Loving God, you call us to come and follow and gather us into your family, making us participants in your love.  Continue to empower us by your Spirit, using us as your hands and feet in the world, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            Starting today, each of the gospels we hear over the next few weeks include things that happen while Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem.  At the same time, we hear a story today from Genesis that seems odd to our modern ears – a covenant with Abram that involves cutting up animals and a flaming torch passing between them.  Meanwhile, Jesus is faced with yet another temptation – to save himself from the plot to kill him.  Instead, he will place himself in harm’s way, while protecting the brood that has gathered under his wings.  Perhaps these things are good reminders that we are called and gathered into a God-initiated relationship in baptism (sundaysandseasons.com).

         Let’s begin with the covenants today – God’s covenant with Abram and the covenant made in baptism.  While the whole thing with the animals might seem revolting to us, it was a common way of ratifying a covenant in those days.  In fact, when we hear that God made a covenant with Abram, it is literally “cutting a covenant” (Gen. 15:18).  As the parties to the covenant passed between the two halves of the animals, it was a way of saying, “May this same fate come to me if ever I break this covenant with you.”  In the reading from Genesis, it is significant that only God passes between the pieces – symbolized by a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch.  This covenant is both initiated and confirmed by God, not Abram.

         The same is true in the covenant of our baptism.  It is God who does the initiating, and God who seals the covenant – not through animal sacrifice, but through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  It is also a covenant that includes some pretty amazing promises on God’s part: things like eternal life, and a new birth, and setting us free from the power of sin and death.  We are also anointed with the Holy Spirit and incorporated into the body of Christ - the church - the family of God.

         In Abram’s case, he received some different amazing promises from God.  The most amazing was the promise of as many descendants as the stars in the sky – particularly because Abram and Sarai were already quite elderly and had no children of their own.  The other promise that is mentioned in today’s reading is the promise of the land.  It is promised to Abram’s descendants, perhaps even both Arabs and Israelites, depending on your perspective.

         While Abram is involved in the making of this covenant by gathering and cutting up the animals, the key piece seems to be his faith.  Genesis tells us that Abram believed God, “and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness” (15:6).  In the same way, faith is a key ingredient in our baptismal covenant, alongside water and God’s word.  Still, as Martin Luther would remind us, the Holy Spirit is the one who produces faith in our hearts – so the emphasis is still on what God is doing.

         However, as you may have noticed today, there are promises that are made when somebody is baptized and also when we affirm our baptism.  It is not entirely accurate to say that God makes all of the promises.  However, God’s promises are irrevocable, whereas we are free to opt out if we so choose.  For God’s part, we are loved and saved and redeemed – even when we are wayward children.

         When Jesus laments over Jerusalem, his love extends to all those who have refused to gather under his wings – those who don’t want his salvation, and those who pass judgment on God’s behalf without seeking to know God better.  They are free to make their choices, but God’s love still longs to gather them in – just as a mother hen gathers her children under her wings.

         It is an amazing maternal image that led mystics like Julian of Norwich to write about Christ our mother who is all Love and feeds us with himself (sundaysandseasons.com).  While some have trouble imagining a God that encompasses both masculine and feminine characteristics, writers like Julian of Norwich in the fourteenth century and Martin Luther in the sixteenth century had no trouble imagining God as both Mother and Father.  After all, there are feminine images of God in more than one place in the Scriptures.

         As for today’s gospel, the mother hen is a deeply meaningful image, especially when Herod is referred to as a fox (Lk. 13:32).  Whatever the predator, a mother hen will hide her entire brood under her wings, and will offer herself as a sacrifice in order to protect her young.  In a sense, Jesus did the same for us – offering himself in order that all of God’s children might be saved.

         Through our baptism into Christ, we are called and gathered into a God-initiated relationship where we gain many brothers and sisters in Christ.  All of us are loved, and redeemed, and made holy (sanctified if you like fancy words) – partners in God’s mission to love, bless, and reconcile the world.  As we continue on our journey through this world, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit, even as we are reminded of the depth of God’s love for us through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Lent 2(C)                                           Luke 13:31-35

March 16, 2025                                Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2025 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved