“No Turning Back…”
A Sermon Delivered by The Rev. John D. Painter at
Centenary United Methodist Church, Metuchen, New Jersey
March 4, 2007 (The Second Sunday in Lent)
Texts: Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 13:31-35
Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the ex-ample you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also en-ables him to make all things subject to himself.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved. —Philippians 3:17-4:1, NRSV
Since the Transfiguration, Jesus has “set his face to go to Jerusalem” to meet his fate. The stories and teachings in this middle portion of the Gospel of Luke are all set within this “travel nar-rative,” as scholars call it. Jesus doesn’t take the most direct route as he progresses that way—instead he circles about the area teaching and preaching, like the Israelites in the wilderness. Per-haps this meandering is a not-accidental echo of Moses, for Jesus is presented in Luke as a “prophet like Moses”…on his way to his own “exodus” (mistranslated “departure” in the NRSV) in Jerusalem, the place where prophets must die and where all offerings for atonement must be made (Deut 18:14).
Jerusalem—which is repeated three times in succession in this morning’s reading from Luke—is the center of Jewish identity and a geographic touchstone for Luke. (Jerusalem is men-tioned 90 times in Luke’s Gospel and only 49 times in all the rest of the NT.) Jesus identifies Jeru-salem as the place prophets must go to die—powerfully aligning himself with the entire prophetic tradition in Israel. In this famous passage, Jesus’ comparison of himself to a hen is not only one of the strongest feminine Christological images we have, it is also a bold alignment of Jesus’ identity with the God of Israel. For throughout the Old Testament the Lord describes a desire to shelter Is-rael under his (her?) wings (Deut 32:11, Ps 17:8, 57:1, and Ps 61:4).
At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” He said to them, “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 my work. Yet today, to-morrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ 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! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’” —Luke 13:31-35, NRSV
“Dear Jesus, as a hen covers her chicks with her wings to keep them safe, do thou this day protect us under your golden wings. Amen.”
I have decided to follow Jesus,
I have decided to follow Jesus,
I have decided to follow Jesus,
No turning back, no turning back.
A few years ago Jennifer Ginn wrote about her experience with this traditional campfire song. “When my friends and I sang this song at church camp, we sang serenely, often teary-eyed, seated on the ground with the cross-illumined by candlelight in front of us. In those emotional mo-ments, I imagined myself to be standing firm in the Lord as the Philippians were urged to do by Paul, who reminds them, ‘Our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.’ In those moments, I was determined to set my face toward him. But my single-mindedness never lasted. It was mostly the lure of gossip or boys that sidetracked my determination then. I stopped so often along the way of following that I lost my way. Occasional flashbacks to those times and to the words of that song turned my attention to Jesus, but I have moved in fits and starts through adolescence and adulthood—sometimes toward, and often away from, singleness of purpose…”
The cross before me, the world behind me,
The cross before me, the world behind me,
The cross before me, the world behind me,
No turning back, no turning back.
“Lent challenges us to try.” Jennifer Ginn declares, and then confesses on behalf of many of us: “I know that even in Lent I won’t be able to walk straight toward the cross. I’ve tried before. Only Christ could do that. As he gathered so many on his journey toward Jerusalem that first time, maybe he’ll catch me along the way too: to heal, to teach, or just to sit for a while. That hope strengthens my resolve to focus on the cross, lest I miss his reaching.”
Although the final verse of this wonderful song seeks to inspire our single-minded determi-nation (Though none go with me, still I will follow…), I found myself this past week singing yet another verse of my own composing. Perhaps it represents what I confess to be the reality of my commitment, and my ultimate hope and trust in the grace of God that sustains all of us:
Though I may wander, still I will follow,
Though I may wander, still I will follow,
Though I may wander, still I will follow,
No turning back, no turning back.
Next Sunday, when we consider Jesus’ message in “The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree” from Luke (13:6-9), we will be reminded that, in the economy of God’s grace, there is time for us to change. But for today, as we received the invitation of Christ to approach his table of mercy, may we be nurtured in body and strengthened in spirit for the remaining days of our Lenten journey.
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PRAYER
O God, whose essence it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all of us who have gone astray from your ways, and bring us again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word-made-flesh—Jesus Christ your Son—who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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From “Encountering Luke” in Pulpit Resource: Year C (January-February-March 2007), © 2007 by Logos Pro-ductions, Inc., p. 38.
Adapted from a Traditional Indian “Prayer for Protection at Night” in The United Methodist Hymnal, UM Publish-ing House, © 1989, p. 691. Quoted in Pulpit Resource: Year C, p. 40.
Anonymous, “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” in The Faith We Sing, Abingdon Press, © 2000, #2129.
Jennifer M. Ginn, “Living by the Word” in Christian Century, February 24, 2004. Quoted in Pulpit Resource: Year C, p. 40.
“I Have Decided to Follow Jesus,” The Faith We Sing.
Ibid.
Adapted from Prayer for the second Sunday in Lent from the Book of Common Prayer, Oxford, 1990, pp. 166-167. Quoted in Pulpit Resource: Year C, p. 37.