Luke 13:31-35
At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants
to kill you.” He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and
performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and
the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of
Jerusalem.’ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How
often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and
you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time
comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
For a while I’ve been wondering what it would be like to be up in this pulpit. It’s kind of like
being up in a tree and wondering if you will ever get down. Anyway, when I came across this Peanuts
cartoon, it seemed to go not only with the gospel for today but also with being way up here. Picture this:
In the first frame, Lucy is standing next to a tree. She looks up and shouts to Linus, “What are
you doing in that tree?” “Looking for something,” comes the voice from the tree. Then he adds, “Can
you see Snoopy? We climbed up here together, but now I don’t see him.” Lucy’s answer isn’t very
sympathetic - “Beagles can’t climb trees.” The next frame shows Snoopy falling out of the tree right on
his head with a loud “klunk.” “You’re right!” he says. And, while Snoopy’s head is still spinning, Lucy
lets him have it. “You stupid Beagle, what are you doing climbing around in a tree?” Linus interrupts
from the tree, “Don’t yell at him. . . . We’re trying to find a strange creature in a nest. . .” Lucy walks
off. “You’re both crazy! Go ahead and knock yourselves out! I couldn’t care less!!” In the last frame,
we see Snoopy - his head still sore and spinning as he thinks, “Rats. . . I was hoping for a hug!”
And I think salvation history is all about that - about God loving the world and God wanting to
give the world - and everyone in it - a big hug - even, and maybe especially, when we have acted - well,
just let’s say when we have acted like jerks - even when we have no idea that God’s hug is exactly
what we need.
I decided to call the sermon “Body Language” because love is something that you can talk
about but talking doesn’t go far when it comes to knowing that love is real.
Now, body language is very interesting and revealing. And even though there is a real science to
understanding it, body language is also something we pick up on almost intuitively.
Another way to say it is: If you talk the talk - you have to walk the walk - or your talk doesn’t mean
much.
And I think that one way to think about Jesus is this: that Jesus was God’s body language in the
world - which means we can look at Jesus if we want to know what God is like and what God’s love
for this world is like.
Jesus talked the talk and he walked the walk. He had a mission. Very briefly, his mission was to
tell the world about God’s love and about God’s kingdom - a kingdom that was still to come, and yet a
kingdom that was already present.
He announced his mission we he went to his home synagogue in Nazareth and read this passage
from the prophet Isaiah:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
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