Lk.13.31-35 ( Mt. 23.37-39)

ON THE ROAD AGAIN TOWARD JERUSALEM,
REBUILDING THE CITY OF GOD IN OUR HEARTS

Today’s Gospel re-presents basic fundamental Lenten themes: Journeying toward Jerusalem; The Way of the Cross; God’s Holy Spirit leading us/driving us, or in the words of The Collect, “….. to bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word….. .” Many of us here are taking the Lenten Course, Christ’s Life: Our Life. It’s a fabulous book written by the late Bishop John B. Coburn, in which the author continually connects, paints images of, our lives with Christ’s life, and then repeatedly asks the question, how are you doing in your walk this Lent with Christ? The chapter for next Wednesday, “His Journey Toward Jerusalem”, is one of the best.

If we think about the Lenten Image of walking again toward Jerusalem, if we connect some of the events of Christ’s life, Biblical stories we know, and then stories of our own lives and experiences, what do we imagine, who do you see? I’m going to ask you to close your eyes for a minute! Much of this is pure Bible, some straight John Coburn, much from your own life, a little from Fr. Dick. Who do you see on the road? Who’s there? Well, certainly Jesus, then the Disciples, some of the Old Testament Prophets, probably the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and when you look carefully you are too! Here are five different people, groups, traveling along the Jerusalem Road, The Way of The Cross. They’re all part of the Lenten journey, Jesus’ and ours. Can you see them? Now open your eyes!

Jesus is on the road because after the events of Caesarea Philippi (Mk. and The Transfiguration Mt. Story (Mk. 9), He “turned His face” toward Jerusalem in Mark 10- told the disciples what would happen and then He set out on the road knowing full well what awaited Him in The Holy City! The Disciples are there although they never really understood what was happening: not on the Transfigura-tion Mt., not when Our Lord told them what was coming, certainly not on the road when they asked for two seats on either side of Him in heaven. The Prophets are there reminding us that for generations God sent them as His messengers, but they were ignored, stoned, spit upon and murdered in Jerusalem. The Pharisees and Sadducees are walking too because time and time again they confronted, attacked, and eventually helped to kill Jesus. You and I are also there walking on the road because Christ calls us to walk with Him and He with us; so that, “….. He may dwell in us and we in him.”

John Coburn makes 3 major points about Jesus‘ Journey to Jerusalem and then asks us 3 basic questions about our lives! First, Jesus: (1) When Jesus heads toward Jerusalem it’s perhaps the decisive turning point in His life, the die is now cast, there’s no turning back. He’s going to confront the political and religious authorities with the authority of God; (2) The disciples just tagged along, they followed. They were bewildered and frightened and never understood until after the Ascension what was really going on; (3) Jesus never spoke just about His death alone, but always about His death and then resurrection. Now, what about us?: Can we translate Jesus’ journey into the journeys of our own lives? (A) Have we ever had to make fundamental decisions, proceed, taking full responsibility, can’t fake it anymore and no turning back?; (B) Do we know that when we trust God and life and our decisions that we may (like the disciples) move on our own, or just tag along, or be carried along by Him?; (C) Do we believe that death and resurrec-tion and new life always come together? When we trust God, move on our own or just tag along, we too we go through these experiences of life and death and resurrection and then new life.

A Lenten Journeying Prayer

“ Lord Jesus Christ, Leader in our journeys, King of life and death
and resurrection, Don’t get too far ahead of us! But don’t let us
rest or go back either! You have called us to new life! Keep us
tagging along! And when the crises come, help us to be true to
ourselves, true to you, and so more ourselves transformed by you
into you and new life. And so on our journey, go on our way re-
joicing in you with those whom you have given to us: our com-
panions along the way.” AMEN

“Son,” ordered a father, “Don’t swim in that canal.”
“OK, Dad,” he answered. But he came home carrying a wet bathing suit that evening.
“Where have you been?” demanded the father.
“Swimming in the canal,” answered the boy.
“Didn’t I tell you not to swim there?” asked the father.
“Yes, sir,” answered the boy.
“Why did you?” he asked.
“Well, Dad,” he explained, “I had my bathing suit with me and I couldn’t resist the temptation.”
“Why did you take your bathing suit with you?” he questioned.
“So I’d be prepared to swim, in case I was tempted.”

This fanciful story is told by H. King Oehmig in Synthesis for the First Sunday in Lent. We have only 36 days of Lent to go. For those of you who have given up something for Lent, have you found yourself tempted? I’ve given up chocolate, and every Lent I find that what I give up I especially crave during that time. Linda keeps chocolates in a candy jar in our living room and I find myself looking over there at the jar every time I pass through! I haven’t succumbed, by the way. But I don’t carry chocolates around with me just in case I want one and decide to yield to temptation!

This past week once again a national figure has made a confession for all the world to hear. Tiger Woods exposed his soul to his family, friends, and fans, acknowledging that he has let everyone down in the way he yielded to temptation. He confessed that he alone, through the bad choices he made on many occasions, has hurt his wife, his children, his mother, his friends, his fans, and the people who looked up to him as an example. He confessed that money and power, of which he had an abundance, went to his head, deluding him into thinking he somehow lived by a different set of rules from the average person. He confessed that he had strayed from the values his mother had taught him as a child through the Buddhist faith. He expressed tremendous sorrow at what he has done and pledged to start afresh living as a man of integrity, stating that he realized that words were not enough, that he had to prove by his actions that he meant what he said. And he admitted that he needed help in making the necessary changes in his life.

Tiger Woods’s confession and repentance are a poignant example of human failing and of how God works in our lives to bring us back to him. I believe that our Lord Jesus Christ is at work in this man, even though he doesn’t acknowledge him or even recognize him. My hope is that somehow he will come to know the One who is the way, the truth, and the life and that he will know the reconciling love and mercy of God, most fully revealed in our Savior and Lord. His repentance is certainly a good start.

Those persons who are especially gifted are targeted by Satan and his dominions, for in their ability to do much good, they also have the capacity to do much harm. That’s one reason we need to pray fervently for those in authority over us, in both the religious and the secular realms. The temptations for those in authority are great, for power can go to a person’s head, and he or she can easily abuse that power for personal gain and self-promotion; and often can get away with it, at least for a time.

The devil doesn’t necessarily have to get involved for some persons to use their gifts for their own selfish ends and in disobedience to God. Satan can leave sociopaths completely to their own devices. But with others I believe he is very active in using a person’s weaknesses in order to make him or her fall. Yes, I do believe in the Devil, or Satan, as well as in other spiritual forces of evil, whose objective is to lead us as far from God as possible, hurting as many people in the process as possible. With C.S. Lewis, I believe that the Devil’s greatest accomplishment in the modern era is convincing people that he doesn’t exist. It makes his work that much easier.

On this First Sunday in Lent, we are given a glimpse of the kinds of temptations which our Lord Jesus faced. Here is a man with tremendous ability and with all of the power of God behind him. He could use his ability and power to his own ends or he could use them for the advancement of the Kingdom of God. The kinds of things that the Devil tempted him to do he would do later on in the service of God. He would change water into wine and he would multiply the loaves and fishes. All of the kingdoms in the world would indeed be his, but in the realm of the Spirit, and not by selling his soul to the Devil. And miraculous displays would be a regular part of his ministry in giving sight to the blind, cleansing lepers, and even raising the dead, but they would not be for the purpose of self-promotion.

Jesus was tempted in every way as we are, yet he never succumbed to the temptation. He never sinned. The way he dealt with temptation is instructive for us all, as we meet the Tempter. First of all, he acknowledged the temptation. He didn’t try to deal with it by attempting to convince himself that it wasn’t real.

Secondly, he was grounded in faith. Jesus worshipped regularly with the people of God, he prayed fervently; in this instance his prayer was buttressed by fasting. And he knew the revelation of God in the scriptures. In other words, he had tremendous resources with which to meet the tempter.

Finally, our Lord Jesus used Holy Scripture specifically in fighting Satan. Because he knew the scriptures, he could counter temptation through quoting the Word of God.

Jesus didn’t deny the reality of his temptations, facing them squarely. He was grounded in his relationship with the Father. And he used scripture as a weapon to fight temptation. These things work! They are part of how God’s grace works in our lives in fighting temptation, whether we’re talking about eating chocolates during Lent or the kinds of things Tiger Woods encountered in his rise to fame and fortune. And we have another weapon in that fight: the Presence of our Lord Jesus Christ to guide, strengthen, and support us.

I have rediscovered a passion that I had as a child. The last few years we have taken vacations in the summer where we have been close to mountains, and I have taken that opportunity to do some rather long hikes that included climbing to the tops of mountains. I’m not talking about technical climbs, where you need ropes. All I needed were good shoes with plenty of tread and poles to help save my knees.

Last summer we spent some time in Colorado where I climbed to the top of Mt. Pagosa, which is along the Continental Divide. Linda doesn’t share my passion for climbing, so while I’m climbing alone, she stays on level ground and reads, or shops! When I got to the top of the mountain I walked for several miles along the ridge of the Continental Divide, most of the time with no other human being around. The vistas were indescribably beautiful.

When I’m out there in the beauty of creation, walking for miles, hour upon hour, it’s incredibly peaceful, and I always find myself doing a lot of thinking and praying. And I want you to know that even when there’s not another soul around, you’re always with me. I think about you and I pray for you. And I think about my ministry and what God is calling me to do and to be. In those times I feel that God talks to me. I don’t hear voices, but God gives me new insights and ideas.

In encountering God on the mountain I’m in good company. In the Book of Exodus we’re told that Moses went up on Mt. Sinai and spent forty days and forty nights. It was there that he met God and was given the Ten Commandments. In the First Book of the Kings we’re told that Elijah, the greatest prophet of Israel, went up on Horeb, the mount of God, in order to encounter God. It was on Mt. Horeb that Moses encountered God in the burning bush that wasn’t consumed. It’s on Mt. Horeb that we read that Elijah did not hear God in the wind or in the earthquake or in the fire, but in a still, small voice. God said to Elijah, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with a sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life to take it away.” It was on that mountain that Elijah discerned what God wanted him to do. He calmed his fears, assured him that there were others who had not forsaken him, and gave him the direction he needed.

Likewise, hundreds of years later our Lord took three of his disciples, Peter, James, and John, up on a mountain to pray, to be with God. While Jesus was praying, the three disciples had a tremendous experience in which they witnessed Jesus with two others who had mysteriously appeared with their Lord. The figures were Moses, the Law-Giver, and Elijah, the greatest of the Old Testament prophets. Luke tells us that Moses and Elijah were speaking with Jesus about what he was about to face when we went to Jerusalem. In other words, they were speaking to him about his impending suffering and death.

This was truly an epiphany for Peter, James, and John. They knew Jesus was the Messiah. Peter had recently confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. What that meant exactly, no one knew at that time. Now Jesus is seen with the two greatest figures in the history of Israel, Moses and Elijah. Peter’s response was to make a memorial right there on the mountain. He proposed that they build three booths, one for Moses, one for Elijah, and one for Jesus. He most likely came up with that idea because of the Jewish festival of the Feast of Booths, or the Feast of Tabernacles, in which the Israelites commemorated annually the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai to Moses. But what was happening on this mountain was not the giving of a new law. It was a much greater reality.

And then they heard the voice of God: “This is my Son, my chosen; listen to him,” and when they heard that revelation, Moses and Elijah had disappeared. Only Jesus remained.

What lessons can be drawn from this account of the Transfiguration? First of all, it is one more epiphany, or revelation, of Jesus as the Messiah, revealing his nature and calling for a response, not only from Peter, James, and John, but also from us as well. We can dismiss it as just a pious legend, or we can accept at face value as a revelation from God of the nature of Jesus, leading us to him as Savior and Lord. If you dismiss it, then you can forget the next lessons we can draw from this account.

Secondly, it is another example of Jesus as a man of prayer. There is no one closer to God than Jesus. In fact, he is God. Yet he needed prayer and regularly sought out times to be with his heavenly Father in prayer. Jesus sets the example for all of us to pray frequently and regularly.

Third, prayer does not take the difficulties of this life away from Jesus. In fact, this particular incident in our Lord’s earthly life served as a time of preparation for the ordeal he was about to face in his suffering and death. We often view prayer as an attempt to escape the difficulties we are facing, and sometimes God does give us what we ask for. But more often, prayer leads us to deeper levels of commitment, taking us into the fray, rather than out of it.

That is one reason we don’t resort to prayer more often. We fear what it might lead up to. You see, in prayer one of the things that happens is that we are lead to discern God’s will, and his will is often contrary to the wills of us sinful human beings. Are you having trouble in your marriage? Take it to God in prayer. But don’t think that God is going to say, “If you’re having some problems, then you should get out of the marriage. After all, I want you to be happy.”

I realize that divorce is a very complex issue, and that there are times when divorce is the lesser of two evils. But divorce is certainly not where God is going to begin. He is much more likely to say, “Work at it. That’s what your vows are for. Remember, you said ‘For better, for worse.’ And that person you met that you think would be so much better to be married to than your husband or your wife—you need to cut off the relationship with that person immediately if your marriage is going to have a fighting chance. Happy Valentines Day!”

Jesus is revealed as God’s Son, he gives us the example of a life grounded in prayer, and just because we pray doesn’t mean life is going to get easier. It might just get harder as a result of discerning God’s will. Yet, God doers indeed want us to be happy, and true happiness can only come from living in accordance with his will. When we do that, we experience that peace that passes understanding.

You and I don’t have to go to Colorado to meet God on the mountaintop. We are on the mountaintop right now, communing with God. He gives us this opportunity not only for our own good, but for the purpose of sending us into the world in witness to him. That may not always take us to comfortable places, but it will give us peace.

The opening convocation of the Conference on Monday, January 18, will be Solemn Morning Prayer at 9:00 a.m., with special guest organist John Fenstermaker, Director of Music at Trinity-by-the-Cove of Naples, Florida, and conductor Dr. Daniel T. Moe. Fenstermaker is the former Organist and Choirmaster at San Francisco’s famed Grace Cathedral. The public is warmly invited; goodwill offerings gratefully accepted.

Both visiting organists will perform on Redeemer’s Nichols and Simpson Pipe Organ.

GOD ALWAYS CALLS YOU AND ME AND THE CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER TO LIVE IN HIM, SO THAT HE CAN LIVE IN US!

Every week in the Eucharistic Prayer’s [ BCP,pgs.336, 363] we say these words “…that we may be filled with thy grace and heavenly benediction, and made one body with him, that he may dwell in us and we in him.” To put it another way: God calls us all to live our lives in the Life of His Son. Christ wants us to discover our own unique spirits within His Spirit. The Holy Spirit drives/drags our lives into Christ’s life.

Similarly, today’s lesson’s talk about calling, uniting and going forth! Jeremiah is formed, known, consecrated and led forth by God even as a youth! The Psalmist seeks and finds strength in The Lord ever since he’s been in his mother’s womb! Paul learns that everything, all our different gifts and spirits (even God’s) must be rooted in love. And when Jesus proclaims that “The Spirit of The Lord is upon me” He declares that God’s love has no limits nor boundaries. As Fr. Fred reminded us last week, and today’s Gospel does so again, you and I and this Church of The Redeemer are all called to live in this Spirit and in this Love, both within God’s church and also outside in the world all around us. So, like the Prophets, the Psalmist, St. Paul and Our Lord, we are called to live into The Spirit of Christ, to discover our own spirits, to live into and write our own stories and then to weave them into the fabric of The Living Christ.

On this Annual Parish Meeting Day, I want to say four things: (1) Anyone who believes God no longer moves in such ways; that these things only happened in ancient times; that God doesn’t still call, empower or direct His people is simply wrong! This person has never entered into nor really been inside this church. (2) This person has never experienced, been lifted up, caught up, carried along by the power of the liturgy. (3)This person has never been washed in the majestic beautiful sounds of the music, in the spirit or voices of this place. (4)This person has never really listened to, never heard, God’s Word as it is taught and proclaimed here week after week to children, youth, adults, men and women in such a multitude of different groups and ways, or as it is preached every Sunday in this church. They are the unfortunate ones. You and I are the lucky ones!

But, let us always be clear about one thing! No one ever achieves, never attains Christian perfection! Rather, we simply learn that the only way our lives will ever become meaningful or make any real difference in other people’s lives, or in the world around us, is when we strive to live in Christ so that He lives in us! This is true in every part of our lives; but maybe especially in the hardest times. Live in (hang on to) Christ and He’ll live in you!

Last week as I thought about people I’ve known who epitomize living in Christ and Christ in them the Cowley magazine of The Society St. John The Evangelist arrived in our mailbox. The Winter issue highlights the life of Fr. Paul Wessinger. If Fr. Paul was not a saint, he was sure pretty darn close. His life was one of great patience with life, himself and even with God. As with many faithful Christians, he lived a life of real humility, but he never saw himself as particularly humble. Above all, Paul believed that a life lived in Christ must be a life lived in love. One of the best stories about Paul Wessinger is when a group of earnest young men visited the monastery and considering the religious life, asked Fr. Paul what was the most essential quality or character one needed to thrive in the religious community- some great spiritual virtue, a particular discipline, perhaps some unique gift? Fr. Paul thought a few moments, then with a twinkle in his eyes he replied, “A sense of humor!”

So today, my brothers and sisters give thanks that God still fills us with His Grace
and power! Thank Christ that He still dwells in us and we in Him. Thank The Holy Spirit who pushes Our Life into Christ’s Life. I thank God that The Church of the Redeemer continues to be a place where God’s Word, Life and Will are heard, lived and shared. I thank God
I’m here. I thank God for each one of you, especially for your spirits! I Thank God! AMEN