Distractions
Lent 2C
Luke 13:31-35
St. Matthias
March 17, 2019
Mary Margaret Murphy once told me she was my worst nightmare. I was 10 years old and she was 12 and it was on the school bus. She was in the 6th grade – a senior at Woodland Hills Elementary. Next year she would be a teenager and in Junior High School. She was taller than me. I was sitting in the same seat on the bus where I sat almost every day. My best friend, Keith, was sitting next to me like he ALSO did almost every day. Our problem was that Mary Margaret wanted our seat. There was this new 6th grade boy sitting directly across from us AND she had a crush on him. She told us to move. We didn’t. The boy in the seat across from us got off the bus without so much as even noticing Mary Margaret and it was then that she promised that my days were numbered. She didn’t look like she was kidding. She made sure everyone on the bus knew that she was now our worst nightmare. I got off the bus 3 stops sooner than my house. Walking the rest of the way seemed safer – and smarter. That night I imagined the worst that could happen. Would she push me out in front of the bus? Would she sic the great big snarling dog she must surely own on me? Would she shoot a laser beam into space – hitting an asteroid traveling a million miles an hour and break off a huge chunk that would crash toward Earth into our house??? All night long I worried – what would Mary Margaret Murphy do? The next day with fear and trembling I got on the bus. Mary Margaret got on at the next stop. Too late to push me in front of the bus. She didn’t have a big attack dog with her. I didn’t see a laser beam. I tried not to look. She glared at me as only a tall 6th grade girl can and went to the back of the bus where all the cool 6th graders sat. And that’s how it went - every day – until summer vacation.
Mary Margaret was Herod at Woodlands Elementary in Pineville, Louisiana. She talked loud and I never saw her smile in my direction. Oh, she laughed a lot when she was with all the other much older and cooler 6th grade kids who sat in the back of the school bus and the back of the lunchroom and the back of the classroom. Everyone told me that I had just better stay out of her way. Maybe ask my parents if I could transfer to another school or join the French Foreign Legions. No telling what she might do at any moment. In fact – no one knew what she was going to do – but it wouldn’t be good.
The real Herod did not like Jesus - just because of who he was. His followers were calling him the Messiah – and that was always a problem. Messiah’s got the people all stirred up which meant they would want things to change. But Herod liked things the way they were. He was the Roman Ruler – King of the Jews. People called him “Your Majesty.” They bowed when he entered the room. He taxed the people of Jerusalem – sent some of it to Caesar – and kept the rest. It was a good deal and Herod did not want things to change. He was in charge and really preferred to stay that way. Except Jesus came proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. His followers had come to believe that Jesus was the Son of God. History tells us that Herod was never very religious. Oh, in public he did all the right things. Offered sacrifices on the high holy days in the temple. Gave money to the temple priests when lots of people could watch and it would help him keep order. Most people were afraid of Herod because he was cruel. He killed his own brother. He crucified people for just about any reason. Herod could be your worst nightmare. Then Jesus comes and calls him a fox and I don’t think it was a compliment. I would bet that Herod got mad every time he thought about Jesus.
And it would have been easy for Jesus to leave Jerusalem – disappear into the far east – and not have to worry about Herod ever again. But Jesus continues his ministry. He heals the sick, cares for the poor, and shares the love of God. He doesn’t worry about Herod – or what might happen. Herod could not stop God at work. Even when Herod condemned Jesus to death on a cross – there was resurrection. Love always wins.
We all face distractions and demands that seem to keep us from the love of God and sharing that love with our neighbors. Busy schedules, work, bills, everything everyone else wants us to do. Lent is a time to stop and tune out all the noise and distractions that seem to continually get in the way of our relationship with God. Pray and keep your schedule. Pray and pay your bills. Pray and spend time with God even when everyone wants you to do something else. Everything will get done and you will experience the peace that passes all understanding.
Mary Margaret Murphy graduated from elementary school and went on to Junior High School. We moved to Kentucky. It was better than joining the French Foreign Legion. AMEN.
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