Mother Hen

Scripture Suggestion from Alton Key

Luke 13:34

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!

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I can't see you, mama.
But I can hardly wait
Oh To touch and to feel you, mama
Oh, I just can't keep away
In the heat and the steam of the city
Ooh, it's got me running and I just can't brake
So say you'll help me, mama
'Cause it's getting so hard, ooh

"Mama" written by Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford, recorded by Genesis off of the disc of the same name.

When Christians talk about the persons of the Triune God, we usually use the phrase "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." It has been used for centuries and has staying power. The reason we speak of Trinity that way is that The Lord has presented himself to creation as these three different persons.

There is the Father who creates in the book of Genesis (not the band). God the Father can also be found in many other places in scripture. There is God the Son who came to Earth in the person of Jesus the Christ. His place is in the New Testament, especially in the Gospels. God the Spirit is more elusive, as a spirit should be. The Spirit is the wind that blew across the chaos at the beginning of "In the beginning."

But here's something that is a little more difficult to get used to, God without this masculine image. Yes, how about God the mother? Yes, feminine imagery for God is found in scripture, it's not some politically correct plot, it's really there.

God the Son wants to collect all of God's children in the same way a hen collects her chicks under her wings. The hen uses her wings for protection, it's where the chicks hide from predators, severe weather, and other dangers. This leaves the hen in a vulnerable position. If a chicken hawk comes down into the barnyard, the hen (too big to be taken up herself) could be horribly injured or even killed. Still, the chicks will be safe.

Jesus speaks of the chicks not being willing to take shelter from the storm. This leaves the chicks to their own devices and their own wisdom. Not a good place to be for a bird without either the instinct or capability to survive.

Phil Collins sings, "So say you'll help me, mama." As usual, the scripture has nothing to do with the scripture. Yet Phil is calling for help. He's calling for help because he cannot take care of himself.

Thanks be to God who protects us like a hen protects her chicks. Thanks be to God for mothers who protect their children like a hen protects her chicks.

The Bigger They Are...

1Samuel 17:1-7 (NRSV)

Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. Saul and the Israelites gathered and encamped in the valley of Elah, and formed ranks against the Philistines. The Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer went before him.

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And I keep on fighting for the things I want
Though I know that when you're dead you can't
But I'd rather be a free man in my grave
Than living as a puppet or a slave

So as sure as the sun will shine
I'm gonna get my share now, what's mine
And then the harder they come
The harder they fall, one and all
Ooh, the harder they come
Harder they fall, one and all

"The Harder They Fall" by Jimmy Cliff from the album and movie by the same name.

We're familiar with the story of David and Goliath. Goliath has even come to English as a way to describe someone who is huge and strong. Yet as we think of this giant, we can not think of him without a hint of vulnerability.

Goliath depended upon everything that was his--strength, size, armor, weapons, people, connections, even an intimidating voice. The people knew when to be afraid too, and Goliath scared all of the men of Israel.

David had none of these things. David was the least son of his father. David was the shepherd, in this passage he begins as the errand boy. His brother even accuses David of coming to the battlefield to be a spectator. But when Saul seeks someone to take on Goliath, David replies, “The LORD, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Jimmy Cliff sings about the powerful who will take what does not belong to them. He sings about the Philistines on his doorstep and cries out "But I'd rather be a free man in my grave, Than living as a puppet or a slave." Jimmy Cliff knows the same thing David knew, "the harder they come the harder they fall." The lesson of David continues to teach us "the harder they come the harder they fall."

There is danger and there is fear in our lives, but through the Lord who saves us from the paw of the lion and the bear, the eternal live the Lord promises is safe from all earthly dangers. David and Jimmy don't promise us we will come out of this unscarred, but the Lord promises these scars don't last.