Lent II, Cycle C
"Our Mother Hen--and Her Unwilling Children"
March 7, 2004
The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel
Lessons: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18; Philippians 3:17-4:1; St. Luke 13:31-35
There's something that
always hits us as wonderful, as we first hear Jesus, in our Gospel reading,
saying, "How often have I desired to gather your children together as a
hen gathers her brood under her wings…"
For those of us who were raised on, or around a farm, it conjures up
images of the mother hen, chasing her chicks around the barnyard, trying to
keep them out of trouble, trying to guide them this way and that, trying to
keep them all together, under her safe and protective wings. I suppose even those who never stepped foot
on farm soil, can still picture the scene Jesus describes--and it can stir up,
in all of us, warm feelings of cuddly, fuzzy little chicks, being nuzzled by
their mothering hen. Bask in those
happy feelings--for a moment--before we ruin them altogether. Ruin them, not because we want to, not
because we want to rob you of good, happy feelings during the season of
Lent. Those warm, fuzzy feelings are
ruined, by what's actually happening in this gospel lesson from St. Luke; those warm, fuzzy feelings are ruined, by an
actual reading of the text--which presents anything but, a warm, fuzzy message,
about a mother hen and her dutiful chicks!
Yes, Jesus does present to
us, an image of himself, as a mother hen, desiring, desperately, to protect and
care for his little children--the people of Jerusalem--but, he says then, quite
plainly, "but you were not willing!"
In fact, he begins by saying, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem--the city that
kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!" He's talking about himself, there. HE-- is the prophet, the messenger of the
Lord, who has been sent to Jerusalem, to love and care for his children there,
as a mother hen cares for her chicks--but they wouldn't let him--indeed, like
all the other messengers of the Lord before him--He, too, knew full well what
was coming--He, too, knew, that as the prophets before him had been stoned, and
killed--that was the fate that awaited Him, when he arrived in Jerusalem. Because--that's what happened at
Jerusalem. That's how the children of
Israel, treated prophets and messengers from God…and it happened, always, at
Jerusalem, Jesus says. It would happen,
in Jerusalem, where you would think these Jerusalem-ites would flock to Jesus,
who came, not as a conqueror, not as a ruler--but as a loving, protective
mother hen, desiring nothing but to gather her children together, and care for
them. The people of Jerusalem knew full
well--that there was a fox lurking around the hen-house. The Pharisees, part of the powerful religious
establishment in Jerusalem, suggest as much, as they came to warn Jesus,
saying, "Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you!" Truly, Herod had already tried to get the
mother hen, Jesus, when he was but a little chick--slaughtering all the little
children around Bethlehem, in an attempt to do away with Jesus before He could
become a problem. But failing at
that--now, Herod was on guard, now, Herod was watching and waiting for the
right time to pounce on Jesus, and do away with him for good! And for whatever reason, some of the
Pharisees warn Jesus to flee--to get away from Jerusalem. Did these Pharisees really care about
Jesus--or were they simply trying to protect their own turf--to keep Jesus and
his preaching out in the countryside and villages, away from Jerusalem and the
Temple? One way or the other, it
doesn't matter, because after his Transfiguration, Jesus set his face towards
Jerusalem. Jesus' ministry, at that
moment, turned toward Jerusalem--because, Jesus had work to do--and that work
would be accomplished--not in Bethlehem, not in Nazareth or Galilee, but only,
in Jerusalem. On his way, as Jesus put
it, "today and tomorrow", he would cast out demons, and perform
cures--but on the third day, he would finish His work. His mission on this earth would be
fulfilled--accomplished, in Jerusalem, on the third day. So, despite the warning, Jesus told the
Pharisees, "Go and tell that fox, Herod, for me--I am on my way--I will
not be deterred or frightened away from my goal--which is--to die in
Jerusalem. To die at the very hands of
my own children--whom I desire, desperately, to gather to myself, and love and
protect." Contrary to those who,
in light of the Mel Gibson movie about the Passion of the Christ--suggest that
it was the Jews, in particular, who crucified Jesus--the fact is, Jesus makes
it crystal clear--that it was his own children, who would kill him. That the very children he wanted to gather
to himself, and save from all the bloodthirsty foxes of this world--were
indeed, the ones who would have him killed.
And that doesn't point the finger at the Jews--it points the finger at
all of us--because, aren't we all, the children of Jerusalem, whom Jesus loves,
and whom he desires, even now, to gather to himself, as a hen gathers her
brood? Aren't we all, those whom Jesus
loves--those whom Jesus would save--but, often, we are not willing? It would be so easy, to blame the Jewish
citizens of Jerusalem, to lay the guilt on Pontius Pilate, to try to find the
names of those particular soldiers who made Jesus carry the cross, nailed the
nails, pierced his side with a spear--but that would be, merely, our age-old
human need to point the finger at someone else--as Adam, at the beginning,
blamed Eve, and Eve, blamed the serpent.
The moving hymn, "Ah, Holy Jesus" says it all, when it asks,
"Who was the guilty? Who brought
this upon thee? Alas, my treason,
Jesus, my treason hath undone thee.
'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee; I crucified thee."
It was you, and I, who crucified Jesus--just as it is you and I, whom
Jesus loves--loves like a mother loves her children--loves like a mothering hen
loves her chicks, trying with all her life and strength, to gather them, to
save them from the foxes--but--often, we aren't willing. Often, we won't let him-gather us, love us,
save us--often, as bizarre as it might seem--we, children of Jerusalem, choose
the foxes, instead. Often, it is as
St. Paul says in our second lesson--often, many of us live as enemies of the
cross of Christ--St. Paul was talking about some in the Corinthian
congregation, who were perverting the Gospel, and so were enemies of the cross
of Christ--those who were bent on self-destruction, their god is their belly,
and their glory is in their shame--their shameful deeds and actions--for their
minds are set on earthly things. When
our minds are set on earthly things;
when we are pre-occupied with food, and lust, and greed, and power--when
we are filling ourselves with alcohol, and drugs, and self-destructive
addictions--we become enemies of Christ;
we live as enemies of Christ.
Rather, St. Paul writes, our citizenship is to be in heaven-and it is
from there, that we are to expect, to look for, a Savior! Not from the foxes of this world--salvation
comes not from the liquor store clerk--not from the drug-dealer--not from the
tobacco companies. Salvation comes not
from the Krispy Kreme baker, not from the Twinkie salesman, not from the
snack-bar vending machine. Salvation
comes not from success in business, not from being CEO, not from working longer
hours to close that big deal. Salvation
comes not from might, or power, or position, or prestige. To seek salvation from these, foxes, is to
welcome the fox into the henhouse--to follow destructive ways, that may fill our
bellies, and satisfy our human desires and appetities--but taken to extremes,
they make us enemies of Christ. They
keep Christ from gathering us, his children, to himself. And so, St. Paul reminds us--we are children
of Jerusalem--we are to be children of the Kingdom of God--so, we are to look
to heaven, for our Savior--we are to look to the Lord Jesus Christ, to be our
Savior--for indeed, if we are willing, He will transform the body of our
humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory, by the power
that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. Because, truly, that's what this is all
about. Us, being subject--us, being
willing to submit, to the Lord Jesus Christ.
So long as we seek only
ourselves, and our own wants and desires, we remain unwilling to be gathered
and saved, by Jesus, our mother hen. So
long as we seek only our own will and way, we will live, at times, as enemies
of the cross of Christ. And the way to
rectify that situation--is for us to become subject to Jesus Christ. For us to repent, and to reject our own
desire to focus on earthly things--to submit to Jesus Christ, and His will for
us, and His way, so that, subjecting ourselves to him--submitting ourselves to
Him, yielding to His will for our lives--He will transform the body of our
humiliation, that it may conformed to the body of His glory, by the power that
also enables him to make all things subject to himself. In other words, we are to turn away from the
foxes; to turn away from all that would
deceive us, and lead us astray in life, so that once again, our mother hen,
Jesus, may gather us to himself--that there, in his loving embrace--there, in
his protecting wings, he may make us, again, his children.
And isn't that what the
season of Lent is all about? Isn't Lent about:
repentance; turning away from
sin and disobedience and destructive behaviors, returning to, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who forgives us, and transforms us--who puts to death our shame and
humiliation--so that we may share, in His glory--in the glory of His
resurrection--in the glory, of new life, in Him? That is--the Lenten journey--the Lenten process, of dying to
self, to live, again, in, and through, and with, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is nothing other than, the process of
running from, the dangerous foxes that would harm us, and maybe even devour
us--allowing ourselves, to again, be gathered under the loving wings, of Jesus,
our mother hen. May God, this Lenten
season, make us willing children, once again!
In the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.