Psalm 27
Philippians 3:17–4:1
Luke 13:31-35
Today our Scripture readings seem to have a theme of
trusting in God’s care and protection.
Aging Abram, assuming he would die childless, is told by God that God
would make a great nation of him. And
Jesus, apprised of a threat from Herod, basically compares himself to a mother
hen, frustrated that her chicks are running from her instead of gathering under
her.
Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. Just before today’s reading, he had healed a
bent-over woman – and as often happened with Jesus, instead of being praised
for the healing, he was condemned because he healed the woman in the wrong
place at the wrong time – that is to say, in a synagogue on the Sabbath. He told several parables about the reign of
God, comparing it to a mustard seed, a tiny seed from which can grow a great
shrub, and yeast, which though tiny can
with water transform flour into dough for bread. He also said that the entrance to the kingdom
is narrow, and that many who are first in this life will be last in the life to
come, and many who are now last will be first.
And at this teaching moment, some Pharisees come to warn Jesus that
Herod is on the hunt for him.
We may wonder about the motivations of these Pharisees. Are they trying to protect Jesus, or to scare
him off? Or maybe both? Was their warning an attempt to uphold or to
undermine Herod’s authority? Jesus’
relationship with the Pharisees is complicated.
There were similarities between Jesus and the Pharisees, in that both
Jesus and the Pharisees thought that faith wasn’t just about weekly religious
observance, but that it was important to practice faith every day in every part
of one’s life. But, as the Gospels
portray the differences, the Pharisees were concerned about maintaining purity
by upholding the ceremonial law, including guidelines on what food was
acceptable, what clothing was acceptable, what choices of friends were
acceptable, etc.. Jesus was not overly
concerned with the finer points of the ceremonial law – he often hung out with
those the Pharisees considered the scum of the earth - and more concerned about
love of neighbor, and was willing to bend or even break the purity guidelines
of the time in order to help people.
Now, as we read the Gospels, we should keep in mind that
their portrayals of the Pharisees isn’t by any means neutral or impartial – the
Gospels were intentionally written to make Jesus look good, and in so doing
sometimes make the Pharisees look not so good – and at the time they were
written, decades after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, the disciples of
Jesus were being pushed out of the mainstream Judaism of the time, and it was
like an ugly divorce, with accusations and counter-accusations being hurled on all
sides. We should remember that Jesus,
his disciples, along with the Pharisees and the Sadducees, were all Jews…they
just had differing visions on how to live out their Judaism. We certainly shouldn’t view modern-day Jewish
people as acting anything like the stereotypical Pharisees of the gospels. I say all this because we live in a time
where religious stereotyping and bigotry leads to violence, as at the Tree of
Life synagogue in Pittsburgh several months ago, and now this weekend at against
Muslims at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. We should always be working to improve dialogue
and understanding between faiths, and not to spread mistrust. But, as I said, the Gospels portray Jesus’
relationship with the Pharisees as complicated, with some Pharisees condemning
Jesus, some being at least willing to engage in dialogue with Jesus, and some
at least partially agreeing with Jesus. Maybe
the Pharisees could be described as “frenemies”. Right after today’s reading, Jesus is
invited to dinner by a Pharisee…..but that’s a story for another time.
In any case, the Pharisees warn Jesus that Herod is out to
get him. Now, Herod is a dangerous,
paranoid man, a real piece of work. He
not only had John the Baptist executed, he had his own son executed when he
thought his son was a threat. Jesus,
however, seems distinctly unimpressed, and starts talking trash about
Herod. “Go tell that fox for me, “Listen,
I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the
third day I finish my work.” Jesus calls
Herod a fox – hardly the fearsome image of a roaring lion that Herod would likely
have chosen for himself. We might think
of it as Jesus asking the Pharisees to tell Herod, “You don’t scare me. I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing, and
I’ll take whatever time is needed, and I’ll leave the area on my own
schedule. You’re not going to stampede
me and my disciples out of town before I’m done.” But then Jesus refers to his continuing
journey toward Jerusalem with bitter irony, because Jesus knows what awaits him
in Jerusalem. “Yet today, tomorrow, and
the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be
killed outside of Jerusalem.' Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the
prophets and stones those who are sent to it!”
Jerusalem still occupies a paradoxical role. The city holds a prominent place in three
great faiths – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Given that place of honor, you would think
that Jerusalem would be the place where the best of these faiths would be
evident, and that unconditional love and peace would prevail there. And yet we know that the opposite is true,
that Jerusalem is a place of conflict.
While these interfaith conflicts did not exist in Jerusalem in Jesus’ day,
Jerusalem was a place of both religious awe and political power – when Solomon
built his temple, he made very sure to build his home nearby. Jerusalem was a seat of institutional power –
and institutions inevitably work to protect and perpetuate themselves, often
betraying their best ideals and purposes.
In our day we can think of the lengths that the Vatican and other
centers of religious power have gone to in defending against claims from those
abused by these institutions. And when
the lawyers get involved, churches can behave in ways that are just as
cut-throat as any corporation, and all pretense of care is left behind. When an institution feels threatened, it will
do whatever it takes, however ugly, to eliminate the threat. And Jesus knew the powers that be in
Jerusalem, political and religious, would see him as a threat.
Remember that Jesus had just compared Herod to a fox. While a fox is hardly a terrifying threat to
us, it can still be plenty dangerous to weaker, more vulnerable animals…..we
use the phrase “the fox guiarding the hen house” to describe a situation in
which a person charged with protecting others has personal motivation to harm
them instead. And so it is at this point
that Jesus describes his intentions with a surprising feminine image. Jesus described Herod as a fox, and now he
describes himself as - yep - a mother
hen.
It’s a surprising image.
I’ve read that there’s a church on the outskirts of Jerusalem with a
stained glass window depicting a hen with outstretched wings[1]
– but that’s a very rare stained glass image. The “mother hen” image isn’t used in our hymns
all that often – I’m not aware of any hymn that goes “What a hen we have in
Jesus.”.
But maybe the “hen” image adds to our understanding of
Jesus, and of God’s protection. A hen
isn’t the most intimidating of animals – it’s not very big, not very fast, not
equipped with the most threatening of defenses, just a beak and claws. But if her chicks are faced with danger, a
hen will put herself between danger and her chicks, perhaps putting them under
her and puffing her feathers up to make her look bigger and more threatening
than she really is. A mother hen will
put herself between her brood and danger, and danger includes predatory animals,
and even fire. There are stories in
which part of a barn has caught fire, and after the fire is extinguished, the
farmer finds the dead, charred body of a hen – and live chicks underneath the
hen’s body.
I think we’d prefer a more fearsome animal as an image of
God’s protection. For example, we like the image of the Lion of Judah on the
throne. But Jesus uses images of shepherds laying down
their lives for the sheep and hens putting their body between danger and their
chicks, putting their bodies on the line and perhaps dying to save their brood,
rather than any images of great conquest.
In Revelation chapters 4 and 5, while it is the Lion of the Tribe of
Judah who is proclaimed worthy to open the scroll with seven seals, the focus
shifts immediately to the Lamb in the center of the throne, the lamb who was
slain, who is to shepherd those who have attained eternal life.
Jesus lamented over Jerusalem, which was thought to be the
location of God’s presence. While many
faithful experienced God’s presence there, also present in Jerusalem was
political power concealed beneath a veneer of religion, often used in to
oppress rather than uplift the faithful – and it is this politicized corruption
of faith that Jesus lamented. Later in
Luke’s gospel, as Jesus enters Jerusalem, he again laments and even weeps over
the city, saying, “If you, even you, had only known on this day
the things that make for peace!—but
now they are hidden from your eyes.”
Those in power in Jerusalem saw themselves as being wily
foxes as they schemed and plotted to deal with the very real threats to their
power that came from Rome – but Jesus saw them as chicks lost in a storm,
separated from their mother and refusing mother’s protection, so confused and
desperate that they trusted in foxes like Herod to guard their hen-house. One might wonder what Jesus would think of
our centers of power. Would he weep and
lament over Washington and Wall Street and other centers of power who when
convenient may hold to a form of godliness in order to deceive the masses, but
deny its power (2 Timothy 3:5) by putting their real trust in military and
economic force.
Jesus is still the good shepherd who lays down his life for
the sheep, the Lamb who was slain who is to shepherd his people, and – yes – a
mother hen trying, often without success, to gather us, the chicks, under wings
of protection. Others promise us
protection and safety, but may well turn out to be foxes seeking to guard hen
houses. The security they offer is false
and fleeting. It is with Jesus that we
will find safety. Indeed, what a Hen we have in Jesus, a Hen with wings
outstretched to shelter us. We are
called to gather with Jesus, and to invite others to gather with us. May we at Emanuel church nestle under the
wings of our great Mother Hen, and invite others to join us in safety. Amen.
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