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.

Slip Away on The Way

Nehemiah 9:20-22

You gave your good spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and gave them water for their thirst. Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness so that they lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell. And you gave them kingdoms and peoples, and allotted to them every corner, so they took possession of the land of King Sihon of Heshbon and the land of King Og of Bashan.

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Carefree highway, got ta see you my old flame
Carefree highway, you seen better days
The mornin' after blues from my head down to my shoes
Carefree highway, let me slip away
Slip away on you

"Carefree Highway" written and recorded by Gordon Lightfoot from "Sundown"

This is the part of Ezra/Nehemiah where the Prophet Nehemiah has taken the nation into the hills for the reading of the law. He is reading of the faithfulness of the Lord despite the faithlessness of the Nation of Israel. Forty years in the desert, forty years and they wanted for nothing, forty years on a carefree highway.

Right before this scene, immediately before this part of the reading, Nehemiah shares the tragic truth of the building of the golden calf and the nation's blasphemies. For the nation the way was carefree, but to the Lord it was anything but carefree. The Lord suggested giving up on the whole lot of them, and Moses stood firm on the people's behalf. Moses and the Lord were steadfast.
Because of that, the nation's clothing did not wear out for forty years. From their head down to their shoes, their clothing did not wear out.

The nation of Israel committed blasphemy and entered the promised land. Staying with the One who is The Way, the Lord, it is good to see the Lord, call the Lord "Old Friend," and slip away on the way.

The Politics of Dancing

Mullet Alert!


1Chronicles 15:27-29

Now David was clothed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and as were the musicians, and Kenaniah, who was in charge of the singing of the choirs. David also wore a linen ephod. So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouts, with the sounding of rams’ horns and trumpets, and of cymbals, and the playing of lyres and harps.

As the ark of the covenant of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David dancing and celebrating, she despised him in her heart.

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The politics of dancing
The politics of ooo feeling good
The politics of moving
Is this message understood

"The Politics of Dancing" by Re-Flex written by Paul Fishman from the album of the same name.

The Ark of the Covenant is coming home! It's a time for celebration and dancing. Unfortunately, as with any parade, danger lurks on the open road. There has been a fatality. David left the Ark behind while creating standards and practices to make sure it made its way back to Jerusalem carefully and properly. But it's almost home now.

David's dancing in front of the Ark too. The Lord should be in the mood to celebrate the return of the Ark to the people of Israel so horns and trumpets and cymbals and lyres and harps should be met with dancing and rejoicing. In this theocracy, a place where the rulers of the faith are also the political rulers, the dancing that brings in the Ark is also the dancing of politics. Or is it the politics of dancing?

Of course, Michal, Saul's daughter, she wasn't too happy. Her father and brother fell at the hands of David's army. No matter how much David loved Saul and Jonathan, nothing could salve this truth. The politics of dancing was that she despised him.

Some churches love this singing and dancing tradition, some love it to the point that worship looks more like a Broadway show than worship. Then there are churches that are so reserved that the phrase "frozen chosen" is well known across the theological spectrum. It's time to remember that the pipe organ and piano were never mentioned in scripture, so when the worship committee says pipe and drum and dance don't belong in church it's time to remind them that they do, they certainly do belong. This is the politics of dancing, the politics of ooo feeling good.

We need to move some more in worship, but we still need to remember that worship is not a place where the congregation is an audience. God is the audience. The congregation is the "cast of the show." The pastor and worship leaders? They're the directors. If it makes you feel any better, Michal would hated it!