Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

Luke 19: 41-44, NT page 83 As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God. Sermon We were about 16 years old, and my best friend Matt was driving on fumes – the tank was just about empty. We pulled into McDonalds. I had five dollars to my name, and even though I was hungry and we were in the McDonald’s parking lot I gave the money to Matt. After all, he was nice enough to be driving me around, and it seemed like the least I could do: give him some money to buy gas. So he thanked me for the money; then took it into the McDonalds to buy two double cheese burgers – both of which he ate himself. There I was – hungry – sitting in a car nearly out of gas - and thinking about how if I would have known that my friend Matt were going to use my last $5.00 to buy hamburgers and not gasoline I wouldn’t have given him the money. Maybe that’s how you are too – you see a man on the side of the road asking for help. His sign says that he’s out of work and hungry, so you pull out what you can spare, only to watch as he turns the corner and ducks into the liquor store. I once saw a man in line at a soup kitchen with a cell phone clipped to his belt. One time I gave a man a fist full of cash and he asked me about giving him 15 more – and there was another time I gave a man coke right out of our church refrigerator and after he drank it he threw the can on our lawn. But that’s the risk involved in charity. You can’t control what people are going to do with what you give them – you can’t see into the future to find out who they’ll be tomorrow – you can’t know their heart – and you are foolish to expect a thank you because there is no guarantee you’ll be getting it. Knowing all that – some give up on charity. It’s too hard to know what someone will do with what you give them, so some people just don’t give. And that’s something that makes us different from Jesus. “As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes… You did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” While our first scripture lesson describes his triumphal entry into the city – the crowds cheering, the coats and palms laid on the road to soften the steps of his colt – Jesus knows that while they celebrate today, while today they cheer: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord,” soon enough the crowd will chant: “Crucify him!” That’s the risk involved. Even Jesus can’t control what people are going to do – but unlike us he can see into the future to find out who they’ll be tomorrow – he can know their heart – and in knowing all that – some would give up on charity, give up on kindness, give up on love, while Christ weeps over Jerusalem knowing that he will be offering these people his very self whether they appreciate it or not. And that’s something that makes us different from Jesus. Some imagine that he’s more like us – helping those who help themselves, blessing those who bless his name; that he only gives to those who appreciate what he has to offer. There are some who have said that he’s turned away from our world. That having come to know the true state of our hearts, he’s turned away and ridden his colt in the other direction – but I tell you – while he weeps over Jerusalem knowing that their celebration will soon enough turn into his death on the cross – he does not turn around, but rides on into the city, offering his life for a people who do not even recognize him. Surely that’s foolishness. Surely that’s foolishness - to go on giving to people who misuse and don’t appreciate. Surely that’s foolishness. Not to turn around once you know that destruction awaits. Surely that is foolishness. To lay down your life out of love for a people who would love you one day and hate you the next. But is it foolishness or is it divinity? Is it foolishness or is it the definition of love? There was a time when I believed that love was deserved. That it could be earned, and just as it could be earned it could be lost. But love doesn’t work that way – the love of Christ doesn’t look like that – for he rode on into Jerusalem knowing exactly who those people were, just as he rides on into this very church knowing exactly who you are. You may cheer for him today, but should you disappoint him tomorrow, should you fail him, should you even curse him – still he chose to face the cross for you. Even as they cheered, he wept because he knew that they did not recognize him. But he did not turn around – and he will never turn his back on you. Thanks be to God. Amen.