“Full to the Brim: Under God’s Wing”
Preached Sunday, March 13, 2022
God loves you unconditionally.
God - God the Father, the Son, The Holy Spirit. The Divine. The Creator of the Universe. The Alpha and the Omega. Jesus Christ, God incarnate, God that is wind and fire and the very air we breathe. GOD
Loves - Loves with an agape love - love that is patient, love that is kind, love that does not boast, that isn’t proud, love that doesn’t insist on its own way, that isn’t irritable or resentful, love that does not rejoice in wrongdoings but rejoices in the truth, love that believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things - LOVES
YOU - Yes, YOU (Name names of people present)
Unconditionally. Cannot be earned. Cannot be bought. Cannot be worked for. AND there is nothing that can be done - to you or by you - to make that love go away - Romans 8: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, not depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. UNCONDITIONALLY.
God. Loves. You. Unconditionally.
Amen.
…
And I really debated ending my sermon here today! But I could talk all day about God’s unconditional love - or at least for the 10 or so minutes of a sermon. So filled with the wonderful knowledge of God’s love, let’s turn our attention to today’s Gospel lesson.
In our short, 5 verse, Gospel reading from Luke today, Jesus uses two animal metaphors. First, Herod as a fox. Secondly, the people of Jerusalem as a brood of chicks and Jesus as the mother hen, gathering them under her wing.
Let’s talk first about Jesus as a mother hen.
I have a video here* of a mother hen with her chicks nestled in her wings in case you aren’t used to having chicks around or haven’t seen this being played out before. There shouldn’t be any sound so I’m going to talk…You see them nestled in there, safe, secure, loved. Mother hens are fiercely protective of their chicks. They will fight off any sort of animal that they think is a threat - in preparation for this sermon I watched hens fighting off cats and goats and crows and dogs and people and hawks…all while doing their best to protect their chicks. Hens are a symbol of motherhood and a mother’s love. They sit on their eggs, turning them even up to 30 times a day - a few days before the eggs hatch the chicks inside start to peep, talking to their mother, and the mother hen talking back. The chicks go under her wings not just for protection from predators but also the elements and for warmth and comfort…
Truly, a parent’s love. And this is the love that Jesus is expressing for those in Jerusalem - the children of Jerusalem, his children - God’s children…and we are all God’s children. AND I want to point out what he says about them first: He says:
“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.'
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!”
Jesus knows that he goes to Jerusalem to be killed. Jesus knows that he goes to Jerusalem to suffer and die. He is a prophet who will be killed in Jerusalem, scorned, betrayed, hurt…bleeding and dying at the hands of those in Jerusalem.
And yet! In the very same breath that he says “They will kill me” he also says “I want to gather them as a mother hen gathers her brood under her wings.” Because there is nothing, nothing, that will separate the child of God from their Divine parents’ love. Not even killing him. Jesus loves you unconditionally. Jesus loves them unconditionally.
So now let’s talk about the other animal mentioned in the Scripture today, a fox aka Herod. There are 6 Herods mentioned in the Bible and this Herod is Herod of Antipas. The son of Herod the Great - or well, the not so Great - who we know from the Christmas story and ordered the mass slaughter of children and infants under 2. Herod of Antipas followed in his father’s footsteps in being the governor of the Palestine area that he ruled under the Roman Empire. He was the one who, by request of his daughter, had John the Baptist, Jesus’s cousin, beheaded. He is the one who, Jesus would appear before his crucifixion although Herod would send him back to Pilate. In calling him a fox it would be seen as an insult - he is the puppet of the Lion, of the emperor, the one with actual power. A fox is one who uses deceit to achieve his goals, not real power. But also - foxes kill hen.
I did look up and watch a video of a fox killing a hen - although I decided against showing it here.
But again - if Jesus loves his children in Jerusalem with the unconditional love of a mother - does God the Mother Hen love the fox too? If he loves those who will abuse and kill him in Jerusalem, I’d say that Herod is loved too, the fox, gathered under her wing.
Jesus loves you unconditionally. Jesus loves them unconditionally.
Which leads us to the question: Who is outside the love of God? Is anyone? Perhaps many of you recently saw Jesus Christ Superstar at Playhouse Square. I believe one of the central themes or questions underlying this musical is: Is Judas beyond the love of God? At the end of the production that was just performed in Cleveland, it ends with Jesus and Judas, post-Crucifixion and post-suicide, sitting side by side and looking at each other. I believe the musical confirms, very subtly, what I believe. That absolutely no one - not Judas, not the children of Jerusalem, not Herod - no one is outside the love of God.
There is no one outside the love of God - even those who commit violence and sin against God and one another.
With that question answered, perhaps our minds are turning to the Herods or even Caesars, the Judases and all those who commit violence and harm their neighbor in today’s world. Too many, O Lord, too many.
I did look up and watch a video of a fox killing a hen - although I decided against showing it here.
But again - if Jesus loves his children in Jerusalem with the unconditional love of a mother - does God the Mother Hen love the fox too? If he loves those who will abuse and kill him in Jerusalem, I’d say that Herod is loved too, the fox, gathered under her wing.
Jesus loves you unconditionally. Jesus loves them unconditionally.
Which leads us to the question: Who is outside the love of God? Is anyone? Perhaps many of you recently saw Jesus Christ Superstar at Playhouse Square. I believe one of the central themes or questions underlying this musical is: Is Judas beyond the love of God? At the end of the production that was just performed in Cleveland, it ends with Jesus and Judas, post-Crucifixion and post-suicide, sitting side by side and looking at each other. I believe the musical confirms, very subtly, what I believe. That absolutely no one - not Judas, not the children of Jerusalem, not Herod - no one is outside the love of God.
There is no one outside the love of God - even those who commit violence and sin against God and one another.
With that question answered, perhaps our minds are turning to the Herods or even Caesars, the Judases and all those who commit violence and harm their neighbor in today’s world. Too many, O Lord, too many.
As Christians the knowledge that God loves all unconditionally and that God desires to enfold all of us,
all of THEM too, under God’s wing, well…it changes things.
Is Putin loved by God unconditionally?
The answer we are forced to come to is - yes. You are loved by God unconditionally. And so is he. And many others who we call our enemies.
Now, I want to be very clear - God’s unconditional love does not mean that we are not to be held accountable to our actions - it does not mean that our sins against God and neighbor are excused - it does not mean that God does not hate evil.
So when it comes to the utter and absolute evil of waging war - God hates it. It is an abomination in God’s eyes.
The events happening in Ukraine are nothing short of evil. And we can and need to call them that. Civilians are being bombed. Formerly agreed upon humanitarian corridors are being mined. Maternity hospitals and apartment complexes destroyed. Children killed. And the evil atrocities of war have no end in sight.
We need to be praying. We pray for peace. We pray that each and every person carrying out the evil sins of war would realize that they are loved by God unconditionally. And if they are loved by God unconditionally, so are those they kill and harm. God wishes to gather all of God’s children under God’s wing. And when we’re all gathered under the wing of God, all in God’s fierce, protective, all encompassing, unconditional love - there is no room for war, no room for hate, no room for anything but peace and love.
Ann Weems who was a Presbyterian minister and poet wrote this poem called “I No Longer Pray for Peace.” I’d like to share it with you this morning:
“On the edge of war, one foot already in,
The answer we are forced to come to is - yes. You are loved by God unconditionally. And so is he. And many others who we call our enemies.
Now, I want to be very clear - God’s unconditional love does not mean that we are not to be held accountable to our actions - it does not mean that our sins against God and neighbor are excused - it does not mean that God does not hate evil.
So when it comes to the utter and absolute evil of waging war - God hates it. It is an abomination in God’s eyes.
The events happening in Ukraine are nothing short of evil. And we can and need to call them that. Civilians are being bombed. Formerly agreed upon humanitarian corridors are being mined. Maternity hospitals and apartment complexes destroyed. Children killed. And the evil atrocities of war have no end in sight.
We need to be praying. We pray for peace. We pray that each and every person carrying out the evil sins of war would realize that they are loved by God unconditionally. And if they are loved by God unconditionally, so are those they kill and harm. God wishes to gather all of God’s children under God’s wing. And when we’re all gathered under the wing of God, all in God’s fierce, protective, all encompassing, unconditional love - there is no room for war, no room for hate, no room for anything but peace and love.
Ann Weems who was a Presbyterian minister and poet wrote this poem called “I No Longer Pray for Peace.” I’d like to share it with you this morning:
“On the edge of war, one foot already in,
I no longer pray for peace:
I pray for miracles.
I pray that stone hearts will turn
to tenderheartedness,
and evil intentions will turn
to mercifulness,
and all the soldiers already deployed
will be snatched out of harm's way,
and the whole world will be
astounded onto its knees.
I pray that all the "God talk"
will take bones,
and stand up and shed
its cloak of faithlessness,
and walk again in its powerful truth.
I pray that the whole world might
sit down together and share
its bread and its wine.
Some say there is no hope,
but then I've always applauded the holy fools
who never seem to give up on
the scandalousness of our faith:
that we are loved by God......
that we can truly love one another.
I no longer pray for peace:
I pray for miracles.”
So this morning, may we pray for miracles. That every single person on this earth would know that YOU, THEY, ALL, are loved unconditionally by God. May the miracle of peace follow.
Amen.
I pray for miracles.
I pray that stone hearts will turn
to tenderheartedness,
and evil intentions will turn
to mercifulness,
and all the soldiers already deployed
will be snatched out of harm's way,
and the whole world will be
astounded onto its knees.
I pray that all the "God talk"
will take bones,
and stand up and shed
its cloak of faithlessness,
and walk again in its powerful truth.
I pray that the whole world might
sit down together and share
its bread and its wine.
Some say there is no hope,
but then I've always applauded the holy fools
who never seem to give up on
the scandalousness of our faith:
that we are loved by God......
that we can truly love one another.
I no longer pray for peace:
I pray for miracles.”
So this morning, may we pray for miracles. That every single person on this earth would know that YOU, THEY, ALL, are loved unconditionally by God. May the miracle of peace follow.
Amen.
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