Wants
In Coles a week ago when the shelves were nearly empty, there was a young mum with two small kids. One of them, a toddler was screaming out “I WANT!!!!!”. Mum finally gave in and quiet was restored.
In the Gospel reading today we are presented with a whole series of wants.
What do the Pharisees really want when they warn Jesus? These Pharisees here seem to be genuine when want Jesus to “get away from here” and be safe. There were “good” Pharisees. The Pharisee Nicodemus in John’s Gospel, and the Pharisee Paul who would eventually become an important follower of Jesus.
The Pharisees say that Herod wants to kill Jesus. Herod is curious about Jesus, especially the suggestion that Jesus is John the Baptist raised from the dead, since he himself had John beheaded. Interestingly, when Herod has the chance to kill Jesus in Jerusalem, he doesn’t do it, because he wants to get a sign out of him. He wants Jesus to perform a miracle as a great party trick. Jesus refers to Herod as “that fox”. Today foxes are generally thought to connote cleverness or cunning, in Jesus day they were also considered “insignificant”.
Jesus wants to continue on his way to death in Jerusalem. His sense of purpose is strong! Jesus also wants to gather Jerusalem as a hen gathers her brood; but Israel does not want to be gathered in.
The very word, want, can be used as a lens through which to view the whole story of the Bible; the big picture of the Bible is that God wants to gather God’s people. Yet God’s people want no part of it. So, God wants to work to win the people’s want back.
There are so many wants! We all have things we want. Perhaps, we would be more polite and we would say something like “that would be really nice”; but, the fact is we want.
With floods all along the coast from Gympie to the back of Sydney, there has been much more thinking about climate change. We want governments to sort out greenhouse gasses and rising sea levels. We want better coordination of emergency services. We want more low-cost and emergency housing to be available.
And we continue to be distressed about the war in Ukraine. With threats of nuclear bombs being used and with hospitals and houses being shelled and with it seeming impossible to set up evacuation corridors for civilians, we want assurances of peace and nuclear disarmament.
All this leads people to wonder what sort of world their grandchildren and great-grandchildren will grow up in. We hope for peace and stability in the world. We hope for good and compassionate governments. We hope for sensible management of our ecology.
And what hopes do we have for our families? A good education. A fine career. A loving spouse. Well behaved children. A big house. These are all very understandable human hopes to have. Sometimes, because of our faith, we might hope and pray that those we love would be regularly involved in church, or even be occasional attenders. We would love for our families to have joy in knowing Jesus; for them to have the wonderful peace of living, even now, the quality of life described as Eternal Life.
But it’s not easy to hold firm and clear spiritual hopes for those we love. We just seem to accept the fact that not many of our family are living the lives promised for them at their Baptism.
In a hotel somewhere I found a soggy drinks coaster on the bar advertising Becks Beer. On the coaster was printed “LIFE BECKONS …. CHOOSE WISELY”. That’s a great Christian message. What a fantastic short sermon; “Life Beckons .. choose wisely!”. But, if we really want this to happen for someone we love (or for ourselves), it’s really hard to see God making it happen if we don’t consistently pray for it.
Yet, most of us find it difficult to pray. How do we pray? I think we can be helped by the words of the hymns we remember. The old hymns such as “Guide me O Thou great Redeemer”, “O Lord my God when I in awesome wonder”, “What a friend we have in Jesus”, “When we walk with the Lord in the light of His word…. Trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus”, all give us wonderful words for our prayers. There’s also some very helpful new songs such as “Christ be our light, shine in our hearts, shine through the darkness”.
Yes, in guiding our prayers for a wise choice of life, songs can be most helpful; but only if we actively try to make them helpful. They won’t be beneficial if we don’t make an effort to learn from them. Our great hymns don’t achieve very much if they are only sung because we enjoy singing.
Sometimes sermons can be helpful too. If only we could remember what was said. In Sydney, at St Andrew’s Cathedral recently, the printed service sheet had a blank page for notes and people around us were jotting down points to remember. I had a parishioner in Surfers Paradise who always took notes in the sermon.
It’s not really a surprise that there is always helpful guidance in God’s word. There’s not any better value than in regular Bible reading. Sadly, we now live in the most Bible illiterate time for centuries. Our parents and grandparents were much more capable than us in quoting many Bible verses. Our Anglican services were intended to give great emphasis to the reading of Scripture. Being the Bible reader in our services is a most significant role. There is also an important role for Study Groups. Rev Greg is very excited that around 50 people in the Parish are attending our Lenten studies. Not everyone can get to, or cope with, Bible study groups. However, we are all able to learn new things at our own pace and time with our own choice of book. But why not read the Bible regularly?
Today, in the Gospel, there is again really Good News. Jesus stresses that time is short. He says “I’ll be casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow”. Action should not be put off; there is only today and tomorrow. After this warning to act now, Jesus once more shows his love and amazing forgiveness. In great encouragement to us, despite all the rejection that he has experienced, Jesus says he constantly desires to gather his people together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. Reading this carefully, we hear Jesus say “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings and you were not willing!”
May our Lenten focus be for us to strive to be willing to have Jesus gather us in. A few Sundays ago we sang “gather us in, the lost and forsaken, gather us in the blind and the lame; call to us now and we shall awaken, we shall arise at the sound of our name”
Our best want is to rejoice in being promised acceptance and forgiveness. To want to enjoy Jesus’ loving protection as we gather under his wings. May we, once again, make the decision to follow him wherever that leads.