Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem!

 2nd Sunday in Lent!

 

Introduction:                                                            

A.        Sometimes perhaps we get to wondering if Jesus really cared for the Pharisees and Jerusalem!

 B.        Sometimes, it seems, he talks to them almost cruel!

 Trans:

Today, on this 2^nd Sunday in Lent, our text shows us not only how

Jesus felt about the Pharisees and the Hebrew people, but it also gives

us a glimpse of how God feels about us.

 

Prayer

Luke 13:31-35

text vs. 34

 

I.          A look at the scripture!  How did Jesus feel? v. 34

 

A.        He felt great sorrow - he wasn't happy that time and time again

They had rejected him.

 

1.         He wasn't happy that they stood guilty before God!

2.         He knew what they needed, and he tried to tell them, but they

wouldn't listen!

 

B.        He felt great Love - No Hatred!

 

1.         He didn't hate them for what they had done to him and would

do to him.

2.         He just wanted to hug them up in his arms of Love!

 

 

C.        He felt forgiveness. Oh, how he longed to forgive them if they would

just accept it.

 

D.        He had great patience.  God had sent the prophets, and they had

Killed many of them; now, they would kill him as their rejection of him became complete.  What more could he do? Oh, how he longed to gather them up like a hen gathers her chicks! (One of the few feminine references to God or Christ!) It shows us that we do not just have to think of God in masculine terms!

 

E.         He had great foresight!  He could see where they were headed, but they wouldn't listen to him.

 

II.        What about us today?  Is Christ happy with what we are doing or is he sorrowful as he was with them?

 

A.        Just picture God looking down on us today, for after all God is!

 

1.         Would God feel great sorrow for us because we are rejecting

Jesus or would God be happy because we are living for Jesus?

2.         Christians!  Is God happy with where we are?

3.                  This is the season to realize what great lengths God has gone for us and how much God wants to forgive us; what will we do about it?

 

B.        God still is filled with that great love!  That is why God has gone to such great effort to bring us back.

 

C.        God still longs to forgive us!

 

D.        God still has great patience!  God has given us many chances, but the Bible teaches us that one day time will run out.

 

 

 

E.                 But we have today, and we have a vision of a God who waits and longs for us to come back!  (Share about God as a seeking God from the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32.)

F.                   

1.         After the prodigal son left, upon his return, the father sees

            him from afar off, he has been waiting watching and seeking!

2.         When the older brother is angry, the father goes out to plead

            and seek him to bring him back into the family!

3.         God is a seeking God, but it is up to us to respond!

 

H.        Is God sorrowful because we have never accepted Christ or maybe

we have accepted Christ but aren't really living for God, day by day? We are like the prodigal son and have drifted away?

 

1.         We want to do things our way!  We want to take the areas of

our lives and live for ourselves!

                        2.         We want to look out for number one!  We don’t really care or

love others like God would have us to!

                        3.         In short, we are failing to let God love through us!

 

I.          Is God sorrowful because we have never made a sold-out commitment

to God?  God longs to gather us . . . .

 

Conclusion:

 

A.        God has the power and the ability to turn our lives around! 

 

B.        Are we happy with our lives?  Or are we filled with guilt and lack of purpose?  We can come to Christ today!

 

C.        Maybe we profess Christianity, but we really aren't committed.  We feel torn!  We can sell out to Christ today!

 

 

 

D.        Christ longs for us to come! Christ wants to gather us in as a hen gathers her chicks! God is a seeking God! During this season of Lent, we can respond to that seeking God.  We can accept what God has already done for us in Christ.  We can come back to a God who is standing and waiting for us!  We can go deeper and yield more fully in response to God’s love for us!  We can commit to let God love through us, as we encounter Christ at the table today!

 

            Thanks be to God! 

 

            Now, I am feeling a little numb this morning with the news of US and Israel bombing Iran, searching what to say about it. I know some have expressed concerns

 

            Let me just share thoughts and a prayer that comes to us from the Council of Bishops:

            The Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church issued a call for peace in the Middle East.

 

            In the letter, the Bishops call attention to the Social Principles of The United Methodist Church,             affirming the sacred worth and dignity of every person and emphasizing peaceful resolutions to             conflict. They call on United Methodists to advocate for peace, echoing the wisdom of             the prophet             Micah to "act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly." (Micah 6:8)

 

            United Methodists are called to join in this prayer:

 

            God of justice and compassion,

            we lift our voices in prayer for peace in the Middle East,

            that all hearts may turn from violence to understanding and from fear to hope.

            Guide your leaders with wisdom and courage to pursue the path of peace,

            rooted in the dignity and sacred worth of every person.

            May our prayers rise as a witness to your hope and healing for all nations.

 

            [For we pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.]

 

 

Service of Communion