“HOrton And a Russian Hatch an Egg”

Second Sunday in Lent

February 25, 2024

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16

Mark 8:31-38

Children’s Message:

You probably know the story “Horton Hears a Who,” by Dr. Seuss. But do you know “Horton Hatches the Egg?” It stars Horton the Elephant and a lazy bird called Mayzie. Mayzie is hatching an egg, but she gets bored and tired of sitting in her nest. She’d rather fly and play and take a vacation.

When Horton passes by, she asks him to sit on her egg…for just a short time. “I’ll be right back,” she says. Horton’s not sure he can sit on the egg without breaking it, but he gives it his best shot. He supports the tree and then climbs up and gently sits on the egg. But Mayzie wasn’t right back. And Horton sat there, protecting the egg when it rained and thundered. And Mayzie went to the beach and decided never to return to her egg.

Horton sat on the egg through a blizzard. And Horton sat on the egg, though his friends mocked him. And he sat on the egg when hunters came to shoot him. Instead, they captured him—and the tree with the egg—and sold him to a circus.

The circus went all over the country, showing this crazy elephant sitting on an egg. But no matter what happened, Horton kept saying, “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faithful—one hundred per cent!” And so he kept sitting on that egg and protecting the little one inside.

One day, Mayzie happened to see a circus and stopped by to check it out. She saw Horton…sitting on her egg. At that very moment, the egg started to hatch! And Mayzie decided that it was HER egg. And Horton backed away. But when the little bird hatched…the bird had big ears, and a ropy tail, and a trunk! Just like it’s true parent.

Jesus tells his disciples that to follow him means to take on his mission and become like him. He stands up to bullies. He works to help the people who are struggling and suffering. And when he does that, people get angry. A bit like Horton, Jesus is faithful, one hundred per cent. Even if it means people making fun of him. And being captured. And maybe even being killed. And he wants us to be faithful to the gospel, as well. Is that a hard thing to do?

Let’s pray. Dear God, you know how hard it is to stand up for what is right. Give us the courage to do it, anyway. Amen.

Message:

If you’ve paid any attention to the news this past week, you’ll know the name Alexei Navalny. He died a little over a week ago in a ‘special regime’ prison in the far reaches of Russia. He was born in 1976 to a Ukrainian father and Russian mother. He grew up in Russia, but he spent his summers with his grandma in Ukraine.

He got his law degree in 1998 and became a lawyer. He joined the Democratic Party and protested corruption with the government. Which meant he was arrested multiple times. He led demonstrations and anti-Putin rallies. He fought for voter rights, LGBTQ rights, people’s rights. He declared his intention to run for president in the 2018 elections. He was attacked. He was sprayed in the face with caustic chemicals that burned one of his eyes. But the intimidation techniques didn’t work. So he was simply removed from the election process.

In 2020, on a flight to Moscow, he got violently ill. He was hospitalized, and the initial diagnosis was poison—until the medical staff was intimidated into silence. Eventually he was taken to Germany, where doctors confirmed that he had been poisoned with a nerve agent. They put him in a medical coma to treat him. Eventually, he recovered and returned to Russia. And to prison. Again. The sentence was years…added upon years. Because he was a political prisoner. Because he pushed back against the uncontrolled power of the government.

Last December, contact with Navalny ceased for his family and friends. He reappeared in a ‘special regime’ colony, the harshest in Russia’s prison system. He died on February 16 from what they called ‘Sudden Death Syndrome.’ He was my age.

Today’s gospel reading happens immediately after Peter identifies Jesus as the Messiah. But his idea of Messiah is a king—a warrior sent to battle the oppressors with sword and might—a soldier who would take victory over Rome and restore Israel to it’s standing as a nation blessed by God. So, when Jesus begins to talk about his upcoming suffering and death, Peter can’t stand it. He knows Jesus must have it wrong.

He takes Jesus aside and argues with him, trying to set him straight. And Jesus’ response—to call him Satan, the accuser, the tempter, the adversary—affirms that Peter’s desire IS a temptation. It would be so easy for Jesus to call down his divine power and simply wipe Rome out. Turn all the people into dust.

But Jesus knows something Peter doesn’t. Corruption and oppression thrive on violence. They thrive on a system of bullies and dissention and lies. And if Jesus is going to alleviate suffering in the world, he cannot do it by making the oppressors suffer, instead.

Jesus says, “Get behind me, Satan.” Get behind me. Follow me. Stop trying to take the lead. Stop trying to win this war. Because nobody wins in a war. Nobody. Stop thinking like a human and try wrapping your head around the love and grace of God. That’s the only way this can end right.

Jesus says, “Take up your cross and follow me.” Let me be clear here. Taking up your cross doesn’t mean abiding in an abusive marriage or suffering just for suffering’s sake. That’s not our call, here. We don’t seek out suffering. Believe me, if we are working for justice, suffering will find us soon enough.

Much like Alexei Navalny. He worked to address and correct the corruption in his country. He wanted to alleviate the suffering of his people. I’m fairly certain he wasn’t trying to get arrested or attacked. But his work threatened those at the top. Just like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela and Oscar Romero. They spoke out against injustice. They spoke out against bullies. They spoke out to protect the people at the bottom of the heap. They spoke out to alleviate suffering for those who had no voice. And they were arrested. Some were killed.

This is what it means to follow Christ: To put aside our desire to find the easy way out—like Mayzie the lazy bird. Because what’s the point of gaining your life but losing your humanity? This is not an easy message to hear—for any of us. Jesus doesn’t allow us to envision discipleship as roses and rainbows. Because he knows where his message will lead in this world. It will lead to death.

But what the oppressors tend to forget—what they neglect in their effort to keep people down—is that death isn’t the last word. God promises resurrection. And God seals that promise with Jesus and an empty tomb. And while suffering still happens in this world—individually and communally—we take joy in knowing that life is more than our challenges. Life is hope. Life is love. Life is support and community. Life is the faithful persistence that the egg on which we sit will, indeed, hatch. And what comes forth will be better than we could have ever imagined. And no agent of death can take that away from us.

Pastor Tobi White

Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church

Lincoln, NE