Readings: Genesis 15:1-12,17-18; Psalm 27; Philippians 3:17- 4:1; Luke 13:31-35
When I first read the passages for today I have to admit I was not exactly inspired, thinking what on earth’s the connection between a very ancient covenant ritual, an exhortation to stand firm and the story and imagery in Luke? And then I started pondering on the imagery in our gospel passage and all the nuances within it, and there was this sense of Jesus as someone blessed with a quick wit and a great imagination.

When the Pharisees come with a message warning him about the danger that he faces from Herod (perhaps hoping he will disappear back into rural Galilee), Jesus promptly replies using the image of a fox. As anyone who has kept chickens or geese knows, this is a most dangerous animal, loathed by farmers. It can cause great devastation in a poultry yard, indiscriminately biting off the heads of vulnerable birds, seemingly not to fulfil hunger but out of a drivenness, almost a compulsive act of violence. (I had to smile at the irony of finding in last Monday’s West Australian newspaper which said that this month has been designated Red Card for Red Fox month with a focus on culling the foxes in WA causing such devastation to native fauna.)

In the light of the fact that it was not long since John the Baptist had actually been beheaded, then the fox seems rather a very apt description for Herod, doesn’t it? Jesus already knows he’s in danger but he won’t be intimidated or manipulated. He’s aware that there’s still time for a healing and a freeing to be experienced in his interaction with the suffering, the disabled and the oppressed people he meets. So what does he do instead? Turns the message around and sends one back – almost as a taunt to Herod and the Pharisees – he won’t be driven by threats only by the inner divine compulsion of his mission. He knows he’s causing waves by daring to challenge prevailing social and religious values based on power and exclusion, But that’s not going to stop him from risking danger, because he too experiences a sort of drivenness – he has to be on about God-values based on love and vulnerability and the worthiness of each human being. As Jesus the teenager in the Temple put it, ‘I must be about my Father’s business’, even though he has a pretty good idea of the end point.

And then the writer of Luke’s gospel connects this with what was probably once a separate saying of Jesus’ involving his wonderful imagery of the hen and her chicks, with its sense of caring-concern and protective inclusion. This also bears echoes of Old Testament references to ‘fledglings gathered under wings’ associated with the image of God as a mother eagle empowering her chicks. But by Jesus' day the eagle was the symbol of the Roman legions and thus represented an image not of empowerment but rather of power and oppression.

So what does Jesus do? He holds up the hen – a humble little bird that can’t even fly properly – as a theological image! And he connects it with the gathering of the scattered children of Jerusalem – an oft repeated OT image of messianic expectation found especially in the book of Isaiah. But somehow there’s a reshaping going on – the feeling that comes across is not one of triumph but rather of great sadness and loneliness.

And out of this imagery of Jesus we gain the sense of the vulnerability of God the Creator who offers her wings as a place of warm intimacy and comforting protection if only her children would trust her. They’ve been given the freedom to explore and be independent in the world, which includes the freedom to respond to God’s loving care. But the reality is that rarely do they do so. Even when danger and injustice abounds they seem unwilling to trust returning to the darkness of just being still and accepted within God’s wings of ongoing unconditional love. But Jesus can trust that image for himself which is the very reason why he can risk danger knowing that God’s presence is with him in his journey. His message to the Pharisees is that he has no need to find self-protection. For that would be a negating of God’s loving intention.

On this second Sunday in Lent we also become aware of the generosity of spirit Jesus shows in this image – he’s not so much concerned for himself as the fact that he sees the people of Jerusalem in danger, and they are the very ones who will end up rejecting him! Yet they will be nowhere near God’s protective wings when danger comes. In fact they will not even recognise God until they acknowledge the one who brings God-values into their lives. Of course, by the time Luke is writing, much of Jerusalem, including the Temple, had literally been destroyed by the Romans and many of its people had been killed or had fled to other countries. The Herodian fox and the Roman eagle had well and truly pounced and committed great violence and slaughter. And we can’t help thinking of the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan . . . I can imagine Jesus looking in despair on the present Middle East situation – ironically an area where religion is so central to people’s lives and yet where society is dominated by controlling military and religious dictatorships. I see Jesus weeping over Jerusalem today and over other cities too, for nothing has really changed there and nothing will till this new set of God-values is recognised.

As Paul says in his letter to the Philippians we need to live with a new model of what it means to be human – and certainly not one based on greed or power or shaming. And he asks his readers to imitate himself and others whose way of life matched his own. We may find this a bit presumptuous today but it was common practice for Greek and Roman moralists to offer examples of behaviour to copy. Of course Paul always embeds his thinking in Jesus the Christ as our examplar and the one to follow. But he also knows that if we would become Christ followers then there may well be occasions where we are called to risk speaking out or doing something that goes against expectations, maybe putting us in dangerous, scary or uncomfortable positions – perhaps risking literally or metaphorically getting our heads bitten off. On the world stage we can think of the likes of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy and Oscar Romero and their willingness to risk the Jesus Way challenging segregation, injustice and poverty until losing their lives.

I had already put these thoughts down before I came to last Thursday study series being held here during Lent based on Borg and Crossan’s excellent book The Last Week. I would encourage you to read it even if you can’t make the study series. The first chapter highlights Jesus’ own context within a domination system involving ‘political oppression, economic exploitation and religious legitimisation’ all centred on Jerusalem with an elite 10% owning much of the wealth and land of Israel. By Jesus' time the Temple had replaced Herodian rule and was now at the centre of local collaboration with Rome . . . in a two layered domination system' involving a double layering of taxes and tithes to be paid by an increasingly impoverished struggling peasant population. As a result many families who had practised subsistence farming for generations had ended up in debt, their land taken over and were having to work as slaves. In fact slaves formed a staggering 80% of the population under Roman rule. There was great suffering under this system.

And yet, if we look globally, are not we facing a similar situation today? The domination system this time is based on economic exploitation coming through multinational companies taking over land for cash crops and creating slaves of low-paid workers in sweatshop factories in order to make profits for a wealthy few – all backed by political or military might if need be, as we saw in Iraq. I sit appalled with this, aware of being part of that system, and I mean the wealthy 10% part. We in ‘the first world’ are all inevitably caught up in it with our banks and shares and superannuation funds. In everyday-buying I pay a fraction of the cost for things like a TV or a blouse compared to two decades ago, and when I do so I’m conscious of some poor Indian or Chinese girl having made it for a pittance – and there seems nothing we can do to stop this exploitation. We do have our prophets but rarely are their voices heard let alone make a difference.

And yet, and yet . . . The Temple did fall and Rome did crumble and last Thursday I couldn’t help thinking of pictures of the 9/11 fall of the World Trade centre. And wondering what change in consciousness we are in the middle of. For that is what happened two thousand years ago with the fall of Jerusalem including the fact that the message of Jesus’ alternate call to be identified with the kingdom of God became much more valued as the way to follow after this major crisis.

All I can suggest is that we too look at the determination of Jesus to uphold the kingdom of God over and against the domination system despite the powerlessness he too must have felt. Our primary focus, like his, has to be on expressing compassion in concrete ways to those who are suffering the fallout from exploitation and injustice. For God’s kingdom is about shalom = the peace and well-being of all. And embedded in all of our readings today is the theme we can trust God’s shalomic promises like outstretched wings within the adverse circumstances of life.