Turning Tables

Saturday, December 19, 2015                                                     Luke 13:31-35
Elizabeth Hollingsworth

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! 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: 34-35)

In this passage, Jesus reflects on the prophets who have come before him who were torn down in the city of Jerusalem. What a paradox – that the holy city, the city of the temple, perpetually rejects the people who bring the word of God.

In this advent season, I wonder in what ways I, and the church, are like Jerusalem. It is so easy, so natural, to cling tight to what we know, what is familiar. It is startling when our worldviews are shaken, and what we know is questioned. I don’t like to be challenged. I like to do things my way, in the way I that I know how. I like plans, completing tasks, checking names off my Christmas shopping list, sleeping no less that 7.5 hours a night, and starting every morning off with a strong cup of coffee, topped with a splash of my 1% organic milk and zero-calorie stevia sweetener, thank you very much.

The familiar becomes what is “right,” what is “holy.”

But God doesn’t work like that. God sends Godself into the world in mysterious and unexpected ways. God comes to us in the form of a poor, Middle-Eastern, refugee child, who grew up and surrounded himself with the outcasts of society, healing the afflicted and oppressed. God interrupts our plans, turning the tables of the world as we know it on their heads.

Prayer: Holy God, Help us to remain open to your presence in our lives and in the world. Help us to realize that our values our often misplaced, which causes us to shun your prophets. Help us to listen for your voice, and in this Advent season, find the courage to say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”