Lent 2: A Mother Hen Seeking Her Chicks...
Scripture Reading Luke 13:31-35
The image painted of Jesus in Luke 13:31-34 is touching: a mother hen that seeks to bring together her chicks so that they can rest under the comfort and safety of her wings. A mother hen who will protect her babies from the ever clever and dangerous fox. But in this image, God seeks to bring their people under their wings and yet the people refuse.
What I love about this image is that it stands as a contrast to some of the other images of God and Jesus that Christians cling to: depictions that are overly focused on violence and domination. Even when one points out that the Kingdom of God that Jesus points to is radically different from the one put forth by Empire: instead of a Kingdom built on violence and domination, Jesus preaches a kingdom of nonviolence and one where the poor and marginalized are uplifted, too many Christians choose to focus on Emperor Jesus. He is imagined as destroying whomever Christians consider their enemies at any given time.
(Who is considered an enemy changes depending on time period and socio-political location. Sometimes, enemies are those who physically persecute Christians. Other times, anyone who dares question Christian hegemony and supremacy are considered to be enemies. Even if those critiquing some facets of Christianity, identify themselves as Christianity)
Jesus is often imagined as the head of a blood-thirsty army seeking to dominate the world and implement God’s will on the surviving population. Everyone will recognize and bow down to this king either willingly by choosing to convert or unwillingly via God’s upcoming and violent judgment.
And while this passage also includes elements of warning and judgment, what leaps out to me is the loving, gentle image of Jesus. He is a loving hen, seeking to protect his chicks. Protect them from what? No, not from the “Queer agenda.” (Listen straight, cisgender people. We queer people are not seeking to convert you to anything, we are just trying to live.) No, not from the evils of premarital sex. But instead, Jesus/God from the fox of oppressive empire.
Christian antisemitism and anti-Judaism have led Christians to interpret this passage in light of early Judaism's "refusal" to accept Jesus’ sacrificial death and divine status (whatever that may mean, since Christians have debated both points for centuries).
In addition, to universally painting the Pharisees as evil (which is antisemitic because Modern Rabbinic Judaism can trace its foundations to Pharisaic Judaism) such an understanding waters down Jesus' message. Jesus’ ministry and life stood in stark contrast to the values of Empire: values that lead to the deaths, exploitation, and oppression of the marginalized.
Jesus, like a hen, desires to protect his people from the violence and exploitation of Empire. And yet-then as in now, there are people who align themselves with Empire for whatever reason: power, wealth, prestige, or survival. And while they may prosper for a bit, eventually the Empire does what it does best: discards them.
Jesus is pointing to a different way of life: God’s way. One where God nurtures and protects instead of imitating the death and destruction of Empire. And yet, even today, Christians who pride themselves on following Jesus often end up following Empire instead. The enmeshment of Christianity and American values have bred white supremacy, militarism, and oppression both for those on the receiving end of American imperial values and to the so-called benefactors. Empire only seeks to destroy. Jesus seeks to give life.
What would it mean for 21st Century American Christians to run towards God like little chicks running towards their mother? What would it mean to actually follow Jesus?
