Under Her Wings

Pr. Jasmine Waring

2nd Sunday of Lent March 13, 2022

There has been a recent trend in parenting and child development circles called, “Gentle parenting”. This parenting style is composed of four main elements: empathy, respect, understanding, and boundaries. Gentle parenting focuses on fostering the qualities you want in your child by being compassionate and enforcing consistent boundaries. Discipline methods focus on teaching valuable life lessons appropriate for the child’s age, rather than focusing on punishments. I didn’t really believe it could be done until I saw it in action on a video. There was a parent sitting on the floor with their toddler, who was in a full-on meltdown. Screaming, crying, writhing on the floor with just their diaper on and absolutely loosing it. For those of you who have helped raise young children, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Instead of trying to reason with the child (because we know reasoning with a toddler in the midst of a tantrum is a futile battle), or isolating them in a crib to let them “cry it out”, the parent just sat there, listening. The parent gently deflected the slaps that came their way, and they spoke kindly to their child saying, “I’m right here…I love you…I’m not going anywhere”. Eventually, the child started to embrace their parent while they were still crying (salty tears, snot and all), and they hugged until the tears subsided and were ready to continue on with their day. It’s not an easy way to raise children. It requires the caregivers to learn how to regulate their own emotions so that they can be present and compassionate with the little ones in their life. The goal is connection, instead of control. Ultimately this teaches children how to regulate their emotions instead of suppressing them or exploding them. They can become more emotionally intelligent as they get older, and respectful of others. This reminds me of Jesus’ words in our Gospel reading today. As Jesus was looking out from the city of Jerusalem, the holy city beloved by God, and yet the city had a long history of lashing out against God and killing God’s prophets…and Jesus was going to be no exception. He says, “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!”. I can almost hear my own mother’s voice when she would express her frustration when my brothers and I were fighting. Christ, like a mother, desires for her children to return to her, to be united, to live in peace, and to find shelter under her wings. And yet, we fight and rage against God and each other. War is nothing new, especially in Europe. There have been news commentators and even Prince William have said how alien it feels to see and land war in Europe in 2022. The truth is, the reason why it seems all the more tragic to us is because the victims of the war in Ukraine are white middle-class folks like us. It’s interesting how we have become so accustomed to war and violence in non-white countries, that we forget that war and violence in any place, especially those who have been under the boot of empire, is evil and deserves our attention and compassion. But that is a sermon for a different day. Vladimir Putin is nothing new. There have always been men in power who use violence to satisfy their lust for power. Saint Paul puts it quite simply in our epistle reading today, “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, their glory is their shame, their minds are set on earthly things.” Putin’s recent land grab should come at no surprise, because he’s been harboring resentment against the West since the dismantling of the USSR. In 2005, during his annual state of the nation address he said, “The demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.” We can analyze all of this with political science all day, but what it really comes down to is resentment. Putin believes that something was wrongly taken away from him and his country. Instead of processing his grief and moving on to the new world that is being created, he is clinging to the past, lashing out, and harming millions along the way. Vladimir Putin is an easy villain we can pin all of the world’s evil to, and it’s easy for us to look around and wait for a hero to come save the day. The truth is, we may want a villain, but what we need to do is look at ourselves. As my professor said in a sermon this week, “We want a hero, but what we need is Christ.” The word resentment, comes from the French word “Re satir” which means “to feel again”. That means when we experience a trauma, or any other kind of emotional pain, sometimes we are able to let the feelings take its course through us, and we eventually make peace with the pain and let it go. Resentment however, cannot let go of the pain, and it is constantly coming back up as if we are feeling it again for the first time. Father Richard Rohr has said, “Pain needs to be transformed, or else it will be transmitted”. Perhaps we hold on to pain because we were wronged by someone, and use this pain to show them how they have hurt us and punish them. That may work for a little while, but ultimately we are transmitting harm to ourselves, and we inevitably begin to harm innocent bystanders. We do awful and stupid things when we’re resentful. For some it’s saying something mean and cutting when you’re fighting with your spouse. For some it’s bombing a neighboring country. Our end is destruction. Our god is our belly. Our glory is our shame. Our minds our set on earthly things. Lord, have mercy. And yet, in the midst of our lashing out and snotty tantrums, God’s desire is for us to return to God, to gather us up, and find shelter under her wings. She is present with us, saying, “I’m right here….I love you…I’m not going anywhere”. It is the love of God that transforms us, not through control or manipulation, but through a loving connection. When Christ was facing violence, he did not return it with more violence. Instead he took on our violence and let is die with him on the cross at Calvary. So when we are experiencing the pain of resentment, we can nail it to the cross with Christ so that we may see new life on the other side. We don’t have to feel this pain over and over again. We can be free from it. God’s desire is for all of God’s children to be gathered in unity, in peace, and find shelter from harm. I know these times are scary, and I can’t imagine the terror Eastern Europe is facing. I want to leave you with the assigned Psalm from the lectionary today, because I believe it is quite fitting for the world we’re in. Let this be our prayer for the people of Ukraine, for the working class Russians who have nothing to do with this and yet are experiencing the effects of the sanctions. Let this be a prayer for all refugees of war or face violence, and let this be your prayer today. Psalm 27 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me, to devour my flesh— my adversaries and foes— they shall stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident. One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock. Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord. Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me! “Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!” Your face, Lord, do I seek. Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help. Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation! If my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up. Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and they are breathing out violence. I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! Amen