Well I won't back down
No I won't back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down
No I'll stand my ground, won't be turned around
And I'll keep this world from draggin me down
gonna stand my ground
... and I won't back down
Chorus:
(I won't back down...)
Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out
(and I won't back down...)
hey I will stand my ground
and I won't back down
Well I know what's right, I got just one life
in a world that keeps on pushin me around
but I'll stand my ground
...and I won't back down
These words are written by Tom Petty. They aptly sum up the passion of Jesus' words aimed at Herod, who wants to kill Jesus. Jesus squarely faces the danger of going to Jerusalem in the near future. Yet, Jesus also laments that Jerusalem - which ironically means city of Peace - is the place that stones and kills prophets. Jesus further laments that Jerusalem, which is the center of the Jewish world and where the Holy Temple is, where rests the Ark of the Covenant- has lost its way from being the center of shalom or peace. The Jews view shalom or peace like Americans think of freedom and justice for all.
Jesus seems to be lamenting the whole mess of life in the big city - where people don't care - just like we see today in a big city like Miami or New York. Jesus laments that power hungry people like King Herod ad the Pharisees, who have bastardized the whole meaning of shalom or peace into making the Temple of Jerusalem "a den of thieves" instead of a place of peaceful worship for God's chosen people.
But despite his lament for Jerusalem, Jesus then says "How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing." Is Jesus talking about the children of Israel, to whom he was sent to be the Messiah. Is Jesus talking to Herod and the Pharisees, who he sees as lost in their own fantasy of power, in their own fantasy of righteousness?
Certainly, we see Jesus providing two things: 1) a judgment on the callousness of the bastardization of Jerusalem, and 2) despite his judgment, Jesus is expressing mercy and tenderness to those lost in the world.
Jesus won't back down on his judgment of the insanity of the way the world is, and he won't back down on trying to save the world like a mother hen gathering and saving her chicks
There is a story about a hen that was found after a barnyard fire. The farmer was walking through the burnt out barn, when he spotted a lifelses hen, whose feathers were burnt. He poked at it to see if it was alive and out from under the burnt feathers, came running a bunch of baby chicks.
This mother hen had gathered her chicks to save them for the fire, just as Jesus wants to gather his people before he goes to Jerusalem to sacrifice his life for us. Despite the killing of prophets in Jerusalem, Jesus won't back down to save us.
In our First Reading from Genesis, the Lord comes to Abram in a vision. The Lord says to Abram, "I am your shield; your reward shall be great." But Abram replies to the Lord, how shall my reward by great if I am childless. The Lord promises to Abram that he and his wife will bear a child and his descendants will be as great as the stars. And God made a covenant with Abram. God won't back down.
Like God's promise to Abram, Jesus continues the promise with his people in Jerusalem. Jesus won't back down.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd. If one sheep out of 100 is lost, the Good Shepherd will leave his flock, squarely face the danger of wolves, search and find the lost sheep. Jesus won't back down on us either.
Lent is the time of the year to realize that we are lost just like chicks without a mother hen. Lent is the season to realize that we are lost like the one lost sheep. But we can be assured that the Good Shepherd will search for us and find us. Jesus is our greatest ally.
The Psalmist says to us today: "Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will sustain me.
Today is the day that we can reconcile ourselves to God. Today is the day that we realize that Jesus won't back down on judgment of where we are in our lost lives, but Jesus won't back down on tenderness and mercy for us either.
Jesus will always search for us and will always find us. Jesus won't back down on his mercy to us. Amen.
Father Mike St. George's 2/28/10
