Sermon

St. Philip's Episcopal Church, Durham, NC

March 4, 2007- Second Sunday in Lent

The Rev. Vicki L. Smith

Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 13:22-35

 I have no idea how this tradition arose, but when I was in the fifth grade, it was the custom for all of us to gather together Monday nights for square dance lessons.  I guess it was a rural version of a cotillion.  Anyway, 10-year-olds from all three local elementary schools participated, complete with twirly dresses for the girls for the graduation dance (that was probably the best part).  Before these lessons began, my mother made it clear to me that you never refuse to dance with a boy who asks you – it’s rude and it hurts their feelings. 

One night, I was asked to dance by a boy from another school.  I said yes, as I knew I should, though I didn’t know who he was.  As we danced, I realized with horror that he had F.A. written on the toes of his sneakers.  I was dancing with the dreaded Frank Applebee, widely known as the social bane of the fifth grade.  I saw what little social standing I had going down the drain.

Jesus tells us the story of a wedding feast.  All sorts of people are invited, but they will not come.  They have business to do, farms to attend to, obligations and commitments of all sorts, and so they will not come.  Their places at the feast are given to others.

Jesus said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.” 

Our God is a god of invitation – invitation to joy, to covenant, to salvation, and as we heard this morning, to care and shelter.  And yet we turn down these invitations.  “We are not willing,” as Jesus says.  We choose to stand out in the storm, when we could be sheltered under the everlasting wings of God’s love and care.  I think it is worth asking why.  To turn down such an invitation not only seems rude, it is against our own self-interest – and yet we do it all the time.  Why are we so perverse and resistant to refuse God’s care and shelter?

It’s all about will and choices and freedom.  Jesus will not compel us to accept his invitation, even for our own good.  It is an invitation, not a command and we are free to refuse.  Jesus says, to us, your house is left to you – do what you want, my invitation stands. 

We are free to refuse Christ’s care out of a misguided sense of independence – we will stand on our own two feet, we will be grown-ups, we will cope and be strong, we will not show any sign of weakness, including accepting the care of Jesus. 

We are free to refuse out of sheer orneriness – just because we don’t want to; and we are free to refuse out of fear of the unknown, out of uncertainty about what it might mean to say yes and accept.  What would we have to give up to say yes to this invitation?  We don’t know, so we don’t accept. 

Our favorite reason for saying no to Jesus’ care is that we don’t get to choose who else is with us under those wings.  We are very selective about who we are with.  We don’t really like even talking with someone who disagrees with us, let alone sharing the shelter and care of Jesus with them.  Even our bishops can’t manage to sit at the same table.  There might be people we don’t like under those wings and since accepting Jesus’ care means entering into community with all the others who’ve accepted Jesus’ care, we just won’t do it.  There might be people who are weak there, or sick, or sinners – we have standards after all. 

And still Jesus says “come.”  Come gather in and stand by me.  Come shelter in my loving arms, and rest in my care.  There’s a storm in the air, let me hold and protect you.

There is a storm in the air – we live in a stormy time in a windswept world, where we are challenged every day by society and its culture.  Things really haven’t changed much since the days when Paul wrote to the ancient Philipians – their end is destruction, their god is the bell and their glory is in their shame.  He could write the same words about the world that we modern Philipians live in.  That we even know that a celebrity parties without her underwear is a troublesome sign.  We live in a world where fame and fortune, regardless of how they are obtained, are our highest values.  We live in a world where are young people are growing ever more vain, because we’ve taught them that they are the center of the universe.  We live in a world where blind loyalty is valued over integrity and where we can all see the speck in our brother’s eye, but are oblivious to the log in our own.  It is a stormy time in a windswept world.

We can stand out in that storm, isolated but independent, to be buffeted by the wind and lashed by the rain, or we can say yes to Jesus’ invitation and seek respite and shelter under those everlasting wings.  We can step out of the fray and into the calm, out of the chaos and into the peace, of saying yes to Jesus.  We can say yes to those everlasting wings and gather in community with all the others who’ve said yes.  We can sit at the same table, we can talk and accept and laugh and love.  We can create community apart from the challenges and struggles of society around us. 

This church is one of the places where Christ’s sheltering wings are made manifest – this is a place where we can say yes to Christ, to his love, his shelter and his care; where we can say yes to community, to fellowship and to peace.  This is not the only place – but it is our most present and visible opportunity.

We can say yes to gathering together under Christ’s sheltering wings – if we will.  If we will not, our house is left to us – and we all know how well that’s worked out.

And by the way, Frank Applebee was a perfectly nice kid. 

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