Weeping With Jesus

Devotional Reflection, Friday, June 11, 2021

Proper 5, Friday of the second week after Pentecost

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.

Key phrase for reflection from today’s reading:

41 As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

Today we celebrate the Feast of Barnabas the Apostle. (See below.)

Daily Office Lectionary Readings

AM Psalm 69:1-23 (24-30) 31-38; PM Psalm 73

Ecclus. 45:6-16; 2 Cor. 12:11-21; Luke 19:41-48

Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer

Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer

Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer

Daily Office Gospel, Luke 19:41-48

41 As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43Indeed, 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. 44They 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.’*

45 Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; 46and he said, ‘It is written, “My house shall be a house of prayer”; but you have made it a den of robbers.’

47 Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; 48but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.

David’s Reflections

And, you, what do you weep for . . . you, in love

with such an immense and whirling breast. . . .

I consecrate you, God, because you love so much;

because you never smile; because your heart

must all the time give you great pain.*

So wrote Peruvian poet Cesár Vallejo in the closing lines of his poem “God.”

Jesus looked down on Jerusalem as he entered and wept. Luke says “he saw the city.” And, he spoke out loud to the city that could not hear in that moment and would not hear him in previous moments.

Jesus frequented Jerusalem. We could take the risk of saying he loved Jerusalem, given today’s reading. Matthew and Mark only record Jesus’ final visit. Luke records one previous visit of Jesus and his parents when he was twelve. It’s John that fleshes out that relationship. In John, Jesus visits Jerusalem for Passover at least twice (2:13; 12:13). He attended The Feast of Tabernacles (7:1, 10). He attended Hanukkah (10:22-23). The feast he attended in John 5:1-2 probably was Pentecost but could have been Passover (6:4).

We can conjecture that John’s account is incomplete. Jesus may have been among the pilgrims to the three major feasts every year (Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles). My point—Jesus felt a powerful connection to Jerusalem, a bond that created pain because the religious leadership (whom John’s writer calls “the Jews”) demonstrated such obdurate blindness in their dismissal and rejection of him.

On this particular day, as the drama of major confrontation drew near yet again, Jesus’ wounded love brimmed over into tears. He passionately wanted to see his beloved people opening themselves up to God’s new, fresh light shining through in his words and actions. But, the overwhelming responses were misunderstanding, anger, fear, and resentment. In his weeping God ’s pain found expression in human flesh. As Vallejo wrote,

“your heart must all the time give you great pain.”

Jesus’ weeping calls out to us to reframe our vision of those around us. First, do we really “see” them. Jesus saw them at risk of political and military disaster if they rejected his way of peace. Can we “see” those around us at risk, living without community, without the experience of the divine love, without ultimate meaning and purpose. Can we feel the twinges of God’s pain in the inner workings of the Spirit? And, can we reframe our relationship to those around us. Rather than fearing or avoiding witness, can we follow Jesus into our Jerusalem, not flinching at the painful experience of misunderstanding and rejection?

Christian mission is a cruciform experience. Yes, we can celebrate with joy those we see being gathered into the divine love. (See Luke 15 for three parties over those who were lost but now are found.) Yet, that joy will be salted with grief over those who refuse to be gathered. But, will we be resilient and persistent? Will we welcome the divine sorrow into our daily prayers and longings? Will we allow that sorrow and compassion to push us outside ourselves into ongoing mission, witness, and service?

We will not have genuine inner peace otherwise, because we will not be true to our commitment to Christ. And, we will not be actively sharing in God’s unceasing mission to gather all into the experience of God’s saving love. When we venture to serve and witness, to engage those around us, we are not going first. Jesus is out in front, loving and drawing.

Collect of the Day, Proper 5 The Sunday closest to June 8

O God, from whom all good proceeds: Grant that by your inspiration we may think those things that are right, and by your merciful guiding may do them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today we celebrate the Feast of Barnabas the Apostle. (New Testament)

http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/Barnabas.htm

Collect of the Feast of Barnabas, the Apostle

Grant, O God, that we may follow the example of your faithful servant Barnabas, who, seeking not his own renown but the well-being of your Church, gave generously of his life and substance for the relief of the poor and the spread of the Gospel; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

A Collect for Fridays

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 97)

In the Order of Worship for Evening

Almighty, everlasting God, let our prayer in your sight be as incense, the lifting up of our hands as the evening sacrifice. Give us grace to behold you, present in your Word and Sacraments, and to recognize you in the lives of those around us. Stir up in us the flame of that love which burned in the heart of your Son as he bore his passion, and let it burn in us to eternal life and to the ages of ages. Amen. (BCP, 113)

A Collect for Mission

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 280)