Sermon for Lent 2C 16 March 2025.                                                   Luke 13.31-35

‘The Lord is my light and salvation, whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?’

God brings light and salvation to us. What a mighty combination that provides all the strength and courage we need for a life lived in faith. Psalm 27 today blends in well with the gospel. It works through the theme of God’s light and salvation, applying it to different troubles, how we are helped in times of trouble and how to turn our lives around.

It shares an eternal truth with us, that the Lord is the strength of our life. says the Psalm, so we need not be afraid. Let us never forget that blessing and source of courage from God.

Jesus was drawing on this same courage when he began to hear rumours of threats to his life. Bad news always travels fast, doesn’t it? The Pharisees here are not the villains of the story, just the messengers, trying to warn him off coming closer to Jerusalem, where Herod lurked.

 

Standing up to evil men with too much power takes guts, as we see in the world at the moment. Daring to stand up to Herod, even calling him a name, ‘that Fox’, seemed unwise, even foolhardy, for an itinerant preacher. But Jesus, the Son of God was fully aware of his access to the ultimate power of God, should he decide to call on it. Herod, the son of the Nativity King Herod, was a client King, reliant on the goodwill of the Roman Empire for his power, keeping control through fear and violence. He was a dangerous man, waiting, like the devil, for an opportune moment to stop Jesus in his tracks.

Jesus gave the Pharisees a message to send back to Herod, revealing a different purpose and use of authority. He already knew that he was heading to Jerusalem to die and to rise again. He kept telling the disciples, but they couldn’t hear or understand it.

Like one with a terminal diagnosis, he was focused on what he must do with each day, rather than worrying about his death. The pressure to desperately hold on to life had been removed, but time may have felt rather short to achieve God’s purpose for him.

The message to Herod is a bit of a riddle and refers to sets of three days echoing the three days of his death and resurrection. He told the Pharisees, “I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work.”

At that moment, he was busy shining God’s light into lives filled with darkness and sharing the good news of salvation with all who would listen. He was busy filling them with God’s courage for the dark days. We can do our version of this too.

 

‘The Lord is my light and salvation, whom shall I fear?

We can follow Christ in our faith that God is our light and salvation, our source of help in difficult and dangerous times. We trust that God will keep us safe, and believe it in our heads and our hearts. Believing with our head and heart, not just one or the other transforms faith from feeling a bit, well, theoretical to one that is nimble and lived every day.

As the Psalmist discovered, there will be days when we feel utterly alone, when friends and family do not support us in our actions. This is when Psalm 27, the psalm for today, shows its strength. It reveals a confidence that in the day of trouble, God will keep us safe in God’s shelter, hidden in the secrecy of God’s dwelling, set up safe from enemies.

 

Jesus, knowing that many would hear the message as it was transmitted back to Herod’s palace in Jerusalem, added an invitation to the citizens of Jerusalem. He offered the humblest citizens a chance to find a safe shelter with God. That shelter would be as warm and loving as a hen with chicks under her wing. This is how power can be used, he signals to Herod. You can care for those who have no safety. The powerful can look after those with no food or hope, instead of throwing drunken parties for their friends or sucking up to the enemy invaders.

 

The tragedy is that Jesus knew the citizens; he knew they would acclaim him as he rode in on a donkey but would swiftly reject his offer of forgiving love and, then demand his death. He was heading straight into his death and his betrayal. Somehow that feels even worse.

He transcended the human limitations that would cause us to hesitate before offering shelter to people who might wish us harm.

 

Jesus desired to gather the vulnerable to him to keep them safe, warm and protected, like a hen with her chicks, in a world that can be cold and dark. We know in the natural earthly order of things, that a hen is no match for a fox. So why did Jesus use the image of a mother hen as a symbol of love, safety and God’s shelter when sending such a bold message to Herod the fox? It reminds us that the heavenly order, God’s order, is entirely different from ours. We are promised that in the kingdom coming, all will be different with no need for violent confrontations.

 

Jesus was swiftly heading to God’s Kingdom where things would be different. We are invited to hold on to our faith that one day, we will see a new way of living, too. It offers such wonderful possibilities. Where evil men cannot bully or lie, and war is not a constant threat. A world order in which the powerless have a voice and a meal, where money and greed have less influence than clean water and mutual respect.

What must we do? We must wait for the Lord but don’t sit on your hands, waiting for a new world; there’s work to be done in making this one a better place.

Using the strength we have from God, we must call for peace and fairness. This is the way to a more intentional and calmer life today, while we continue to wait.

Wait for the Lord’s pleasure, be strong, and he shall comfort your heart.

Wait patiently for the Lord.

The Lord be with you.