Sermon for Sunday March 13 2022 - Our Mother Hen
GOSPEL: Luke 13:31-35
The holy gospel according to Luke.
Glory to you, O Lord.
31At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to [Jesus,] “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32He said to them, “Go and 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. 33Yet 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.’ 34Jerusalem, 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! 35See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
Are they protecting Jesus?
Are they mocking Jesus?
Are they trying to get rid of Jesus?
It is hard to know the Pharisees’ intention here,
because it could be genuine concern and protection,
it could be malice and mockery,
it could be a threat.
Whatever their intentions,
the Pharisees speak the truth.
Herod will play a role in Jesus’ crucifixion.
Herod - and others - want Jesus dead.
Jesus responds in a way that says -
I will not give into your threat,
I am continuing my work.
Recorded In Luke 4, Just after being tempted in the wilderness,
Jesus tells those at the synagogue
and listeners like you and I
just what that work is.
Reading from the Isaiah scroll, Jesus proclaims
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
Jesus sits down and says,
“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Keep this passage in mind for reference,
for two reasons:
1. Jesus says; Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
the city that kills the prophets
and stones those who are sent to it!
These are the words of the prophet Isaiah,
and words of the prophet, Jesus
I believe this is what Jesus is referring to.
2. This is what Jesus’ ministry is all about.
I believe you and I are called into continuing
this ministry of Jesus Christ.
But this is a problem;
doing this kind of work,
because not everyone in Jerusalem is on board.
More on that to come…
Jesus is not coerced by threats,
rather Jesus responds to the threats
by wanting to gather Jerusalem’s children
and hold them,
protect them,
like a mother hen with her chicks.
Why?
Why after likely mockery and tangible threat
does Jesus go into mama-bear, mother-hen mode?
I think of my own children,
and there are certainly times that I want to hold them,
protect them,
stand up for them.
When a bully crosses the line.
When someone says something hurtful.
When they are doing something right,
when they are helping others,
protecting others,
caring for others,
loving others,
and find themselves ridiculed for doing it.
I also want to hold them and protect them when they get angry,
when they are mad,
whether they’re righteous or misguided in their anger.
I want to hold them because
I don’t want them to do something they’ll regret.
I don’t want their anger to turn to rage
and they end up hurting someone or themselves.
I want to hold them and protect them
when they are consumed with sadness, anger or fear,
or when they are so certain they are right
that they just aren’t willing to listen.
Only when children are comforted,
only when they feel loved
can the hard conversations happen.
Jerusalem was politically charged.
You’ve got some who do
and some who don’t want to hear Jesus’ message.
It’s not unlike Jesus’ hometown in Nazareth,
where Jesus read this Isaiah scroll.
Not long after hearing this, we read that:
all spoke well of Jesus,
and next thing you know,
all in the synagogue wanted to throw Jesus off the cliff.
There were some in Jerusalem who wanted Jesus dead,
this is the threat that the Pharisees share with Jesus.
As Professor Matt Skinner puts it,
Jesus wasn’t killed just by a couple bad people,
or just by the authorities,
but there was a climate of opposition to Jesus,
largely controlled by religious people,
by those with privilege,
by those with a lot to lose,
whose traditions are under siege,
whose theologies are under scrutiny.
Yet there were others in that city
who joined the parade on that first Palm Sunday
Shouting Hosanna! God save us now!
Blessed is this Jesus,
the One who comes in the name of the Lord.
Jerusalem was politically charged,
and dare I say polarized.
Some praised this Luke 4 Jesus,
and some wanted that Jesus gone.
This sounds so much like our own city.
We too find ourselves polarized.
In cities across North America last weekend,
you could have joined a demonstration in support of Ukraine
as they face invasion and war from Putin’s Russian forces,
and down the street
you could have joined a freedom rally or protest
against COVID restrictions
and against our governments.
Two different gatherings of people,
both talking about freedom -
and their own understandings of freedom.
Our city is not of one mind with Russia and Ukraine,
Our city is not of one mind with COVID.
Even we faithful gathered for worship
can quickly become on edge, angry and antagonistic
when we hear polarizing words, like:
climate change,
The Liberal party,
masks,
war,
Evangelical,
Reconciliation
Like Jerusalem 2000 years ago,
let alone Jerusalem today,
we too are politically charged
and plentifully polarized.
We are angry,
we are mad,
we are anxious,
we are fearful,
we are tired,
we don’t know how to talk to each other,
we are certain that we are right
and we are unwilling to listen to the other,
and we make threats.
We accept some Words of Jesus
and we reject other Words.
We are just like Jerusalem.
It is to that Jerusalem,
and it is to us that Jesus says
“How often have I desired to gather your children together
as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.”
Amidst our anger,
amidst polarity,
amidst rejection,
amidst fear,
Jesus wants to hold you,
all of you,
all of us.
Are you willing?
Are you willing to be held in our Mother Hen’s wings?
I have a hypothesis;
that our polarization
and our tendencies to fight or get defensive,
our inabilities to talk about religion and politics,
our threats,
our anger,
are rooted in our fear
and in our certainty.
Anger is often a secondary emotion
to our primary emotion of fear.
When we don’t know the answers,
and we need to fill the information gaps
amidst imminent threats,
amidst our fears,
we then make our own assumptions to fill the knowledge gaps,
we do this to try to alleviate our fears and anxieties,
and we become certain about the assumptions we’ve made,
and that’s when we get the loudest:
protecting our assumptions
becoming certain of them,
making threats,
because we are afraid.
What threats have you made?
What might you be afraid of?
What assumptions have you made
that you’re now certain are true?
Like those in Jerusalem,
We might be afraid of losing our privilege or power.
We may be afraid of being rejected by others.
We might be afraid we are wrong.
Sometimes we don’t even know what we are afraid of.
Thinking again of Jesus’ mission - Jesus’ work in particular,
we might be afraid of good news for the poor
We might be certain that captives ought not be released
because it might take away my privilege or power
We might be afraid of recovery of sight for the blind,
- read guidance for those who are misguided -
because what if I am misguided?
We might be afraid that letting the oppressed go free
will come at the expense of my own freedom.
We might not want the year of the Lord’s favour,
which means debts - financial and other debts -
being forgiven,
because we might lose our own wealth.
Jesus’ message turns the world upside down,
and we’re afraid of that change
when we are the ones who benefit from the current systems
It is necessary that Jesus is obedient to these words of Luke 4;
those with power and privilege don’t really like Luke 4.
I can see why Jerusalem was polarized,
I can see why Jerusalem was angry,
and I can see why we are too.
Yet In our fear,
in our certainty,
in our polarity,
in our anger over so many hot topics
and serious human problems,
Jesus wants to gather us together
like a mother hen gathers her chicks.
Why?
To comfort us,
to protect us,
to let us cry and shout and let it all out,
and to heal us,
to relieve us of our fears,
to relieve us of our certainties
and to call us instead to faith;
faith in Jesus and Jesus’ work,
and inviting us into joining this work.
I think again of my own children,
and I can remember them as infants.
Sometimes babies get so worked up and scream so loud
that they don’t even know they’re being held.
It can be hard to calm them down.
The child can’t listen when the child is screaming.
Sometimes we too, like a screaming infant,
are so agitated
that we forget that we are all being held by God,
by our Mother Hen.
Held In our Mother Hen’s wings,
Held In Jesus’ arms
There is no one to fear,
In God’s stronghold there is none to be afraid,
for we are one,
regardless of which side of the polarity
we find ourselves.
Held in the wings of our Mother Hen,
we can cry and shout and let it all out,
and perhaps once comforted,
we can have the difficult conversations
in love for God,
in love for our neighbour,
in faith
We find our shelter
behind our fierce Mama Bear,
who takes us all in,
those who like Luke 4 and those who don’t.
God, our Mother Hen will comfort Her chicks,
and she’ll also be ferocious to protect them.
You don’t mess with Mama Bear when her cubs are nearby.
That’s how much Jesus loves Jerusalem,
that’s how much Jesus loves you.
May you find rest in the arms of our Mother Hen,
and love your neighbour.
May your heart be held and softened by the love
of our Saviour Jesus Christ,
so that fear,
that certainty,
that polarity
may fade away.
And guided by Her Spirit,
May our Mother Hen comfort and protect us,
leading us into faith,
hope and peace.
Thanks be to God. Amen
