Jesus the mother hen

 The image that stands out to me in this passage is of Jesus being like a mother hen, wanting to shelter her chicks under her wings. This image of Jesus, wanting to embrace and provide protection, but the people not wanting that embrace or protection.

We are at a point in the Gospel of Luke, where Jesus has turned towards Jerusalem, even though he knows Jerusalem, is not always friendly to those who bring God’s message in word and deed.  Some Pharisees tell Jesus that Herod is out to get him. And he responds by saying, I will continue to do my life’s work, I will continue to heal and renew, to cast out demons, to offer mercy and grace.

Jesus knows Herod is capable of killing him, John has already been killed because he upset Herod and Herodias. I suspect if I had a credible death threat made against me, I would be more careful, but Jesus continues to travel, teach and heal. He is not letting Herod’s threat change his life.

“Jesus’ priority does not seem to be his own safety. He instead is primarily concerned about following the divine purpose (dei) that does not direct him away from danger. It leads him directly into it and ultimately through it.”[1]

Where do we see this today?
I marvel at the Russian people who have marched against their country’s involvement in the war in Ukraine. They are arrested, and we don’t know what will happen to them, they are not deterred. It was reported on 7^th March that “More than 4,300 people arrested at anti-war protests across Russia” [2]

There are still governments around the world where you cannot speak against the regime without risking your freedom or your life. The whole point of threats to individuals or the community is to keep people in line. There are parts of the USA where it is illegal to offer food to homeless people, church volunteers and ministers are regularly arrested for continuing this ministry.

In chapter 4 of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus reads from Isaiah and says this is what I have come for – to bring good news for the poor, freedom for prisoners, sight for the blind, freedom for the oppressed.

All through the Gospels, we read of Jesus changing lives, through healing, sight, removal of demons, showing mercy, forgiving, including outcasts. Jesus changed lives when people would accept what Jesus offered. Jesus did not offer status or money or power, Jesus offered love and grace and belonging.

 ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Your people have killed the prophets and have stoned the messengers who were sent to you. I have often wanted to gather your people, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you wouldn’t let me.’

I wonder how Jesus spoke those words with anger, shouting; with sorrow and tears, …. I have seen this section called the lament of Jesus, which is grief and sorrow. In 2 weeks, we will read the story of the prodigal son, the third in a series of lost stories. I wonder if this is how the father in that story felt.

The image I have of a mother hen and her chicks is a pleasant image, the chickens all cosy and safe together under the mother hen’s wings which expand to include all the chicks. Sometimes this is a dangerous act for the mother, who will die to protect her chicks. But here, Jesus is saying he wants to gather the people of Jerusalem, but the people will not gather to him. Jesus wants to gather and protect, include and comfort, the people, but they refuse.

Jesus doesn’t abandon people when they refuse his love or grace or peace. The offer continues, waiting until the person is ready. Jesus didn’t do a headcount and see if it was worth continuing the journey to Jerusalem, he did it anyway.

“Jesus as a mother hen is an image of fierce love and protection. No matter how much we try to separate ourselves from God, God will run to protect us. God’s love for us is fuller than we can imagine.” Jesus is saying to you: “You are a precious child of God. God longs for you. God will gather you in.”[3]

Whatever is happening in your life, allow yourself to shelter with Jesus, like a chicken shelters under the Hen’s wings. 

Let God love you.

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[1] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/second-sunday-in-lent-3/commentary-on-luke-1331-35-5

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/06/4300-people-arrested-anti-war-protests-across-russia-decounce-vladimir-putin-war-ukraine

[3] Full to the brim, Sanctified Art

Jesus the mother hen

During Lent we move from the temptations in the wilderness, to the crucifixion. On the way we join Jesus in his journey towards Jerusalem.

In the passage we heard this morning, Jesus again chooses to stay on the road to Jerusalem, even though he knows his likely fate. The warning that Herod is after him – not the Herod who tried to kill him as an infant, but his son. It seems Luke wants us to know that Jesus continued to choose to heal and liberate, even though it put him on a collision course with the religious and political leaders.

I wonder if our choices and decisions reflect God’s desire for us, God’s call on our lives.

This passage has themes of power running through it. The Pharisees had power, they had power and position and status – very important in such a society. And they used their power. They used their power to stay in favour with the people who could reduce them to nothing.

Herod had power, power to rule. Power that dominated and kept people in their place, so he could stay in his.

There is another type of power displayed in this passage, and that is the power of love, the power of compassion. Jesus has been healing, teaching, including the outcast, raising the dead, …. yet this offended the rulers. It offended them because it threatened their position. By this stage Jesus must know the likely outcome of his ministry. I know some people believe Jesus knew before he was born that he came to die on the cross, but even if you do not believe that, the signs by this stage of his ministry are pretty ominous.

 Jesus doesn’t run away when the Pharisees warn him of his fate, he talks of the remaining ministry of healing and casting out demons, and of journeying to Jerusalem. Now I don’t think the reference to prophets being killed refers geographically to Jerusalem, but to the way in which God’s messengers have been threatened and silenced by the powerful, often the religious leaders. 

Jesus shows the power of compassion,
the power of love,
love that hurts and cries for the ones who reject him,
love that still wants to wrap the city and people up in love,
to keep them safe. 

Jesus, looking over Jerusalem says:
“How many times I wanted to put my arms around all your people, just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not let me!”

Slide 1: hen and chickens

Slide 2: hen and chickens

Slide 3: chickens under hen

Slide 4:  hen and some under and some not!

Slide: chickens under hen [while reading below quote]

The image of the mother hen is a powerful one. A quote:

"If you have ever loved someone you could not protect,
then you understand the depth of Jesus' lament.
All you can do is open your arms.
You cannot make anyone walk into them.
Meanwhile,
this is the most vulnerable posture in the world
--wings spread, breast exposed --
but if you mean what you say,
then this is how you stand. …
Jesus won't be king of the jungle in this or any other story.
What he will be is a mother hen,
who stands between the chicks
and those who mean to do them harm.
She has no fangs,
no claws,
no rippling muscles.
All she has is her willingness to shield her babies with her own body.” [Barbara Brown Taylor   Christian Century 2/25/86]

The image of mother hen is a different one to the image of holding onto power and prestige, this is an image of compassion and tenderness, an image of valuing another’s life, even more than your own.

In the reflecting this week, and the time on retreat with the elders yesterday, I have been thinking about the other side of this mother and hen imagery.

Jesus is like a mother hen, lamenting because the chickens will not come under her wings.  

But I am not Jesus.

I am one of the chickens,
and I confess at times I am one of those chickens who thinks she doesn’t need to be under the wing.
I am one of the chickens that causes pain and sorrow.

I wonder what it is that prevents me from accepting the security, the grace, the love that Jesus offers us.

A song came to mind, and this dates me somewhat:

I need to be still and let God love me
I need to be still and let God love me
When this old world starts to push and shove me
I need to be still and let God love me

I need to relax and let God take over
I need to relax and let God take over
[He'll] to take this load off my shoulders
I need to relax and let God take over

“I need to be still and let God love me”

Yet I am rarely still, my mind is often trying to think about more than open thing at the same time. We live in a society that values being busy, even if it is not productive busyness.

“Jesus loved the people of Jerusalem.
Sometimes they got things wrong.
Sometimes they listened to the wrong people.
Sometimes they ran around not knowing what to do.

But Jesus loved them.

‘What are you like Jerusalem?’ said Jesus.
‘I’d like to be a big warm feathery mother hen,
so that I could gather your children
under my wings and keep them safe and strong.

But you wouldn't let me do it Jerusalem.
And I can’t help you if you won’t let me.” [Spill the Beans]

“I can’t help you if you won’t let me.”

What do you need to let go off, pride, apathy, being in control….

What do you need to let go of, to let Jesus help us?

What in your life needs nurturing now?

the future is in God's hands

There are times when it seems that the future is so far off, that we need not think about it. Abram has been told before that he will have descendants, but Abram can’t see how. He is old, Sarai his wife is old, and has not had any children. In the time of Abram and Sarai, children were the future. If there are no children, there was no future?

More than once Abram tries to take the future into his own hands; he doubts God's promise; he has a child by Hagar.

In this passage God is telling Abraham that there is a future, there will be a future and Abram is part of that future. We think of Abram is the father of faith, but most of what we hear is very, very normal.

The passage we heard this morning also tells of the covenant of the Lord made with Abram, the covenant that his descendants will have this land between the River Nile and the Euphrates.

For someone who does not have children, being told their descendants will be more than the stars seems absurd. But while initially it says Abram believed the Lord, he then asks for proof. Abram does as God tells him and prepares the animals. Then in the darkness of the night something amazing happened. Something mysterious. You see these particular close encounters with God happen rarely, even in the Bible. There are a few such instances reported, this one, the burning bush that Moses stood before, Transfiguration, a few others. But such occasions are rarely recorded in the Scriptures.

I wonder how much we think about the future, not just to our next holiday, birth of the next grandchild, retirement for those of us a little younger. How much, how often, do we think about the future in terms of the life that our grandchildren's grandchildren will lead. Many in our society will see their grandchildren born, some will even see their great grandchildren born, what kind of world will they live in.

It is much easier for us to look to the past, to what we know, what has been. We can know the past, we can learn from the past, but we cannot change the past. We cannot know the future, but we affect the future every day.

 [PPT image of hen] [i] 

Turning briefly to the gospel reading, and the image of Jesus like a mother hen gathering chicks under his protective wings. The power of the temple, the power of empire, was used to rule and dominate. Jesus also had power, he used his power to heal, to cast out demons. The ruling elite then, just as now, do not want to give up their power. We see people hold on to the power they have, we see greed, oppression, destruction. This is not the way that Jesus showed us to leave. His life show compassion, inclusion, generosity.

Abraham is told to not be afraid, yet fear is a common reaction in our world. We fear people who are different, we fear change, yet in many places in the Bible we are told not to be afraid for God is always with us.

Abram was having a hard time believing that he and Sarai had a future. Without children they were not part of the future. While that is how Abram and Sarai would have understood their world, it is also how many congregations understand their world. How can we imagine a future with so few children around us?

We can respond in different ways to our sense of not having a future. We can think it all revolves around us, and try harder and harder, thinking the only way that we will have the future of God tells us is that we do it ourselves.

Other people try harder and harder to hold on to what is, the familiar, the known; because we are all doomed, because there will be no future.

It is easy to become despondent, without hope, to become cynical and self-centred. It's easy to live for today, and leave tomorrow for future generations.

It's easy to be anxious, to be overwhelmed by the enormity of what is happening in the world, of war and rape, of poverty, environmental destruction. The Bible records for us stories of God's interaction with people over many centuries. The vision that God has is not hopeless, overwhelming or unrealistic.

As I mentioned earlier, we can know the past, but cannot effect it; we cannot know the future but we do effect the future.

The future is not up to us, we are not that powerful; but we are powerful enough to squander that which God gives us. this week I watched a YouTube clip of a 12 year old Severn Suzuki speaking to the UN Earth Summit in Rio, Brazil in 1992. She spoke of no longer being able to fish in the local river, and the pollution in the air, etc.  then she said:

“All this is happening before our eyes and yet we act as if we have all the time we want and all the solutions. I’m only a child and I don’t have all the solutions, but I want you to realise, neither do you!
• You don’t know how to fix the holes in our ozone layer.
• You don’t know how to bring salmon back up a dead stream.
• You don’t know how to bring back an animal now extinct.
• And you can’t bring back forests that once grew where there is now desert.
If you don’t know how to fix it, please stop breaking it!” [ii]

[image of no light for Lent] [iii]

I saw this and wondered if this is how we deal with fear, anxiety and lack of hope for the future. We close our eyes to that which we don’t want to see. We don’t trust God with the present or the future, so we close our eyes, we ignore greed, poverty and destruction. We don’t acknowledge the interdependence of all of God’s creation, so we take matters into our own hands, overusing some resources, holding tightly to what we consider ‘ours’ : doesn’t look much like the generosity and compassion that Jesus showed, or the image of Jesus as a mother hen wanting to protect her wayward, rebellious chicks.

The challenge for this week of Lent is to think beyond our own generation, to think beyond our children and their children. The challenge is to live trusting God with today and tomorrow.

 

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[i]http://revgalblogpals.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/11th-hour-preacher-party-gathered.html#comment-form

[ii] http://ssjothiratnam.com/?p=747

[iii] https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis2QRSMvNpuYKKB5UpsdooXOvE9F-SxrRWU1M2Ah-ysuqo-ASVv2IrVo_DQojODX2UTCAZErHFjBg2d3BxOGK19wdqOImiA-tJT5Il52sJBUPz0v9p5x1pGyFst3Rpp64SBtt4viudf8aP/s1600/Liberal+Lent.jpg