Chickens and Prophets, an Unlikely Pairing

One of the first pieces of survival advice I received as I moved into the northwoods of Wisconsin was  – don’t get between a mama bear and her cubs.  When I found out that bears were a common experience in that neighborhood I was extremely grateful for the advice. 

I was told that black bears are usually not aggressive, oftentimes rather timid as long as no cubs are closeby.  But if cubs are present, be careful! If the mama bear would lose sight of her cubs or feel that they are in danger, she will not hesitate to attack.  A mother’s love almost seems to be an instinctive response.

Many other mama animals have similar behaviors when their offspring are involved.  Mother cats for instance will keep moving newly born kittens from place to place if they sense any impending danger or interference from other people or animals. 

We once had a mama cat constantly move her new litter of kitties from room to room to keep them away from the household dog, who was really gentle but mama cat was taking no chances. A mother’s love knows no bounds, she would gladly start a fight to keep her babies safe.

Mother hens on the other hand protect their baby chicks differently.  Mother hens don’t attack the dangerous predator.  When in danger, the mother hen calls out to the chicks to come to her.  Her shrieking clucks issue a no nonsense message. She crouches down, drooping her wings so the chicks can find shelter.  They come from every direction and huddle close to her body. 

The mother hen continues her furious banter, striking fear into the predator.  Using both wings and beak, she would rather die for her chicks than seek safety in flying away.  She stands her ground and fights beyond her strength.  She is a noble example of love for her offspring.

Here’s a story I’d like to share with you.  One day a fire broke out on a farm.  Flames spread out from the barn into the barnyard.  Sensing the danger at hand, the mother hen called frantically for her chicks.  They came running, some from the flaming barn.  She opened her wings and sheltered the chicks. 

The farm family rushed to fire with hoses in hand.  They managed to put out the flames and saved the barn.  The farmer, seeing the hen laying on the ground, went over to her.  Her feathers were burned and charred.  She was dead but when the farmer opened her wings, to his surprise, the chicks were alive.  She protected her chicks under the shadow of her wings, giving her life for theirs. 

Today we hear Jesus invoking the image of a mother hen.  To some this might seem rather strange.  Chickens aren’t usually thought of as mighty or fearsome animals.  Surely they don’t command the same respect as lions or tigers or bears. Oh my.  In our modern day society, calling someone a chicken is a derogatory remark sometimes implying the person is a coward or a “fready cat.”

However,  Jesus wants us to concentrate on how the mother hen relates to her chicks.  She calls them to herself, especially in times of trouble or danger.  She shelters them under the shadow of her wings, she is fearless in the face of predators and is willing to stand her ground no matter what.

Jesus once again uses images that people of times would understand. Life in Jesus’ day revolved around agriculture and farming.  He compared himself to a shepherd, the voice the sheep knows and responds to. 

He talked about vineyards, branches and grapes.  He talked about a sower plant seeds and then reaps the upcoming harvest. So, today he wants us to focus on how the mother hen calls her chicks especially when danger is close at hand or when she needs to know they are near.

In the Gospel for today, Jesus knows that danger for him is close at hand.  He has made many enemies and they are out to get him.  The religious leaders of his day didn’t like that he called them out for their hypocrisy, 

Jesus challenged the religious leaders to walk the talk they professed they were following. Their life was dictated by the Law of Moses, 613 rules to be followed at all times. A life that was to have the Lord God front and center. 

‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

The whole Torah, the Law of Moses, those 613 individual rules for following the Torah were summed up in two commands – Love God with your whole being, mind, body, soul and love your neighbor like yourself.  However, too often the chosen people of God, the ancient Israelites failed to follow these two covenant commandments.

They got caught up in the world around them.  The lure of fast money, idol worship and self- gratification began to draw many of the chosen ones away from God’s commandments.  They rejected the good and holy life God had designed for them preferring the life their non-Jewish neighbors lived, one free from lots of rules and regulations. 

A life where God was not front and center but rather a comfortable ideal that could be talked about but not taken to heart.  Little by little, the people moved farther away from what they had promised to God and became more like the surrounding godless cultures.

So as the dangers rose so did some voices to sound the alarm.  DANGER AHEAD DANGER AHEAD – screeched the prophets.

Prophetic voices are not primarily voices that predict the future but rather they are voices that speak God’s truth. More often than not, the prophets sent by God were despised and hated, their messages were disregarded and ignored.

The prophet Isaiah pulls no punches as to how prophets are seen by the people, “Give us no more visions of what is right.  Tell us pleasant things, show us illusions” (Is 30:9-10).

All the prophets of the Old Testament were rejected and eventually killed. We heard today that Jesus grieved how the prophets that God sent had been killed in Jerusalem.

It seems not much has changed to this day. Modern day prophets meet the same unfortunate fate as did the pro[hets of old. Think of Martin Luther King, Jr, Robert F. Kennedy or Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It would seem that human nature doesn’t like being told what to do or called back from erroneous ways.

Well, here we are at the beginning of Lent. A time to stop, a time to take stock of one’s life.  It is a time to turn around, to turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel. Do you hear any prophetic voices today?  Are you willing to come running when you hear the voice of God’s truth or do you ignore the alarm that danger is near.

Jesus is sounding the alarm that danger is indeed close at hand.  For us it’s not the Pharisees of Jesus’ day or the Roman governor Pontius Pilate but many dangers are present.  Jesus is like that mother hen in the barnyard.  The one who stands her ground, opening her wings wide, sounding the life saving alarm and then sheltering us in the shadow of her wings.  He is our salvation, a sure and certain hope that we are precious in his sight.

As you journey along with Jesus this Lenten season, meditate and contemplate the cross. Envision Jesus’ outstretched arms, imagine you are there under his “wings” being sheltered from all harm and adversity. Know that you are loved and forgiven as a beloved offspring, a child of the Most High God.

Blessings on your day.

Notes: Preached (Delivered) March 16, 2025 at Bethesda Lutheran Church of Malmo, Isle, MN

Second Sunday in Lent, Year C Readings: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18, Psalm 27, Philippians 3:17-4:1 Luke 13;31-35

Image https://sl.bing.net/dx7KpcAjHgW

Lent = Springtime of Hope and New Beginnings

 “Remember you are dust and unto dust you shall return.”  These words we hear every Ash Wednesday as we receive our ashes as we begin the holy season of Lent.  Our mortality is front and center.  We are reminded rather bluntly that we are finite beings. 

Like the flowers of the field we flourish but then we fade. Our existence is like a blip on a computer screen, here today gone tomorrow. And in addition to our short life span we need to add our brokenness, our choices toward unloving and harmful behaviors. The big theological word for this brokenness is called sin.

I remember as a child I hated the season of Lent. I was born into a very observant Roman Catholic family and attended parochial school.  The penitential trappings were everywhere to be found in my daily life.  All the statues and the crucifix in the church were covered with purple cloths, the holy water fonts were empty (sometimes they were filled with sand).

The music for liturgies were not very uplifting.  Our teachers didn’t permit any laughter or happy talk. Going to school and church on Sunday was like going to a funeral, one that lasted for 40 days!

It wasn’t much better at home.  You see, in those days, adults were too fast every day.  That meant only one full meal with maybe two smaller amounts of food during the day.  Snacking was not permitted.  In addition to that, the faithful were encouraged to give up something for Lent. 

So, every year my dad, who was an avid smoker, would give up smoking.  My mom, along with her sisters, would give up sweets and chocolate.  Well life in the house was rather hellish by about the fourth day of Lent.

My dad would have had a piece of toast and maybe a cup of coffee early in the morning and leave for work.  My mother too would have dry toast and coffee and get us off to school. By suppertime and the only full meal of the day, they were both nervous wrecks, since they hadn’t eaten much all day and the withdrawal from the nicotine and the sugar made things worse. 

They were usually yelling at each other or at us.  Usually by the 4th day, my dad had gone back to smoking his cigarettes, mad at himself for his lack of self-denial.  

My mother fared a bit better at her chocolate candy fast.  You see Sundays didn’t count in the 40 day abstention deal.  So on Sundays, she would visit her sisters and the four of them would gorge themselves on chocolate and other sweets so they could make it through another week. 

Giving up candy, nicotine and happy talk didn’t really help bring my family closer to God during Lent.  Sometimes I think we miss the boat on what Lent is really all about.

Instead of focusing on our mortality and returning to the dust of which we were made, I find the alternate Ash Wednesday blessing more holistic and life giving. We read in the Adam and Eve story in the garden, when they failed God, God did not abandon humanity.  God’s promise to restore humanity to the original  blessing comes about in the person of Jesus. 

He not only came to save us but to show us how to live forever.  That is why for me and hopefully for you, “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel” are words that bring hope and healing for this season of Lent.  A way to prepare ourselves for the blessings of Easter.  

Let’s turn away from sin or if you must give up something for Lent, how about giving up sin. Easy to say, very hard to do. 

Turn away from gossip and mean words meant to destroy hope.  Turn away from greed instead share your gifts and possessions with others especially those who have less.  Turn away from anger and offer patience and peace to others. Turn away from envy and be grateful for what you have. Turn away the false gods of money and status and worship God alone. 

Lent is a season of hope, of new beginnings.  Let’s leave our failures, our brokenness, our sin behind.  Jesus shows us the way to turn away from sin so we truly rise with him on Easter Sunday. 

Blessed Lenten journey to you.

Notes: Image Diocese of Portland

Seeing with New Vision Transfiguration or Transformation

Just a month ago on February 2nd, a most unconventional meteorologist gave a forecast.  Maybe you saw or heard the weather forecast from Punxsutawney Phil, or Jimmy the Groundhog.  Well, the last name gives away some of the clue to who these guys are.  They are the prognosticators or predictors of an early spring, helping us to acknowledge that the seasons of the year are changing.

We are looking forward to the end of winter and the beginning of spring.  We long for the return of the sun, green growing plants and warmer temperatures. In most winter seasons, spring can’t come soon enough.

We HOPE that warmer weather is coming soon for it brings the changes we are ready for and long for. Some of us have visions of gardens teaming with flowers or vegetables, birds visiting the birdhouses or sitting on the lakeshore watching the summer sun setting.  Yes, hopeful visions of long, lazy summer days and nights.

“Unless the people have vision, they perish.” Wise words from Proverbs 29:18 that speak of hope. St. Paul mentions hope in today’s Epistle reading, “Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with complete boldness.” 

We as people of faith need to have hope.  Hope that all will be well, that God will be there for us.  Throughout the pages of Scripture we hear this promise especially in Jeremiah 29:11. “For I know well the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jesus, too, gives us that hope-filled vision of a better future.  One filled with his glory. 

Jesus gives a gift to his disciples and to us.  This gift is a life-giving vision of future glory.  We need this gift especially in the dark times in our lives when despair surrounds us.  Without this hope-filled vision of a better future we can easily lose our way and perish. 

We need to know that our fragile life filled with challenges and tragedies is offset by the hidden glory of Jesus’ gift which will be revealed to us in God’s good time.  We only need to trust in the timing.

The Transfiguration stands between the time after Epiphany when we are celebrating the coming of Jesus, the babe born in the manger, the One sent into the world to proclaim the Good News, the beloved of God and the season of Lent.

Beginning with Ash Wednesday, when we remember most vividly that we are mere mortals, here for a short time, lacking in holiness and wholeness and still searching and seeking for a way to fill that empty hole in our being.

The truth that we are dust of the earth and finite beings utterly dependent on God helps us maintain a sense of humility and this reality is brought front and center on Ash Wednesday.

However, today we are not yet in the season of Lent.  So, let’s focus on Jesus and what this event we know as the Transfiguration might have to say to us today. You know that I like to sometimes break open the meaning of words. 

Today is no different.  Some meanings of the word “trans” is "across, beyond, or over.”  The meaning that speaks the greatest to me is “Beyond”.  Notice today’s reading is called the Transfiguration not the Transformation.

Some might consider these words "transfigure” and “transform” interchangeably,  but while they are similar it is helpful  to look at both words.  To be transfigured is to be changed in outward figure or appearance, to go “beyond” what is seen. 

Jesus’ transfiguration does not alter who he is but gives to those who see him a new way of seeing.  Their vantage point is changed. They have  a new understanding of him because they see him outwardly in a different light. 

Transformation on the other hand means “going beyond” the form, here meaning physical form, the internal structure. 

Jesus on the mountain with Moses and Elijah is not transformed (changed inwardly or structurally in form) but transfigured before his disciples (shown to be other than what they had previously seen). He is not made to have a new self but to have an appearance that is reminiscent of the two greatest prophets of the Old Testament.

Our text goes on to say that God’s voice is heard by the disciples, “This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him.” Remember that at Jesus’ baptism we heard these same words, back at the beginning of his ministry.  Only this time, the voice adds an important command to the statement. This time, God says, “Listen to him!” God doesn’t say, “listen to me,” but “listen to him.” meaning Jesus, his Son.

Listen to Jesus. Pay attention to what he’s saying, even when it doesn’t make sense to you.  Listen to him when you might not like what you’re hearing.  Listen to him even if you have other plans.  Listen to him even if you think you know better.  Listen to him when he tells you that you will have sorrows, woes and even death. 

Listen to him when he tells you that he will suffer betrayal, rejection and a shameful death but he will rise in glory and pave a way for you to do the same.  Listen to him because he is God’s chosen and beloved Son, and with whom God is well pleased. Jesus is the answer to a future filled with hope.  

This Lenten season, once again, is a time for us to take time to grow closer to God.  We should take the time to become more aware of why we have decided to follow Jesus.  Lent is a time to take a good, hard look inside our hearts to see what is keeping us from becoming all that God created us to be. 

We need to set aside our own wants and desires, to repent of the noise of the world that comes between us and our ever-loving God.  Lent is a time to recommit ourselves to Jesus, to seek him with all our might.  Setting aside a time for daily prayer, scripture reading and contemplation are tried and true ways of spiritual growth.  

For some, Lent is a time of fasting or giving up something. A few years ago,Pope Francis offered some thoughts on how one might fast during Lent:

Fast from hurting words and say kind words 

Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude

Fast from anger and be filled with patience

Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope

Fast from worries and have trust in God

Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity

Fast from pressures and be prayerful

Fast from bitterness and fill your hearts with joy

Fast from selfishness and be compassionate to others

Fast from grudges and be reconciled

Fast from words and be silent so you can listen

Lent is a time, a change in season so to speak, when we decide once again that, we have decided to follow Jesus, the transfigured one. And in doing so we have been changed, we have been transformed. 

We have gone “beyond”  the broken, sinful creatures that we are due to our human, soil bound, dusty beginnings to new creations in Christ.  Lent is a time to focus our attention on becoming all that God has created us to be.

In these few days before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, let’s focus our eyes, our attention on the brilliant face and figure of Jesus so that he becomes our everlasting guiding light. His light shines brightly, showing his glory, guiding us to an everlasting future.

Blessings on your day.

Notes: Preached (Delivered) March 2, 2025 Trinity Lutheran Church Falun, Wisconsin and Bethany Lutheran Church, Grantsburg, Wisconsin

Trinity Sunday Year C Readings: Exodus 34:29-35 Psalm 99 2Corinthians 3:12-42 Luke 9:28-43a

Do Whatever He Tells You!

Remember to take out the trash!  Did you schedule the oil change like I asked?  How many times do I need to ask you to do (fill in the blank).  If you are or have been a parent of a teenager, maybe you remember having to remind your child about doing household chores.  Or you might have to remind your spouse to accomplish said requests. We humans really don’t like to be reminded that we have “stuff” to do.  Some equate more than one request to nagging.  However,  sometimes we do need a swift kick in the pants to get us going.

In Luke 2:41-52, we heard about Jesus, Mary and Joseph visit to Jerusalem and Jesus staying in the temple when Jesus was twelve years old.  Mary watched her son amaze the learned teachers, remembering their comments. Most likely she recalled the words of the angel Gabriel, “... you have found favor with God.  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end…So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1::30-33)

 Visits by the shepherds and the magi gave more credibility to Gabriel’s announcement and later the words of Simeon at Jesus’ presentation, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel” (Luke 2:34), once again highlighted the destiny of Jesus’ mission.  A mission Mary most definitely didn’t completely understand for more than once in the Gospels we hear, “that Mary pondered all these things in her heart.”  But she never stood in the way of the Spirit’s call.

So, today fast forward some eighteen years later.  We hear that Mary and Jesus are again together, this time at a social event. However Joseph is not mentioned leading us to surmise that he mighht have passed away and Mary is a widow and now under the protection of her son, Jesus. While there is no direct mention of his death in any of the four gospels, he is never mentioned directly or personally again after the finding in the temple.

The social structure of that time mandated that a woman needed to be under the protection of a male relative such as her father, husband, or son. Even a nephew or a minor son would have been seen as the protector. So, if indeed Mary was a widow Jesus staying at home with her was vitality important. She would have depended upon him greatly but also knew in her heart of hearts that someday he would have to leave home.

Mary has been watching him, remembering the words of the angel Gabriel, Simeon, the shepherds and the magi.  She knew her son was destined for greatness. She has been watching her son grow and mature.  She knows him so very well, like many committed parents.  She has watched him from his first breath, his first steps and his first words.  She knows her son is destined for great things and that he must begin his life's work, and the time is now.

Jesus too has been preparing for his Father’s work, his mission and his ministry since his youth. Although not much is said about these formative years one can surmise that he has spent lots of time in thought, prayer and contemplation. He even has recruited some followers, his disciples. 

Jesus is not the only one who has been praying and being open to the Spirit. Mary has been pondering and reflecting on God’s will in her life for the past three decades.  At this wedding at Cana, the Spirit nudges her into action, and she once again co-operates with God’s plan. The time has come for some “Mom Action” or a not so gentle prodding to leave the nest.  “Son, they have no wine.”

Jesus too has been pondering when “his time” to begin will start. He appears to be “on the fence” saying, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.”  Perhaps he feels she needs him at home and at work. Or that he still needs more time for “formation” or support from his friends. Whatever was Jesus’ reason for hesitating to step up to his call, his mission, the Spirit kicks it into high gear.  Mary is the voice of the persistent hound of heaven.  “Do whatever he tells you.”

Jesus moves forward, heeding the Spirit nudging.  He not only changes the water into fine wine, he exchanges his safe carpenter lifestyle for that of an itinerant preacher slash miracle worker.  Mary too knows that a major change in her life will take place.  She will be on her own, a woman without a male protector, trusting in the mercy of God and other people.  Not only has the water been changed into fine wine, but so has the relationship between mother and son.  

Jesus moves from service and devotion to his mother to service and salvation to the world.  If he does what he is being called to, his life will be changed, he will be giving up his anonymity.  No longer will he be just another man in his town, the local carpenter.  Everything will change.  He really wasn’t planning on starting yet, remember he says, “My hour has not yet come.”  However, the Holy Spirit nudges but really nags Jesus forward.  Time to begin, the spirit says, “We have work to do.”

“Do whatever he tells you.”   Jesus ordered the servants to fill those empty earthen vessels with water.  Water is the most essential component of human life.  Water is necessary for drinking, hydration and hygiene. At this wedding, the earthen vessels, the jars are empty.  Sometimes in our lives, maybe we have been like empty earthen vessels.  We have been empty of life giving water.  We look okay on the outside but inside we are dry.   

Water that is kept in the jar will not be of much use.  It can’t hydrate the parched ground and thirsty plants. It can’t wash soiled laundry or dirty hands.  Nothing can be cooked in stored water.  Shut up in the earthen vessel of a jar, the water is useless. But when it is poured out or scooped out it changes from a static element into a dynamic one.  The same is true of our spiritual essence. We need hydration, spiritual hydration.

That spiritual hydration took place at our baptism.  We were given life saving hydration, we were filled with the waters of everlasting life. Baptism changes us from dried out and dried up creatures to beloved children of God.  Baptism changes us into the finest wine and brings us into a new relationship with God.  A relationship that needs communication via prayer, contemplation and action.  A relationship that needs trust.  “Do whatever he tells you.”  

Mary trusted in God that all that was told to her would come to pass and that all would be well.  Jesus too trusted that it was the right to begin his mission and ministry.  Remember the words from the prophet Jeremiah, “ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  When you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. And I will change your life.” (Jeremiah 29:11-14)

Today’s gospel reading is all about change; changing water into fine wine, changing home and life status, changing being anonymous to being a celebrity, changing from inaction to action. The wedding at Cana is often referred to as Jesus’ first miracle, changing water into wine.  Let us become a miracle too. May the life-giving water that we received at our baptism change us into that fine choice wine that saturates the world with passion, tenderness and grace of God.

Blessings on your day.

NOTES

Delivered (preached) January 19 at Trinity Lutheran in Falun, Wisconsin and Bethany Lutheran in Grantsburg, Wisconsin

Second Sunday after Epiphany Year C

References: John 2:1-11