Reflection on John 12:1-8

 

Gospel: John 12:1-8

Judas willfully misinterprets as waste Mary’s extravagant act of anointing Jesus’ feet with costly perfume. Jesus recognizes that her lavish gift is both an expression of love and an anticipation of his burial.

1 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” 6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

Reflection

I was once told, “If you want to find God, start looking around for the love.

So, in this story of Mary, Jesus, and Judas, I started looking around for the love. The love was not hard to find. All I had to do was look in Mary’s hands. Mary carried a pound of costly perfume (worth about the year’s worth of wages) and placed it on Jesus’ feet, anointing Jesus and spreading it tenderly with her hair to prepare Jesus for his future.  That fatal future would unfold very shortly. It was an act of love. Mary was loving Jesus into his future.  This was not the first time Jesus was loved into the future.  Jesus was loved into the future at the very start of his ministry by his mother.

Do you remember the start of Jesus’ ministry, where Jesus and his mother were at a wedding and the wine ran dry? Jesus had no plans of doing anything in response to this wedding crisis, but it was his mother who saw Jesus’ potential. It was Jesus’ mother who knew what Jesus could do. It was Jesus’ mother who lovingly knew that it was his time to begin his ministry, even if Jesus did not realize it. It was Jesus’ mother who loved Jesus into his future ministry. Where was God at work? Look for the love.

Loving people into their futures is essential to life in God’s kingdom.  It happened at the start of his ministry, and like a bookend to his story, it happened again just before Jesus’ death and resurrection. As Jesus faced his difficult future with the shadow of a cross stretching ever nearer, there was a woman present who would once again love him into his future. She would anoint him lavishly. She would anoint him with tenderness and love. She would take the perfume and anoint his feet with her hair. She would anoint Jesus for his death and burial. She would love him into his next step in life. She would anoint and love him into his future.

I am not sure how many people realize just how important all of this is. Judas obviously does not understand. He complains about the attention devoted to Jesus. He complains that all of that love could have been sold to help the poor. Indeed, perfume that was worth a year’s worth of wages could have fed a great many people. As important as loving the poor is to God the Father (and the writer of John is certainly skeptical that Judas cared about the poor in the first place), loving people into their futures is also important to God the Father.

It is the love and the encouragement on the smiling faces of young parents that gets babies off of their knees and onto their feet. Would any of us be walking around if it were not for our parents loving us into our futures with their guiding hands?

It is the love and the encouragement of mentors and teachers that gets students from being only students to becoming leaders. Every single leader has someone who loved them into the future and said to them, “You are good enough for this.”

It is the love and the encouragement of caring adult children that allows people to die peacefully.  “We love you, and it is OK to go home to God,” these children say lovingly.  “We will be fine. You have permission to die and be in the eternal love of God.”

In the ancient world, kings were anointed with oil and those dying were similarly anointed. Kings were anointed and loved into the difficult task of leading an entire people, and the dying were anointed and loved into the difficult task of giving up this life.

For Jesus, he faces a future with both. He would soon be riding into Jerusalem, hailed as a king, and he would soon be facing the death that the designation of king would bring. And, in all of this difficult future, Mary is there to lovingly help him to take those next steps forward. Jesus was loved into his future.

Living into our futures is not something that we do alone. God does not prefer that we be self-made women and men. God does not prefer that we go it alone. There is no riding alone into the sunset in God’s kingdom.  God did not create us as creatures that live and work alone. God did not create us to face problems and challenges with no one there to help. God did not create us to be gods who need no one else; who have no need of God.

We are a people who were created for each other. We are a people who were created to share love with one another. We are creatures created to display love, and so we do. We love each other into our futures.

Some years ago, I sat with a family that had gathered around the bed of the ever loving mother and grandmother of the family.  She took her last breaths in the comfort of her own home with those she loved most at her side.  This woman was loved into her eternal future with Jesus in the exact same way that she had been present for and loved her children and grandchildren into their future careers and lives by being there for every ball game and by being there for those after-school homework sessions. 

We love each other into our futures, and that is what makes this life a life of “grace upon grace.”

We will always keep the poor with us and love them into their futures. We will not forget the poor. Loving the poor will always stay central to what living in God’s kingdom is about. But, in doing so, we will not forget to love other people into their futures either.

Loving people into their futures is a part of what living in the kingdom of God is all about. There is not a limited amount of love. There is not only so much love to go around, and if you do not get any, tough luck. You do not need to stop one act of love just because there are others who also need love. That is not how love works.

Rather, love is something that can grow and expand. It can start at a single cross and expand throughout the entire world. Jesus understands this, and so does Mary. Her small act of love allows Jesus to face his own difficult act of love as the shadow of the cross stretches his way. 

Loving people into their futures is probably one of the most important acts of love you will ever experience or undertake as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Know that you are never alone. Know that God’s love is always with you, bringing you from death into life. Know that you are loved into the future every step of the way.

Reflection on Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

 

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to [Jesus.] 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

 3 So he told them this parable: 11b “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the wealth that will belong to me.’ So he divided his assets between them. 13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant region, and there he squandered his wealth in dissolute living. 14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that region, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that region, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16 He would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to his senses he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” ’ 20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. 21 Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate, 24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

 25  “Now his elder son was in the field, and as he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27 He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf because he has got him back safe and sound.’ 28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command, yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ 31 Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’ ”

Reflection

The doors of God’s party are wide open!  It is true.  The unworthy are welcomed in and clothed with garments of forgiveness; and the worthy rejoice at the return of those who were once lost.  The book of Revelation paints for us this very picture.  Revelation paints God’s party as a city, a new Jerusalem, whose “gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.  People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations” (Revelation 21:25-26). 

Of course, outside the gates, outside of the party, there seem to always be those who have no desire to come in.  Revelation points out that, “Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood” (Revelation 22:15). 

But, that does not mean the doors are shut to them.  The doors are still wide open, and like that father in today’s gospel story, God searches the horizon every single day for those lost children: searching for us all to return.  A clean robe is in hand, waiting for those who return. “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates” (Revelation 22:15).

The doors of God’s party are wide open! 

To the son who calls his father dead to him, taking his father’s wealth, taking his future inheritance and storming out the doors; those doors are still wide open.

To the one who wastes their potential, who wastes their lives and their personal gifts; the doors are still wide open.

To the one who has descended into the dirtiest places that culture provides, literally dirty and endangering one’s health, sinking into filthy living and addictions, and morally dirty, living a life of lies, false promises, and broken relationships; to that one, the doors are still wide open.

To the one who find themselves in the mud with the pigs, praying to eat their scraps; the doors are still wide open.

To the one who has allowed their body to waste away to nothing; the doors are still wide open.

To the one who has nowhere else to turn, having burned all of the bridges of help along the way, Jesus has a door open.

And, to anyone who is lost, wandering outside of the doors, outside of the gates, Jesus says things like:

“Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you” (Matthew 7:7).

“The Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).

“I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17).

And, much later the Apostle Paul reinforces the idea with this little gem: “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

And, all of these verses lead us to envision Jesus as a parent who has lost his child and would do anything physically possible to have the beloved child that he once snuggled and rocked to sleep, back home in his arms.  The door is open, and he stands there, looking out to the horizon, searching until he finds.

And, then it happened.  After wasting the money; after living in filth, after losing an incredible amount of strength and much needed weight, the lost child is seen returning on the horizon.

Jesus tells the story like this:

“While he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate, for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate” (Luke 15:20-24).

The doors of God’s party are wide open!  The unworthy one is welcomed in and clothed with garments of forgiveness, and those who are worthy rejoice at the return of the one who was once lost!

Well, almost all of the worthy rejoice.

Just a hand-full of years ago some parents invited me to talk with them, stress filling their clenched hands and now wrinkled faces.  A daughter who had fallen off the face of the earth had suddenly come back.  She was in rough shape, both physically, emotionally, and mentally.  The parents welcomed her into their home, taking her in with love, and also allowing her problems to become their problems.

But, she was not the source of their stress as one might expect.  The stress came from the fact that the family Christmas celebration was quickly approaching, and their other children (all of whom were adults), made in clearly known that they would not offer any sort of celebration in the same room as she.  She was a disgrace.  She had hurt them all.  She could hardly even be considered a sibling, she had written all of them off, and now they were returning the favor.  And, to top it off, they could not believe that the parents were now giving money and attention to this disaster of a human being, who was likely going to just squander it all again.  They, the good siblings, had been nothing but devoted to their parents.  Why was not attention being showered on them?  If she was at the party, they were not coming.

“What should we do?” they asked.

The doors of the party are open, but they are not willing to enter.

I am not certain that people quite realize how easily it is to become one of those love starved creatures that wander outside of the gates.  We always assume that it is the mess ups, the “fornicators and murderers and idolaters;” those who only care about themselves who are wandering out there beyond the doors (Revelation 22:15).  And, they are.  But, heartbreakingly, so are those who see themselves as so, so good.  They are so good that they refuse to even be near those who have failed in life.  The sad thing is that they do not even realize that they too have become love starved creatures, choosing to wander outside of the gates.

The doors of the party are open, but some refuse to go in, engulfed in their anger.

Jesus continues the story:

“Now his elder son was in the field, and as he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf because he has got him back safe and sound.’ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command, yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’” (Luke 15:25-30).

What do you do with this good child who refuses to enter into the divine party of grace?  What do you do with this child who would rather find a home built out of anger than one built upon the strong foundation of forgiveness?  “What should we do?”

I guess that you do the same thing that you would do for the sinful, lost child.  You remind them that they are loved.  You remind them that they have always been cared for.  You remind them that the doors of the party are always open to them.  You go out the door and find them; and then you say:

“‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found’” (Luke 15:31-32).

The doors of the party are wide open, and Jesus is standing right there, seeking, finding, and rejoicing.  Jesus will find us.  The only question that remains is: will we step through the door and celebrate with everyone else at the party?

Reflection on Luke 13:1-9

 

Luke 13:1-9

1 At that very time there were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.2 [Jesus] asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3 No, I tell you, but unless you repent you will all perish as they did. 4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the other people living in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you, but unless you repent you will all perish just as they did.”

6 Then he told this parable: 

“A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7 So he said to the man working the vineyard, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ 8 He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, well and good, but if not, you can cut it down.’”

Reflection

Chaos is real.  Towers falling and killing is chaos.  Evil leaders, punishing people, slaughtering people, and making innocent people examples by mixing their blood with their own sacrifices to create fear is chaos. Chaos is real.  In some ways, the Bible thinks it is the most real thing, aside from God.

As the Bible tells the story, before there was anything, there was chaos.  The Bible tells the story of God creating a safe pocket, a safe bubble of order and life in the middle of the chaotic waters (Genesis chapter 1).  In another parallel image, the Bible tells the story of God creating a lush and beautiful garden of life in the middle of a dry, parched, and blustery chaotic desert wilderness (Genesis 2).  In both images, God creates order and life in the middle of the chaos.  And, God plants people in that space of order and goodness…people who can help to keep it, plant it, and spread the life even further out…a garden that slowly takes over the surrounding chaos (Genesis 2:15).  And, God looked at all of that, and thought, “That is very good” (Genesis 1:31).

But, the bubble containing life in the middle of the waters, and the lush garden in the middle of the desert are only pockets of goodness and life.  Chaos still exists.  The sandy winds still blow and kill, and the waters still claim ships and people.  The Bible has us understand that dragons of chaos still swim in the seas and cause havoc (Isaiah 27:1).  Snakes of chaos slither in from the wilderness and cause humans to fail, falter, and kill (Genesis 3:1).  Lions pounce from the chaotic grasses; seeking to devour; seeking to kill; seeking to create hopelessness; seeking to create chaos (1 Peter 5:8). 

All of this is to say that chaos never went away.  Creation did not eliminate it.  Chaos never left us.  It is always present; both outside of us creating havoc and pain, and encroaching within our very souls, slithering its way in, causing death, darkness, sin, and despair. 

So, the question put to Jesus is whether or not a certain number of individuals let the serpent of chaos slither in?  Some people told Jesus “about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.  [Jesus] asked them, ‘Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?’” (Luke 13:1-2).

And, the question seems to make sense because so many of us do crack open the door and let the chaos in.  Even our biblical ancestors did.  Cain refused to do better and learn to be better after his offering was not accepted, and because of that, because he left his heart open to such an attack, chaos pounced.  His brother lay dead; chaos exuding from his own hands (Genesis 4:1-6). 

King David refused to go to war, and instead looked down from his balcony, his eyes landing on a beautiful woman bathing, leaving his heart open to an attack of chaos (2 Samuel 11).  His life and his kingship crumbled from then on, with nothing but chaos writing his story and the story of his children. 

So, yes, we often allow chaos invade our lives.

So, the question is, “When we see that chaos has invaded someone else’s life, does that automatically mean that they brought it upon themselves?”  Are they, themselves, always to blame?  And, Jesus’ answer to that question is a crystal clear, “No” (Luke 13:3).

And, how about “those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them” (Luke 13:4)?  Did they bring it upon themselves?  Were they worse sinners than everyone else? 

After-all, it is quite ironic that the tower, the very place that you usually run to for safety, the very place in which you hide when your life is under attack and the armies are advancing, is the very place that crumbed and crushed eighteen people.  Even “the name of the Lord” is depicted as a “strong tower” in the Bible (Proverbs 18:10).  Towers save, they do not kill.  These people must have done something!  But, again, Jesus’ answer is an emphatic “No” (Luke 13:5).

These people do not deserve to be blamed for their tragic deaths.  They did not ask for chaos to enter into their lives.  They did not have to ask.  Chaos is still out there, causing towers to fall and evil leaders to not care; causing diseases to spread and professionals to misdiagnose and mistreat; causing winds to blow and accidents to destroy.  Chaos still exists and it has always existed, making horrible things to happen to the good and bad alike.  There is sometimes someone to blame, but not always.  That is the nature of chaos.

But, just because chaos did not cause these disasters, does not mean that we let our guard down, Jesus says.  “No, I tell you, but unless you repent you will all perish just as they did” (Luke 13:5).  I cannot help but think that Jesus is once again teaching us that rather than looking outward and judging others, we should look inward and judge ourselves. 

It is so easy to assume others are sinful, and it is also so to assume that we are virtuous.  This sort of blindness to ourselves is exactly what allows chaos to strike.  “Do not judge,” Jesus teaches (Luke 6:37).  “How can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye” (Luke 6:42). 

Unless we look at ourselves; unless we realize that our own hearts just might have become corrupted; unless we take the time to change our thinking to be like God’s thinking, chaos will strike.  The writer of 1 Peter puts it this way: “Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

Discipline yourselves; look at yourselves; notice yourselves and God just might do something wonderful to you.  God just might heap some manure on your feet.

You did not hear right.  I said that God just might heap some manure on your feet or more!

Jesus talks about this.  Jesus tells a story about how a man planted a fig tree in his vineyard, and the tree gave him no fruit!  He waited three years for the fully grown tree to give some nice, sweet, juicy figs, and the tree provided none.  He was ready to chop the thing down, but the caretaker of the tree suggested that the tree just might need some tender care.  The tree just might need a little manure to make it grow and produce.

That reminds me of Pastor Rebecca from my childhood.  She was from the city, and thus was surprised to be called as a pastor in my little Midwestern farming town.  Soon after moving in, one of the farmers in the congregation invited her to go out to the farm to see how things were done.

“We’re going to take the honey wagon out into the field this week, spread it out to fertilize, if you want to come and check it out.”

Pastor Rebecca could not believe it.  Never in her life had she heard of farmers spreading honey on their fields to make them grow.  What an amazing thing!

So, the next day, she climbed into the tractor cab with the farmer, staring at the big tank of honey attached to the back.  She couldn’t wait.

“Are you ready?” the farmer asked.

“I’m ready!” she said excitedly.

And, as soon as the honey wagon started to spray, the foulest stench she had even smelled invaded her nose and attacked her very soul. 

“That does not smell like honey!” she gasped.

“Nope,” the farmer said.  “That smells like money.”

She soon learned that a little manure can go a long way to make things grow and produce a profit.  And, that was good for the farmer, and his family, and his entire community for that matter.  And, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that sometimes the manure, sometimes the hardships and chaos of life can be used by God to make us grow and flourish.

Listen, God rarely is the cause of chaos in our lives.  Chaos does not need an invitation, it will come.  It is always surrounding us and is ever present, and it will come.  Just like manure on a farm comes in abundance, and you just have to deal with it and make something of it, in the same way, Jesus uses the chaos that comes our way as a sort of fertilizer that strengthens us and helps us to learn, and grow, and produce good fruit.  He is the loving caretaker who refuses to allow his tree to be cut down right away.  He is the one who uses the manure to tenderly and strategically care for the tree and allow it to produce fruit that is life-giving and good to those who eat.

So, when the chaos of the world comes our way, and even infects our very bodies, Jesus leads us away from blaming; Jesus leads us into some deep soul searching; and Jesus uses the chaos in a loving way, to make us into the people of life and grace that he always hoped that we might be.  I am not saying this right.  The Apostle Paul puts it better than I ever could.

“We…boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5).

Yes, the chaos in the world and in our lives is very, very real.  But, we have a savior that can turn that manure into money.  We have a savior who can use that chaos to grow us into a people of endurance, and character, and hope, and finally love.  We have a savior who does not let us just be cut down, but cares enough to save even the most love-barren of us all.  That savior is Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Reflection on Luke 13:31-35

 

Luke 13:31-35

31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to [Jesus], “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.’ ”

Reflection

Earlier this week I was asked to give a talk on compassion.  Strangely enough, the image that Jesus gives us in our gospel reading for today, where he describes himself as a mother hen, actually came up during the discussion of compassion.  And, I think it is important enough to share it with you.

But, before we can get into what compassion has to do with Jesus’ description of mother hens, I think that it is important that we look into what compassion actually means.  I am willing to bet that most of us think we know what it means.  We typically think that it has a mix of concern, love, care, and forgiveness.  That might be exactly what it means in the end, but I like to know for certain.  And, what I like to do when asked what something means biblically is to do a word study. 

I know.  You all came today just hoping that you would get a chance to experience a word study!  But truly, I like to look at the Hebrew and Greek meanings of these common words in order to understand what the Bible might be trying to talking about when using them. 

So, when I look at the Greek word for compassion (splagchnizomai), I see that it means “a twisting of the intestines.”  That makes sense, because when you are moved with a strong sense of compassion, indeed, your stomach feels twisted. 

That is interesting, but, the more fascinating meaning comes when we look at the Hebrew word for having compassion.  The Hebrew word for having compassion is “rakhum” (others spell it “racham” in English).

The fascinating thing to me is that Rakhum is very closely related to the Hebrew word for “womb,” which is “rekhem.”  And, because it is so closely related, compassion has to do with both a feeling in the area of the womb (similar to the twisting in the Greek), but it means more than that because half of the world has no womb.  So, compassion in the Hebrew also has to do with caring for the baby that comes from that womb.  In other words, the word Rakhum pictures a mother caring for her vulnerable baby.

Compassion conveys this intense emotion of motherly love and is sometimes translated as “deeply moved” in a motherly way.

And that motherly image makes me think of a mother that theologian Paul Tillich saw while running through the war torn streets of World War II. 

And as he ran, seeking safety from bullets fired from as unknown source, he glanced into a foxhole, into a trench used by soldiers.  There he saw a mother.  She was hunkered down in a protective stance over her baby, nursing the precious child.  His glance at the mother was momentary, but it became a picture that was forever burned into his mind.  It was a picture of rakhum.  It was a picture of a mother caring for her vulnerable baby.  It was a picture of compassion.

Rakhum.  Compassion.  A deep, motherly love.

I thought a lot about this sort of compassion while snuggling our little ones, just a handful of years back.  As their warm little bodies soaked into my own skin, I thought about how I would do anything to keep them safe as I raised them up.  Rakham.  Compassion.

This image of deep, motherly love has also transformed the image of God that I have whenever reading Exodus 34:6.  It reads: “The Lord…a God merciful (rakhum) and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” 

With rakham on the brain, my image of God in this scripture is transformed into the image of a heavenly mother who is forever patient with her children’s eccentricities, forgiving of their mistakes, and devoted to their wellbeing; snuggling them close when the world gets to be too much.

One day, while I was talking to my mom about this sort of close snuggling, my mom mentioned that I did not like to be snuggled as a child.  “You were never a snuggler,” she said.  “In fact, even as an infant, when I held you close, you tried to wiggle and push away.  But, don’t feel bad about that.  Just because you pushed away didn’t mean that you didn’t need to be loved and cared for.”

It struck me that I was kind of like that throughout my childhood, and even into young adulthood.  There was this time that I was following my mom as we both drove on the interstate in order to visit my grandmother.  The whole way my mother was going 55mph on a 65mph interstate highway.  Sometimes, we dipped as far down as 45 mph.  It drove me insane.  The trip was taking so much longer.  When we arrived, I confronted my mom, and asked, “Why were you going so slow?” 

She responded to my frustration with words that stopped me in my tracks.  “As I looked in the rearview mirror, it looked to me like you needed me to go slower.  I just wanted to make sure that you didn’t get lost.”  A mother’s love.  Compassion.  Rakhum.

We see this image of God as a mother who cares deeply for vulnerable children in the teachings of Jesus. 

“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!” (Luke 13:34).

Jesus says that he wants nothing more than to hold his people close, like a mother hen.  Yet his people push away just as I did as a child. 

However, that pushing away does not change the rakhum (the deep, motherly love) that Jesus has for his people.  Jesus is explicitly pictured as a mother hen, stretching her wings over her chicks, willing to put her body on the line as the fox comes to snatch, steal, and tear apart.  That is what foxes do by the way.  They come to snatch and eat the eggs and the chicks.  That is how Herod is pictured as he terrorizes his own people (Luke 13:32).

And, even though the children are “not willing,” even though they push away from Jesus, he still casts out their demons and heals their sick.  And, Jesus still goes to the cross, dying for them.  He dies in the same way that a mother hen, covering her chicks with her wings, dies.  The mother hen is the one snatched away, and Jesus is the one who is snatched and taken to the cross.  That is rakhum.  That is compassion. 

Oh, how he wishes that why might follow in the same footsteps.

It should be no surprise that Jesus wants us, his own hands and feet in the world, to show that sort of compassion to everyone Jesus calls his children.  Jesus tells us that we should even show compassion to our enemies! 

He says, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27-28).

Never forget, the very people who you consider your enemies are God’s children as well.  Even though they push away from Jesus, push away from love, God still cares for them also.  Jesus died for them too.  Jesus shows them rakhum, compassion, a deep motherly love that does not give up or let go.  Jesus wants to hold them close under the shadow of his wings.  To that end, when one of our enemies does evil to us, rather than retaliating back with evil, Jesus suggests:

“From anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt.” (Luke 6:29).

What Jesus is suggesting is that if someone does evil to us, we do not retaliate with evil, after-all they too are a child, cared for by God.  At least this is what the Apostle Paul thought that Jesus was saying.  He teaches, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all” (Romans 12:17). 

Rather than pay them back with evil, and rather than laying down and submitting to their evil, Jesus suggests that we do something that makes them stop in their tracks and think about what they are doing. 

For example, when someone takes away your coat, give them your tunic as well.  In our world that mean when someone takes your pants, give your underwear as well!  When you allow them to do more harm than was first intended; when they see you completely naked, it might shock them into showing compassion. 

I have never felt the power of this sort of compassionate resistance more than when a classmate in seminary who was from Africa told us her story.  Her nation had recently split into two warring factions, and these warring factions even split small villages into enemies.  In her small village, a murderous rampage from one of the factions swept from door to door.  When a man with a gun burst through her door and pointed the gun at the children in the house, this woman stood right in front of the gun, barrel to her head, and said, “My brother in Christ, why would you do this?  We played together as children.  I took care of your children.  You are not this person.  You cannot do this.”

He could not do it, and it was all because of her rakhum.  It was a rakhum that not only extended to her children, which caused her to step in front of the gun.  It was a compassion that extended to her enemy, her brother in Christ, as she invited him to turn around and show compassion.  Life continued for everyone that day.  And, it was all because of rakhum; compassion; a deep, motherly love.  The same compassion as Jesus Christ our Lord.

Reflection on Luke 4:1-13

 

Luke 4:1-13

1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tested by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over he was famished. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” 4 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ”

 5 Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And the devil said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered him, “It is written,

 ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ”

 9 Then the devil led him to Jerusalem and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,

 ‘He will command his angels concerning you,

to protect you,’

11 and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,

so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

12 Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13 When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Reflection

The end of this story has ominous words.  After Jesus passes the tests and the temptations of the devil, the story says that “When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13).  Evil is never done.  It is always there.  Even when you do well, it is crouching nearby, ready to strike.  God tries to teach this to Cain after he fails to provide an acceptable offering.  God says, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it” (Genesis 4:7).  He does not master it.  Evil strikes and unfortunately it is his brother who suffers from Cain’s weakness to temptation.

Evil is never done.  It is always waiting.  Temptations to sin will always arise.

So, I have to say that it is no surprise that after over a year of healthy eating, consuming virtually no sugar except during certain celebrations (which was the plan), and consuming almost no cholesterol even though I love steak, and chicken, and shrimp, just a couple of days ago my resolve busted into delicious little pieces.  It started with the bag of Chips Ahoy cookies, lurking in the pantry near the box of garbage bags, ready to spring into a cup of milk before dramatically and deliciously jumping into my mouth.  And, that would not have been too bad if it had not been for the fatty, juicy, savory roast beef creeping up on me from the refrigerator behind.  Once that filled my stomach, it all just went downhill from there.  I found myself floundering in all of the temptations that can be found in the kitchen, and it made me feel very, very happy. 

That is the problem with temptations.  They do have a wonderful, sweet and savory pay off. 

As I said before, it was no surprise that I failed so miserably after over a year of doing great.  Having experienced the vastness of human nature over the course of my pastoral career, I simply shrugged and said to myself, “Of course, you failed.  Evil is never done.  It is always waiting.  Temptations to sin will always arise.”

What is surprising is that Jesus, after 40 days of eating nothing, Jesus does not cave when tempted to use his power to turn a stone into bread.  I tell you, if that had been me, that stone would have been a huge, Reese Peanut Butter Egg in seconds.  But, the Bible says, “The devil said to [Jesus], ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’  Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone’” (Luke 4:3-4).  Jesus does not cave into the temptation.  Jesus does not fail the test.  When Jesus is out in the wilderness, he does not complain, demanding food like the Israelites before him (Exodus 16).  Jesus trusts that God will provide the food. 

Our failure is no surprise.  Jesus’ complete trust is truly surprising.

A couple of months ago, a pastor was caught in the act of arranging an inappropriate relationship with a minor.  The pastor actually drove the minor across state lines.  Charges were brought against the pastor, and all who knew the pastor were astounded.  Some people felt hurt.  Those who worked close with the pastor felt betrayed.  And, though I felt deep compassion for the victim and for the pastor’s family who were all floundering from his sin, I simply said to myself, “Of course the pastor did this.”

I had no inside knowledge about this pastor’s sins, nor did I predict it.  But, after over 20 years of ministry, having experienced the terrible moral failures of pastors (who are just people with funny little, white plastic things attached to their necks), I was not surprised.

The problem with temptation is that it deludes you into thinking that what you are doing is right.  It deludes you into thinking about yourself, and you forget that other people are valuable; created to be images of God.  That child is a person of value.  The people we try to influence are people created and love by God.  The temptation to influence people to satisfy our own desires is enticing, and can easily go unnoticed by the one who has been struck by its bite.  Of course, the Pastor used power inappropriately.  Evil is never done.  It is always waiting.  Temptations to sin will always arise.

What is surprising is that Jesus, who is sent on a mission by God to influence the world, does not use that mandate to force his own desires.  Evil does not infiltrate Jesus’ mission.  The Bible says that the devil, when showing him all the kingdoms of the world says to Jesus, “’To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.  If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’  Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him’” (Luke 4:6-8).  Jesus does not cave into the temptation.  Jesus does not fail the test.  He does not look down from the heights as King David did when he glanced down and saw a beautiful woman, and try to claim anyone for his own selfish purposes (2 Samuel 11).  Jesus trusts that God will provide the wisdom and direction for his life. 

Our failure is no surprise.  Jesus’ complete trust is truly surprising.

It was no surprise when the girl shouted to the sky, “Prove to me that you are listening to me!  My life is falling apart, and I need to know that you are there!  Send a shooting star to prove that you exist!  Prove to me that you care!”  It was no surprise that she was shouting to the sky.  We all have, haven’t we?  And, it was no surprise that when she searched the sky for that streak of light she saw nothing.

God does not respond to our tests.  God does not jump when we say jump, God does have to listen to anything that we say and does not need to be swayed by any of our words.  The temptation to put God to the test is strong, but doing so almost always results in deep disappointment.  Yet, we still do it.  Evil is never done.  It is always waiting.  Temptations to sin will always arise.

What is surprising is that Jesus is able to push away the strong temptation to force God the Father’s hand.  Jesus could.  Out of everyone in the world, the Son is the one who actually could try to sway that hand of God the Father.  But, Jesus refuses.  The Bible quotes the devil’s temptation: “’If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’  Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Luke 4:9-12).  Jesus does not cave into the temptation.  Jesus does not fail the test. 

Jesus continually trusts God the Father in a way that we cannot.  Of course, we can trust, sometimes.  We too can withstand temptation, for a period of time anyway.  For me, it was a little over a year that I resisted the sugar and the cholesterol.  Even though I faltered in the end, I still say that a year of resisting is pretty good, if I do say so myself.  And, I do.  But, such an admission reveals the truth: evil is never done.  It is always waiting.  Temptations to sin will always arise.  It waits for an opportune time.  And, we will fail.

But there is one who does not fail, even when temptation is lurking and waiting for the right time.  He is the one who was not sidetracked as he headed to the cross.  He is the one who did not save himself when voices urged and tempted him to do so from below his cross.  He is the one who followed through on loving to the end.  That is why we trust Jesus Christ, Our Lord.  He is the one who surprises; the one who cannot be tempted or swayed to abandon his mission; the one who does not fail to love each and every one of us.  Temptation has no hold over him, therefore, temptation cannot claim us forever either, because where he goes, so do we.

Yes, temptation may be lurking, but Jesus can be found deeply alive in our hearts, and minds, and hands.  Return to the Lord.  Trust in the Lord.  His love is not swayed.  And, his love endures forever.