March 17, 2016 (St. Patrick's Day)
Hope Lutheran Church
Pastor Mary Erickson
Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 13:31-35
Hold On!
Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.
One of the great songs from the Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s was “Keep Your Eyes on the Prize.” The song inspired those in the movement to keep working for racial equality despite the threats and violence pointed towards them.
Got my hand on the freedom plow
Wouldn't take nothing for my journey now
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on
Our Bible texts for today have the common thread of keeping your eye on the prize. In Philippians, Paul encourages us to remember our citizenship in heaven as we live here on earth. Hold on! And from Luke, Jesus looks beyond the cross of Golgotha to see the resurrection on the third day. Hold on!
We’re in the liturgical season of Lent. Last week we heard the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. Three times Satan encourages Jesus to compromise his ministry. But Jesus keeps his focus centered on what he has come to do.
Today’s text from Luke begins with a bit of a temptation. The Pharisees are encouraging Jesus to save his skin and flee to avoid Herod’s wrath.
But hold on! Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and he will not be deterred. Jesus has resolutely set his face towards Jerusalem. Earlier, Jesus went about his ministry in Galilee, a relative backwater. But when he sets his face towards Jerusalem, the focus shifts. He sets his eyes on his rendezvous with the Cross.
The Pharisees warn Jesus about threatening events if he continues on to Jerusalem. Herod is out to get him. Jesus gives them a cryptic answer. “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.' ”
For today and tomorrow he goes about the work of the kingdom. For the present, Jesus is and will continue to be engaged in his ministry of deliverance and healing. This ministry is Jesus’ purpose. It’s what defines him.
For today and tomorrow, Jesus will attend to his ministry. He remains undeterred by threats because he is keeping his eyes on the prize. And that prize will come on the third day. That third day is the day of resurrection.
Jesus knows where he is headed. He’s headed towards Jerusalem. And he knows what’s going to happen when he reaches there. He doesn’t need the Pharisees to tell him. He’ll be crucified. But his ministry and his calling are not overruled by death. No, his purpose and destiny are defined by resurrection! He has come to bring deliverance and healing. And his ministry will be perfected in his resurrection. That’s the prize.
Jesus teaches us how to live our own lives within the shadows of the many Herods threatening us. They come from two directions: from within and from without. We’re over-shadowed by negative thoughts from within. Destructive threats assail us from without. But today and tomorrow are the times for our witness.
In the reading from Philippians, Paul calls us to follow his example. Despite multiple barriers, Paul kept his eye on the prize. He remained true to his ministry. Paul reminds us that this finite world is not the end. Our citizenship is in heaven.
We don’t belong to this world. We’ve been called into the world to be living witnesses of God’s unconditional love. We keep our eyes on the prize. We’ve seen that resurrection is stronger than death. We know that love overcomes all hatred, all division, all hostilities. Today and tomorrow are the days for our witness. And we witness now because we believe in what happens on the third day.
It was this hope in the third day – hope in the resurrection to overcome all things – which sustained St. Paul. It has sustained all the great witnesses: St. Peter, St. Patrick, Joan of Arc, Martin Luther King, Jr., Bishop Oscar Romero. They wore the promise of that third day as their breastplate:
Christ with me
Christ before me
Christ behind me
Christ in me
Christ beneath me
Christ above me
Christ on my left
Christ on my right
(from St. Patrick’s Breastplate)
We now wear the breastplate in our present time. Like the saints before us, we’re informed by that same promise of the third day. In faith, we keep our eyes on the prize.
Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, but even as he goes there, he knows what will await him. He’ll be rejected by the very people he has come to save. Our reading today ends with his lament. “O, Jerusalem! How I have desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!”
He knows the hostile rejection he will endure. But it doesn’t deter him. This is the very heart of his mission of deliverance and healing, to save the lost. He continues on his way to Jerusalem.
And this tells us just how great God’s love for us is. Our deliverance came precisely while we were at enmity God. Jesus wasn’t welcomed; he was scorned and arrested. Our reconciliation with God was fulfilled right as Jesus was nailed to a cross. That’s how great this divine love for us is.
Jesus laments Jerusalem’s impending rejection of him. “Oh, how I would have wanted to gather you all into my loving embrace, just like a hen gathers her chicks!”
Eagles in Wisconsin start laying their eggs as early as January. There are quite a few eagle cams available on the internet. These cameras have been set high up in trees with eagles’ nests. They provide a live feed of what’s going on at any moment.
It’s amazing to watch those eagles. They lay their eggs while we’re still hard into winter. They’re devoted parents. The nesting pair take turns sitting on the eggs to keep them warm. It’s amazing to watch the videos of these birds during a snow storm like we just had recently. They are diligent to their mission! Sometimes they’re so covered in snow, only their white heads appear above the blanket of snow surrounding them.
But these birds are undeterred. They know their mission. They keep their eyes on the prize. And that prize is the welfare of their chicks.
These diligent eagles remind us of Jesus’ words. He will gather all of humanity into his arms on the cross. His ministry of deliverance and healing will transcend all and embrace all.
By the grace of God and the power of the resurrection, Jesus’ lament for Jerusalem will become an Ode to Joy. Keep your eye on that prize – hold on!
