Luke 13:31-35
31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, "Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you." 32 He said to them, "Go and tell that fox for me, "Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. 33 Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.' 34 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! 35 See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.' "
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As Perry Cromwell stared down at a huge vat of soup, he could only reflect on how far he was from his beloved apartment.
Perry Cromwell lived on the 24th floor of a 26 story building in what architectural digest rated as “The number one up and coming neighborhood” in the whole city.
Perry Cromwell loved his life... he worked hard and he played hard. His whole apartment was sculpted by an interior decorator so that all elements fit together perfectly. It was ordered, clean, and perfect. A year earlier a photographer had come and taken pictures and his was featured in a magazine under the title “The perfect place to live: feng shui taken to a new level.”
Of course like all houses, the physical appearance had little to do with the state of the occupants happiness or personal fulfillment. This isn’t to say that Perry was unhappy... but last May long weekend he had made a really bad choice.
It was a party like the many that Perry had gone to before... it was down at a beach home and things had gotten a little out of hand. Perry normally didn’t drink much so it hadn’t even occurred to him to think that night was different than any other. Pulling his lexus out of the party he felt fine and didn’t think that there were any problems...
The accident report read this way: Two vehicle collision. No weather conditions to speak of. No serious injuries. Insurance claim pending.
Perry ran a red light and drove straight into a city garbage truck. Perry thanks God everyday that there were no injuries other than two black eyes for Perry as the airbag hit him harder than anything else. His Lexus doesn’t feel the same anymore.
The breathalyzer indicated that he was well above the legal limit to drive. And after a brief court appearance, Perry was sentenced to community service and that is how Perry came to be far away from his apartment, and staring down at a huge vat of soup as he put in his time at the “Srnitha mhtera soup kitchen” .
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Today before us is a battle of wills.
Running up to Jesus, the Pharisee's deliver this message...
“Turn back Jesus... Herod will kill you.” It is clear that it is the will of the status quo that things should not change, that Jesus way is not the way that the Herod wants...
But Jesus seems undaunted... in fact... his response is pretty aggressive and firm.
This is another case of the our translators are making Jesus sound like such a gentle and nice guy... and Jesus words, though correctly translated, cannot really deliver the force of his response.
This is a retort!
Calling someone a fox in rabbinical literature is the same as calling someone unimportant... and it’s a term full of contempt.
So... what term of contempt shall we use? How would we call someone unimportant in a way that shows contempt... I’ll have to leave that to your imagination as I think such words are not normally spoken in the pulpit but... if you have worked in the oil field, fire hall, construction, farm auction, fishing village, carpenters shop or road crew you can insert your own words here. This is an aggressive response.
Go tell that _____________ “Listen, I’m doing what I’m doing, today, tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work.”
Jesus rightfully uses strong words because this is serious business... life and death issues of how to live in the world... of how we are all supposed to treat each other.
This is Jesus blowing off the local authority who claims to have power and authority - The Herod’s of the world take power and use it to hurt and ignore people, they horde wealth... this is not good governance at all...
Jesus firmly tells all those in authority, and all those with power that he knows what he has to do today, tomorrow, and then the rest will come as God wills.
This tells us a lot about Jesus... and his strength of will. And this tells us about God’s will and how and what God wills to be done.
And what is Jesus doing? Reaching out to the people on the margarin's. Offering a critique of a system that tempts people to meet their own wants first, to horde their own power while so many go without the basic necessities of life. He is bringing healing to a hurting world. He is voicing a new reality where power isn’t found where we normally think it is found.
Jesus is serving the will of God, even though it’s going to cost him dearly.
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In Perry’s perfect apartment... with it’s perfect balance of neutral colours... there was one glaring exception. It is 2 feet wide and 3 feet high... a piece of “art” is what you would call “Cheesy thrift store art” and, with all likelihood, it was rescued from some thrift store reject pile of junk before it came to Perry as a gift from someone he cares deeply about.
Perry had a hard time explaining why such a faded yellow and brown piece of cheesy art was taking up so much space on his living room wall and sort of wrecking the rest of what was a perfectly balanced apartment... but there it was... a ridiculous picture with the words Srnitha mhtera scrawled across the bottom in poor penmanship with a cheap sharpie marker.
In a way, this picture had come to represent what was central to his identity and he treasured it so much that it needed to have a central place in his life. And so there it hangs in his living room.
100 hours was the his DUI sentence. For 100 hours he was to report to the “Srnitha mhtera soup kitchen”... and looking back, he still doesn’t know how he made it in the front for that first shift.
A long line of smelly people come every night... lost people, lonely people, crazy people... hurting people... and for 100 hours Perry was going to have to follow the court ordered service and come every Monday and Thursday night and put in his shift.
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So Herod is the fox... and Jesus is said to be like a mother hen that wills to gather up all her chicks. This is one tough mother hen... but for those of us who know the story... we know what teeth marks will bite into this hen. We know what the fox is capable... we know Jesus will die in Jerusalem.
Jesus iron will to do the work of God is faced with 3 challenges:
1: Herod and those like him want to kill Jesus. So offensive is Jesus message of God’s love for the the least, the lost, and the lonely that they would rather kill him than risk the loss of power that comes when people start caring more about people than position and wealth.
2: The second challenge is the well meaning people that ask him to temper his mission... maybe run away... slow down Jesus... water this down a bit... back off... don’t do anything radical. This is the temptation to stick to the status quo... don’t ruffle any feathers... don’t challenge the fox in the hen house... compromise with the fox... live with the fox.
3: Third is everybody else... chasing their own agendas, chasing fulfillment in other things. Simultaneously wishing for change and dreading that any change should come as the devil you know is often easier to deal with than the uncertainty of change... difficult people to gather and organize... difficult to work with.
And yet... in the midst of the tumult... Jesus makes his longing clear... to gather all peoples up.
Jerusalem Jerusalem... How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
Maybe we could read it this way: Canada Canada How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
Or even closer: Edson, Edson How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
And for those of us who know the rest of the story... who know that even as the foxes teeth close and Jesus is killed, God’s will to gather up all of creation... to enter into relationship with everybody and everything... even to the point of death...cannot be stopped.... we know God’s will is being done and will be done.
No matter any “will” that opposes... God’s will to gather up all cannot be stopped. God’s will to draw together and wash and feed and brood over all people and all creation like a mother hen cannot be stopped, and is always working to pull in and embrace.
Picture the brooding God, drawing us in for Baptism, for communion, for worship, for fellowship. Picture the brooding God
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Perry Cromwell was thinking how ridiculous it was to have a 3 foot by 2 foot picture of a ridicules yellow hen on his wall. And the words Srnitha mhtera - these are Greek words meaning “The mother hen” scrawled across the bottom...
The Mother Hen’s soup kitchen... is where you will find Perry on Monday and Thursday nights.
This night... as Prerry was hanging up his jacket, the director walked up and said “Perry... you do know that your community service obligation ended 6 months ago?”
“I do” said Perry.
“Then why are you still here?”
“Well... it has to do with that big hen picture that I was given... when I came to this place I thought that I had made it in life, I’ve got a great job that I love, a new car, lots of money and access to lots of great parties and expensive pleasures... I always thought that those things would be all I needed in life.
But here are the kitchen, I discovered that those things are not what I need. And the folks here don’t really need power or status to help them. They need to be cared for, they need someone who loves them for who they are.
Half the volunteers here are homeless themselves and everyone who comes here, whether they are dishing out the food or filling their empty stomachs, they really do care for each other.
And the he people here... they care about me. And that’s what I NEED. To be gathered in... to be cared for”
The director paused a moment and said: “So you have discovered that life is not always about making it, but sometimes about just living it. So we’ll see you be back next week?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for anything... I’ve discovered I need the Mother Hen soup kitchen as much as the people that need the soup.”
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May the peace Christ which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Amen
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