“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!”
(Luke 13:33-34 NRSV)
The above images were taken in 2013 during my trip to Jerusalem at the Church of Dominus Flevit. The altar mosaic overlooks the image of the city of Jerusalem as the scripture reads, “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!”
The role of a pastor is so often to tend to a group of people, sometimes within congregations who share a geographic bound, sometimes as chaplains who are responsible for transient membership, and sometimes serving our communities caring for people who we may only meet once in our journey. Awaiting is Jesus’ own death on the cross, awaiting is the destruction of the city of Jerusalem, awaiting in the scattering of the flock into the diaspora & the uncertainty if God’s promises of a Promised Land will ever be revealed again.
To hear Jesus weep over the city of Jerusalem is to see the deep care & compassion of a mother wishing away the dangers of the world & the destruction that is to come. And yet, we all know that isn’t possible.
We’ve all seen the “hover parents” at sporting events, school classrooms, within our churches & on community playgrounds who work to make sure that their children never have to experience the pain and disappointment of failure or injury. And for many of us, we wish we could do the same things for our own children, keeping them safe from the dangers of this world, whether they be physical dangers or dangers brought about by a world that is increasingly more and more connected though technology.
But that’s not how the world works, it’s not even how Jesus works within this passage. When we step out into this world, despite all of our mothering instincts to keep those we care for safe, they still step out into the world and are bound to be hurt by it. Despite our want to gather those we love under our wings and shield them from the dangers of the world, they’re not willing. They want to explore and see what the world holds for them, dangers and discoveries alike.
So as Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, may we be reminded of the ways in which God longs to gather us under the wings of a loving creator. But might we also acknowledge our own longings to explore the world around us. To see the ways in which our own free will can hurt, but also at times protect, those who are around us.
It’s the beautiful paradigm of the life that we live. The choice of how to respond to the grace and comfort that is offered as a part of our faith sends us out to live that faith in the lives that we live.
And as we venture out into this ever dangerous world, might we always know the loving shelter of the welcoming wings of Jesus waiting for us to come home.
Imagining a Changing Church 