THE KIRK OF KILDAIRE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

CARY, NC

www.kirkofkildaire.org

A sermon preached by Joseph Welker, Jr.

The Fox, the Hen and the Chicks

Luke 13:31-35

March 4, 2007

I was somewhat amused a few weeks ago when I heard that the Meredith College Athletic Department was looking for a new mascot. For over a century they have been called the Angels but in today's athletic environment it did not seem enough:

"What are you going to say?" asked, the sports information director. "Kill 'em, Angels?" "I love the history of angels," said the captain of the tennis team "But our sports are so up-and-coming ... we need something more competitive.

When I heard that I wondered if they had really done their research. O, I know our Christmas angels seem sweet and innocent-played by female characters… but read the Bible… and angels are male, they are strong and they are to be feared. Almost every time they appear in the Christmas story the first word to humans is, "Do not be afraid!" Perhaps all Meredith needs to do is to reclaim the Biblical image of the angel and they can watch their athletic foes run away with fear! An angel can defeat a Demon Deacon and a Blue Devil any day of the week!

It could be worse. They could have been called the Meredith Mother Hens. Not the Gamecocks-fighting roosters… but Mother hens. "Go hens, go!"

Which is why it is interesting to me that Jesus chooses that image for himself in our passage today. "How often have I desired to gather your children together as a mother hen gathers her brood under her wings." As a mother hen.

Jesus uses this image as he tearfully looks in anguish over his beloved city… filled with God's beloved people… Jerusalem. Jesus has been preaching and teaching … healing and loving - going about his ministry when some of his friends who are Pharisees come to warn him that Herod the fox is about to come to hunt him down. Kill him.

But Jesus is not worried about that old fox… because he knows his fate lies, not in Herod's hands, but in the hands of the people of Jerusalem… He knows it is not Herod who will kill him… but his own people. He knows that when he rides into the City of Peace-Jeru-salem- he knows the story will not end well- he will be treated like every other prophet of God… not with respect or honor, but with rejection… they will kill him.

So I understand his lament as he pauses to reflect on the destiny that awaits him:

"Jerusalem, 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…"

He knows all too well what happens to prophets who tell the truth of God and speak of God's love and peace… we kill those messengers. Still do.

Bob Dylan and Kris Kristofferson captured this in a song some years ago:

There was a man named Mahatma Gandhi
He would not bow down he would not fight
He knew the deal was down and dirty
And nothing wrong could make it right--away
But he knew his duty and the price he had to pay
Just another holy man who tried to be a friend
My God, they killed him.

Another man from Atlanta, Georgia
By name of Martin Luther King
He shook the land like the rolling thunder
And made the bells of freedom ring-- today
With a dream of beauty that they could not burn away
Just another holy man who dared to make a stand
My God, they killed him.

The only Son of God Almighty
The holy one called Jesus Christ
He healed the lame and fed the hungry
And for his love they took his life-- away
On the road to glory where the story never ends
Just the holy Son of Man we'll never understand
My God, they killed him.

We still do, don't we. Sometimes by an active rejection of them and their message… sometimes it is death by apathy or ignorance or stupidity. Sometimes preferring Herod's way. All causes of Jesus' death.

What makes this story so sad to me is that it is basically the story of love and lover rejected… spurned by the very people God loves…
Some of the saddest words in this passage for me are the words- "and you were not willing"… you were not willing to be loved… you were not willing to learn to love… you were not willing to learn the ways of peace and life and hope and forgiveness from me that will bring you life and joy… you were not willing to give up your legalism or power when it got in the way of loving God and your neighbor… you were not willing to learn that God's will is not the desire to get even or to kill enemies but to love enemies… O, city of Peace you were not willing to learn the ways of peace.

[My God, we killed him.]

You were not willing… do you hear the pain and pathos and sadness and lament …of those words… how our unwillingness to listen and to follow and to be protected breaks the very heart of God.

I think Barbara Brown Taylor described it well: "At the risk of his own life, Jesus has brought the precious kingdom of God within the reach of the beloved city of God, but the city of God is not interested. Jerusalem has better things to do than to hide under the shelter of this mother hen's wings. It has a fox as its head, who commands a great deal more respect. Consider the contrast: Jesus has disciples; Herod has soldiers. Jesus serves; Herod rules. Jesus prays for enemies; Herod kills his. In a contest between a fox and a chicken, whom would you bet on?" [1]

Indeed, as the story unfolds it does look like the foxes win again… doesn't it. Jesus wanted to protect his chicks-protect us from the foxes… but he would not become a fox himself in order to do it. He refused to fight fire with fire. When Herod and his bullies came after Jesus and his brood, he did not tell them to raise their swords … fight back with terrorist tactics or IEDs or with tanks and armies… he just put himself between them and the chicks, all fluffed up and hunkered down like a mother hen. Ready to die to save the chicks.

Barbara Brown Taylor said,
"It may have looked like a minor skirmish to those who were there, but that contest between the chicken and the fox turned out to be the cosmic battle of all time, in which the power of tooth and fang was put up against the power of a mother's love for her chicks. And God bet the farm on the hen. Depending on whom you believe, she won." [2]

It seems to me that in this world- where Herod's way hate and violence is the means by which nations and religious people of almost every religion often use their Holy Scriptures to defend bloodshed and violence as they deal with their differences-often claiming God is on their side - in order to defeat their enemies… It seems to me that this is a story we must not forget to tell again and again- the story of a God so in love with us and the world, that for our sake he would even die for us.

This morning, in Holy communion, we remember how far love went for us... this morning, once again in the bread and the cup--Christ will share that love with us and the world. A selfless love that would shelter us, if we are but willing.

So, come to the table to "Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed are those who find their refuge in God."

Amen.

[1] Bread of Angels
[2] Ibid p 126