Sermon - Can't You See it? (Mar. 20, 2011)

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Page 1 of 4 © 2011 The Rev. Eric O. Ledermann, San Bernardino, CA. All rights reserved.

“Can You Not See It?”By the Rev. Eric O. Ledermann

March 20, 2011 – 2nd Sunday in LentFirst Presbyterian Church, San Bernardino, CA

Luke 19.41-44 – Jesus Weeps Over Jerusalem (NRSV)

41As he came near and saw the city, he weptover it, 42saying, “If you, even you, had onlyrecognized on this day the things that make forpeace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.43Indeed, the days will come upon you, when yourenemies will set up ramparts around you and

surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44Theywill crush you to the ground, you and your childrenwithin you, and they will not leave within you onestone upon another; because you did not recognizethe time of your visitation from God.”

This text is part of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem toward the end of the Gospel of

Luke. As he comes down from the Mount of Olives, people gather, lay their cloaks down

on the road for him to walk across, praising God joyfully , saying,

“Blessed is the king

who comes in the name of the Lord!

Peace in heaven,

and glory in the highest heaven!”

As he nears the city, he looks upon it and is overcome as he weeps over it. This part

doesn’t get shared on Palm Sunday or any time in the Revised Common Lectionary. As

we read this gospel, this is a critical moment, but it does not make it in to our normal

cycle of scripture readings on Sunday mornings. Yet, it shares so much of what Jesus had

been trying to do, his whole reason for even coming to the city, knowing he was going to

die.

Jesus did not come to upset anyone or make anyone angry. He did not come to

overthrow the Jewish leadership or even overthrow the Romans. His sole purpose was to

remind the people of God’s desire to be in relationship with them, God’s desire for them

to live in peace with their Creator and all of God’s creation. Yet, they could not see

beyond their fears, their selfish anger, or their regrets. They could not see that, through

Jesus, God was reaching out. And, for this, Jesus wept.




His tears were tears for what could have been, tears for what was still possible! They were

tears for a people loved by a God who’s love is overwhelming. They were tears for what

had to happen now to prove that point. God did not give Jesus up to die, so much as

Jesus gave himself up to the fears, the anger, and the stifling regrets of humanity to prove

that God’s love can conquer even those things! By God’s grace, Jesus gave himself up to

prove that God’s love conquers everything and anything we can throw at it.

It’s odd isn’t it, that we long for a God we keep pushing away? We long for a deep

relationship with a God who will cure our mistrust, heal our fears, and make our hate

obsolete. Yet, every time God gets a little too close to those tender places we don’t even

allow ourselves to get near, we push our all-powerful, all-loving, all-healing God away.

We reject our Creator just as the people, despite celebrating his praises, rejected Jesus by

week’s end. God did not crucify Jesus, the weakness of the people to repel the hate andfear of their leadership crucified him. Our inability to trust the peace of God’s forgiveness,

the peace which surpasses all understanding, that’s what crucified Jesus. Our inability to

accept God’s overwhelming love crucified him. And for this, our inability to trust God’s

grace for our own lives, Jesus wept over the city…and Jesus weeps over us.

Every time we hold on to a grudge and allow it to eat at us and destroy us, Jesus weeps.

Every time we spread gossip and rumors about people, whether or not they are true, Jesus

weeps … for us. Every time we ignore our God-given gifts and refuse to use them forGod’s kingdom, Jesus weeps. Every time we reject those whom God loves, Jesus weeps.

Every time we ignore the presence of God in our neighbors, every time we even think

negative thoughts about a person, demonizing them because it makes it so much easier to

dislike or even hate them, Jesus weeps. Every time we do not engage the kingdom of God

that is all around us, the kingdom of love and acceptance, the kingdom of grace and

peace, Jesus weeps not just over us, but for us because it is sad.

Here God reaches out, offers us hope and salvation from all the negativity this worldbombards us with, offering us a new life, an opportunity to be born again into the world

God made, as opposed to the one we so often make for ourselves, and, yet, we can’t

believe it, we can’t trust it, and more often than not, we can’t accept it. It is sad.




Jesus weeps because he knew what was possible. He weeps because he knows what we

are capable of, he knows our potential—our God-given potential. God created us not to

hate and despise and kill one another, but to love and welcome and help one another.

God created us to be in community with our Holy Creator and with God’s creation, which

includes living in compassionate community with one another. Yes, it means holding one

another accountable, not out of hate or jealousy or “ah ha, gotcha!”, but out of love and

the same sense of potential Jesus sees in us. It means helping one another when someone

is in need, and then when we’ve received help, passing that grace on to others when they

need help (that’s the point of the story of the Good Samaritan…that even our enemies can

be our saviors, our helpers, our friends, and that we are called upon by God to share that

grace and compassion even with those wehateor who hate us). It means taking stock of

our lives and recognizing, honestly, where we have wronged others and where we have

been wronged, and then seeking forgiveness and reconciliation in all circumstances.Only then are we able to come to this place, kneel before this table, and humbly share in

the feast that Jesus prepares on our behalf.

So I ask you, do you have any “what ifs” in your life? Do you have any relationships you

wish might have turned out differently? Are you holding on to a grudge that is hurting you

and eating you up inside? Are you hanging on to jealousies or hurts that you need to

acknowledge to yourself and for which you need to seek healing? Do you have tears of

sadness for what might have been that need to be shed? Do you have tears of regret?

Do not let the sun go down on your tears. It is not too late. The resurrection of Jesus

Christ means a lot of things, and one of those things, I believe, is that with God it is never

too late.

Everyone thought after Jesus was crucified that it was too late now, all was lost. But God

had a different plant, and three days later God revealed that not even death can make it

“too late.” But don’t wait for death. Think about what is possible now in your life and inthe life of others.

Imagine what is possible if we allowed our lives to be truly transformed by God’s love,

God’s overwhelming love. Imagine the tears we could freely share, shedding us of the

fear, the hatred, the disappointment, the jealousy, the grudges, the regrets. Imagine being




free of the pressure that weighs us down and blocks us from living freely in the kingdom of

God, not somewhere in the future, but here and now, in this life. Imagine the scales

falling from your eyes and your eyes opening to the world as God sees it. Imagine

opening your eyes to the potential that exists all around us. The kingdom of God is

indeed near, and Jesus wept and still weeps today because people can not see it. Can you

not see it?

It is right here, in this very room. It is right here, in this very community. It is right here,

in this city, this state, this country, this world. All we have to do is open our eyes and see

what God sees—the potential, the possibility, the hope of a better world, a world of

mutual respect, mutual compassion, mutual love, especially between those who might still

see things differently. Can you not see it? It is already within us. It is part of our genetic

makeup, manifested in our desires for acceptance, our desires to not only receive love butalso our deep desire to freely offer love. It is a part of who we are because we are God’s

and God is within us.

Those tears welling up inside you are signs of the living water that is within us. They are

the hope for a better world where all are fed, all are cared for, and all recognize their

honored place in the kingdom that God has prepared for us. Friends, can you not see it

now?

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Sermon - Can't You See it? (Mar. 20, 2011)