Prophets and Chicken Wings

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18; Philippeans 3:17-4:1; Luke 13:31-35

Our gospel lesson for this morning shows Jesus in the midst of his teachings. He has been going through the towns and villages on the way to Jerusalem, telling their sick and telling them many things about the Kingdom of God and answering many of their questions about life. And, so, you can imagine what some of the stories about Jesus were like as the religious leaders in Jerusalem heard them. Outside the city of Jerusalem, in the surrounding countryside was a powerful healer, prophet and teacher who was coming closer and closer. And you can imagine what these religious leaders must have thought as Jesus talked about how his coming would change the Temple and the religious structure of Israel. Their very existence, their livelihood, their status depended upon things staying as they were. And, so, as they looked over the walls of their city towards the surrounding cities and villages, the religious leaders of Jerusalem, the Pharisees and the Scribes, and Herod, himself, started to get paranoid about the coming of Jesus. They felt that they didn't need this man. They didn't want this man.

And, yet, wherever Jesus went, into the small villages and towns, the people would gather around him to be healed and to hear his teachings. The little children would come to him. And then Jesus would move on, getting ever closer and closer to Jerusalem.

And, so, it is while Jesus is at one of these little towns, that some Pharisees were sent from Jerusalem to test him. In fact, they tell him, "Leave this place and go somewhere else, because Herod wants to kill you."

Of course, this wouldn't be the first time that such a threat as this had come to a holy man of God. Moses had heard this threat, himself, when he was in Egypt. Elijah had heard it more than once in his dealings with Jezebel. Jeremiah had heard this threat many times as he warned the leadership of Israel about the terrible things that would happen to Jerusalem unless the people repented. So, Jesus didn't flinch when he heard this threat, again. If anything, he felt that he was in good company, getting such a threat laid at him as this.

We who are involved in Christian discipleship in this world shouldn't be at all surprised when the work we do for Jesus gets us into trouble. For if we are truly as effective as we would like to be in the ministry of Jesus Christ, there are going to be those who are offended by what it is that we are doing. If, for instance, a church in a community begins to grow and is successful at working with youth and is attracting people to participate in activities at the church at all times of the week. It should not be at all surprising when others in town get suspicious and start calling the church a cult and spread lies about the people who attend that church. Or when a person answers God's call to be a disciple and gets involved with changing some of the social structures of a community so that the needs of the poor, and the hungry, and children are addressed, it is amazing how quickly people start calling that person a busy-body and other derogatory names. It is amazing how quickly that person starts running into roadblocks set up by those who want to protect the status quo. And so it was with Jesus as he got closer and closer to Jerusalem.

But, Jesus didn't flinch when we encountered this opposition. Instead, what did he say to those Pharisees who told him to flee from that place because Herod wanted to kill him? Did Jesus pack his bags and leave town? Did Jesus back down from these persons? Of course not! Instead, he answered them with a retort that was worthy of his place in the cosmos. For the son of God replied, "Go tell that fox, 'I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.' In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day--for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!"

The fact is that Jesus already knew what it was going to take for him to be the Savior of the world. Before he even came into the world he knew what he would have to do. And, so, a death threat against him was something that he had expected all along. If anything, it was simply a signal that he was on the right track, a sign that he was doing something right.

I'll remember the time that as a pastor in Strawberry Point, Iowa several of us pastors in town got together with some of our church people and decided to host a Cambodian refugee family. So, we made out the necessary documents and sent them in and got ready to receive a family from Cambodia. We rented a house, found some furniture, got together bedding and clothing, and kitchen things, and waited. Finally, a family of six came on an airplane, landing in Dubuque on a dark and snowy night. We went and got the family and took them back to Strawberry Point to their house. Within a few weeks we got the children into school, got the man of the house a job, and started to teach the family English. We even got the two sons a paper route so that they could make some extra money.

Over the months that we got to know this family, we realized that what we had done was right. And we knew this, not only because of the good feeling we got deep down inside whenever we helped this family. But, also because of the opposition we got from some of the people in the town.

I'll always remember how one of our pastors got a phone call, one night from an angry citizen of the town. Betraying her racism, she was upset about the fact that these two brothers were delivering her newspaper. She told the pastor, angrily, "Keep these two little monkeys off my porch!" So, the pastor canceled her newspaper subscription.

Other people in town betrayed their racism, as well, when they said that they wouldn't work alongside a "gook," which was a racist word used back then for people from that part of the world.

But, as we pastors and other church people got together and heard these amazing stories, we praised God. For in hearing them we knew that we were on the right track. We knew that we were doing something good. For the powers of evil always raise their ugly heads when God's work is being done.

But, perhaps one of the most amazing things that Jesus said in response to those who had come to threaten him was this: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone

those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"

If anything these words of Jesus tell us very much about the nature of God. Here in one short sentence, Jesus is saying that God's love is like the love of a mother hen, and that, likewise, God's protection is much like that of the wings of a mother hen.

Any of you who have ever been involved with farming will know something about the wings of a mother hen. First of all the mother hen is persistent. If she senses danger she will quickly gather he chicks around her and spread her wings over them. If a rain storm comes through, there you see the mother hen with her wings spread out, her little chicks gathered under her wings, waiting out the storm. It is an interesting sight to behold.

The interesting thing about hen's wings, however, is that while they provide comfort and protection, they are, yet vulnerable. If, for instance, a brick fell down off a chimney and hit the wings of a mother hen, the feathers would provide little protection at all. In spite of all that the mother hen tried to do to protect her chicks, there would not be much she could do in the case of such a catastrophe.

The protection that God offers us is much the same as this. As we seek to minister in this world, God provides us the comfort of God's love. Like hen's wings, God is persistent to care for us. Like hen's wings, God tries to protect us against the storms of life. But, like hen's wings, there are those times when the hailstones, or the bricks can get through. And, yet, even when that happens, God's wings are quickly there again to comfort and give us warmth.

Jesus longed to give that kind of care and comfort to the people of Jerusalem as he neared the city. But, he knew that their fear of change and their dependence upon the status quo would keep them from accepting him as their Savior and Messiah.

But, you can't really blame those people. Living inside the walls of Jerusalem they felt safe. Protected by the strongest armies of the world, as long as they paid them tribute, they felt secure. As long as Herod cooperated with the Roman governor, his place was secure. As long as the religious leaders gave the Romans their due, they were happy and would have a home and a job. The Temple looked large and imposing, seemingly capable of withstanding any storm that might come along. And all Jesus had to offer them was hen's wings! How could hen's wings compare to the majesty and protection of Jerusalem and Rome?

But little did the religious people of Jerusalem know or even suspect that within a few short years those walls of Jerusalem would come tumbling down, that those Roman soldiers would send them into exile, and that the Temple would be destroyed? All of the stability the people of Jerusalem had believed in would end up in ashes!

But our lives are much the same. Where do we put our trust? In things that we think will last forever – like Social Security? Our pensions and life insurance policies? Our "rock solid" investments? Our homes? Our police forces? Our doctors and hospitals? Where do we put our trust? In things that we can see with our eyes? In armies and missiles and tanks and guns? In political systems? Or in the wings of a mother hen?

All of the things that our world puts its trust in can be taken away in a moment of political and economic turmoil. But the wings of the hen – God's protection and love – will be with us for all time.

The prophets of God tried to point this out over and over again but were persecuted for doing so. Jesus tried to point this out to the religious leaders of his day, but was arrested and crucified for it. And, now, it's our turn. As we serve our Lord, we know where true security really is. We know that "In God we trust" isn't just a slogan on our money, but that it must be a way of life. For God's love and God's word is the only thing that lasts for ever.	Amen.