e-vo for week of February 20

Dearest e-votees-

Wonderful image in the gospel text of Jesus gathering people under his wings. Where do you find this shelter in your life?

Peace,
Karl

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31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32 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. 33 Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ 34 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! 35 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

Jesus looks over Jerusalem and laments (maybe from the Mount of Olives where Gethsemane can be found). Jesus wants to gather the Israelites. But their puppet leader Herod wants to do in Jesus. And they are scattered. Jesus calls out Jerusalem as the place that kills and stones the messengers of God. And he leans hard into his fate with those messengers.

What scatters us? What draws us away from the shelter and security of God. Who do we allow to step up as a figurehead leader in our lives taking the rightful place of God? Is it our busy lives and our commitments to the values and the causes of the world? Is it a matter of wanting to be more of a fighting rooster taking care of our own fights rather than needing the shelter of a mothering hen (maybe something like Peter wielding an ear-endangering sword in the garden of Gethsemane?) What draws us away from God?

We choose our own ways. We pick our own fights. We declare our own independence. This is what sin is.

Jesus comes into the world. Jesus is the Way. Jesus wins the battle by passively going to the cross. Jesus draws us into community with him and with God (answering the prayer of John 17).

When God draws us into the Good news of Jesus we say in our hearts and with our mouths "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord."


God, thank you that you never let us scatter beyond your caring embrace. Draw us in. You are our way, our peace and our loving shelter. Amen.