I am your shield

Sermon Notes, Lent 2, 2022 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." 4 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! In his book, Young Men and Fire Norman Maclean tells the story of the Mann Gulch fire in Montana in 1949. 12 brave young men, pioneers in the early days of smoke jumping, were killed when the wildfire they fought swept up the canyon they were in and overtook their position. Maclean tells their story and attempts to separate myth from fact to understand their sacrifice . In the end he finds a spiritual redemption unexpected but genuine. They sacrificed their young lives for others not yet born. Their loss of life would be redeemed by methods and tactics that would save others, lessons from the tragedy they experienced. Maclean's story came to my mind as I considered the readings we have for this Sunday in Lent. The smoke jumpers in the story left safety and comfort behind to fight against a dangerous fire in the wilderness. As the flames bore down on them, they had to trust their training and leader to survive. Abraham followed the Lord's call to the land of Canaan. Now there, he looks around at what he has, and what he has left behind. He's been promised much, but sees little. He's afraid. He's ventured everything on the Lord's promise and nothing has been delivered. Unless something changes, his inheritance will pass from his flesh and blood to others, his name forgotten. He needs to trust that the Lord who called him here is still present and still mindful of his promises. Luke gives us a picture of Jesus heading toward Jerusalem with all that means for him and for us. He is beset by Herod who is looking to kill him. But he's not distracted. He knows his mission is to reach Jerusalem and Herod has no power to stop him. All three stories speak of a sense of loss, of something left behind to achieve something better. They speak of adversity and danger surrounding a vulnerable hero. They speak of uncertainty in the present and a future unrealized. They speak of a need for trust in a promise and faith in a relationship. At their core is a conviction that the journey will be worth the suffering, the prize triumphant. We need to hear these stories because we need to have that faith ourselves. Lent comes to a very broken world this year, and we are in the caught up in the brokenness. For two years we have lived with the dear of COVID. And now just as we climb out from under that shadow, there is the fear of war and nuclear catastrophe. Such a fear as many born since the end of the cold war have never known. We need to hear for ourselves the words of the Lord to Abraham: "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great."