13 Mar Sunday, March 13, 2022
Today’s gospel reading creates intrigue. Like a clever headline, the snippet entices the reader and begs further lines of questioning like, “Wait? Don’t Pharisees usually give Jesus a hard time? What’s with the offer to help him? Ooo. No he didn’t. Jesus just called Herod a fox. I wonder if the Pharisees will tell? Jesus tells them, “Go on about your business. I’ve got mine to tend to.” Well, well. Seems there’s a little drama going on outside Jerusalem.
Also this week, I found another headline intriguing. It read, “Ship ‘still beautiful’ after 130 years at the bottom of Lake Superior.” How marvelous to imagine that beauty had survived wreckage, an extended period of lapsed time and withstood the damaging effects of surrounding elements. Some aspects of our lives feel like a wreck. Unusual circumstances have lasted for extended periods of time. Damaging elements surround us: war, inflation, poverty, crime and general instability.
The sunken ship illustrates the story of faith. Faith is what Jesus had in God’s plan for his time on earth. What they together determined to accomplish, they did. The plan itself is evidence of beautiful and skilled crafting. Jesus, like the ship, was preserved amid many threats. Listen as the tale of the ship uplifts the gospel message.
An intact ship lay 65 feet beneath the water’s surface, 35 miles from shore. Neither distance was very far. How could it remain hidden for 130 years? It was no deeper than the average height of a telephone pole, no further from land than the distance from Halifax to Hershey. How curious.
Like a short video or article, scripture readings don’t tell the whole story. They offer bits and pieces of a puzzle. When we keep putting pieces together we see more of the whole picture. Unless you read Luke up until this point, you wouldn’t know that when some Pharisees try to warn rather than challenge Jesus, it’s rather odd behavior on their part.
Typically they butt heads with Jesus. Was there disagreement among them? Did some split from others and say, “We really must try to warn and protect him. ” I suppose it’s a possibility, but it hardly makes sense. In the same way, how could a fully weighted, cargo laden ship full of coal be tossed by a storm that occurs May 4th on Lake Superior. I suppose it’s a possibility, but it hardly makes sense.
But there we have it. Both scenarios seemed to have occurred. Jesus, like a fully weighted cargo ship was en route to a particular destination, Jerusalem. He, like the ship, was being towed, as it were, under the power and strength of a much larger vessel.
In truth, there was opposition and threats posed to both. A storm applied shear force to the cable. In the case of the cargo ship, the cable broke as the cargo ship heeled and rolled side to side hit by the storm’s waves. In the case of Jesus, the cable held.
I elaborate on the story of the ship in order to demonstrate the importance of reading about the particulars of Lent: Jesus entering the wilderness, surviving trial, temptation and threat. These stories prove Jesus a worthy vessel. They chart a journey completed. Jesus arrives at his appointed destination, Jerusalem.
Disciples represent the ship’s crew. When Jesus died, they thought the cable had broken. They felt the ship start to quickly sink. Like the real ship’s crew, they tried to save themselves by heading for the lifeboat. Therein they climbed and began to row.
After a time, they were within sight of a life-saving station. During times of crisis, they, like Pharisees and Abram, exchange questions and answers with God. They express their desire and ponder God’s will. They ask if they’ve done enough… to be rewarded or rescued.
Is there such a thing as ordained destiny? Does God prescribe certain outcomes? Well, it depends on our vantage point. Where are we as we watch a story unfold? Are we in the larger ship, a free democratic vessel merely watching the other ship sink? Do we intervene as crew from the sinking ship row feverishly? Or do we observe with a historical eye and imagine what beauty in tragedy looks like some hundred years later?
When people fear, they must cling to hope while hoping God will intervene. And in the meantime, row until a sign of hope is within sight. Do their best, prepare and time things well. But even then, the lifeboat may overturn. Lives will be lost in spite of concerted efforts made by all.
Only two crew members made it to shore after the cargo ship went down on Lake Superior. That’s a sad fact. But the greater fact is this: those two would never have made it alone. The effort of every person onboard was needed. All had to row feverishly for any one of them to have a chance. One could argue why none of this makes sense, why it’s nonsense for some to lose their lives to save just some.
Where is beauty in tragedy? Video footage of the ship followed lines of an intact hull whose contents were undamaged. The ship was unphased by years of activity in the world above while submerged. The name ATLANTA, in italicized caps, was perfectly legible. It may as well have said, “Jesus Lives.” No lives were lost on board.
The beauty of faith is the story of one who contributes to the survival of others, playing our part by giving our all as if all life is at stake, because it is. Quitting or shirking responsibility threatens the chance anyone has.
Did you see the beauty of today’s psalm? A prayer of great faith was narrowed down to one request, “to dwell in the house of the Lord and gaze upon the Lord’s beauty as we seek God.” Whether we land on shore or end up beneath the water, we are like that ship: hidden in a place of sanctuary.
Sunken or not, what shelter we’re given preserves beauty. We will be heard. What hearts feel can be expressed directly. Whatever our fate, we’ll see the Lord’s face, a face never hidden, only waiting to be discovered.
The gospel message can be summed up this way, “See how Jesus is able to fulfill all things. He’s not only able to complete the journey, he’s determined to care for folks all along the way. He knows the goal, and is willing to continually teach both followers and the opposition. Evil will not prevail though a fox is on the loose.”
While there’s value and fun in telling stories, there’s even more to be had by being part of them. If you’re inspired to act as some Pharisees were, then act. Our contributions may or may not achieve personal goals, but they will be noted along with the acts of those with malintent.
Even Jesus admitted it was,“impossible for events to unfold otherwise.” He bemoaned that humans do as they will and wished to gather them as a brood underwing. Luke’s portrayal of the world Jesus lived in is an accurate depiction.
Characters in the story remind us God created a world where the vulnerable are threatened, while establishing ways to protect and preserve them. Were we to characterize the world according to the story, we’d see these parts: the part of some Pharisees, people few in number among their kind, people who were willing to set themselves apart from the group with whom they were most commonly identified, people who took a risk to protect the vulnerable.
Fascinating to note that their actions don’t alter the plot or change the story’s outcome. They serve to encourage the protagonist and assert the possibility of making individual choices.
Another part is played by the fox, a cunning quite beautiful creature. It represents any human being that seizes an opportunity to prey on the vulnerable. Then there are those chicks, the target protagonist. Vulnerable, but not helpless. In fact, Jesus declares that his character is not a chick faced by a fox.
The part he plays is a hen about her business, able to defend her territory, able to elude the fox until her time of death comes as it has been prescribed to her, willing to spread her wings and protect her chicks. The fox won’t have its way at will.
In the story of the ATLANTIC, we see beauty established and preserved by the very nature of wood. Though wind and water created wreckage, parts remained intact. Time did not destroy. Though tragedy was an element of the story, so was triumph. The cargo load of coal could still prove useful were it carried up from where it presently lay.
Characters in every story remind us of a world God created, a world where the vulnerable are threatened, yet will not be taken without God caring for them up to and through the moment of their death. Not all make it to shore, but some will live to tell the story of how everyone contributed to making life possible. The story of our faith, the story of cooperative effort under threat. Let us pray.
Lord, you saved us. Thanks for your offer of comfort and shelter. Align personal goals with those whose part has been cast to being most vulnerable. May the care we take and the efforts we expend contribute to a larger story where good triumphs.
Help caring come naturally. Make us willing to act in a timely manner. Prepare us to be knowledgeable and brave, focused and diligent, as you were.
Thanks for allowing stories to unfold and giving everyone a notable part. Mature your church so it’s inclined to nurture any fragile life and strong to imprint based on need.
We’re unsure of our role and don’t wish to waste effort. Help us recognize what will make a difference. If we can’t change the outcome, let us contribute to beauty seen in the present and also preserved, evident hundreds of years from now. IYHNWP, Amen.