Readings: Genesis 15:1-7, Luke 13:31–35
Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, the meditations of
our hearts be held in the light and love of Jesus. Amen.
We do not
naturally trust God – Richard Niebuhr maintains that our first response, even
though God is good to us, is to not trust God.
Because we hold, however deep down, this sense that we are not all that
that good or deserving. So the idea of
being blessed beyond measure is too hard for us, needs some encouragement and
promise that Abraham was extracting from God in his negotiations.
Children trust –
we can easily picture a child under the wings of the hen – but can we see
ourselves there? We might remember the
feeling with a sense of comfort and yet still fear to trust that God’s promise
of love and comfort for us holds good now that we are adults.
Trust is a really
complex beast isn’t it. We say we trust
but want proof. Or we trust where common
sense should tell us it is the last thing we should do – scams bear testimony
to that. We refuse to trust anyone again
when we have been let down once by one person.
We will all have experiences where we have trusted someone and been let
down in some way. And yet isn’t it
better to be that way – take the odd knock – than never trust anyone. I think so.
I would hate to be that cynical that I would see everyone as a hurt
waiting to happen.
But it is another
story when we talk about trusting God.
People can let us down – God does not.
Whether or not we choose to place our trust in God, God loves us and
hold us under the wing of comfort and reassuring promise. A story – of trust and of promise ‘Tales of Grace: The Eagle who wouldn’t fly by Eve Lockett. [1]
Whether we be an
Abraham, negotiating terms and conditions before allowing ourselves to fully
believe or a timid baby eagle, needing a bit of a shove to get going, God is
worthy of our trust and, if we will allow it, forever surrounds us with a love
that sustains and comforts, holds us close.
Is that what the
lament for Jerusalem was all about, do you think? The people had put their trust in a city, a
building, a history: the messianic promise had become imprisoned by limited
vision and bricks and mortar. What use
the house now, says Jesus? Turn your
eyes to Jerusalem but not to prestigious bits, the impressive buildings and the
rich furnishings – you need to turn to the underbelly of the city, to the
places of condemnation and suffering and death to truly understand how much
your God loves you. And to do that you
have to trust your God will be with you.
So that is our
challenge today –what kind of Jerusalem are we walking towards –
uncomfortable underbelly or well-furnished security? It is a bit of a difficult question. For the Easter path asks quite a bit of us:
to take a journey
not just for six weeks but for a lifetime,
to take the steps
in trust and in faith, often out of our control
to walk it with
Jesus, listening, trusting, being present.
And that path will
involve acknowledging that pain and failure are part of our journeys, that
brokenness is real and belongs to each one of us.
That vulnerability
is not a weakness nor something to shun.
That we will get
involved in politics, meet opposition and know disappointment on the way.
But it will also
offer us a deeper understanding of the love of God made known through Christ –
a love that transforms and enables us to go places we never would have
imagined.
It will open to us
a sense of the power of love to bring meaning and purpose to the least of us.
The path will
guide us towards strangers, encourage us into new conversations and
relationships, a pilgrimage with unexpected places on the way.
And it will lead
us to the cross – for without the cross there cannot be a resurrection
hope? A dangerous path indeed but one
which we are committed to walk as followers of Christ.
So what is it to
be – lament to a dying city or trust in the one whose wings are wide enough,
strong enough, faithful enough to hold us all in love and fly with us when we
are strong enough to face our Jerusalem?
Margaret Garland
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