[Mcgregorpage] McGregorPage #545, Lent 2, 3/4/07

[rmcgregoralbq at aol.com]

Lent 2, March 4, 2007

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Psalm 27
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Luke 13:31-35

Belly Centered or God Centered

Of course stone the prophets!  Who has the nerve to wait for God?  Who 
can take the terror the way Abraham did?  "As the sun was going down, a 
deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness 
descended upon him."  (Genesis 15:12)  Of course lead a belly-centered 
life.  Who can find nourishment in the cross the way Jesus did?  "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."  (Luke 
13:33)

The stoning notwithstanding, God loves (her) little belly-centered 
chicks.  Gather them under her wings, the mother hen would, but they 
are too busy scratching at the dust in search of another morsel.  
Danger is near, but the little belly-centers haven't the interest to 
know.  "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.'" (Luke 13:35)  Jesus sounds disgusted with 
Jerusalem.  Paul sounds disgusted with the Mardi Gras in Philippi, but 
they will both welcome all the chicks in the end.  The risen Lord 
appears in Jerusalem without a word about vengeance, just faith.  The 
early church rises up out of Jerusalem on Pentecost, no forsaking of 
the covenant with Abram here, just a passing frustration with the 
belly-centered, the anxious and the violent.

The progression from belly-centered to anxious to violent is our common 
lot.  We are, after all, dependent on our next breath.  Skip a breath 
and we get anxious.  Skip two and we get violent.  Same way with food, 
money, electricity and so on.  Naturally we stone the prophets instead 
of changing the inequities on which our prosperity is built, stifle the 
dissenters rather than solve the problem, plunder the biosphere rather 
than risk a recession.  Nature will deal harshly with us in time, God 
knows.  Jerusalem knows.  (Let's have no sentimental talk about "mother 
nature" or confuse that idea with God.  The natural end of things is 
death, and nature doesn't care.)

God loves us all and seeks to gather us all, but belly-centered chicks 
don't gather except for themselves.  God-centered chicks can be 
gathered together.  For those who care to know the difference we have 
Abram's example.  He prepares a feast but doesn't eat it.  To live in 
covenant with God will be his food.  Paul's example is to share the 
sufferings of Christ in order to share in the resurrection of Christ.  
These chicks choose to heed the warning and accept the shelter of 
mother's wings.  "One thing I asked of the LORD, that will I seek 
after: to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to 
behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.  For he 
will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me 
under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock."  (Psalm 
27:4-5)




May these thoughts strengthen you.

An Open Letter to Fellow Pastors
>From Roland McGregor, United Methodist Pastor
(an e-mail service)

[See Web Page address below for a Children’s Message coordinated with 
these lections.]

http://www.webspawner.com/users/ChildPage/

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