Just like a Mother Hen

Luke 13:31-35

Lent 2

March 16, 2025

 

Jesus again foreshadows his own death

saying that it would be Jerusalem where he would be killed

because it was impossible for a prophet like him

to be killed outside of Jerusalem.

And then Jesus mourns over Jerusalem.

Saying “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets

and stones those who are sent to it.”

 

Jerusalem, Jerusalem

I don't know if we as American Christians can

quite understand the significance of Jerusalem.

 

We have love for our cities here in the US

I know people love Hilton Head, and Charleston,

Many people love San Francisco and New York, Chicago,

or their own hometowns.

but there is something more than love about Jerusalem.

 

David and the Israelites invaded

and conquered Jerusalem

and established it as the capital of Israel.

 

There is great religious significance there.

The place where David planned to build the temple

was supposedly the same place where Abraham

offered the first sacrifice to God.

The temple, when it was built the first time,

held the Ark of the Covenant – the 10 commandments.

 

Jerusalem is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible 669 times.

And Zion, which usually means Jerusalem, is mentioned 154 times.

 

Luke mentions Jerusalem 90 times in his Gospel.

Luke loves this city too. And he also has difficulty with it.

Jesus begins his life there with his circumcision at the temple.

In this passage today, Jesus tells the Pharisees,

that are actually trying to help him get away from Herod,

that he has to go to Jerusalem because that's

where the prophets are killed.

 

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem” Jesus says mournfully.

Jerusalem not only holds significance for Israelites

it is precious to God and Jesus as well.

 

Jerusalem is a city, but it’s also an ideal.

It represents the place at which God meets God's people.

Where God's power and grace meets

commerce and organized religion and politics.

Where God and God's people meet, where they intersect.

It is the cross of humanity and God, if you will.

 

Jerusalem is a holy city.

Jerusalem is God's children.

It represents the relationship of God and people.

 

And yet, in spite of its holiness – or because of it –

It has historically been a place of great conflict

the center of great upheaval, violence,

It is a place that is both beautiful and torn.

 

They’re not sure, but people think that the name

Jerusalem means “Heritage of Peace”.

Which might seem ironic.

The current conflict between Israelis and Palestinians

is only the latest.

Before Jesus time,

the city has been overtaken by Egypt, Asyria, and Babylon.

Then it was under Roman control in Jesus time.

After it was under Muslim rule, then it was

captured by the Crusaders, the Ottomans, and the British.

 

It’s a holy city with a pretty unholy history.

And, although even more has happened since

Jesus time, it seems that Jesus and others knew

it was a place that had often lost its way and

has been more shaped by power, defense,

and conflict than by God’s ideals and dreams.

 

And today it still has a troubled reputation.

It’s supposed to be a refuge, a place of peace and safety.

But in its effort to keep itself safe from violence, Jerusalem’s leaders

have turned to violence. In its defense against

terrorism, it has often caused terror.

In its fear of genocide, its leaders have come close to genocide.

 

Christ in the Wilderness - The Hen
Stanley Spencer

The preacher, Barbara Brown Taylor said:

“If you have ever loved someone you could not protect,

then you understand the depth of Jesus’ lament about Jerusalem.

All you can do is open your arms and keep reaching out again.”

 

I wonder if God feels the same way about the United States?

The United States has often thought of itself

as a place that was ordained by God.

The early colonists even called it “the New Jerusalem”.

They saw it as a place that would be based on

biblical principles where people could live in peace and brotherhood.

 

And yet this very belief that the US was destined by

God to become a nation, gave us a moral justification

overtaking of native American’s land, breaking treaties,

and violent confrontations and massacres.

 

And the first settlers came to what would be

Jamestown Virginia in 1609, and the first ship

of African slaves were traded to the American colonists in 1619.

 

It seems that right out of the gate, God’s ideals

of peace, freedom, and brotherhood

were traded in for violence, expediency, and profit.

And in many ways this legacy has followed us

throughout our short history.

Now, the US has lived up to some of our ideals

as a beacon of democracy and free speech,

in our generosity and service towards other countries,

and in our defense of nations from outside aggressors.

 

But each time we seem to try and break the bonds

of our history and live up to our ideals,

we seem tempted to go down other paths.

 

We repeatedly have given our spiritual lives

over to punitive and vindictive authoritarian

interpretations of Christianity that

preach an angry and vengeful God.

We have chosen our love of guns over the protection

of our children time and time again.

And we also kill our own prophets

and destroy those who are sent to us.

We keep trading our ideals for our greed and fear.

  

Jesus says to Jerusalem:

“How often have I desired to gather you together

as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,

and you were not willing.”

 

Chickens seems to me like kind of a silly animal,

for Jesus to compare himself to.

Chickens seem skittish and fearful,

they don’t seem concerned

with each other very much.

 

But I read that it’s different for a mother hen.

Apparently, whenever there’s danger, a mother hen

will cluck for her young and when they come,

she’ll open her wings to them,

and gather them underneath and cover them.

She remains exposed to danger,

she’s ready to give her life for theirs.

 

The chicken doesn’t have any other defenses,

not very sharp claws or teeth,

all she has to give is the protection of her own body

she can only offer her own life to protect her children's.

Jesus says he feels like a mother hen.

Her chicks have scattered though.

They are not responding to the calls that she’s made.

 

And to make it worse, there’s a fox running around the house.

Some of the chicks have run off and followed the fox.

Some wander by themselves.

They’re not responding to her voice.

Even given the shelter of her wings, they would rather

wander aimlessly and try to make their own way.

God’s children have strayed.

 

We follow the fox, we search for our own little worms,

we seek out money, notoriety, security,

we resort to the ease of violence and coercion to get our way.

We scatter to the call of cynicism and hopelessness.

We claim Jesus as our savior,

but are not willing take small risks and make

even the smallest of sacrifices for others.

 

So many times we would rather take our chances with the fox

than to be gathered under Jesus wings.

 

But Jesus keeps calling to us.

When faced with children who reject, deny, scatter and self-destruct

Jesus does not close herself off to Jerusalem

Jesus doesn’t look to punish or toss them aside.

Jesus opens her wings, one more time like the mother hen.

But this leaves her in a very vulnerable position.

Her chest and organs exposed to the danger.

 

Jesus says that he will not see Jerusalem again

until he hears them say

“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the lord.”

 

And that is what Jesus hears when he rides back

into town for the last time on a donkey.

Jesus does go back to Jerusalem

To face the fox, and all those other scattered children.

 

The mother hen attempting to protect her chicks,

She shields them with her own body

She protects them by giving her own life.

 

In that city, at that time, the grace of God had a definitive

interaction with the town of Jerusalem,

And the powers of organized religion and politics and commerce.

And the grace of God won.

 

Grace is God's final word on Jerusalem

and God's final word on us

on our wandering our sin,

and our flirtation with foxes.

 

We will always be God's little chicks, called together by our baptism

Even as we wander around, leave the nest,

scatter to search on our own, and follow after the fox,

God's grace is still God’s final word.

She always waits for us,

ready to spread her wings,

hoping to gather us together again.