Prayers for the City

February 24, 2013 Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 Luke 13:31-35 Prayers for the City 2nd Sunday of Lent Year C Second Sunday of lent This is the second Sunday of our Lenten journey. Its winter, it is cold and many of our days are dark. This winter we don’t know what it going to happen, some days it is raining, some days its snowing, and the worse are the days when it is doing something icy in between. But it is fitting weather for lent, a time of darkness when we are waiting for the joy of Easter. It is a time when we focus on the promises of God, and we prepare ourselves for the day that they will come true. Focus of our text The old testament readings focus on our relationship with God. the promises that God makes of us and the things we do for God in return. In the gospel readings for lent focus on the journey of Jesus to the capital city of faith- Jerusalem. Today I want to focus on both readings – Genesis and Luke. They both have important lessons for our faith. The importance of Jerusalem Luke mentions the city Jerusalem 99 times – he tells the story of Jesus knowingly journeying to Jerusalem – the place where the cross has been waiting for him for decades. Jerusalem literally means the city of peace – and yet Jesus sees that there is anything but peace in the city. He sees sin, corruption, people who are not willing to listen to the good news of salvation. Jesus overlooks Chicago A friend of mine, a fellow pastor says that if you go into the Chicago temple, the largest United Methodist church in Chicago – downtown – if you go into the main sanctuary you will find a large picture of Jesus overlooking Jerusalem in tears. Scripture says that Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Our scripture for today days that Jerusalem is a city so sinful, that it kills those prophets sent to turn it around. Jesus says that he wants to make a difference but the people wont let him. And yet he knows that is where God calls him. There are many portraits of him like the one in the Chicago Temple, longingly looking over Jerusalem. But in that church in the prayer chapel there is another picture, of Jesus looking over the city – but it doesn’t take long to realize that it is not Jerusalem – you look at the skyline and realize that it is Chicago. Jesus looks over our city too – praying, hoping, inviting, forgiving and waiting. Chicago 4th most miserable city A report was just released over the weekend which says that Chicago is the 4th most miserable place to live in the nation. Rockford is #3 in the nation, Lake county #9 – the list also includes Gary as one of the top 20. The report list crimes, high forclosure rates, and declining values of homes as reasons for the misery of its residents. For someone who is looking, you can find a lot of things wrong with this city. As one who does ministry in Chicago – there are a lot of things that are discouraging. But the one thing that gives me hope if the tenacity of Jesus – who that in the midst of rejection and hopelessness, find hope. I remember attending a gardening meeting, and talking with a women – and telling her that the youth cannot come across the street to work on a garden because of the danger of violence. And the woman replied, but that is why I come to these meetings, in the hope that one day things will be different. If I keep believing, if I keep working, if I keep living, then one day our city will change. And all of the negative things that affect us, all of those conditions will disappear, and our children will live in a better community. Children of Abraham Now I don’t know that woman’s religious background – but I can say that she is truly a child of Abraham. She has the faith in the invisible, the impossible, the improbable, things that cant possibly make sense in our circumstances. How do you know when you have a call from God? when you been given a vision of a world that can’t possibly be, when you have been called to a place where there are no known pathways – you could be a child of the faith of Abraham. Emily Dickenson said – I dwell in possibility. The children of faith dwell in what is possible with God, not in what the news tells them about the world. William Cary, who started the missionary movement said that we should expect great things from God and attempt great things for God. Galatians 3:6-8 Just as Abraham believed in God and reckones it righteousness, those who believe are the descendents of Abraham. God promised Abraham that he would have children as numerous as the sea. It is Paul that reminds us that those descendants are his natural children, but more importantly those descendant are those who were able to have faith like Abraham. After these things Look at the scripture in Genesis for today. It starts out – after these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. After these things? After what things? After Abraham had been called to leave his family and go live in the middle of the dessert, after being tested by his family, after fighting enemies in order to rescue his family, after being tested by kings to worship them, after being married for years with no offspring, after claiming a new life – he had a vision from God. Scripture says that this was one of the darkest times of his life. Not so much because things were going bad for him. But because he was scared. He had been through so many changes, he had listened to God for no reason. He had no idea of what God was going to ask of him next. All God asked of him – was to believe God. to have faith in what God was calling him to do, to go where he had never been before, to create what he had never seen before, to stand up where he had never had to take a stand – and to believe. Believe in an invisible, impossible, improbable God. And Abraham responds, I don’t have a problem believing in you. But Abraham did what most of us do. We look at the one thing in our lives that we don’t have, and we say that we will believe when that problem is solved. When we receive that one thing in the world that we need. For Abraham is was an heir – he and his wife were in their 90’s and they still did not have a child. If God could do anything – why did God not give him a child. Storms and anchors come from the same place A young naval student was being put through the paces by an old sea captain. "What would you do if a sudden storm sprang up on the starboard?" "Throw out the anchor, sir." "What would you do if another storm sprang up aft?" "Throw out another anchor, sir." "And if another terrific storm sprang up forward, what would you do?" "Throw out another anchor." "Hold on", said the captain. "Where are you getting all your anchors from?" "From the same place you’re getting your storms, sir." You don’t have to worry whether or not God has enough anchors for your storms! We worship a God who is invisible, impossible, improbable and most important – omnipotent. He is the God of all things in our lives. God creates our needs, but he also fulfills our needs. God will always provide. In the midst of this dark time in Abraham’s faith – God invites him to go outside and look up at the sky and count the stars. If he could count the stars he could count his children. God provides for our needs, The God who calls us to the impossible, will equip us to succeed – if only we are willing to believe. Tight rope worker and the believer Jean Francois Gravelet was considered one of the greatest tightrope walkers in history. He was the first man to walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. But that was not enough for him, he liked to show off. One day while crossing, he lowered a rope to a ship, pulled up a bottle of Coke, sat down on the rope to drink it. When he achieved all of that he needed to do more. He crossed in a sack, on stilts, on a bicycle, one day he was blindfolded. By this time, he had the attention of the world, so whenever he would walk across crowds of thousands would come to watch, cheer and scream his name. Finally, one day – he announced that he was the greatest tight rope walker – he asked the crowd if they believed in him. They shouted – we believe. Okay he shouted back, I will walk back across the tightrope. But this time I am going to walk with one of you on my shoulders. – do I have any volunteers? There was not a sound – no one said anything. Until one man finally raised he hand, and said he would be the one to sit on the tightrope walkers shoulder. He rose forward, got on the man’s shoulder and they went across together. Of course the crowd roared – the tightrope walker asked once again – do you believe? He corrected them – when I asked you if you believed – more than 10,000 people shouted yes. But the truth is – there was only one of you who really believed in me. God asks us every day if we believe – how many times in our life do we really answer yes? We are the children of Abraham – when we have faith in God. when we believe in the words of God there is nothing that we cant do and achieve. Lent is a lot like that dark time in Abraham’s life. When he was holding on the a vision that he could not see. Lent is our time to wait for God’s Easter promises to come true. The opposite of darkness in life is not necessarily light – it is the faithfulness of endurance. It is waiting on God, waiting with God, faithfully believing until circumstances change. Change comes to those who have the endurance to believe, in the invisible, the impossible and the improbable. May our prayer – be like the prayer of a young girl entering the faith of Abraham – “In a city torn by pain, a city far from wholeness and peace, a city waiting still to be redeemed, give us lord the courage to say: there is but one God in heaven and earth, in dark and light in good times and bad. Amen. Dr. Charles Blair, pastor of Calvary Temple, Denver, Colorado, said, “My first year as a pastor was a floundering experience. The turning point came when I read a book of sermons by Dr. Robert G. Lee, then pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, Memphis, Tennessee. I went to Memphis to interview Dr. Lee. For a week I trailed him as he made sixty pastoral calls, and I said to him one day, “Dr. Lee, if I made that many calls, I might have a big church too.” He replied, “Well, why don’t you?” “Then I wrote to Dr. Louis Evans, pastor of Hollywood Presbyterian Church, and later went to see him. He could spare me only twenty minutes, but they changed the course of my study life. “Son,” Dr. Evans said, “for every minute I preach I study an hour.” When I came back, Denver looked different to me.” In ancient Israel six cities were founded as cities of refuge. Thither for refuge could flee men who, without malice or premeditation, had taken the life of a fellow man. Once within the gates of the city of refuge, they could not be touched by any hand of vengeance or judgment. The rabbis have an interesting tradition that once every year the roads leading to these cities of refuge were carefully repaired and cleared of obstacles and stones, so that the man fleeing for his life would have no hindrance in his way. The Cross is God’s great and eternal city of refuge from the penalty upon sin. In the liturgy of the Jewish bat mitzvah of Julie and Valerie Glauberg was this beautiful prayer: “In a world torn by pain, a world far from wholeness and peace, a world waiting still to be redeemed, give us, Lord, the courage to say:”There is one God in heaven and earth:” Summary Depression, while serious, is not to be feared. By God’s grace and with the help of modern medicine, it can be healed. Through Many Dangers, Toils and Snares “A deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him.” So says Genesis, chapter 15. The man those ominous words describe — the one who is surrounded, enveloped, by “deep and terrifying darkness” — is revered as a spiritual guide by perhaps more people on the face of this earth than any other. His name is Abram. We know him as Abraham. He’s the common ancestor of not one, but three great religions of the world: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. So you may be surprised to hear an interpretation of the biblical narrative that describes Abram this way — as a man struggling with depression. Might depression, in fact, be a possible way to explain this “deep and terrifying darkness”? It comes upon Abram suddenly, without warning. It comes upon him at a time in his life when he has little reason to be depressed, when nearly everything about his life has been going well. Man of blessing “Look toward heaven and count the stars,” a generous Lord has said to him, not long before. “Count the stars, if you are able to count them. So shall your descendants be.” Now, having lots of descendants may not seem an attractive thought to many of us — most parents today prefer smaller families. Yet, most of our ancestors valued children as though they were wealth — which, in a very real sense, they were. For a man of the ancient Near East — a nomadic herder of livestock, like Abram — having many children is the be-all and end-all of life. For Abram, wealth is directly related to biological reproduction. Every time a ewe drops a new lamb, or a nanny goat a new kid, Abram’s net worth creeps up a little. Every time a young woman of Clan Abram bears a new child, that means another set of hands will one day hold a shepherd’s crook or bake the flat loaves of bread that sustain the community. The paradox, among all this divine blessing, is that Abram himself has, as yet, no children. His wife, Sarai, seems unable to conceive. Using a word that sounds harsh and hurtful today, the Bible calls her “barren.” This is the greatest sadness in Abram’s life, that as yet, he has no son and heir. Yet, hasn’t the Lord just assured him that his descendants will be as numberless as the stars of heaven? Hasn’t the Lord just promised to give Abram and his descendants a rich land one day? When I was a child, I was afraid of the dark. I would go get in bed with my dad, and he would tell me a story, and I knew everything was okay. As long as I was with him, I knew nothing would harm me. That is the way our heavenly Father wants us to feal about Him. He wants us to know that He is always near us, just a prayer away, and He will protect, lead, and guide us, and we can feal sheltered in His arms.