Purpose

Second Sunday in Lent, Luke 13:31-35

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! – Luke 13:34

As we enter the gospel text in the thirteenth chapter of Luke, we find Jesus on his way from Galilee to Jerusalem.  For some time before Jesus’ birth, the eastern Mediterranean has been under Roman control.  The coast flourishes with commerce, particularly at the seaport of Caesarea Maritima.  Inland, the trading of goods moves north and south through the hills, and along the Jordan River valley.

We might imagine Jesus trekking through green hills dotted with grazing sheep, and to a certain extent, he was. But it’s also important to remember the economic and political landscape that informed and influenced his ministry. As his journey progresses, Jesus seems more focused on challenging the powers that have reshaped this landscape.

Luke tells us that at some point along the path, Pharisees arrive with a warning: If you keep walking in the direction of Jerusalem, you will die. Herod will kill you.  Jesus brushes aside the news of Herod’s displeasure as irrelevant to his destiny.  He views the Pharisees’ concern as a distraction from what God is calling him to do.  One way of explaining why Jesus reacts not with fear but determination is that Jesus knows his purpose, and from that purpose he will not waver or be re-directed.

What is “purpose,” anyway? According to the dictionary, and when used as a noun, purpose is “the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.” Synonyms include “intention,” “objective,” and “goal.”

Years ago, the topic of  Christian purpose was popularized by a California pastor in books like “The Purpose Driven Church” and “The Purpose Driven Life.”  The books were good at describing purpose in simple terms with catchy phrases. Defining purpose, they said, builds morale, reduces frustration, allows concentration, attracts cooperation, and assists evaluation, all seemingly good things.

Those who criticized this work highlighted its limited application.[1] Not all ministry takes places in the growing suburbs of California, they said. God help the pastor and elders who try to apply such purpose-driven principles to areas of declining population, while thinking that greater administrative purpose and managerial efficiency will increase the membership rolls. I once heard Methodist bishop Will Willimon talk about the problem of reducing Christian teaching to catchy phrases and principles. He said, “Principle preaching leads hearers to conclusions like, ‘Yes, I can use that principle to get what I wanted before I met Jesus’.”[2] A biblically grounded vision of Jesus and the church’s ministry doesn’t necessarily draw crowds, and sometimes may actually drive them away. Christians need a broader vision of purpose. 

Fortunately, we are children of a branch of the Christian family tree that has thought about the subject of purpose for a long time.   Even if you’ve never read our “Book of Confessions,” you may have heard the opening words of the Westminster Shorter Catechism: “What is the chief end of man?  Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and enjoy him forever” (Book of Confessions, 7.001).  The more recent “Study Catechism” approved by the General Assembly in 1998 begins with a similar question and answer:  “What is God’s purpose for your life?  God wills that I should live by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the love of God, and in the communion of the Holy Spirit.”

Most congregations that are serious about purpose have created a mission statement.  We have one, formulated back in the 1990s, that we’ll be reciting in just a while, that reminds us: “First Presbyterian Church believes that it is to be Christ for the world today ….”  That mission statement serves as a foundation for our officer training and long-range planning.  Our mission statement and confessions are some foundational documents that help us define what it means to live a purpose-driven life and be a purpose-driven church. These things inform our ministry, and actually can inspire us in ways we sometimes fail to appreciate.

I thought about this recently, while pondering a memorable news clip out of Ukraine. The news crew was recording a larger scene in which one particular Ukrainian citizen was interviewed. The man was with many others who were sheltering in a subway station. They were working what I would call a kind of “bucket brigade,” passing containers from one end of the station to a staging point at the other end. He was asked whether he was afraid.  Not pausing from his work, he replied calmly, but with great conviction, “No. We know why we are fighting, for our country, for our freedom. The Russians don’t know why they are fighting.”

Many people have been surprised by the ability of the Ukrainian people to resist Russian advances, and persevere in hardships most of us can only imagine. It seems to me that what the man said is one of the fundamental reasons this has been possible. Many of the Russian soldiers don’t have a compelling motivation to put their lives on the line. But the Ukrainians are fighting for their homes, their families, and their freedom. There is tremendous power in knowing their purpose.

One of my favorite pastor-authors is Barbara Brown Taylor. In her book “An Altar in the World,” she devotes a chapter to the practice of living with purpose. She draws attention to a quotation from the works of Henry David Thoreau, who said: Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of too much life. Aim above morality.  Be not simply good; be good for something.[3]

These words seem so fitting to our gospel text that I can almost imagine Jesus speaking them. The Pharisees were their society’s referees of morality. They came to Jesus with a warning not to upset the status quo.  You should fear Herod, they said. You should change your direction, and synchronize your words and actions with the ideology of the empire that controls this part of the world.  But Jesus understood that there are things more important than playing it safe or supporting the status quo. He knew that God was calling him to give himself to something that was truly meaningful, to do something that really mattered to the freedom and well-being of God’s people. And so the words of Thoreau seem just right, both to sum up Jesus’ response, and to remind us, who are his disciples, of the power of purpose. “Aim above morality.  Be not simply good; be good for something.”

Each Christian is engaged in a lifelong struggle to be good for something, to discern God’s true calling from among the many voices competing for attention. Often, the other voices seem like a shout. And so this is your Lenten season reminder to take time to listen closely for the voice of God, which often comes more like a whisper in the night.

In my files, I found tucked away one more story I’d like to share, an old tale about a Russian Orthodox priest who was walking through the streets of the city when he was stopped at gunpoint by a royal guard.  The guard, duty-bound to be on the alert for every possible threat, interrogated the priest with three standard questions: “What is your name?  Why are you here?  Where are you going?”

The priest gazed at the soldier for a moment, then asked, “How much do they pay you to do this work?”  

The soldier, somewhat taken aback, replied, “Why, three kopeks (three pennies) a month.”

The priest said, “I’ll pay you thirty kopeks a month if you will stop me here every week and ask me these same questions.”[4]  

Whether this event is historical, or the dialogue unfolded just this way, is beside the point. The tale is meant to be a lesson about purpose.  The priest recognized how such questions should be at the very center of a faithful life.  

It’s not a bad set of questions to jot down for your devotions this week. 

·      What is your name? (Do you self-identify as a child of God, a Christian, or something else?) 

·      Why are you here? (Between birth and death, what is the reason you are on this earth?) 

·      Where are you going? (What are your goals, and your steps for moving toward them?). 

As followers of Jesus, may we be not simply good; may we be good for something.

NOTES

[1] For example, Jason Byassee, “Re-purposed,” The Christian Century, 9 Mar. 2004, pp. 28-32.

[2] William Willimon, “Transformation with the Trinity: Preaching That Disturbs,” a lecture delivered at the Festival of Homiletics, First Baptist Church, Nashville, 25 May 2007.

[3] Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World, New York: Harper Collins, 2009, p. 107.

[4] Michael Foss, Power Surge, Minneapolis, Fortress Press: 2000, p. 128.

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