Day of the Church Year: 2nd Sunday in Lent
Scripture Passage: Luke 13:31-35
Jesus is busy. By the time the thirteenth chapter of Luke rolls around, Jesus has healed people and cast out demons, fed people and attended dinner parties, forgiven sin and taught parable after parable to the crowds. Jesus has called disciples and visited Mary and Martha, spent time in prayer and sent out seventy followers to cure the sick and proclaim the kingdom of God come near. And that’s only by chapter 13; more is still to come. But at this juncture, when the Pharisees warn Jesus that he should flee for King Herod wishes to kill him, instead of shying away from further ministry, Jesus says: Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. In other words, Jesus says: Nothing is going to stop me from doing what I’m called to do, not even the threat of death.
It’s obvious, but I’ll say it anyway: we’re not Jesus. When we encounter threats to our lives, that tends to stop us in our tracks. We get scared. We reconsider. When we encounter speedbumps as we live out what we believe God is calling us to do, we slow down. We wonder if we heard God correctly. We might even abandon a plan. When we encounter difficulty in this life, whether broken relationships, addiction, or illness, we might consider giving up. We might succumb to despair. At the very least, we will take a moment and breathe and get a hug. But the good news is that death and evil, sin and injustice don’t stop Jesus in his tracks. When told Herod wishes to kill him, Jesus continues to do ministry. Chapter 14 and 15 and 16 and 17 and 18 are packed full of parables. In chapter 19, Jesus meets Zacchaeus, forgives his sin, and goes to his house that day. And later in chapter 19, Jesus enters Jerusalem, the city that kills its prophets. Even in Jerusalem, Jesus continues to teach and cleanses the temple of moneychangers, creating a scene, and sits across from the temple and predicts its destruction. Nothing will stop Jesus from doing what he came to do: to cast out demons, to heal, to proclaim the kingdom of God come near.
Our world right now is full of change and destruction, challenge and despair, personally, communally, globally. We might be faint of heart, but our God is not. When Jesus hears threats of his own death, he continues right on, and when our world is full to the brim of war and natural disaster, ecological crisis and hunger, when our lives are visited by grief and disease, economic challenge and spiritual emptiness, the God we know in Jesus is not overcome. God continues to work among us, to establish bonds of love, to untangle conflict, to bring about just peace, to gather us in community for the sake of the world God loves.
This week, the hymn “Lord of the Dance” inspired me; it is written as if sung by Jesus. I invite you to listen along as I sing the verses and to then join me on the chorus once you hear it a time or two.
I danced in the morning when the world was begun,
And I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,
I came down from Heaven and I danced on Earth At Bethlehem I had my birth.
Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!
I danced for the scribe and the pharisee
They would not dance, they wouldn't follow me
So I danced for the fishermen James and John
They come with me and the Dance went on:
Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!
I danced on the Sabbath and cured the lame
The holy people, they said it was a shame!
They whipped and stripped and then hung me high
Left me there on a cross to die!
Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!
I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black
It's hard to dance with the devil on your back
They buried my body and they thought I'd gone
But I am the Dance and I still go on!
Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!
They cut me down but I leap up high
I am the Life that will never never die!
I live in you if you live in Me
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
Dance then, wherever you may be
For I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!
Even on a Friday when the sky turned black, even with the devil on his back, even buried, Jesus cries: I am the Dance and I still go on! In today’s gospel, Jesus says he will continue to cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow and then finish his work on the third day, on the day of Easter, on the day of risen life. For Jesus is the life that will never never die. And friends in Christ, Jesus says: I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be, I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said He!
The Dance that still goes on, even on Good Friday, that’s the Dance Jesus leads us in, the Dance of love and hope, the Dance of justice-seeking and peace-keeping. When we encounter the difficulties of this life, the real, gritty, I-don’t-know-what-I’m-going-to-do difficulties, we are not left to our own devices on the dance floor. Jesus is not overcome but continues to dance and leads us, wherever we may be. For he is the Dance, and he still goes on! Thanks be to God! Amen.