Scripture: Luke 13:34 – “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the 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!” (NRSVue)
Christmas is a week from today, and I bet some of you are not finished with your shopping yet. Of course, the reason that we spend so much money on gifts, food, and decorations is because we love our families. We want to create something special that binds us together in this blessed season.
Now, Christmas is often as stressful as it is joyous. The cherished family memories we want to create are often undermined by selfishness, bad attitudes, squabbles, and even deep resentments and grudges. All we want to do is gather those we love in a comfy embrace, but they turn us away. It can be heartbreaking when our holiday plans go awry like that, and I guess is it worse when we become resigned to the fact that the people we love the most are going to be jerks no matter what they do and just stop trying to love them.
Unfortunately, there are many times in life when we love something or someone and they do not love us back. This is also a theme in the Bible. Throughout the Bible, God, Jesus, or the people who speak for God, the call for love and faith is ignored, and the promises of the covenant are forgotten. In the Gospel According to Luke, Jesus laments that Jerusalem, the city where God has chosen to dwell among the chosen people, is so often a place of violence and rejection. In the passage above, you can sense Jesus’ misery and frustration. All he wants to do is to love his people, but they always turn him away or ignore him, and ultimately, they try to kill him.
While there is more to this story than just this feeling of sadness, I think it can comfort us when we have imperfect Christmases or other stresses in our family lives. Just like God, we are going to love, and we are not going to be loved back. But even when God is disappointed or gets angry, God’s love endures. Keep that truth in your heart. Even when you feel that pain of rejection, know that no love you give is ever wasted, especially in the eyes of God.
Prayer: Lord, let me love as you do no matter what. Amen.
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