The Second Sunday of Lent, Year C

Sheltered Under God's Wings

Readings: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18; Psalm 27: Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 13:31-35

Perhaps you will recall the childhood story of the fox and the little red hen. The sly fox spends his time thinking of ways to trap the little red hen. He finally manages it and pops her into his sack to drag her back to his lair. But she, of course, always prepared, manages to get her scissors out in the nick of time. She cuts a hole in the bag and replaces herself with a stone so that the fox will not know that she is gone.

Many farmers have true stories about the night the fox raided the hen house. However, while the stories tell of the ruckus the hens made trying to save their chicks, we all know the outcome. It makes the image of Herod the fox and Jesus the hen protecting the chicks in the gospel this morning all the more beautiful.

It starts with a warning from the Pharisees. For once they seem to be on Jesus' side. “Get away from here,” they warn him, “for Herod wants to kill you.” Jesus often reacts to “daily news” items such as this one. His parables and stories are a response to real events going on in real peoples’ lives. He lived in the real world. He knew and responded to the political situation. Yet even in the face of personal danger he did not back down.

“Go and tell that fox what you see happening!” he tells them. And he gives them a hint of what is to come. In fact, it was not Herod the fox who ultimately got into the hen house; rather it was Pilate who carried out the resolve of the Jewish authorities. Jesus did not stop his ministry when threatened by the power of the Jewish authorities, those of Palestine, or even those of Rome. Even when his work threatened the established order, Jesus journeyed under the divine imperative that took him on the way of the cross.

Over against the threat of Herod's power Jesus speaks of a “hen gathering her brood together under her wings”. What a beautiful image of God, protective, loving, warm, supportive! At the first hint of danger in the farmyard the mother hen gathers the chicks under her wings. She forgets her own needs as the little chicks crowd together trustingly under her warm body. Much as Jesus has concern for the work to which God has called him, he also has concern for the spiritual welfare of humanity. He yearns to protect God’s children. As a mother hen gathers her young under her wings, so he yearns for their spiritual well being, yearns so much, in fact, that he will embrace death on the cross, arms outstretched, to accomplish it.

We, of course are the chicks. Our lives, watched over so carefully by God are free from the terrible threats of the foxes that arise in our lives. Under those protective wings we can live our lives with boldness and courage. So why is it that we try so hard to get away from those protective wings? Why do we wander off onto our own paths? Why do we want to live our lives on our own terms?

Let's face it! The fox has an allure that is difficult to resist. The world has so much to offer. We begin to see ourselves as invincible, as being able to look after our own needs. Or we are enticed by the promise of power, of wealth. What need do we have for God? What place does God have in our lives? Or we come to a time when we are facing personal crisis. We all do at some time or another. Our reaction is to feel totally alone. No one in the world, we are certain, has ever gone through what we are going through. There is no place or person to whom to turn for comfort. We feel abandoned by the very ones we think should be the most supportive. We feel abandoned by the church. Most of all, we feel abandoned by God. It is difficult to keep the faith. It is impossible to remember that even in the most difficult and trying situations, God is with us.

In our materialistic society it is easy to make choices that kill the soul. Our choice as Christians is crucial, for we are called to emulate Christ. Jesus’ path was one of suffering and death. Does that ever cause us to wonder why our paths should be so smooth and our way so easy? While we claim to follow Jesus, most of us find little in our journey through life that resembles suffering or sacrifice for the sake of others. Are we called during this Lenten season to stand up against society to make it just and equitable? How do we proclaim God’s love?

How do we live out our call in the real world? It takes courage to stand up for what we believe. We are called to shelter and champion those who are ill-treated. The struggle to bring peace and justice into the world is a sign that God’s sheltering wings embrace us. We in turn open our arms to embrace the needs of society. We need models in our lives to imitate and lifestyles to copy.

Abram is one of those models for us. He lived under the protective wings of a loving God. However, he was not always convinced that it was the case. He was called by God to leave his homeland with Sarai, Lot and all of his possessions. He became prosperous, yet still felt cheated because he had no heir. God did not seem to have kept the promise. He quickly began to blame God for his condition. But God gave Abram a life changing experience that took him outside of himself, beyond the cares and petty concerns of his life.

God took him outside to view the starry sky. There at night beneath the stars he caught a glimpse of himself and began to see how really blessed he was. “Look toward heaven,” God told him. “Count the stars, if you are able to count them.” It brought Abram into a new relationship with God. He moved beyond words, beyond arguments, even beyond his own efforts, to a sense of trust, to faith that what God has promised, God will bring about. It was the beginning of a covenant between God and Abram.

The covenant was reassuring for a time, especially as Abram began to think back to his former life in Ur. Of course, insecurities began to creep back in. Once more God renewed the covenant between them. At God’s suggestion Abram brought out the heifer, the goat, the ram, the turtledove and the pigeon. He cut them in two laying each half over against the other. In the darkness as he slept the smoking fire pot and flaming torch passed between the pieces. Rather like a blood brother ritual, it symbolized what would happen if either broke the agreement.

“May I be split open and left to die,” God is saying to Abram, “if I do not keep the promises I have made to you today.” Abram had little reason to believe what God said. Yet he trusted in a promise so outrageous that it was beyond belief.

Paul too is a model, not only for the people of Philippi, but also for us. Paul was writing to the Philippians from prison. In the midst of his own personal struggle and deprivation, he wanted to reassure them so that they would continue in spite of all the problems and hardships they faced. Philippian society was decadent. They lived at a time of excess. A great gulf lay between rich and poor. They were a people obsessed with sexuality. They overused their resources. They searched for meaning in a meaningless existence. Paul demands of them a quality of life, a higher purpose that will give meaning and direction to their lives. He calls on them to live as if they believe God’s great promise of salvation. He calls on them to live within the shadow of the cross, to live with the knowledge of the great sacrifice that Christ made on their behalf. If they believe that God is building a kingdom of love, they will live loving lives that belie the society in which they live. They will not live their lives focused on instant gratification, but will seek inner peace and spiritual growth.

It is easy, in fact, utterly human, to refuse to take responsibility for our actions. Yet when we allow ourselves to be sheltered by God's protective wings, when we remember the promises that God has made to us, when we remember the sacrifice that Christ made, then we know how blessed we truly are. We know how unworthy we are of God's call!

And if we forget again, then God reminds us again. God calls us out of the darkness as he called Abram. God helps us to wrestle with our private demons. God graces us and we begin to trust the promises again.

Like a mother hen God through Jesus Christ gathers us in in safety. We are part of God's life, living under those protective wings. From that warm and safe place we reach out to others, drawing them in to the love of God. The Lenten journey we have begun is one of discovery, of renewing our covenant with God, of looking beyond the cares and concerns of life. It is a time to renew our faith. It is a time to understand how God's promises have played out in our lives. It is a time to accept God's spiritual embrace, to take shelter under those wings.