in the waiting area. They looked like they were sisters. I was reading but could not help overhear their conversation. They spoke of their mother who was also undergoing a scan in terms that sounded quite serious. When one said, “Can you believe tomorrow is Ash Wednesday?” I intentionally tuned in. After some chatter, one commented, “Well, what are you giving up for Lent? I am doing the usual. I’m giving up chocolate.” Another added, “I’m giving up Starbuck’s.” The third sister offered, “Wine. I’m giving up my daily glass of merlot.” There was silence. Finally, the first sister asked, “What about you, Chris?” The fourth sister replied, “I don’t know. I guess, I’m just giving up. It is just too much. First dad in a nursing home; Now mom with cancer; Tom still hasn’t found work. And Tom Jr. and Becky are having problems. I just give up. It’s too much.” Who among us cannot identify with this woman? We have been there. The world can be a threatening place---whether health issues, economic uncertainty, loss of job, family struggles, all the ambiguities of life, not to mention the breakdown of the moral order. So what do we do when the threats come? Do we hide, try to ignore them, give in or give up? Or is there another way we, as a people of faith, might respond. I believe Jesus offers us a Word to consider in our text from Luke. “Just give up,” is the Pharisee’s advice to Jesus. “Herod is after you. He has marked you for death. Play it smart. Get out of town.” Does it surprise you that the Pharisees would want to help Jesus? They are usually pictured as his adversaries. Luke does not speak of their motivation. But there is no reason to question their intentions. Besides, the Pharisees have the ear of Herod Antipas, this tetrarch of Galilee. Perhaps this explains Jesus rather interesting response to the Pharisee’s counsel. He says, “Go tell that fox for me, ‘Listen I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day, I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow and on the next day, I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside Jerusalem.” This is not simply Jesus doing some “trash talking.” This is Jesus, the prophet, challenging the tetrarch of Galilee and reminding him that he will continue his work of making people whole and there is not much the King can do about it. To call Herod a “fox” carries the meaning that he is worthless or powerless rather than sly or cunning. In essence Jesus tells the Pharisees, “Go tell your puny king that I will continue my work despite his threats, for my life is not in his hands but in the hands of the One who sent me.” Jesus is not naïve. He knows the probable consequences of his actions. Yet he is committed to deliver that prophetic challenge at the center of Judaism in Jerusalem. Like the prophets of old, he goes not of his own accord, but of divine necessity and in the providing and protecting grace of God. This awareness of consequences and determination to continue come together in Jesus lament over Jerusalem. He laments Jerusalem as the city that throughout history has killed the emissaries of God, the prophets. It is the model of the rejection of God’s gracious love. Jerusalem’s refusal to recognize its sin and hear the prophet’s call to repent and receive God’s forgiveness has led to disaster. Jesus takes no delight in bringing judgment. He weeps for Jerusalem and in words that are among the most tender and poignant in all of Scripture, he laments, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem…How often I have desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you are not willing.” How God desires to forgive and restore his people to the intended relationship---to protect and deliver them from threats, to heal their brokenness, to fill their lives with joy and hope. But the gift is refused. Such is sin. This human arrogance that stubbornly demands to be in charge, to “be like God,” to be in control, the sin that goes back to the promise of the serpent in the Garden. Inevitably, warns Jesus, this behavior leads to disaster. The “house” will be left empty. Without repentance, religious practices and symbols are empty, without meaning. Yet, says Jesus, there is still time, time to turn and receive God’s gracious forgiving and renewing love. What do we, you and I, do when the threats some? I believe there is a Word in our text for us to consider, a Word that is both an example and an invitation. The example is that of Jesus himself as he continues to journey to Jerusalem to confront the religious authorities with the Gospel, even as the threats against him intensify. Again, he is fully aware of the risks and consequences. He is neither naïve nor foolish. But he is committed to do what God calls him to do. His life and mission is grounded in God’s providing and protecting grace. By prayer he keeps connected with and is renewed and strengthened by that grace. This is the example for us. We are disciples of Jesus. We follow him. When threats come, they can be frightening, leaving us feeling alone, vulnerable, overwhelmed, ready to simply give up. These are moments when we must allow the example to speak; moments when we open our lives to God’s grace that power greater that the threats. We too come to God in prayer to acknowledge our weakness and ask for the strength to be faithful, not victorious but faithful. Jesus lived in the promise of God’s sufficient grace. So may we. A story is told about Bishop Hugh Latimer, the 16th Century Reformer, preaching at Westminster Abbey one Sunday when the King Henry VIII was present. In the pulpit, Latimer is said to have slipped into a soliloquy, saying, “Latimer, Latimer, Latimer. Be careful what you say. The King of England is present.” Then he is said to have fallen silent, before continuing the soliloquy, saying, “Latimer, Latimer, Latimer. Be careful what you say. The King of Kings is present.” We must decide in whose presence we shall live. Shall the threat dominate? Or shall we turn and receive the grace God offers and allow the Promise to dominate? This does not mean the threats will disappear. It does mean the threats cannot defeat us. Jesus finished his work on the third day and God’s grace was victorious. Easter settled that issue and therein lays our hope. Before following Jesus’ example and walking in God’s Promise, however, lies the invitation, Jesus inviting us to repent, to turn around and receive God’s forgiving and reconciling love. Jesus bids us to let go of our notions of self sufficiency and control, expressions of our sin and be gathered beneath the wings of God’s providing and protecting love. Have you ever seen a hen gather her chicks beneath her wings when she senses the danger? I remember the first time I saw it happen. I was spending time on my uncle’s farm in central Illinois one summer. Suddenly one afternoon the chickens began to scurry about and the hens spread their wings as the chicks gathered beneath them. I asked my uncle what was going on. He looked up and pointed to a hawk circling above. Just so, says Jesus, God invites us to gather beneath the wings of his gracious protective love when the hawks are circling around us. Jesus knew that protective love. He trusted it. Now he invites us to know it as well and to experience the freedom and peach it alone can give. In 1997 at age 49, Oklahoma State football coach, Bob Simmons’ kidneys were failing. His life was under the threat of death. He needed a new kidney but the wait for a donor organ averaged 2 years. Bob Simmons did not have 2 years. One afternoon, Bob’s wife, Linda, was praying for guidance. An answer came to her---she would give Bob one of her kidneys. Bob resisted the idea, citing the dangers and the family needs. But Linda pushed. Being a registered nurse for some 25 years, she was fully aware of the risks. Yet she wanted to keep Bob’s dream of coaching alive, not to mention her husband himself. Linda was and is a committed Christian. She confessed that she tried to get Bob to understand this was a gift from God. Both finally gave in and on the morning of March 10, 1998 as both husband and wife were being prepped for the surgery, Linda reached our and took Bob’s hand and said, everything would be fine, that the wings of God’s protective love were sheltering them. Eight days later, Bob was on the field for spring practice. Linda, on the other hand, struggled to regain her health. Bob, a nominal Christian before all this, by his own admission, learned to pray and to trust in the promise of God’s protective wings. When Bob addressed the team before the season that year he told them, “This was all about a loving gift from my wife and the grace of God. I have learned about the power of God’s love to see you through tough times.” When the threats come, and they will, people of faith do not receive exemptions, what will we do? Hear the Word Jesus offers you and me. Follow his example and live in the Promise, the Promise of grace sufficient. There is no threat you will face that he has not already faced, no place you must go that Jesus is not already there. Live in his presence. And turn and receive his invitation. Turn and let God gather you under the wings of his providing and protecting love. Such is the hope we have been given. Thanks be to God! Amen! |
