Luke 13:31-35
At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to [Jesus], “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 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. 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.’ 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! 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.’ ”
In his 2017 book, “On Tyrrany, 20 lessons from the 20th century,” historian Timothy Snyder provides a list of lessons he has learned from his study of tyranny. His first, which you may have heard said a lot lately is, “Do not obey in advance” He writes, “Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.”
What does this look like?
It looks like the national archives the removal of prominent references to such landmark events as the government’s displacement of indigenous tribes and the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II from planned exhibits, out of fear retribution, months before the incoming administration is sworn in.
It looks like Seattle Children’s Hospital canceling care for transgender kids & teens long before the government starts making it illegal.
It looks like becoming silent before one has lost their right to speak. It also looks like not doing what God calls you to do because it might make the people in power upset.
Jesus, confronted by some Pharisees with the information that Herod, the ruler of his part of the Roman empire, wants to kill him, has a choice. It’s a choice he has probably had before, every time he does something that is a threat to the seat of power. He can say, “eeeehhhhhh, yeah, okay. Um, guys, this has been great, but I think I’m done now. I don’t want to get in trouble.” However, knowing he was called to teach and preach and heal, knowing that his call leads to the cross, he’s not capitulating. He hasn’t given in thus far, he’s not going to now. He know where this is going, and he is walking the path.
We are still far from the crucifixion in Luke’s telling of Jesus’ story, but we get the foreshadowing here, the three days, Jesus saying that a prophet can only be killed in Jerusalem. He is speaking of what will happen to him if he continues on this path, the path that is his purpose. Now, we know it is objectively untrue that a prophet can only be killed in Jerusalem, prophets are killed in many places. What Jesus is likely doing here is not speaking of Jerusalem the geographic location, but Jerusalem, the seat of power that kills the prophets and stones those that are sent before it. We could say “D.C, D.C., the city that kills the prophets and stones those that are sent before it.” The city and its residents are not responsible for the destruction, the seat of power is.
Last week I spoke about how Luke saw all government as being inherently corrupted by evil, this is an extension of that theme. As Luke sees it, all of these seats of power are evil. Jesus has tried to gather those that preside over this evil system under his wings, like a hen gathers her brood, to no avail. He has tried to call them away from the workings of that fox, Herod, to protect them, to provide love and nurture. Jesus is, in a way, living out the 20th lesson for fighting tyranny, “Be as courageous as you can. If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die under tyranny.”
We live in frightening times. I spend way more time than I ever thought I would preparing for everything from food shortages to caring for my friends and neighbors whose lives are threatened by this administration. I used to garden for fun. Now I think about how much I can provide. Who can I hide? What can we do? Like, really, what can we do? We have an amazing and terrible role model for all time, and for these times, in Jesus. Amazing because Jesus shows us how to stand up in the face of tyranny, how care will help us survive, and terrible because we know where it all leads. But one thing I want us to remember is that Jesus didn’t do it alone.
Jesus taught his dangerous teachings with community, in community. He traveled in community, he healed in community. When he knew he was going to be arrested, he had his friend go with him to the place to pray. In order to stay on his path, in order to resist the efforts of the government to stop him, he stayed rooted in prayer and in community.
A Christian life is a life of joy and of sacrifice. We are called to work for justice, to love deeply, to be compassionate, to have grace, to pick up our cross and follow Jesus on the path to Golgotha. We are also called to do this in community. The call is not simply to me, it is to us.
What can *we* do in our context, in our time, to be like Jesus.
What are we, as Abiding Savior Lutheran Church, called to do, where are we called to go? Are we called to gather people as a hen would gather her brood? To keep each other and the community around us safe, fed, and supported? Are we called to face down the fox?
While these times may be frightening and overwhelming, one thing we know is that we do not have to do this alone. We have God, and we have each other. We are held to God in warmth and protection, as chicks gathered and held by the mother hen. And we can extend that warmth, protection, and nurture to our community and all around us, held and holding, as we face an uncertain future together. Amen.
